I think thre F-Droid store is by far the best app store. I would like this for iOS too. Also, so I could permanently install a little iOS app I once developed.
Let's hope that the EU gets this right.
Let's hope that the EU gets this right.
It's amazing to see how fast and efficient software can be when it's not spending most of its energy on datamining the user or showing ads.
Apple currently misses out on such an ecosystem because even to release a free app, devs have to pay.
On F-Droid there's a ton of pearls offered for free or some voluntary Patreon or ko-fi support.
Their build schedule is unnecessarily complex + slow. Can be waiting for weeks for app updates. The stock client is quite frankly, crap - slow and outdated. It's security is sub-par. If you're looking for secure app updates the Play Store is the way to go (if you're willing to compromise your privacy). They also use remote signing for apks (so, F-Droid builds then signs the APKs on behalf of developers).
One thing I'm hoping will pick up speed is Accrescent - https://accrescent.app/. It is in a very very alpha stage at the moment and only includes a handful of apps. It's built with security in mind from the get-go and doesn't compromise just to support lower, outdated/insecure android versions. I hope for it to be the modern standard for alternative app stores.