F-Droid is an app store for Android where only open source applications are available for free. It provides an alternative to the proprietary Google Play Store, which is where most Android app distribution currently takes place. Because the Google Play Store is where most users go to find and install apps, this gives Google the power to exercise control over Android app developers. In this blog post, I describe the design, mechanism and results of this control from the perspective of a long-time Android app developer.
F-Droid is a software repository, not an app store. The distinction is subtle but important. A software repository offers a community-curated collection of software packages whereas an app store is just a marketplace for software developers to offer products to end-users. A software repository serves the interests of its community first, whereas an app store is merely a means for developers to sell products to end-users.
F-Droid is more of a marketplace for software developers than it is a set of community curated apps. The requirement for F-Droid software to be open source is just a guideline/rule like the minimum target API level on the Google Play Store. F-Droid is a neutral platform in my observations over the couple of years I have published there, and does not curate its content.
@trevor What are you talking about? If they can’t build it themselves without proprietary stuff, then it doesn’t get published. That’s not a mere “guideline”.
If your app doesn’t meet the target minimum API level on the Google Play Store, then it doesn’t get published. It’s just as much of a guideline, so I don’t think this is really relevant to the point of the article.
I’ll be “that guy”:
F-Droid is a software repository, not an app store. The distinction is subtle but important. A software repository offers a community-curated collection of software packages whereas an app store is just a marketplace for software developers to offer products to end-users. A software repository serves the interests of its community first, whereas an app store is merely a means for developers to sell products to end-users.
F-Droid is more of a marketplace for software developers than it is a set of community curated apps. The requirement for F-Droid software to be open source is just a guideline/rule like the minimum target API level on the Google Play Store. F-Droid is a neutral platform in my observations over the couple of years I have published there, and does not curate its content.
@trevor What are you talking about? If they can’t build it themselves without proprietary stuff, then it doesn’t get published. That’s not a mere “guideline”.
If your app doesn’t meet the target minimum API level on the Google Play Store, then it doesn’t get published. It’s just as much of a guideline, so I don’t think this is really relevant to the point of the article.