
My favorite apps on F-Droid - ericdanielski
http://quaap.com/D/use-fdroid
======
nextos
Snowden's Haven [1] is simply marvelous.

Essentially, it turns an Android phone into a very sophisticated alarm system
with real time notifications and streaming. So you can e.g. protect a hotel
room using an old burner Android phone.

I use it against some creepy UK landlords and agents, who have the strange
habit of breaking into rented flats when I'm not in, and without any prior
notice. Totally illegal, but very hard to collect evidence against.
Furthermore, contracts usually contain (illegal) clauses preventing you from
installing a real home-alarm system. (Edit: contracts usually also ban
changing locks).

It's also much better than any cheap alarm system, and totally complementary
too. If something starts beeping (e.g a fire alarm or a motion sensor), Haven
will notice and message you.

[1]
[https://f-droid.org/wiki/index.php?title=org.havenapp.main&r...](https://f-droid.org/wiki/index.php?title=org.havenapp.main&redirect=no)

~~~
ancymon
The page you've linked says "This app is disabled and does not appear in the
repo". So it's not really available at F-Droid. Do you know why?

~~~
nextos
There are many F-Droid repositories aside from main F-Droid. Please see here:
[https://forum.f-droid.org/t/known-
repositories/721](https://forum.f-droid.org/t/known-repositories/721)

[https://guardianproject.info/](https://guardianproject.info/) one is
particularly interesting. Haven is a Guardian Project app.

------
blfr
NewPipe: a YouTube client, as mentioned in the thread, that allows you to play
videos in the background, in a small popout over something else, adjust the
playback speed, and also download videos for later. Great for lectures.

AdAway: it makes the ads go away by adjusting your hosts file (may require
root) so it works both for in-app ads and web ads. I first installed it out of
spite when Google failed my LineageOS on SafetyNet and blocked Android Pay
even though it wasn't rooted but it made using the system so much more
enjoyable I would now root it regardless.

FBReader: a pretty decent ebook reader although the complexity makes it feel
like a 2006 Linux app.

~~~
zizek23
Newpipe and Redreader for reddit are my 2 favourite apps on Fdroid. Amaze file
manager is also pretty sleek for an Fdroid app. Dns66 is great for adblocking
when you are not rooted. Termux is a must have for those who need a terminal.
Osm+ is a decent maps option and Mupdf is a fast and minimal reader for pdf
files.

Fdroid is great for open source apps especially when you are trying to avoid
shady behavior by apps, but since Android itself is full of shady behavior and
dark patterns it's at best a bandage on a severely wounded patient.

~~~
whateveruser
Slide for reddit is another reddit client. Fully open source under GPLv3, nice
looks and hi designed very well such that you never have to reach for keys at
the bottom. Wholeheartedly recommended.

------
JackCh
The _" Simple Mobile Tools"_ family of apps by Tibor Kaputa (distinctive for
their orange icons) are available on F-Droid and are superb. A great fusion of
minimalism and functionality, they've never let me down.

[https://github.com/simplemobiletools](https://github.com/simplemobiletools)

[https://simplemobiletools.github.io/](https://simplemobiletools.github.io/)

~~~
enitihas
+1 for Simple Mobile Tools. My newest phone didn't contain much vendor
installed apps, so I was looking for nice and preferably open source
replacements for the basic apps like gallery, and simple mobile tools solved
all my problem.

------
jimmyswimmy
Good list. I'm also a HUGE fan of Antennapod [0], a podcast player app. It's
simple, easy to use, and has built-in speed adjustment, so I can listen to
some lower-information density channels at 2x speed.

[0]
[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.danoeh.antennapod/](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.danoeh.antennapod/)

~~~
nirv
If only it didn't regularly wipe all the data due to database corruption [1],
with no ways of recovering and automatic backups. Until this fatal bug is
fixed, I strongly advise against using this otherwise fine application.

[1]
[https://github.com/AntennaPod/AntennaPod/issues/2463](https://github.com/AntennaPod/AntennaPod/issues/2463)

~~~
_emacsomancer_
I'm in the same boat - I've switched back to PocketCasts. It's sad, because
not only is AntennaPod open source, but I think it's more featureful than many
of the alternatives. But it's become unusable due to this bug.

~~~
simon1573
I've gone over to SoundWaves, which is also on F-Droid.

~~~
_emacsomancer_
I had a look, but I don't understand how it deals with 'new' podcasts. The
play queue seems arbitrary and uneditable. But maybe I'm missing something.
(Otherwise it does look nice.)

------
orblivion
When Maps.me went open source, there was a clamour to get it onto F-Droid, but
there were issues, perhaps including access to the company's data servers, and
the topic eventually petered out.

Then (IIRC back in February or so), somebody forked it, and (from comments)
apparently pointed it to a separate data website (not sure how they pay for it
if that's the case).

At any rate: "Maps":
[https://f-droid.org/app/com.github.axet.maps](https://f-droid.org/app/com.github.axet.maps)

Compred to OSMAnd: It's much simpler to use. Smoother scrolling around the
map, and nice 3d perspective. It has some stalling problems that OSMAnd
doesn't have, but is otherwise smoother I think. Sometimes searching for
streets seems to not be as good as OSMAnd. Missing a lot of OSMAnd features
but that is what makes it simpler.

~~~
Kliment
Sigh, I wish osmand was available for iOS. A friend is using, and constantly
frustrated with, maps.me (only reasonable option for a low-data-usage plan on
iOS I'm aware of, recommendations for others welcome, requirements: no
tracking, non-evil, fully offline).

~~~
orblivion
Why do you suppose they'd be less frustrated with OSMAnd?

~~~
Kliment
Because they've used it on another device and it was okay. Sure it has its own
warts but it basically works and seems to have better routing.

------
jasonkostempski
OpenLauncher is a nice home screen replacement. I would be fine with the
standard one if Google would just let us hide the damn search bar.

I use Simple Contacts so I can keep my contacts out of the cloud and away from
other apps. Good 'ol manual entry/editing and .vcf importing/exporting when
needed, which is maybe twice a year for me. No named caller ID or call/text
history though, have to use my brain for that. Maybe there's a way to make
that work without sacrificing the benefits, but it hasn't been a problem for
me yet, so I haven't looked into it.

For weather, I just add a DDG search for "weather [zip]" to my home screen. No
need to turn on location for something that changes very little and is trivial
to look up when it does.

~~~
_emacsomancer_
For launchers, I like
[KISS]([https://kisslauncher.com/](https://kisslauncher.com/)) a lot. A
GPL3-licensed launcher with a sort of different paradigm. Very customisable.

~~~
jasonkostempski
I've played with that. I like the smallness but it actually adds either extra
steps or cognitive overhead for me. It doesn't get simpler than turning on the
screen (I don't have a lock screen) and tapping the icon I need. Everything I
need easily fits on a single screen so I don't gain much from search.

OpenLuncher gets me what I want but it's big and can waste a bit of battery
I've noticed. I'd like a launcher just as small and efficient as KISS but has
a single page home screen (no need for widget support) and a full app list
menu with a search bar.

~~~
_emacsomancer_
KISS has a favourites bar and you can set up the largest list to sort by
frequency of use, so most of the time I can do something similar.

~~~
jasonkostempski
That might do what i want if it can be made to not sort. I hate things moving
around on me. Ill give it another look, the battery thing has been bothering
me lately.

------
Jaruzel
I'm very picky about what I install on my phone. I find screenshots really aid
me in whether I'll like the app or not. F-Droid is completely lacking in
screenshots for most of the apps listed. I know this is mainly the app authors
fault (this is also a problem with all FOSS software in general I find). If
they made more of an effort to even upload one screenshot to F-Droid or the
Git pages then I'd be more inclined to try their applications.

~~~
digi_owl
[https://fossdroid.com/](https://fossdroid.com/)

------
mmerlin
DNS66 is pretty much always running on my phone for a more pleasant web
browsing experience (ad blocking)

DNS66 establishes a VPN interface, and redirects DNS server traffic to it. The
VPN interface filters the traffic, only allowing queries for hosts that are
not blacklisted.

[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.jak_linux.dns66/](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.jak_linux.dns66/)

------
herogreen
Nice list, pretty comprehensive in my opinion. I personally do not have the
Google apps on my android phone and the only two applications that I use that
are not in the list are:

\- a pdf viewer: I like Document Viewer especially to navigate in ebooks.

\- a GPS application: I like OsmAnd that has a very usable UI, lots of
features and allows you to download the map of a region for offline use.

~~~
dzek69
OsmAnd - tried this on 3 devices, none could download/render anything at all
on any network connected. Looks like a heavy thing anyway

~~~
JackCh
OsmAnd has a counterintuive UI, it have been the case that you didn't have the
right map layers enabled.

~~~
ufo
You also need to download the maps ahead of time.

~~~
arendtio
AFAIK, Osmand~ supports live tiles too.

------
openfuture
I also like:

\- Devinettes: Sphinx puzzles (rhymes with a simple answer) some are
infuriatingly difficult.

\- Call Recorder: Pretty straight forward, lets you record your calls.

\- Kanadrill and KaQui: For learning the japanese alphabets.

\- Habits: Really good way to keep track of things you are trying to learn /
unlearn.

\- NewPipe: Sooooooo good.

------
Animats
Fennec F-Droid, which is Firefox minus some of Mozilla's tracking.

K-9 mail, which is an IMAP client.

ZaNavi, which uses Open Street Map. (Messes up the upper left screen area
where system icons appear.)

Mozilla Nip Provider, which provides location services without Google.

~~~
gcb0
fennec has all of Mozilla's tracking. they only remove the Google ones. e.g.
the gappclient binary blobs that would have been included for chrome cast
support.

and the location services only work on rooted phones, because google choose to
deny user alternatives completely on this space. location is their expensive
targeting data for ads.

~~~
Animats
You can run non-Google location services and remove almost all the Google
services on a non-rooted phone. Just never register for Google, starting with
a new phone, and remove most of the Google stuff. You give up voice input,
though.

~~~
gcb0
I am sorry but you are very wrong.

the description for the only one on fdroid even says so.

------
msravi
Not in the list, but Blokada
([https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.blokada.alarm/](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.blokada.alarm/))
is a must-have. It sets up a VPN and blocks ads and tracking. Rooting the
phone is NOT required. FWIW, as per its inbuilt metric, it has been blocking
about 1000 trackers per day for me. Also, the code is open source
([https://github.com/blokadaorg/blokada](https://github.com/blokadaorg/blokada))

~~~
lnx01
More specifically, it sets up a VPN on localhost wherein the blocking is
handled.

------
sparkie
KDE connect is awesome. You don't actually need to use KDE as your desktop as
it will work on any Linux, with just a few KDE/Qt libraries. It even works on
Windows, although not all plugins are able to work.

------
viraptor
> but they are much less likely to contain/be malware or spyware

Is there any base for this claim? Play store has at least a system like Play
Protect. Likely it's not ideal, but at least does some filtering. Does fdroid
provide anything better, or is it just that it's not as popular so spyware
authors are not interested?

~~~
wungsten
I would agree that in general open source software is less likely to contain
such things, since anyone who inspects the source would find the bad stuff.

~~~
Cyphase
Especially since F-Droid packages are mostly built from source on F-Droid
infrastructure, and all source tarballs are kept forever. That way, even if
something slips through, it can be tracked down.

[https://f-droid.org/en/docs/FAQ_-_General/#whats-the-
differe...](https://f-droid.org/en/docs/FAQ_-_General/#whats-the-difference-
between-source-and-binary-builds)

------
smichel17
I'm the main Red Moon dev. Haven't been very active the past ~9 months, but
I'm planning to get back to it soon. Happy to get any feedback / answer
questions, etc.

~~~
severine
Thank you for your work! Any chance of making it available to Android 4.0
users? (there are a lot of us, for different reasons, don't want to derail the
conversation)

Currently I'm using Twilight, which isn't free or in F-Droid, and I'd love to
switch to Red Moon!

~~~
smichel17
I'm planning to in the next release. There might be a few visual bugs,
particularly with RTL languages, but that's no reason to wait; better to just
fix them as they're found.

Existing issue: [https://github.com/LibreShift/red-
moon/issues/152](https://github.com/LibreShift/red-moon/issues/152)

~~~
severine
Hey, just a heads-up to inform that I installed the debug version from here[1]
and it's working p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y in my good old Android 4.0.4 device
(Spanish locale). Kudos.

[1] [https://github.com/LibreShift/red-
moon/issues/152#issuecomme...](https://github.com/LibreShift/red-
moon/issues/152#issuecomment-312370246)

------
etiam
Does anyone have a good free software solution for backups on Android they'd
like to tell about?

Personally I really go too long between off-device backups. Something for
automated backups to a PC would be valuable, and I suspect I'm not the only
person who should be using it.

~~~
thatcat
You can use rsync over usb as described here:
[https://askubuntu.com/questions/343502/how-to-rsync-to-
andro...](https://askubuntu.com/questions/343502/how-to-rsync-to-
android/789898#789898)

~~~
voltagex_
If you're going to do that you may as well tether the phone to your PC and use
rsync with ssh via termux [1]

On 3 phones, I've never had MTP work well enough to trust it with backups.

1:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.termux](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.termux)

------
JetSpiegel
I use and love Diary, one of the few text editors that store the text as flat
files on the SD card, to be synced to the PC by another app like Syncthing.

I must mention Orgzly, which is a pretty UI over OrgMode files. Also stores
the flat files as text on the disk.

~~~
Grumbledour
I use Markor for the same reason. Flat files are just the most convenient way
to handle your data.

------
crawrey
Amaze: File Manager

andOTP: One-time Passwords

AntennaPod: Podcasts

Etar: Calendar

Libre Office Viewer: Document Viewer

Materialistic: Hacker News client

RedReader: Reddit (great for text)

Slide: Reddit (great for images)

SlimSocial: Facebook (I have had a lot of issues with FaceSlim. I would like
to part with Facebook all together but it's still too heavily used by the
people I keep in contact with.)

Swiftnotes: Notes

Tasks: Todo list/tasks

WiFiAnalyzer: Analyse nearby WiFi networks

I've had NewPipe in the past but had found it quite unusable. Based on the
recommendations of this thread I'll be installing it once again.

~~~
voltagex_
AntennaPod is fantastic, but buggy in ways that I haven't managed to coalesce
into a good bug report yet:

* Playback while streaming stops, but the network connection hasn't dropped

* AntennaPod via Bluetooth crashes (!) the head unit in a Mazda CX5. No, I don't know how that's possible, either.

~~~
crawrey
Ah that's not good to hear.

I was using Podcast Addict prior to AntennaPod and it had the same issues as
your first point. I now experience the same behaviour with AntennaPod and had
wrote it off as a "podcasting" glitch or at least an issue with the streams I
was listening to.

Hopefully they address these issues in the future but they're definitely not
deal breaker issuss for me to want to switch to some closed source
alternative.

------
dzek69
Why f-droid doesn't have screenshots? It's making selecting proper app very
hard

~~~
icebraining
It supports screenshots (see for example [1]), it's just that most uploaders
haven't added them.

[1]
[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.k3b.android.androFotoFind...](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.k3b.android.androFotoFinder/)

~~~
yjftsjthsd-h
That's also a fairly recent addition.

------
sandov
Apps I like that weren't on the list:

Drum on: for setting up percussion loops so you can play your instrument along
with it.

Newpipe: youtube client

Slide: reddit client

~~~
fenwick67
Yeah newpipe is great, you can watch in a tiny window or just listen to the
audio of a video.

------
arendtio
For the privacy aware people I would add:

\- Nextcloud

\- Conversations

\- Davdroid

~~~
fwdpropaganda
I've heard of Nexcloud. What's the difference between it and Syncthing?

~~~
ekianjo
syncthing is like dropbox. Nextcloud is remote storage you can access, with
tons of plugins to do additional things with it too, like video chat for
example.

~~~
DoubleMalt
Nextcloud is more like Dropbox imho. It has a web interface, but there are
also sync clients and you need a webserver to host your stuff.

~~~
ekianjo
Nextcloud is not like Dropbox out of the box (no pun intended). While
Syncthing is pretty much what Dropbox's core service used to be.

------
spapas82
I am using Password Store (Manage your passwords) -
[https://f-droid.org/app/com.zeapo.pwdstore](https://f-droid.org/app/com.zeapo.pwdstore)
which is a port of the pass tool to android. It is a little dufficult to
configure (and also needs openkeychain to store your key) but after that it
works flawlessly!

------
zczc
My favorites are:

Ghost Commander - two panel file manager with text editor Call Recorder -
records calls

Termux - terminal emulator with packages

Hacker's Keyboard - full keyboard, good for terminal and remote

Sky Map - astronomy app, formerly google's

Voice - audiobook player

Markor - markdown editor and todo.txt task list

Loop Habit Tracker - reminder and tracker for building habits

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.ghostsq.comm...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.ghostsq.commander)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.github.axet....](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.github.axet.callrecorder)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.termux](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.termux)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.pocketworkst...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.google.andro...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.google.android.stardroid)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=de.ph1b.audioboo...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=de.ph1b.audiobook)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=net.gsantner.mar...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=net.gsantner.markor)

[https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.isoron.uhabi...](https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.isoron.uhabits)

------
tbihl
Any solution for imposing a relatively high barrier to get to the 'smart'
functionality of the phone?

I'd like to have texting, camera, phone, maps, and music, with everything else
requiring a decent effort to access. That way email and browser and other
extra functions are available but inconvenient, so I'll either rethink what
I'm doing or use a laptop in the many cases where it's far more appropriate.

It seemed like this should be doable with users, but I haven't seen a good
way.

I made a post for this yesterday,but didn't get any good advice, so I'm trying
again here.

~~~
orthecreedence
Try AFWall+.

I use this so I have a smartphone on wifi, and what amounts to a flip phone
when I'm on data (just calls and texts...no email, no slack, no insta, etc
etc). It supports modes too, so you can have "Nav" where Lyft and Maps have
connectivity if you're getting around.

Very nice.

~~~
tunap
I am quite surprised AFWall+ was only mentioned once in this thread. Have been
a happy user since KitKat for same reasons... Peace of mind on my customized
terms.

------
beenBoutIT
F-droid is a tremendous resource for Android developers and users who want to
distribute or install ethical open source apps that operate outside the bounds
of Google Play's TOS. Two such apps that I strongly recommend are NewPipe and
getChromium.

*Full disclosure: I made getChromium.

------
worez
I always add
[https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/repo](https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/repo) to
the repos in F-Droid - adds a lot of apps that aren't on the main repo for
various reasons.

------
pymai
I didn't see anyone mention fasthub, it's the best github so I could find so
far

------
dyukqu
My Expenses: [http://www.myexpenses.mobi/en/](http://www.myexpenses.mobi/en/)
\- Personal finance manager. I find it very uses-friendly & been using it
almost for a year.

------
imhoguy
Yalp Store available on F-Droid is my definitive backdoor into G's Play Store.
I use it all the time on family or shared phones to install useful apps but
without need to login with gmail/google account.

------
nickpsecurity
We had a thread of F-Droid apps a while back on Lobsters:

[https://lobste.rs/s/8xtyxo/f_droid_app_recommendation_thread](https://lobste.rs/s/8xtyxo/f_droid_app_recommendation_thread)

Lots of apps in it. I had no idea so many were using F-Droid.

------
babayega2
NewPipe is the best. By the way, is there any app that can mask the IP of my
hotspot either through a VPN?

------
huntie
I like FTP Server. It's really convenient for transferring files from my
computer.

------
nvr219
ObscuraCam sounds super cool, is there an iphone equivalent?

~~~
mandelbulb
Apple store terms of service are incompatible with the GPL, you would need to
publish under a different license on their store specifically.

------
digi_owl
f-droid, and by extension "unknown sources" is what makes Android my pick.

------
SubiculumCode
Port Authority: A port scanner app there. That's kind of cool. I'd like to say
OpenStreetMaps...but unfortunately..well. Everyone knows.

