F-Droid: Android FOSS app store(f-droid.org)
f-droid.org
F-Droid: Android FOSS app store
https://f-droid.org/
84 comments
There is F-droid Basic, which lacks a few less popular functions but contains a rework of app installation. It can install apps in background as well. It's very smooth in my case, works pretty much like auto updating on play store.
You can get it through... regular fdroid!
You can get it through... regular fdroid!
I could not make it work. Did you had to do anything special?
From what I learned, only apps that target Android 12and above could have this background update feature. I'm on Android 13 but none of the apps I use updated. I had to switch back to using the f-droid privileged extension.
From what I learned, only apps that target Android 12and above could have this background update feature. I'm on Android 13 but none of the apps I use updated. I had to switch back to using the f-droid privileged extension.
A store can only auto-update apps when they've been first installed through it. The first time you update an app with neo store you'll have to do it manually, any update after that will be automatic.
No, it just worked, just the usual "allow this app to install software" thing.
I'm on Android 13 currently, I don't have root, stock OS. All my apps update, including ones that are marked in Fdroid as "created for older Android releases". I use around 15 apps from that source and none caused me much trouble. A few times had to invoke installation manually, but honestly I think it would update automatically with more patience on my side.
That's why I'm so pumped about Fdroid Basic - it's a much better experience.
I'm on Android 13 currently, I don't have root, stock OS. All my apps update, including ones that are marked in Fdroid as "created for older Android releases". I use around 15 apps from that source and none caused me much trouble. A few times had to invoke installation manually, but honestly I think it would update automatically with more patience on my side.
That's why I'm so pumped about Fdroid Basic - it's a much better experience.
What makes neostore better than droidify? I used to use the former but switched to the latter a year ago.
I've personally found the notifications that updates are available to be more consistent with Neo Store over Droid-ify. (I've had both installed at the same time, Neo always showed up first, despite the same settings).
I was a user of the latter initially when it started as a fork of Foxy Droid. At one point development slowed down and Neo Store was created and had active development, and I've used that ever since. Both are still actively developed as far as I know.
I was a user of the latter initially when it started as a fork of Foxy Droid. At one point development slowed down and Neo Store was created and had active development, and I've used that ever since. Both are still actively developed as far as I know.
> What makes neostore better than droidify?
My experience has been the opposite: droidify has been more "stable" than neostore for me.
My experience has been the opposite: droidify has been more "stable" than neostore for me.
It's a shame Aurora Droid[0] isn't maintained anymore, I found its UI to be far easier to use than the alternatives like you mentioned.
[0]: https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/auroradroid
[0]: https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/auroradroid
Thanks for recommending Neo Store. Just installed and it looks and feels much better.
nice. i like that neo store let's you bookmark things
I wish F-Droid showed usage stats.
Sorting by "last updated" doesn't really tell you anything about the app's quality, and I really do not want to install and try 30 different apps solving the same problem just to see which one is better. Plenty of people have done so before me, so just tell me which one is the most popular!
Sorting by "last updated" doesn't really tell you anything about the app's quality, and I really do not want to install and try 30 different apps solving the same problem just to see which one is better. Plenty of people have done so before me, so just tell me which one is the most popular!
Mandatory reporting of usage statistics runs contrary to one of the freedoms inherent to FOSS, that the software is for the user's freedom.
But surely there should be a way to reconcile no-spying with usage reporting through some voluntary means. For example, Debian allows users to install the popularity-contest package.
But surely there should be a way to reconcile no-spying with usage reporting through some voluntary means. For example, Debian allows users to install the popularity-contest package.
"Mandatory reporting of usage statistics runs contrary to one of the freedoms inherent to FOSS, that the software is for the user's freedom."
Why? You don't need to do tracking, just have a counter on the server that increases every time someone downloads the repository. What does this have to do with FOSS?
Why? You don't need to do tracking, just have a counter on the server that increases every time someone downloads the repository. What does this have to do with FOSS?
Such a download counter is not an accurate measure of usage.
This is the discussion on implementing a popcon-style feature in F-Droid if you want to read through where the project got to: https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidclient/-/issues/396
What other ways could you rank by popularity then?
I created a small website to display F-Droid apps with their repository information (from github, gitlab, etc), it's not perfect but it can give more insights on a project popularity.
It's available here: https://dbeley.github.io/fdroid-insights/
It's available here: https://dbeley.github.io/fdroid-insights/
For any given purpose, there's usually maybe three apps in the store that fit the bill. Sorting by last updated is a great way to find the most popular apps, as they're generally also the most well-maintained. There's little reason to keep updating an app when something else does everything better.
The only "old" app I keep using is Barcode Scanner (com.google.zxing.client.android), since it's a classic that will likely never stop working.
The only "old" app I keep using is Barcode Scanner (com.google.zxing.client.android), since it's a classic that will likely never stop working.
I like this app for interfacing with fdroid: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.machiav3lli.fdroid/
I also like this CLI for bulk downloading apks for initializing a new device over adb: https://github.com/mvdan/fdroidcl
To get releases faster there is obtanium: https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
I also like this CLI for bulk downloading apks for initializing a new device over adb: https://github.com/mvdan/fdroidcl
To get releases faster there is obtanium: https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
There's also F-Droid Basic which targets Android 13 and therefore allows unattended updates without root:
https://f-droid.org/packages/org.fdroid.basic
Unattended updates will also come to the next release (1.19) of the main client.
I second your NeoStore recommendation but I'm always open to trying others. AuroraDroid fell out of usefulness although I still use AuroraStore for play store stuff.
I prefer https://github.com/Droid-ify/client as a client
I just installed Neo Store, and as soon I updated the repository data, it started downloading and trying to install all apps that weren't on the latest version.
Just a heads up.
Just a heads up.
My favorite HN android app, glider, is on fdroid
https://github.com/Mosc/Glider
https://github.com/Mosc/Glider
The app Hacki is a good one too.
https://f-droid.org/pt_BR/packages/com.jiaqifeng.hacki/
https://f-droid.org/pt_BR/packages/com.jiaqifeng.hacki/
Hacki is also available for iOS and is quite good
And I just discovered another one today: Harmonic.
https://github.com/SimonHalvdansson/Harmonic-HN
I'm still searching for "just right". And while I know that posting comments is an experimental feature in Glider, I was pretty miffed today when I lost a somewhat lengthy reply that I had spent the previous thirty minutes drafting.
Nevertheless, I know better than to blame anyone but myself for the loss. I should have been copying my progress to a safer location the entire time, and the source is right there, waiting for my patch. As always, the joys of free software abound.
https://github.com/SimonHalvdansson/Harmonic-HN
I'm still searching for "just right". And while I know that posting comments is an experimental feature in Glider, I was pretty miffed today when I lost a somewhat lengthy reply that I had spent the previous thirty minutes drafting.
Nevertheless, I know better than to blame anyone but myself for the loss. I should have been copying my progress to a safer location the entire time, and the source is right there, waiting for my patch. As always, the joys of free software abound.
Harmonic is my vehicle for HN going on three years now. Highly recommend.
Wow thank you for suggesting this. I've tried so many apps and nothing has really hit the sweet spot for me. But I just downloaded this upon reading your suggestion and it literally checks all the boxes for me. Amazing find!
I've always used Hacki
Just follow there telegram channel
Another app to interact with HN is Materialistic.
It's old, but it does the trick.
The widget to show the top stories is its best feature.
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/io.github.hidroh.materialist...
I use exclusively Chinese devices, without google store.
F-Droid has everything I need, and conveniently provides direct apk download if I want to restore the device without going online.
F-Droid has everything I need, and conveniently provides direct apk download if I want to restore the device without going online.
I'm interested in knowing what makes you use exclusively Chinese devices.
Lack of allegiance to Google.
Exactly.
I do NOT want to depend on a large company that tries to force itself into everything people do (search = google, email = gmail, handhelds = android, phone number = fi)
Chinese devices are easy to flash, reflash and mod.
I do NOT want to depend on a large company that tries to force itself into everything people do (search = google, email = gmail, handhelds = android, phone number = fi)
Chinese devices are easy to flash, reflash and mod.
If you are worried about that, you are honestly better off buying a pixel and putting grapheneos on it. 100% the cheap chinesium has other tracking/spying nonsense built in at levels lower than the android os, I think that's much less likely on pixel devices, especially with the grapheneos guys watching those devices.
> cheap chinesium has other tracking/spying nonsense built in at levels lower than the android os,
I have only found apps calling home.
If you think some malware is baked into the wifi firmware, I can't disprove that.
> I think that's much less likely on pixel devices, especially with the grapheneos guys watching those devices.
More eyeballs is better, but if we're talking about malware in the wifi firmware, I don't think graphene team can catch that either.
I have only found apps calling home.
If you think some malware is baked into the wifi firmware, I can't disprove that.
> I think that's much less likely on pixel devices, especially with the grapheneos guys watching those devices.
More eyeballs is better, but if we're talking about malware in the wifi firmware, I don't think graphene team can catch that either.
I would expect someone serious about this to have their spyware built to use the cellular to send the low bandwidth, high value stuff and then possibly wifi for larger data dumps.
What are your thoughts on the various de-googled custom ROM projects available for Google Pixel phones?
On the software side, they seem to be equally good from a technical standpoint: they let you live outside of google, be root etc.
I'm less a fan of the google pixel hardware: eInk devices provides a different experience.
In the "usual" (Google, Samsung...) western brands, there are no good eink pocket (cellphone sized or less, like the inkpalm or hisense) or normal sized eink tablet (>8" screen) alternatives, especially if you want color.
The kindles are more like phablets, and have lots of software limitations preventing you from flashing what you want. On top of that, their eink screens are always black and white, and most often very small.
I have a color eink tablet with a 10" screen. Outside of Chinese companies, there isn't anything available. If there was such a google pixel device and I could reflash it and mod it as easily as Chinese devices and without limitations, I would consider it.
I'm less a fan of the google pixel hardware: eInk devices provides a different experience.
In the "usual" (Google, Samsung...) western brands, there are no good eink pocket (cellphone sized or less, like the inkpalm or hisense) or normal sized eink tablet (>8" screen) alternatives, especially if you want color.
The kindles are more like phablets, and have lots of software limitations preventing you from flashing what you want. On top of that, their eink screens are always black and white, and most often very small.
I have a color eink tablet with a 10" screen. Outside of Chinese companies, there isn't anything available. If there was such a google pixel device and I could reflash it and mod it as easily as Chinese devices and without limitations, I would consider it.
Allying with the CCP instead is an interesting choice.
> Allying with the CCP instead is an interesting choice.
I'm not here to talk politics, especially for such a loaded statement. "allying"? I "ally" with no one.
Also, my choice is not political but technical: I have a color eink device android where I do everything in the console with tmux and a Lenovo Bluetooth keyboard.
I have root, the device is degoogled, and I have removed from flash (mtd) what I didn't like. I use it mostly offline, but it's firewalled (with iptables) when I need to use ssh for example.
Best of all: it came ready to be hacked!
Maybe you believe your google device is more "protected", but I have a different opinion.
Given the amount of effort companies like google put into trying to insert themselves into our lives, I suggest a healthy skepticism to their claims of "privacy" or "protection".
I'm not here to talk politics, especially for such a loaded statement. "allying"? I "ally" with no one.
Also, my choice is not political but technical: I have a color eink device android where I do everything in the console with tmux and a Lenovo Bluetooth keyboard.
I have root, the device is degoogled, and I have removed from flash (mtd) what I didn't like. I use it mostly offline, but it's firewalled (with iptables) when I need to use ssh for example.
Best of all: it came ready to be hacked!
Maybe you believe your google device is more "protected", but I have a different opinion.
Given the amount of effort companies like google put into trying to insert themselves into our lives, I suggest a healthy skepticism to their claims of "privacy" or "protection".
I'm responding to the language in the comment I responded to. With your level of technical expertise it seems like you've figured out a safe enough way to be.
Well, I'm even less inclined to "ally" with the CCP, because I have no devices from Chinese companies, I have a laptop from MSI, a laptop from Apple, a phone from Samsung, and a phone from Apple.
I think it's a better choice to use a device from Taiwan or South Korea (perhaps more so than the US), but it's begrudgingly that I deal with the Google stuff on my Samsung, and I have less Google stuff than I would if not for it being Samsung.
I don't think owning an Android phone that requires a Google Account is allegiance to Google, but the way Samsung is providing stuff that requires a Google account kinda is, but I can see why, and hopefully one day they stop. I also don't think buying a phone from a Chinese company is allegiance to the CCP.
That said, I'd be happy to be called an ally to Taiwan. I'm not sure if I've earned that yet, but if anyone has any ideas how, let me know!
I think it's a better choice to use a device from Taiwan or South Korea (perhaps more so than the US), but it's begrudgingly that I deal with the Google stuff on my Samsung, and I have less Google stuff than I would if not for it being Samsung.
I don't think owning an Android phone that requires a Google Account is allegiance to Google, but the way Samsung is providing stuff that requires a Google account kinda is, but I can see why, and hopefully one day they stop. I also don't think buying a phone from a Chinese company is allegiance to the CCP.
That said, I'd be happy to be called an ally to Taiwan. I'm not sure if I've earned that yet, but if anyone has any ideas how, let me know!
What is your colour eink device?
Probably a boox?
The previous one was a Boox.
This time, I got myself a BigMe. You can get one on https://store.bigme.vip/ the URL looks suspicious but don't fall for the official looking bigmestore.com: it's run by a dropshipper called good reader, who apparently impersonates several Chinese companies by squatting the .com domain name and pretending to be them, just to raise the prices and in return generally give you a negative service (slower shipping, not saying the truth about unit in stocks or shipping dates...)
If you need to know more about this dropshipper shady methods, use your favorite search engine with "goodeareader scam" and learn from the various user reports, the BBB ratings or trustpilot.
The difficulty was getting a legit Bigme from the official store, but the hardware is great: I think the quality is higher than the Boox (which I already liked a lot), but unfortunately it seems to have a lot more google software than your usual Chinese device.
OTOH, there's also a 5G module in the BigMe, so I could get data anywhere... it's complicated: I might return to Boox when they have a better lineup, but getting either a Boox or a BigMe is a good decision if you like the slower refresh rate of eink and the "more visceral" feel of eink compared to emissive technologies (TFT, OLED...)
I'll try to write some guide like my previous one for the Lenovo X1 Fold: https://csdvrx.github.io/
This time, I got myself a BigMe. You can get one on https://store.bigme.vip/ the URL looks suspicious but don't fall for the official looking bigmestore.com: it's run by a dropshipper called good reader, who apparently impersonates several Chinese companies by squatting the .com domain name and pretending to be them, just to raise the prices and in return generally give you a negative service (slower shipping, not saying the truth about unit in stocks or shipping dates...)
If you need to know more about this dropshipper shady methods, use your favorite search engine with "goodeareader scam" and learn from the various user reports, the BBB ratings or trustpilot.
The difficulty was getting a legit Bigme from the official store, but the hardware is great: I think the quality is higher than the Boox (which I already liked a lot), but unfortunately it seems to have a lot more google software than your usual Chinese device.
OTOH, there's also a 5G module in the BigMe, so I could get data anywhere... it's complicated: I might return to Boox when they have a better lineup, but getting either a Boox or a BigMe is a good decision if you like the slower refresh rate of eink and the "more visceral" feel of eink compared to emissive technologies (TFT, OLED...)
I'll try to write some guide like my previous one for the Lenovo X1 Fold: https://csdvrx.github.io/
they’re cheaper and usually easier to unlock, have more interesting features etc
Although it should be noted that sometimes, these devices need an internet connection or even a registered account with the vendor in order to unlock the bootloader.
I prefer devices that let me unlock the bootloader fully offline.
> these devices need an internet connection or even a registered account with the vendor in order to unlock the bootloader.
That's for Xiaomi. Others don't need that.
That's for Xiaomi. Others don't need that.
I wish F-droid would show whether an app has reproducible builds enabled or not. Otherwise, I love it!
A nice thing about F-Droid is that there's a lot of open source apps that on Google Play have an ad-supported free version and a no-ads paid version - but on F-Droid the no-ads version is freely available.
App Manager on f-droid allows to to freeze bloatware without root. You just need to enable adb mode via USB or wireless debugging, both explained in the manual.
Just yesterday’s evening I was casually browsing through new apps in f-droid (sometimes I do) and found there ‘f-droid lite’ version, or whatever its called. I cannot quickly find it from my iPhone unfortunately.
If anyone knows and can elaborate on that very version, I would like to know more. I installed it, and it looks better to me. It claims it can update the apps without root, but it also states that it’s targeted towards Android 13. So I’m not sure whether to use it with Android 8 device.
If anyone knows and can elaborate on that very version, I would like to know more. I installed it, and it looks better to me. It claims it can update the apps without root, but it also states that it’s targeted towards Android 13. So I’m not sure whether to use it with Android 8 device.
You must be talking about F-Droid Basic? The notable difference is:
> The Basic version of F-Droid Client has a reduced feature set (e.g. no nearby share and no panic feature). It targets Android 13 and can do unattended updates without privileged extension or root.
https://www.f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fdroid.basic/
> The Basic version of F-Droid Client has a reduced feature set (e.g. no nearby share and no panic feature). It targets Android 13 and can do unattended updates without privileged extension or root.
https://www.f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fdroid.basic/
Thanks! I was. It’s Android 13 that made me unsure, as the device I was checking it with, it has Android 8.
Sorry for the naïve question, but why would I need this when most apps are distributed on Google Play? Are a lot of FOSS developers publishing on F-Droid instead of Google Play because of disagreements about Google's TOS?
Some apps don't use Google services on the f-droid variant. I guess most are publishing on both.
Neither give you an easy time. Google wants regular work from a dev (updating target SDK, filling out forms on the Play Console). F-Droid sometimes just doesn't build the app for days. (For my app it took about 8 months to initially appear on f-droid due to some bug, but hey, at least there's real people to talk to :))
Neither give you an easy time. Google wants regular work from a dev (updating target SDK, filling out forms on the Play Console). F-Droid sometimes just doesn't build the app for days. (For my app it took about 8 months to initially appear on f-droid due to some bug, but hey, at least there's real people to talk to :))
Wow, when I search app by its name it actually finds the app. Google should copy this technology and add it to the play store.
Aurora Store is still a must, for global traveling and country specific apps, which are not available anywhere else.
My only complaint is that F-Droid is often slow to add new software releases.
That's usually because of the slow review process. F-Droid apps have to be built on F-Droid servers.
Some projects like NewPipe have their own repository which has to be added manually.
It's annoying but mostly not a problem.
Some projects like NewPipe have their own repository which has to be added manually.
It's annoying but mostly not a problem.
It's been a while since I've published on fdroid, does it still take 24-48 hrs before updates get pushed after tagging a new release version?
I've seen it take much longer --- a week or more after the update is available elsewhere.
That seems amazingly quick for such a project to be honest.
What is the problem with 1-2 days delay?
Accidents happen, especially without a QA. I published a broken version of an app that I thought that noone used, but I got 5 mails in a day.
Then it took a week to show up at F-Droid. Less than 4 hours on the Play Store.
Then it took a week to show up at F-Droid. Less than 4 hours on the Play Store.
I LOVE F-DROID!
I recommend adding the IzzyOnDroid repository to F-Droid, and then getting NewPipe x SponsorBlock. No really... Enjoy!
I recommend adding the IzzyOnDroid repository to F-Droid, and then getting NewPipe x SponsorBlock. No really... Enjoy!
[deleted]
F-Droid is a graveyard. So many apps haven't been updated for 3-7 years.
There's Neo Store[0] which is a fork of Droid-ify[1] which itself is a fork of Foxy Droid[2] (no longer updated). Personally I use Neo Store, includes more repos by default and can auto update apps.
[0]: https://github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Store
[1]: https://github.com/Droid-ify/client
[2]: https://github.com/kitsunyan/foxy-droid