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

simplemobiletools.com

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

#141

Post by unethical_ban »

ffpip wrote: post #44
glook wrote: post #42

I am a heavy user of f-droid and avoid these 'Simple' apps. The high level of nag is not just annoying but borders on begging. Having pro versions where you can change colors defeats the idea of open source. I hate bringing the negative energy, but there is a treasure of apps available with f-droid other than these. I am glad they have their own website and wish they just went and did their own thing there.

> Having pro versions where you can change colors defeats the idea of open source Do you have any other ways the developer can make a living? AFAIK the pro features (excluding the closed source 3rd party SDKs) are all open source. You can build them on your own or download it off F-Droid.

The problem is marketing it as if it will be free and ad free, then restricting its capability based on price while notifying users to upgrade. It's a bait and switch.

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

#142

Post by betwixthewires »

I have been using a couple of these apps for years and have never been nagged to upgrade or pay. I'm an f-droid user, so that's probably why.

A lot of FOSS apps are taking this approach: offer the full version in f-droid, charge for it in the play store, both to encourage f-droid use and pay some bills. There's nothing wrong with it.

The only problem I've ever had with it was I used the contacts app when it was new and it didn't actually fill in phone numbers on vcard export. This was terrible, thankfully I had an older backup and only lost a couple of contacts, but still. Beyond that, these tools work extremely well.

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

#143

Post by zufallsheld »

ffpip wrote: post #140
zufallsheld wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use the gallery app on android 12 (on a Pixel) and the hiding and unhiding works.

Do you use the Pro version? The free one hasn't been updated in a few years so is not affected by changes to Android 12.

Yes, I use the v6.22.0 Pro version from the Play Store.

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

#144

Post by ffpip »

teknopaul wrote: post #130
teknopaul wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Open source licenses are licenses that comply with the Open Source Definition — in brief, they allow software to be freely used, modified, and shared. https://opensource.org/licenses

Unnecessary restrictions on use such as changing the colour of the gui, is not within the general goals of Open source software.

You can free to change the color of the GUI in the code and build it yourself. Change the values here to your liking - https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-Commons/blob/mas... .

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

#145

Post by ffpip »

metalliqaz wrote: post #61
ffpip wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having pro versions where you can change colors defeats the idea of open source Do you have any other ways the developer can make a living? AFAIK the pro features (excluding the closed source 3rd party SDKs) are all open source. You can build them on your own or download it off F-Droid.

I am an oss dev. I make a living at my day job.

Working on this suite of apps might be his day job. If he takes up a day job he might not be able to work on and maintain these many apps.

Can you develop and maintain a suite of 8-10 apps only on your free time? I was talking about how this specific developer who makes these many apps can make money, and not how you do.

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

#146

Post by newsch »

ffpip wrote: post #44
glook wrote: post #42

I am a heavy user of f-droid and avoid these 'Simple' apps. The high level of nag is not just annoying but borders on begging. Having pro versions where you can change colors defeats the idea of open source. I hate bringing the negative energy, but there is a treasure of apps available with f-droid other than these. I am glad they have their own website and wish they just went and did their own thing there.

> Having pro versions where you can change colors defeats the idea of open source Do you have any other ways the developer can make a living? AFAIK the pro features (excluding the closed source 3rd party SDKs) are all open source. You can build them on your own or download it off F-Droid.

For what it's worth, when I modified the dialer app to add a feature the developer didn't want, I discovered that there is a nag built into every screen that triggers randomly for "unofficial" versions: https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-Commons/blob/5ad...

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

#147

Post by ffpip »

zufallsheld wrote: post #143
ffpip wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you use the Pro version? The free one hasn't been updated in a few years so is not affected by changes to Android 12.

Yes, I use the v6.22.0 Pro version from the Play Store.

I'm on v.6.23.6, maybe v.6.23 is when these changes were introduced.

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

#148

Post by zufallsheld »

ffpip wrote: post #147
zufallsheld wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I use the v6.22.0 Pro version from the Play Store.

I'm on v.6.23.6, maybe v.6.23 is when these changes were introduced.

I digged a bit deeper and it looks like you're right.

In 6.23.0 it was removed: https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-Gallery/releases...

But in 6.23.6 it should be there again: https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-Gallery/releases...

But it seems it won't happen for the Play-Store version: https://www.reddit.com/r/SimpleMobileTools/comments/uqqqsj/c...

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

#149

Post by notyourday »

SCLeo wrote: post #111
josephcsible wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You only have to pay if you want to get it from the Play Store. They make the pro version available for free on F-Droid.

... This is obviously not about the money. Everyone here can easily afford to buy the pro version off the Play Store. The issue is about them pushing people to pay by removing features AFTER they already invested their time, data, and habit into the app.

No post body was provided.

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

#150

Post by notyourday »

teknopaul wrote: post #138
emteycz wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't talk about open source if you don't understand it. Paid binaries are the oldest form of OSS monetization. Is the source open and with a OSS-compatible licence? Then it's open source, not freeware nor shareware. Red Hat has nagging too.

I do understand OS. Read the preamble of gpl this explains the _purpose_ of os. The _goal_ of open source is to provide free software. Software that is free to _use_ now, and in the future, not _just_ free to get the source, free to use. If you don't provide free software (and free build processes) it's not compliant with Open Source licences. Paid binaries are permitted but you must be _willing_ to to give away your…

> The _goal_ of open source is to provide free software. Software that is free to _use_ now, and in the future, not _just_ free to get the source, free to use. If you don't provide free software (and free build processes) it's not compliant with Open Source licences

No, the goal of Open Source is to provide a user with ability access the source and do things to it. That's the difference between the Open Source and Free Software championed by FSF. FSF flopped. That's why we are still waiting for the Hurd to be useful.

Source: Sat in the room with Bruce Perens when this was happening.

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