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ben-alkov/Ferdium new user tips.md

Created September 25, 2025 17:51
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Helpful Tips for New Ferdium Users and why you should use it
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Ferdium new user tips.md

Helpful Tips for New Ferdium Users and why you should use it

I was looking for a multi-chat application and stumbled on ferdium being mentioned only once. Google, reddit and other websites point to a variety of other options, but I decided to try ferdium and so glad I did. Don't think I was this excited til I played with unraid. It'd be amazing if Ferdium was available on low resource PC's like a chromebook or htpc.

Pros

  • Clean, professional looking website
  • Quick Easy Install for various platforms
  • Program runs smoothly and mostly works as intended. Allowing lots of customizations.
  • Self hosting option
  • Hides IP (sandboxed?)
  • Password lock when pc goes idle preventing unauthorized access.
  • Only 1 Program to download then Start on Boot (Ferdium) vs multiple programs (whatsapp, messenger, etc)
  • Unused programs cycle between sleep/wake cycles to conserve resources
  • Ability to Import/Export Settings (backup option) to migrate to new devices
    • With present day internet, almost everything can be stored on cloud rather than locally. Perfect for Ferdium
  • Despite small community on reddit/discord/github, community is active and helpful. But lots of repetitive issues with no defined solutions if they ever found one
  • Ability to setup multiple workspaces (one set for personal, work, school)

Cons

  • Not as reputable as Similar Services. Google, reddit and review websites don't mention Ferdium. Got lucky and stumbled upon it mentioned in a reddit post However, Ferdium can do a lot more than what I was searching for
  • Still some minor bugs such as
    • Unable to login using Google on Multiple Services
    • Some apps work incorrectly with hibernation/wake up strategy. Might require manual login each time
      • Currently testing possible solutions. Such as testing out hibernation off or changing user agent to Discord Bot. I'll report back if it works
    • Each Service setting has 'dark mode enabled' option which can affect the service causing unexpected usage
      • Possible Solution: Disable 'Dark Mode' In Ferdium>Settings. However in navigation bar > Right Click Service > Edit > Set Dark Mode OR Set to System Default, and have your computer set to dark mode. This worked for a few apps for me
  • Website & FAQ is clean, professional looking but too bare. Personally I feel the product is being undersold. A wiki page describing what each setting does would help. The word choices are on the website are great and does what it says but many people lack imagination and need concrete examples (video or perhaps short tutorial on startup) to see how it would benefit them
  • Reddit, Github, Discord has people willing to help but seems like a small project with same issues being raised up. Luckily its not too difficult to fix the issues on your own until a more stable version comes out
    • 1 issue noticed is when have split screen and opening Todoist, I was unable to increase the size of the 3rd column for Todoist despite the button being there just unable to drag it to change size..

Helpful tips I found while getting started

Download & Start on Boot only 1 Program (Ferdium) instead of multiple (whatsapp, messenger, etc)

Suggested settings

  • Set up split screen.

    • Reorder services in navigation bar by Most used to least used
    • With 2 Columns, selected app appears on left, next app in navigation bar on right
    • Commonly used app should be 1st/top of navigation bar (messengers/social media) and least used last (email)

  • Apply settings to Ferdium & each service to suit your needs

    • Ferdium > Settings > General
      • Launch on Start, Keep in background, Always show in System tray and Reload after system resume. Set system idle/suspended as 1-2hrs
      • Prevents Ferdium from sleeping while PC is in use
    • Ferdium > Settings > Services
      • Normal Hibernation Strategy (5min): self-explanatory, Apps unused for 5min go to sleep, consuming less resources.
      • Keep services in hibernation on startup - Prevents any issues trying to load up everything all at once
      • Wake up after 10min (of sleeping), Use main hibernation strategy & Splay hibernate/wake cycles - Puts app to sleep if unused for 5min (no updates or notifications while hibernating). Sleeps for 10min, wake up to check for updates (emails, messages, etc), displays symbol on navigation bar if anything new shows up
      • Keep in mind that some apps (discord) have issues with hibernation. Might log out, requiring manual login once awakened. Avoidable by turning off hiberation. (Testing as a solution right now)
    • For each service, edit settings and turn on/off hibernation and/or wake up if you need it.
      • Constantly used Messaging Apps (facebook messenger, whatsapp, discord) should have hibernation disabled so that it remains on at all times.
      • Apps used time to time (Gmail, Outlook, Reddit, Discord, Slack) should have hibernation & wake up enabled. Using the previous Hibernation Strategy settings, the apps will check for updates periodically while not resource intensive

  • Services I use

    • Whatsapp, Messenger, Discord, Gmail, Reddit, Android Messages, Google Keep, Custom Service (TinyURL), Slack
    • First 4 apps have hibernation off
    • Android Messages (Similar to messages.google.com) relays phone text messages. No reason to use phone to reply to texts or check for security 2FA codes
    • Google Keep (replaces windows Sticky Notes App). Better than Sticky notes due to
      • Allows Label tagging on notes (school, work, personal) to help organize
      • Multiple Image attachment on notes with better resolution
      • Undo/Redo Changes
      • Deleted Notes kept in Trash folder for 7 days (Sticky Notes is deleted forever if accidentally deleted)
    • Pair Google Keep with TinyURL. TinyURL is a free link shortener that allows custom 'alias'. Rather than saving a long link

Any other suggestions or setups highly welcomed. If I'm wrong feel free to correct me. I didn't get the initial impression this program was so versatile and useful and its the most exciting app I've used recently. If this post gains traction, I can add on some other useful things I found but this seems long winded already. Much props to the development team, very ambitious and useful.

Possible Suggestions for future improvements

  • 'Available services' is great, large list of popular apps used and they work as expected. Basically like their own app store. Not to mention you can always setup your own custom service. Ferdium Picks is useful, however it'd be nice to have a short description of what each app does or if it was sorted by category like productivity, entertainment, etc. Similar to unraid.
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