My top FOSS Android apps

Imagine a world where apps are not evil and do their job.

GUIDE

You might know this: most of your apps are tracking you, and even worse, they are selling your location data to a handful of companies (and sometimes to government agencies).

Some links:

Stop using third-party weather apps

ICE surveillance, data brokers, Congress, Anthropic (NPR)

⚠️ I vouch for all of these apps, they are well known and reviewed. But things can change quickly, so always watch for malicious maintainers and shady moves.
I go by the principle that the fewer dependencies and permissions an app has, the lower the risk of a breach there is.

Weather

Breezy

A clean and effective weather app that leverages multiple sources; you even get a lot of data, such as air quality, humidity, pressure, and so on.

• Github: https://github.com/breezy-weather/breezy-weather
• Fdroid: https://f-droid.org/packages/org.breezyweather/

2FA

Aegis

Automatic backups, encryption, screen security, and a panic trigger—long live Aegis.

• Github: https://github.com/beemdevelopment/aegis
• Fdroid: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.beemdevelopment.aegis

Youtube/music

Newpipe

Lets you watch, background-play, and download YouTube videos without Google garbage. No ads, no tracking, no account required.

⚠️ Youtube is increasingly pushing “bots” verifications; if you rely on a VPN on Android, you might have to often switch locations to view videos. I personally don’t care (and will use uBlock forever, Mr. YouTube).

Metrolist

YT music wrapper, same functions as Newpipe (offline, download etc.)

• Github: https://github.com/MetrolistGroup/Metrolist
• Fdroid/Izzy: https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.metrolist.music

Maps

Organicmaps

Offline map based on Openstreetmaps, can replace 90% of your Google Maps use.

• Website: https://organicmaps.app/
• Fdroid: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/app.organicmaps/

⚠️ The GPS localization can sometimes be a bit lazy, but hey, no data is sent to Google or whatever.

GPS/Astronomy/and a lot more

Trailsense

Swiss army knife with compass, weather, astronomy, signal finder, beacons etc.

• Fdroid: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.kylecorry.trail_sense/

Twitter

Yes, I refuse to call it “X”.

Nitterium

Doesn’t even use Twitter account or API keys, it relies on the Nitter frontend. Just subscribe to accounts locally on your phone!

• Fdroid/Izzy: https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.kaleedtc.nitterium

Translate

TranslateYou

Bring your own API keys from Deepl, Yandex, Libretranslate etc.

• Github: https://github.com/you-apps/TranslateYou
• Fdroid: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.bnyro.translate/

News

Feeder

Put all your favorite RSS feeds inside an app.

• Fdroid: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.nononsenseapps.feeder/

Fossify apps

A while back, SimpleMobile Tools were a reliable producer of open-source apps for basic tasks such as calendar, SMS, photo gallery, etc.

But they were quietly bought by a shady company:

• https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/General-Discussion/issues/241
• https://www.makeuseof.com/simple-mobile-tools-privacy-risk-use-alternative/

The good guys at Fossify (https://www.fossify.org/) took the code back and remade most of them.

• https://www.fossify.org/

Short conclusion

These are my daily drivers, and works perfectly for my use. Thanks to the devs for their open work (and making me stay on Android).