The safe heaven for FOSS apps
Dec 31, 2023
What is F-Droid?
It is an app store. You might think of it as Google Play Store, Amazon App Store, Huawei App Gallery, Xiaomi GetApps.
What is different about F-Droid?
It contains only apps that are FOSS(Free & Open Source Software). Free here refers to FSF Freedom, it is not about monetization.
Most of the app stores don’t have any exclusive focus. They tend to contain either everything or only popular apps.
Sometimes this focus can be good. For example if you want to just search for an app with an open source version, or one without ads, or one with minimal or no tracking, or having an onetime payment, etc. F-Droid is a better option.
You don’t actually need F-Droid if you are only downloading a single app You can simply download the APK of the app from f-droid.org. Everything here is not only available in F-Droid. Some are available in Play Store too.
Why use this when you can use Play store?
The answer is three fold:
1. You need the best open source apps
(Not all apps are available in Play Store, even if it is available, it is not up to date)
2. You want to get rid of Google from your life
(Yes, even remove Play Store itself and have De-Googled versions of popular apps)
3. You want to use some open source app’s pro version for free
(It is legal but not recommended, donate to good projects via alternative ways other than Play Store)
Some of the best apps on F-Droid:
Newpipe (Web/F-Droid)
Newpipe is an alternative YouTube player. It is very minimal, customizable, it doesn’t have ads. You can use is to download YouTube videos without YouTube Premium. It gives mini player without YouTube Premium. You can have subscriptions to YouTube channels without an account. You can set the default homepage to like what you want. You can set default homepage videos to load as per your preferred country. You can listen to videos in background.
Note: Newpipe is not for everyone. Some may want the YouTube algorithm to work, have cross syncing across devices, etc. They may have to see other projects.
Seal (Git/F-Droid)
Seal is an audio/video downloader. There are Internet Download Managers still like 1DM+. But for most people seal would be enough. You can use it download video, just audio, just video, just audio, etc. It can also download from a lot of sites other than YouTube. You can share a link and use quick download feature to download without even opening the app.
Vimusic (Git/F-Droid)
It is a very simple and beautiful app for streaming music from YouTube. It is free. You can favorite songs, create playlists, see lyrics, export your data, etc. You can’t use your YouTube account though. It automatically caches(stores) songs you have listened for offline playback.
If you want a more music player with conventional material design try InnerTune.
If you want an even simpler looking music player try Musify.
If you want to login with your YouTube account try SpMp.
If you want something very powerful or with lots of options try BlackHole.
There are also RiMusic, Harmony, etc.
Simple RT (Git/F-Droid)
SimpleRT is an app to reverse tether internet. Share internet from your PC to your phone.
Aurora Store (Web/F-Droid)
Aurora is how you get apps from Google Play Store without a Google account. In some ways it is better than APKMirror, etc.
K-9 Mail (Web/F-Droid)
K-9 Mail is a beautiful and simple mail app. It doesn’t automatically load images. It is very simple to use. For people who want lots of features, checkout Fairmail.
Tachiyomi (Web/F-Droid)
It needs no introduction to manga/comic fans. It is the app for manga/comic. There are various popular forks too like TachiyomiJ2K, Neko, etc.
Kotatsu (Web/F-Droid)
It is similar to Tachiyomi in function. But it is a different project. It is somewhat simpler to use than Tachiyomi. No need to install any extensions. It supports 500+ sources. It supports tracking with MyAnimeList, Anilist and Shikimori. It can sync series between your devices.
QuickNovel (Git/F-Droid)
It is an app for reading novels, web novels, light novels, etc. You can download chapters at once. You can read them in the app or use others apps to read too.
Wall You (Web/F-Droid)
Most good wallpaper apps(Apps to browse, download wallpapers for phone) are paid in Play Store. Here comes Wall You. It is free. It is without ads. It has gorgeous wallpapers.
Tap Tap (Git/F-Droid)
Do you want to take a screenshot just by tapping the back of your phone twice? Or scroll down on any app by tapping twice. You can set any custom action for double tap or triple tap. You can’t actually find Tap Tap in F-Droid. It is currently available in Github and Izzy repo(See below on how F-Droid works).
Aegis Authenticator (Web/F-Droid)
Best 2FA app for android. It is very secure. It has encryption, biometric lock, etc.
AnySoftKeyboard (Web/F-Droid)
It is very extensible and powerful. It’s suggestions won’t be as good as GBoard. There is also OpenBoard, FlorisBoard, Unexpected Keyboard, Simple Keyboard, Indic Keyboard, etc.
Thumb-key, K9Keyboard, 8vim Keyboard, Unistroke Keyboard, BeHe Keyboard, Full colemak, Hacker’s Keyboard, etc.
Fun keyboards like kboard, aaaaa, DotDash, Compass, Irregular Expressions, etc.
Audire (Git/F-Droid)
Shazam alternative. But open source. It works well. There is also Audile.
Floating Timer (Git/F-Droid)
A timer that is persistent on the screen. It looks like chat bubble.
LocalSend (Web/F-Droid)
Cross platform file, text, image sharing application. It even works with Google TV.
Material Files (Git/F-Droid)
A simple File Manager. It looks beautiful. It is actually somewhat powerful despite its simple look.
Neo Launcher (Git/F-Droid)
A launcher with lots of options. A good spiritual successor to Lawnchair.
Private Lock (Git/F-Droid)
Lock you phone when it is shaken or grabbed forcefully. It only allows unlocking via PIN. It can be very powerful. It is simple to set up.
QR & Barcode Scanner (Git/F-Droid)
Many QR scanners directly go to the link. This one is very powerful. It asks for you to confirm before visiting anything.
There is also QR Scanner(PFA) by SECUSO
Secure Photo Viewer (Git/F-Droid)
Want to share a photo with someone. But don’t want them to swipe and see other photos. You have the perfect app. Just share whatever photo you want to share with other to this app. It will then ask you to lock the phone. Then only the photo is there. Only by unlocking the phone you can do anything else.
Shelter (Git/F-Droid)
A very powerful app. You can use it separate your personal and work apps. Install apps from personal to work, vice versa, etc.
URLCheck (Web/F-Droid)
Use multiple browsers. Want to open a link in incognito. Or want to share a link before opening it. You can do it with URLCheck. It can also remove referrers from Amazon links, etc. It has a history of all links. Scans URL using VirusTotal.
Yet Another Call Blocker (Git/F-Droid)
You want to block calls. But not create the blocklist independently for each dialer, phone, etc. You can use it. It also has a database it checks from. It is unintrusive unlike other blockers.
NotiNotes (Git/F-Droid)
Want to take persistent notes that stay in notification bar. You can simply use the quick tile shortcut. Click to create a note. It is an alternative to Ruppu.
Pro version available for free on F-Droid:
Librera (Web/F-Droid)
Librera is one of the very best readers. It supports a lot of formats like PDF, EPUB, MOBI, DjVu, FB2, TXT, RTF, AZW, AZW3, HTML, CBZ, CBR. It is highly customizable. It is very powerful. It has TTS. It can remove margins. It has dark mode. It also has a Reflow PDF(It is an amazing feature, It makes a large screen pdfs work for small phones).
Tasks.org (Web/F-Droid)
Tasks.org It is one of the best to do list apps. It has almost every feature available in other apps and more. You can customize it a lot. It has very useful widgets.
Acode (Web/F-Droid)
Acode is a powerful code editor for android. It is fast, full IDE. It supports syntax highlighting.
Red Moon (Git/F-Droid)
It is a blue light filter app. Without ads.
Termux: Plugins
Termux plugins are free in F-Droid.
Apps that are up to date only on F-Droid:
Termux (Web/F-Droid)
Termux is a all in one app terminal app. If you search about any kind of hacking on android. You will see that most of them use Termux. It is very powerful. Don’t run whatever is recommended by others on internet. Still the Google Play version has not been updated for s long time now. You can get the latest version only through F-Droid. See official explanation here
Apps with De-Googled version:
Protonmail (Web/F-Droid)
Protonmail in F-Droid don’t contain GCM for Protonmail (Google Notifications). This is a regression from regualr Protonmail app. But people who really want to De-Google this is an option.
How F-Droid works:
F-Droid works closer to Linux app stores(Package Managers) than Play Store. In Ubuntu Linux, there are things called repos(repositories). When you add an repository you can download things from there. If you add Docker repo, you can download the latest docker binary(Think windows .exe, but here .deb). So, the software developers will provide repositories. To learn more about Ubuntu Repositories.
Similarly. In F-Droid there is a main repository. This one is maintained by F-Droid. But there are also others. Like Bitwarden, Calibra Office, Newpipe, Cryptomator, Guardian Project, MicroG Project, etc.
The popular ones that people use are actually the F-Droid main repository and IzzyOnDroid F-Droid repo. IzzyOnDroid contains lot of software that aren’t fully FOSS. But very close. It is also maintained by someone working in F-Droid. So it is somewhat trustworthy. Not as trustworthy as F-Droid, but close enough.
Why are there so many repositories?
It is because software in F-Droid is signed by F-Droid team. Software in Play Store is signed by Google(new apps) or Developer. But the apps provided by the repositories are signed by the developer.
Conclusion:
This is article is just gives an overview of F-Droid. What F-Droid is. Exploring F-Droid. The apps that are available in it. It is not for or against F-Droid.
Here are some praises for it . Wired, Androidpolice, HowToGeek
Here are some critiques for it . PrivacyGuides, Wonderfall, PrivSec
F-Droid FAQs
F-Droid App FAQs
#Tech #Android #PlayStore #Google #Privacy
