this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2025
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DeGoogle Yourself
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by default they require a google account to be able to access the play store on android, but you can use the aurora store app to access it without a google account. you can find it on f-droid.
though be aware that in a year or two google wants to lock out all apps they don't like, by inserting a check into your phone so that only apps approved by them can be installed from any store. aurora, newpipe and lots of others are not expected to make it.
you are affected if you have google services installed to your phone. this includes if you have the factory operating system on it.
Obtainium > F-droid
why do you think it's better?
Since you get your apps straight from the source. Also F-droid is recommended against in Privacyguides. And lastly you can download F-droid apps in obtainium. Just make sure to use Appverifier or at least compare hashes if Appverifier doesn't support the app
oh and also, nobody really verifies what gets into an apk uploaded to github releases. but f-droid does have an array of checks, and I like that they can catch if an app tried something fishy or had a build accident (like accidentally including google servifes dependencies that automatically run code, because another new or updated dependency pulled it in). in the past there were occasions where an app got unlisted, and when I went looking for the reason it was either developer negligence, or sometimes changes that were really not too good.
Last thing, I trust Appverifer more than I trust F-droid verification
I think Obtainium is objectively better since you have 24 sources including F-droid and Google play store with Shizuku or Sui
"Due to their process of building apps, apps in the official F-Droid repository often fall behind on updates. F-Droid maintainers also reuse package IDs while signing apps with their own keys, which is not ideal as it gives the F-Droid team ultimate trust. Additionally, the requirements for an app to be included in the official F-Droid repo are less strict than other app stores like Google Play, meaning that F-Droid tends to host a lot more apps which are older, unmaintained, or otherwise no longer meet modern security standards." This is what PrivacyGuides says. Also you have Appverifier integration in Obtainium which verifies signatures or smth, I know it's a lot better than comparing hashes
I see, that's fair. Personally I trust f-droid more. also I was surprised to notice recently that obtanium just added a china specific app source that is default enabled in the search menu. that store is not really known in the global android community.
I don't think adding a Chinese source is necessarily bad, what if they have users in china that want local apps?