307 lines
14 KiB
HTML
307 lines
14 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
|
|
|
|
<html>
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>Liberate Your Device - Free Your Android! - FSFE</title>
|
|
<meta content="Learn how to regain control of your data, with a free operating system and free apps" name="description" />
|
|
<meta content="android smart phone operating system drivers apps Replicant OS LineageOS F-Droid FoeBuD e.V. fsf ansol free software phone mobile phone open source GTA04 Maemo/MeeGo Mer Tizen Carrier IQ spying spy analytics" />
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
<p id="category"><a href="/campaigns/android/android.html">Free Your Android</a></p>
|
|
|
|
<h1>Liberate Your Device!</h1>
|
|
|
|
<div id="introduction">
|
|
<div class="image" id="hello-free-droid">
|
|
<img src="/campaigns/android/robot.png" alt="Liberated Android Robot" />
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Even though Android is mostly Free Software, devices usually come with proprietary software and services
|
|
that prevent people from using them in an independent and autonomous way.
|
|
Liberate your Android device: learn how to regain control of your data, with a free operating system and free apps!
|
|
</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<div id="subpages">
|
|
<div class="half">
|
|
<h3><a href="#Apps">Free Software Apps</a></h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
For beginners it is easiest to start with liberating
|
|
mobile apps. We introduce to you dedicated Free
|
|
Software app stores and present some apps for the most
|
|
common use cases, for example messaging, navigation,
|
|
or games.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<div class="action"><a href="#Apps">Liberate your apps</a></div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="half last">
|
|
<h3><a href="#OS">Free Software Operating Systems</a></h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Most operating systems on phones you can buy are not free. They contain
|
|
pre-installed proprietary software which limit your freedoms and harm your
|
|
privacy. Advanced users should therefore install a mobile operating system
|
|
that is as free as possible.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<div class="action"><a href="#OS">Free your OS</a></div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="Apps">The Apps</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
For most people, the <a href="https://play.google.com/">Google
|
|
Play Store</a> is the only or the main source for their
|
|
applications. It doesn't even tell you whether an app is Free Software
|
|
or not, let alone its license. Unfortunately, most apps from this or
|
|
other markets are proprietary. Even if you install a Free Software app,
|
|
there is no reason to trust the downloaded binary. Using Google
|
|
Play also requires a Google account, and is itself proprietary software.
|
|
It is recommended to not use this market at all.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="F-Droid">F-Droid</h3>
|
|
|
|
<div class="image left">
|
|
<img alt="F-Droid" src="/campaigns/android/f-droid.png" />
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The <a href="http://f-droid.org/">F-Droid initiative</a> was started to
|
|
change the sad Free Software app situation in the Android world. It
|
|
builds a repository of easily-installable Free Software apps for the Android
|
|
platform. There is an Android client application that makes it easy to
|
|
browse Free Software applications, install them onto your device, and
|
|
keep track of updates. Apps available on F-Droid do not contain hidden
|
|
costs, are safe for children, and are transparent about possible
|
|
<a href="https://f-droid.org/wiki/page/AntiFeatures">antifeatures</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The F-Droid repository contains details of multiple versions of each
|
|
application. You can also easily create and add own repositories. But
|
|
since the initiative is <a
|
|
href="https://gitlab.com/fdroid/">very active</a>,
|
|
developing in a decentralised fashion and open to collaboration,
|
|
creating own repositories is not really necessary. Its goal is to
|
|
include all useful Free Software Android applications and to keep up
|
|
with their updates.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
We collected some information about how you can <a href="/campaigns/android/help.html#Apps">help out F-Droid</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="selection">Selected apps for common use cases</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Nowadways, we fortunately live in a world in which we can choose from
|
|
various Free Software apps for almost any use case. This sections aims
|
|
to present a small selection of apps which are fitting for
|
|
starters. By no means can such a list be ever perfect for every individual
|
|
case. We also recommend you to look at the complete <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/">F-Droid repository</a> or app
|
|
recommendations by <a href="https://prism-break.org/">PRISM Break</a>, <a
|
|
href="https://myshadow.org/">Me and My Shadow</a>, or <a
|
|
href="https://securityinabox.org/">Security in a Box</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h4 id="browser">Web browsing</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
In F-Droid you can find many web browsers for different
|
|
audiences. Probably the most well known is Mozilla's <a
|
|
href="https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/mobile/">Firefox Mobile</a> which is
|
|
available via <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/de.marmaro.krt.ffupdater/">FFUpdater</a> or
|
|
its GNU rebranding <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/org.gnu.icecat/">IceCatMobile</a>. Users who
|
|
prefer lightweight and privacy-aware apps may also want to try <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/org.mozilla.klar/">Firefox Klar</a> (also
|
|
known as Firefox Focus).
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h4 id="email">Email</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<a href="https://f-droid.org/packages/com.fsck.k9/">K-9 Mail</a>
|
|
enables its users to add multiple email accounts and offers a
|
|
wide range of options. It also supports integration with
|
|
encryption apps like <a
|
|
href="https://www.f-droid.org/packages/org.sufficientlysecure.keychain/">OpenKeychain</a>
|
|
and is able to read GnuPG encrypted messages.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h4 id="im">Instant Messaging</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The situation of Free Software apps for instant messaging is
|
|
complicated. While there are 100% Free Software solutions like <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/eu.siacs.conversations/">Conversations</a> and Zom
|
|
(for XMPP/Jabber, iOS users can use <a href="https://chatsecure.org/">ChatSecure</a>), <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/com.b44t.messenger/">Delta Chat</a> (using
|
|
email) or <a href="https://f-droid.org/packages/im.vector.alpha/">Riot.im</a>
|
|
(using Matrix), they probably will not be very widespread among your friends
|
|
because their user bases are relatively small. Other apps are completely or
|
|
mostly Free Software but have other antifeatures like dependencies on non-free
|
|
servers and libraries, or no server federation, for example <a
|
|
href="https://signal.org/">Signal</a> or <a
|
|
href="https://wire.com/">Wire</a>. There are several initiatives to make instant
|
|
messaging as free, secure, decentralised, and user-friendly as possible, and we
|
|
hope to be able to make clearer recommendations in the future.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h4 id="multimedia">Multimedia</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Plenty of Free Software apps aim to make you enjoy audio and video
|
|
on your mobile phone. Notable apps are <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/org.schabi.newpipe/">NewPipe</a>
|
|
as a lightweight interface for YouTube which adds some unique
|
|
features, the <a
|
|
href="https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-android.html">VLC
|
|
Player</a> for videos, or <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/net.programmierecke.radiodroid2/">RadioDroid</a>
|
|
to listen to thousands of radio stations
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h4 id="outdoors">Outdoors</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
When you are travelling, your mobile phone can be a helper for
|
|
you. <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/de.grobox.liberario/">Transportr</a>
|
|
knows public transportation networks of countries and cities all
|
|
over the world. <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/net.osmand.plus/">OsmAnd</a>
|
|
serves detailed offline and online maps of whereever you are
|
|
right now, and also includes navigation when riding your bicycle
|
|
or car.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h4 id="games">Games</h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
F-Droid contains various mobile games for almost any taste. For
|
|
example puzzlers may enjoy <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/com.uberspot.a2048/">2048</a>
|
|
while block sandbox fans can play <a
|
|
href="https://f-droid.org/packages/net.minetest.minetest/">Minetest</a>
|
|
in single as well as multiplayer mode. For fans of 1010! there is
|
|
<a
|
|
href="https://www.f-droid.org/packages/io.github.lonamiwebs.klooni/">1010!
|
|
Klooni</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="OS">The Operating Systems</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
An operating system is a collection of software that enables you to use
|
|
your phone and run other applications on it. Even though Android is <a
|
|
href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/android-and-users-freedom.html">mostly
|
|
free</a>, many phones ship with proprietary components and add-ons. Some
|
|
phones also have a locked <a
|
|
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booting">boot loader</a>
|
|
which prevents you from booting and installing other operating systems.
|
|
If you want to buy an Android phone, make sure that the boot loader can
|
|
be <a
|
|
href="https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/">unlocked</a>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>On some devices it can only be unlocked with clever hacks
|
|
and their manufacturers tend to declare your warranty void when you unlock their device's boot loader.
|
|
But, given European Directive 1999/44/CE, just the fact that you modified or changed the software of your device,
|
|
is not a sufficient reason to void your statutory warranty.
|
|
<a href="/freesoftware/legal/flashingdevices.html" title="Does rooting your phone invalidate its warranty?">See Carlo Piana's and Matija Šuklje's analysis</a> for more information.
|
|
There are
|
|
also companies that ship their devices with an unlocked bootloader or
|
|
provide you with the means to unlock it. Besides that, it is a good idea
|
|
to check if there are free versions of Android <a
|
|
href="https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/">supporting the device</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="Replicant">Replicant</h3>
|
|
|
|
<div class="image left">
|
|
<img alt="Replicant" src="/campaigns/android/replicant.png" />
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<a href="http://replicant.us/">Replicant</a> is a
|
|
distribution of Android that is 100% Free Software. Since it does not
|
|
use any non-free drivers, it currently works on a limited number of
|
|
devices.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
We ask you to help Replicant extend its support to more devices. You can <a
|
|
href="http://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/issues">contribute
|
|
code</a>, and <a
|
|
href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/donate-to-replicant-and-support-free-software-on-mobile-devices">donate
|
|
devices</a> to the Replicant team for testing purposes.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Phones with pre-installed Replicant are available from <a href="https://tehnoetic.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=59">Tehnoetic</a>
|
|
that donates part of the profits back to the Replicant initiative.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="LineagoeOS">LineageOS</h3>
|
|
|
|
<div class="image right">
|
|
<img alt="LineageOS" src="/campaigns/android/lineageos.png" />
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<a href="https://lineageos.org/">LineageOS</a> is a version of
|
|
Android which you can use without a Google account. Even though it is
|
|
usually more free than the software your device comes with, freedom
|
|
is not its main objective. While LineageOS works on <a
|
|
href="https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/">most Android
|
|
devices</a>, it makes use of <a
|
|
href="https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/">non-free
|
|
device drivers and firmware</a> which are fetched
|
|
from a device and included in the ROM. LineageOS is the most popular fork of the discontinued CyanogenMod project.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
LineageOS does not contain Google Play services by default which
|
|
is good for your freedom. However, if you really need some of
|
|
these proprietary apps or libraries you can try the Free Software
|
|
implementation <a href="https://microg.org/">microG</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
We collected <a
|
|
href="https://fsfe.org/campaigns/android/help.html#OS">information</a>
|
|
about how you can help to ensure that LineageOS and other operating systems become as good as possible, and
|
|
how to identify and remove non-free parts.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</body>
|
|
<timestamp>$Date: 2012-02-17 15:16:09 +0100 (ven. 17 févr. 2012) $ $Author: hugo $</timestamp>
|
|
<legal type="cc-license">
|
|
<license>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/</license>
|
|
<notice>Portions of this page are
|
|
modifications based on work created and shared by Google and
|
|
used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0
|
|
Attribution License. Android is a trademark of Google Inc.</notice>
|
|
</legal>
|
|
</html>
|
|
<!--
|
|
Local Variables: ***
|
|
mode: xml ***
|
|
End: ***
|
|
-->
|
|
|
|
<!-- LocalWords: FSFE CalDAV CardDAV ownCloud baikal DAViCal SoGO
|
|
-->
|
|
<!-- LocalWords: Kolab MyKolab davmail PIM KDE Kontact pyCardDAV
|
|
-->
|
|
<!-- LocalWords: ACal DAVdroid dropbear rsync RSS NewsBlur ven févr
|
|
-->
|
|
<!-- LocalWords: hugo
|
|
-->
|