We really need a compelling alternative to the Play Store, both as users and developers.
Android
The new home of /r/Android on Lemmy and the Fediverse!
Android news, reviews, tips, and discussions about rooting, tutorials, and apps.
🔗Universal Link: [email protected]
💡Content Philosophy:
Content which benefits the community (news, rumours, and discussions) is generally allowed and is valued over content which benefits only the individual (technical questions, help buying/selling, rants, self-promotion, etc.) which will be removed if it's in violation of the rules.
Support, technical, or app related questions belong in: [email protected]
For fresh communities, lemmy apps, and instance updates: [email protected]
📰Our communities below
Rules
-
Stay on topic: All posts should be related to the Android OS or ecosystem.
-
No support questions, recommendation requests, rants, or bug reports: Posts must benefit the community rather than the individual. Please post to [email protected].
-
Describe images/videos, no memes: Please include a text description when sharing images or videos. Post memes to [email protected].
-
No self-promotion spam: Active community members can post their apps if they answer any questions in the comments. Please do not post links to your own website, YouTube, blog content, or communities.
-
No reposts or rehosted content: Share only the original source of an article, unless it's not available in English or requires logging in (like Twitter). Avoid reposting the same topic from other sources.
-
No editorializing titles: You can add the author or website's name if helpful, but keep article titles unchanged.
-
No piracy or unverified APKs: Do not share links or direct people to pirated content or unverified APKs, which may contain malicious code.
-
No unauthorized polls, bots, or giveaways: Do not create polls, use bots, or organize giveaways without first contacting mods for approval.
-
No offensive or low-effort content: Don't post offensive or unhelpful content. Keep it civil and friendly!
-
No affiliate links: Posting affiliate links is not allowed.
Quick Links
Our Communities
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
Lemmy App List
Chat and More
F-Droid
Yeah, I have it, but I can't install 3/4 of the apps I use on a daily basis from there.
Wouldn't that be the same for any other alternative? That's what a monopoly does.
It means 3/4 of the apps you use aren't free software which is not an issue with F-Droid.
I would prefer to see a wider embrace of PWAs.
This is what really, really pissed me off about the iPhone. When it launched and they gave it a desktop-class web browser engine and told people they were going all-in in PWAs (though I don't think the term existed at the time). Then v2 came out and they went sike! native apps, must be developed on our PCs, must be distributed by us, you must pay us to be allowed to develop, we take a cut of your income, and we're going to cripple the PWA engine to make universal, open apps all but unusable.
Dicks.
In what ways do the existing alternatives fall short of compelling?
Can I get my banking app on F-Droid? How about my home security system app? How about a dozen other apps that I want or need, and can't be replaced by loading a website in Firefox?
This is entirely on the companies. There's no technical reason or requirement for this happening.
Fdroid works great and is the most likely thing to be adopted, in my opinion. It's easy enough for anyone to spin up their own fdroid server and distribute their own app.
If you're wanting to use a new store, you're going to have to wade through the growing pains of adoption. It's just a fact of life.
Accrescent is in early alpha, but it looks like it's on its way to be a great, modern app store.
Aurora store worked well but google got their way recently
It still works, you just need to search for things in the browser then open the links with Aurora
I wish someone would make a companion app that handles this automatically
I'd love to do it but I have no knowledge about kotlin. However, I'm still down if someone has a solid plan
Probably not the first degoogled android, but maybe one of the first 'just works' degoogled phones Edit: yep I misread but still true
Lineage OS by default comes DeGoogled and works just fine. Both phones I ran it on had absolutely no issues. It must be more niche than I thought though because no one here is talking about it.
At no point does the article claim it is "the first degoogled android".
I see the confusion by op. It says privacy-first, as in privacy is its core function not a first in its class. I think they just misread the title.
I built that ROM back in june and honestly, i don't recommend it, the interface and apps are just terrible and they take almost a year to release a new android version.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
First up, instead of the usual Google gubbins, replete with the adtech giant’s commercial trackers, /e/OS users will find a set of native open source apps and services Murena has developed to replace all that.
Murena also bakes a set of “advanced” private browsing features into the OS, including a tracker blocker; a location faking option; and the ability to hide your IP address.
On the flip side, when all the switches are set to off each one displays a one-word warning — either “Vulnerable” or “Exposed” — giving users a visible nudge to think about how their online activity might be compromising their privacy.
And this tension between locking everything down (to achieve perfect privacy) and opening select hatches (to boost utility) remains the core confounder for such an ambitious against-the-mainstream-grain tech endeavour.
The wider question is how much highly motivated demand there is to put in the small amount of extra effort required (and possibly also shell out some additional cost) to tread an alternative, less feature-rich path — if, at the end of the day, all you get for your effect is a product that won’t look or feel especially thrilling.
So its conviction of where the mobile puck is headed must be that there’s a growing pool of mainstream Android users with an appetite for iOS-style ‘low friction’ privacy delivered outside Apple’s walled ecosystem.
The original article contains 2,593 words, the summary contains 228 words. Saved 91%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Can I install/update my bank apps, and pay with my phone? That's the bare minimum I need to switch to a deGoogled OS.
Solely depends on your banking app. If it requires Safety Net, you need to flash gapps on any ROM, or have a microg preflashed version.
Btw, i only need to hold my MasterCard on the card read and enter a pin if over 70 CHF. This isn't common?
[This comment has been deleted by an automated system]
I hope more newer phones get supported by them.
I have a samsung galaxy s23 and I need to scratch my de-google / custom rom itch.
Have been using it for a while on my Fairphone 3, just works nicely :)
Been using it on my Oneplus 6t and been liking it so far
I'm using iode which is very similar and I'm happy with it. It's a good compromise. It doesn't have any google apps, have some additional security and privacy protections and 'it just works'.