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Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

• hackerpain 6y ago
  Install code-server (https://github.com/cdr/code-server https://github.com/cdr/code-server) on a server, and using it in your phone's browser to develop small web apps (works well in landscape mode with 6 -6.7 inch phones) If you have a powerful processor and adequate RAM - you can do almost any thing that you do on desktop/pc
• chris5745 6y ago
  I hear you. I’d like a phone that I can plug into a desktop station and use as a desktop computer. Surprised Microsoft didn’t go that route with Windows phone.
  • renoturx 6y ago
    They did with Continuum, but Windows phone was already on the way out as they got in the phone market way too late. https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13881930/microsoft-turn-a-phone-into-a-pc-arm-continuum https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13881930/microsoft-turn-a...
• st1x7 6y ago
  I still don't get the motivation behind this. If you want to consume less stuff on your phone, you can reduce the consumption without replacing it with anything - you don't have a phone time quota that you need to meet on any given day, just cut down on the things you don't like. When you're creating anything, it makes sense to do it in the best possible environment that you have for it - I would rather write code on a laptop instead of using a phone and I would pick a desktop computer over the laptop. Phones are rarely the best environment for any creative task apart from maybe pictures, videos, vlogs and other social media stuff (if we can put those in the creative category).
  • billfruit 6y ago
    Thing is, people find themselves in many situations where they have a spot of free time, and the phone is the only object available at hand. How can one use that time to create/build something rather than using it in consuming some sort of media.
    • davzie 6y ago
      It’s actually okay to do nothing instead! Constantly keeping the mind entertained doesn’t give the poor thing any breathing space or time to come up with it’s own entertainment!
  • layer8 6y ago
    So much this. To get real work done (creative or not), you want a desktop OS and a big screen, keyboard and mouse.
    • michaericalribo 6y ago
      Yeah, I want that, but if I’m standing in line at the grocery store, I’m not at my desk, I don’t have a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Those tools may be good for some situations. But what about all the other situations? Some of the best art is created under adversity. To be clear, the grocery line isn’t an adverse situation. But being in prison, working a physical / manual job, poverty—these are all adverse situations people face every day that prevent them from accessing the tools you mentioned, but I simply don’t believe they cannot or should not make art.
      • st1x7 6y ago
        If you're in line in the grocery store, not taking out your phone to fill those 30 seconds and just being there by yourself might be better for your creativity than opening an app and pretending that you have accomplished something in that time.
        • deleted 6y ago
• throwaway524 6y ago
  Premiere Rush/TikTok/Instagram Reels is pretty good.
• jbjbjbjb 6y ago
  I don’t get why you want to use your phone? Is there some added convenience? To create you could use your phone’s camera to record and post videos, you could do some writing maybe even use speech to text conversion, there are various synths you can get for phones. I personally use apps for astronomy and workouts which is about as productive as I get on my phone.
• SurfingInVR 6y ago
  Your example is answered with Garageband. For programming, use a language with a REPL that's light on syntax. The built-in "Notes" app is exceptional for writing poetry. Alternatively, you could use a Mosh client, but with how fast modern phones are, it would be kind of a waste.
• wtmt 6y ago
  Since you mentioned Final Cut, I’m going to assume you’re using an iPhone. For music, there’s GarageBand from Apple. There are many third party apps too, many being free as well. For visuals, you have iMovie from Apple and many other painting/image/video/animation apps, also with many being free too.
• hliyan 6y ago
  I think what you may be looking for is a device that allows you to type in text without requiring a surface on which to place it (while seated on a bus, lying down in bed). I've always wanted something similar myself, but mobile keyboards don't make it easy for you to type without having to focus your gaze directly on the keyboard. Perhaps someone could invent a device where your hands rest on a keyboard while the screen rests on your hands?
  • sieste 6y ago
    Or try Stephen Wolfram's setup: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/data/uploads/2019/02/07-popcorn-rig1.png https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/data/uploads/2019/02/07-...
• kgwxd 6y ago
  Touch screens are the worst possible input for anything productive. Maybe if there was far less latency, you could make some decent music but, in my experience, anything beyond basic, unexpressive rhythm, chords, and melodies are the best you can achieve. Nuance can be added in post, but that's tedious and sucks the life out the process. I don't draw, but I know doing it on a touch screen is far more painful than paper. I think alternative input devices are a must, at which point you might as well just use a laptop. That might not be practical if you're on-the-go e.g. riding the bus. If you're not, then why use a phone?
  • troyvit 6y ago
    I have to disagree. My daughter started drawing on paper but quickly moved a tablet. What she can do is faster and more precise than a) what she can do on paper, and b) what modern desktop drawing software can do. I think she'd call her style cartoonish for sure, so maybe drawing something other than interesting characters doing weird things is beyond touch screens, but the ability to generate, combine, and manipulate elements in a drawing app on a tablet blows anything else I've seen out of the water in terms of the quality of the end result and the speed at which she can achieve it. And yeah I'm probably a little biased.
  • vimy 6y ago
    > I don't draw, but I know doing it on a touch screen is far more painful than paper. You have it backwards. Digital blows paper out of the water. And the iPad Pro with an Apple pencil is eating Wacom’s lunch.
• blindpixel 6y ago
  Try making some art. You can use art apps to remix old photos and also to generate completely new pieces. Not sure about iOS, but on Android there are fantastic apps like Glitch Lab, Mirror Lab, and so on. Here is a link to art made on Android using Mirror Lab: https://www.instagram.com/mirror_lab/ https://www.instagram.com/mirror_lab/
  • peterlk 6y ago
    Yes! This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for. There appear to be some interesting fractal apps as well. Any other suggestions?
    • blindpixel 6y ago
      On my iPad, I have briefly used Amaziograph and Kaleidacam. Other apps are Hyperspektiv, Glitche etc. You can also buy the iPhone version of Procreate which is a super sweet painting app. Besides that, I use Garageband and Beathawk on my iPad to compose music.
    • aesclepius 6y ago
      Heavypaint is a fantastic abstract drawing tool that's fun to do while you're killing time. Here's a great example of how easy it is to get into: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL3ho4Vc7Ng https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL3ho4Vc7Ng)
• michaericalribo 6y ago
  This is a great question! I think other commenters miss the basic point that mobile is frictionless and can be used anywhere. I think OP is thinking along the following lines: I’m on the bus / in the loo / waiting for my lunch to heat in the microwave. How can I use these moments to produce creatively? I already have a great tool that I know can deliver content efficiently and accessibly to me in these situations—I use my phone here already. But are there any ways to change my behavior to not flick through another feed, but actually advance my own creative goals? Successfully being a creative person isn’t a matter of ‘tear it all down and start from scratch.’ It’s important to use the resources that are already available to us! For my part, I wish it was easier to write long form quickly. Writing this on an iPad keyboard just now sucked—light years less efficient than on my computer keyboard. And my phone is even worse! But I often want to journal in bed or write fiction away from my desk. Are there better ways to input lots of text quickly?
  • blackbear_ 6y ago
    I really dislike long form articles, I feel like the author never gets to the point, only jumping from one digression to another. Perhaps difficulty in writing could be an incentive to write shorter and more focused articles :)
    • michaericalribo 6y ago
      You’re talking about consuming the writing-very different. There are many situations where length has nothing to do with content, and you’re ignoring art forms that are fundamentally long form—film screenplays, novels, (some) investigative journalism. Just because it’s not to your taste doesn’t mean it’s not important :)
    • michaericalribo 6y ago
      Unless you meant the post you were replying to never got to the point, and should have been shorter and more focused...I can agree w that! :P
    • Veen 6y ago
      Essays historically originated---with Montaigne's Essais---as discursive, digressive, long-form prose. They are a prose artform that attempts to achieve more than a straightforward information dump. You might not like the form, and there are certainly many bad examples, but a long essay is no more a failure to write a short blog article than a poem is a failure to write a news report.
• robjan 6y ago
  The only thing I can think of is writing a blog if that's of interest to you. If you use wordpress of blogspot you can use their app to write drafts then edit whatever you wrote on a desktop.
  • michaericalribo 6y ago
    Any alternatives to a touchpad screen for text input? Touchscreens are garbage for writing...
    • sova 6y ago
      SpeechNotes
• technoryt 6y ago
  If you have a phone with a pen (e.g., Galaxy Note), sketching is rather fun. FWIW, I use Adobe Sketch, for which I get a license through work. Not quite creating but also not quite passive consuming: Anki or other apps for learning (when I am in a good period, downtime becomes opportunities for buffing up geography and music).
  • michaericalribo 6y ago
    Agreed with this ! The Apple Pencil w an ipad and Adobe sketch is endless fun, and a really new way for me to interact w the world around me!
• thiht 6y ago
  You can simply take pictures and videos. There's lot of inspired and inspiring shorts on Tiktok for instance.
• djaahk 6y ago
  Great question and something I’ve been struggling with as well. A few things I like to do to make “down time” more productive: - listen to podcasts and take notes, which I then turn into mini mind maps (it helps me remember concepts and linking ideas together) - I do brand and marketing work, so I often use phone time to doodle early logo concepts, draft storyboards, start composing shots for photo shoots... etc. I find the constraints of the small screen quite interesting as it obliges me to veer towards simpler designs (I use Google Keep which allows for zooming in and out easily, and seamlessly integrates with the laptop version) - whiteboarding (again in Google Keep or Miro) is also something I love to do on a phone, usually for processes and/or identity systems where I’d collate references for a projects into a single document for future use - photo editing / story editing using VSCO and Over is a great way to use phone time productively. I often prepare visuals for blog posts or social stories that way, - financial planning (probably less creative than the rest, but also a good way to spend phone time and many workflows are actually faster on mobile): I use a virtual bank (Monzo, in the U.K.) so I use phone time to label/categorise spend, visualise budgets, pay anything that needs paying and create simpler invoices with a Google Sheet template and pdf exports to Dropbox Many more options, but these are my major uses. Looking forward to reading the other answers!
• Bmalone 6y ago
  Do a tech/ social media fast...it sounds like you would benefit from being more imaginative,as there are already a dearth of applications out there to aid creativity (or, even to fool people into thinking they are creative, i.e. GarageBand loops, etc). From the basic 'notes' app included in all phones for creative writing, to the camera for photography, to FL studio app for music. Not only for you, but for myself and many other people who like to 'make stuff', a good tech/ social media detox to spark some imagination is the only thing I think will truly get you being creative (myself included). The paradox of choice out there, coupled with instant gratification is a productivity/ creativity killer...get that imagination firing again!
• yoz-y 6y ago
  As somebody with no music making skill I quite liked using arpeggiators like Figure.
• novosel 6y ago
  I rather enjoy writing longhand, and closest in feel to it is Dasher[0]. Don't get me wrong, keyboard entry is, in my opinion, a superior option for moving across large amount of text; and Dasher is indeed an accessibility writing system, but I like it's single-handed interface and _ex tempore_ feel that I also get from writing by hand. And the fact that the right hand side of the GUI is in fact a Borges' Library of Babel, is extremely suggestive to my mind. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasher_(software) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasher_(software)
  • yorwba 6y ago
    I tried the Dasher app available on F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/packages/dasher.android/ https://f-droid.org/packages/dasher.android/ Not updated since 2013, but I guess that just means it's in a stable state. Trying to write with it was a trippy experience: just forging ahead without steering generated some interesting nonsense text, but even then it felt quite slow. Getting it to write exactly what I intended was rather challenging. (I did not have the patience to try writing this comment in Dasher.)
    • novosel 6y ago
      Well, it's vocabulary grows to accommodate your writing habits. And nothing is ever erased, there is a txt file containing everything you've written. You can jump-start it with a txt collection of your particular writing style/lexicon. For me, the speed is not an issue. I feel like the speed/responsiveness of the medium is inversely related to the length of the final text. Speed of light for the poetry, longhand for a novel. There is a reason why old prose is such a lengthy affair, and why it so often flirts with the letter writing trope. (That is probably anchored in the rhetoric schooling of the writers of old.) N.B. I have been using only the desktop version of the Dasher. Nor did I use it to write this reply.
• imjustsaying 6y ago
  Use the phone's web browser, open eBay and buy a laptop
• core-questions 6y ago
  Propellerhead Figure + Loopy HD = make electronic music entirely on your phone. You'd be surprised how far down the rabbit hole you can go for less than $20 invested.
• jelliclesfarm 6y ago
  i am using it to learn music and modulate my voice. it's an app called Riyaz for indian classical music training. there are so many apps out there and during covid time, i can brush up on my forgotten childhood music lessons. i just got a controller board and i am learning a different kind of music theory. none of this would be possible without my phone and how it connects me to the rest of the world. i listen to audiobooks constantly when i walking or gardening or practicing my punches. but here is my favourite: i am learning astrology and i have downloaded an astrology app which gives me info at the fingertips..something that would have been pretty unthinkable a few years ago. there is a technique called prashna with indian vedic astrology. you can make predictions based on the positions of planets at that exact second when a question is posed. you dont need to know anything about any person's birthtime etc. it is the astrology of 'that moment' in time..not a person. so far, this has only been theory from the books. experienced astrologers good in math can calculate in a jiffy. not for the newbies or the students. they can also tell the time by watching shadows..not everyone of us can do that. anyways.. now we can test it and draw prashna charts on demand to learn and cross check. i know there arent a lot of astrology buffs here..much less indian astrology. but as a student of jyotish and i am sure for others who have more experience w/astrology too, this is a game changer. and now we can conduct more research and test everything from the reams of ancient texts. it is very exciting.
• filoeleven 6y ago
  Check out this video from MylarMelodies about playing Moogfest with just an iPhone. https://youtu.be/PEC_JL5pf10 https://youtu.be/PEC_JL5pf10 Mobiles have a pretty great ecosystem of audio creation apps. Standard synths and sequencers abound, and there are lots of weirdo instruments to play with too. Using Audiobus or AUM lets you drop effects onto audio synths (or any sound source really) and control them via sequencers (check out Fugue Machine), most apps support this. It’s a lot like playing with modular synths, and you can stick GarageBand or some other DAW at the end to record your improvised sessions; I believe some can do multitrack recording as well. I bought an iPad Pro back in 2016 specifically for music production. I got a lot of mileage in particular out of Loopy, the most versatile loop “pedal” I’ve ever seen. $5 gets you a 12-track looper/mixer with an intuitive touch interface and lots of advanced features. It’s iOS only though.
• powersnail 6y ago
  Having tried to do a lot on smartphones, I'd say I have given up most of them. Editing texts on a touch screen is quite miserable for me, and I get thumb cramp after sending a lot of texts. Speech-to-text is great, but I still have to edit a lot, especially when what I talk about isn't pure English. I now carry a notepad and pen with me. One thing that can be done effectively is recording. Whether it's recording a video or audio, modern smart phone is better than cameras in terms of usability. I don't edit on the phone though. It's still too small a screen to be comfortable. I also want to point out that not all consumption is unproductive. If you are reading/watching videos critically, it's a very enriching experience. You can learn a new recipe, analyze some music, etc. Reading emails, sending important texts, making reservations, etc., especially if you are going to do it at some point anyway, are also productive.
• nanomonkey 6y ago
  This is a two part problem. One you need a better input capabilities than what a normal touchscreen keyboard provides. For this there are only a few options that are mobile. Either whip out a blue tooth keyboard, which is hardly applicable if you're standing, or use a chording keyboard such as the twiddler[0]. The later take some time to learn, and are still somewhat awkward, in that you look like you're carrying a detonator device in your hand at all time. The second problem is that most mobile devices are walled gardens that don't allow you full access to your pocket computer's sensors and filesystem. This makes piping the output of one program into another (even say an editor, to email or a compiler) difficult, to say the least. In this case you really need to jailbreak your phone, or purchase an open option such as a PinePhone. [0](https://twiddler.tekgear.com/ https://twiddler.tekgear.com/)
• Ldorigo 6y ago
  All my idle phone time is spent creating (and answering) anki flashcards. I usually have wikipedia or a textbook open on half the screen, and anki on the other half. Whenever I find something I want to remember, I make a flashcard for it. Not sure if it fits your definition of "creating" content, but it's one of the best ways I found to optimize idle time on my phone.
• Normille 6y ago
  A lot of the comments are looking to find ways to get around the fact that entering text on a phone is a pain. Others have suggested creating 'art' but, personally I find a phone screen far too small for drawing on. If you want to 'create' with your phone, why not use the feature it has which is actually as good as [and in some aspects better than] the equivalent 'proper' equipment. ie. the camera. I'm a keen amateur photographer and have actually sold my SLR and compact cameras and now use my phone for 100% of my photography. It may lack some of the capabilities of my proper cameras, but [like most modern phone cameras] it's very good indeed and light years ahead of the equipment many of history's greatest photographers had access to, in their time. And, as the famous quote says; "The best camera is the one you have with you" [and who of us leaves the house without our phones, these days?] Next time you're thumb-twiddling somewhere, why not set yourself a photography project to kill the time: * Find and photograph 'faces' in everyday objects * Pick a random word [for example off a billboard] and take photos on that 'theme' * Pretend you're a news photographer and record 'stories' on your journey to wherever you're going * Photograph some everyday objects from weird angles and see if your mates can recognise them * Try and find some 'beauty' in decay; dilapidated buildings, rubbish, grafitti, etc. ....and so on.
  • mrkwse 6y ago
    Phone photography is brilliant nowadays. In recent years with the emergence of computational photography, smartphones present a fantastically accessible way of creating very decent images. You'll have certain constraints caused by the lack of a zoom lens (or limited alternate zoom cameras), but such constraints often can lead to good creative challenges. The single best thing about smartphone photography vs. a dedicated SLR/mirrorless camera, however, is the ease of editing images with the varied apps that provide all sorts of creative control (with degrees of involvement/automatic adjustment).
  • blackrock 6y ago
    This scene comes to mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu8_8TJC9E8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu8_8TJC9E8
  • gala8y 6y ago
    > A lot of the comments are looking to find ways to get around the fact that entering text on a phone is a pain. Years ago I bought a small, pricey bluetooth keyboard. It's been my companion in travels since then. Connecting takes a second and amount of time and hassle saved is enormous. Some people would call me strange ('oh, oh, nobody does that, you must be strange'). I couldn't care less. It's wonderful when flow strikes you... wherever.
• high_byte 6y ago
  Phone, phone, phone, phone, phone... so many times this word is used here, yet nobody suggested LITERALLY USING THE PHONE? Example: I just discovered an app called DialUp(.com) which calls and connects you with people at predefined times. Used it twice so far and I'm loving it. I also think emailing is just perfect, so whenever you are comfortable (e.g. from bed) it's a great way to make good use of the time. Other plain-text (like commenting on Hacker News!) works great as well. And lastly, consuming can work efficiently too - I would make the distinction between mindless- and mindful-tasks. Watching Netflix is mostly mindless, while viewing educational content could be mindful (could be video but better yet text)
• nbzso 6y ago
  Started shooting on my iPhone 4, yes its portable but lacks optics quality, moved to Leica M8, moved †hen to film. If you are film shooter and want small camera Rollei 35 is the tool. Of all the cameras that I own, I use Leica M3 and Leica M240 exclusively. Its ultimate photography experience and yes, the lenses are sublime and filled with artistic rendering. Mobile phones are devices with goal to replace all the devices, in reality they are good companion, device for quick capture of ideas.
• Grismar 6y ago
  The camera is only one of the ways you can use your phone to record the world around you. Voice recorders and note-taking apps are great to quickly capture your ideas when they are still fresh.
• rasengan 6y ago
  You could use shells.com to turn your mobile phone into a desktop.
• AlanWalker99 6y ago
  Definitely check out shells.com!
• quda 6y ago
  If I could find a FOSS notepad with integrated voice recognition/translation in multiple languages (English is not my mother tongue) the phone would be the perfect creativity tool for me!
• deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
• fdiskl 6y ago
  I am a musician. I use my phone for the things I can do while I'm outside the studio / with no access to an instrument. This means like listening to demos, taking notes on things I'd like to change, humming into the recorder app to save an idea for later, etc. So in that tine on a train, waiting for the doctor, etc., I consume my own stuff so I can possibly better create later.
• austinjp 6y ago
  Send physical postcards of photos you take with your phone. There are several apps that do this. It's surprisingly charming to receive a postcard by snail mail, and to send them. Take a photo, share a thought with someone, and participate in the delayed gratification that all previous generations have benefitted from.
• grammarnazzzi 6y ago
  To be productive, you have to use the right tools in a distraction-free environment. If you want to update one of the synths in a song you are working on, use your workstation. If you want to procrastinate and waste time, then obsess over using your phone to do something it was never designed to do
• oxplot 6y ago
  - Stop animation - Use with larger screen as a thin client to cloud
• y2bd 6y ago
  On iOS I’d heavily recommend GrooveBox and (recently-released) Flip for creating tunes on the go. GrooveBox is synth driven, Flip is sample driven, and both are great at working on sketches in your free time. Before the pandemic, I spent many a bus-ride commute making short songs in GrooveBox.
• ogou 6y ago
  I use my iPhone 7 for a wide variety of creative video and audio projects. It's getting harder now though, because UI funnels that arrive with updates sometimes strip custom workflows I come up with. App developers seem to be moving to in-app purchases of preset packs instead of creative controls. Here is a gallery of ~1 minute abstract videos with custom soundtracks. The apps I used were LumaFusion, Synthscaper, Fieldscaper, Defekt, FilterStack, Fragment, Kino Glitch, 8mm, Hyperspektiv, Plotagraph, and Virtual ANS. https://lucidbeaming.com/glitch/ https://lucidbeaming.com/glitch/ Here is a music video for U.K. metal band DAMIM that was made entirely on my phone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6OZVXYamOQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6OZVXYamOQ I have also used the phone as a movement based MIDI controller with AC Sabre and arpeggiator with Fugue Machine. An old code project was to make a phone based web app to control Zynaddsubfx (synthesizer) running on a Raspberry Pi. Fun learning project for Node. https://github.com/lucidbeaming/ZynAddSubFX-WebApp https://github.com/lucidbeaming/ZynAddSubFX-WebApp
• ivanmaeder 6y ago
  Using my phone I go through these thoughts almost daily—I've read all the news, caught up on email/messages, then: why can't I do more with this thing? To add to some of the already good comments: * Writing and thinking. The kind that starts in one place and takes you somewhere more interesting. E.g., "Think up 5 different ways a user might achieve X." * Other adjacent/admin tasks that don't require a computer. E.g., cleaning out Trello * Studying. I've used YouTube and a Flashcards app
• bribri 6y ago
  O’Reilly books unlimited subscription. Always have something substantial to read instead of linkbait
• jlelse 6y ago
  Microblogging :)