Thanks, I use darktable, but will give it a try!

I’ve updated my OP with some interesting new details!

Thanks, I’ll give Digikam a try!

I’ve updated my OP with some interesting new details!

Thanks. I use Immich, but when I tagged a photo then saved it back to my computer, the geotagging was gone (but HDR was still intact). It’s as if it saves it to its own database, and I can’t find any settings to confirm.

The way AdGuard does it, is it has you install a certificate on your phone, which then allows you to block ads and trackers within HTTPS pipelines. If you don’t do that, then it can only block HTTP requests, which tends to be pretty low quality filtering. In addition, I also enable DNS blocking through AdGuard DNS service, so it’s kind of like blanket coverage.

I haven’t honestly found anything that does the same thing, or at least not at the same level of quality. So I’m always curious to see if something new has come out that can reach this level of filtering performance.

Well, none of the phone’s I’ve owned in the last 5+ years have been very “root friendly”, so I haven’t rooted since then.

But it gives you a ton of (not risk-free) options to tweak your system. Shizuku is a cool alternative, but it is limited by comparison.

Can anyone tell me if this filters HTTPS requests?

That’s one feature that keeps me using Adguard, and it makes a huge difference to the filtering ability/quality.

I actually really like TrackerControl, but use Adguard instead for the same purpose (can’t use them at the same time, unfortunately, since they both work through a local VPN).

The difference, though, is that Blocker stops apps from even loading the component that would “call home”, where TrackerControl and Adguard try to block those connections after they’ve been sent by the app.

Yes, you kind of accomplish the same thing, but I would love to be able to prevent apps from using these SDKs in the first place :)

I’m not looking to delete apps, just stop certain components within apps.

For example, my banking app uses the Google Ads, Google Firebase Analytics, and Adobe analytics, and I’d like to disable those from running without uninstalling the banking app.

Basically, it disables the bad parts of an app :)

I used to do this when I was into rooting and custom firmware, but I really don’t want to go full root with my current phone.

It’s not permissions that I want to block/stop, but actual receivers, services, SDKs… components within apps. So, something like the analytics services can be disabled, rather than “blocked” like using an adblocker.

I used to do this when I was rooted years ago, and it was great!

Well, shit. It’s strange how so many places recommend Blocker when using Shizuku, but it really needs Root to be useful.

Synology. Whatever is in your budget.

Yes, they’ve done things to piss off the community, and sure, a DIY build is going to give you more control and powerful hardware.

But you can get support (though Synology or the Internet communities of users), and if any family member ever needs to take it over, it’ll be easy for them to pick up and manage.

Very cool. Thanks for the recommendation.

tp link routers tend to run openwrt pretty well.

Of course, I have the TP-Link router that isn’t well-supported 😖

I kind of miss my old Linksys routers, which officially supported third-party firmware.

Yes, when you mount the external library (when setting up docker), you can set it as read-only. 👌

Fucking legend! I’m going to spend the weekend exploring these apps and see what changes I can make on my phone. 👍

My use case:

I use a Synology NAS to backup my photos/videos. On mobile, I use the Synology Photos app for 100% of the backups, because it’s been 100% reliable for me over the years.

I basically run Immich in read-only mode, and specifically for searches. The contextual search is incredible, and after putting it side-by-side with a very expensive Windows software that uses local AI search, it came out on top… no contest.

So in that sense, I’m very happy!

Are those green mini icons an indication of a PWA shortcut?

I use the app Hermit to run isolated websites, usually as PWAs. It’s replaced quite a few apps, but I’ve noticed that many companies are intentionally making their web experience shit so they force you to use invasive apps.

Anyway, it can create home icons for those sites, and they run separately (i.e. in your task switcher), so it works better than browser shortcuts.

Enforces privacy laws

I mean, there didn’t seem to be any consequences. No fines or anything like that. They were basically told that they can’t use facial recognition for what they were using it for, but there are others ways they could still use it (outlined in the article).

They were given a free-pass, it seems.

Also no native Linux app so I could only use it on the app on my phone.

You can use their web interface to view/control certain models on your local network: https://support.reolink.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003981973-How-to-Remotely-Access-Reolink-Cameras-NVRs-via-a-Web-Browser/

I have the Reolink Home Hub (doesn’t support all my Reolink cameras, but enough), and I’m able to use the browser interface on Linux no problem. Of course, the app is more feature rich, but that depends on your needs, too.

I’m sure you can even access this interface through the net via remote proxy or something similar.

but in a recent firmware update they disabled the http and https capabilities

Yeah, they suck with their firmware. One of my cameras was locked out… literally unable to view, playback, or control it until I got in touch with Reolink tech support so they could force an update through. It took several days and a lot of effort to clear that up. Not cool!

I started using it last week, simply because other options weren’t playing nice with my self-hosted collection (they wanted local files…).

Seems to work well, but it is very basic.