F-Droid Basic vs F-Droid Classic
Side-by-side comparison of two open source alternatives
F-Droid Basic
NOTE: The Basic version of F-Droid Client has a reduced feature set (e.g. no nearby share and no panic feature). It targets Android 13 and can do unattended updates without privileged extension or root. F-Droid is an installable catalogue of libre software apps for Android. The F-Droid client app makes it easy to browse, install, and keep track of updates on your device. It connects to any F-Droid compatible repositories. The default repo is hosted at f-droid.org, which contains only bona fide libre software. Android itself is open in the sense that you are free to install APKs from anywhere you wish, but there are many good reasons for using F-Droid as your libre software app manager: * Get notified when updates are available * Optionally download and install updates automatically * Keep track of older and beta versions * Filter out apps incompatible with the device * Find apps via categories and searchable descriptions * Access associated URLs for donations, source code etc. * Stay safe by checking repo index signatures and APK hashes
F-Droid Classic
This is an alternative F-Droid client which is based on the older UI of the official client (pre 1.0). While the new client UI looks pretty, it's sometimes a bit clunky. Lots of information that was provided clearly in the old UI is now not available or hidden behind more taps now. F-Droid Classic brings features of the modern 1.x version of F-Droid to the classic UI, this includes: * Index-v1 support * Inline changelog entries * Localized metadata * Screenshots * Donation links Upcoming features: * Better mirror support It doesn't support the following features and probably never will * Swap * Index-v0 (old xml based index) support * Support for Android < 4.4 Note: If you want beta updates you can enable the F-Droid Classic repo in the repo management screen. Releases will also usually be available there a few days before they make it into the main F-Droid repository.
| Feature | F-Droid Basic | F-Droid Classic |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later | GPL-3.0-or-later |
| Install sources | F-Droid | F-Droid |
| Categories | ProductivityApp Store | ProductivityApp Store |
| Features | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking | Ad-FreeOpen SourceNo Tracking |
| Platforms | Android | Android |
| Website | ||
| Source code |