Android phones, like this Nexus S running Replicant, allow installation of apps from the Play Store, F-Droid store or directly via APK files.
Android phones, like this Nexus S running Replicant, allow installation of apps from the Play Store, F-Droid store or directly via APK files.

This is a list of notable applications (apps) that run on the Android platform which meet guidelines for free software and open-source software.

See also: Ad blocking
Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Aptoide Google Play F-Droid
AdAway Ad blocker No No Yes[1] GNU GPLv3 L16 / 4.1+
Adblock Plus Ad blocker Yes Yes No GNU GPLv3 L7 / 2.1+
  1. ^ The API column is used to describe which versions of Android each individual application is compatible with. If API column shows "5.1" then the application is compatible with Android version 5.1 or higher; "L7" or "L14" mean specific Android API versions.

Web browsers

Main category: Free web browsers
Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Aptoide F-Droid Google Play
Brave Chromium-based web browser with emphasis on tracking prevention, and reforming ad-blocking[1] Yes No[2] Yes MPL 4.1+ Has in-built ad blocker
Chromium Primary code-base of Chrome; uses Blink and V8 engines No No No BSD 4.4+
DuckDuckGo Chromium-based; focuses on privacy & tracking protection Yes Yes Yes Apache 2.0 5.0+ [3]
Fennec F-Droid Rebadged fork of Firefox; aims to remove proprietary components No Yes [2] No MPL 4.1+ Same with Firefox for Android, but some proprietary code removed.
Firefox for Android Customizable with add-ons; uses Gecko engine Yes No[4] Yes MPL 4.1+ Removed from F-Droid
Firefox Focus/Klar Privacy centered browser; uses Gecko engine (GeckoView) Yes No Yes MPL 5.0+
GNU IceCat GNU Project version of Firefox No No [3] Archived 2018-03-24 at the Wayback Machine No MPL 4.0.3+ IceCat contains features not found in mainline Firefox release and eschews all usage of proprietary components.
Tor Browser Mozilla-based browser enhanced for use on Tor anonymity network Yes[4] Yes[5] Yes MPL 4.0.3+ Available in F-Droid by activating the extra Guardian Project repository[6]

Office Suites and synchronisation

Main category: Free communication software
Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
Collabora Online Office suite with Microsoft Office compatible word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and vector graphics editor Yes Yes [5] MPLv2 5.0+ An enterprise-ready edition of LibreOffice
ownCloud Client for synchronization server Yes Yes [6] GPLv2 4.0+
Nextcloud Client for synchronization server Yes Yes [7] GPLv2 4.0+

Communication

Main category: Free communication software
Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
ConnectBot SSH, telnet, and terminal emulator Yes Yes [8] Apache 2.0 1.5+
CSipSimple SIP & VoIP client No No GPLv3 1.6+
Jitsi Videoconferencing and instant messenger Yes Yes[9] LGPLv2.1 ?
K-9 Mail Advanced email client Yes
 Yes [10]
Apache 2.0 2.2+ Supports OpenPGP integration with OpenKeychain
Linphone Video SIP/VoIP client Yes
 Yes [11] GPLv2 2.2+
Element Federated instant messaging and group chat client using the Matrix protocol. Yes Yes [12] Apache 2.0 4.1+
Sipdroid SIP/VoIP client Yes
 Yes [13] GPLv3 2.0+ works on 1.5
WordPress Official WordPress client Yes No GPLv2 2.3+
Zulip groupware and chat Yes No Apache 2.0[7] 5.0+ Also available for iOS

Privacy/security focused

Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
APG OpenPGP and key management Yes
 Yes[14] Apache 2.0 1.5+ OpenKeychain available as more up-to-date alternative
Briar Peer-to-peer encrypted messaging and forums Yes Yes[8] GPLv3 4.0+
Conversations Federated encrypted instant messaging and group chat Yes Yes [15] GPLv3 4.0+ Interoperable with any Jabber/XMPP clients. End-to-end encryption using OMEMO, OpenPGP (and OTR for versions under 2.0 and the legacy version).
Element (formerly Riot) Decentralised, encrypted chat & collaboration powered by Matrix Yes Yes [16] Apache 2.0 5.0+
I2P Anonymizing network layer Yes Yes [17] Apache 2.0 2.3+ I2P also maintain their own F-Droid repo.[9]
IVPN Privacy-focused VPN service Yes Yes [18] GPLv3 ? Also available on Windows, macOS, and iOS; and undergo independent security audit.[10][11]
Jami Softphone and messenger utilizing DHT and strong cryptography Yes[12] Yes[13] GPLv3 ? Formerly named "GNU Ring" and "SFLphone".
Lantern Peer-to-peer internet censorship circumvention Yes No Apache 2.0 ?
Mozilla VPN VPN service Yes ? MPL 2.0 ? Also available for iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows
Mullvad Privacy-focused VPN service Yes Yes [19] GPLv3 ? Also available for Windows, macOS, and iOS
OpenKeychain OpenPGP and key management Yes Yes [20] GPLv3 ? Integrates with K-9 Mail.
Orbot Client and proxy for Tor anonymity network Yes Yes BSD/GPL 1.6+
Psiphon Client for internet censorship circumvention system Yes No GPLv3 ?
ProtonMail Client end-to-end encrypted email service Yes No GPLv3 ? Open source apps on WEB app, Android, IOS, Bridge app.
ProtonVPN Privacy-focused VPN service Yes Yes [21] GPLv3 ? Also available for Windows, macOS, and iOS; and undergo independent security audits.[14]
Signal Encrypted instant messaging, voice and video calling Yes No GPLv3 2.3+ Also available for iOS. The Android client is a merger of the former TextSecure and RedPhone apps.[15]
Surespot Encrypted instant messaging Yes No [22] GPLv3+ ? Also available for iOS. F-Droid build is based on forked repo.
Telegram Client for cloud-based messaging platform Yes Yes [23] GPLv2 2.2+ Also available for iOS. F-Droid build is based on forked repo.[16] Server uses closed source software.
Tox Peer-to-peer instant-messaging Yes Yes [24] GPLv3+ 4.0+ Alpha release
Tutanota Client for end-to-end encrypted email service Yes Yes [25] GPLv3[17] ?
Wire Encrypted instant messaging, voice and video calling Yes Yes GPLv3 ? Also available for iOS, Windows and OS X. Server uses closed source software.

Emulators

Main category: Free emulation software
Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
Citra Nintendo 3DS Yes No GPLv2 ?
Dolphin Nintendo GameCube and Wii Yes Yes GPLv2+ 5.0+ Requires device with support for arm64-v8a ABI and OpenGL ES 3 or above
Mupen64Plus Nintendo 64 emulator Yes Yes GPLv3 2.0+ Unofficial port as Mupen64 Plus AE.
openMSX MSX Yes Yes GPLv2+ ?
PPSSPP PlayStation Portable Yes Yes GPLv2+ 2.3+
RetroArch Emulates multiple platforms Yes Removed GPLv3[18] 2.3+
ScummVM Emulates multiple gaming engines Yes Yes GPLv2 1.5+
Termux Terminal emulator Deprecated Yes[26] GPLv3 ?
VICE Commodore systems emulator Yes Yes GPLv2 ?

Games

See also: List of open-source video games
Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
2048 Mathematics sliding block puzzle Yes [27] Yes[28] MIT 2.2+ Port of 2048
Angband Text-based roguelike Yes Yes GPLv2 ?
Battle for Wesnoth Turn-based strategy in a fantasy setting Partial Yes [29] GPLv2 2.3+ Ported to Android with SDL
Brogue Roguelike Yes Yes GPLv3 ?
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup Roguelike Yes No[30] GPLv2+ ? Text-based version also available
Fish Fillets NG Underwater puzzle game. Yes No[31] GPLv2 1.6+ Port of Fish Fillets NG
Freeciv Turn-based strategy game similar to Sid Meier's Civilization Yes No[32] GPLv2 2.0+
Frozen Bubble Tile-matching puzzle game Yes
 Yes
[33]		 GPLv2 1.6+ Port of Frozen Bubble
GLtron Lightcycle racing game Yes
 Yes
 GPLv2 2.2+ Port of GLtron
H-Craft Championship SciFi 3D racing game Yes No
[34]		 zlib 3.2+ Media is proprietary, but free for personal use.
HyperRogue Roguelike in hyperbolic plane ? Yes[35] GPLv2+ ?
Minetest Sandbox similar to Minecraft Yes Yes[36] ?
OpenArena First-person shooter similar to Quake 3 (see: id Tech 3) Yes No[37] GPLv2 1.6+ Unofficial port by "pelya" using SDL 1.2[19]
OpenTTD Business simulation game similar to Transport Tycoon Deluxe Yes No[38] GPLv2 1.6+ pelya SDL port[19]
Pixel Dungeon [it; ru][20] Roguelike with pixel art graphics Yes Yes[39] GPLv3 ? Also available for Linux, iOS, Windows 10, Mac OS X
OpenTyrian Vertical shoot 'em up Yes No[40] GPLv2 1.6+ pelya SDL port[19]
robotfindskitten A "Zen Simulation" Yes Yes GPL 1.6+
Simon Tatham's Puzzle Collection Collection of puzzle games Yes
 Yes
 MIT 2.1+
Ur-Quan Masters Source-port of 3DO version of Star Control II ? No[41] GPLv2+,
CC by 2.0,
CC by-nc-sa 2.5[21]		 ? Game engine is free, but Star Control art assets are released under a Creative Commons non-commercial license.[22][21] pelya SDL port[19]

General

Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
Dasher Accessible text-input method Yes Yes GPLv3 ? Also available for iOS
FetLife Social network catering to the BDSM, fetish, and kink communities No No MIT [23] 5.0 Also available for iOS [24]
Google IO App for Google IO conference Yes Yes Apache 2.0 4.0
OpenLP Worship presentation software Yes Yes [42] GPLv3 ?
The White House The official White House app Yes Yes MIT 2.2+

Health

See also: List of open-source health software and List of open-source bioinformatics software
Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
COVID Alert Canadian digital contact tracing app Yes No Apache 2.0 ? Also available for iOS [25]
DP-3T Protocol and reference implementation of decentralized European contact tracing app ? No MPL 2.0[26] ? Also available for iOS
PEPP-PT Protocol and reference implementation of centralized European digital contact tracing app ? No MPL 2.0[27] ?
TraceTogether Singaporean contact tracing app ? No GPLv3 ? Available for iOS[28] Data collected is available to police, and may be used in criminal or other types of investigations[29]

Multimedia

Main category: Free multimedia software
Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
AntennaPod Podcatcher Yes Yes [43] MIT 2.3.3+
Butter Project Media player utilising the BitTorrent protocol ? ? AGPLv3 ?
Kodi (formerly XBMC) Media player and center Yes Yes [44] GPLv2+ Multi
Popcorn Time Media player utilizing BitTorrent protocol No No GPLv3+
(AGPL exception)[30]		 ? In Nov. of 2015 PopcornTime.io ceased operations after court order from the MPAA issued in Canada.[31]
Ringdroid Ringtone maker Yes Yes Apache 2.0 4.1+
Rockbox Media player ? ? GPLv2+ ?
Tribler Decentralized video sharing Yes Yes GPLv3[32] 3.0+
Tux Paint Simple drawing program for children Non-free Yes GPLv2 ? Version on Google Play is published by a 3rd-party & contains proprietary ad libraries in violation of upstream developers' license
VLC Media player Yes Yes [45] GPLv2+ 4.2+
Wikimedia Commons Client for free media repository Yes Yes [46] Apache 2.0 4.4+ Old CommonsLab app no longer maintained. Current app is community-developed.[33]

Navigation

Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
Avare GPS aviation application Yes Yes Github [47] 4.4+ Complete *Aviation* EFB & nav app with all official current U.S.A. FAA VFR & IFR charts & data, plus limited free unofficial non-US materials.
MAPS.ME Offline mapping using OpenStreetMap data Yes No [48] Apache 2.0 ? F-Droid version is an unofficial fork, with extra features and removed proprietary binaries.
Mozilla Stumbler Data gathering for Mozilla Location Service Yes Yes MPL2 2.3.3+
OsmAnd Offline mapping using OpenStreetMap data Yes Yes [49] GPLv3 2.3+ Only parts of the software are available at no cost, this cause the software to get a few arbitrary limitation as limited portion maps of openstreetmap may be loaded. There is an unlimited paid version. The unlimited version is also available for free on F-Droid.

Reading

Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
FBReader e-book reader Yes Yes GPL 1.5+
iFixit Official iFixit reader Yes Yes GPLv3 2.2+
Kiwix Offline Wikipedia reader Yes Yes GPLv3 4.0+
MuPDF PDF and XPS viewer Yes Yes[50] AGPL 2.2+
Wikipedia Access to Wikipedia Yes Yes [51] GPLv2 2.2+
Wiktionary Client for crowd-sourced dictionary Yes Yes GPLv2 2.2+
XOWA Offline Wikipedia reader Yes Yes AGPLv3 4.4+

Science and education

Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
BOINC Participate in distributed grid computing initiatives Yes Yes[34] LGPL/GPLv3+[35] 2.3+
Galaxy Zoo Classify galaxies in crowdsourced astronomy project Yes Yes GPLv3 3.0+
GCompris Educational activity suite for children aged 2–10 Yes Yes GPLv3 ? Member project of KDE
GNU Octave Scientific programming language syntax with built-in plotting and visualization tools ? No GPLv3 ? [36][37]
micro:bit Interact with a micro:bit device via Bluetooth Yes[38] No[39] Apache 2.0[40] ? Developed by Samsung.[41] Depends on proprietary Google frameworks.[39]
PressureNET Crowd-sourced barometer network Discontinued Discontinued GPLv3 Multi Service and software discontinued
SageMath Client for mathematical software Yes Yes GPLv3 2.0+
Sky Map Planetarium software developed by Google, and Carnegie Mellon Yes Yes[52] Apache 2.0 ? Tracks user telemetry data via Google Analytics[42]
Stellarium Planetarium software Yes No GPLv2 ?
Sugar environment One Laptop per Child learning platform Yes Yes Apache 2.0 2.3.3+ Ported as Sugarizer.
AnkiDroid Flashcard spaced repetition for memorization Yes Yes GPLv3 ?

Security

Main category: Free security software
Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
Bitwarden Password manager Yes Yes GPLv3 4.4+
Haven Monitoring system to protect against evil maid attacks Yes Yes[43] GPLv3 4.1+ Developed by Edward Snowden under the auspices of The Guardian Project, and Freedom of the Press Foundation[44]
Kali NetHunter Digital forensics and mobile penetration testing platform ROM overlay No No Various 5.1+ Developed by Offensive Security
KeePassDroid Password manager Yes Yes [53] GPLv3 1.5+ Port of KeePass
PasswdSafe Password manager Yes Yes Artistic License 2.0 1.6+
Prey Anti-theft and monitoring Yes Yes GPLv3 4.0+

System and utilities

Application name Description Availability License API[a] Note
Google Play F-Droid
Barcode Scanner Barcode and QR Code reader Yes Yes [54] Apache 2.0 4.0.3+
F-Droid Graphical package manager for app repositories No Yes[55] GPLv3+ 4.0+ F-Droid team also maintain an application repository
Impress Remote Presentation remote control for LibreOffice Yes Yes[56] MPL2[45] 2.3+
Intra Experimental DNS over HTTPS client Yes ? Apache 2.0[46] 4.0.3+
microG Replacement for proprietary Google Play Services No ? Apache 2.0 ?
Mycroft Voice assistant companion ? ? GPLv3[47] ?
TWRP Custom recovery image and boot manager ? ? GPLv3[48] ?
TalkBack Accessibility services for blind and low-vision users discontinued Yes Apache 2.0 ? Integrated into Android and provided by other proprietary Google components
UserLAnd Compatibility layer Yes Yes GPLv3 5.0+

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n The API column is used to describe which versions of Android each individual application is compatible with. If API column shows "5.1" then the application is compatible with Android version 5.1 or higher; "L7" or "L14" mean specific Android API versions.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Learn About Brave and Our Team - Brave Browser". brave.com.
  2. ^ "Add Brave to F-Droid". GitHub.
  3. ^ "DuckDuckGo Android". June 10, 2022 – via GitHub.
  4. ^ "Firefox". f-droid.org. F-Droid. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Guardian Project Fdroid repo". guardianproject.info. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Is Tor Browser available on F-droid?". Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Zulip Mobile". June 10, 2022 – via GitHub.
  8. ^ "Installing Briar via F-Droid - Briar". briarproject.org.
  9. ^ "I2P Official App Repository". f-droid.i2p.io.
  10. ^ Yen, Andy (2020-02-10). "IVPN applications are now open source". ivpn.net. IVPN. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  11. ^ Pestel, Nick (2020-01-23). "Independent security audit concluded". ivpn.net. IVPN. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  12. ^ "Ring - Apps on Google Play". play.google.com.
  13. ^ "Ring - F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository". f-droid.org.
  14. ^ Yen, Andy (2020-01-21). "All ProtonVPN apps are now open source and audited". protonvpn.com. ProtonVPN Technologies AG. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  15. ^ Greenberg, Andy (2 November 2015). "Signal, the Snowden-Approved Crypto App, Comes to Android". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  16. ^ "Telegram-FOSS-Team/Telegram-FOSS". GitHub. 21 June 2022.
  17. ^ mpfau (12 August 2014). "tutanota/LICENSE.txt". github.com/tutao/tutanota. Tutao GmbH. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  18. ^ RetroArch / COPYING. github.com. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  19. ^ a b c d "pelya/commandergenius". GitHub. 14 June 2022.
  20. ^ Linux Magazine Issue #220 / Mar 2019 FOSS Picks
  21. ^ a b "COPYING". sourceforge.net/p/sc2/. The Ur-Quan Masters Git Repository. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  22. ^ "The Ur-Quan Masters Project FAQ - Ultronomicon". wiki.uqm.stack.nl.
  23. ^ fetlife/android/README.md. GitHub.
  24. ^ "FetLife for iOS". June 12, 2022 – via GitHub.
  25. ^ "COVID Alert Mobile App". June 2, 2022 – via GitHub.
  26. ^ "DP^3T". GitHub.
  27. ^ "PEPP-PT". GitHub.
  28. ^ "OpenTrace iOS App". April 16, 2022 – via GitHub.
  29. ^ Andreas Illmer (5 January 2021). Singapore reveals Covid privacy data available to police. BBC News, Singapore.
  30. ^ Popcorn Time Foundation. android / LICENSE.md. git.popcorntime.io. Retrieved 19 August 2015. Archived September 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ Gardner, Eriq (3 November 2015). "MPAA Touts Big Legal Success Against Popcorn Time". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  32. ^ "Tribler Android - Beta Port". GitHub. tribler-android/LICENSE.txt.
  33. ^ "Commons mobile app". commons.wikimedia.org. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  34. ^ f-droid.org package for edu.berkeley.boinc. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  35. ^ Anderson, David Pope (8 August 2008). "boinc / COPYING". github.com. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
    Walton, Rom (7 November 2015). "boinc / README.md". github.com/BOINC/boinc. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  36. ^ Champion, Corbin. "corbinlc/octave4android". github.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  37. ^ Treichl, Thomas (21 October 2013). "Octave on Android". Octave Maintainers mailinglist. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  38. ^ "micro:bit - Apps on Google Play". play.google.com.
  39. ^ a b "Request for adding the official BBC micro:bit application". 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
  40. ^ "License text in source code repository". GitHub. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  41. ^ "Samsung Launches the Official BBC micro:bit App". 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  42. ^ "Sky Map". June 8, 2022 – via GitHub.
  43. ^ "Guardian Project Official App Repository". guardianproject.info.
  44. ^ https://freedom.press/news/introducing-haven-open-source-security-system-your-pocket/
  45. ^ F-Droid - Impress Remote. f-droid.org. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  46. ^ "Intra". June 13, 2022 – via GitHub.
  47. ^ "Mycroft-Android". June 7, 2022 – via GitHub.
  48. ^ "TeamWin/Team-Win-Recovery-Project". June 13, 2022 – via GitHub.

External links

There are a number of third-party maintained lists of open-source Android applications, including:

  • Droid-Break – curated list of general purpose open-source alternatives. Inspired by PRISM-break.
Android
Free and open-source software
Categories