I use an alternative side-loaded Instagram app called Instander which blocks ads and comes with other nice features. I don't use the platform much anyhow, but when I do it makes the experience actually tolerable.

I use Niagara with a live wallpaper called Wallow. It just creates a beautiful and simplified experience for me that has all the features I need and gets out of my way when I don't.

The Pixels get 3 years of major version upgrades and 5 years of security updates from Google. After that point if the battery is still working well enough for you, you could always try installing something like Graphene OS on it.

I see lots of love for Linux in the comments which is awesome, but is there anyone considering making a hackintosh out of their machine? Is that a good route to go these days?

I honestly get where you're coming from as I went through a similar process of hating Windows, trying to make Linux work for me and just ending up back on Windows. I finally settled on Nobara Linux, but in my personal opinion it might be worth looking into Linux Mint for you if you want a rock solid distro. I installed Mint for my girlfriend not too long ago and everything magically worked with Nvidia drivers, wallpapers, Discord screen sharing, etc. I was so impressed that I considered distro hopping one last time.

I appreciate your thoughtful reply! I guess it does boil down to a difference in how people like to consume content. I prefer being able to get a digest or summary of interesting things to read and don't care so much about what's brand new. Using AI for this could work well and I'm sure we'll see that pretty soon.

And certainly you're right about needing a willingness to jump in. I always feel like whatever I have to say is less important than what others are doing which scares me out of posting. That's why I like places like Lemmy where I can make a post and if people see it that's cool, but it's not in everyone's face and easy to ignore.

I'm currently running Nobara and I really vibe with the Gnome desktop and Fedora in general. However, I recently installed Linux Mint for my girlfriend's gaming rig and I was surprised by how lightweight and responsive it felt. It was also dead simple to use during the entire setup process and I can absolutely see how you'd never need to enter a terminal if you didn't want to. If I ever have a reason to leave Nobara, I'm definitely going to go with Mint!

Proud of you for breaking the habit! Not sure if you're masc or fem, but I'm masc and all I do is clip them before they get too long which helps prevent the buildup of dirt. Nail clippers also usually have a little scraper attachment that works great for getting dirt out when you notice it. I've never felt the need to file my nails, but you may prefer the extra smoothness!

It's not on F-Droid, but I use BlipBlip for this exact thing. It's an old app sadly, but still works on Android 14. There's a ton of customization options which you might find useful.

My parents got me my first video game when I was 3 years old called Ready for Math with Pooh. I still remember some of the games!

On Firefox I like Nimbus for advanced screenshots and Raindrop.io as my available-everywhere bookmark manager.

I was just watching a couple friends of mine stream Remnant 2 earlier and it does look pretty slick. It seems there is at least one puzzle that requires co-op to fully solve, and there may be more further in just so you and others are aware.

It uses hardly any in my experience! My Weather Channel widget uses more just from refreshing in the background.