Android Enthusiasts

9:17 AM

@Izzy: In one of your recent answers , you had mentioned making a guide on magisk.

Looking forward to it :)

2 hours later…

11:13 AM

@beeshyams That might take a little longer. I'd first need time for that. For those capable of reading German: there's a chapter on it in the latest version of my eBook Android Toolbox.

@uzzy; Thanks I'll pass German :)

1 hour later…

12:22 PM

@izzy: Sorry for typo in previous

1:05 PM

@beeshyams Huh? What typos?

Uzyy for @izzy

2 hours later…

2:39 PM

@beeshyams Didn't notice that. If it was a @ping to @Uzyy, it didn't reach me :)

7 hours later…

9:13 PM

Hi all, I am buying my little brother his first smartphone ever for Christmas. He's not very much into tech yet, and I'm compiling some must-reads about Android for him.
I was wondering if you could please check this question out and offer some input.
Thanks.
https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/187431/how-would-you-avoid-potentially-dangerous-apps-in-the-play-store

9:55 PM

@easytoremember OK, check my rant there :)

10:11 PM

@Izzy Wow, great answer. Thank you very much for the thorough information you provided, and for the app listings you maintain!

@easytoremember You're welcome! Spread the word :)

Besides, not included with my answer: I run an F-Droid repo myself ("jumping point" for those apps not (yet) meeting the inclusion criteria).

If you want to peek in: apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid

Oh, and of course I also support F-Droid itself, sometimes even with minor code contributions :)

As my repo is the next biggest after the main repo, I'm also welcome there for tests #D

Nice, thank you for your F-Droid contributions. I personally use F-Droid as my go-to source

Good choice!

As you're most likely not just a beginner: be welcome to add my repo to your sources :)

Btw, would it be possible to download your app list's package names in one single file?
That way I could make a simple filter for my custom ROM

Gives you 350+ apps (some cross-overs as some apps meanwhile managed to get into main – so it's rather around 300 apps added to what you find in main).

@easytoremember Which lists? My repo, or the app listings?

10:17 PM

Both. The more the better :)

For the repo, you could just pick the index.xml (or index-v1.json)

For the other one: nope. I won't send out dumps of my database. Would be outaged the moment you've downloaded them anyway (gets auto-updated in the background).

Runs on my own CMS, so I have all the freedom I want :)

Gotcha, thanks anyways

As for the repo list: simply use the F-Droid client to fetch it along the others :)

@easytoremember Anytime! Did I mention the search function for my app listings? You can use it to filter apps by category and permissions :)

It's very nice indeed

It's also great that you added "Alternative Markets" I'm checking those out right now as well.

@easytoremember Careful with Aptoide: 1) stick to their main repo (called "Apps"), that one is manually curated; 2) check app age, sometimes they have old versions; 3) read: How safe is it to use Aptoide?

10:29 PM

I also had a similar issue at work, where the company I work for is planning to release a smartphone preloaded with its own videogames and dedicated apps.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47457564/forward-locking-and-protecting-apks-in-custom-rom
I'll leave the question here with no expectations of altruism from anybody here just in case you have ideas of how to avoid kiosk-locking our device.

One of the approaches I was thinking of was using an app list like yours, F-Droid, ApkMirror, etc. to at least give the user the chance to download some apps outside of the included ones.

Note: the accepted answer is from Paulo Trezentos, one of the Aptoide founders.

@Izzy Thanks for the Aptoide warning.

@easytoremember Yes, I'd recommend F-Droid for that. That's also what some custom ROMs do meanwhile (e.g. the microG builds of LOS, or Replicant).

@easytoremember Ah, not really a warning – just a caution or a "how to deal with it". I'd be very careful with the user-provided repos. One never knows who might lurk behind such a thing :)

Btw, since you work closely with F-Droid. I have heard that usually, intentional bugs and vulnerabilities are introduced in software to avoid detection from the distributors of this software.

By malware creators that is

Have you encountered such a situation?

No. But I find that unlikely, as all that code is open. Devs who managed to bring their apps into that repo have no such interest.

Mistakes can happen of course.

But that's one reason why "binary blobs" are not permitted at F-Droid. All is build from source.

10:41 PM

When I first made a very simple addon for Firefox, I was shocked by how much they scrutinized my code before letting me publish it.

"binary blobs" haha. I am amused by Telegram's "open-source" client which is outdated and contains binary blobs

@easytoremember good you put those quote marks. If something's really open source there should be no such blobs.