Have any of you been on the PlayStore recently? It's a fucking dumpster fire. I recently had to get a new phone, and when I try to search for and install an app I had installed before the results are, "try tiktok, or Whatsapp" which are listed at the top of the search results even though they're completely unrelated to what I searched for.
this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2026
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I avoid it like the plague.
My main personal phone is on GrapheneOS, and my work phones are as basic as possible with what they run. The only time I really ever spend on Play Store (and even then I tend to use Obtainium instead) is for when I review retro handhelds which emulate.
F-droid/Izzy and so on have everything we need!
Are you saying that Obtainium can install an app from a PlayStore URL?
In a fashion! Here you go:
https://github.com/RJNY/Obtainium-Emulation-Pack
You don't need the full lot of apps, just pick and choose what you want and need! When there is an update to it, Obtainium will fetch and install it for you!
Mindustry is amazing. Really fun to start over with the community mods.
Honestly it is way better on PC. I don't think the controls translate very well to touch screen. It gets pretty damn hard, and I don't think I've ever been able to get very far on phone or tablet. That could be a me thing, though. The game is amazing nonetheless.
How in the $@-# are you sposed to change the direction of a conveyor belt?
Tap this arrow.
Double tap and drag Or click the arrow to rotate it in the first place
Thanks!
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Let me guess... Mindustry, breakout, pixel dungeon, unciv?
EDIT: Close! 4/5. Never even heard of aaaaxy
Shattered pixel dungeon is such a fucking masterpiece of a rogue like! I legit played it so much one day I had this weird aphasia the next day, where it seemed like time only moved when I did. What a strange day, wouldn't trade it for anything though. I love that game.
I recently had to uninstall Angband because I was spending too much time on it. I had never thought it would work on mobile, but it's an amazingly faithful representation of the desktop version.
Shattered is good, but the original pixel dungeon was absolutely brilliantly done in the sense that it was kept so small and with such tight gameplay that there was no grinding, just a fun mixture between puzzle game and roguelike.
You know what I've noticed? I have a pixel pro 9, like a quarter of the apps I look for on the app store say "this app is not available for your device"
If you're open to it, there are seas to sail where you can download said APK and run it without issue. Not a 100% fix since some don't, but I have others which did and do!
Wait, is lemmy sensoring pirated websites/apps mentions? For anyone wondering, mobilism.org is the ultimate place.
yeah, i've done so before, but its such a crapshoot with some apk providers. Got any trusted sites you would never suspect malware from?
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I have a bunch of games I bought a while ago that are now no longer available ...
Some fuckin' conspiracy, I swear
Are you grapheneos? I've noticed similar for my Pixel Fold 10 but assumed it was an odd combination of the two.
lineage, but yeah, you think rom might be the cause?
Yeah the rom is most likely the reason. Give aurora store a try
I love your posts/articles/reports 🤗
Thank you very much!
Hey I just noticed it's you! I got one of those rotates cause of your review.
OH that's really nice to hear!
Are you loving it? I still have mine on my shelf each and every day. Right now it is playing Olivia Rodrigo's latest album. But I mean...also for games. So happy to hear it helped you!
My hands are a little too big for the gamepad, but I've been doing a new Stardew with it and yes, loving it.
thank you for letting me discover f-droid and some of it possibilities.
I suggest to try "Droidy-fy" it uses the F-Droid repository along side some other famous thirdy-party repository and has a nicer look, i never used the playstore since then
As Axolotl said below, make sure you use F-droid to search for Droidify. It looks and behaves far nicer than plain old F-droid and gives you many more options!
And enjoy, I'm so glad my article helped at least one person find new things out there :) :) :)
Great picks, love Breakout 71. My extra pick is ChipDefense, a short tower defense game with some cool science/tech history
And simon tatham's puzzles is excellent.
Oooh, yes! I have all three too. But Breakout 71 is really where I spend most of my free time on my phone. Every game is different!
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I very much enjoy IdleFantasy lately.
It is available on F-Droid.
I've been playing this too. Seems like every time I open it there has been an update with new features added!
I came here to mention this one! Found a bug recently, it was fixed within 24 hours. The dev is really invested in this game at the time, I can't imagine that will stay this intense forever.
Dude, I've been playing the hell out of idol fantasy for a while. I wish I had a discord or something
Fuck yeah, Shattered Pixel Dungeon.
Most of the mentioned games actually ARE on play store.
I just realized -__-
Worst reflection of my lack of research there. I did just add a callout in the intro reflecting my own idiocy on that front (there's no excuses)
You're right!
I don't care :-) please do more lists like this!
You know what, I think I shall!
I appreciate it :)
Finding a decent game on the play store is nearly impossible. They will be buried under a mountain of ad and microtransaction infested crap.
hyperrogue is quite interesting one
I have the following:
Anuto TD
Ricochlime
Unblock Jam
Great to pass time
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