1y ago

I has come to my attention that some users have never heard of F-droid. F-droid is a free software app store for android

f-droid.org F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

F-Droid is an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform. The client makes it easy to browse, install, and keep track of updates on your device.

230 comments

Something worth noting is that F-Droid is both an app to download other apps but they also maintains a repository of apps. You can use alternative store apps (like Droid-ify) with the F-Droid repository OR you could use the F-Droid app with a different repository (like IzzyOnDroid). You can mix and match to meet your needs.
I use the Droid-ify app with the F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, microG, NewPipe, and Collabora repositories.
Once you start down this rabbit hole, give Obtanium a look.
- Neostore is also a good alternative to the normal f-droid client
  
  Yep. Their permission and tracker built in viewer is a super qol feature
  
  Yes, I much prefer Neostore.
  
  I wanted to like this one.
  Neostore got stuck trying to sync repos or something and drained my battery from 80% to 20% within like an hour.
  Uninstalled it immediately. No app should be able to malfunction in such a way to cause such battery drain.
- Can you elaborate on what these different repos are and do? And, referring to a child comment, what is divest?
  
  On Android, we're used the "Play Store" being both the app that facilitates downloads as well as the collection of apps available. With F-Droid, you can add additional collections of apps to make available for download.
  You might add an additional repository to gain access to apps not in the main F-Droid repository. You might add a developer's repository to gain access to updates to their apps before those updates hit the main F-Droid repository.
  Divest is the developer repository for app maintained by Divest OS, a fork of Lineage OS.
  
  Some software developers prefer to host their own repos and have more control over the release process and/or don't want to fill all the criteria for being included on f-droid, so they create their own repos. Some of these apps can still be found on vanilla fdroid, but often aren't updated so frequently.
  Izzyondroid, on the other hand, is a different project, aimed at hosting different apps that are usually from smaller devs and can't be included on fdroid yet, for different reasons.
  The greatest thing about fdroid is that it allows anyone to create their own repos and you aren't forced to depend on anyone.
- I just have the basic f droid app, the layout is awful and confusing. Is there one you suggest?
  
  I'm a big fan of Droid-ify.
  
  I think he did suggest droid-ify with fdroid repo: https://github.com/Droid-ify/client
  Looks good, I will try it out. You have it in F-droid :)
  
  Then check out droid-ify. It has a really clean looking UI that won't get in your way.
- Don't forget Divest, a must have repo. Also Molly for a foss signal client
- I would avoid adding other repositories because you are risking malware and anti features.
  F-droid is slow to get updates but it also verifies each app
  
  There is safety there, but you're just as safe using the the developer's own repository for their apps, like NewPipe, Collabora, or the Guardian Project.
- Oh THAT'S what repos are for? I assumed they were all independently structured and incompatible with each other for different reasons lmao.
- Many years ago I tried to go completely de-googled, and that involved using only F-droid. One of the many problems I faced was the tedious update process. I needed to tap each and every app individually every time there were updates. I wonder if droid-ify could have fixed that. Unfortunately I didn’t come across that app at the time, so I didn’t try it out.
  
  Oh for sure! Droid-ify offers a few different installation methods. The Legacy and Session install options are what you are used to. With those methods, you are prompted to download and install with each update.
  With the Root install method, updates can be downloaded and installed in the background using root privileges. Lastly, and I think most intriguing, is using Shizuku. Shizuku is a utility that will give you close to root access using ADB. See link for details. So, with the Shizuku install methods, Droid-ify can keep all your F-Droid apps up to date with little intervention from the user.
  Footnote: Because Shizuku leverages ADB, it needs to be started manually after each reboot.
- I second Izzy, add:
  https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/repo

Been using Fdroid to the point where my first boot into a new phone is:
Open chrome > download fdroid > open settings > uninstall/disable every single application I can > open fdroid > install all the relevant apps I require for making my phone useful
I'm just waiting for a small life upgrade in order to be able to support some app developers; it will be money better spent than using the standard google apps.
- You might want to consider your next phone to be a pixel+grapheneOS.
  
  any lineage os supported device is enough, i think
  
  It's insane that I can't make any steps towards ungoogling myself w/o paying 2.5 times the price of a phone. I can't buy an allready degoogled pixel here, I can't buy fairphone here, I can only use a package forwarding service from the US, declare it to customs - and watch them add a monstrous fee to it.
  I wish I could have the courage to buy a pixel and try to replace the OS myself - but I fear I will just brick it...
- I just run lineage os
  
  I've used so called entry level phones my entire life; I can't motivate myself to spend the amount a Fair Phone costs, although the concept is appealing and regardless the geek in me going nuts with the idea of tinkering with my phone as I do with my computer. I also prefer rugged phones, which is something most brands don't cater to.
  My current phone is an Oukitel and has already passed the three year mark, still more than enough for my needs, in great part thanks to my option to run FOSS whenever possible.

Droid-ify is the best way to use f-droid imo
- What are the perks of using this vs. the standard F-Droid app?
  
  More built-in repositories and a nicer UI.
  
  Neo store is my favourite. Yes there is another upside. F-droid targets old apk , android 5 , which is a issue , albeit small.
- Does it have an update all button? That's what prevented me to keep using it some months ago.
  
  It does now yes.
  
  Why would you ever want to do that? Sometimes the older version is better for about a third of the apps on my device.

I know this thread is already a little old, but here is the list of my favorite apps from F-Droid/Izzy. I use a lot of these almost daily and just thought I would share these in case someone might find a new app they find useful
Eternity (Infinity for Lemmy)
Buckwheat (Budgeting)
Aegis (Authentication)
Lawnchair (Pixel-like launcher)
Quillnotes (Markdown notes app)
Forkyz (Crosswords)
Geometric Weather
Imagepipe (Removes exif data and reduces pics)
AntennaPod (Podcast app)
Olauncher (Beautiful and minimal text based launcher)
- Geometric Weather has a more active fork called Breezy Weather.
  Quillnote has a more active fork called Quillpad
  
  Sexy weather app. Thanks for the follow up comment. No more ads when I want to check the weather.
  
  Thank you
  
  Breezy however is not and (according to author of that fork) will not be in F-Droid repo. You can download it form IzzyOnDroid or wait for their own F-Droid repository.

Fdroid basic allows automatic updates!
The guadian project repos are also preset, albeit not enabled by default.
- So does Neostore and Droid-ify. Those are worth looking into.

What kinda good stuff is on F Droid they the average User might want?
- Most of the apps of tibor kaputa. I really like the simple gallery. The simple dialer and simple contacts are also really good. Just clean default apps that do what they should.(adfree)
- Endless Sky and Mindustry are some good, fun, deep games.
  
  oh and shattered pixel dungeon also...
  
  The UX for Mindustry sucks compared to something like Factorio, because it's really tough to do those controls on touch screen, but it's good enough. I've enjoyed it for the little I tried.
- NewPipe lets you listen to youtube videos without the screen on (and also download them or just the audio).
  Probably the main thing I use
- Osmand (offline GPS maps)
  Same version as the android store but free.
- redreader, newpipe, session messenger(needs repo thing from website), aurora store, simple gallery pro
- Newpipe in particular is super important. It's a better YouTube app with more features and no ads.
  Sorry for not supporting Google, I know they need more money... /s
  
  I prefer LibreTube because it doesn't look outdated and it uses Piped, so you never actually connect to the YouTube servers and you can synchronize your subscriptions and playlists
  
  Just got it. Amazing! Thanks!
- I use LibreSudoku. It's a very nice Sudoku app.
- A lot of the utility is it having apps with similar capabilities but without the same kind of privacy invasions, and with better description of what anti-features an app has. So as far as 'the average user', I'd just say alternative apps (or even the same ones, if you're already using FOSS apps) to the same ones they'd use on Play Store, and a few of the games.
- Öffi, a non sucking public transportation app.
  
  Thanks to US infrastructure I don't need yet another map just for public transport! Thanks US government for looking out for us little people! (I really don't think this is needed, but /s just in case.)
- Pretty much all the basics are covered, here are some examples:
  Newpipe for videos and music
  FairEmail for email
  Organic Maps for maps and routes
  Aves Libre for gallery
  lots of privacy-oriented instant messaging apps (I use DeltaChat)
  Jerboa for lemmy
  plethora of calendars, todo apps, calculators, keyboards...
  some games
  And then of course all you power-ish user stuff (alternate launchers, clients for self-hosted clouds and stuff, terminal emulators...)
  
  Worth noting while checking out Aves libre it seems the developer has renamed it to just Aves and continued updating.
  New to f-droid so if I have this wrong let me know
- Everything

Are they planning on modernizing the app for Material You? It feels out of place in my phone in 2023.
edit: all the people who suggested Droid-ify know what's up. Thanks, guys!
- You can use neostore or droid-ify for material fdroid
  
  Are they updated to use the new difference-based repository format?
  EDIT: I was curious so I searched, they don't.
  NeoStore, Droid-iFy
  
  The official F-droid client has material design. Material design 1, the only material design that has anything to do with the concept.
- I have a lot of complaints about this too, but namely lack of seamless updates is baffling to me.
  Luckily I found Droid-ify and solves both those problems. Also has the common repos frequently added, like IzzyOnDroid, easily pre-available to enabled in the settings.
  This definitely replaced the archaeic fdroid client for me, they desperately need an overhaul as it's a terrible first impression.
- You can get Droidify and it provides a more pleasant visual experience.
- I personally like it. However there are alternative apps
- The ui seems ok, but the search is so ridiculously bad I'd don't know how they did it.
- God I hope not
- I sure hope not. No no no. Material you is ugly, and in 99% of apps not an option, but a forced changed. No need for that. It looks good enough for an app store.

Try Neostore too...
- ^^^ This!

Even better obtanium installs direct from the Devs host. You could use fdroid to find the homepage/where they host and add it to obtanium
- Installing through F-Droid is way easier tho and the IzzyOnDroid repo actually uses the binaries from the developer
  
  Though, last I checked, IzzyOnDroid does warn that they usually only host things not found on F-droid. Once something they host gets included in F-droid it's often removed from IzzyOnDroid without warning.
- I prefer F-droid as it adds a layer of checks to hopefully keep the devs from doing something malious
  
  are you under the assumption that fdroid has security benefits?
- This is actually the way

Love F-Droid but be aware of the risks and always try to use a developer repo when possible..
https://privsec.dev/posts/android/f-droid-security-issues/
- [This comment has been deleted by an automated system]
  
  Doesn't affect the end user...... beyond diminished security. Are you implying I should trust Fdroid devs as much as I would trust Google devs?
- I actually would go for the main repo as all the software in the main repo is reviewed by the main Dev team
  
  Did you even read the article? F-Droid signs all the apps in the main repo..

Don't forget to add the New pipe repo!
- Can also recommend the SimpleX chat, Bitwarden, Cryptomator and Briar repos. There's also IzzyOnDroid, though I think they have less strict guidelines.
- I recommend the NewPipe-Sponserblock instead of default Newpipe
- NewPipe Sponsorblock repo from Izzy:
  https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/org.polymorphicshade.newpipe
- Why is the Newpipe repo necessary when NewPipe is also in the F-Droid repo?
  
  Faster release, sometimes it takes a while for the F-Droid to build the new version and Google has a tendency to break it.

I've always had a niggling worry that downloading apps from 3rd party app stores came with a higher risk of getting apps with viruses and spyware.
any truth to this?
- Not really.
  Fdroid is a secure repositorie and the applications are reviewed before being made available for end users.
  The repository is also highly focused on privacy and security and will warn if applications have security flaws or depend on non free services.
  As an example, I use NewPipe instead of the standard YT app and it has a warning it depends on non-free services.
  One other example I can give is Librera. It's a very feature rich ebook/pdf/etc reader. At some point, a security flaw was discovered and the app was instantly flagged has having such problems and users were advised to not install it.
  
  How is Librera to download now?
  
  Fdroid is a secure repositorie and the applications are reviewed before being made available for end users.
  Reviewed by who though? Malicious apps even get through apple and Google's screening. I can't see how fdroid can match the capabilities of those guys.
- The benefit of open source apps is anyone can view the code to see if there is malware or other installed.
  
  This is a bit of a fallacious point in this context - it suggests:
  apps will be investigated by its users (not guaranteed, nor even likely for unpopular apps)
  an app will even have users capable of detecting malware (I don't know squat about phone malware patterns, so I wouldn't be effective at it even if I did scan through thousands of lines of code)
- What I can tell you is that Google was extremely detailed in their monitoring of my apps - even looking up e.g. rate limits of the steam api to check if I properly deal with those. And I pick that example since I don't want to talk about the ways I mishandled user data out of negligence or ignorance.
  Back then I perceived it as harassment. Today I will certainly not install any apps that didn't pass their testing.
  And we're not even talking about deliberate malware but simple incompetence. I would consider the average hobby app project to be borderline malware and a proper QA needs qualified personnel. I don't see how F-Droid can ever reach those standards.
  
  Play's reputation for being full of malware stands directly at odds with your assessment.
  Hobbyists are rarely incompetent. They actually take pride in their work, and aren't just trying to quickly slap something together for a quick buck.
  Not sure what gave you the impression that most phone apps have gone through professional QA, but I very seriously doubt that they have.
  As for mishandling user data, it's a lot easier to avoid doing that when user data never leaves the user's device in the first place. Proprietary apps collect user data for profit; free and open source apps often don't.
- Thats what they want you to think
  But its because they want your money
- Yes but F-droid is an exception. Be careful of adding third party repos though
  
  What is your justification for this claim?
  I use F-Droid as my main app store, and while I trust most of the apps on there and haven't found any asking for permissions they don't need, I wouldn't claim any Android app store is more secure than the Play Store. This post goes into technical detail comparing the two: https://privsec.dev/posts/android/f-droid-security-issues/ - Note: emphasis in the conclusion mentioning that these criticisms may or may not really matter, depending on your threat model. (as an aside - if anyone here doesn't know what a threat model is, determine yours before participating in any privacy community or you'll just end up with useless paranoia)
  That said, I would guess that Play Store may have a higher risk of malicious apps only due to the fact that there are far, far, far, far more potential victims, and being the default app store, victims less likely to be technically experienced enough to notice false apps. So, almost all attackers will probably aim for the most targets and only bother targeting the Play Store, despite the extra challenges.
  [tagging @elbowgrease@lemm.ee ]
- Even small companies have to deal with, "supply chain", attacks, criminals putting code into open source repositories to steal data and get access to servers. App stores are major targets too.
  There have been weather apps that need your location to show you weather and oops we also send your location history to our data center in China and sell that data.
  There have been, "document scanner", apps that help you take pictures of things like credit card statements and did we not mention we send those images to Russian servers?
  Do use a major brand phone like Samsung, keep your OS up to date, and don't expose private info to these apps or give them special privileges, especially, "accessibility", or, "screen reader", and you should be okay.

I have never found anything useful in it. And god I have tried. I end up uninstalling it every time.
- Here's mine:
  AnkiDroid - mobile version of popular desktop flashcards software Anki
  Bitwarden (don't remember if this needed a repo) - favourite password manager
  Catima - holds loyalty cards
  Fennec F-Droid - Build of Firefox without ads and that supports more extensions
  DiskUsage - see what's taking up your disk
  GadgetBridge - FOSS app for smart watches, Mi bands etc.
  Lawnchair - Home screen replacement that's visually identical to the default one but allows me to double tap to lock
  Material Files - file manager
  Loop - Habit tracker
  p!n - Pin reminders to notifications
  muPDF Reader - fast PDF reader that doesn't crap out when I zoom in and out unlike Google Drive
  Simple Gallery - lightweight gallery app
  NextCloud and NextCloud Notes - Access NextCloud
  Scrambled EXIF - Share pictures without giving away EXIF data
  Tusky - nice Mastodon client
  Shattered Pixel Dungeon - a game way too addictive to be safe to install
  NewPipe - FOSS frontend with AdBlock and downloader for YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp and others
  Librera - read EPUBs
  Lemoroid - Nice libretro client to play video games
  Infinity - Reddit client that still works. I believe they did something hacky with the API key to get around the block.
  Migraine Log - Nice app for migraine sufferers to log their attacks
  Scarlet - Beautiful notes app
  
  Thanks for the mentioning GadgetBridge. Just revived an Amazefit Smartwatch that I wasn't using because of the default app!
- I found some good stuff there :)
  Aegis
  Altcoin Prices
  Amethyst
  AndStatus
  AntennaPod
  Audio Recorder
  Aurora Store
  Barinsta
  Bitcoin Wallet
  Book Reader
  Breezy Weather
  Briar
  BTC Map
  Call Recorder
  Camera
  CameraFileCopy
  Coinbase
  Compass
  Croc
  Currency
  DAVx⁵
  Draw
  DroidCam
  DuckDuckGo
  Easy xkcd
  Element
  Etar
  Eternity
  Exodus
  Feudal Tactics
  FluffyChat
  ForgetMeNot
  Freja
  FTP Server (Free)
  Gallery
  Gloomy Dungeons II
  Hypatia
  Imagepipe
  K-9 Mail
  KeePassDX
  KISS launcher
  LibreOffice Viewer
  LibreSpeed
  LibreTranslator
  List My Apps
  Location Share
  MyMonero for Android
  Neo Store
  NewPipe
  Nextcloud
  Ning
  Notes
  ObscuraCam
  Orbot
  OsmAnd~
  PCAPdroid
  PixelDroid
  Plexus
  Pocket Paint
  Private Location
  ProofMode
  Proton Calendar
  Proton Mail
  Proton VPN
  Ripple
  SBW
  Scrambled Exif
  SD Maid SE
  SecScanQR
  Share my number
  Share to Clipboard
  Shattered Pixel Dungeon
  SimplyTranslate Mobile
  Spider
  Spotube
  SuperTuxKart
  Survival Manual
  Syncthing
  TagInfo
  Talk
  Telegram FOSS
  Termux
  Thorium
  Torrent Client
  Tower Collector
  TPB Proxy
  Trail Sense
  Tusky
  twitlatte
  Unit Converter Ultimate
  VLC
  Voice Recorder
  WhatsApp Web To Go
  Wire
  WireGuard
  XDA Developers
  You Have Mail
  List made using List My Apps Plus signal FOSS , several VPN apps etc..
- Mull browser, termux, nextcloud, Jerboa, Infinity reddit, organic maps, and espeak just to name a few
  
  Ok, yeah, I use termux on my android tablet, and it's awesome. But other than that, I don't find any other app interesting. Who knows, maybe with time.
- And the stuff you do want to use is often best installed from the Dev's repo because fdroid takes forever to update theirs.
  And last time I checked they still hadn't implemented the now years old APIs that would let them to silently update apps, so unless the phone is rooted you need to click for every update...
  
  Try f-droid basic, it lets you update automatically

I made a website to help finding well-maintained F-Droid apps through Github/Gitlab metrics here: https://dbeley.github.io/fdroid-insights/

Neo store is a nice layout for f-Droid if you want a more modern look

I can't use F-Droid without the Play Store but I tend to check there first to see if there is something available there before installing something from the Play Store.
- You should check out aurora store on f-droid if you haven't already, its basically an alternative front end for the play store, which means you can remove your google account from your phone (if you want to)

F droid is EXCELLENT

I use iOS now though had f-droid installed on my old android phones :)
- If you sell your IPhone now it may not be too late for you! :-)

I thought fdroid was out of maintenance and they recommend droidify
- No, it's definitely in very active development and put out version 1.17 recently
- I can't find anything about this. Got a source?
  
  Okay so its not out of service, so that's my bad. But it's using an old android SDK, which could present security issues. Tbh I have them both installed it looks like. I prefer the ui of fdroid https://youtu.be/IzpVI4zaso0 https://wonderfall.dev/fdroid-issues/#3-low-target-api-level-sdk-for-client%E2%80%93apps

Does anyone have a good foss ebook and pdf reader?
Thanks!
- I use Librera every day: the user interface looks a bit outdated but has support for any format known to man and a ton of features (and I mean A TON)
- KOreader. But it's more aimed at ereaders.
  
  if you're looking for a legit READING app, KOReader is the only way to go. especially if you have an ereader tablet too that uses KOReader too and/or use Calibre. I moved to it from Kindle + Kindle app on Android and I just have no idea what the purpose of Kindle is anymore unless you buy ebooks directly from Amazon. in which case you should... well.... stop.
- LibreraFD
- Librera (f droid)
- Librera reader is pretty good
- @moitoi @possiblylinux127 mupdf
  
  I second MuPDF viewer for quickly viewing PDFs, it acts exactly as I expect it to and feels very slim.
  But I am not sure if it is a good ebook reader. I use KOReader in connection with Calibre on my Laptop.

F-droid app seems to be not that great though. Using Droid-ify instead.
- I personally like it but that's just me
- I use Neo store , used droidify before. Works great
- I think OP meant the app store, not the client itself
- Droid-ify just a client for f-droid, no?
  
  Yeah it doesn't seem like there are that many differences besides the UI and I think it may list repositories making it a little easier to add them.
  https://github.com/Droid-ify/client
  It's also available through F-Droid
  https://f-droid.org/packages/com.looker.droidify/

F-droid is great, full vouch

What's the average time for an app to be approved? I submitted my app almost 1 month ago and it never got any comments whatsoever like other submitted apps do. I love the store though, most of my phone apps are downloaded from there!
- Was there an automated not response? If there was any errors or warnings you should try to correct them.
  If not I would follow up
  
  Thanks! There was only the F-Droid Bot. But I don't see what's wrong if there's something wrong. I'd appreciate the help! The merge request is at https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata/-/merge_requests/13448
- It should only be a few days, can you bump your submission?

Default app store for my Volla phone. I'm the ultimate hipster and I'm proud of it!

All but 1 of the apps on my phone come from there

bromite
- cromite, bromite is dead.
  
  no
- Ok

I went through a phase where I played every game on there, most were gloriously unfinished or ported from the zx spectrum. There were some real gems too.
That was years ago, what's it like now? Is there android wesnoth? Did any of the RPGs ever get to a fished state?
- Mindustry

InnerTune: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.zionhuang.music/

Love F droid ! It's great

I use Nebulo for DNS over HTTPS, it works well. F-Droid repo for Nebulo: https://fdroid.frostnerd.com/
The Nebulo version on the Play store is years behind the F-Droid version.
- You also can use androids built in encrypted DNS. I think its DNS over TLS though

It's awesome
- Unless you submit a FOSS app and they don't feel like including it.
  
  Are you talking about a particular app? Usually apps are rejected because they don't meet the inclusion policy, not merely because "they don't feel like it."

It's also a buggy piece of crap...
Update notification? Sweet! Gotta click it, right? Oh, some obscure error message that doesn't let me update the apps. I guess I start the app itself then, right? Oh, it immediately crashed with an even more obscure error message. And what's this? It shows me updates for apps that I have already removed. I wonder why? Maybe I should clean the cache and update the repositories. Huh? Oh, the update is stuck somewhere and doesn't move forward anymore and now I can't even search for anything.
- I never had any issues with it
- Neostore may be a better client for you.
- I've had tons of bugs with it as well. Still usable but annoying.
- I haven't had any of that, but I do notice that F-Droid can't seem to automatically update itself without erroring. Something about failing to parse the package; I forget the exact error message. I wonder what the problem is…

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