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> If the motivation and energy ever return I could consider moving to normal F-Droid, which will require stripping out GDrive, Dropbox and a few other proprieta

> If the motivation and energy ever return I could consider moving to normal F-Droid, which will require stripping out GDrive, Dropbox and a few other proprietary features. Switch to F-Droid! - Remove GDrive/Dropbox and other proprietary features; - Add Nextcloud/ownCloud/Syncthing and similar open-source features; - Fully move to F-Droid; - Remove page from Google Play Store.

heavyset_go 6y ago
Unfortunately, Google prevents F-Droid from competing with the Play Store on feature parity, because F-Droid is not allowed to do batch installs, background installs, or auto-upgrading due to limitations put in Android.
- ObsoleteNerd 6y ago
  But there’s still a core group of people willing to put up with that and use F-Droid, and having the app used by that group of enthusiasts is better than it not being used at all. Considering this app is used a lot on older secondary phones, it’s actually very likely people who want to use it would go to the little bit of extra effort required to use it via F-Droid.
  - heavyset_go 6y ago
    I agree, I just wanted to point out Google's anti-competitive behavior regarding app distribution on Android.
- chmln 6y ago
  Note that you can totally do all of those if you root your device. Highly recommend.
  - easyKL 6y ago
    or by having Privileged Extension (for background installs & auto-upgrading) and a personal repo (for batch installs)
    - chmln 6y ago
      Well the privileged extension requires root, which is what I was alluding to in my post :)
      - easyKL 6y ago
        Not necessarilly. One can enjoy Privileged Extension on an unrooted phone by using a custom ROM, LOS for example. edit: typo
      - Youden 6y ago
        The privileged extension does not require root. You _can_ install it with Magisk (which also provides root) but it can also be flashed as a regular flashable ZIP (which just requires an unlocked device). Last (and best) of all, it can be added to an unrooted ROM. RattlesnakeOS[0] for example includes it. [0]: https://github.com/dan-v/rattlesnakeos-stack https://github.com/dan-v/rattlesnakeos-stack
  - tetris11 6y ago
    Ah I was wondering what was going on. The newest version of F-Droid updated all my apps with a single one-click update prompt. I remember the pain of previous releases where you had to manually update each and every app.
  - dingaling 6y ago
    Rooting is great, where possible. Many cheaper devices though are still unrootable, usually because it hasn't been possible to build a version of TWRP for them.
    - Dylan16807 6y ago
      Many non-cheap ones too, notably Samsung and LG (in the US). If you want rooting and a bunch of storage, your non-cheap options get harshly limited. Looking for such a phone over the last few months, the options for my carrier were Motorola or bust. Which means getting an Edge, which are goofy and expensive and have defective screens. So I gave up and got my first unrootable phone, from Samsung.
- vaccinator 6y ago
  auto-upgrading is not a good thing and the play store tries to force it on you
- input_sh 6y ago
  They've recently announced they're planning on making 3rd party store experience better in Android 12 (next year's version). They haven't shared any specifics. https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2020/09/listening-to-developer-feedback-to.html?m=1 https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2020/09/listening-...
LockAndLol 6y ago
It's on "Izzy's F-Droid"[0] although, I don't know why there's a separate F-Droid repo... [0]: https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.mendhak.gpslogger https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.mendhak.gpslogg...
- app4soft 6y ago
  > I don't know why there's a separate F-Droid repo... You mean why there's a separate "Izzy's F-Droid" repo?[0] [0] https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/info https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/info
amake 6y ago
I've had a merge request open to add an app to F-Droid for 4 months now. It's gotten some attention, and I've addressed all the requests for changes I've gotten. But still, no resolution after 4 months. In contrast it took me a few days at most to publish to Google Play and the App Store, which I did at the same time as I submitted to F-Droid. And I've shipped numerous updates to both since then. So "Switch to F-Droid!" rings a little hollow for me.
- redsolver 6y ago
  Maybe you're interested in SkyDroid (it's decentralized and publishing only takes 10 minutes): http://skydroid.app/ http://skydroid.app/

heavyset_go 6y ago

Unfortunately, Google prevents F-Droid from competing with the Play Store on feature parity, because F-Droid is not allowed to do batch installs, background installs, or auto-upgrading due to limitations put in Android.

ObsoleteNerd 6y ago
But there’s still a core group of people willing to put up with that and use F-Droid, and having the app used by that group of enthusiasts is better than it not being used at all. Considering this app is used a lot on older secondary phones, it’s actually very likely people who want to use it would go to the little bit of extra effort required to use it via F-Droid.
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  I agree, I just wanted to point out Google's anti-competitive behavior regarding app distribution on Android.
chmln 6y ago
Note that you can totally do all of those if you root your device. Highly recommend.
- easyKL 6y ago
  or by having Privileged Extension (for background installs & auto-upgrading) and a personal repo (for batch installs)
  - chmln 6y ago
    Well the privileged extension requires root, which is what I was alluding to in my post :)
    - easyKL 6y ago
      Not necessarilly. One can enjoy Privileged Extension on an unrooted phone by using a custom ROM, LOS for example. edit: typo
    - Youden 6y ago
      The privileged extension does not require root. You _can_ install it with Magisk (which also provides root) but it can also be flashed as a regular flashable ZIP (which just requires an unlocked device). Last (and best) of all, it can be added to an unrooted ROM. RattlesnakeOS[0] for example includes it. [0]: https://github.com/dan-v/rattlesnakeos-stack https://github.com/dan-v/rattlesnakeos-stack
- tetris11 6y ago
  Ah I was wondering what was going on. The newest version of F-Droid updated all my apps with a single one-click update prompt. I remember the pain of previous releases where you had to manually update each and every app.
- dingaling 6y ago
  Rooting is great, where possible. Many cheaper devices though are still unrootable, usually because it hasn't been possible to build a version of TWRP for them.
  - Dylan16807 6y ago
    Many non-cheap ones too, notably Samsung and LG (in the US). If you want rooting and a bunch of storage, your non-cheap options get harshly limited. Looking for such a phone over the last few months, the options for my carrier were Motorola or bust. Which means getting an Edge, which are goofy and expensive and have defective screens. So I gave up and got my first unrootable phone, from Samsung.
vaccinator 6y ago
auto-upgrading is not a good thing and the play store tries to force it on you
input_sh 6y ago
They've recently announced they're planning on making 3rd party store experience better in Android 12 (next year's version). They haven't shared any specifics. https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2020/09/listening-to-developer-feedback-to.html?m=1 https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2020/09/listening-...

LockAndLol 6y ago

It's on "Izzy's F-Droid"[0] although, I don't know why there's a separate F-Droid repo... [0]: https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.mendhak.gpslogger https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/com.mendhak.gpslogg...

app4soft 6y ago
> I don't know why there's a separate F-Droid repo... You mean why there's a separate "Izzy's F-Droid" repo?[0] [0] https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/info https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/info

amake 6y ago

I've had a merge request open to add an app to F-Droid for 4 months now. It's gotten some attention, and I've addressed all the requests for changes I've gotten. But still, no resolution after 4 months. In contrast it took me a few days at most to publish to Google Play and the App Store, which I did at the same time as I submitted to F-Droid. And I've shipped numerous updates to both since then. So "Switch to F-Droid!" rings a little hollow for me.

redsolver 6y ago
Maybe you're interested in SkyDroid (it's decentralized and publishing only takes 10 minutes): http://skydroid.app/ http://skydroid.app/