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Yale Privacy Lab and Exodus Privacy's F-Droid Android App Store is a Replacement for Google Play That Features Only FOSS Apps That Don't Do Any Tracking (wired.com)

Posted by msmash on from the watchful-guardian dept.

Google Play, the marquee Android apps store, is filled with apps that are riddled with hidden trackers that siphon a smorgasbord of data from all sensors, in all directions, unknown to the Android user. Not content with the strides Google has made to curtail the issue, Yale Privacy Lab has collaborated with Exodus Privacy to detect and expose trackers with the help of the F-Droid app store. From a report on Wired: F-Droid is the best replacement for Google Play, because it only offers FOSS apps without tracking, has a strict auditing process, and may be installed on most Android devices without any hassles or restrictions. F-Droid doesn't offer the millions of apps available in Google Play, so some people will not want to use it exclusively. It's true that Google does screen apps submitted to the Play store to filter out malware, but the process is still mostly automated and very quick -- too quick to detect Android malware before it's published, as we've seen. Installing F-Droid isn't a silver bullet, but it's the first step in protecting yourself from malware.

13 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. These aren't ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    These aren't the F-ing droids you're looking for ... :-P

  2. Announce? by el+borak · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What's to "announce"? I've been running F-Droid for years.

    --
    An imperfect plan executed violently is far superior to a perfect plan. -- George Patton
  3. SO what is the news? by jbmartin6 · · Score: 3, Informative

    It isn't clearly stated, but it seems the news is some additional collaboration to vet apps in F-Droid

    --
    This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
  4. Worth The Risk? by Thelasko · · Score: 2

    I ran F-droid a few years ago. Sure, the apps are FOSS, and in theory more secure. However, you have to allow non Play Store apps system-wide (unless something changed). This is a vulnerability I am not willing to accept. Especially since most of the apps on F-droid are in the Play Store too.

    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
    1. Re:Worth The Risk? by TheMiddleRoad · · Score: 2

      Yes, but it's not like apps can automatically install from other sources. You still have to accept them. Also, Google Play has all sorts of crooked, spying apps. It's not like it's an especially safe source. Better than most. Worse than Fdroid. I use both. I did uninstall Amazon Underground. That shit is pure spyware.

    2. Re:Worth The Risk? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      In Android Oreo you can control this per-application. Under Apps & notifications -> Special app access -> Install unknown apps.

      If you're stuck using a version of Android older than Oreo then disable the feature of installing from unknown sources when you're not using it and enable it when you want to install from F-droid.

    3. Re: Worth The Risk? by Thelasko · · Score: 2

      In fact, Google Play Services itself is a spying app. (Go on and check what permissions it requires by default, which you usually can't revoke in non-rooted Android. And I'm pretty sure they use it as well, since when I used Google Maps, Google started asking me to review restaurants I'd been to even though I had revoked Google Maps ability to remain active in the background and hadn't used it for over a month due to trying out Maps.me as a replacement.)

      Google Play Services has consumed a bunch of other apps that used to do various tasks. For example, it is responsible for managing all requests to the GPS card. It's like the Android equivalent of systemd.

      --
      One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
    4. Re:Worth The Risk? by green1 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Something has changed. Allowing non-playstore apps is now assigned as a permission specific to each app. So you can let F-Droid install these apps without letting any other app do so.

      That said, the Play store has so much more content, of much better quality apps, that really the only use for f-droid is for apps that Google doesn't approve of, like ad-blockers (if you want one that actually works, you won't find it on the play store)

  5. Re:Yay by TheMiddleRoad · · Score: 2

    5 apps, you idiot!

  6. Re:"announces" f Droid? by higuita · · Score: 2

    Actually f-droid improved a lot in the last years... no, it will not replace google store yet nor in anytime soon, but it is going in the good path

    --
    Higuita
  7. Re:What is the point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Ah yes, you're the retard who turns up on every security related thread saying "Why bother to have any security when you can't have perfect security"
    Why even close your front door, they can just smash a window?
    Why bother walking on the sidewalk instead of on the road, you can still get run over?

    Do you have any idea how stupid you sound?

    Malicious apps are probably the biggest security problem on the Android platform. If you can live with the limited selection, Fdroid gives you almost complete protection against this.

  8. Re:"announces" f Droid? by dos1 · · Score: 2

    Even after the change, the headline is still garbage. And I'm not trolling, it's just plain wrong and misleading. Somebody read the Wired article, misunderstood it and wrote this headline.

    Yale Privacy Lab and Exodus Privacy started to *collaborate* with F-Droid, a long-standing free software project endorsed by FSF.

    Check out the true source: https://www.f-droid.org/en/201...

  9. Used F-Droid ever since, no Google on my Android by ffkom · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... devices. I have yet to miss anything, F-Droid has more "Apps" than I would ever want to install. My smartphone is still a phone, it is not a gaming console. Everything regarding communication or navigation is covered by the applications on F-Droid. Never felt a tickle to create a "google account" or to install anything from that "play store", which has a correct and telling name.