List of useful Android FOSS Apps (Free and Open Soruce Software) without bloat and malware!

arunkc

arunkc

Novice
The Play store is full of garbage where even basic apps have a ton of ads or even malware, one of the best things that Android has is the support for FOSS apps, free, open source, no shady malware or ads, just apps that do exactly what is on the tin. I've compiled a list but open to your suggestions too!

These are all open source, the code is available to analyse and extremely safe. I would recommend installing the first one and search the apps but have also provided github links to the rest.

1: Droid-Ify : This is the place to start, it is like a Play Store alternative but for FOSS apps, lets you install and update apps from github repos and even search the popular ones, recommended for sure!
https://github.com/Droid-ify/client You can build the source or just download the APK from their releases page https://github.com/Droid-ify/client/releases

2: Mindful : Wellbeing app made by an Indian dev, stops you from mindlessly scrolling youtube shorts and insta reels after a time limit, no ads, no nonsense just pure functionality and a gorgeous UI design! https://github.com/akaMrNagar/Mindful app is available on the play store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mindful.android

3: OuterTune : Material Design 3 based Youtube Music alternative, no ads, lyrics work, great smooth interface and just all around fantastic https://github.com/DD3Boh/OuterTune

4: Aegis : 2 Factor Authentication app similar to Authy / Google Authenticator, save your 2fa codes but also securely export them and restore if you switch phones, honestly a must have imo https://getaegis.app/

5: Aves : Really fast gallery app that has built in video player https://github.com/deckerst/aves

6. Seal : Fantastic app to download videos from fb / insta / reddit / etc https://github.com/JunkFood02/Seal

7. NewPipe : Alternative to YouTube, no ads https://newpipe.net/

8. MJ PDF : Fast free foss pdf reader so you dont need that shitty adobe bloat just to open a bloody pdf doc! https://gitlab.com/mudlej_android/mj_pdf_reader

9: TrackerControl : Lets you block apps from sending receiving tracking data, also ads blocked, very robust but takes a long time to configure https://trackercontrol.org/

10: Unchained : Real Debrid client, for downloading or streaming your RD content https://github.com/LivingWithHippos/unchained-android

11: Tasks.org : Task List with widget support, can use Dav5x to sync to Next cloud for great note syncing https://tasks.org/

Please add yours too!
 
Innertune- download and listen music thru yt, works like a native music player + online spotify replacement

Root req
1)Battery charge limit - cuts off charging at specific specified percentage
2)Neobackup - backups any app with its userdata intact
 
Since tachiyomi was abandoned I have been using Kotatsu more. Like the categorization and easy to use manga source options.
 
Good thread.

My must have apps are:

Aurora Store
F-Droid Store

K9 Mail

KDE connect - to send files, clipboard, and sync notifications across all my devices.

andOTP - for 2FA

Dav5x
Joplin
JtxBoard
Nextcloud Deck
NextCloud Notes
Nextcloud

Mega (not open source - but helps me de-google and de-microsoft)

Fennec - basically Firefox

Loop Habit Tracker

MuPDF viewer

QR Scanner (from F-Droid)

Stellarium - since I like knowing which stars I'm looking at.


Games -
DroidFish - chess
Forkyz - crosswords
Sudoku - from f-droid
 
I forgot to mention that I also have

Keepass2Android Offline
Libreoffice Viewer

I'm looking for a weather app - I'm going to try Breezy Weather.
ibose said:
These are in my mobile.

Fdroid
Keepass2Android Offline
Netguard
Fairemail
Material Files
Redreader
Seal
VLC
Cromite
MJ PDF
Libreoffice Viewer
Librera
Mincal Widget
Breezy Weather
Click to expand...
 
ibose said:
SafeSpace
Click to expand...
Looks like this is for files only, Samsung Secure Folder, erstwhile Samsung Knox also allow an authenticated, encrypted space for applications.
For eg., you can keep banking or similar apps in that secure folder, will actually work like a different mobile within your own mobile itself.
Heard latest version of Android will bring this inbuilt, not sure.
Other options are: https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t...n-android-app-island-insular-or-shelter/13268
but lacks continuous updates it seems.
 
TEUser2K1 said:
Looks like this is for files only, Samsung Secure Folder, erstwhile Samsung Knox also allow an authenticated, encrypted space for applications.
For eg., you can keep banking or similar apps in that secure folder, will actually work like a different mobile within your own mobile itself.
Heard latest version of Android will bring this inbuilt, not sure.
Other options are: https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t...n-android-app-island-insular-or-shelter/13268
but lacks continuous updates it seems.
Click to expand...
I use Insular to create a work profile to separate my work apps but it doesn't need any update because it just creates the work profile as work admin using the inbuilt Android functionality.
 
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