IzzyOnDroid

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© CarbonNYC [in SF!] (CC BY 2.0)

With the library scanner in place for multiple years, it was about time to establish some additional APK checks with the IzzyOnDroid F-Droid repository. This article will give you an idea what other information can be obtained from APK files, even without accessing their sources.

© Shiftphones

Like the well-known Fairphones, Shiftphones are modular devices. Right from the shop they ship with no bloat, just the minimal set of Google Apps are installed. And never was it easier to go Google-free: no bootloader unlocking or the like required, simply use the standard update feature to switch to the alternative version!

© Richard Scott (CC)

Most apps ship with additional modules. Some of those are required for the functionality, others are not. This article will deal with the latter – and how to find out which of those might be used by an app.

Network Analysis
© Martin Grandjean
CC BY-SA

Mastodon and PeerTube are by far not the only „services” in the Fediverse. Decentralized services do exist even „in the outside“. To describe them all, would mean writing a multi-volume encyclopedia – this doesn’t fit into a Blog. Nevertheless, let’s take a little view „beyond our own noses“ – though you might find yourselves in familiar terrain here.

PeerTube Logo © Chocobozzz, AGPL-3

Annoyed by all those ads on YouTube – and by the „enforced Binge-Watching“ there? Sure you can substitute using Invidious and NewPipe to get around that. But that still leaves the content in Google’s hands. For free content there’s a better place: PeerTube. Also works with NewPipe now, btw.

Mastodon Logo © Jin Nguyen (Wikipedia)

Mastodon probably is the best-known service of the Fediverse. It is a Microblogging service often compared to Twitter (a comparison not covering all aspects, of course). How does Mastodon differ, where does it excel and how you can use it? This article should shed some light.

CC BY-SA; source: Wikipedia

What most mainstream „social networks“ have in common: they are proprietary, centralised, and commercialize their user’s data. You mustn’t think „that’s just the way it is“. The Fediverse shows there are other ways. Never heard of it? Read on!

© Exodus Privacy (CC-BY-SA)

Meanwhile, at least two thirds of all Android Apps are tracker ridden. Even the paid ones. More than ten trackers in a single app are no rare cases – even apps with 20 or more than 30 trackers have already turned up. And they endangering our privacy. Play Store doesn’t point them out – but thanks to Exodus Privacy, we track them down.

© Izzy

This article covers advanced topics: you can use 3rd-party repositories and have the privileged extension to take care for automated updates. Further it will be shown how new apps can be added to F-Droid.

© William Theaker / Izzy

With Google Play Store you´re tracked without end: by the Play Store itself as well as by the most apps you can find in it. But you can escape that – e.g. by turning your back to Play Store and instead use an alternative focusing on free and open software as well as privacy. One such can be found in F-Droid – which this article introduces.