this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025
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We have these amazing little computers in our hands. What are some beneficial things we can do with them? Websites, apps, tinkering... anything you can think of or things you already do. I'm tired of doom scrolling.

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[–] Empricorn@feddit.nl 1 points 4 days ago

Constellation tracker and identification!

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 71 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Rejecting calls

Forgetting to reply to messages

Ignoring emails

Writing comments then deleting the text without posting

Unlocking your device only to immediately forget why you needed to check it.

[–] raynethackery@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago

Please stop spying on my phone.

[–] kurcatovium@piefed.social 7 points 1 week ago

Don't forget the good ol' classics:

  • Forgetting to turn off airplane mode after good night sleep 'till lunch time.
  • Letting the battery die during the day without proper means to recharge.
  • Constantly fighting with backlight intensity, because its regulating sensor is PoS.
[–] Oka@sopuli.xyz 32 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Theyre essentially the swiss army knife of tools:

  • Flashlight
  • Camera
  • Level
  • Calculator
  • Phone
[–] SonOfAntenora@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Good ol nokia had basically all this without being internet connected. They also had a scientific calculator, unit converter, and currency converter too. And a planner for mothly budgets and expenses. If you haven't used these you might have no idea as to how great thwy were for basic productivity

[–] Scheisser@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago

Also a mirror to check high/low places

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[–] ace_garp@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Map your local area.

Use StreetComplete or SCEE to fix parts of OpenStreetMap data in your area. Fun to do when walking around areas you know.

Or use a higher level editor to add missing paths, services and buildings.

[–] original_reader@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I agree. That app sadly eats battery like no other I have. So the walk isn't too long.

The higher level editor: https://f-droid.org/packages/de.blau.android/

[–] gigachad@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

StreetComplete? I have 47 minutes running time with 5% battery use now, I think it's okay

[–] Photuris@lemmy.ml 22 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)
  1. Find something you really want to study and learn, that requires retaining a lot of facts

  2. Download Anki

  3. Download or build a flashcard deck for what you want to learn

  4. Do your flashcards every day, and trust Anki to know what cards to show you, and when, and how often. It’s just a few minutes per day.

  5. Spaced repetition just made you much smarter!

  6. Repeat, forever, learning all the things.

[–] Nusm@piefed.zip 15 points 1 week ago

I’m an independent contractor, and I basically run all of my business from my phone. Aside from making calls and sending texts, I have templates in Google Docs that I can edit and then email out as quotes and invoices. I keep spreadsheets of my inventory. I scan into Notes the repair slips so I can keep a copy. I use the navigation apps to route me to my stops during the day. I have a template that I edit to create my timesheet to submit and get paid.

I run almost my whole business off of a small handheld phone, something that was unimaginable just a few years ago.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 14 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Anything's a dildo if your brave enough. Plus, it vibrates!

[–] raynethackery@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I think you can get dildos that can be controlled by an app.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Bit hard to control an app if the phone's up your bum, innit?

[–] Zier@fedia.io 4 points 1 week ago (4 children)

LOL! Some of us have skills and can achieve the challenge. OOps, someone's calling....

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[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I use my old phones that still work as media players, I uninstall almost everything and basically only use VLC on them to watch stuff on my NAS. They're like tiny TV's scattered around the house.

Now I just only need to learn how to broadcast locally from the PC so they can play the same thing at the same time. I know VLC can do it because I've seen dozens of tutorials but they all must be missing something because it never worked for me.

[–] dangrousperson@feddit.org 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

You can use Open Source Sunshine and Moonlight for inhome broadcasting. You install sunshine on the source PC and use the moonlight app on the phones.

https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine/releases https://moonlight-stream.org/

It's meant for game streaming, so it supports controller pass through and what not, but you can also use it to just stream the desktop. It also supports multiple clients, although I have never tried that personally.

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[–] PeteWheeler@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Highly recommend Jellyfin on your NAS. Sounds like that is what your looking for. Very straight forward and easy to implement compared to other self host options.

Essentially, vid files located on your nas, and then any device on your wifi can stream the vids.

If your looking for your own personal netflix, jellyfin is your answer.

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[–] jhoff90@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I started looking into cozy games on my phone so anytime I get the urge to doomscroll I turn to that instead.

[–] raynethackery@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Any suggestions? I used to play Solitaire but the app I was using at the time had ads and no option to pay. I also played cribbage but that was a long time ago.

[–] ace_garp@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago

SGT Puzzles are small micro-games that can last anywhere from 5 seconds to 10 minutes.

MIT Licenced

[–] bulwark@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Balatro, it's like solitaire but more addictive than fentanyl.

I play solitaire with open source free polysolfc on f-droid. No ads and no bullshit

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[–] Leather@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

Make phone calls.

[–] elasereray@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] Underwaterbob@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Reading. Books are super easy to ahem find. OLED screens make reading really comfortable at night. Black background, dark orange text, and turn off all the lights and it's like text is floating in the air in front of you. There are plenty of epub readers out there. Moonreader is my favorite. I paid $5 for it years and years ago now. Absolutely worth it.

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[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 7 points 1 week ago

Not sure if "good" is the right word, but at least cool.

Torrenting, high speed mobile data modem (especially with manual selection of frequency bands on MediaTek), local OpenSpeedTest server (available as app), WiFi analyzer (most used channels), VNC client, the slowest x86 emulation in Qemu-based Limbo PC emulator, SDR receiver software (SDR++, SDRAngel, Welle.io, dump1090, SatDump), RTL-TCP server, SSTV decoder and encoder, HTTP proxy server, Kiwix server, NGINX web server/proxy, Navidrome server, Cloudflare proxy client, SSH server, VNC server (only for Termux's desktop), satellite tracker, Mifare Magic NFC card programmer (MCT), audio spectrum analyzer, serial terminal.

I wanted to attach screenshots, but realized it's way too much stuff.

[–] TheTimeKnife@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I use it for a lot, but one I haven't seen mentioned. I use it to support my ham radio hobby. I have a satellite tracker for when I want to contact radio sats, a solar weather app for checking HF propagation and I have echolink which let's me connect to hundreds of radio repeaters around the globe.

*HF = high frequency, its a section of radio frequencies that bounce off the atmosphere. Let's you talk worldwide if you have the right frequency and conditions. Solar weather significantly impacts how radio waves interact with the upper atmosphere.

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[–] ohwhatfollyisman@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

i have a drawer which would otherwise have been empty, but thankfully i have a nexus 6p, a pixel 2, an lg q6, some lenovo phablet, and a galaxy note 5 to use up that space.

they also do make mighty fine paperweights if one is needed in a pinch.

[–] dingus@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Too bad you don't also have a note 7. Having it double as a bomb is a good feature.

[–] Chivera@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Calling your loved ones

[–] Saltarello@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Some of my favourite mobile centric uses (I'm a FOSS leaning Android):

  • I like to try to ensure most things are available offline: maps, notes, passwords (manager also holds "emergency" documents), media, ebooks, podcasts etc
  • OsmAnd has offline Wiki articles, this is awesome when travelling
  • OsmAnd can be great for finding POI's such as food outlets, toilets etc when travelling (I since extensively mapped my own locality to help visitors by way of thanks)
  • Using stuff I self host synced to various devices: Nextcloud, Joplin, Paperless-ngx, Immich, Jellyfin & a bunch of others
  • whoBIRD is great especially when travelling
  • If WiFi/data is unavailable when travelling away from home, hook the phone up to TV with a hub, HDMI, keyboard with track pad & it becomes a full media system

Lots of people gave good uses here so i'll give one too. the other day I lost my fitbit and I didn't know wtf I lost it then I remembered smartphones have bluetooth and emf sensors so i downloaded an app to find my fitbit and I found it. Felt like I was going mad looking for it lol

[–] Teknikal@eviltoast.org 5 points 1 week ago

I have a lot of emulators on mine I recommend lemuroid as a gateway app it does most older systems and many of the arcade machines of my youth. Assuming you legally own the roms of course.

I find a cheap Bluetooth controller works a lot better than the touchscreen though.

[–] Nemo@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 week ago

It's a music player, e-reader, and mobile videogame platform that can emulate any retro system and has unique games based on physical activity and geolocation.

It can also take pictures and send IMs, I guess.

[–] altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago

A unified remote\console for displays, ACs, PCs and whatever

On-hand manuals and checklists/

Podcasts\books player

I use mine a lot for geocaching. The Seek app by iNaturalist is also pretty good

[–] bluGill@fedia.io 4 points 1 week ago

I have a tuner app, drum machine, and recording apps on my phone. I like to pretend I can play trumpet, mandolin, piano, hammered dulcimer... which means I practice something nearly every day.

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I love emulating old Gameboy games on my phone. It can play things all the way up to Switch, but there's sort of a nice mix of nostalgia and simplicity to just go monotone. No micro transactions, no server connecting, nothing. Just me and the bits.

I guess that's not terribly beneficial, unless you count my mental health.

[–] Typotyper@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Where do you get the games from. I have a switch and an old gameboy carriage but I’m too out of it to bridge that gap

[–] Denjin@lemmings.world 3 points 1 week ago

They're called ROMs, can't give you links because that's naughty but if you use your reputable search engine of choice for Gameboy ROMs you can find them pretty easily.

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[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 3 points 1 week ago

Calculator, flashlight, camera, blunt object...

[–] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago
[–] 0x30507DE@lemmy.today 3 points 1 week ago

Mine's pretty great at reading a 1400-page manual for an 8-bit system. Whether or not my habit of reading a 1400-page manual for an 8-bit system is actually beneficial is up for debate.

[–] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Fractional calculator: TMC (Tape Measure Calculator). Invaluable for working out tape measure fraction math. Yes, I use metric when it makes sense. Not all materials are metric and this app makes division trivial.

Banking app. Fucking magic.

Airplane boarding passes. I only use a couple airlines, have both apps installed.

Personal news. I have recently discovered TTRSS which is a tiny RSS feed that you can selfhost and then the client on your phone shows you news from your computer

Bitwarden. All the passwords, all the time.

OpenStreetMap. Almost enough to replace google maps. I also use HereWeGo (TomTom corporation) when I need traffic data.

Transit apps for your (or any other) town. Can be pretty invasive, I recommend siloing them in the "work profile" all Android phones now include.

UnCiv. Wonderful time waster

Oh yeah, audio. I've been listening to news and narrative history podcasts for years. I finally put the Pimsleur files for learning Spanish on the phone, I don't remember which app I'm using to play them back, maybe Rocket? It's helping I think.

[–] Zier@fedia.io 4 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I would suggest CoMapps.app instead for better privacy. Can be downloaded with F-droid.

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