I don't got an app recommendation, but I just wanted to say that losing money playing mahjong is a time honoured tradition.
There's this: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.cwde.freeshisen/
Looks like it hasn't been updated in a while, but I'd guess that doesn't matter for a game like this
I saw that, but the description says:
Shisen-Sho is a Japanese tile-based game which uses Mahjong tiles.
I'm not a Mahjong player, but are Shisen-Sho and Mahjong the same game?
Do you know what she actually wants to play? Mahjong is a multiplayer game, usually played with four players. Shisen-Sho is a singleplayer game but it is colloquially called Mahjong. When someone says Mahjong they often mean Shisen-Sho without even realising there is a difference.
When someone says Mahjong they often mean Shisen-Sho without even realising there is a difference.
I ended up installing FreeShisen for her. You're probably right because she's looking for a single-player game where you match tiles. She got into """Mahjong""" because it was previously installed on her laptop under that name, i.e. she's not looking for the "true" or otherwise more obscure game.
Mahjong Solitaire is what you want
This might be good enough: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.anoshenko.android.mahjongg/
Hmm, looks like they're slightly different games.
As first, I assumed they were the same, but now that I read the description again, it says it uses Mahjong tiles, but it looks like it's not Mahjong.
If I find anything else, I'll let you know.
It's unlikely but if she wants Japanese riichi mahjong and not solitaire style, Kemono Mahjong is a really solid app. No ads or micro transactions (the only in app purchase is to optionally support the dev for $1/month), full feature, minimal to no tracking (email address for online game purposes). It's not open source or free but it's only $3 one time purchase.
I don't have any suggestions for solitaire/tile matching mahjong, unfortunately. Microsoft's app is not malware but will be datamine galore. It also has ads unless you pay per month. Anything else, id be leery of the security of the app and your data.
I went with FreeShisen for now, since it is simple and she liked it. Thank you everyone for your recommendations so far.
Not FOSS, but I imagine that's the next best thing, she just needs an internet connection:
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