Add app to F-Droid catalogue

[B0ycee]

Hi,

Please could you add this app to F-Droid. Far as I am aware there is no Wake on Lan app for current Android versions available on F-Droid so this would be a great addition.

https://f-droid.org/docs/FAQ_-_App_Developers/

Cheers.

[Korb]

https://f-droid.org/packages/com.henrikherzig.simplewol/ — after connecting IzzyOnDroid F-Droid Repo.

[B0ycee]

That will be acceptable for some, but as I understand, that is simply using the F-Droid app to install the compiled APK, and not the same as the true F-Droid catalogue where the APK is produced from known source.

[Korb]

That will be acceptable for some, but as I understand, that is simply using the F-Droid app to install the compiled APK, and not the same as the true F-Droid catalogue where the APK is produced from known source.

@IzzySoft, is this really true? Does the F-Droid mobile app handle repositories so differently depending on whether they are the "official" repository or a third party repository, including yours? And does this really matter to the end users for whom the apps are made and made available in the F-Droid app?

[IzzySoft]

F-Droid sees other repositories as "3rd party", indeed – including IzzyOnDroid. And "official" is only theirs. Which is why only that is preconfigured with the official client – other than e.g. NeoStore, which has a lot of repositories already included so one only needs to enable them. The reason given is that only they can "guarantee" it's fully FOSS (I'd never "guarantee" such as that's impossible (you cannot know all libraries, and cannot detect what you don't know – if you maintain a library checker as I do, you know that), but they get pretty close to it), and they build from the source themselves (so do the rebuilders at IzzyOnDroid (IoD), see Reproducible Builds, special client support and more at IzzyOnDroid, which currently cover more than 30% of our apps).

If it matters to the "end users"? That depends on the point of view IMHO. Some even prefer IoD for its extra checks (which F-Droid slowly adopts in parts) and faster updates (usually within 24h of the devs' providing the APKs – compared to 2 to 5 days on average at F-Droid). And the fact that a "failed build" (by the rebuilders here) does not delay or even stop a release to become available.

APKs at IoD are "produced from known source", too: from the official releases of the resp. developers (for 30%+ of the apps confirmed by at least one of our rebuilders). Signed by them. So even if, for whatever reason, an "emergency update" would not reach our catalog in time, you can always go to the dev's release page and pick the APK yourself for update – that works, as it's the same (IoD just performs some other checks and makes findings transparent: libraries contained, results from VT etc). From F-Droid you can only do so if the app was established as Reproducible Build there (currently about 13% of their apps), as otherwise it's signed by a key they created. No cross-updates then.

True, F-Droid has the bigger team (34 listed members incl. at least 2 full-time paid vs. 3 at IoD and none paid), exists for longer (since 2010 vs. 2016), has more apps listed (~3.700 vs. ~1.200), has better funding than IoD, and the better known name (even has a Wikipedia page which IoD still lacks) – but "beauty and contact lenses lie in the eye of the beholder". Both co-exist, and I dare saying depend on each other (IoD uses parts of their software stack, while they use e.g. the tools for reproducible builds which were written by a member of the IoD team, and thus need our expertise in that field).