Embedded Files
Find a variety of useful links below along with a description of the site's use. Most sites are free to use but may require a login and/or have a premium version.
AlternativeTo.net to find alternatives to any app.
Techlore.tech to find privacy respecting services.
ToS;DR to summarize TOS.
Windows Apps
Ninite is useful tool to batch download/update the following
Brave - Private Browser. See Extensions, video, and instructions
Discord - Messaging
Gimp - Image editor
RevoUninstaller - Actually uninstall apps. See here
VLC - Lightweight video player
Audacity - Audio recorder/editor
Spotify - Music
LibreOffice - Free Microsoft Office alternative. See here
Steam - Gaming
Epic Games - Gaming
Everything - Way better than Windows search
Other
LocalSend - Local file sharing
PowerToys - Official Windows tools. See here
Advanced Paste (remap to Ctrl+Shift+V)
Always on Top
Color Picker
FancyZones
Image Resizer
PowerRename
Keyboard Manager
OBS Studio - Record & Stream
VM VirtualBox - Virtual machine
Proton - Free VPN, Password Manager, etc.
Obsidian - Note taking
Autoruns - Disable startup apps
MakeMKV - CD ripper
Jellyfin Media Player - NAS media player
AMD Ryzen Master - Temps (for AMD only)
Cinebench - Benchmark test
ExifTool - See exif data
Yt-dlp - YouTube downloader
Cryptomator | Veracrypt - Encryption
Dangerzone - Open suspicious documents safely
Nora - Music player
Anki - Flashcards
Zen - Browser & PDF annotation
Linux Apps
OBS Studio - Record & Stream
Proton - VPN, Password Manager, etc.
Obsidian | Standard Notes - Note taking
GNOME Boxes | VM VirtualBox - Virtual machine
Heroic games Launcher - Epic games and GOG games
Jellyfin Media Player - NAS media player
Freetube - YouTube client
LocalSend - File sharing
Cryptomator | Veracrypt - Encryption
Dangerzone - Open suspicious documents safely
Gimp - Image editor
Nora - Music player
Anki - Flashcards
Zen - Browser & PDF annotation
Brave - Private Browser. See Extensions, video, and instructions
Steam - Games
Discord - Messaging
LibreOffice - Office Suite (Office 360 alternative)
VLC - Lightweight Video Player
Spotify - Music
Piper - Mouse settings (don't do flatpak)
Fedora Media Writer - live USB drive writer
Easy Effects - Audio Effects
FSearch - Quickly search all files (install native)
Android Apps
Brave - Browser - blocks ads see video and instructions
Firefox - to get Extensions on mobile (SponsorBlock on YT)
Signal - E2EE messenger. See here
Beeper - Consolidate messages into one feed
Proton Pass, Drive, VPN, & Mail
Proton Authenticator | Ente Auth - 2FA
Ente Photos (code JRHCC5 for +10GB)
Privacy.com - Private virtual cards
Cake Wallet - Crypto wallet
Obsidian | Standard Notes - notetaking app
Grayjay - Ad-free YouTube
Google Voice - Free junk phone number - MySudo ($)
ReadEra - PDF book reader
FUTO Keyboard
Canva - Design tool
Snapseed - Photo editor
Blue Letter Bible - Bible: In depth
Literal Word - Bible: simple
stats.fm - Spotify stats ($5 lifetime)
Jellyfin - NAS media player
GuitarTuna - Guitar tuner
AnkiPro - Study (or Obsidian w/ addon)
Seterra - Geography games
Chess.com - Chess
Chess Clock - Check timer
Hungry Horses - Knight practice
Chessable - Chess lessons
HoursTracker - Free time tracker
Calc84 - TI-84
Scandit - Scan any QR code, bar code, etc.
Olauncher - Digital Minimalism
Screenzen - Timer to open apps
Atlas obscura - Obscure landmarks
LocalSend - Cross platform AirDrop/Nearby Share
Organic Maps - Google maps alternative
Netguard - Block Apps from connecting to the internet
Dazz Cam - Camera filters
Giga Text - Big text
Toolbox - Random digital tools
Accrescent is an alternative to Google Play with few apps - These apps are also on F-Droid
Organic maps - Offline private maps
Cake Wallet - Crypto wallet
Molly - Signal fork
Cryptomator ($) - Encrypt files
F-Droid is an alternative to Google Play with more apps
Futo Keyboard - keyboard
Olauncher - Minimal & efficient launcher
LocalSend - Cross-platform WiFi file, text, app, etc. sharing
Brave - Browser - blocks ads see video and instructions
Ente Auth - Authenticator
Ente Photos (20GB free with code JRHCC5) | Immich (self-host) - Photo backups
Proton Pass - Password Manager
ProtonVPN - VPN
Organic Maps - Offline private map
CalcYou - Calculator and graphs
Auxio | Fossify Music Player - Offline Music Player
Fossify Calendar - Calendar
Fossify Gallery - Gallery
Image pipe - Image editor and metadata scraper
Memetastic - Meme maker
Clock - Clock, alarm, timer, stopwatch
Chess Clock - Chess clock from Chess.com
Qr alarm - Scan QR code to stop alarm
Feeder - RSS reader
Markdown Editor - View/edit .md files
SherpaTTS - Private TTS engine
Dicio - Private voice assistant
Daily You - Journal
GrayJay - YouTube frontend
Jellyfin - Jellyfin player
Tailscale - Remote into home WiFi
KDE Connect | Zorin Connect - Connect Phone to Linux computer
AnkiDroid - Spaced repetition flash cards
Gadgetbridge - Privacy respecting smart watch
Obtainium - Download/update from GitHub or APKs
WeatherMaster - Weather app
Nobook - Facebook frontend
xManager - Spotify frontend
Twitter - X frontend
TV Garden - TV channels
Some of the apps from these alternative app stores are also available in the Play Store.
Disclaimer: Some of these links may become inactive or transfer ownership. I am not responsible if any of these links are acquired by a bad faith actor. Download at your own risk.
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