If you want good X, buy it from a company whose whole existence is predicated on providing good X

I try to choose products and services by that heuristic. That pretty much excludes all ad-supported platforms.

Here's an updating list of technology I like and would recommend. Trying to put my money where my mouth is, I've marked the ones I have paid/donated/am paying for with 🩶

Mobile apps

• Librera Reader 🩶
  • I actually salvaged an Android 4 tablet, managed to force it to 5 and then install this baby on it. Makes for a pretty good offline e-book reader
• Loop habit tracker
• Simple Mobile Tools 🩶
  • I'm using their Gallery and Calendar apps and might expand further
• Feeder RSS reader
• Auxio audio player
• FlorisBoard
• Signal 🩶
  • also has a desktop app
• Firefox
  • listed here since I also recommend it on phones, but naturally it's also my desktop browser
  • 🩶 - donated to Mozilla for a while but as it turns out, hardly any of it goes to Firefox
  • Aaand apparently now Mozilla sells your data as well... Hurry up Orion 🙏

Web services

• Bear blog 🩶
  • this blogging platform right here! <3 Love the ethos and that the publishers pay for the platform instead of the readers
• Fastmail 🩶
  • especially love the generated email addresses. Somewhat worried about housing my email in a Five Eyes country, though...
• Kagi 🩶
  • When your customers pay you to provide a good search experience, that's what you'll do. Haven't had too "google" once after I switched
• Pi-Hole 🩶
  • running this baby on a Raspberry Pi W Zero keeps me and mine protected from unwanted network traffic whenever we're connected to the home network
• BitWarden 🩶
• Ente 🩶
  • a nice place to backup our photo collection
• NoScript (browser extension)
  • I like blocking all js by default and only allowing what I want/need. This also visualizes perfectly the obscene amount of tracking and other bs that fills some sites
• UBlock Origin (browser extension)
  • the first thing (after Firefox) I install everywhere. Runs well on Android as well
• Tridactyl 🩶
  • vim in the browser? Outrageous! Works well with Teams and Outlook

Shops and such

• Bandcamp
  • I'm trying to rebuild the 'library' I got used to over the many years of Spotify usage (stopped streaming in late 2023). It feels so nice to actually own the songs I love
• Fanatical
  • they have really nice DRM-free ebook bundles now and then

PCs

• Freetube Youtube client
  • I must admit, it feels right to 'steal' from Google. I support the creators I follow via other ways (Patreon mostly) so I don't feel too bad about it
• Bazzite
  • this is my current OS for the gaming PC. No-fuzz, everything works beautifully and the "Steam Deck"-mode makes for a fine gaming console experience
• Kubuntu
  • The default OS I'll first put on anything. Stays out of the way and Plasma is a very clean DE
• Steam Deck
  • the perfect handheld console for business trips etc. Also works as a proper PC when plugged to a USB dock

Work stuff

• Toggl Track time tracker
  • never ever impose this on your workers - the tracking is way too detailed to be used for good 😅 Only use it for personal tracking if you so desire
• Rider 🩶
  • Never looked back to Visual Studio once I moved over. Would be all I need if only the Azure Pipelines support was better..
• cmder
• Skoruba IdentityServer Admin apps
  • Just an excellent piece of OS software. Wish it was easier to donate work money...
  • SustainSys SAML2 allows IS to work with SAML2
• MediatR
• EF Core Power Tools 🩶