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A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

simplemobiletools.com

21–30 of 173 posts

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are completely free and you don't have to pay for every upgrade. They're open source, just get the builds from f-droid instead of the paid play store builds. You can still pay to support the developer.

Should have been more clear --- by "upgrade" I meant a hardware change. Phone hardware is designed to be replaced every 2-3 years. And I already pointed out the definition of "free" at work here.

I did not know that about android. You can’t migrate your apps from an old phone to a new phone?

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#23
post #2

https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools And of course, you should install these from F-Droid, not Google Play

Seems like they cost money on Google. Are they free on F-Droid? Edit: It seems like they are, but without the word "Pro" in the title. I can't figure out what makes any of them "Pro". Edit 2: Nope, some of them say "Pro" on F-Droid, too. I guess it's just in the name. Weird.

Some functionality is missing in the Fdroid versions though. E.g. the calendar app is missing the comprehensive editing tools from the Google Play version. The solution? Installing the binaries right from their Github repo.

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#24

I still have old Android phones that I'm not using because of outdated kernels/OS versions and their disadvantages in terms of vulnerabilities, but given the hardware is completely fine I would use them as offline general purpose tools if I had an easy way to install old store apps in them. So does anybody know if there is perhaps an archive of old APK app files (old as in Android KitKat and earlier)?

back when Yalp Store was working, it would let you decrement version numbers. if the author hadn't removed them from the play store and you guessed correctly, you could download older versions. i think sites like apkmirror also provide older versions.

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#25
post #3

Can someone familiar with these make the case for why I should be using them (or at least one specific app in the suite)?

I use a few of these - simple file manager, simple gallery - on (my wife's) devices which are encumbered by custom Android shells (Samsung and Sony to give a few examples) which make it harder than necessary to perform certain tasks. They are complementary to whatever is installed on these devices, they're not in the way, they're free (from F-Droid) and I don't really care about that orange theme since I only use them occasionally. If you have an AOSP-derived distribution like LineageOS installed there is not much need for this type of app but for those who are stuck with custom Android shells like Samsung's Touchwiz and Sony's Xperia some of these 'simple' apps can come in handy.

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should have been more clear --- by "upgrade" I meant a hardware change. Phone hardware is designed to be replaced every 2-3 years. And I already pointed out the definition of "free" at work here.

Google Play app purchases are tied to your account, not your phone. You don't need to try purchase when you get a new phone.

Can I migrate them to my work phone?

In any case, I don't use "Google Play".

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should have been more clear --- by "upgrade" I meant a hardware change. Phone hardware is designed to be replaced every 2-3 years. And I already pointed out the definition of "free" at work here.

I did not know that about android. You can’t migrate your apps from an old phone to a new phone?

Yes you can, I'm not sure what was the issue of OP but all apps (including paid) are linked to your google account, so they are available on any phone linked to your google account

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#29

Why do all calendar apps put months next to each other, instead of using a continuous vertically scrollable view with them on top of each other? It's maddening! Actually Google got this right at one point - but then they reverted to the stupid way!!

Because down/up swipes are usually used to switch apps, or go to settings/menu's, so right/left swipes are a lot easier to switch months/days/weeks

Re: A group of open source Android apps without ads or unnecessary permissions

#30
post #11

I use the calendar one. Since it went not free, the free version doesn't generate notifications or alerts anymore. I almost missed appointments or meetings because of this. This is planned obsolescence at best. I seriously despise everything about this.

That's odd. I got the calendar app off of f-droid and it works just fine for me.
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