Android questions

[zimena]

Just a quick question for the Android users on my flist: Is F-Droid and the apps from there safe to use, as long as the permissions they ask for are sensible? Or can they be hidden keyloggers or something else scary that I wouldn't want to put on my phone?

I keep seeing recommendations about the Tachiyomi manga reader, and I want to start reading at least some more manga in the new year, so it sounds like something I would want. Besides, I already started reading one manga which is available for free online, but the web reader is kind of clumsy and it'd be nice to have a proper reading app... and there's of course nothing sensible on Google Play, as Google don't like apps that offer things like manga (= copyrighted material) for free.

I use apps from homebrew (= a non-official source) on my computer with no problem, and F-Droid kind of feels like the phone version of the same thing, but I just want to be sure. Would you use it or not?

(catness, I feel like you have some sensible advice here?)

Also, on a different note, I have all my DW icons back. In other words, I renewed my paid account after staying on a free one for a few months. So, I'm here for another year... yay?

Comments

[catness]

I've never used F-Droid myself, as Google Play has everything I need. But it has good reputation, and open-source apps are in general safer than closed-source apps, because malicious activities are much harder to hide, and because the authors are nicer :) I believe there's nothing to worry about.

And Tachiyomi app sounds cool! Pity it wouldn't work for me with such a small screen (I had tried reading manga on Kindle before, and even that is too small).

Yay for staying on DW, and for long thoughtful posts! FB is really not a valid alternative as a blogging media.

[zimena]

Thanks for the input, and for calming my mind. Of course, I already installed it, and it works fine. Also, yay for what you said about open-source apps being safer. That makes sense, I guess.

Also, I guess if I had programming skillz and wanted to write a damaging app, I would of course not put it up so everyone else could examine the code. Also, it would make sense to try to get it on Google Play, because there are potentially many more people who would download it there.

Tachiyomi has a "webtoon" mode, which shows each picture in the manga separately, so it doesn't feel too small to read on a phone, most of the time. Maybe only some of the "drawn" text (things like TAP, CLANK etc, that are drawn onto the pictures, instead of in speech bubbles) can be small sometimes, but otherwise it works okay so far.

I was never too comfortable on FB anyways, so DW is definitely better!