It’s great seeing the Android community increasingly recognizing and recommending FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications! Personally,...
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The original was posted on /r/fossdroid by /u/JustMadeAcc2SayThis on 2024-07-29 00:58:59+00:00.

It’s great seeing the Android community increasingly recognizing and recommending FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications! Personally, I downloaded my first FOSS app about four years ago. As a regular user, I’ve noticed an increase in the popularity of these alternatives, and here’s how I see it compared to apps available on the Play Store.

Play Store

To be fair – these issues don’t apply to every Play Store app or developer, but they’re common:

  • Clunky, buggy, and inefficient
  • Annoying and intrusive advertisements
  • Trackers and loggers collecting your data (I have seen apps with almost 20)
  • Paid apps lacking innovation or unique features, offering little value compared to free alternatives
  • Potentially malicious apps
  • Apps that “go rogue,” starting off normal but later updated with malicious features
  • Apps that do not contain age-restricted content that require users to input their age range to continue usage
  • Required account creation when unnecessary
  • Play Store itself requires an account

FOSS

These characteristics aren’t exclusive to every FOSS app or developer, but they often feature:

  • Minimal, fast, and efficient
  • Minimal or no dependencies, using libraries when necessary (and only external libraries and frameworks when absolutely necessary)
  • Lightweight design (apps strive to constantly minimize size and it’s not uncommon to see an app 100KB in size)
  • Low or basically zero battery impact
  • Minimal or no internet connection required, with option to download data for offline (and no internet permission when unnecessary)
  • Clean, intuitive user interface
  • Material Design 3 (Material You), with dynamic theming (dynamic color) and has a themed icon
  • Option to choose between light or dark themes, or even follow system theme, with high contrast/black theme for AMOLED screens
  • Quick to adopt new Android features (like predictive back gesture)
  • Import and export of data and settings, which might even work across different apps
  • Use of alternative data sources, instances, or APIs (even your own)
  • Different developers can contribute to improve an app or fork it if the original dev stops supporting it
  • No account needed to get apps from repositories like F-Droid or IzzyOnDroid, or from code hosting platforms like GitHub or GitLab

The big difference seems to be in the motivations behind the apps. Many Play Store apps feel like they’re just trying to milk users for money or data, while FOSS apps are created by developers who are genuinely passionate about their work. They often build these apps because they see a need for features that just aren’t out there yet.

I don’t mean to bash any developers or make their apps feel inadequate; there are many creators on either side doing great work. However, we really owe a lot to the open source devs who put in countless hours and face tons of frustrations just to share their creations with us. They’re dedicated to fixing issues, adding useful features, and maintaining their projects. Make sure to support these app developers!