F-Droid

TL;DR: News about 571 apps

Posted on Sep 19, 2024 by linsui

This Week in F-Droid

TWIF curated on Thursday, 19 Sep 2024, Week 38

Community News

APatch, The patching of Android kernel and Android system, is a new powerful Root tool, which is similar to Magisk but also provides more features. It supports Magisk modules and it runs in the kernel so it can hide the Root better.

ArcaneChat, ⚡ Fast encrypted chats for the family 🎉, is a newly added Delta Chat fork with a penchant for experimentation. We hope that all the good stuff might eventually get added to the official Delta Chat client too, eg. reproducible builds.

FluffyChat was updated to 1.22.0, but that’s a week old news, as you are already enjoying your authenticated media. We also heard the voices of armv7 Element users and they can update today too, no need to feel left behind. Albeit there’s something to be said about running armv7-only devices in the current year.

Ghost Commander was updated to 1.63.1b6, bringing slowly paced updates to that old-school dual-pane file navigator. The legend says that once you understand the dual-pane power, you can never go back!

Notesnook - Private notes app was updated to 3.0.17, but did you know that since 3.0.15, published last week, you can use your own Sync Server? Just navigate to Customization > Servers and input the URL to your hosted one, as its source code is readily available. Before you start typing ssh ... do peruse this draft unofficial hosting guide and keep an eye on the server repo releases and discussions.

Wire • Secure Messenger was updated to 4.8.4-20981-fdroid after a 2 year pause. It is now freshly designed, completely rebuilt app, with a lot of improvements and added features.

Autumn Cleaning

Last month we said: “Translations are the easiest way to help”, but we might have lied, for F-Droid itself, the easiest thing to do is to report a broken app. And you might do that unintended, with a glimmer of hope in your eyes, you find an app that you want to install, and when you run it… nothing happens, or you get a screen full of toggles to select yet still end up to a blank screen, or maybe it starts fine but then its functions don’t seem to work. Well, this often happens, as developers are humans themselves, they might get tired, bored or plain move away from the project. Android evolves, moves, changes. Sites that apps depend on change their APIs or get shutdown. It takes a village full of tools developers, app developers, F-Droid contributors and you the user, to shape an app to its current form.

F-Droid Client itself is in constant change (hey, did you try the alpha releases yet?) as features are added, bugs get fixed and the app is polished with every new version. We’ve talked about Android forcing some changes upon developers and users alike, with both the good parts and the bad. The thing to remember is this: somebody needs to maintain an app else you’ll end up losing its functionality, sooner rather than later.

In maintaining the F-Droid repo, we don’t only add new apps or fix app updates, we also have the dreary task of dealing with apps that are no longer fit for the repo. Maybe somebody reports 2 apps that might have issues, maybe adds 8 more that can’t connect to some crusty site. Then someone else tells you about some 19 apps where the developer deleted the source code repository and the mic drops when they prepare the changes for 284 apps to be archived because the source code is in read-only mode and development stopped. It’s an ongoing process…

You wondered about the post title? Now it will make sense.

So before you expand the section below, prepare your favorite beverage and read on.

Why were all these apps removed? There were not actually removed, but archived.

Why were all these apps archived? Because even if working, their source code is in stasis, in a frozen state.

Why does this matter since we can still see it? We can see it, yet no one maintains it. If somebody finds a bug in the code they can’t report it at all since the issue tracker is also locked, let alone release a fixed version.

What happens if I had one installed? Nothing happens, they continue to be installed. Whether they continue to work or not in the future is not something that F-Droid has any influence on.

Why can’t I find the app when I search for it in Client/website if not removed? By archiving, apps are moved to the Archive section of the F-Droid repository.

So I can’t install any of them? You sure do can, activate the Archive and do as you please. We recommend you to disable the Archive for normal usage.

So it’s not a bad thing if nothing changed? It’s mostly a bad thing, in time. Apps might stop working just by updating your Android, or fail to install when you switch to your new device. If vulnerabilities are found in the app or its dependencies, you’ll run a vulnerable app, even worse if it connects to the Internet.

But app X is an unique snowflake and needs to be available!!! Feel free to talk with us, maybe that one can come back.

What if I fork the repo and continue its development? This is a good thing, two ideas to keep in mind, first, if the original developer agrees we might be able to update the original app (conditions might apply, reproducible builds might interfere etc), second, if they don’t agree you’ll have to create a real fork with new appid, new icon, new name, new everything, and we’ll add it as a new app.

When reviewing the app list, contributors felt a bit of sadness, it’s not only about developers letting go, but also about all the time translators put into these apps, users testing and reporting bugs, and F-Droid contributors helping at inclusion or app updates. Do we have a Ringdroid replacement now? No. Was Stringlate useful? Yes, we fondly remember using it for many translations, yet a translation portal is way better today.

What’s next? Read the list, crosscheck your devices, take a note of any apps that got archived and try to find replacements as soon as possible.

Note to developers: When you cease development, do ping us and talk with us about the situation, so that we can better manage the decision on whether the app should be archived immediately or not.

Archived Apps

316 apps were archived
(expand for the full list)
  • /r/Android App store: Download apps curated by /r/android
  • Activity Launcher fork: Create shortcuts for any installed app and even hidden to launch them with ease
  • ADB Manager: Manage Android Debug Bridge
  • AirUnlock: Controlling Mac lock state
  • Alarmio: Simple alarm clock focused on design, readability, and Internet radio
  • Alovoa Lite: Open-source online dating application
  • ALSA Mixer WebUI: Client for ALSA Mixer WebUI
  • Always On AMOLED: Display some information at all times
  • Amdroid: Amdroid is a client for the Ampache media streaming system
  • AMPlayer: Network music player
  • Android OBD-II Reader: Car diagnostics
  • Android Samba Client: Access files shared through a SAMBA share
  • Android version: Simple app to view Android version information
  • AndTTT: simple tic tac toe game
  • Anime Release Notifier: Track anime release dates
  • Another-RSS: reader for multiple RSS feeds in a single, searchable list
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Czech: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Finnish: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Galician: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Icelandic: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Macedonian: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Pali: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Polish: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Portuguese: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Slovene: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Swedish: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Tatar: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • AnySoftKeyboard: Ukrainian: Language pack for AnySoftKeyboard
  • Aodify: Show AOD on demand
  • APKMirror: An unofficial client for the gratis app download site APKMirror
  • ApkTrack: Check for updates on PlayStore and other sources
  • Apollo Trivia: Learn more about the Apollo Moon missions
  • AppLock: Deny access to set apps by pattern locks, prevent abuse, protect your privacy
  • ArkTap: Arknights helper app
  • Atomic: IRC (chat) client
  • Attestation de déplacement: Generates the PDF attestation file required by the French government to go out
  • Audinaut: Stream music from Subsonic-compatible servers
  • Auto Airplane Mode: Schedule airplane mode based on your settings
  • Barinsta: Simple yet advanced Instagram client
  • Battery Level: See the battery level
  • Battery Live: Set the wallpaper based on the battery level
  • Berlin-Vegan: Guide for vegan dining and shopping in Berlin
  • BipolAlarm: Alarm clock with 2 stages
  • Birthday Countdown: An App counting down to your next birthday!
  • BitShares Wallet: Use Smartcoins like bitBTC, bitUSD & bitEUR in 22 languages w/QR codes & more
  • Blazed Cloud - Encrypted Storage: Minimal & Open sourced Cloud Storage
  • BLE Peripheral Simulator: Try out Web Bluetooth without the need for a BLE Peripheral Device
  • Blockly for senseBox: Visual Programming of the senseBox:MCU via Blockly
  • Bluetooth terminal: Simple bluetooth terminal application. ASCII and hex. Opensource
  • BoogDroid: Bugzilla client
  • BookmarkOS: A wrapper for bookmarkOS
  • Bop-MusicPlayer: Lightweight and powerful music player
  • Bucket - Overlay Manager: Bucket is UNOFFICIAL app for Substratum Theme Engine
  • Budget: Manage your income and expenses
  • Bulkshare 2: Share multiple URLs
  • Burning-Series: Watch numerous series online for free on Burning Series!
  • Cache Cleaner: Clean the cache
  • Calculate!: Set one-click emergency options
  • Calendar Notifications: Advanced calendar notifications
  • CalorieScope : An app to help you to maintain healthy life
  • Camera Roll: Fast and intuitive Gallery replacement with cropping, EXIF editor, file manager
  • Canada Weather & Radar: Quick, easy, and free Canadian forecast, animated radar, and home screen widget
  • Catapult: Launcher based on Cyanogen’s Trebuchet
  • Charmap: Access unicode characters
  • Check Network: Auto connect to network
  • Citybike Stations Vienna: Show available citybikes in Vienna
  • Clip Stack: Manage clipboard history
  • Clover: Imageboard browser
  • Coin Flip: Simulate a coin flip
  • Coin Flip Addon: Extra coins
  • CollinsDictionary: A third-party client for Collins Dictionary
  • ControlDLNA: DLNA/UPnP control point
  • Custom Search: A Simple Query Search on Google using Dorking
  • Cythara: Musical instrument tuner
  • D00R: Unlock the door at Hackspace Siegen
  • DashClock: Civilization V Quotes: Random quotes on lock screen
  • DashNotifier: Notifications on lock screen
  • Dawn for Reddit: Unofficial client for Reddit
  • DefCol: Palette and color manager
  • Device Locator:
  • DieDroid: Dice roller
  • Dir: Modern file manager
  • Domodroid: Interface with a Domogik home automation server
  • Droid Examiner: Device info
  • DroidBeard: Manage SickBeard installations
  • DualSim Reminder: Tools for dual SIM devices from Samsung
  • ElegiLegi: Open government game for Argentina
  • Elementary: Periodic Table: Open-source Periodic Table of the Elements and element reference app
  • Ensichat: Decentralized Instant Messenger
  • Entrust IdentityGuard Unblocker: Xposed module to let rooted devices use Entrust’s IdentityGuard app
  • EPUB3 Reader: eBook reader with parallel texts
  • Ermete SMS: Send SMS via the web
  • Falling Blocks: Tetris clone
  • fb-client: Paste and view code snippets
  • FHCode: Code editor for android
  • Files: File Manager with root browser
  • FineGeotag: Automatically geotag photos
  • Fira Font: Mozilla Fira font for the CyanogenMod Theme Engine
  • Flashlight: Use your device’s LED as flashlight
  • Flashlight Widget: Control your LED flash
  • Flat Connectivity Icons: Xposed module that provides flat connectivity icons
  • Flavordex Tasting Journal: Highly customizable tasting journal for phones or tablets
  • flutterhole: A third party application for the Pi-Hole® dashboard
  • Flym: Light and modern feed reader
  • Flyve MDM Agent: Manage and secure effectively your mobile devices and applications
  • Food-E: An app to get information about artificial additives found in Processed foods
  • FOSS Moodle: Interact with HHS moodle instance
  • FOSS Weather: Get weather information from several webservices
  • FragDenStaat: Navigate FragDenStaat
  • Free Mobile Netstat: Monitor your Free Mobile plan
  • Frost for Facebook: A fast and extensive third party wrapper for Facebook
  • Fun Phone Puppet: Use your phone as puppet
  • Fun With Kanji: Simple app to learn Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji
  • FutharkBoard: Elder Futhark keyboard for Android
  • Gears: Gears demo/benchmark
  • Get Off Your Phone: Control procrastination with an app locker
  • GfxTablet: Use touchscreen as graphics tablet
  • Git Quick Reference: Offline git quick reference application
  • Gloomy Dungeons: First-person shooter
  • Gloomy Dungeons 3D - Hardcore: First-person shooter
  • Go to Sleep: Reminds you to go to sleep… until you do
  • GoldenEye: Layer 7 HTTP DoS Test Tool
  • Greyscale: A simple AOSP-like theme for CyanogenMod
  • HaveRadiosion: Internet radio player with comic figure as music visualizer
  • Hearing Saver: Set default volume for headsets
  • Heb12 Bible: make reading God’s word easy and hassle-free
  • Hibi 「日々」: An app to help you learn Japanese by keeping a journal
  • HoloPlay: HoloPlay is a audio only alternative Youtube client using Invidious API
  • Hop’Edia: Helps you to choose a good beer
  • HostIsDown: Check if a host is down
  • Hosts Editor: Edit system hosts file
  • HydroMemo: Drink enough water
  • Identify Dog Breeds: Identify dog breeds with your smartphone
  • Image SMS: Send very small photos with long text SMS and without MMS or internet
  • InitialVolume: Set an initial volume after boot
  • Just A Damn Compass: It’s just a small simple compass, with no unneeded features
  • Just Search: Simple Assist app with multiple search providers
  • K-9 Mail DashClock Extension: Email info on the lockscreen
  • Kaku: Practice kanji writing on your phone’s keyboard!
  • Keikai Launcher: A fast, minimalistic and lightweight search-based launcher
  • Kernel Profiler: The easiest way to tweaks your kernel
  • KindMind: Be aware of sad feelings and unmet needs
  • LaiCare: Manage the care of dogs and cats
  • LaMetric Notify+: Send notifications to a LaMetric Time smart clock
  • LDAP Sync: Sync your contacts with LDAP
  • LDAP Sync: Sync your contacts with LDAP
  • Libre Droid: Client for Libre.fm
  • LibreNews: Free, fast and decentralized breaking news notification app
  • LibreTrivia: An open source trivia game for Android
  • Light Android Launcher:
  • Linkbox: Simple Link Manager
  • Linwood Dev-Doctor: A free, opensource, serverless learning platform. A linwood project
  • Location Cache Map: Find where your device was
  • Locus: Share your location end-to-end encrypted on decentralized servers using Nostr
  • LTE Cleaner: System cleaner
  • MarkdownView Demo: Render markdown text
  • Matsuri: Proxy toolchain for Android
  • Mercury-SSH: Send preconfigured commands via SSH
  • Mi Manga Nu: Manga reader
  • Ministocks: Stock price widget
  • Ministro: Needed by apps written in Qt
  • Mint Task: Simple todo manager.
  • Mirakel: Decentralized TODO list
  • Mirakel-Dashclock: Dashclock extension for Mirakel
  • Monochromatic: Enable the built-in black and white mode
  • Move Certs!: Resolve certificates warnings
  • Movian Remote: Control a Showtime media center
  • Moving Polygons: Bouncing lines live wallpaper
  • MRepo: A modules manager for Magisk & KernelSU
  • Multitouch Test: Test multitouch capabilities
  • Munch: Manage and view RSS feeds
  • Mysplash: An Unsplash Client
  • Netcfg Widget: A widget frontend for netcfg
  • NetInfo Widget: Widget for network connectivity
  • NewPipe Legacy: Lightweight YouTube frontend for OS versions 4.x
  • Nextcloud Cookbook: Nextcloud Cookbook Mobile Client written in Flutter
  • Night Mode: Enable Night Mode from tile
  • Night Screen: Prevent your eyes from being hurt by screen light
  • NoSurf for reddit: Browse the top posts on Reddit without infinite scrolling or addictive features
  • Notify2Jabber: Send almost all text notifications to a Jabber account or your Gotify server
  • Null launcher: A launcher that does nothing
  • NuSimi: Nusimi is your dictionary of native american languages
  • OCReader: Reader for Nextcloud news
  • Offline Calendar: Lets you add calendars to the Calendar app, which are not synchronized
  • OMW: A game engine compatible with TES3:Morrowind data files
  • OMW Nightly: A game engine compatible with TES3:Morrowind data files
  • OneTimePass: Two-factor (TOTP) authentication
  • Open Bitcoin Wallet: Bitcoin wallet with Lightning and Hosted Channels support
  • OpenManga: Read your favorit manga
  • OpenUntis: An alternative FLOSS client for the Untis timetable system
  • OpenVegeMap: Find vegetarian and vegan restaurants in your city
  • OpenWort: Simple offline thesaurus for the German language
  • OS Monitor: Monitor the Operating System
  • OsmGpxUploader: Upload GPX files to OpenStreetMap
  • OverFlow: Send SMS in bulk
  • Overload: Overload is designed to facilitate time tracking for everyone
  • PalmCalc 2019+: Retro scientific calculator & converters
  • Papanikolis Submarine: Multiplayer 2-D game
  • Paperless: Access all your scanned documents, wherever you are
  • Passera: Generate strong passwords
  • Periodic Table: Periodic table of the elements
  • Pixel Filter: Screen dimmer, which disables individual pixels, for AMOLED screens
  • Pixiv Func: Full-featured third party client for Pixiv, working without proxy
  • Plumble: Voice chat for Mumble servers
  • Pods Companion For AirPods: View the battery status of your headphones. Free, no ads and open source
  • Prepay Credit: Info for Irish cell network
  • Presentation: Gallery of infographics
  • PulseAudio Rtp Receiver: Audio Player for PulseAudio’s RTP Stream
  • Punchline Bingo: A configurable bingo grid
  • Quacker: A private and clean way to browse Twitter/X
  • Quillnote: Take beautiful markdown notes and stay organized with task lists
  • Quran For My Android: Shows Quran text or word by word translation
  • RasPi Check: Check the status of your RasPi
  • Record You: Privacy focused voice and screen recorder app build with MD3
  • Recover VOIP settings from H300s: Retrieve VOIP Settings from Sercomm H300s as shipped from Vodafone Greece
  • Recurrence: Get reminded about notifications
  • Red: Redirect outgoing calls to Signal/Telegram/Threema
  • RedPanal: Client for RedPanal
  • Reminders: UNICAMP canteen information
  • ReoTwé Twitter Client: minimalistic microblogging client for twitter
  • Retro Breaker: Simple brick breaker game
  • Retro Text Editor: Edit text files
  • Rick App: play automatic burp in silent situations
  • Ringdroid: Ringtone editor
  • RtkGps: RTKLIB rtknavi port
  • SafeSlinger Exchange for Security Developers: Developer demo for public key exchanges
  • Sage: Calculation client
  • SaidIt: Client for saidit.net
  • SandwichRoulette: Random selection of ingredients
  • Sanity: Phone Assistant
  • Save to Nextcloud Bookmarks: Save bookmarks on a NextCloud server
  • Screen Notifications: Notification helper
  • Screens: Multi Window Manager
  • Screenshot Assistant: An assistant app for creating, cropping and sharing screenshots
  • Script Manager: An application to manage shell scripts!
  • SealNote: Simple, safe and easy to use notepad
  • Sentien Launcher: Quick. Smart. Minimalist. Designed with your digital well-being in mind
  • sg for SteamGifts: SteamGifts client
  • ShowsRage: Manage your SickRage installation
  • SidePanel: Side panel app launcher
  • Silverfish: A launcher with focus on a simple UI
  • Simple Brick Games: Imitates handhelds from the past
  • Simple C25K: Fitness trainer
  • Simple MP (Simple Music Player): A simple music player based on material you design
  • Simple Scrobbler: Last.fm/Libre.fm Scrobbler
  • SimpleProtocolPlayer NG: Audio player for uncompressed PCM streams
  • Simpletask: Todo list manager
  • Simpletask (WebDAV): A todo manager based on todo.txt
  • Simpletask Nextcloud: A todo manager based on todo.txt
  • Simply Solid: Set solid colors as background
  • SINE Isochronic Entrainer: Brainwave Entrainment from relaxation to focus enhancement by Isochronic Tones
  • Single-Feed: reader for one feed and Vibora.de Blog
  • SIP Caller: Dial SIP numbers
  • SIP Switch: Access Internet call settings
  • Slide: Companion app for reddit
  • Smart Edge: Android alternative for Dynamic Island
  • Smart Flasher: A simple tool to make flashing recovery zips much easier!
  • SMS Ping: Send silent SMS
  • SMS Popup: Display SMS directly
  • SMS Spammer: Sends multiple SMS
  • Spark 360: Gaming client
  • spaRSS: Feed reader
  • Splitfit: Save workout routines and track your progress
  • Status: An overlay-based statusbar replacement
  • Storage & USB: Launch storage settings directly from the apps drawer
  • Stringlate: Help translating FOSS applications
  • Strobe Light: A simple strobe light application
  • SuperImage: Sharpen your low-resolution pictures with the power of AI upscaling
  • Sutrans Plus: Bus schedules for Serbian SuTrans
  • Syncthing Lite: File synchronization
  • Synergy: Share your screen with multiple devices
  • Tea Timer: Simple Tea Timer
  • Tehro: Tehran Metro: Tehran Metro Guide Ⓜ️
  • Teleposter: Write blogposts on telegra.ph
  • Terminal Emulator for Android: Access Android’s built-in Linux command line shell. Unleash your inner geek!
  • Text Edit: A text editor
  • Timetable: Simple but smart timetable app
  • Tiny Tiny Feed: Widget client for TTRSS
  • ToneDef: Tone dialer with DTMF, bluebox and redbox tones
  • Torch: Flashlight
  • Trivia You: Trivia App for Android built with Material You
  • TTL Manager: TTL Manager for rooted Android devices
  • TubeAcad: TubeAcad est une application Peertube pour les instances académiques
  • TubeLab: App for all Peertube instances
  • twitlatte - SNS client for Twitter and Mastodon: Twitter, Mastodon and Pleroma client
  • UART Smartwatch: Bluetooth App for a UART-Smartwatch
  • Unalix: Simple tool that removes link tracking and optionally resolves shortened links
  • Velocity Calculator: Calculate the speed of an object in a video
  • Vibe You: Music app supporting playback via local storage and Piped
  • Vigilante: Know when a third-party app uses your device camera/microphone
  • Volta: Actions on volume buttons
  • Weather: Small Weather App with data from OpenWeatherMap.org
  • Weather notification: Displays the air temperature and weather conditions in the notification bar
  • Weather Skin: Bigger Text: The skin for Weather Notification
  • Weather Skin: Black: The skin for Weather Notification
  • Weather Skin: Black Text Plus: The skin for Weather Notification
  • Weather Skin: White: The skin for Weather Notification
  • Weather Skin: White Text Plus: The skin for Weather Notification
  • WeeklyBudget: A minimalistic weekly budgeting app.
  • WhatsApp Twitch Stickers: Twitch emotes as WhatsApp stickers
  • WiFi Warning: Notify when Wi-Fi is enabled and disconnected
  • WiFiKeyShare: Share Wi-Fi passwords with QR codes and NFC tags
  • Wikimedia Commons for Muzei: Muzei plugin that displays the Wikimedia Commons picture of the day
  • Wiktionary: Wiktionary client
  • WordBook: Your Personal Dictionary: A personal dictionary app for linguists...
  • Wulkanowy: Client for the Polish school register VULCAN UONET+
  • WyFy: Wi-Fi change state adapter
  • Xposed Installer: Installer of Xposed framework
  • YaShlang: Online PeerTube and YouTube player with local playlists and recommendations
  • Yggdrasil: The application for connecting to Yggdrasil network on Android
  • YubiClip: Copy YubiKey NEO OTP from NFC to clipboard
  • YubiTOTP: Generate OATH codes with YubiKey NEO over NFC
  • ZANavi: Car Navigation System
  • Газета VEGETARIAN: Все доступные выпуски газеты “VEGETARIAN”
  • Simple todo list: تودویر
  • 清心天气: Get weather forecasts (CN)

Newly Added Apps

20 more apps were newly added

Updated Apps

229 more apps were updated
(expand for the full list)

Thank you for reading this week’s TWIF, special thanks to the brave ones among you that expanded the full lists 🙂

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