Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from JM Atoms. He’ll be bringing additional posts to this series over the coming weeks. While his views are generally inline with my own, his posts appearing on this site should not be considered endorsement of opinions expressed herein. This is not sponsored by Brave, we get no income from them. JM is just a big fan. Do You Even Need an App at All?Before getting into recommended apps in my next article you should first determine, of the apps you have installed, if the standalone app is needed in the first place.  Most services have a web browser interface that functions almost completely like the app itself.  Many of the most popular apps like YouTube, Gmail, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Twitter, Dropbox, OneDrive, any app in the Microsoft Office Suite, and countless others all have fully functional websites.  PizzaHut, Dominos, Wayback Burgers, and most restaurants, even a small local restaurant near me, all have websites that you can order ahead online. Reservation sites like OpenTable, Expedia, Priceline, Kayak, and all the others all work through a browser rather than an app. Click any of the links above for a screenshot preview. There […]

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from JM Atoms. He’ll be bringing additional posts to this series over the coming weeks. While his views are generally inline with my own, his posts appearing on this site should not be considered endorsement of opinions expressed herein. If you’re here, there are two things I assume you’re interested in: privacy and censorship.  The first thing we’ll dive into is privacy.  Privacy should be addressed first as it’s the foundation for virtually everything else to follow.  I assume you’re already familiar with the “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about” vs “I may or may not, but it’s none of your business regardless” arguments.  Perhaps I’ll write up something more in-depth later. The biggest leak to our privacy is the phone we carry in our pocket.  It listens to you. It listens to the people around you.  It knows where you’re going based on text messages and emails you write.  It tracks and keeps a history of where you’ve been.  Using the unique ID of your Bluetooth antenna it can keep track of all other people you come in proximity with. Your Bluetooth antenna can also be […]