Freedom friendly application stores

Interface applications

Discreet Launcher

• Improvement on the standard Android Launcher
• Adds several convenient features (search, app settings, favorites...)
• Cleaner home screen
• Stores: F-Droid, Google Play
• https://vincent-falzon.com/

KISS Launcher

• My new Android launcher, adopted very quickly
• Unclogs your screen, shows most recent applications and actions (calls...)
• Much faster to look for applications (need to remember their names) and contacts
• Manually set favorites bar
• Stores: F-Droid, Google Play
• https://kisslauncher.com/

Security

Bitwarden

• Password manager application
• Allows to have stronger passwords, and never show them on screen
• Synchronized between phone, desktop and browser extension.
• Unlock it by passphrase or fingerprint scanner.
• Can use Bitwarden's (FOSS) server for free or deploy your own.
• Encrypted data cannot be decrypted by the server.
• Additional features if a subscriber: authenticator app, attach files (10 USD/year)
• Caution: make sure you configure it to clear the clipboard quickly (10 seconds?).
  Set it on the desktop app too.
• Make the password manager the "Autofill" app. More secure.
• Store: Google Play
• https://bitwarden.com/

FreeOTP+

• FOSS authenticator app (Two Factor Authentication)
• Always worked as a replacement for Google's or Microsoft's.
• Must have for security (SMS vulnerable to SIM card attacks)
• Stores: F-Droid, Google Play
• https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.liberty.android.freeotpplus/

Other security apps

• PrivacyIDEA
  • Can be used with the PrivacyIDEA server (also FOSS)
    deploy company/organization wide 2FA authentication.
  • https://www.privacyidea.org/
• Yubico Authenticator
  • Generate OATH codes with YubiKey NEO over NFC
  • https://developers.yubico.com/yubioath-flutter/

Fitness

Gadgetbridge

• FOSS application to pair and manage smart watches, bands and headphones
  without needing the vendor application (and cloud!).
• Much better for privacy!
• Nov 2024: 150 gadgets are already well supported
• The project can help you to add support for your gadget.
• Store: F-Droid
• https://gadgetbridge.org/

Navigation

OsmAnd

• Offline maps and navigation
• Used it for 4 weeks in the USA for 99% of my navigation needs
  (car and pedestrian)
• Offline functionality was also critical to find some trails and stay on them
• At the beginning, was overwhelmed by the amount of information on the screen.
  Useful to tweak settings to hide some map elements.
• Main drawback: missing live traffic information
• Several flavors:
  • OsmAnd (Google Play): free but limited to 7 map downloads
  • OsmAnd+ / Map+ (Google Play): one time purchase (39.99 EUR/USD)
  • OsmAnd~ (F-Droid): unlimited maps, F-Droid recompilation
• https://osmand.net/

Organic Maps

• Offline Hike, Bike, Trails and Navigation
• Also based on OpenStreetMap
• Found it after taking the OsmAnd learning curve.
  More user friendly. Better to get started with this app.
• Also missing live traffic information
• Stores: F-Droid, Google Play
• https://organicmaps.app/

Cartes IGN

• Recently open-sourced (GPLv3), from the French Institut Géographique National
• Covers only France
• Several features: navigation, map data analysis, comparison with historic data
• Depends on non-free servers, but data are open
• Stores: F-Droid, Google Play
• https://www.ign.fr/telechargez-application-cartographique-cartes-ign

StreetComplete

• Complete and update OpenStreetMap data around you
• Very fun to do, and even addictive
• Stores: F-Droid, Google Play
• https://streetcomplete.app/

Issues with Navigation apps

• Sometimes navigation fails to start (both OsmAnd and Organic Maps).
  You have to navigate by yourself (reading the map)
• Navigating with public transportation doesn't look easy. I struggled in Vienna find a streetcar on the map! And I can't have Google Maps (degooglized phone).
• Your experience?

Communication

Fossify Phone

• Replacement for the stock Android app
• Offers more settings, like confirming before making a call
• Supposed to focus on privacy
• Stores: F-Droid, Google Play
• https://www.fossify.org/

Yet Another Call Blocker

• Helps to block unwanted calls
• However, depends on a proprietary database fetched from a Gitlab repository
  (last updated 3 years ago!)
• Also manages local block lists
• But better than letting a proprietary app access your calls and contacts.
• Make sure you set it as default "Caller ID and spam app"
• Didn't seem to work properly the only time I got an unwanted call.
• Any better solution?
• Stores: F-Droid
• https://gitlab.com/xynngh/YetAnotherCallBlocker

QKSMS (Quik SMS)

• A fork of the stock Android app? Very similar settings and features
• Adds more color to your phone though.
• Stores: F-Droid, Google Play
• https://github.com/octoshrimpy/quik

Signal

• Very well known now
• Privacy protecting and FOSS alternative to WhatsApp
• Unlike on WhatsApp, the server cannot decrypt the messages
• Unlike Telegram, both the server and clients are FOSS
• Has all the features you need: messages, calls, video
• No need to share your phone number any more
• Stores: Google Play
• https://signal.org/

K-9 Mail

• Most popular FOSS e-mail app on Android
• Supports multiple accounts and most useful features
• Now being developed together with the future Thunderbird for mobile.
• Stores: Google Play
• https://k9mail.app/

Element

• Client for a Matrix server, primarily for messaging, but also for video calls
• Used it for 3 years without any issue.
• Stores: F-Droid and Google Play
• https://element.io/

Time management

ICSx5

• Application to fetch remote iCal calendars
• DAVx5: similar application for WebDAV/CalDAV
• You can then see the calendars in Android's stock calendar app
• Store: F-Droid
• https://f-droid.org/en/packages/at.bitfire.icsdroid/

Web browsing

Firefox

• The well known browser from Mozilla, focusing on privacy protection
• Better than Google Chrome, which also protects your data from attackers,
  but not from Google.
• For example, Chrome doesn't disable third party cookies
  (thanks Benjamin Bellamy!)
• However, Firefox contains a few proprietary bits (mostly connecting to Mozilla)
• /e/OS privacy rating: 6/10
• Store: Google Play
• https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/

Disable Firefox data collection

• The main reason why Firefox is not in F-Droid (replaced by Fennec)
• By default, Firefox tracks how you use this browser,
  to "help improve performance and stability"
• You can disable this telemetry though.
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/telemetry-clientid

Firefox Focus

• Firefox tuned for privacy control
In particular browsing only in private mode
• More tunables are also available
• You can disable telemetry too ("Send usage data")
• /e/OS privacy rating: 6/10
• Store: Google Play
• https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browsers/mobile/focus/

Fennec

• F-Droid rebuild of Firefox, but with telemetry and proprietary bits removed
• But still connects to various Mozilla services that can track users
• /e/OS privacy rating: 7/10
• Store: F-Droid
• https://f-droid.org/packages/org.mozilla.fennec_fdroid/

Mull

• Another F-Droid rebuild of Firefox, with telemetry and proprietary bits removed
• Supposed to be configured with stricter privacy settings
• Can be seen as a "Focus" equivalent to Fennec.
• /e/OS privacy rating: 7/10
• Store: F-Droid
• https://f-droid.org/packages/org.mozilla.fennec_fdroid/

Multimedia

Device Management

Learning

Closing thoughts

Changes in my daily usage

• Now using a password manager (Bitwarden) and stronger passwords. No longer typing passwords.
• Now using the KISS launcher. I can't get back!
• Podcasts: replacing Spotify by AntennaPod
• E-mail and calendar: replaced Zoho Mail by K-9 Mail and ICSx5
• Navigation: moved from Waze to OsmAnd and then Organic Maps
• Removed the Radio France app (worst number of privacy leaks). Using RadioDroid instead.
• Replaced Orange Phone app by Yet Another Call Blocker and Fossify Phone.
• Removed Garmin Connect. Now using OpenTracks,
  though I'm missing all the health data for the moment.
• Keeping a closer look at my battery status (trying to keep it between 20 and 80%)

Still missing

• Good, usable, multilingual, predictive keyboard, that allows to leave Microsoft SwiftKey
• Reliable navigation through public transportation.
• Gadgetbridge support for my Garmin watch.
• Good application to take notes, either from Android or from the desktop (or a web app).
  Currently using SimpleNote from Automattic (GPLv2 client but proprietary server).
• Good FOSS offline dictionaries based on Wiktionary
• Should elaborate on servers (like Nextcloud) for self-hosting one's data.

Credits

To people who answered my questions and shared their favorites

Leszek Grzanska, Werner Fischer, Yann B., Sébastien Dinot, Philip-Dylan Gleonec, Jean-Martin Haran, Benoît Taine, Luca Ceresoli, Mikkel Kirkgaard Nielsen, Cornelius Kölbel, Christophe Blaess, Julien Stephan.

To the maintainers of F-Droid and its contributors

Thank you

Slides available under the CC-By-SA 4.0 license
https://rootcommit.com/pub/conferences/2024/cdl/foss-apps-android/index.html

Sources (reveal.js):
https://gitlab.com/rootcommit/foss-apps-android/-/tree/cdl2024