hi everyone!

i've installed GoS for some time now and noticed few issues / potential optimisations for some apps and functionality in general

looking for advice / your help on fixing these problems: (most likely alternative app recommendation might be workarounds)

  • keyboard - im sorry - i absolutely hate GoS stock keyboard - as a fast typer myself, who barely makes typos, i cant type even on normal speed, and keep constantly fixing mistakes - i do use auto correct which sometimes helps.. is there a better keyboard version ? i really dont have butter fingers but this keyboard is really frustrating

  • mandarin language on stock keyboard is missing (not OS overall language) - tried finding it in the settings, however i cant find Chinese simplified/traditional for typing - any suggestions?

  • translator app - i cant absolutely find FOSS app that is decent translator, majority of words/translations break hence i still go to google translate at times - not to mention i cant find "translate over the voice in real time" functions - anyone could recommend anything regarding that? i travel a lot and using this to speak in english whilst it is getting translated at the same time to foreign language and vice versa would be amazing - can even install separate app for this - no problem

  • gallery (stock app) - not really convenient. i cant create / edit folders, easily transfer photos i want for dedicated space. was wondering what you guys are using?

  • camera (stock app) - is this just me, or everyone expected google pixel 8 camera to be decent? my previous phone was iphone 6s (yes i know..dont replace if it works, right?) and i barely see big difference...struggling to focus when i really need on objects and quality has really really a lot of noise..can i use some other app or it wont make a difference? perhaps GoS has an affect on this? or im just talking nonsense?

  • file manager (stock app) - can anyone recommend a decent file manager? stock one isnt just for me, i struggle to delete existing files, as seems i cant find an option, UI isnt friendly for me as well

  • app store - currently using 3 - GoS stock - just for mandatory updates; F droid and Aurora.
    i can see lots of people advise swapping arora over and now i know why - unless i manually refresh update page, they just dont appear to notify me of potential pending updates. if i recall correctly, people go for Oblivion or something similarly called app

dont want to sound rude or cocky, just tried to follow advice that people given me - install GoS -> get used to it -> play around and find things that you can improve.

i might look like perfectionist but these little things affect my daily functionality whilst browsing and would be great if you guys could help me on points raised above - im easy on other things for now.

peace and love, cheers

*edit - formatting

You can still use all the pixel stock google apps. Doing this will still be loads more secure than using stock pixel android.

    1. I use Gallery from lacoblonut01 on GitHub, pretty decent. 2. Keyboard - FUTO keyboard - My recent founding from this forum as the stock keyboard is so bad. FUTO I can really recommend. 2. For filemanager, I just found Ghost commander last night and it seems okayish. Others prefer Material Files app.
      4 days later

      Cdc thanks man, will try futo keyboard as GOS keyboard just really isnt for me

        Cdc futo keyboard is great I love that it supports voice dictation.

          Just my opinion:

          • Gallery: Google Gallery (not Google Photos since it reminds about cloud related features too often for me) w/o network access works for me. Includes basic photo and video (which was really a problem in a LOT of other gallery apps) editing capabilities.
          • Camera: Pixel Camera w/o network access. Only inconvenience i found is that redirection to gallery is not working w/o google photos app. Unfortunately, all foss variants (including stock one) i tried doesn't include convenient switching between physical cameras using separate buttons. Zoom slider doesn't work for me.
          • Appstore: Google Play. Also i use fdroid (i'm aware that it is considered insecure).
          • Keyboard: HeliBoard works for me. However, i'm not using Mandarin language.

          About Pixel 8 camera comparison with iPhone 6s it's really strange.
          For instance, according to my experience, Pixel 6 pro's camera is about on par with iPhone 13 gen which is released in about the same time.
          iPhone 6s' camera should be much worse than Pixel 8's at least in low light conditions.

          But it's hard to tell what you mean w/o picture examples.

          Plobberfroth What do you mean by "works"? If you tap on the last photo thumbnail in Pixel Camera, it would always ask you to install Google Photos to view you pics. And there is no preference setting for an alternativ gallery app.

              teezeh
              You have to install GPhotosShim v1.2 which let's you set your preferred/installed gallery app for opening the latest pic/vid from thumbnail preview in google camera.

                I'd suggest Heliboard for typing, DeepL for translations and Mixplorer for file management. But the corresponding Google apps can also be good options for you. Gboard works fine without network permission and without Google Play Services.