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"why do you think cyan/aosp isn't spying on you? And what about all the malicious apps? if i lived in china, home of the filthy filthy app store, I'd want some protection."

Because the source is freely available.

Here's some additional protection for the app issue, though it's easy enough to use the Play store anyway.

The F-Droid Repository is an easily-installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform. The server contains the details of multiple versions of each application, and the Android client makes it easy to browse, install them onto your device, and keep track of updates.

You can install the latest version from here or see the end of this page for a QR code.

You can also browse the repository with a web browser, and download the applications directly from there if you can’t or don’t want to run the F-Droid client on your device.

https://f-droid.org/

Google is Evil! For us Droid users, the Goog pulled all of our adblocking apps from the Play Store! Most of them require a user to be rooted so since you can sideload because of that, the blockers can now be found at the OSS App Store F-Droid!

According to this post, using any of the anti-features will hide an application from most users. How should one fund the development of, say, a video game to be distributed to users who have switched to F-Droid without putting in ads (which requires the "Ads" anti-feature) or charging for mission packs after the first (which requires the "NonFreeAdd" anti-feature)?

According to this post, using any of the anti-features will hide an application from most users. How should one fund the development of, say, a video game to be distributed to users who have switched to F-Droid without putting in ads (which requires the "Ads" anti-feature) or charging for mission packs after the first (which requires the "NonFreeAdd" anti-feature)?

The number that I do believe is that paid app usage downloaded from Apple's store is much higher than the same thing from Google play. However that's a Google vs Apple financial comparison and isn't the one relevant to my arguments. For Apple devices the only software source is Apple's app store. For Android devices there are many sources; direct download; Amazon; 3rd party stores; Free software repositories like F-droid etc. This quite likely more than accounts for differences in the number of apps installed per device etc. which have been reported in the media. Remember especially that the Android users who have the most apps are also the ones who will be most likely to have a rooted device where at least some of the apps will be invisible to google. I think that these are completely missed in most reports on Android software usage but are things which will have a strong influence on the platforms' futures.

If you want to maximise revenue on your first version of a proprietary app, I guess that you might still be better to go with Apple App store. Even here I am not sure. If you are trying to reach the maximum number of people with your app, I would suspect that Android is already a clear winner.

Now, the final question is, which will give the better long term ROI. I would guess that we are already at the stage where revenue in Google play will overtake revenue in Apple's app store in the lifetime of any reasonable app. In which case, it seems to me that the that the people going for iOS are just making a mistake because they haven't yet realised that things already changed or are doing it because it's easier for them at this stage than converting over. That decision will change soon.

Android is a great open ecosystem, why not just develop an defacto FOSS Android skin and package repository?

There is a FOSS android skin ... AOSP (which happens to be the "Best" android). Unfortunatly, it doesn't officially support a lot of devices.
http://source.android.com/

There is also a FOSS repository ... F-Droid. It has some useful software, but not much. Seems to me it's a lot of little toy apps.
http://f-droid.org/

today you might want to check out the open source app store for android (https://www.F-Droid.org)

What's the best way to recoup the expenses of developing a video game or other application that is distributed under a free software license? F-Droid considers the usual revenue sources for free software in home environments, namely advertisements and non-free add-ons, to be anti-features.

Lastly, maybe try linux if you havent?

Provided your Internet connection isn't capped to single-digit GB per month, you can download and try a live USB image. Just make sure to try all your peripherals and a suspend/resume cycle before committing to using GNU/Linux full-time.

There's an open source marketplace called F-Droid which has an ad blocker called AdAway. It's open source, but it requires root.

There's an open source marketplace called F-Droid which has an ad blocker called AdAway. It's open source, but it requires root.

- We need a GNU (or Debian) fork of Google Play to carry full-source free software apps including ad blockers and other forms of user-based control, like a NoScript equivalent. Google is utterly not on the user's side in this regard, and their hegemony needs to end. Our devices belong to us, not to Google.

The Google Play Store has never been open source, so you'd need a GPL implementation of an Android app store from scratch. Sounds huge and difficult and infeasabl--wait, sorry, I meant that these guys already did it

Yup. Pretty much all of the adblock writers put their stuff onF-Droid the same way the emulator writers did after that big sweep a while back.

Honestly, I kind of saw this coming. It's not a big deal, really; on Android you don't even need root access to sideload apps and alternate app stores.

I trust that the software at http://f-droid.org/ does not do bad things, I do not trust the Google appstore the same way. This is why I removed all the Google spyware my phone came with, including GoogleServicesFramework.apk... the downside is obviously that I can't use the Google Play market but who cares

Of course they did. This threatens their business model. A corporation will do ANYTHING to defend its cashflow. Any corporation, even Google. You want to play in their walled garden- you have to do it by their rules.

I'm quite glad Android is not completely closed, and projects like F-Droid exist:
http://f-droid.org/

It's not half as good as official Google store at the moment, but it's open source, and it will get improved.

As for me, I won't be happy until I can apt-get install apps on my mobile :)

--Coder

Just avoid the Google Play store.
1. Install the free software only app-store http://f-droid.org/
2. Root your phone
3. Install Android SDK, cd adt-bundle-linux-x86_64/sdk/platform-tools
4. ./adb shell
5. mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblk3 /system
6. Perhaps backup with ./adb pull fileonphone localfile and delete some files:
rm /system/app/Gmail.apk
rm /system/app/GoogleBackupTransport.apk
rm /system/app/GoogleCalendarSyncAdapter.apk
rm /system/app/GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk
rm /system/app/GoogleFeedback.apk
rm /system/app/GooglePartnerSetup.apk
rm /system/app/GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk
rm /system/app/MarketUpdater.apk
rm /system/app/GoogleServicesFramework.apk
rm /system/app/Talk.apk

You may want to keep GoogleServicesFramework.apk if you plan to ever use some kind of Google services again. You do not _need_ to use the Google Play appstore or any Google services at all just because you happened to buy a $95 Android phone at the local grocery store (that's what my Samsung GIO set be back a week ago).

I can say all of those things about my android tablet, my nook tablet, and my raspberry pi. So these are all PCs?

No you can't - just try to install something from the OSS FDroid market on your Nook without having to root (read: break into) it.

Liar, or ignoramus? Guessing the latter.

Just FYI, on Android there's Bitcoin Wallet. Free software.

That is your one stop shop for all open source android software. You won't find the f-droid app in the play store, but you can install it from http://f-droid.org/

Other than that, two of my favorite are AirDroid and Skifta.

Plex is disqualified as its not free, but its great.

F-Droid is the Android open source repository.

http://f-droid.org/

The F-Droid app store, to use its own description "is an easily-installable catalogue of FOSS applications for the Android platform". They even do most of the work, like building your app from source, for you. And F-Droid doesn't even include non-FOSS apps to compete with the FOSS ones. How is Microsoft's thing more FOSS-friendly than that?

In F-Droid (a repository for FOSS Android apps), there's this program called Hexiano, which is a keyboard-like musical instrument in which the notes are arranged in hexagons, such that any interval has the same relative physical position on the keyboard no matter what key you're in. My

Posting anon, since apparently it's totally wrong if your kid ever sees a tablet, ever, even if it's only when you're around.

"A free (as in freedom) software app store for Android would be awesome." Check out F-Droid. "I'd love to see a free software Android fork with a modern package manager and native development tools." Not quite a complete project for what you want, but BotBrew is a start... Also, if it's ever possible to install FirefoxOS on more than a handful of devices, it sounds like a possible contender for the niche, too.

Perfectly wrong. Not only do you not need a google account, you also don't need any of their software that hasn't been released as Open Source.

Start by installing CyanogenMod. This will give you a fully functional base system, without any google applications. You do get a fully functional web browser, which still puts you well ahead of feature phones; no appstore, though. To fix that part, you can then add F-Droid, an alternative Android appstore focused on free software programs, given you a convenient way to install various mapping applications, more web browsers, pdf readers, games, or what-have-you.
The selection isn't anything close to what you get on Google Play, of course. So there's a price.
But you can do it. And you do end up with something that's still a lot more useful than a feature phone.

Walled gardens are inherently more secure

Which walled gardens? More secure how? More secure than what?

If the walled garden does a better job of verifying the security than the collection of apps you are comparing it to, then you are right. But that is not an inherent characteristic of the walled garden model any more than it is of any other kind of collection of apps. The question is how strongly the selection process under consideration filters for security.

For example, F-Droid is a repository of Free and Open Source Android software. It is pretty much the opposite of a walled garden, and it is very possible that the F-Droid software is more secure than what is available on Google Play or the iTunes App Store.

The claim that walled gardens are inherently more secure is no more valid than the archaic and discarded notion that proprietary software is inherently more secure than Open Source. The same holds true for the operating system as for the marketplace, for the same reasons.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm glad I was mistaken about Barcode Scanner's Freeness. Another reason I lucked out picking this app out of the crowd.

I think I got the Barcode Scanner from F-Droid (Open Source android app repository); I usually check there before the Play store for utility apps like that.

F-Droid is almost that "FSF channel": only free software built from source. Apps that spy on you are marked as such and aren't shown by default.

(Disclosure: I contributed translations to the project.)

Like usual, everything is better when it's open source.

If it was all about openness, then why no micro sd slot

What has openness got to do with a micro sd slot!? I in no way defend not having one. I think that cripples the devices. Seriously you could have talked about the APACHE license, or binary drivers. Merging the Linux kernel, opening up the 1st Party proprietary programs on Android, or highlight the GPL programs available on android! [use http://f-droid.org/ ]Not having a microsd slot is about creating artificial different price points for your device. The truth is when compared to the competition it is the most open.

am I the only one who would like to see OSS repos become common on Android?

Does F-Droid count?

The only thing you really need to sign in for is to use the app store. You can always just use f-droid which is an app store hosting nothing but Free apps and you can download stuff from around the web. You could also go here and just use the Amazon app store. Don't forget too that the Nexus 7 can be bootloader unlocked with a single command so you can load whatever you want as long as you can find drivers.

Crowdsourcing for Android based open source alternative and distributing it via f-droid.org is much easier solution than trying to win this.

Sad to say, Windows Mobile 6.x is the only game in town if you are interested in anything remotely related to software freedom.

What a weird thing to say, given Microsoft's history.

You can get the full source code for Android here http://source.android.com/.

There's a repository of FOSS Android apps here http://f-droid.org/, it has a market-style installer to make it easy.

The full SDK is here http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html, and there's an O'Reilly Cookbook available http://androidcookbook.com/home.seam.

If Java/Davlik coding is beyound you, try MIT's very clever App Inventor RAD http://appinventoredu.mit.edu/what-is-app-inventor. It's quite cool.

Note that all of these resources are gratis, and most are free as well.

> If it fails to gain popularity, then it might as well not exist.

What a daft attitude. However, I find it interesting that it pops up in mobile related topics more than on the desktop.

Imagine some obscure distro going: "Well, if we don't get 100M users, we'll just give up". Or a manager of niche RPM: "If we don't double our download rate by tomorrow, we'll throw in the towel".

Expecting every market, app, or initiative to be another Angry Birds or Google market is unrealistic and unnecessary. There is plenty of room for success in niche products. Take the f-droid market; not big, but certainly an interesting idea if free & open source is your cup of tea.

Just stick with
http://f-droid.org/
or some such.
and there is zero risk?

http://f-droid.org/ is probably helpful - a "marketplace" for open source apps...

Here's what I'm using on my android phone.

1) I installed Cyanogenmod, of course.
2) I use F-Droid instead of the android market. I don't even have the android market installed.
3) I use K9mail for email.
4) I'm using Zirco as my web browser. It has adblocking. If I had a fancier phone (with >= 512mb ram), I'd be running Firefox Mobile (that link sends you to the android market; I'd get it from F-Droid instead)
4) I use OSMAnd, so I don't even have to hit google for maps. Instead, I use my locally-stored OpenStreetMaps.

To sync contacts, calendar, and SMS, I'm planning to set up a Funambol server and use the Funambol sync client. But I'm only on Day 3 of phone ownership, so I haven't gotten that server set up yet. But at least the contacts can be exported into .vcf files, to copy out manually.

One thing I'm concerned about is that the Calendar app won't let me even start up the app until I've put in a server. So I don't have the option of using local-only calendar and exporting the ical files by hand. I'm hoping to fork the Calendar app to make one that compiles with only the Android SDK, and lets you use it in local-only mode. Apparently, k9mail started as a fork of the standard mail app for android.

Here's what I'm using on my android phone.

1) I installed Cyanogenmod, of course.
2) I use F-Droid instead of the android market. I don't even have the android market installed.
3) I use K9mail for email.
4) I'm using Zirco as my web browser. It has adblocking. If I had a fancier phone (with >= 512mb ram), I'd be running Firefox Mobile (that link sends you to the android market; I'd get it from F-Droid instead)
4) I use OSMAnd, so I don't even have to hit google for maps. Instead, I use my locally-stored OpenStreetMaps.

To sync contacts, calendar, and SMS, I'm planning to set up a Funambol server and use the Funambol sync client. But I'm only on Day 3 of phone ownership, so I haven't gotten that server set up yet. But at least the contacts can be exported into .vcf files, to copy out manually.

One thing I'm concerned about is that the Calendar app won't let me even start up the app until I've put in a server. So I don't have the option of using local-only calendar and exporting the ical files by hand. I'm hoping to fork the Calendar app to make one that compiles with only the Android SDK, and lets you use it in local-only mode. Apparently, k9mail started as a fork of the standard mail app for android.

Can someone please post a link to the APK and/or its sha1sum so if we find it on the net we can verify that's the original one and not malware?

Thanks.

Standard disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not anyone else. None of the above should be read as an encouragement to violate the law. IANAL. I don't hate cute kittens.

You can still download it from F-Droid (open source Android app repository): http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.hermit.tricorder

I still have it, although I installed it through F-Droid (Open source android market), where it is still avaliable: http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.hermit.tricorder

I still have it, although I installed it through F-Droid as opposed to the Android Market.

It is still there, for anyone who doesn't have it: http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.hermit.tricorder

We all know bit torrent can be used for downloading Game of Thrones, pr0n, Microsoft COFEE or GNU/Linux distros... why would Google remove what is considered a "neutral" app all of a sudden?

The "it encourages to download copyrighted material through screenshots" argument does sound pretty week to me.

And anyway, what about the whole "it's pretty clear by now given the studies that downloading is not responsible for the downfall of civilisation as we know it and modern culture and is in fact quite beneficial for everyone involved considering the big picture" part?
A cue for someone else's rant?

By the way, you know which market still has Transdroid and plenty other nice FOSSÂapps? http://f-droid.org/repository

Maemo.

...but no, seriously, using as open-source of an OS as possible is the way I go, and having plenty of data (about what programs are running, about the networking data, etc).Knowing what your system is doing is the first and most important line of defence (contrast it against all those people whose Windows boxes are "running so slow...guess it's time to upgrade", we've all met those folks).

That being said, if you're on a far less free-as-in-speech OS (you freedom-hater!), you can indeed still try and use open-source software. For Android (my emergency backup smartphone is an Android device...yes, I have an emergency backup smartphone, I'm posting on Slashdot is that really a surprise?) I always check F-Droid first when I'm looking for an app to do something. It's much smaller than the Android Market (obviously) but it's a good first place to check, and I like the interface more than the Market personally. That may largely be because it's more a Repository than a Market/Store and, being a Linux user, I'm more comfortable with that, but that's another reason to recommend too anyone with a similar background.

Have a look at F-Droid. It's an alternative repository, with an accompanying client application, that lists only free software (free as in freedom). No proprietary or plagiarized applications.

It doesn't have sorting or filtering yet, but luckily there are much fewer applications to browse through than in the Android Market, so it works OK. :)

There is F-Droid Repository "an easily-installable catalogue of FOSS applications for the Android platform. The server contains the details of multiple versions of each application, and the Android client makes it easy to browse, install them onto your device, and keep track of updates."

Long live Maemo/Meego

Didn't that die a month ago? :-) In any case, for Android there's FDroid which shows only FOSS applications.

And where's the Free Android distribution? With an own market with only Open Source apps? No, there's MeeGo instead... yet.

There is a fully free Android distribution called Replicant: http://replicant.us/

Then there is a free software repository for Android at http://f-droid.org/