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.
I have and use F-Droid but hadn’t caught on to repos and their function. Just seen it mentioned. Thanks for elaborating!
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 second Izzy, add:
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 :)
Apologies, I didn’t follow what was a storefront and such.
Then check out droid-ify. It has a really clean looking UI that won’t get in your way.
Thanks
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.
Don’t forget Divest, a must have repo. Also Molly for a foss signal client
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.
That’s awesome! Looks like there’s been progress while I was not looking.
What do you think, is it now a viable option do daily drive a completely de-googled phone?
It’s a lot more feasible than it used to be. I also use Aurora Store to fill in the gaps.
I use neo store it’s native non root installer (usually) manage to do one click install all updates.
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.
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…
You 99% won’t brick it, I guarantee you. Graphene’s install is really easy. You press a few buttons on a website and never touch a terminal, aside from if you’re on GNOME. As for price, I got a used Pixel 4a 5g for 100 and newer ones won’t be as expensive as the things you might’ve gone for. Try a used Pixel 6a? (Graphene doesn’t extend software support)
The first issue is that you’re in the US.
As for installing Graphene, it’s very unlikely that you will brick your mobile, since with the new WebUSB installer, you don’t have to do anything. Just set it to install and have your favourite beverage whilst the Web installer deals with it
Bricking is a possibility but for phones that can be unlocked, it should be a matter of following the instructions on Lineageos - unlock the bootloader, flash the recovery partition, flash lineageos + Google apps.
The biggest pain in the ass for me was trying to get the adb & fastboot tools to talk to the device in the first place. For example OnePlus requires drivers for its devices but Windows doesn’t install them automatically so you have to go find them. Except the adb driver works but the fastboot one didn’t. Then after a bunch of searching it turns out OnePlus forgot to sign the fastboot driver so Windows refused to install it and I had to boot Windows in a convoluted way to disable signature verification to get the driver installed.
After all that, the rest was relatively straightforward but it still took several hours of effort. IMO Lineageos is a pretty ugly dist but if you install Google Apps it’s not missing anything and it extends the phone’s life beyond what the manufacturer could be bothered to support.
I just did it two days ago, had the same fears, everything went smooth like butter
Installing GrapheneOS is actually ludicrously easy if you’re expecting some kind of root exploit nonsense like you used to have to do with custom ROMs! Full instructions here, happy to answer any questions if you need!
any lineage os supported device is enough, i think
LineageOS isnt degoogled by default
It’s a lot better than stock, even though there are still some Google things left over. If you don’t install your own GApps, then the Google stuff in Lineage is minimal.
Doesn’t take long to De-google it up to 95% or so
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.
I just run Lineage os. Sure its not as secure but it supports many phones and is clean and light.
Combine it with F-droid and your golden
I doubt I can get that to run on my phone. Being a minor brand, it is as if it doesn’t exist.
What device is it? There probably is an unofficial build.
Also 3 years is not that old. My phone is from 2019 and runs Android 13 just fine (Motorola-ocean)
Oukitel WP8 Pro
It has an MT6762D CPU, with 4GB RAM.
And now I’m doubting for how long I’ve had it, has the last update for the Android 10 it runs is from 2020 and I can remember updating it, for sure.
Ok, your right there is very little support for that device. Sorry I couldn’t be more help
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)
Droid-ify is the best way to use f-droid imo
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.
Droidify has an ignore all new versions button. And you can of course downgrade whenever you want.
Huh, most of the time. I mean, people like you don’t have to use it at all, but I prefer to just press “Update all” once if I have >2 updates in a row.
Running outdated versions of software, whether on your phone or the desktop, will generally expose you to more vulnerabilities and is not best practice from a security perspective.
People that don’t have a solid grasp on computing tend to think any and all updates are inherently good.
People that don’t have a solid grasp on computing tend to think any and all updates are inherently good.
What are the perks of using this vs. the standard F-Droid app?
More built-in repositories and a nicer UI.
Nice. I just decided to try it, and this seems really nice so far. The built-in repositories feature is really nice, especially for people who are just getting acquainted with F-Droid
Neo store is my favourite. Yes there is another upside. F-droid targets old apk , android 5 , which is a issue , albeit small.
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 QuillpadSexy 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.
Default app store for my Volla phone. I’m the ultimate hipster and I’m proud of it!
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
What kinda good stuff is on F Droid they the average User might want?
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
Osmand (offline GPS maps)
Same version as the android store but free.
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.
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.
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
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
Just got it. Amazing! Thanks!
It’s a fantastic app. Remember to set your default YouTube links to open with it also, you can do that with android in app settings.
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
Agreed. LibreTube is really good.
I use LibreSudoku. It’s a very nice Sudoku app.
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.)
Everything
deleted by creator
Newpipe - A YouTube client without ads.
Literally can’t say enough good stuff about Newpipe.
Everything YouTube SHOULD be, this is. LISTEN TO A VIDEO IN THE BACKGROUND!!!11. Playback speed infinitely adjustable- good for lectures, interviews, etc. No ads. No bullshit.
F-droid app seems to be not that great though. Using Droid-ify instead.
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
There is . The F-droid app has issues since it’s targeting android 5 . Neo store and droidify are better that way, security wise
Is this the article you are referencing?
https://privsec.dev/posts/android/f-droid-security-issues/
I do see some of the concerns you mentioned but it doesn’t seem to me like a night and day difference
No ,it’s just that the client app is old , targeting android 5. Good if you are using an old phone. But not so good if you are using a new. Higher SDK have tighter checks and limits. But a minor issue, I still recommend using one of the newer ones. Droidify or neostore. Also I think I read somewhere there is work going on to update the F-droid one as well. Edit read up on the article and yea it makes a good point on the SDK level. But yea a minor thing imo. Edit2 apparently it’s android 7
I think OP meant the app store, not the client itself
I use Neo store , used droidify before. Works great
I personally like it but that’s just me
Love F droid ! It’s great
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! :-)
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
This is actually the way
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?
Its not security I’m looking for. If I wanted security I would be running stock with all of the apps from large corporations.
What’s good about F-droid is the freedom you get when you use it. All of its apps are libre. You have the ability to tweak them anyway you want and the source code it yours to study, learn, modify and distribute.
not… after… security… hmm. 😶
That’s correct
Some people like to live dangerously.
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.
You could use Droid-ify and have the best of both worlds
I don’t know if you didn’t understand their comment or if Droidify has a feature I didn’t knew about.
Droid-ify offers apps from different repositories so you can have Izzyondroid and F-droid at the same time. It also scans for updates and does auto-updates if possible.
Yeah I know about that but what has that to do with IzziOnDroid apps which pulls the apps from GitHub being removed after they’ve been added to the official Fdroid repo
Apparently it seems that I don’t get it indeed.
I said Droid-ify is a 'best of both worlds because it offers the easy of use of F-droid but also pulls from IzzyOnDroid/GitHub.
F droid is EXCELLENT
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.
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.
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.
thanks
I recommend the NewPipe-Sponserblock instead of default Newpipe
NewPipe Sponsorblock repo from Izzy:
https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/org.polymorphicshade.newpipe
