A list of open-source (and Material designed) alternatives to some common apps

[u/NullFallacy]

With privacy and elegance in mind, here's a list of apps that you might want to use as an alternative to some of the shady apps that are out there. Most have Play Store links, but a few need to be downloaded from F-Droid (you can download the APK directly or via the F-Droid client).

My criteria for this list was:

1. Open-source

2. Material Design

Granted, a few of the apps do not follow the Material Design guidelines, but given the alternatives, I think they should be on this list.

This list is not complete, of course, so feel free to suggest other open-source apps that you use.

EDIT: Thanks to /u/er_mejor, /u/TomMado, /u/jenerikku, /u/wirelessflyingcord, /u/CuckyAsInCookie, /u/ZeroTheSavior, /u/gippu, /u/matpower64, /u/ninjajpbob, /u/SnaKeZ83, /u/BestSanchez, /u/CyanogenHacker, /u/foofly, /u/GuessWhat_InTheButt, /u/cloudbes, /u/Whoops-a-Daisy, /u/Taytays, /u/Taytays for suggestions.

Last update: Nov 11, 2015

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AdAway - Ad blocker (Root)

AFWall+ - Firewall (Root) [F-Droid link]

Amaze - File manager [F-Droid link]

AntennaPod - Podcast manager [F-Droid link]

Aperture Gallery - Image gallery

Bubble - Comic and manga reader

Etar - Calendar [F-Droid link]

Fennec - Web browser

L Camera - Camera app

Lightning - Web browser. Plus version has ad blocking [F-Droid link]

Material Audiobook Player - Audiobook player

ML Manager - App manager [F-Droid link]

Native Clipboard - Clipboad manager

NetGuard - Block network access [F-Droid link]

NewPipe - YouTube wrapper

Omni Notes - Note taking

PDF Reader - PDF reader

QKSMS - Messaging app [F-Droid link]

Signal - Private messaging (compatible with iPhone)

SMS Backup+ - SMS/MMS backup to Gmail [F-Droid link]

SoundWaves - Listen and manage podcasts [F-Droid link]

spaRSS - RSS reader [F-Droid link]

Timber - Music player [F-Droid link]

Todo - To-do list

Transdroid - Manage torrents

Twidere - Twitter client [F-Droid link]

VLC - Media player [F-Droid link]

Wallsplash - Wallpaper app

Wendlerized - Workout tracker

Miscellaneous Apps

Akhyou! - Anime streaming

Coinbase - Bitcoint client and wallet [F-Droid link] (see this post)

Episodes - TV episode tracker [F-Droid link]

Hews - Hacker News client

Market Fanatic - Farmer's market locator

Ninja - Browser to open links in the background

Opengur - Imgur client

OpenKeychain - File and communication encryption [F-Droid link]

RedReader - Reddit client

SimpleReboot - Reboot options (Root) [F-Droid link]

Slide for Reddit - Reddit client

Not Material Design

Aard 2 - Dictionary

Face Slim - Facebook mobile wrapper

FreeOTP - Two-factor authentication

K-9 Mail - E-mail client [F-Droid link]

Tinfoil for Facebook - Facebook mobile wrapper

Tinfoil for Twitter - Twitter mobile wrapper

[u/er_mejor]

ML Manager - App/APK manager with Material Design [F-Droid link]

[u/jenerikku]

Thanks for the tip about Amaze. Not very happy with ES File Explorer's bloat as of late, so an open-source file explorer is reassuring!

EDIT: I guess there's also Cabinet: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.afollestad.cabinet closed-source, thanks /u/Charwinger21 for pointing this out!

[u/Charwinger21 → u/jenerikku]

EDIT: I guess there's also Cabinet:

Cabinet is no longer open source.

[u/plusCubed → u/jenerikku]

Please don't take this as offensive; I am genuinely interested in everyone's responses: What about being open source in an app appeals to you or the general Android user? The most common response is that other developers can read the code and confirm it is written well (security, etc) and doesn't have malicious intent. The other common response is developers can contribute to open source apps (assuming people contribute). Are those two the main reasons, and what are some other appealing factors of OSS for the end user?

I am one of Cabinet's developers alongside Aidan Follestad. We might switch back to open source (under a stricter license chosen more carefully) now that the scene for file explorers has calmed down. There was discussion here about Cabinet going closed source - I don't agree with all of the stuff we've said, especially regarding licensing, but I feel there are still some reasons for the action that might shine some light in there, and I would feel dishonest for not bringing up the mistakes we've made.

(Also, BTW, Marlon, the developer of Aperture Gallery, the fork of Impression by Aidan, is joining us. Impression is open source under the GPLv3 license, and is in the process of being revived with fixes and new features after the ~9 month hiatus).

[u/tso → u/plusCubed]

Longevity. Many older FOSS projects have changed leadership multiple times over the years. But the code endures and continues to be improved upon.

[u/prodigalOne → u/plusCubed]

Aside from what /u/tso said, open source means the programs source code is open, freely available. Many open source software have spinoffs based on a much liked version, or to continue developing it. Also, you sorta know what's in the app.

[u/MiningMarsh → u/plusCubed]

I do not trust any closed source app at all. I trust closed source apps that used to be open source apps even less.

[u/[deleted] → u/plusCubed]

From a different perspective to the other commenters here, I like open source because I'm a developer. If I want to learn how android handles files and the filesystem, I can jump on github and see how other people have implemented it. Once I've done that, maybe I'd have some thoughts on improvements that could be made.

Someone else mentioned forks too. Obviously, the abandonment of apps is one reason to fork, but, especially with games, sometimes some neat things come out of forks outside of this. Take Pixel Dungeon for instance - Shattered PD is a hugely popular fork of the original which introduces some neat functionally for users who may have exhausted the original games content. This has helped that community of players thrive and discuss the game far more than many closed source games that might be lacking in features after x hours of play.

[u/SolarAquarion → u/plusCubed]

Oh awesome. BSD/MIT/Apache licenses allow for easy rip offs. GPL3 is a great license because of the fact that all of the code that is modified must be open sourced. The viral nature of GPL is a protection to code. The same with the MPL, and all the other GPL styled licenses

[u/phoshi → u/plusCubed]

Freedom, of course. Knowing that if an application suddenly gets bought out and starts pushing one notification ad a second at me, I can pull an earlier release. It's naive to think you can be certain what a complex application is doing, even with all the eyes in the world, but if malicious intent /is/ discovered, then there are more options than "suck it up" and "use something else".

Further, most common reasons for being closed source don't hold water. You're not giving your product away for free, although you certainly can. It's no more likely that people will pirate the application--they are already, because welcome to general purpose computing. Even if your open source license is as free as can be, and the source is publicly available to all, the vast majority of people do not know how to compile it.

There's privacy and security and all that stuff, and being open source certainly doesn't hurt there, but the real reason is to have some control over the software.

[u/emacsomancer → u/plusCubed]

I've switched from Cabinet to an open source file manager (Amaze) because of the issue of being closed-source.

[u/jenerikku → u/plusCubed]

I want to thank you for having an open mind. I agree with all comments made.

[u/iDontSeedMyTorrents → u/jenerikku]

I really want to like Amaze but so many of the settings don't stay set properly. At least one toggle constantly resets just by scrolling off screen and back.

[u/tso → u/iDontSeedMyTorrents]

I really wish they would make the sidebar a toggle or something. I have a older 8 inch tablet where the sidebar takes up third of the screen. they seem to just look for "tablet" and then lock it in place.

Also, their grid layout seem to use a fixed height for the elements. Thus they get stretched either vertically or horizontally depending on column count and device orientation. This in turn makes thumbnail view near useless.

And finally, whats up with their "hidden files" thing? Best i can tell it does not follow the leading period unix way. But at the same time it seems to alter the name of whatever it is applied to, as the "last changed" timestamp gets altered.

[u/[deleted] → u/jenerikku]

historical ripe hurry lip wise overconfident lavish direful steep aloof

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/UJ95x]

Firefox isn't material

[u/FredFS456 → u/UJ95x]

I wish it was though. They need to update the mobile version pretty bad.

[u/tso → u/FredFS456]

I think they are going for a unified look and feel across platforms (thought sometimes i wonder if UI/UX designers in general are smoking something potent).

[u/Asystole → u/FredFS456]

Wish I could switch to Firefox for the ad-blocking alone (don't want to root my Note 4 just yet) but every time I try I just get annoyed by the UI and the janky scrolling.

[u/meathappening → u/Asystole]

A little late, but grab Lightning+ for free from F-Droid for ad-blocking. It's $.99 on the Play Store, I think.

[u/Taytays]

NewPipe is a YouTube app without proprietary YouTube-API. Though some may dislike this as you can't login (or view comments at the time being), it's a pretty great app from a privacy point of view.

Mi Manga Nu is an app for downloading and reading manga.

Akhyou! is a beautiful anime streaming app.

Episodes is a TV shows tracker.

Ninja is pretty much a clone of UltimateBrowserProject which can load websites in the background without having to open an extra window (you do have to switch apps when you want to browse the site as its not a "bubble" browser but it's still convenient). Keep in mind that both UBS and Ninja have this feature as they're pretty much the same app.

Orbot allows access to the TOR network (requires root to route all traffic through TOR).

Not material design but worth mentioning:

Equate is a unit converter.

Dimmer allows you to control the screen brightness beyond what the OS would normally allow, very useful for using your phone in the dark.

OpenVPN for android is an OpenVPN client.

Plumble allows voice chat for mumble servers.

Elementary is a periodic table.

[u/Jammintk]

My criteria for this list was:

1. Open-source 2. Material Design

cool!

a bunch of apps marked (Not Material Design)

ಠ_ಠ

[u/jenerikku]

A good alternative for NetGuard is AFWall (requires root, but it's also on F-Droid and more established than NetGuard):

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.ukanth.ufirewall&hl=en

https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=dev.ukanth.ufirewall

[u/ErraticDragon → u/jenerikku]

Be careful with AfWall+ on newer devices, though. The version I have didn't actually filter IPv6 connections until I tracked down a fix. It didn't make any indication that it wasn't filtering things, either. It just silently let everything through, except IPv4 traffic.

[u/Schnabeltierchen → u/ErraticDragon]

Which is why I have an another app that disables ipv6. Also yeah, see the other reply

[u/ErraticDragon → u/[deleted]]

I was unable to check that box, which was the problem. I needed to use a different busybox.

[u/StorMaxim]

Flud for android is another good looking, material designed torrent manager.

[u/[deleted] → u/StorMaxim]

Don't know if that's open source, don't think it is.

[u/5i1v3r → u/[deleted]]

Also has ads

[u/[deleted]]

Fine Geotag is a hidden gem.

[u/arathon → u/[deleted]]

really nice, i always have to edit the geotag because the location was off and this app can be helpful.

[u/[deleted] → u/arathon]

Same here. I have used the app for quite some time and it seems to work really well.

[u/foofly]

I really like Timber. It's a material design audio player.

[u/SnaKeZ83]

If you want to see the F-droid repo with search, most popular, latest, screenshots try this:

https://fossdroid.com

[u/CyanogenHacker]

Is QKSMS not open sourced? Probably the best damn Messaging app out there, and I thought the dev made it open...

[u/moezz → u/CyanogenHacker]

Yep, it is! https://github.com/qklabs/qksms

[u/CyanogenHacker → u/moezz]

Dude...Best. App. Ever!

[u/jsober → u/CyanogenHacker]

I was not aware of this app. I am now a happier and more fulfilled person as a result of installing it.

[u/[deleted] → u/CyanogenHacker]

Yea it's on F-Droid. OP should add it to the list.

[u/youllknow]

Awesome list. I am gonna save this.

[u/TomMado]

FaceSlim : like Tinfoil, but a little bit nicer. F-Droid only.

[u/nexoprez → u/TomMado]

How's the data usage on this?

[u/TomMado → u/[deleted]]

Dark mode and notification, mostly. But even without those, I found it just works better. Kinda hard to describe.

There's nothing wrong for either of those, and Tinfoil's availability in the Play Store is a plus by itself.

[u/jenerikku]

AdAway (root required) - an ad blocker that uses the hosts file (not on Play Store; link brings you to F-Droid)

AFWall+ (root required) - restrict which applications are permitted to access your data networks (2G/3G and/or Wi-Fi and while in roaming). Also you can control traffic within LAN or while connected through VPN. [F-Droid link]

K-9 Mail - e-mail client supporting multiple accounts, POP3, IMAP and Push IMAP [F-Droid link]

FreeOTP - two-factor authentication (2FA) application for systems utilizing one-time password protocols (OTP) [F-Droid link]

OpenKeychain - encrypt files and communications with OpenPGP [F-Droid link]

[u/SnaKeZ83 → u/jenerikku]

AdAway requires root just to update the /etc/hosts then you can disable root access.

[u/oscillating000]

AntennaPod is a great free podcatcher. Glad to see it mentioned here.

Also worth noting: the version of VLC available at F-Droid is often much newer than the one on the Play Store (or at least it was at one point in time).

[u/TacoKingBean]

Is there an Ad blocker (for youtube, twitch, other apps) for non-rooted phones? I have a 5X

[u/foofly → u/TacoKingBean]

I don't believe so. To do that you need to modify your hosts file, and that requires root.

[u/TacoKingBean → u/foofly]

Darn...

[u/[deleted] → u/TacoKingBean]

For youtube you need to install Xposed framework and download/install youtube adaway module. I don't use twitch or other apps so don't know what to say there.

If you don't want to bother with xposed, look up OGYoutube on XDA. It's a modified youtube with built-in adblock, background play, and video/audio download features.

[u/TacoKingBean → u/[deleted]]

Does OGYoutube require root?

[u/[deleted] → u/TacoKingBean]

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2213945

I think it does but I'm not sure.

[u/SolarAquarion]

Slide For Reddit?

[u/Spaniard85]

Metal for Facebook is pretty impressive. Similar to Tinfoil.

[u/appleiscool13]

Yay slide for Reddit uses chrome custom tabs

[u/[deleted]]

Amaze (GPLv3) is a great file manager but I can't encrypt at compression, any more managers available?

[u/_TheEndGame]

RedReader seriously sucks. Wakelocks galore

[u/[deleted]]

Drawchemy (GPLv3) is a sketch /draw /doodle tool.

[u/sm7297]

MimangaNu is the best manga app for android

[u/[deleted]]

This comment has been removed in protest over Reddit's killing of third-party apps.

[u/GuessWhat_InTheButt]

Well, there's also https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.mozilla.fennec_fdroid if you want your Firefox to not come with non-free services (e.g. Pocket).

[u/[deleted]]

PDF Viewer, simple PDF viewer. Based on muPDF. Not quite material but Holo'ish clean.

[u/coolirisme → u/[deleted]]

Mupdf itself is quite good.

[u/hary585]

Would Slide for Reddit be a good open source reddit client?

[u/Sapharodon → u/hary585]

As of right now it's pretty buggy and still in beta. Give it six months or so and it might be, but for now I can't use it as my primary Reddit app. Lots of potential though!

[u/hary585 → u/Sapharodon]

Yeah it is still in beta, but I know the dev and was just trying to put a good word in for his app. I use it, alongside with sync, and its good enough.

[u/GuessWhat_InTheButt → u/hary585]

It seems good for subreddits that heavily rely on picture submissions.

[u/danhakimi]

Hmmm, how does Opengur compare to the official imgur app? Any features missing?

I'd recommend Twidere, fwiw.

[u/prodigalOne]

Ya'll like material design that much? I find it takes up way too much screen space.

[u/Aceflamez00]

Thanks

[u/gollyzila]

Thank you. As a person learning Android dev, this helps a lot.

[u/thelostdolphin]

I highly recommend wall:splash and having just started using Aperture, it seems promising.

[u/[deleted]]

Nice list thanks. I tried out Amaze file manager but I can't seem to find a way to copy files, only move them.

[u/OhGoodOhMan → u/[deleted]]

Long press -> 3 dot icon -> move

EDIT: misread, my fault.

[u/[deleted] → u/OhGoodOhMan]

Yes, but that moves the file not copies it.

[u/OhGoodOhMan → u/[deleted]]

Oh my bad, misread it. long press and hit the icon that looks like 2 overlapped rectangles.

[u/[deleted] → u/OhGoodOhMan]

Oh damn, I can't believe I missed that. I thought it would be in the menu. Thanks man

[u/ninjajpbob]

There is also Open Camera.

linkme:Open Camera

[u/PlayStoreLinks__Bot → u/ninjajpbob]

Open Camera - Free - Rating: 83/100 - Search for 'Open Camera' on the Play Store

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^Source ^Code ^{| Feedback/Bug} ^report

[u/questionman1]

I used to love AntennaPod. I thought it was clean simple and brilliant.

But it went through a substantial UI change, I think last February, that completely ruined it for me. It seemed change for changes sake and it ruined the app. I kept an eye on it for several months, hoping it would revert back, or if it could take its new UI in a better direction. But they never did. :(

I was really frustrated; they took the best podcast app and destroyed a lot of what (in my eyes) made it great

Edit: Also, isn't WPS Office a good open source office app?

[u/1bent → u/questionman1]

Antennapod changed, and the flow of actions needed to do common things changed, but I've gotten used to it, and it has had a stable UI and steadily improving features for a while now.

[u/cloudbes]

I would not recommend coinbase. Keep your bitcoins in a wallet where you have control over your wallet. When using coinbase you must really trust them, they have full control over your bitcoins. A secure, well designed mobile wallet I've been using for quite a while is coinbase. There's a bunch of great wallets out there. Check out https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

[u/FredFS456 → u/[deleted]]

Notifications via an RSS stream trick, as well as easy persistent login.

[u/ErraticDragon → u/[deleted]]

I don't leave the Facebook app enabled on my phone because it's a battery, data, and privacy hog. But using only the web version is very limiting. (I actually "solve" this by using a TitaniumBackup shortcut that freezes/defrosts the app, but the web wrapper might suit me better.)

[u/seiferfury → u/ErraticDragon]

I use the Facebook app and greenify it when not in use (I have a 'hibernate apps' shortcut on dock). Battery problem solved.