Title
For everyone still using Simple Tools apps, switch to Fossify it’s a fork that has all that crap removed
So far I only see Gallery, File Manager, and Calendar on IzzyOnDroid. Hopefully SMS and Contacts will be added soon.
They are still being worked on
Link for others:
Thanks! Didn’t know about that yet.
Sort of wish I exported my settings from simple to import to the Fossify app before I uninstalled. Oops.
EDIT: reinstalled the old version, exported, erased the app, and finally imported to the new fork. Everything worked great.
The app icon changed from green to orange after import so I uninstalled the wrong app at first. Haha! Was an easy fix once I knew what happened.
Disable updates has never been a solution. It’s a bandaid to a gaping wound.
Guys.
Dont install FOSS apps from the Playstore. Use F-Droid (F-Droid Basic if you are on an updated OS)
Thanks.
A personal recommendation is to use Droidify, it’s just a great F-droid front-end.
You can download the APK here: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.looker.droidify/
I have used it for maybe a year and I never had any problems. Then again, I’m hardly a power user, so it makes sense that other people might have different experiences. :)
Yeah. I usually go to the Playstore to buy out all the In-App purchases and support development, but this is really discouraging.
True. But F-Droid has Donation links everywhere. I prefer that over buying, idk why.
Oh, found out at least F-Droid Basic doesnt display the links! Thats not nice it has
F-Droid basic uses modern Android Libraries and modern Apps can be updated without interaction.
Thats because Android has a Package manager that uses APKSigner signatures to verify the app. That is Private/Public Key authentication, so its pretty sure the App comes from the developers.
Only if the Signature matches the App gets an Update. So there is no danger in using automatic updates.
Making F-Droid Basic “battery unrestricted” will help.
Droidify can do both: Session Installer and Shizuku: https://github.com/Droid-ify/client
I agree that F-Droid is great!
What I usually do is to buy the pro version on Google Play and install it later on F-Droid.
On the other hand I don’t see anything wrong for non tech people to install FOSS apps from the Play Store. The apps are still FOSS
Not exactly. When building for play store release - google injects their tracking into the binary.
They were sold to ZippoApps, who specializes in adding crapware to apps.
What else would we expect anyway…
No. No it doesn’t. Israel might be a shitty country built on apartheid and illegal settlements, and netanyahoo might be genociding Gaza via IDF, but that doesn’t mean every individual should be regarded with a blanket statement.
But fuck ZippoApps anyway.
If we judged citizens based on what their government does, I don’t think many of us would come out clean. As an American, I don’t want the whole world thinking that I agree with what the Feds are up to all the time. I recommend extending that same courtesy to people in countries who’s government you don’t like as well.
Hmm, this app is also in the F-Droid repository with its old outfit.
Luckily it got forked : https://github.com/FossifyOrg/SMS-Messenger
There are a bunch of those “simple” apps on F-droid, such as Simple Contacts, Simple Calendar, and Simple Camera. I cannot find Simple Gallery in F-droid any more, it seems to have been replaced by its Fossify equivalent already.
In light of this, it could be an idea to check if you have any of those apps installed and consider replacing them with an alternative. I was using Simple Contacts until now (only listed as “Contacts” in my apps), so I guess it’s time to make some changes.
Simple Gallery got removed when people found it had non-FOSS Google libraries linked in while checking the Fossify rebrand/rework, just export your preferences and import them on Fossify Gallery (BE AWARE: There’s a bug in some launchers when an app uses custom icons like Simple Gallery and Fossify do, which breaks them, you’ll notice it if you import the preferences and you can no longer launch the app and have to uninstall/reinstall it to be able to even launch it again, in that case edit the exported Simple Gallery preferences and remove the icon line)
I have several of the apps installed. I went through and checked the permissions, and they’re still pretty sparse. The play store didn’t mention anything about updates, but a few of them, like Notes, seemed to be disabled.
Am I just a version behind or something?
If they’re from F-Droid you’re good; if you’re on Google Play I doubt they’ll update anything to get more permissions without your consent.
However, if the developer has taken a turn for the worse (which this post seems to indicate), you might not receive any more updates for your F-Droid software, and you might get to a point where you don’t want to install updates from Google Play. Software that cannot be updated is generally not a good thing.
Furthermore, these apps deal with somewhat sensitive information by default, and I wouldn’t want to use apps developed by a company I don’t trust if I don’t absolutely have to. :)
Damn, how did I even manage to miss that Simple apps have been bought off? I’ve used them for years and am still subscribed to the reddit community…
Some people suggest the action could possibly be deemed illegal, by breaking the licence the project was made under.
https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/General-Discussion/issues/241#issuecomment-1837452672 - the dev’s explanation, and replies which discuss the legal issues
https://old.reddit.com/r/fossdroid/comments/1893j2p/simple_mobile_tools_is_about_to_be_acquired/
Fossify has many of them, Gallery, Files and Calendar (the main ones) are already on F-Droid!
- sms: deku sms, way better
- phone: GrapheneOSses AOSP dialer, dont know if you get that seperately, or Welefon
- music: so many alternatives, Vanilla Music is nice
- keyboard: florisboard, openboard
- phone: lol Pixel with GrapheneOS
Its sad that the community did not donate enough. People dont care…
deku sms
I haven’t used this, but it seems to do way more than the average person know how to use for an SMS app
Even in the readme, it says:
The technical functionalities of the app are currently not user friendly, which would be updated with the help of PRs and issues. The reason for the lack of user friendliness is solely based on the app aiming to be as customizable as possible. Users should be able to configure the app to their custom cloud servers without being tied into using specific providers.
Can you explain what that is and how it works? Is it a Keyboard with Plugins?
Provided that the developer can either remove contributed code or seek copyright licences from every contributor it can be done. Whether this did happen or not is unclear, the developer appears a little arrogant about having written the majority of the code, showing little appreciation towards minor contributors. We cannot tell whether the contributors gave permission for their code to be re-licenced or if their code was removed.
Personally, when contributing to GPL projects I would expect that this kind of thing wouldn’t be possible. Using the GPL is a very philosophical choice of licence and is a move to say that you really care about your users
Over the years there have been a few times I tried to communicate with the developer, and he was always arrogant.
