BendyStraw vs Com-Phone Story Maker
Side-by-side comparison of two open source alternatives
BendyStraw
BendyStraw An app for managing NewPipe databases. BendyStraw imports NewPipeData-*.zip files and lets you: Open multiple zips at the same time, so you can combine data from several devices Delete Copy Move Rename your custom playlists Delete Copy Move streams from one playlist to another Delete Copy Move channel subscriptions between databases Delete Copy Move remote (bookmarked) playlists Re-order playlists, sorting the streams by Title, Channel or Length (just tap the column headings in the tables) Shuffle or reverse playlists Create new playlists Drag and drop tracks to re-order playlists After editing simply export a new zip file, then import it back into NewPipe. Import/export playlists: Streams (audio/video) can be opened directly from BendyStraw, as the URLs are clickable If you set video links (in your Android settings) to open in NewPipe you can make a split-screen view and jump around your playlists Export playlist as raw text, for example to be used with yt-dlp Import playlists from JSON (the button to do this is hidden by default, go to the settings menu to show it) Open as a temporary YouTube playlist in your browser Depending on your device settings YouTube might open in your browser or a web view or something else... to find out how to configure this do a web search for 'android set default apps' Dark/light themes Search your watch history to build new playlists Search through your watch history Results are displayed in a special search playlist and can be copied into other playlists Note about Permissions On Android 13+ BendyStraw asks for the manage external storage permission, here's why: A typical use-case for this app is to open several zip files, concurrently, from multiple locations including Download directories (these files would be, for example, multiple NewPipe exports from multiple devices, which you want to combine). Each zip is extracted so that its contained newpipe.db SQLite database can be read/written while you are editing. After editing, the extracted files are written back to a new zip, and/or overwrite the original zips. I aim to minimise the permissions I request in everything I build. Android 13 introduced changes to make doing what I decribed above difficult. I explored alternative methods requiring fewer permissions and felt that it compromised the user experience for my (as the app's first user) typical usage, making it more complicated and annoying. I treat users as responsible human beings, so give you this info to allow you to make an informed choice. If you are not happy with this, you can: Choose not to grant the permission, and uninstall the app. Check the source code to see that I'm not doing anything nefarious, or ask somebody to check it for you (at time
Com-Phone Story Maker
Com-Phone Story Maker helps you create multimedia narratives, combining photos, audio and text in exciting ways to tell digital stories. The app's simple interface helps you create your own photo slideshows to document your life; send to other devices running the application or play back locally; create templates; export as a movie; upload to YouTube; or, save a web version to self-publish. Each story can include any number of media frames. Each individual frame of the story can include an image or photo, up to three layered audio or music tracks, and text content. Anything in a frame can be edited at any time – for example, you can pause audio recording and then resume later, or load pictures from your media library. All elements of each frame are optional. For example, Com-Phone can also be used as an annotated photo diary, a simple audio recorder, a text and sound tool for discussion about current events, or even a multimedia survey app. A simple printable user manual is available at: https://digitaleconomytoolkit.org/manuals/com-phone.pdf. Com-Phone is completely free, with no adverts and no unnecessary permissions. The app is open source as part of the Com-Me toolkit – you can fork any of the Com-Me tools on GitHub: https://github.com/communitymedia. For more information about the Com-Me project, see: https://digitaleconomytoolkit.org.
| Feature | BendyStraw | Com-Phone Story Maker |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0-only | LGPL-3.0-only |
| Install sources | F-Droid | F-DroidGitHub |
| Categories | Media PlayerVideo | Media PlayerVideo |
| Features | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking |
| Platforms | Android | Android |
| Website | ||
| Source code |