F for Freedom

Finding open source apps in the Google Play Store is like trawling the sea floor with a sieve: You can occasionally find something useful, but it requires perseverance and time. However, if you want to supplement or replace proprietary apps on your Android device with open source software, you'll appreciate F-Droid [1], a combination of dedicated client app and software repository featuring open source apps for the Android platform.

Although F-Droid is often called an alternative to the Google Play Store, it isn't exactly a drop-in replacement. Of course, if you're using a device without the Google Play Store on it, F-Droid is probably your only option for installing third-party apps (besides side-loading APK packages manually). In reality, F-Droid serves better as a complementary repository of open source software. The F-Droid client app does a few things better than its Google counterpart. F-Droid gives you access to previous versions of an application, along with its development and unstable releases. The availability to access older versions can be particularly useful for owners of obsolete but still usable Android devices. The client also offers direct links to the app's website, source code, and issue tracker.

F-Droid is not without its shortcomings, however. The web interface provides only rudimentary functionality for finding and discovering apps (Figure 1). App descriptions in the F-Droid client interface lack screenshots, and there is no way to add ratings and comments. Additionally, the currently available selection of apps in F-Droid is nowhere near the embarrassment of riches available in the Google Play Store.

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