Nick's blog

A primer on accessing media files on Android

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0100

This was part of the documentation for a library I’m currently prototyping to simplify accessing media files. It turned out to be helpful to write down all the facts in a condensed way first. But this is so useful I’m releasing it into the wild. Please enjoy!

The Android audio stack from a music player's perspective

Sat, 09 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0200

Happy 2025! Long time no see, it’s really been way too long since the last blog post. I lost three drafted posts I was working on… and then kind of lost all motivation. So I’ve been working on Gramophone instead, a music player app for Android. And one day, a user asked if Gramophone can play Hi-Res (192 kHz, 32 bit FLAC files) audio without quality loss on a USB DAC when enabling the “float output” toggle. That was a question that led me into a pretty deep rabbit hole.

Why using Magisk to install .APK files is a bad idea

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

TL;DR: it breaks (this post is extra short because I am lazy)

Caution: PreferenceFragmentCompat enables vertical scroll bars in your activity theme

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0200

TL;DR: PreferenceFragmentCompat.onCreate() mutates your activity theme to set android:scrollbars to vertical. This can cause unexpected behavior and major performance issues in specific scenarios. I was recently investigating a bug in the Gramophone app I contribute to which got described to me as “RecyclerView scrolling is extremely laggy after changing to night mode”. I tried reproducing it, but toggling night mode on with the quick settings tile resulted in no change at all.

BatterySaverToggle

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Another day, another Mac app? As usual, by me, someone with no Mac App development experience. Though I hope you enjoy it! Below is the project README Displays Low Power Mode status in menu bar. Bolt means “Low Power Mode”. Crossed-out bolt means that LPM is disabled. Toggle “Low Power Mode” by clicking on the bolt, without entering your password every time.

AntiMusic

Sat, 09 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Apple Music annoyed me enough to have me, someone with no Mac App development experience, develop an Anti-Apple Music application. Below is the project README AntiMusic allows you to change the music player used by “Media keys” and “Now Playing” in Control Center on your Mac. If you are annoyed because your headset keeps opening Apple Music or because you want to use another music player instead of Apple Music when nothing is active, this app is for you!

Retiring my Weblate server

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

(or: why self-hosting E-Mail is very annoying) Since January 2022, I have hosted a small Weblate server for a few open-source projects. However, after various troubles, I had to shut it down. Ironically, most issues were not even related to Weblate itself.

Hello world!

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Hello from my new blog! This is the first post in my new blog, where I want to write about whatever interests me, and sometimes about really annoying issues with computers I encountered.