F-Droid
An app store and client for free and open-source Android apps that works without a Google account.
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About F-Droid
F-Droid is an installable catalog of free and open-source Android apps. The client app browses the F-Droid repository, installs apps and keeps them updated, and can add other F-Droid compatible repositories. Apps in the main repository are built from source by F-Droid, and each listing flags anti-features such as tracking or advertising.
It is free, open source under GPL-3.0-or-later, needs no account and runs on Android 7.0 or newer. Because a normal app cannot act as a package manager, you have to allow installation from unknown sources once. Aurora Store and Obtainium cover the apps F-Droid does not carry.
Strengths
- No account needed and no tracking of what you install
- All apps in the main repository must be free and open source software and are built from source by F-Droid
- Checks repo index signatures and APK hashes and can install updates automatically
- Nearby feature lets you send and receive apps offline with people near you
Limitations
- Requires enabling installation from unknown sources because a regular Android app cannot act as a package manager
- Only FLOSS apps without proprietary tracking or advertising SDKs are accepted in the main repository
- Requires Android 7.0 or newer (version 2.0-rc1)
Details
- Pricing
- Free · Free and open source, donation supported, no ads
- License
- GPL-3.0-or-later
- Developer
- F-Droid Contributors
- Platforms
- Android
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Installing and updating free and open source Android apps without a Google account
- Categories
- Android app stores
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Selected from the TechWalrus Resource Hub (Alternative App Stores); facts checked against the developer's own pages, 18 sources on file.
Alternatives to F-Droid
Compare allSoftware that can replace F-Droid for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Aurora Store
An open-source client for the Google Play catalog that installs and updates apps without a Google account.
Aurora Store installs apps from the Google Play catalog, so it covers proprietary apps F-Droid never lists, but the apps themselves are not open source.
Obtainium
An Android updater that installs apps directly from developer release pages such as GitHub and GitLab.
Obtainium fetches releases straight from developer pages such as GitHub instead of from a curated repository, so there is no build-from-source guarantee.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
GrapheneOS
A privacy- and security-hardened Android operating system for supported Google Pixel phones.
CalyxOS
A privacy-focused Android operating system from the Calyx Institute with microG and a built-in firewall.
LineageOS
A community Android distribution for a wide range of phones and tablets, shipped without Google apps.
