diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/LiveStreamController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/LiveStreamController.php
index 311363fe9..7999a4b8b 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/LiveStreamController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/LiveStreamController.php
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ class LiveStreamController extends Controller
             $key = $request->filled('name') ? $request->input('name') : $url['name'];
         }
 
-        $token = substr($name, 0, 10) === 'streamkey-';
+        $token = str_starts_with($name, 'streamkey-');
 
         if ($token) {
             $stream = LiveStream::whereStreamKey($key)->firstOrFail();
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/RemoteAuthController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/RemoteAuthController.php
index 7a01aecde..3998afbe5 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/RemoteAuthController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/RemoteAuthController.php
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ class RemoteAuthController extends Controller
         ]);
 
         $account = $request->input('account');
-        abort_unless(substr(strtolower($account), 0, 8) === 'https://', 404);
+        abort_unless(str_starts_with(strtolower($account), 'https://'), 404);
 
         $host = strtolower(config('pixelfed.domain.app'));
         $domain = strtolower(parse_url($account, PHP_URL_HOST));
diff --git a/app/Http/Controllers/SpaController.php b/app/Http/Controllers/SpaController.php
index 423606f8a..6e0235b63 100644
--- a/app/Http/Controllers/SpaController.php
+++ b/app/Http/Controllers/SpaController.php
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class SpaController extends Controller
     {
         abort_unless(config('exp.spa'), 404);
         if ($request->user()) {
-            if (substr($id, 0, 1) == '@') {
+            if (str_starts_with($id, '@')) {
                 $id = AccountService::usernameToId(substr($id, 1));
 
                 return redirect("/i/web/profile/{$id}");
diff --git a/app/Jobs/StatusPipeline/StatusTagsPipeline.php b/app/Jobs/StatusPipeline/StatusTagsPipeline.php
index d882c9444..97e564c55 100644
--- a/app/Jobs/StatusPipeline/StatusTagsPipeline.php
+++ b/app/Jobs/StatusPipeline/StatusTagsPipeline.php
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class StatusTagsPipeline implements ShouldQueue
             return $tag && $tag['type'] == 'Hashtag' && isset($tag['href'], $tag['name']);
         })
             ->map(function ($tag) use ($status) {
-                $name = substr($tag['name'], 0, 1) == '#' ?
+                $name = str_starts_with($tag['name'], '#') ?
                     substr($tag['name'], 1) : $tag['name'];
 
                 $banned = TrendingHashtagService::getBannedHashtagNames();
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ class StatusTagsPipeline implements ShouldQueue
             return $tag &&
                 $tag['type'] == 'Mention' &&
                 isset($tag['href']) &&
-                substr($tag['href'], 0, 8) === 'https://';
+                str_starts_with($tag['href'], 'https://');
         })
             ->map(function ($tag) use ($status) {
                 if (Helpers::validateLocalUrl($tag['href'])) {
diff --git a/app/Models/Profile.php b/app/Models/Profile.php
index 1355b3919..7e429396a 100644
--- a/app/Models/Profile.php
+++ b/app/Models/Profile.php
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ class Profile extends Model
             }
 
             if ($avatar->cdn_url) {
-                if (substr($avatar->cdn_url, 0, 8) === 'https://') {
+                if (str_starts_with($avatar->cdn_url, 'https://')) {
                     return $avatar->cdn_url;
                 }
 
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ class Profile extends Model
                 return url('/storage/avatars/default.jpg');
             }
 
-            if (substr($path, 0, 6) !== 'public') {
+            if (!str_starts_with($path, 'public')) {
                 return url('/storage/avatars/default.jpg');
             }
 
diff --git a/app/Services/SearchApiV2Service.php b/app/Services/SearchApiV2Service.php
index 46234492a..b6b32fa5c 100644
--- a/app/Services/SearchApiV2Service.php
+++ b/app/Services/SearchApiV2Service.php
@@ -84,10 +84,10 @@ class SearchApiV2Service
         $rawQuery = $initalQuery ? $initalQuery : $this->query->input('q');
         $query = $rawQuery.'%';
         $webfingerQuery = $query;
-        if (Str::substrCount($rawQuery, '@') == 1 && substr($rawQuery, 0, 1) !== '@') {
+        if (Str::substrCount($rawQuery, '@') == 1 && !str_starts_with($rawQuery, '@')) {
             $query = '@'.$query;
         }
-        if (substr($webfingerQuery, 0, 1) !== '@') {
+        if (!str_starts_with($webfingerQuery, '@')) {
             $webfingerQuery = '@'.$webfingerQuery;
         }
         $banned = InstanceService::getBannedDomains() ?? [];
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ class SearchApiV2Service
                 )
             );
         }
-        if (substr($query, 0, 1) === '@' && ! Str::contains($query, '.')) {
+        if (str_starts_with($query, '@') && ! Str::contains($query, '.')) {
             $default['accounts'] = $this->accounts(substr($query, 1));
 
             return $default;
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ class SearchApiV2Service
                 ! Str::startsWith($query, 'http') &&
                 Str::substrCount($query, '@') == 1 &&
                 str_contains($query, '@') &&
-                strpos($query, '@') !== 0
+                !str_starts_with($query, '@')
             ) {
                 try {
                     $res = WebfingerService::lookup('@'.$query, $mastodonMode);