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F-Droid

Selection of FOSS Android apps on F-Droid

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. — Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790) American inventor, journalist, printer, diplomat and statesman, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

Safe mobile apps that respect your privacy and keep unwanted advertisements and trackers at bay, deserve extra attention. Hence, the use of free and open source software (FOSS) is advised, also for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Below is an overview of free Android apps which can be installed from F-Droid. This is a safe app store that respects your privacy. Many apps can also be installed from Google Play, but the versions on F-Droid have tracking software removed. This minimizes the digital trail your online activity leaves behind.

Some of the apps listed here cost money in Google Play but are gratis on F-Droid. Good to know is that many of these apps often surpass their commercial counterparts in terms of functionality and performance.

Basic		Replaces
	F-Droid install apps from the F-Droid app store	Google Play, Amazon Appstore, (Samsung) Galaxy Store, Huawei AppGallery
	Fossify Clock manage alarms
	Fossify Phone manage phone calls
	AnySoftKeyboard type with autocompletion keyboard	GBoard (Google Keyboard), Microsoft SwiftKey, Yandex Keyboard
	FindMyDevice find your mistplaced, lost or stolen device	Google Find My Device, Samsung Find
	Finder find your mistplaced, lost or stolen device	Google Find My Device, Samsung Find
	Keep Alive send SMS with location after period of inactivity
Files		Replaces
	Syncthing-Fork synchronize and backup files	Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Yandex Disk, Yandex Cloud
	Fossify File Manager manage files, also viewing PDF files
	DiskUsage manage disk usage	Storage Analyzer & Disk Usage, CCleaner, AVG Cleaner
Web Browsers		Replaces
	Fennec browse the internet with Firefox Mobile including QR scanner and Firefox Sync for synchronizing passwords, bookmarks, settings, etc.	(Mozilla) Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Samsung Internet Browser, Yandex Browser, Instapaper, Pocket
	FreeOTP+ use two-factor authentication (2FA) with import and export	Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Authy
	KeePassDX manage passwords	Google Password Manager, Microsoft Authenticator, LastPass, 1Password, Bitwarden Password Manager, Yandex Key
Email		Replaces
	Thunderbird send and receive emails	Microsoft Outlook, (Google) Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Samsung Email, Yandex Mail
	OpenKeychain encrypt and decrypt texts and files (for Thunderbird)
Contacts, Calendars and Tasks		Replaces
	Fossify Contacts manage contacts, also from CardDAV
	Fossify Calendar manage calendars, also showing holidays and birthdays (see also ICSx⁵ and DAVx⁵)	Google Calendar, Samsung Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Yandex Calendar
	ICSx⁵ add network calendars in ICS format (to Fossify Calendar)
	DAVx⁵ synchronize calendars, tasks and contacts in CalDAV and CardDav (with Fossify Calendar, Fossify Contacts and Tasks.org)
	Birthday Calendar show birthdays from Fossify Contacts in Fossify Calendar, and Tasks.org)
	Fossify Notes manage tasks, only locally	Google Keep, Microsoft OneNote, Evernote, Samsung Notes
	Tasks.org manage tasks in CalDAV (see also DAVx⁵)
	AnkiDroid study and synchronize flashcards in Anki	Quizlet, Flashcards World, LingQ
Messaging and Communication		Replaces
	Fossify SMS Messenger manage SMS/MMS messages	Google Messages
	Mattermost
	Forkgram (Telegram) instant messaging, voice and video calling	WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Discord, Google Hangouts, Instagram, Snapchat, LINE, Viber
	Element instant messaging with Matrix	Viber
	Element X instant messaging with Matrix	, Viber
	Conversations instant messaging with XMPP
	nfty receive push notifications
	Linphone calling with VOIP
	Remote Video Camera stream audio and/or video between two devices
	Jitsi Meet video conference	Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Discord, Skype
Video and Images		Replaces
	Fossify Gallery manage images and videos	(Google) Pixel Camera
	Fossify Camera make photographs and videos
	NewPipe play YouTube, SoundCloud, Mixcloud, Bandcamp, etc. content as video or audio, also in the background	YouTube, SoundCloud, Mixcloud, Bandcamp
	IPCam Demo view IP camera streamss
	MPV play video or audio from files or streams, including dual subtitles
	Kodi play video or audio from files or streams
	Kore remote control Kodi
Audio		Replaces
	Fossify Voice Recorder make audio recordings	(Samsung) Voice Recorder, Samsung Notes
	Fossify Music Player play music files	Samsung Music, Apple Music, Mi Music
	Vanilla Music play music files	Samsung Music, Apple Music, Mi Music
	Transistor play audio streams	Samsung Music, Apple Music, Mi Music
	MPD remote control for MPD
	M.A.L.P. remote control for MPD
	AntennaPod podcasts	Apple Podcast, Yandex Podcasts
	Escapepod podcasts	Apple Podcast, Yandex Podcasts
Route Planning, Navigation and Travel		Replaces
	Organic Maps plan routes and navigate with OpenStreetMap for walking, cycling and driving, online and offline	Google Maps, Waze, TomTom, Yandex Maps, Yandex Navigator
	OsmAnd plan routes and navigate with OpenStreetMap for walking, cycling, driving and sailing, online and offline	Google Maps, Waze, TomTom, Yandex Maps, Yandex Navigator
	Transportr plan public transport with NS, 9292, etc.	Google Maps, Yandex Trains, 9292 (Netherlands), NS (Netherlands)
	EVMap find electric vehicle chargers on OpenStreetMap
	AF Weather Widget view weather graphs in widgets	Google Weather, Yahoo Weather, Yandex Weather, Buienradar (Netherlands), KNMI (Netherlands)
	PassAndroid view Passbook files for events and travel tickets	Google Wallet, WalletPasses
Social Media		Replaces
	Tusky Mastodon
	Shitter Mastodon
	Twidere X Mastodon, etc.
	SlimSocial for Facebook Facebook
Financial		Replaces
	BTC Map find where to spend bitcoins
	CoinTrend monitor cryptocurrency prices and trends
	Dash Wallet wallet cryptocurrency Dash
Peripherals		Replaces
	CAPod use in-ear devices such as AirPods and Beats
	Gadgetbridge connect with heart rate monitors, ear buds and more
	openHAB remote control home automation	SmartThings, Goolge Home, Smart Life, Nest
	Home Assistant remote control home automation	SmartThings, Goolge Home, Smart Life, Nest
Network		Replaces
	ProtonVPN use free VPN
	Calyx VPN use free VPN without manual settings
	Port Authority scan LAN and ports
	WiFiAnalyzer optimize wifi networks
	ConnectBot SSH and Telnet	Termius, JuiceSSH
	Website Monitor monitor if websites are online
Health		Replaces
	openScale track weight and body metrics	Google Fit, Samsung Health, (Google) Fitbit
	RunnerUp track sport activities	Strava, adidas Running, Running App, Nike Run Club, ACICS Runkeeper
	Brethap control your breathing during meditation
	Periodical track days of fertility with Knaus-Ogino method	Period Tracker, Flo Period, Clue Period
Netherlands		Replaces
	AnySoftKeyboard Dutch Dutch support for AnySoftKeyboard	GBoard (Google Keyboard), Microsoft SwiftKey, Yandex Keyboard
	NLWeer Dutch weather and precipitation from KNMI and Buienrader	Google Weather, Yahoo Weather, Yandex Weather, Buienradar, KNMI

If you want to go one step further, please consider installing LineageOS on your device. This is Android without preinstalled apps from Google, without preinstalled apps from the manufacturor of your device and without preinstalled apps from your provider. By also installing Open GApps pico, you have the possibility to install apps from Google Play, but only the one you choose, such as Signal Private Messenger.

See also:

• Selection of FOSS for Windows, macOS and Linux
• PRISM Break
• Droid-Break

This overview was started in 2013 by Hellebaard and predates those of PRISM Break and Droid-Break.