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?
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!
The Venn diagram of “FOSS app users” and “software enthusiasts” is closer to a circle.
Now this is the quote of the week for me 😂 It is mostly accurate, unfortunately, but I cannot stop giggling about it.
Mozilla are currently working on a mobile version of Thunderbird for Android, built on top of K9 mail.
Is that what it is, or is K-9 becoming Thunderbird for Android? My understanding from official announcements was the latter.
K-9 is rebranding as Thunderbird for Android, indeed. But since many users of K-9 expressed their desire to keep the logo and name of K-9, Thunderbird agreed to publish both versions: one rebranded as Thunderbird for Android, and the other keeping its original branding as K-9. We will see whether that will complicate things for Thunderbird team too much yet.
I see! I missed that nuance since the announcement that K-9 would become TB Android. Thanks for the update.
I’m partial to the old K-9 logo too, but I love that the two email projects I use are working together for interoperability 🙂
My bad, I forgot you need to be careful using such metaphors when talking about software. It’s as the other commenter said: a rebrand, but they might keep the old identity around for people who like it.
Wait until you find out about Obtainium.
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.
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
Well…?
Begin to de-google yourself. Research on FOSS alternatives to Google apps and services. Depending on your reliance, this may be a slow process. It’s OK. Build an understanding that there will be lots of sacrificing, especially convenience around the brand ecosystem that Google and Apple are known for.
It’s a bit unnerving, to understand how massive an influence that one company has on our lives.
now install Droid-ify from Fdroid and you can uninstall Fdroid 😁
once you’re on Droid-ify enable repos from Izzy, divestOs, newpipe, cromite, &c
Yeah, you can enable those repos in plain f-droid, too.
What is the draw of droidify other than (I think) using material design?
Droidify auto updates were hit and miss for me, compared to flawless F-Droid Basic unattended background updates.
isn’t Izzy’s full of closed source stuff?
Nope, They only add apps for which source code is available and don’t have any trackers
is it?
any sources?
You mean Foxy Droid.
They meant neo store
Remove gapps
Yeah, that’s the endgame. I hope to replace everything I use eventually.
There are no in between library_napper probably.
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)
Here is a very good collection of Foss apps for Android “40+ Best Open Source Android Apps” by itsfoss.com (almost all available in F-Droid)
That’s a good starter list. However it should be noted that all the Simple apps should be avoided now and instead people should use the forked versions from Fossify.
See the following post for more information: https://lemmy.world/post/11117891
That’s a good starter list. However it should be noted that all the Simple apps should be avoided now and instead people should use the forked versions from Fossify.
Yes, that’s right, all the recommendation lists are no longer up to date in this respect. However, until all Fossify apps have been released, the Simple apps from F-Droid can still be used. They have no ads, they are just no longer updated for two months/the time of sale…
Thanks for the list. I’ll make sure to check the current state of the apps before installing.
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
block app trackers? The duckduckgo mobile app has something like that too IIRC, I’ve seen a bunch of screenshots here in the past.
Also, how does termux work on an android device? Do all the usual linux commands work on an android too?
Termux work like a emulator but It can interact with android storage.
It really comes down to what is your use case. Also, a bit of a mindset change 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 add all types of different searches 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 improvement.
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 install and 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.
These are my main core apps. Not fully divested from closed ecosystems (YouTube & Google Maps are in there with alternative private frontends). But close enough for me.
- Mull - Private Firefox
- OrganicMaps & GMaps WV - Maps
- Eternity - Lemmy
- Meglodon - Mastadon
- ProtonVPN - VPN
- AntennaPod - Podcasts
- Bitwarden - Passwords
- Joplin - Notes
- NewPipe Sponsorblock - YouTube w/o ads or in-video promotions
- Need to add the Izzy repo to get this one
- VLC - Music & video
- Yet Another Call Blocker - Spam calls
Development for NewPipe Sponsorblock has ended. They recommend using Tubular instead.
Thank you! I had no idea development had stopped but I see that now in their GitHub repository.
Newpipe x sponsorblock is abandoned. pipepipe is a good alternative
My first step is always to add the Molly and Bitwarden repos.
Hi, quick question. I already have some apps installed via play store, thats also available on F-Droid. Is there any advantage to uninstalling them, and installing them back, from F-Droid?
Some Fdroid Version may have less trackers or replace Google Services(Signal-FOSS/Molly or Telegram for example use a own push service)
Most privacy tools from the PlayStore are light versions “decaffeinated” by Google. Google hate all apps which avoid his control. Recommended app for Android is InviZible Pro (FOSS)
I’ve never heard about this app, it seems interesting. What does
Access to Restricted Content: Unblocks blocked websites.
means?
Beside concrete suggestions, I would suggest having a look at the applications you use. (Decide whether you actually use and need them first.) Search for the application on AlternativeTo or similar sites and look for a FLOSS alternative there. And also search the internet for general FLOSS replacements for the use-cases of the applications you use. No need to rush anything. Even replacing one application a week is good progress.
DavX5 and start keeping your contacts/calendar private with something like Nextcloud.
Syncthing FairMail FreeOTP+ Markor Voyager APK Explorer Kiss launcher Nekogram X Bitwarden
Here is a great list: https://github.com/nyas1/Material-You-app-list
Then you could search it up on Droidify or use Obtainium.
