Are you a fan of open-source software and want to harness its potential on your Android device? In this article, I present a compilation of remarkable open source apps for Android, which I'm using every day. These open source apps often offer an alternative to proprietary software, allowing you to use more transparent apps on your Phone.
App Management
To keep your apps always up-to-date, it's useful to use a managing app, which can update your open-source apps whenever there is an update available.
F-Droid
To start the open-source journey on Android people mostly install F-Droid. It's the classic "store"-like app for open source software. It uses repositories, so the large default library can even get extended. The apps are sorted in categories. F-Droid will notify you, if an update of an app is available.
Web: https://f-droid.org
Download: https://f-droid.org/F-Droid.apk
Obtainium
Obtainium works a bit different. With this app you are able to directly add github projects, to download the apps right after the developer has made a new release build. It also has a search function for different ressources, like github and the default F-Droid repository. I wrote an extra article about Obtainium here.
Project: https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
Download: https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium/releases/
Browser
Cromite
Cromite is a fork of the deprecated Bromite project. The browser is based on chromium and offers advanced features for ad-/tracking blocking and device fingerprinting.
Project: https://github.com/uazo/cromite
Download: https://github.com/uazo/cromite/releases
Customization
ColorBlendr (root)
ColorBlendr allows you to manipulate Android's Material You colors. It works best on a rooted phone, although some customizations are also available via Shizuku on an unrooted device. The standout feature of ColorBlendr is that you have full control over every color nuance. This enables you to create your own color palettes and easily theme your Android and compatible apps.
Project: https://github.com/Mahmud0808/ColorBlendr
Download: https://github.com/Mahmud0808/ColorBlendr/releases
DualWallpaper
With this open-source app, you can set a wallpaper for your lockscreen and your homescreen for light-mode and dark-mode which are changing whether your system is in light-/dark-mode. Easy to use, awesome for a nice light/dark setup.
Project: https://github.com/Yanndroid/DualWallpaper
Download: https://github.com/Yanndroid/DualWallpaper/releases
Iconify (root)
At the moment, Iconify is the most comprehensive customization tool for AOSP-based ROMs and Pixel ROMs. It requires root access to function, and it also utilizes the Xposed API for various tweaks. With Iconify, you can select from different icon sets for your system, customize the status bar icons, adjust the quicksettings layout, and explore numerous other customization options available in this powerful tool.
Project: https://github.com/Mahmud0808/Iconify
Download: https://github.com/Mahmud0808/Iconify/releases
K-9 Mail / Thunderbird
My favorite E-Mail clients since ages. K-9 is developed since 2008. And as Thunderbird is based on K-9 you will get the same solid experience. Both clients also supports PGP in combination with OpenKeyChain.
Web: https://k9mail.app/
Download: https://k9mail.app/download
Thunderbird: https://www.thunderbird.net/de/mobile/
Keyboard
FlorisBoard
FlorisBoard is by far my favorite open-source keyboard for Android. Why? Because it's look is "GBoard like" nice and it's super customizable — from the colors to the corner radius of different buttons, you can basically theme everything. FlorisBoard also provides a theme/plugin store. It's current development status is early beta according the the homepage
That being said, unfortunately, it lacks features like swipe typing and text predictions (at least on my phone), but these features are confirmed to be coming — "once it's done."
I don't need these features, because for me predictions and stuff mostly annoys as I'm regularly typing in different languages at the same time.
Project: https://github.com/florisboard/florisboard
Download: https://github.com/florisboard/florisboard/releases
Music / Audiobooks / Podcasts
Finamp
I'm using Finamp to stream from my home music library (Jellyfin). For me the best player for music. It supports offline usage / downloading items, playlists and more. If you also hosting your own music library with Jellyfin - give it a go!
Project: https://github.com/jmshrv/finamp
Download: https://github.com/jmshrv/finamp/releases
Audiobookshelf
Okay, I really love this app! I was always searching for an app that was truly usable for listening and managing my audiobook collection. It's quite large (I've started digitizing old tapes, vinyl records, the kids' audiobooks, mine, and more...), so it's not easy to organize. At least, that’s what I thought—until I found the Audiobookshelf server.
I’m planning to write a separate article about the server, because this one is about the app itself.
The app is well-structured and does a great job of saving my listening progress. But what I love most is that Audiobookshelf also organizes my podcasts, so I can use the app for those as well.
Project: https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf-app
Download: https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf-app/releases
Password Manager
KeepassDX
I was searching for an offline password manager, because I never want to be involved in a breach situation with all my passwords and important data. Then I discovered KeepassDX which stores the vault in the keepass format just on my device (offline). I'm just using Syncthing to sync the vault to my other devices and also backup it on my NAS. Easy :)
Web: https://www.keepassdx.com/
Download: https://github.com/Kunzisoft/KeePassDX/releases
Social Media
Mastodon (official)
The official Mastodon client replaced a few forks and other clients in the long run for me. The layout is awesome. New features get built in fastly.
Project: https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon-android
Download: https://app.joinmastodon.org/android
Molly
Molly is a fork of the original Signal app. It adds a few security features, like database encryption. Otherwise it's pretty similar to the original Signal app. You can install Molly in different flavors, like Molly-FOSS or Molly-UP. It's definetely worth to check'em out.
Project: https://github.com/mollyim/mollyim-android
Download: https://github.com/mollyim/mollyim-android/releases
Tools
Image Toolbox
Image Toolbox is the ultimate multitool, which I use everytime to edit and convert imagefiles (e.g. png to webp). It offers neat presets to optimize your workflow. So handy!!!
Project: https://github.com/T8RIN/ImageToolbox
Download: https://github.com/T8RIN/ImageToolbox/releases
Syncthing - Fork
Syncthing for Android is EOL, that's why you should switch to Syncthing-Fork instead.
With Syncthing I sync different folders to different devices and they sync them back, if changes happening. For example, I use it to make backups on my NAS or sync the Keepass vault directly to my Laptop and vise versa. It's one of my essentials! Syncthing is available for all platforms.
Project: https://github.com/Catfriend1/syncthing-android
Download: https://github.com/Catfriend1/syncthing-android/releases
Gadgetbridge
Gadgetbridge is a free and open source Android application that allows meto pair and manage my Huawei Watch GT4 without the need for the vendor application. It supports many other watches, bands and gadgets. It makes you independent of the proprietary company apps.
Project: https://codeberg.org/Freeyourgadget/Gadgetbridge
Download: https://gadgetbridge.org/
Connectbot
Connectbot was the first ssh-client for Android. But that doesn't mean it's outdated or something. I'm using it basically everyday to maintain my internet servers or my homelab. It supports custom colorschemes and a handy keybar for custom keys like ctrl, alt or the arrow keys. You can also include your sshkeys into the Android backup routine (if you want to lol)
Project: https://github.com/connectbot/connectbot
Download: https://github.com/connectbot/connectbot/releases
Website: https://connectbot.org
WG Tunnel
As I wrote in this article, I'm using WG Tunnel now for my WireGuard VPN connections. The auto-tunnel feature is just awesome and has enough options for me to replace my WireGuard & Tasker setup I was using before.
Project: https://github.com/wgtunnel/wgtunnel
Download: https://github.com/wgtunnel/wgtunnel/releases/tag/3.9.0
or on F-Droid & Playstore
PrivacyBlur
PrivacyBlur is also a very handy tool, if you want to share pictures where you need to blur/pixelate things to preserve privacy. It has options like the intensity of the blur/pixelate effect as well as a few other handy things. Easy like that.
Project: https://github.com/MATHEMA-GmbH/privacyblur
F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/packages/de.mathema.privacyblur
Weather
Rain
Rain is a cute open-source weather app. It has many features like hourly forecast, display many measurements, daily forecast and a 12days forecast. You can also set up multiple locations if you want to. And the design is cute, modern and makes also use of Android's dynamic color features.
Project: https://github.com/darkmoonight/Rain
Download: https://github.com/darkmoonight/Rain/releases
So there you have it – my top picks for open-source Android apps. Supporting open-source projects not only benefits you but also helps the community grow. Maybe you give them a try.
Also you may want to check back, because as soon as I discover something new, I will add it here.
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