Michael G

Gentle updates postponed

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This Week in F-Droid

TWIF curated on Thursday, 09 Jan 2025, Week 2

F-Droid core

How is the new Client 1.22.0-alpha0 update working for you? Did you notice any updates that seem stuck? Brave testers did. We mentioned last week that the new “gentle update” API might be troublesome, and indeed both internal testing and your reports showed as much. Apps that cling to foreground services to be able to run and serve you continuously like an email app, a music player or even a keyboard app, will not be updated unless either force closed or (for the keyboard) deselected as an input method.

It was decided to postpone the usage of this feature until we find a way to update such apps as well. What does this mean? Your music might stop for 2 seconds on update or your email client will restart. Might be annoying for a bit but it’s for a good cause. This change will come with a future alpha update and we will announce this then too.

Community News

If you can read Italian (or just use Fennecs translate feature), Enrico Zoia has prepared a new “Goodbye Big Tech: How to replace the most common apps on your smartphone with Open Source versions” article for you to start your year with. It takes just 10 minutes.

Fossify Paint, Quick, easy and open source drawing app, is here and now we can archive the old Simple Draw Pro. Go ahead, switch!

As mentioned in the last TWIF of 2024 the Privacy oriented web browser Mull has stopped development. As a new version of Firefox was released, and will be built in the next cycle, we marked Mull with the Known Vulnerability anti-feature to signal to users the need to switch to a currently developed browser instead. We recommend Fennec F-Droid.

OpenTracks (Non-reproducible) was updated to v4.17.5irreproducible adding this new strange name. Why? Because we now also include OpenTracks (Reproducible build), A sport tracker buddy that respects your privacy, which is the same app but signed by the developer, and built and verified reproducible by F-Droid. If you want, you can switch to the reproducible version doing an export and import of your tracks.

@linsui has the gist on proxies:

Exclave, Proxy client, was just added, a fork of the discontinued SagerNet. As we mentioned in TWIF 9 of 2024, the author of SagerNet published sing-box as a successor of SagerNet. Sing-box is a great app, but many users prefer the design and rich features of SagerNet. @dyhkwong started Exclave as a fork of SagerNet and has added some more features to it. With dyhkwong’s help, Exclave is available in F-Droid now with reproducible builds! There are some plugins but they are not packaged for F-Droid. Please get them from upstream.

Removed Apps

2 more apps were removed
  • foodsharing: Share food instead of throwing it away! (API has evolved, a new app might be coming)
  • Text Tools: Useful text related functions that can be done on the selected text

Newly Added Apps

4 more apps were newly added

Updated Apps

235 more apps were updated

(expand for the full list)

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VLC gets caught in “AI” hype, adds “AI” subtitles and translations

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VLC media player, the popular open-source software developed by nonprofit VideoLAN, has topped 6 billion downloads worldwide and teased an AI-powered subtitle system. The new feature automatically generates real-time subtitles — which can then also be translated in many languages — for any video using open-source AI models that run locally on users’ devices, eliminating the need for internet connectivity or cloud services, VideoLAN demoed at CES. ↫ Manish Singh at TechCrunch VLC is choosing to throw users who rely on subtitles for accessibility or translation reasons under the bus. Using speech-to-text and even “AI” as a starting point for a proper accessibility expert of translator is fine, and can greatly reduce the workload. However, as anyone who works with STT and “AI” translation software knows, their output is highly variable and wildly unreliable, especially once English isn’t involved. Dumping the raw output of these tools onto people who rely on closed captions and subtitles to even be able to view videos is not only lazy, it’s deeply irresponsible and demonstrates a complete lack of respect and understanding. I was a translator for almost 15 years, with two university degrees on the subject to show for it. This is obviously a subject close to my heart, and the complete and utter lack of respect and understanding from Silicon Valley and the wider technology world for proper localisation and translation has been a thorn in my side for decades. We all know about bad translations, but it goes much deeper than that – with Silicon Valley’s utter disregard for multilingual people drawing most of my ire. Despite about 60 million people in the US alone using both English and Spanish daily, software still almost universally assumes you speak only one language at all times, often forcing fresh installs for something as simple as changing a single application’s language, or not even allowing autocorrect on a touch keyboard to work with multiple languages simultaneously. I can’t even imagine how bad things are for people who, for instance, require closed-captions for accessibility reasons. Imagine just how bad the “AI”-translated Croation closed-captions on an Italian video are going to be – that’s two levels of “AI” brainrot between the source and the ears of the Croation user. It seems subtitles and closed captions are going to be the next area where technology companies are going to slash costs, without realising – or, more likely, without giving a shit – that this will hurt users who require accessibility or translations more than anything. Seeing even an open source project like VLC jump onto this bandwagon is disheartening, but not entirely unexpected – the hype bubble is inescapable, and a lot more respected projects are going to throw their users under the bus before this bubble pops. …wait a second. Why is VLC at CES in the first place?

Erdoğan Bahçeli’yi 16:30’da ziyaret edecek

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Video by via Dailymotion Source Sosyal Medya Hesaplarımız… Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/AkitTVOfficialTwitter : https://twitter.com/akittvInstagram : https://www.instagram.com/akittvGoogle+ : https://plus.google.com/+akittvWeb Site : http://www.akittv.com.tr Go to Source

Mga kababaihang nagpupursiging makasampa o makahawak sa lubid ng andas, dumarami | 24 Oras

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Video by via Dailymotion Source Bihira noon ang pagsampa ng mga kababaihan sa andas ng Poong Jesus Nazareno. Pero sa paglipas ng mga taon, nagbago na ito at ngayon, marami na rin ang lakas loob na nakikipagsabayan sa mga kalalakihan. 24 Oras is GMA Network’s flagship newscast, anchored by Mel Tiangco, Vicky Morales and Emil … Read more

Elecrow CrowPanel ESP32 4.2” E-Paper HMI Display Partial Refresh Demo | ESP32 | E-Paper | IoT |

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In this video, we showcase a partial refresh demo on the CrowPanel ESP32 4.2” E-Paper HMI Display, where you can effortlessly set your favorite photos in a stunning black-and-white format. Learn how to modify and upload the code to the CrowPanel ESP32 E-Paper Display using the Arduino IDE, making customization simple and seamless. Additionally, we demonstrate how to convert images into code using the Image2CPP tool (https://javl.github.io/image2cpp/) and display them on the E-Paper screen. Perfect for those looking to enhance their DIY projects with E-Paper technology. Watch, learn, and bring your creative ideas to life!

The CrowPanel ESP32 4.2” E-Paper HMI Display offers a high-resolution 400×300 pixel display in black and white. Powered by the ESP32-S3 chip, it ensures efficient performance and fast data transmission through the SPI interface. This display is perfect for various applications, including electronic labels, e-readers, and smart home devices.

🚀Key Features:
➡️Ultra-Low Power Consumption: Only consumes power when refreshing, extending battery life.
➡️Pure Reflective Mode: Clear readability in direct sunlight without the need for backlight.
➡️Power-Off Display Retention: Retains content even when powered off.
➡️Wide Compatibility: Compatible with Arduino IDE, ESP IDF, and MicroPython for easy development.
➡️Durable Design: Hard-coated anti-glare surface and protective white acrylic shell.

🚀Get Yours: https://www.elecrow.com/crowpanel-esp32-4-2-e-paper-hmi-display-with-400-300-resolution-black-white-color-driven-by-spi-interface.html?idd=6
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#CrowPanel #ESP32 #EPaperDisplay #ArduinoIDE #Image2CPP #CodingTutorial #DIYProjects #BlackAndWhiteDisplay #TechTutorial #ArduinoProjects