Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
Lately, there’s a lot of hype around self-hosting and running your own apps on a home lab or NAS. But you might be wondering what you stand to gain from it? After all, Google, Apple, and many others offer perfectly competent app suites. That’s what I thought too. But for the last few years, I’ve dived deep into the world of open source and self-hosting. And if you’re curious why, saddle up — I’ve got some thoughts to share.
When I first dived into self-hosting, it was less about control and more about finding apps that filled the gaps left by commercial applications, and devs that actually listened to feedback, feature requests, or helped out with issues. That evolved into wanting more control over the apps I was using every day. It started small with a basic notes app, a self-hosted password manager, even a media server. But all too soon, I was running half a dozen services on my own hardware.
Hosting my own tools has helped me build a better relationship with data privacy, my habits, and my tech stack.
While today I might stand behind the open-source ethos, back then I was just tired of depending on apps that kept changing to meet commercial targets, subscriptions that kept stacking. Over time, I came to the obvious realisation — this wasn’t just a matter of convenience, I preferred the approach of open-source apps even if it sometimes meant a less-than-polished user experience. Hosting my own tools has helped me build a better relationship with data privacy, my user habits, and even my technology stack. Here’s why I’m all in on self-hosted apps and why I think more people should give it a shot.
I want to own my data, not rent access to it
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
There’s something incredibly frustrating about using a service for years only to wake up one day and find out your data is locked behind a paywall. Or worse, that the service is shutting down and your stuff is disappearing unless you jump through a dozen hoops. Or how about a service losing the license for your favorite movie, and you not being able to stream it anymore. That’s what pushed me to self-host my first app. Media servers tend to be a very popular first foray into open-source apps for a good reason — we’ve all faced the annoyance of Netflix losing a license for a favorite movie.
We’ve all faced the annoyance of Netflix losing a license for a favorite movie — that’s when self-hosting starts to make sense.
When I self-host, my data lives on my machine or server. I decide when to back it up, move it, or delete it. These goals are defined by my needs, not by an algorithm driven by what a for-profit business decides. Platform updates can’t suddenly change how my preferred apps work, or if I’m allowed to watch preferred content. It’s mine, and that sense of ownership is something I didn’t know I was missing until I had it. Of course, media streaming is just one such example. There are dozens of commercial apps that haven’t been updated for the latest operating systems and keep losing functionality till they stop working entirely. With open-source alternatives, there’s a good chance the developer will keep maintaining it. And if not, someone else can step in and do the job.
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