How to extract an Android APK off an old device and install it to a new one with ADB

Dylan Leigh

2025-10-25 18:46

The old OpenIntents shopping list app I have used on my Android phones since around 2011 is no longer available on either the Google Play Store or the F-Droid FOSS Android Repository. I’ve tried several alternatives since getting a new phone earlier this year but much prefer the old OI app so was quite annoyed that it’s gone.

After a few months of struggling with inferior alternatives, today I realised I could simply pull the app off an old phone with ADB and put it on the new one.

The Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a commandline tool for debugging Android apps, but can also be used for backups, file transfer from PC to/from phone, a remote shell from PC to phone and other purposes.

Little Note re Vegan Egg Substitutes

Dylan Leigh

2025-08-19 05:04

Most “egg substitutes” only work well for a specific use case of eggs, and not for others. E.g:

Aquafaba (chick pea water) whips up like egg whites and can be used to make sponge cakes, merengues or similar fluffy sweets.
Chia or flaxseed/linseed are a good replacement binder for muffins and denser cakes (and good for fibre and protein too).
Tapioca starch and baking powder can also work to give a bit of leavening for muffins (McKensie brand vegan baking egg subtitute is this).
Ground cashews and/or avocado can be used for some richer desserts like mousses.
Kala Namak, a dark sulphurous salt which adds the smell and flavour of egg yolk, but doesn’t add texture like the above stuff.
Tumeric is often used to add a bit of yellow colour to make vegan omelettes and scrambles look like eggs.

I haven’t yet seen any subsitutes that are a straight drop in for all purposes of eggs, usually you have to use several depending on the recipe.

Forms of Life part 2: Overview of the Phylogenetic Tree of Life and Endosymbiosis

Dylan Leigh

2021-10-19 03:27

In the first part of this series, I discussed taxonomic terminology such as clades and kingdoms, but didn’t go into the actual groups and the lifeforms within them. This article will provide a top-down phylogenetic overview of all lifeforms on Earth, as well as a discussion of how endosymbiosis has provided an alternate path for genetic material and evolution.

Phylogenetic tree of all known Earth Lifeforms

The Delightful Diversity of “Cup” Sizes in UK/US/AU/NZ Cooking

Dylan Leigh

2020-02-07 13:12

Volumetric measurements (using the volume of a container) are inferior to Gravimetric measurements (i.e. weight) in most ways. Weighing is faster (for a given pareto-optimal degree of accuracy), can achieve greater accuracy, and most importantly there will be less dishes to clean up afterwards.

Most irritatingly, “cups” and “spoons” mean different amounts in different countries. Even worse, sometimes three “thirds” of a cup are less than one cup…

[Updated 2020-03-22: Added cup densities for wheat bran and oat bran]

Forms of Life part 1: Intro to Bionomenclature

Dylan Leigh

2019-11-09 04:05

Part one of what I hope will be series of at least two articles on how different lifeforms differ.

To start off, this article will give an overview of the hierarchical classification of biological life, with a focus on the nomenclature of biological nomenclature.