Customizing F-Droid client
F-Droid can be rebranded and embedded in Android ROMs, building upon F-Droid as the “white-label” version. This is a basic introduction for how to do that. For this, “gradle flavors” are used for building rebranded, configured versions of F-Droid.
Starting in app/build.gradle, set the package names and create a flavorDimension and productFlavors:
def fullApplicationId = "com.mycompany.full"
def basicApplicationId = "com.mycompany.basic"
// yes, this actually needs both quotes https://stackoverflow.com/a/41391841
def privilegedExtensionApplicationId = '"com.mycompany.privileged"'
[snip]
android {
flavorDimensions "base", "mycompany"
productFlavors {
mycompany {
dimension "mycompany"
}
}
}
Then gradle will automatically look at whole set of folders for custom versions of files:
- Java sources: app/src/mycompany/java
- Manifest file: app/src/mycompany/AndroidManifest.xml
- Android resources: app/src/mycompany/res
- Assets: app/src/mycompany/assets
There cannot be duplicate Java classes, but any extensions can be managed there. For anything in res/, i.e. strings.xml or drawable resources, the files in app/src/mycompany/res will take precedence over the default F-Droid ones. For example, override the app icon by providing app/src/mycompany/res/drawable/ic_launcher.xml.
To specify a custom set of app repositories, edit the following JSON file
app/src/mycompany/assets/default_repos.json. For example, here’s the
Guardian Project repo config enabled by default.
[
{
"name": "Guardian Project",
"address": "https://guardianproject.info/fdroid/repo",
"description": "The official app repository of The Guardian Project. Applications in this repository are official binaries build by the original application developers and signed by the same key as the APKs that are released in the Google Play store.",
"certificate": "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",
"enabled": true
}
]
Add pre-installed repositories to your custom Android distribution
If you are publishing an Android distribution, you can add some extra pre-installed repositories to the F-Droid app which otherwise only includes the official F-Droid repository.
If you wanted to add the repository of the Guardian Project for example, you could add the following JSON file to one of the following locations of your choice:
/system_ext/etc/fdroid/additional_repos.json/product/etc/fdroid/additional_repos.json/vendor/etc/fdroid/additional_repos.json
[
{
"name": "Guardian Project",
"address": "https://guardianproject.info/fdroid/repo",
"description": "The official app repository of The Guardian Project. Applications in this repository are official binaries build by the original application developers and signed by the same key as the APKs that are released in the Google Play store.",
"certificate": "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",
"enabled": true
}
]
Important warning
The old method of adding repositories using an XML file will not work in F-Droid 2.0. We suggest to ship both, the JSON and the XML file as soon as possible until F-Droid 2.0 has stabilized.
Basic vs Full Product Flavors
F-Droid itself already has two flavors built-in: basic and full.
full is the app known as F-Droid, while basic is the most
minimal possible version of the app that still provides the core app
store functionality. Since those are in a separate flavorDimension,
the added customizations will apply to both. Choosing which one to
build is done by specifying the “Build Variant” in Android Studio, and
the gradle target, .e.g ./gradlew assembleMycompanyFullDebug.
Customizations
When using gradle build flavors, it is very easy to customize any of the XML files. So this is the recommended way to start with customizing your build of F-Droid. Any XML file in app/src/main/res can be overridden by placing an XML with the same name in app/src/mycompany/res.
App specific repositories
If you want to add repositories only to a specific app instead of all F-Droid clients, you can add a JSON file to a location including the app’s package name:
/system_ext/etc/[packageName]/additional_repos.json/product/etc/[packageName]/additional_repos.json/vendor/etc/[packageName]/additional_repos.json
The official variants of the F-Droid app have these package names that could replace [packageName] in the paths above:
org.fdroid.fdroidorg.fdroid.basic
