VeraCrypt encrypts a whole disk, a partition, or a file that mounts as a drive. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is the maintained fork of TrueCrypt, which stopped in 2014. Hidden volumes exist so a forced password can open a decoy container. That feature is easy to get wrong and dangerous to […]
qBittorrent is a free, open-source BitTorrent client without ads or bundled offers. Search plugins, RSS, and sequential download are built in. It runs on the major desktops. The protocol is legal. The files you share may not be. That part is yours. The swarm sees your IP address. A VPN does not help until you […]
Transmission is a small open-source BitTorrent client, common on macOS and Linux desktops, with a daemon for a server that has no screen. It does less than qBittorrent on purpose. Remote control exists for a headless box. In 2016 the project’s Mac website was compromised and served a malicious installer. That was the download page, […]
PhotoPrism is a self-hosted photo library with search for faces, places, objects, and colors, including RAW files. The recognition runs on your server. It is happy to index a folder you already sync with Nextcloud or Syncthing. It is a catalog, not a phone-backup service and not an offsite copy. The indexer is heavy. A […]
Stingle is a small open-source gallery with end-to-end encrypted backup for photos and videos. The project is not a large cloud company. Devices sync through storage that is supposed to be zero-knowledge, meaning the server holds ciphertext. Small means the apps are plainer than Ente or Immich, and a thin team is a bus-factor risk. […]
OnyX is a free maintenance program for macOS from Titanium Software. It clears caches, runs the maintenance scripts Apple already ships, rebuilds indexes, and exposes preferences that the System Settings app hides. A new build appears for each major macOS version. Use the one that matches the system you are on. The old one will […]
Ente is an end-to-end encrypted photo library. The apps are open source. Keys stay with you. Ente says the encrypted data is replicated across providers in more than one country so one outage is not the end of the archive. Face and object search run on the device, because the server cannot see the pictures. […]
Immich is a self-hosted photo system that feels close to Google Photos: phone apps, automatic backup, albums, and on-server face and object search. You run the server. The machine learning runs there, not at a vendor, which means the server has to be allowed to see the photos. That is the opposite of Ente. Development […]
GlobaLeaks is open-source software an organization runs to receive anonymous tips. It is associated with the Hermes Center in Italy. Sources can use Tor Browser. The setup supports more than one language, deletion deadlines, and a two-way conversation inside the system. You do not “join GlobaLeaks” the way you join Signal. You use someone else’s […]
OnionShare turns the computer in front of you into a temporary Tor service. You can send files, publish a small site, or chat, and the address dies when you close the program. Micah Lee started it. The app bundles Tor, so the sender does not separately install Tor Browser. The other person can open the […]
BellCrier breach check
Most people are, and never hear about it. BellCrier checks your email against known data breaches for free, then alerts you when it turns up in a new one, with exactly what leaked and how to fix it.
