[HN Gopher] Fossify - A suite of open-source, ad-free apps
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Fossify - A suite of open-source, ad-free apps
Author : jalict
Score : 383 points
Date : 2025-06-17 07:32 UTC (15 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| reify wrote:
| I use quite a few of the fossify apps.
|
| love the calculator. with length, area, volume, mass, temperature
| and time calculations.
|
| the gallery app. I like the renaming and proper deleting. easily
| remove exif metadata
|
| non intrusive calender. I use it to set up my plant watering
| schedule.
|
| messages, clear and easy to use
|
| voice recorder, again simple and easy to use
|
| All with absolutely minimal permissions..
|
| NO ADS, no tracking, no data collecting
| mcv wrote:
| I'm very happy with their galley and messaging app. They're
| absolutely perfect.
|
| I think I also have their launcher, but it regularly seems to
| lose my widgets. No idea why that's happening, but I clearly
| need to shop around a bit more. Or debug the issue?
|
| I tried their keyboard, which is fine, but not quite what I'm
| looking for. I'm currently back to GBoard and unhappy with it.
| I need something that doesn't try to accidentally insert emojis
| everywhere.
| kej wrote:
| To save the next person a few clicks, these are Android apps
| forked from the Simple Mobile Tools collection when that was sold
| to ZipoApps.
| shellwizard wrote:
| Thanks mate
| agile-gift0262 wrote:
| I used to use many apps from Simple Mobile Tools and migrated
| to Fossify's forks when the whole acquisition thing happened. I
| just went back to check the Simple Mobile Tools to see the
| effect form ZipooApps' acquisition [1]. What a calamity. Most
| of them require way more permissions than they used to before
| the purchase, have trackers, ads and scam-feeling weekly
| subscriptions. Also probably in breach of the GPL licence they
| used to have, unless they have removed all the code contributed
| by third parties, as their GitHub [2] hasn't been updated, but
| the apps in the Play Store clearly have. And I seriously doubt
| they distribute the source code in any other way.
|
| 1:
| https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=821434617619498026...
|
| 2: https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools
| raaron773 wrote:
| I switched to Goodwy. Granted they arent the best since they
| lock a lot of basic features behind paywall it does the job
| and their themes are actually decent and feel modern
| considering they use Material.
| squigz wrote:
| WEEKLY subscriptions?!
| kej wrote:
| I just checked, and according to the reviews on the
| flashlight app the weekly subscription is $14.99 to remove
| ads. For a flashlight.
| emaro wrote:
| That's so unhinged it's almost funny again. I mean
| someone who pays 60$ a month for a flashlight app almost
| deserves it. Almost.
| agile-gift0262 wrote:
| I assume they trick people with dark patterns and free
| trials so that they don't even know they are susbcribing
| or what's the price
| 77pt77 wrote:
| Thanks.
|
| Simple Mobile Gallery was removed from Fdroid so I wasn't
| getting updates.
|
| Migrated to this.
|
| The recorder app sucks though, which is a shame.
| account-5 wrote:
| Annoyingly brilliant apps, used the old ones before they were
| sold off, now use these. If only there was other androi apps like
| this set for other things. Instead the vast majority of the shit
| (in the truest sense of the word) you get from play store is
| pretty much akin to malware but definitely spyware.
| mcv wrote:
| It's nearly impossible to find good, honest apps on the play
| store anymore. Everything is loaded with ads, in-app purchases,
| spyware, and wants way more permissions than it needs. Google
| is making it more and more attractive to completely sever the
| ties to the play store. Although there are a few things I still
| want from there.
| genpfault wrote:
| > Although there are a few things I still want from there.
|
| https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.aurora.store/
|
| https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/AuroraStore
| Tijdreiziger wrote:
| > Can not download or update paid apps.
| n_plus_1_acc wrote:
| I use aurora store to filter for ads and trackers
| jcynix wrote:
| Try the app Netguard which implements a nice firewall. I use
| it to disallow most apps network access with it. Some apps
| may be allowed to access the net when I'm on Wifi, but not
| when roaming. Netguard allows you to distinguish between Wifi
| and Roaming. And you can enable a protocol to check which
| connections are attempted if you want to to specifically
| disable certain targets.
|
| Disclaimer: just a satisfied and paying customer.
| Paradigm2020 wrote:
| Anyway to get net guard to work in combination with a VPN
| client (using wire guard )? (Using mullvad & mullvads
| client and can't get and netguard & mullvad to run at same
| time)
| dongcarl wrote:
| You may want to try using a generic WireGuard client
| (e.g. `wg-quick`) rather than Mullvad's client, you can
| generate a WireGuard config on Mullvad's website.
| dspillett wrote:
| _> It 's nearly impossible to find good, honest apps on the
| play store anymore._
|
| The process of getting things into the app store can be a
| faf, an app maker who isn't making money off it is far less
| likely to bother than an app maker happy to flog your
| personal data for a few pennies, because the latter might
| make enough money to make it worth the effort.
| edvardas wrote:
| I was tired of constant popups in stock apps for features I don't
| want.
|
| Fossify apps get the job down surprisingly well, no more no less.
|
| I use their apps for messaging, gallery, file manager, paint,
| contacts
| dingdingdang wrote:
| I love these projects, a simple way to collectively cleanly
| payroll a-person/persons to work on these projects would be
| superb. Structuring of the Zig org is a light-in-the-dark for
| this sort of thing!
| encom wrote:
| Was recommended the calendar app by a colleague recently, after I
| complained about how crap the FastMail app is. So far I like it a
| lot. Does exactly what I need, and nothing more. Together with
| FairEmail, I can finally purge FastMail from my phone. (I like
| FastMail as a mail host, just not their app)
| globular-toast wrote:
| Another calendar app, developed in 2025, that uses the
| ridiculous and antiquated "month" view.
| encom wrote:
| I like the month view. This is for my personal calendar, and
| I'm not so busy that I need a narrower view. Month view is
| nice for seeing what's coming up in the near future. However,
| you can set the calendar to whatever view you want.
| globular-toast wrote:
| You can't see what's coming up in the future if it's the
| last week of the month. But, hey, you can see three weeks
| into the past! So useful.
| tigrezno wrote:
| I also use the monthly view
| hans_castorp wrote:
| If you don't like the monthly view, choose one of the other
| views.
|
| I actually like the Monthly + Daily.
| basemi wrote:
| "Month view" is useful when I need a wide view on a specific
| month.
| coldtea wrote:
| "antiquated" or "ridiculous" sounds like, err, your opinion,
| man.
|
| Many people prefer the month view.
| Saris wrote:
| That's the only view I use. How on earth is it 'antiquated'
| lol
| globular-toast wrote:
| It's based on a paper calendar that you would hang up on
| the wall. You know, from before we had screens about 50
| years ago.
| Saris wrote:
| Month view is the most useful for me since I can easily
| see what's coming up, and on what day by where it lies on
| the calendar grid.
|
| Agenga view is not as useful for me because it doesn't
| allow quickly scanning events and knowing what is 1 week
| out, 2 weeks out, etc without stopping and thinking about
| the dates. Week based views don't show far enough ahead.
|
| I find it amusing and strange that you dislike the view
| so much you think it should be removed from calendar
| apps, instead of just switching to a view you like in
| settings.
| globular-toast wrote:
| You can't see what's coming up if it's the last week of
| the month.
|
| It's funny how people just can't imagine any other view
| than the ones all calendar apps have had for the past 30+
| years. The only one to do it remotely correct is Apple.
| Saris wrote:
| If you flip to the next month it shows the last 5 days or
| so of the last month as well.
| heybrendan wrote:
| How some of the developer community responded (in late 2023) when
| SMT was bought by ZipoApps--Fossify was a fork that emerged:
|
| - https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/General-Discussion/issu...
| aquir wrote:
| Do we / can we have something like these in the Apple Ecosystem?
| Saris wrote:
| Does iOS even allow using a different SMS app? They're pretty
| locked down usually..
| Unboxed1078 wrote:
| Not yet, but it will allow changing the Phone and Messages
| app in the EU soon with iOS 26.
|
| https://www.heise.de/en/news/Phone-and-text-messages-
| Apple-o...
| kissgyorgy wrote:
| The apps are so simple, so clear, no fuss, no ads, no nothing.
| Just the functionality you need from every app. Excellent work!
|
| This is the only project I immediately "donated" with the Thank
| You app.
| tigrezno wrote:
| Me too, but I hate having the useless Thank You app installed
| WillAdams wrote:
| My phone came w/ a folder for apps from my service provider
| and I've been adding to it any apps which I don't interact
| with regularly (since I've been able to keep my apps down to
| a single screen so I don't have to scroll).
| porridgeraisin wrote:
| Yep, I had a crap folder for apps too. Until I switched to
| using T-UI as my launcher. Now I can only ever launch the
| apps I remember in my head since I need to type it out.
| entropie wrote:
| You can uninstall them via adb. For Example there are
| different "unbloat your samsung device" github pages which
| give you a list of apps you can safely remove.
| Tijdreiziger wrote:
| Instead of needing ADB, you can also go into Settings >
| Apps, turn on 'show system apps', and disable the ones
| you don't want from there.
| prmoustache wrote:
| You can donate, remove the thank you app and use the f-droid
| versions.
| Imustaskforhelp wrote:
| I use fossify. its genuinely good.
| degif wrote:
| Genuine question - do Android people get ads in their OS default
| camera, calculator, calendar, phone, file-manager or SMS
| messaging applications? Or do have these Fossify application some
| extra privacy features that do not come with the default ones?
| mcv wrote:
| Everything Android seems to be increasingly enshittified these
| days.
|
| I switched to Fossify gallery because I don't want my photos
| synced with google Photos anymore. When my default Messenger
| suddenly demanded access to my Google account, I looked for a
| replacement and all alternatives I could find on Google Play
| had ads, so again Fossify saved me. Love it so far.
| johnisgood wrote:
| I just use apps (Dialer, Contacts, Gallery, Camera, etc.)
| from https://simplemobiletools.com. Source code:
| https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools.
|
| Its Gallery looks similar to Fossify's. Its "About" seems
| almost identical, so I dunno.
| phoronixrly wrote:
| Us Android people like to use open-source software. A stark
| contrast to Apple people.
| degif wrote:
| More power to it! I do agree on the other selling points
| (privacy focused and open-source) for the Fossify, just was
| wondering about the ads.
| rmbyrro wrote:
| I think many Apple users, especially people in the software
| industry, would prefer Apple software to be open source. It's
| not that they don't care, it's just that Apple quality is
| superior in multiple ways (hardware and software).
|
| And it's not a coincidence that their software is closed.
| They can command ridiculously high margins and continue to
| invest in high quality products.
| justinrubek wrote:
| I think we'll just have to agree to disagree that Apple's
| software is superior. Their hardware would be a lot better
| if the software was.
| Tijdreiziger wrote:
| A lot of their software is better in many ways than e.g.
| Samsung's software. However, you do run into artificial
| limitations (e.g. no sideloading).
| polyaniline wrote:
| As far as I'm concerned, I run LineageOS, which doesn't come
| with everything I need OTOB, so I use app suites like Fossify,
| Simple Mobile Tools and other great work. Others may just want
| alternatives to pre-installed or standard apps that are more
| private and tuneable (eg. I maintained a fork of KDE Connect
| until they switched to Material 3 colors, and still do for VLC)
| because they're open source.
| anty wrote:
| I don't see any ads on the mentioned apps on my Pixel phone.
|
| I do have ads in the Play Store app and in the Gmail app,
| though.
| interloxia wrote:
| Google photos these days on my pixel constantly has various
| prompts to turn on their backup service.
|
| It is so intrusive it might as well count as an ad.
|
| Fortunately Aves is pretty good.
| anty wrote:
| Google Photos also sometimes promotes a printing service. I
| forgot about that.
| kotaKat wrote:
| The default phone and SMS messaging application on all Tier 1
| Android OEMs is _required_ to be Google Phone and Google
| Messages. Also as such, Google stopped maintaining AOSP Dialer
| and AOSP Messages.
| Tijdreiziger wrote:
| I use a Samsung phone and it has Samsung's phone and SMS
| apps.
| johnisgood wrote:
| I use stock Android, and all of the apps I am using are
| from F-Droid, I do not use Google's apps. I have them
| uninstalled.
|
| Many of the apps I am using (Gallery, Dialer, Contacts,
| Camera) are from https://simplemobiletools.com. Source
| code: https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools. Its Gallery
| looks similar to Fossify's. Its "About" seems almost
| identical, so I dunno.
| wffurr wrote:
| You might want to check the permissions and such on the
| latest versions of those apps. Fossify is a fork of
| SimpleMobileTools but without the ads and trackers added
| by the new owners.
| johnisgood wrote:
| Tibor Kaputa seems to be the owner of the "Simple ..."
| ones. Still maintained.
|
| So I should switch to Fossify?
| glenstein wrote:
| >Or do have these Fossify application some extra privacy
| features that do not come with the default ones?
|
| It's this one. Google's built-in apps are closed source with
| undisclosed telemetry. Fossify are open source, and they don't
| send your contacts or calendar entries to Google. Google's apps
| also serve Google ecosystem lock-in, and Google's ecosystem
| serves ads.
|
| The non-google options on the Play store give you the option of
| not sending telemetry to Google, but at the cost of typically
| violating privacy in other ways or including ads.
|
| Fossify avoids either of those costs.
| prmoustache wrote:
| Not having ads doesn't mean they aren't full of trackers.
| Saris wrote:
| No ads on the original apps, but these do have privacy
| benefits, they also just don't have useless features like the
| AI stuff that keeps getting crammed into default apps.
| ksynwa wrote:
| The default sms app showed me advertisements that seemed way
| too sophisticated for a medium like SMS or MMS. I had to
| disable a setting called "RCS Chat" to rid myself of that
| nonsense. I am pretty sure it isn't something that Google
| invented or something like that though so I'm not comfortable
| putting the blame squarely on them for it.
| FrequentLurker wrote:
| RCS is absolutely awful as it displays banner ads in your
| notifications. The notifications are far worse than what you
| get with SMS. It's the reason I turned off RCS as well.
| creshal wrote:
| I stopped using the default apps when Google was forced by EU
| regulations to put a privacy policy popup in the
| stopwatch/alarm app because of course you need spyware in that.
| encom wrote:
| Pixel 8a. No ads, but I do wonder why the stock Google
| calculator needs a privacy policy.
| mcv wrote:
| I've recently started using several Fossify apps from F-Droid,
| mostly because it's become impossible to find good non-
| enshittified apps on Google Play anymore. I don't know if Fossify
| is the best, but it seems to be a pretty good baseline. Although
| their launcher and keyboard are lacking. Still looking for
| something better there.
| wpollock wrote:
| Have you tried Unexpected Keyboard?
| b0a04gl wrote:
| that bit on > "could end up like simple tools" hits.
|
| seen this before: forks start strong, get love on HN and reddit,
| but slowly stall. either one dev's doing too much or nobody else
| steps in. fdroid's full of ghosts like that. would be smart if
| fossify locks focus on 3to4 core apps first, builds a contributor
| base now not later. maintenance isn't exciting, but that's what
| kills most clean forks
| floppyd wrote:
| What's strangely missing from the list of FOSS android apps is a
| simple "pixel-like" launcher. I have some old devices that I use
| for small tasks, and I'd love to install the very basic launcher
| on them, basically the only thing I need is a paginated grid on
| the desktop, a scrollable list of apps in the main app menu, and
| a swipe up gesture to bring this menu. I checked a lot of
| launchers some time ago, and all of them either go hard into
| "minimalism/functionalism" and don't even show icons, or go deep
| into customization and fail to be lightweight.
| polyaniline wrote:
| Check out Lawnchair.
| glenstein wrote:
| There is a Fossify Launcher beta on F-Droid.
| mcv wrote:
| I didn't know it was in beta, but I'm using their launcher.
| It's mostly great, except for widgets, which it frequently
| loses. But I can have way more icons on my homescreen than I
| used to have.
| laci37 wrote:
| This really tells a story about the sad state of android devices,
| that you have to use third party apps for basic stuff like the
| file manager to avoid spyware/adware.
| rmbyrro wrote:
| I use hundreds, if not thousands, of third party software in my
| Linux OS and I don't think the OS is in a sad state.
| __rito__ wrote:
| After my smartphone vendor's SMS app, and Google Messages both
| started serving me non-stop loans ads and gambling ads (never
| gambled ever in my life), I switched to Fossify Messages, and it
| has been going great for me. Never looked back.
| sp0rk wrote:
| Where are ads displayed in your Google Messages? I have never
| seen any ads and I struggle to even imagine where they would
| place an ad within its interface.
| __rito__ wrote:
| Messages. The ads come as messages. Like in this video:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YGZwlZqrpU
|
| They sometimes look like this, too [JPG]:
| https://static1.anpoimages.com/wordpress/wp-
| content/uploads/...
| molszanski wrote:
| this is some dystopian bs. I've never realized
| goodle/android is in a such weird place
| chrismorgan wrote:
| And the whole lot bypasses your actual telco, so when you're on
| your nation's do-not-call register, you can't even file a
| proper complaint, there isn't even a number to report.
|
| There is a solution even without changing app: disable RCS.
| Everything real is fine with SMS, so ads are the only casualty.
| I wonder if this stupidity helps kill the already-struggling
| RCS.
| guerrilla wrote:
| Is this the suite that was originally made by Germans or is that
| a different one?
| solstice wrote:
| I use them and like them. One thing to be aware of with the
| dialer (that might not be unique to Fossify): when dialing the
| number of an emergency service (like 112 in Germany), there is no
| indication in the app's UI that something is happening and it
| looks as if the call failed and you will be back looking at the
| dial pad, even though the call will eventually be connected. The
| reason is that these types of calls get handled by something
| deeper in the Android system and will show up neither in the
| "calling" UI of the dialer nor in the list of calls.
| komali2 wrote:
| My phone crashing when I dialed 911 after a car accident was
| the reason I stopped messing around with android roots and
| custom roms and whatnot. When it comes to my phone being a
| phone, I need it to Just Work(tm)!
| justinrubek wrote:
| My personal motivation for doing these things is precisely
| because the device doesn't just work(tm) out of the box. If
| it was sufficient at its job, such hacks would not be
| required. It's because it isn't that they are reached for.
|
| Yes, the current trade-off seems to be that stuff like that
| can break. That isn't the desired state, but it is what was
| prescribed by the manufacturer who seemingly has an interest
| in making the device less functional than it could be.
| ryanmcbride wrote:
| your phone can't dial 911 out of the box? I find that kind
| of hard to believe.
| senkora wrote:
| It was a thing with Google Pixels a few years ago:
| https://www.vice.com/en/article/google-pixel-bug-
| prevented-u...
| Tijdreiziger wrote:
| I remember reading a comment that it was really a VoLTE
| (Voice over LTE) problem.
|
| VoLTE in general seemed to be quite complicated, what
| with both phones and carriers needing the correct
| configuration. IIRC they were working on more
| standardization to prevent these kinds of issues.
| solstice wrote:
| damn, that sucks. I fully agree with the sentiment of your
| last sentence.
| creshal wrote:
| Don't worry, that can happen on a stock Pixel phone too.
| Nobody in the Android ecosystem really cares about
| reliability.
| superb_dev wrote:
| I wish there was an easy way for the layperson to test dial
| emergency services without connecting to a real operator.
|
| Maybe a different 3 digit number that goes through all the
| same hoops as 911 but it answers with an automated success
| message then hangs up.
| sudobash1 wrote:
| Actually there is. You just have to schedule it. I keep
| meaning to do this with my home VOIP phone.
|
| > Test calls confirm that your local 911 service can
| receive your 911 call and has the correct location
| information. Test calls can be scheduled by contacting your
| local 911 call center via its non-emergency phone number.
|
| https://www.911.gov/calling-911/frequently-asked-questions/
| superb_dev wrote:
| Oh this is excellent to hear! I'll have to remember this
| if I ever dive into voip again
| SubzeroCarnage wrote:
| Back when I was developing my DivestOS project, test calling
| 911 was actually a thing I tried to do each month for this
| reason.
|
| There was one time where I did ship an update that broke
| select calls but I had it fixed on all devices in under 24
| hours.
| m463 wrote:
| don't know android, but ios does a lot of unspecified things
| during 911.
|
| For example I have location services turned off, but a
| picture I took while on hold with 911 showed up in my camera
| roll with full location information. I suspect every app gets
| full precise location information during 911 (which sort of
| makes sense in a life-or-death situation)
|
| I wouldn't be surprised if other stuff is affected, like
| networking/vpn, microphone, etc
| devnull3 wrote:
| Is there any list of games with same focus on being ad-free? Does
| not have to be free.
| tisdadd wrote:
| You can use f-droid game category. It will say anti-features if
| it has ada, but don't think many did when I loaded an older
| tablet for the kiddos.
| Paradigm2020 wrote:
| Polytopia, Alto's Odyssey and alto's adventure, monument
| valley, mindustry
| cfiggers wrote:
| Pathos is a NetHack-inspired but mobile-interface-first
| roguelike dungeon crawler packed with features and with no ads
| or micro transactions.
| neiesc wrote:
| Awesome thx!
| crtasm wrote:
| I was still using an old version of Simple Tools Gallery - thanks
| for the reminder to try these. I will donate too.
| meonkeys wrote:
| /e/ OS installed DIY or pre-installed by Murena (especially on a
| Fairphone) solves many of the issues mentioned in other threads.
| It's an AOSP fork with a simple decent launcher and near-zero
| bloatware (I only chose to disable weather and magic earth maps).
| Built-in access to many simpler and more user-respecting apps in
| F-Droid. Tracker protection and other privacy features. Works
| well with Nextcloud if you use that.
|
| Doesn't fit everyone's use case. No iMessage, no RCS, no visual
| voicemail, no spatial audio. Personally I don't need or want any
| of that, I just want a smartphone I can mostly control.
| SubzeroCarnage wrote:
| /e/OS ranks poorly and is consistently months behind security
| updates: https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm
|
| Also visual voicemail should actually work just fine on select
| carriers.
| tweetle_beetle wrote:
| I'd suggest that while /e/ can work at a basic level, the list
| of cons is larger than you make out when I looked at it. The
| Murena team seems small and unable to keep up. As an example,
| look at the hoops users were jumping through for over a year
| just to attempt to use the camera at the advertised pixel count
| without the stock OS:
|
| https://forum.fairphone.com/t/for-a-better-camera-on-degoogl...
| jgarzik wrote:
| Love this! I had the same idea, and was pondering funding apps
| like this. Was going to call it "SimpleFree" and focus on
| privacy, offline, mobile, games.
| mrbluecoat wrote:
| Keyboard doesn't support swipe, unfortunately:
| https://github.com/FossifyOrg/Keyboard/issues/94
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(page generated 2025-06-17 23:01 UTC)