Proposal : next core applications for e/OS…

/e/OS Smartphone Operating System Features & Applications
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Beware: this is a big one :slight_smile:

Nota: of course I know that some of these features are available on F-Droid. I’m just speaking here of what could be integrated by default in /e/OS.

1/ [For Fun] MyNews: a personal news hub

Basically, a feed reader + a widget, linked to the Murena Cloud News application.

RSS feeds at first, then - later - the ability to follow YouTube channels, to track forum / social networks activity, to read Newsgroups, etc.

2/ [For Work] VideoCall: a video call and video conferencing solution

What I suggest here is not a complete video conferencing solution, but a frontend (based on a web browser component?) to connect to the major meeting solutions, without any tracker.

With support of Teams, Google Meet, Zoom and kMeet.
A really essential addition for workers. Would be excellent on a tablet.

3/ [For all] Wallet: a FossWallet like application

FossWallet is a very good alternative to Apple Passbook or Android Wallet. An /e/OS native version should, of course, by able to share data with a specific Murena Cloud application.

4/ [Important, IMHO] OnlyOffice mobile… without trackers

A native build of OnlyOffice, without trackers (the official version have some), and connected to the Murena Cloud Drive! It would be a nice addition for workers, especially on the Volla tablet.

Nota: you’ll need probably to add this application to a specific “additional /e/OS apps” section of the App Lounge, as many people do not need a productivity suite on their phones.

4/ [Fennec/Chrome killer] /e/OS Sync: a Firefox/Chrome extension to share data with the /e/OS stock browser

My last proposal is a Firefox/Chrome extension to sync bookmarks and passwords with the e/OS native web browser (via a Murena Cloud account). Then no need to use Fennec/Chrome and a Mozilla/Google account any more.

Do you have other ideas of essential applications that should be integrated by default in e/OS?

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Personally I’d like to see things removed rather than added. Whatever features exist in the OS, there are usually numerous alternatives which I prefer to the ones included. Removal is possible but arduous and not permanent. Adding more stuff doesn’t help my quest for a clutter-free experience.

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Size is a significant issue … the system partition is of a finite size.

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I agree that most apps should be optional and removable. That does not mean that the Foundation could not propose a complete set of apps… IMHO, we can have both.

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Well…part of the problem is that a news hub would require news sources…and that’s a pretty obvious minefield. In practice, there are several OSS options (Feeder RSS, Newsblur, Twine), so I’m not entirely convinced it needs to be an integrated into the OS.

It sounds like this would just be a browser without an address bar…especially because none of those companies strike me as being terribly amenable to having an OSS client compatible with their environments. If you do have it as a browser-based frontend, though, it’s not really going to do all that much to sanitize the tracker while also, y’know…working.

Sounds lovely…but /e/OS has to spoof its way to getting a number of bank apps working as it is…I’m not sure that such an app would end up being reliable enough to become a core /e/OS function…and if it’s working for you as a third party app, I’m not sure how necessary it’d be for this to be a system app.

I’ll partially agree here, but only insofar as I’m hoping to integrate OnlyOffice with the self-hosted /e/OS server at some point, when I’m feeling adventurous. To put a finer point on it, while I think there’s some room for OnlyOffice to get some availability on the server side within the Murena ecosystem, I think I’d propose making the client apps part of an “optional post-install downloads” screen, rather than part of the system image. As much as I’d like the option, I can count on one hand how many times in the last decade I’ve needed to edit a document or spreadsheet on my phone; the “Notes” app is usually enough to get an idea out of my head, and I can handle formatting and layout on a desktop later on.

That said, I think that the “for workers” part is probably a bad sales pitch; as an IT admin, I always get cranky when users put data in a cloud service that isn’t officially sanctioned; if your IT department has an expectation of remote work, they should provide the systems to do it, and if that means MS or Google…well…their data, their rules, their security tolerances.

I’ll partially agree here, because I’ve got this problem solved personally, but I also understand that a solution could be a template, but isn’t readily-obvious. My stack involves Vaultwarden for password management, which syncs, but requires a server-side integration (might be a good idea to add it to the self-hosted docker-compose, at least). For bookmarks, I use a combination of Floccus as a browser extension, and Webdav for central storage, though its nextcloud integration may just-work with a Murena account; feel free to try.

Thematically, I don’t have an issue with these functions existing, but I do wonder if it’s worth having them added to the main system. One person’s critical app is another person’s bloatware, so I think that ensuring that third party apps can download and run successfully is a better idea than formally taking on the burden of formally supporting these things, especially in cases like the teleconferencing idea that depend on the /e/OS implementation reliably integrating with the service of companies who have a vested interest in breaking that integration.

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First, thanks for you contribution :slight_smile:

I could agree, but then why a News application on the Murena Cloud?

I was speaking of the trackers inside the Android applications (for example Teams). Else, yes, a browser based application, but TESTED. Too often my browser can’t connect because it is detected as a mobile one, or not the right one. So I have no other choice than to use the official Android app.

Heu, FossWallet stores tickets. Train tickets, concert tickets, reduction coupons, etc. In France, these tickets are everywhere.

I would even say in a specific “packages of your favorites applications without trackers compiled by the /e/OS team” section of the App Lounge. Nota: IMHO, some core applications of the current /e/OS could also be optional.

Of course not: options for all (but the wallet service).

So perhaps that “core applications” is not the right term. Let’s say “applications provided with /e/OS”. :innocent: