Basically title. I waited on installing F droid for a long time because my phone threw many scary warnings when I tried a long time ago. But now I have it, and I got some fossify apps, but since there is no “Editor’s Picks” on F- droid I dont really know where to go from here.
What apps do you recommend I install first to remove my dependence on closed ecosystems?
What is my vulnerability surface ie, which sort of apps should I watch out for?
Are there any bad faith companies in the open source sphere?
Important note: app developers don’t publish their apps on the official F-Droid repository. Other people (maintainers) download source code and compiling these apps. Therefore, updates are delayed by a week. You cannot update the app from other source because F-Droid version signed by a different key, so you must reinstall the app, deleting all the data.
I started using Obtainium to get updates directly from GitHub. It also has support for F-Droid and many other sources. I use F-Droid website mostly to discover apps.
I feel very dumb but I just installed it and I don’t get the logic: do I have to enter every app into Obtainium to make it happen or is there some kind of auto discovery / import that I can use?
It supports importing apps from the URL list, but not from installed yet.
Oh wait so its going to be lesser hassle the sooner I move to Obtainium?
Depends on whether you’re going to install apps from the official F-Droid repository or not. Third party F-droid repos (like IzzyOnDroid) are not affected by this.
Suppose you have some app (a hypothetical Lemmy app) installed from the official F-Droid repo. You logged in an account, changed some settings. Then the developer announces an update: new features, bug and security fixes. It is published on GitHub and Google Play. F-Droid version will come after a few days, when the maintainer builds the app from source and publishes that update.
You may don’t want to wait till update comes to F-droid. But you can’t install it from GitHub or Google Play, because it is signed by a different key. You’ll have to reinstall the app, which will erase your settings and require logging in again.
This is the hassle you probably may encounter in the future. If you want to avoid it, install official packages from the developers (from GitHub or Google Play). Obtainium can check for updates on GitHub, official and third-party F-Droid repos, and more.
Thanks for the detailed answer. It seems prudent to install from Obtainium.
I’ll offer a counterpoint to all the Obtainium fans here: F-Droid is good and “middlemen” aren’t always pointless.
F-Droid enforces their own inclusion standards on every app they build. This mainly ensures that all apps are built from source and are 100% free (libre) software. When you “go outside the middleman” and “go directly to the source” you lose that assurance.
I don’t think it’s worth it for slightly faster updates. I enjoy knowing that I have the four freedoms with every app I install.
Tell me more about these four freedoms
A program is free software if the program’s users have the four essential freedoms:
- The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
- The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
- The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2).
- The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
Thanks for the explanation.
Alright boys
Do we still do that reddit thing here where we assume everyone is male?
for the downVoters
why defend defaultism or sexism? It may sound harmless to you, you may be used to it, but “alright boys” is exclusive and not, like some need to claim, a default greeting.
older women don’t care, they’re used to men being dickheads, but not being recognized hurts girls
alright girls, (that by default means you boys🤯) you can downVote this comment to hell now
Since when “boys” means only males 🫤
if boy already meant what it still does in proto-Germanic, the response would be: since at least 2500 years ago
but you’re write, watt r words butt gubblede gook. your all ways rite
Since English became a language and started using the word boys
I think girls don’t really care or they do? Because I use ‘bro’ talking or texting to a girl.
No assumption of gender, I was just going for the “Fuck it, we ball” rhetoric. I’m sorry if I made you feel excluded.
Your comment is a Twitter thing
Remove gapps
Wait until you find out about Obtainium.
Im thinking its another app storefront, similar to f droid?
Obtainium lets you install FOSS programs directly from the developers source. You can get updates from the github/gitlab of app developers before they get uploaded to F-droid.
How do I use it? I downloaded it but I don’t see the apps on it
You have to add them manually, either by url or with the built in search. For example, you can add newpipe by searching sources and checking github as a source to search. It will then show you repos that match newpipe, which usually is the regular newpipe repo and then a bunch of forks of it.
Obtainium isn’t for finding FOSS apps, it’s for installing them. To find them, you can check out existing repos such as f-droid or izzy, or you can ask around. This post has a bunch of recommendations in the replies
I’m loving obtainium. I just found it about 2 weeks ago and, I’ve been slowly switching everything I had installed with f droid over to obtainium. Only problem so far was one didn’t have apk releases. Only a .zip. There is already a issue on github about it and I expect obtainium will be able to handle that in the near future. It has be getting updated a lot lately. Plus version 1.0.0 just released.
Yeah, I did the same when I found it. For some apps I still left the fdroid version, but they update with obtainium.
What’s something you want to replace?
What I have installed:
From Obtanium:
- Most Fossify Apps
- Nextcloud
- Material Files
- Immich
- DAVx & ICSx (nextcloud contacts and calendar sync)
- DNS66
- Jellyfin
- Spotube
From FDroid (really droidify from various repositories)
- FUTO Voice Input
- Breezy Weather
- K-9
- Libera Reader
- FFUpdater
- Joplin
The list is massive and I’m on mobile and hate tiny keyboards. I can finish the list later if you/y’all are interested. The only thing that I actively use that is not FOSS on my phone is Google Messages, which I guess is a bit hypocritical, but its too good. Just the ability to react to messages makes it worth it for me.
I also highly recommend Grayjay. It is the best (IMHO) YouTube replacement. It is cross service, like I have odysee, nebula, youtube, and various peertube instances added as sources.
As far as what apps to watch out for, someone mentioned Simple Mobile Tools. Otherwise, I would stay away from apps that are not being updated anymore or are otherwise way too old.
I have some things to add.
Most of the released fossify apps are on fdroid.
From f-droid I recommended:
Binary eye (QR and bar codes)
Fennec or Mull (Firefox without telemetry, Mull for privacy/security)
K-9 mail (email client, Thunderbird mobile)
Aurora store (google appstore without need for play services)
Innertune (better YT music)
OpenNoteScanner (scan paper docs to digitize)
Droidify (fdroid but more feature rich and user friendly)
How does OpenNoteScanner compare to the Microsoft Lens app?
Much less features. Does the job with simple orientation correction and post process filters for clearer text. Serviceable but incomparably.
What apps you install depends on your needs and preferences. It might help others if you include those in any future requests for suggestions.
I suggest not worrying too much about “removing your dependence on closed ecosystems” immediately. Just do as you did before, changing apps as you find better alternatives—only, this time, considering the advantages of FOSS. Simply by giving F-droid apps a chance before opening (I assume) the Play Store, you’re already doing better than the vast majority of people.
Regarding discoverability and security, I believe participation in the community helps:
- The Venn diagram of “FOSS app users” and “software enthusiasts” is closer to a circle. People like talking about useful, good software they like. Word of mouth recommendations is how I got into this stuff.
- You’ll be more likely to hear urgent actionable news (e.g. X app developer sold to bad company, here’s the fork that will carry the torch onwards).
And so that this comment isn’t completely useless… Mozilla are currently working on a mobile version of Thunderbird for Android, built on top of K9 mail. Been using the beta and liking it so far. If you want a FOSS e-mail app, keep an eye on that one.
P.S. I much prefer the dark side, and don’t forget the cookies!
DavX5 and start keeping your contacts/calendar private with something like Nextcloud.
Vinyl Music Player has been my favorite of the large handful that I’ve tried
Your question about the security of apps is a good one and should be an ongoing one. Who do we, who don’t code, put our trust into? Generally I just see if an app is frequently mentioned by others; but that’s a pretty shaky approach to downloading software…
ViMusic - ad free music streaming
TrackerControl - view and block app trackers
LibreTube - ad free youtube client
Termux - TerminalThere are also plenty of replacements for builtin apps like camera, gallery, maps, etc, although I personally haven’t made that jump yet as there are some missing quality of life features.
Use RiMusic - It’s a fork of ViMusic and Updated
It really comes down to what is your use case. Also, a bit of mindset since you have to do a bit more research on some apps yourself, nothing too bad, like checking on the App’s Github if they have one to see issues or bugs. Some of which may apply to you… or not. F-Droid has a link for most apps on their app.
Personally, I removed almost all apps on my phone that have ads and/or improved privacy in one way or another.
I used to use Nova but I found KISS launcher or it’s fork TinyBit Launcher much better. Why? Because I do a lot of searches and liked that it is search focused and you can install all types of different search once you know the proper syntax. From Wikipedia, to Youtube, to Searxng, to Dictionaries or DuckDuckGo, you can add almost all search engines. The app is really, really light on resources and it does what I want it to do.
I dropped all Google products, rooted my phone and removed them off my phone along with Google Play Services. Avoid all apps with any trackers. Albeit I still have a couple that I still need. But it is a great reduction.
Use K9 for mail, OpenVPN in lieu of my VPN provider’s app, BraveNewPipe or NewPipe w/Sponsor block for Youtube and other services. Use Mull instead of Firefox, due to being more privacy focused. Eternity for Lemmy, as a, well, Lemmy client.
KDEconnect to send/ping/transfer/control PC’s and phones over local Wifi. It’s free. Now, I know that many people may not use it, but I set up a Nextcloud Instance on my server and thus have Notes, Maps, RSS reader, File and Bookmarks Sync all through that by using their free apps. All available for free from F-Droid. But you do need a server.
Also, Termux as terminal. You can do lots with it due to all the apps and services you can run. I used to run a Searx instance from my phone and I used that to search along with my VPN.
For weather I use either QuickWeather or Geometric Weather, with icons you can get for free from the Playstore.
Syncthing FairMail FreeOTP+ Markor Voyager APK Explorer Kiss launcher Nekogram X Bitwarden
get obtainium
have installed F-Droid
You should check out Droid-ify! It’s a much more friendlier alternative to F-Droid, and also has more applications by default (gets some apps directly from Github).
Some of my favorite apps:
- mpv (Lightweight media player, better than VLC)
- NewPipe (ad-free YouTube / Peertube client)
- Open Camera (Camera app)
- SD Maid SE (Junk file/cache cleaner)
- Unexpected Keyboard
- WiFiAnalyzer (WiFi scanner, troubleshooter)
My first step is always to add the Molly and Bitwarden repos.
