This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/fossdroid by /u/ubertr0_n on 2023-12-31 21:23:39.


Now that 2023 is (almost) over, it’s time to look back at what a remarkable year it was. 2023 was the thirteenth year of F-Droid’s existence, and it saw a lot of growth and adoption of the F-Droid service. Based on this information, mensual donations were steady. More people than ever were talking about F-Droid. All of this happened despite pernicious disinformation from a particular group.

This beautiful subreddit also saw steady growth in 2023. We are at the 40,000-user mark, and we are a “top five percent” subreddit.

A lot of lovely developers of all genders contributed new apps and new code to the Movement. A lot of translators from 🇮🇳 India, 🇨🇿 Czechia, 🇧🇴 Bolivia, 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇳🇮 Nicaragua, 🇳🇬 Nigeria, 🇹🇴 Tonga, and elsewhere contributed new strings to thousands of freedomware projects. A lot of users donated their time and money to the FOSS community.

OsmAnd~ celebrated its twelve-year anniversary, while Tasks.org celebrated nine years of awesomeness. AntennaPod achieved the undenary 1️⃣1️⃣ milestone. AndBible also celebrated eleven years of devotion. We saw the débuts of more than three hundred new apps on default F-Droid alone. One of those is Bluemoon, a beautiful app for those of us with catamenial cycles.

It’s time for the awards!

There are eleven (ten, actually) categories. Sans one of them, every category has one awardee. Mention who, what content, what event, or what software you think should be a recipient in all the categories. I will read every single comment. At some hebdomadal point, I will announce the winners.

Let’s go!


  • Post Of The Year

Which submission on this subreddit was the best in 2023? In terms of total votes, these ten were top in 2023:

APIcalypse one.

Forsaken principles.

PairDrop promulgation.

NewPipe rewrite.

Monitory instruction.

APIcalypse two.

Arcticons celebration.

APIcalypse three.

Rules enforcement.

AntennaPod milestone.

Which one did you like the most? Is there some other post you liked immensely that didn’t make the top ten?

  • User Of The Year

Which user was the most helpful in 2023? Who was always recommending FOSS (especially relatively unknown apps) in the Application Request threads? Who was always assisting others in the Application Support threads? Who was always blessing others with goodies in the Application Suggestion and the Application Release threads?

The winner of this category will receive a custom user flair, the first of its kind on this subreddit.

  • Developer Of The Year

Oh, our Android FOSS devs. Where would we be without them? They were amazing in 2023. Very few of them fell by the wayside, but the great majority were spectacular. A lot of new queens and kings joined our ranks in 2023.

Who should win in this category? Who was the developer who made you smile the most in 2023? If you know the name of the developer, you should add it under this category. If you don’t know their name, you could add the F-Droid/IzzyOnDroid/source code link of their project. If s/he is here on Reddit, blow their trumpet! They deserve so much love (and donations)!

You may also add the developers and maintainers of indispensable material/code like hosts lists or FOSS libraries, frameworks, and game engines.

The winner of this category — if they are a user of this subreddit — will receive a custom user flair.

  • Moderator Of The Year

Technically, this category isn’t valid. Our adjuvant bots are assiduously amazing, but they don’t count as actual moderators. Algorithms have their limitations. I will make an important announcement concerning the moderation team of this subreddit at some point in 2024.

  • Most Seismic Event In The Freedomware Community

What happened that shook the very foundation of everything FOSS (for Android) in 2023?

What happened that shook the very foundation of this subreddit in 2023?

  • Worst Proprietary App Of The Year

For those of you who — for some reason or another — still use proprietary software, or for those of us who study the Machiavellian nefariousness on Google’s Store and elsewhere, which app was particularly evil to you? I’m referring to bastardware, not just spyware. I’m referring to those proprietary apps with six or more ichneutic libraries/SDKs, and six or more otiose permissions. An example is this “thing”.

If you must add a link to the odious software, make sure it is an Exodus entry. Anything else will be promptly removed.

  • Altruist Of The Year

The recipient of this category’s award should be (tangentially) related to Android software. They could be an individual or an organization/corporation. This person or organization should have contributed greatly to the FOSS philosophy during the course of 2023. They should have done so without ulterior motives, this being proven by a record of altruistic consistency over a couple of years. New (s)heroes are welcome.

If it is an individual, s/he shall receive the Good Girl Gina or Good Guy Greg award. If it is an organization or a corporation, it shall collect the FSF Award.

  • Douchebag Of The Year

The recipient of this category’s award should be (tangentially) related to Android software. They could be an individual or an organization/corporation. This douchebag should have been a total imp in 2023. Exploiting (fatuous) users via tracking libraries, unnecessary permissions, tracking components, and surveillant adware; collusion with intelligence agencies; manipulating servile, evil artificial intelligence entities to assist in surveillance capitalism; neglecting user input; the use of DRM mechanisms to cripple users; neglecting the four essential freedoms; and the use of dissimulative “source available” licenses are just some of the ways of being an imp.

If it is an individual, s/he shall receive the Scumbag Sheila or Scumbag Steve award. If it is an organization or a corporation, it shall collect the Alphabet Award.

  • Top Five Freedomware Of The Year

What are your top five freedomware (for Android) for 2023? Don’t be tempted to vote for only the well-known ones. There were hundreds of entrants to the FOSS scene in 2023. Apps like Sayboard, Audile, and the already popular Image Toolbox were really necessary additions.

After mentioning the apps, you may include their F-Droid/IzzyOnDroid/source code links. Remember that an app being on GitHub doesn’t make it FOSS (or even open source). Freedomware most likely constitute less than ten percent of all software on GitHub. The rest are proprietary (spyware).

  • Freedomware Of The Year

The big one! What is your best freedomware (for Android) for 2023? What is that FOSS beauty that you use every single day? That app that has prompt updates (even on default F-Droid)? That app with an attentive maintainer? That FOSS with an amazing UI? That app with a sweet UX? That app with only necessary permissions and components? That app with a relatively low footprint? That freedomware with no sort of tracking whatsoever (including opt-in surveillance via “open source” libraries such as Sentry, Matomo, and ACRA)? That app that doesn’t depend on proprietary APIs/services?

After mentioning the app, you may include its F-Droid/IzzyOnDroid/source code link. Remember that an app being on GitHub doesn’t make it FOSS (or even open source).


Remember, I will be reading all the comments.

Have a tremendous 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣! 🎆