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submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by reactive_recall@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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[-] Pantherina@feddit.de 139 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Guys.

Dont install FOSS apps from the Playstore. Use F-Droid (F-Droid Basic if you are on an updated OS)

Thanks.

[-] sab@kbin.social 64 points 9 months ago

A personal recommendation is to use Droidify, it's just a great F-droid front-end.

You can download the APK here: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.looker.droidify/

[-] itsmect@monero.town 14 points 9 months ago

Droidify is the best! Best performance and UI of all compatible clients, and even handles 3rd repos that wont load on others.

[-] malle_yeno@pawb.social 6 points 9 months ago

Hey thanks for this! I used f droid for a while but was always meh on the UI and how clunky it is. I used this for a bit and I already like it waaaay more. Cheers!

[-] Pantherina@feddit.de 4 points 9 months ago

When I last used it it was somehow unstable. Maybe that has changed.

[-] sab@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago

I have used it for maybe a year and I never had any problems. Then again, I'm hardly a power user, so it makes sense that other people might have different experiences. :)

[-] Pantherina@feddit.de 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I really like that they add more repos you just need to enable. Number 1 reason to use it, as F-Droid will never add those for obvious reasons.

Some that I cant live without

  • Izzyondroid
  • Guardian Project
  • Collabora office
  • signal foss twinhelix
  • molly
  • futo
  • simplex chat
  • Cryptomator
  • Mobilsicher (proprietary German apps that are core infrastructure. They ask those developers if they can get the APKs)
  • (Bitwarden) (dont use it)
  • Julians Repo: nice to get GrapheneOS app updates, but you should install their appstore instead.
[-] DivisionResult@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 9 months ago
[-] Pantherina@feddit.de 1 points 9 months ago

Tried it, it was at least back then not scaleable. Not every Dev publishes precompiled APKs, that is actually not something regular because F-Droid and IzzyOnDroid exist.

So in the end I had 8 or more of my favourite Apps still F-Droid only, and when adding all those sources some barely worked and in the end Obtainium didnt load anymore.

Does it autoremove APK files? Otherwise its just a fancy Feed Reader, I use Feeder for the few Apps that are Git* releases only

[-] DivisionResult@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 9 months ago
[-] Pantherina@feddit.de 1 points 9 months ago

Thats pretty good then

[-] NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml 1 points 9 months ago

My experience too, but I switched back and it's far better now.

[-] Jeknilah@monero.town 5 points 9 months ago

Yeah. I usually go to the Playstore to buy out all the In-App purchases and support development, but this is really discouraging.

[-] Pantherina@feddit.de 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

True. But F-Droid has Donation links everywhere. I prefer that over buying, idk why.

~~Oh, found out at least F-Droid Basic doesnt display the links! Thats not nice~~ it has

[-] Salix@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago

Less fees taken if you donate instead of buying most likely.

Droidify shows the donation links fine, which is nice!

[-] cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

You're welcome.

[-] LWD@lemm.ee 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)
[-] joe_cool@lemmy.ml 2 points 9 months ago

Droidify can do both: Session Installer and Shizuku: https://github.com/Droid-ify/client

[-] Pantherina@feddit.de 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

F-Droid basic uses modern Android Libraries and modern Apps can be updated without interaction.

Thats because Android has a Package manager that uses APKSigner signatures to verify the app. That is Private/Public Key authentication, so its pretty sure the App comes from the developers.

Only if the Signature matches the App gets an Update. So there is no danger in using automatic updates.

Making F-Droid Basic "battery unrestricted" will help.

[-] LWD@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)
[-] tom42@beehaw.org 1 points 9 months ago

I agree that F-Droid is great!

What I usually do is to buy the pro version on Google Play and install it later on F-Droid.

On the other hand I don't see anything wrong for non tech people to install FOSS apps from the Play Store. The apps are still FOSS

[-] Illecors@lemmy.cafe 5 points 9 months ago

Not exactly. When building for play store release - google injects their tracking into the binary.

[-] Pantherina@feddit.de 2 points 9 months ago

I think this is a myth. Android Studio or something allows to build it in, but Google doesnt automatically do that. Afaik

this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
799 points (98.9% liked)

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