List of Apps that fit and function well [Post them here.]

amarok · March 10, 2021, 3:30pm

Seahorse (aka “Passwords and Keys”) can be made to work by changing orientation and/or reducing the scale a bit.

(Dark theme)

Note the marked solution in this thread, which describes how to use the terminal keyboard version to execute a right-click, which may be needed at times:

irvinewade · March 10, 2021, 9:37pm

Thanks for that. I think I’m using the Gnome keyring with Geary but hadn’t got around to finding out whether I could use Seahorse to browse keys etc.

amarok · March 14, 2021, 4:54pm

Okular document viewer (flatpak)…without scaling down:

Menus fit:

Settings menu:

“Reading” a .png…of itself:

I did experience a freeze when trying to open the .png from Okular’s File menu. I was able to open the .png from Nemo, though.

Edit: The freeze happened when, from Okular’s File menu, I was attempting to open Pictures directory to get a .png. I mistakenly tried “Open” to enter the Pictures directory. I think Okular was instead trying to open that directory as the viewed file. The correct way would have been for me to first double-tap Pictures, then Open the .png.
Also, once a file is opened for viewing in Okular, the File menu stays grayed out, so you can’t close the document or the app. It’s corrected by minimizing the app, then maximizing. Still usable, though.

Related discussion: App for showing png-screenshots

amarok · March 14, 2021, 6:05pm

I’ve reorganized the list at the top of the thread into categories.

amarok · March 14, 2021, 9:20pm

Forum member @johan-bjareholt’s elegant and excellent app is out of beta.

Simple Diary (flatpak):

See this thread: [APP] Simple Diary
Nice work, Johan!
Built-in dark mode, too.

amarok · March 16, 2021, 11:54pm

GDebi package installer (scaled to 1.5x):

Navigate to the file location:

Helpful error messages and instructions:

I didn’t actually install anything.
You can, of course, install .deb packages from the terminal, but if you don’t feel like typing, this is useful.

antonis · April 8, 2021, 9:13pm

okular is so old from the amber repos. It is version 1.2.3 or something like this when the current version is 20.12.3. Why it is so old…? This is one of the reasons I had to move my L13 from amber to byzantium, but I do not want to do this on L5.

Okular is a needed pdf viewer because it is the only one that can check digital signatures with ease. The flatpak version seems that needs a lot of space (or I misread the information it gives before confirmation?)

fsflover · April 8, 2021, 9:57pm

Because this is how Debian works: either you have a stable and old software or vice versa: https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/getting-debian.en.html#updatestable.

antonis · April 9, 2021, 6:12am

So from the ice ages that okular was in version 1 until now that it is in version 20 there has been no Debian stable release? This is hard to believe. Something must be very wrong with okular in Debian.

johan-bjareholt · April 9, 2021, 6:50am

From looking at Okulars webpage, it seems like they changed the versioning after 1.11 to 20.12. Version 1.2 is from August 2017 so it’s still old, but it’s not ancient.

antonis · April 9, 2021, 7:48am

Still, it is many years.

fsflover · April 9, 2021, 8:35am

There has been a new Debian release. But to use it you need to switch to Byzantium AFAIK.

spaetz · April 9, 2021, 9:32am

Actually, there has not been one YET. Amber is based on the current stable release. Bullseye which byzantium is based upon is still not
released, hut hopefully will be soon.

Buster has 17.12.2-2.2 and bullseye has 20.12.3-1 https://packages.debian.org/bullseye/okular

amarok · April 13, 2021, 11:17pm

GNOME Disks:

Perfect fit, resizable divider, all the usual functions.

amarok · April 14, 2021, 1:04am

Wordbook (flatpak):

Choose British or American pronunciation:

Correctly identified different British/American pronunciations for “laboratory”; voice sample is computer-generated, from espeak:

Some British/American differences may not be accurate; I believe the Brits pronounce this word with first-syllable stress, not second:

Lists common usages, colloquialisms, synonyms; this is a random word search:

Built-in dark mode. Look up a single word or a phrase.
Useful app for students of English.

amarok · April 18, 2021, 9:09pm

GNOME Characters (flatpak):

All kinds of useful and fun stuff:

Select an image and the “Copy” dialog pops up. Then just paste it in a document, message (once MMS is working), email, etc. (And in Terminal, where applicable.)

Pages and pages of punctuation symbols:

Various currencies:

International diacritics:

You can also filter by specific fonts:

I can imagine this app will be a must-have for many users; it maybe fills in some gaps and is ultra-easy to use. If you don’t have the L5 or Pinephone yet, you can check it out in Debian-based repos on your computer.
Note: This GNOME Characters flatpak works great on the L5 as is, whereas the older GNOME Character Map (Debian) just isn’t very usable, due to scale.

P.S. The search box, which would normally pull up an item, e.g. “pizza,” just by searching for its name, doesn’t appear to be working.
And the copy dialog doesn’t have a closing method (e.g. “X” in the corner), so you have to minimize, then dismiss it…which is true of many apps I’ve tested on the L5.

amarok · April 27, 2021, 6:54pm

GNOME Video Downloader (flatpak):

Input a URL and choose a resolution:

A video:

Video playing in VLC (my default):

Nice.
Edit: For demo only. Video deleted afterward.

taylor-williamc · April 27, 2021, 7:03pm

I’ve got one in development here:

I’m a total n00b at GTK/Application development, so I’d love some feedback on how to make it better.
I am making it with the L5 in mind, though I hope to add in the adaptive scaling so that it can be used on like Pinephone or a future Linux tablet and look better.

I have run it on my L5, and it worked, but it ran really slowly. I think this was just because my L5 was hot, but I’ll try to keep chipping away at it when I get time.

amarok · April 27, 2021, 7:14pm

That looks nice, and also a very useful tool. Post it here when it’s finished.
I’ve also been looking for a “Ruler” app, that would display an accurate inch and centimeter scale on the L5’s screen. I use one on my Android (from F-Droid), but haven’t found any in the Linux desktop repos that would work, probably because they’re meant to display as a floating graphic on the Desktop screen…which doesn’t work on the L5’s inaccessible “Desktop.”

taylor-williamc · April 27, 2021, 10:26pm

Ask and you shall receive (though again, still a WIP)