Though most Android apps are free, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re open source or freely distributed. There are tons of quality alternatives to the most popular commercial apps out there. Open source apps are by their very nature more secure and customizable than others of vaguer origins. The website Droid-Break has compiled the best free open source apps for Android. These are some of our faves from among its recommendations.
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox is unquestionably the best representative of how good the open source model can be. The solid policies of the Mozilla Foundation have made it the second most-used browser on the market. That said, its default preset browser is Yahoo, but that’s easily remedied if you opt for DuckDuckGo. [Download]
Telegram
Our favored son here at Uptodown. It sets the bar in terms of offering a properly reliable messaging service that’s versatile and on par with commercial alternatives. Actually Telegram tends to be the pioneer when it comes to adding features that then get replicated by WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and company. [Download]
VLC
It’s no coincidence that one of the best media players for both PCs and smartphones is open source and openly distributed. VideoLAN organizes the work of developers from around the globe who donate their time to this project. That a project born in academia in 1996 has become a point of reference in its field says a lot about the open source model. [Download]
Amaze File Manager
Though there are other free, good quality, ad-free file explorers out there (among them Mixplorer), they are distributed as open source. If we’ve got to pick one here, we’ll definitely go for Amaze File Manager. Its main appeal is its lightness and simplicity, forgoing the plethora of options that other file managers often pile on to attract users. [Download]
Open Camera
Photography and retouching apps are a dime a dozen, but if you’re looking for a truly straightforward option with no ads, no unnecessary features, and no connections to weird remote services, there are few better apps than Open Camera. Its scant 600 kilobytes house a huge array of possibilities in terms of both taking pics and applying real-time effects or using interesting post-processing filters. [Download]
K-9 Mail
Email clients are a tricky subject given the importance of the data they handle. K-9 Mail is a dinosaur in this sector, but that doesn’t mean this collaborative project doesn’t offer a versatile email client. The only inconvenience is that it doesn’t include a wizard to quickly auto-configure accounts from popular services like Outlook and Gmail, though the website still explains how to integrate them easily. [Download]
MAPS.ME
It’s complicated to fight the Google giant and its geolocation/maps service, but the guys over at MAPS.ME make it possible using the enormous collaborative database from OpenStreetMap. It’s actually got little to envy Google – until recently it was among the only good alternatives for downloading maps for use offline. [Download]
FBReader
Another basic app is your ebook reader or digital document viewer. FBReader can display ebooks, Kindle files, and even plain and rich text docs. Plus it has its own system for syncing files between devices (it’s especially useful given its multiplatform nature). Though by default it can’t read PDFs, it’s got an easy plug-in you can download to enable viewing those files too. [Download]
Turbo Editor
Text editing on your smartphone or tablet is no longer a pipe dream. Turbo Editor offers a comprehensive and multipurpose text processor to edit both plain text and code in tons of supported programming languages. It can handle indents, add color, and auto-structure code as you enter it plus work with files by browsing through the device’s local file structure. [Download]
Pixel Dungeon
Open source games are everywhere, which is why we’re going to leave one as an example of how much fun you can have with them if you do a little digging. Pixel Dungeon is a roguelike with a pixel-art look (surprise!) where you have to advance through randomly generated dungeons while defeating enemies and leveling your hero up. And given its open code there are obviously tons of variants and clones of it for your gaming pleasure. Enjoy! [Download]
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[…] Although most Android apps are free, that does not essentially imply they’re open supply or freely distributed. There are tons of high quality options to the preferred business apps on the market. Open supply apps are by their very nature safer and customizable than others of vaguer origins. The web site Droid-Break has compiled one of the best free open supply apps for Android. These are a few of our faves from amongst its suggestions. Read more […]
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Unable to open uptodown apk.Pls instruct .
After downloading the UpToDown apk, go into your file manager and select ‘Downloads’.
Select the ‘Apk’ file.
Find the UpToDown apk, and tap it.
Your regular app installation should occur.
If the apk is not there, it might not have the proper suffix in its name.
In this case, it will be in your ‘Downloads’ file with a ‘ ? ‘ as its icon.
If so, then long press it.
A little menu should pop up, and in it select ‘Rename’.
The name of the apk will be shown, so scroll to the end of it on the right hand side.
Make sure that the last four characters are exactly ‘ .apk ‘ (without quotes)
Change it to be that if it is not.
Save the change, then tap it again.
It should work now.