50+ Open Source Android Apps When You Want to Ditch Google

Android is an open-source platform, but most apps you run on Android aren’t Open Source. There are a number of reasons to choose Open Source Android Apps over proprietary software, from security, privacy, or even when you want to use your Android without any Google services.

That said, it’s very hard to know, what apps on the Google Play Store are open source. So, we have compiled a list of 50+ Open Source apps. This list would include apps that are available on the Play Store, F-Droid App Store, and Github.

Productivity

1. Turbo Editor:  Open source text editor that lets you edit code and text files on the go with a beautiful interface.

2. SecondScreen:  Use this app to mirror your android screen on an external display, change the resolution and keep the mobile display off while mirroring.

3. KeePassDroid: Keep your passwords safe in your phone with secure encryption. It allows fingerprint authentication for added security.

4. Flym:  A simple RSS feed reader that displays the links from your favorite websites in a formatted mobile-friendly layout.

5. Tasks: Astrid To-Do List Clone:  Tasks is free and open source task management software that lets you organize tasks based on tags, set location-based reminders and even integrate with Google Tasks.

6. Notebuddy: This app lets you set a password and keep the contents safe. Your password isn’t even saved anywhere just a key is generated for effective safety and transparency.

Utility

7. A2DP Volume: Tired of changing the volume on every single Bluetooth device you connect your phone to? Use this free and open-source app to save the volume preference of every Bluetooth device. It also tells you where your car is parked. Neat.

8. Arity: This calculator does Graphing and computes complex numbers, my Engineering days would have been such a breeze.

9. microMathematics Plus: Solve crazy hard math problems with this app.

10. Dimmer:- This app protects you from straining your eyes during long reading sessions in the dark. Use this dimmer to effectively reduce your Phone screen’s eye piercing brightness.

11. Yalp Store:  We’ve got play store for installing apps but what if we wanted to download APK files directly, Yalp store does that for you. It directly downloads APKs from the play store and you can choose to install it or transfer it to other phones.

12. OsmAnd: Offline maps and navigation. Use this open source app, powered by the OpenStreetMap database to efficiently navigate through streets without the Internet. You can read more about the best offline maps here.

13. Amaze File Manager: People often forget that Android has file directories and you don’t have to rely on specific apps to explore specific types of files. You can manage all the files with this app and even explore the root directories.

14. Apv pdf viewer: Based on native MuPDF library, this app lets you view PDF with many inbuilt features like textual speech support, different color schemes for comfortable reading.

15. Pdf creator: PDF is a widely used format due to the fact that it stores the formatting and prevents any formatting error over different platforms. This open-source PDF creator lets you create PDFs on the go on your phone.

16. Handynotes:  Use this app to take notes on your Android just like the real-life sticky notes. Standard Notes is another app for this purpose.

17. Libre office viewer: Based on the same engine as Libre for windows, it lets you view most of the document file formats (docx, pptx, xls, odp, etc).

18. System App Mover: Sometimes system apps can be too much and need to go, with this app its possible. Requires root. you can send files to and from system folder to user folder and provide special permissions to specific apps.

19. Termux:  It is a terminal emulator for Android and an SSH client. It is a powerful tool if you wish to run servers, install environments, execute scripts and so much more.

20. Lawnchair: Everyone loved the Google pixel for their custom UI and the launcher is just amazing and this launcher gives you the same look on your Android phones with all the features of the original Pixel UI.

21. Clip Stack: Open source Clipboard manager for Android. Display 5 recent texts in notification when copying new text which you can dismiss it by swiping the notification.

22. WiFiAnalyzer: Wifi can be tricky at times and for that, we have this WifiAnalyzer. It lets you optimize your network by comparing the nearby access points.

23. Always on AMOLED: A rather simple notification app that tells time, date and other basic info using the AMOLED feature i.e. only lighting the required pixels and keeping the rest of the screen black hence saving battery.

24. K-9 Mail: An open source alternative to email clients. It supports multiple accounts and lets you configure your mail with POP3, IMAP and Exchange 2003/2007. You can encrypt messages with OpenKeyChain and due to this API this app performs without any issues.

25. APK extractor:  Installing an app from the Play store is fairly easy but it doesn’t give you an option to store APK’s and downloading those online carry a risk of malware. Use this app to be safe and generate APK’s.

Privacy

26. Blokada: Blocks ads on all the apps without draining the battery. DNS66 and Adaway are other open-source apps that block ads effectively you can check out these apps too.

28. OpenVPN:  VPN client to browse restricted content on your phone. Open VPN itself doesn’t create a VPN because you still need access to a VPN server, so just find a VPN and log in with the credentials to access the content without a leash.

29. Blacklist block: It Blocks phone numbers and telecallers and prevents them from reaching you. Using this open Source App will not only give you some privacy but a little peace of mind.

Internet

30. AFwall+: A very powerful firewall for your Android that lets you control the behavior of apps and limit their requests to the online servers. It requires root to override permissions to control the network.

31. Firefox: Firefox is one of the most trusted browsers also happens to be completely open-source and free. Chances are you probably use it and even if you don’t you should if you want an open-source web browser.

32. Duck Duck Go Browser: We all know the perks of a private browser that doesn’t track your activities. This browser lets you surf the internet in peace and privacy.

33. lightning Browser: The open-source browser for Android that pays attention to details and security of the user while ensuring a satisfying web experience.

34. Slide: A companion app for Reddit to bring you the front page on your mobile phone. It is an open-source that accesses the Reddit website and loads the content for you on the app with the same formatting.

Media

35. Binaural wave: Uses sound waves to stimulate brain waves and induce a calming effect.

36. NewPipe: The lightweight youtube app that doesn’t require the native youtube app or google services to play the videos. Furthermore, It just parses through the website to extract the data. Mintube is another app that does the same thing.

37. Open Camera: Open camera is a simple camera that has all the basic features of the decent camera application, plus its open source so you don’t have to worry about big brother watching you.

38. FrostWire Downloader: Not only a torrent client but also a music player. This app also downloads the torrents and lets you play the files in the app itself.

39. Phonograph: The open-source alternative to all the native music players. It does more than just play music on your phone, it also integrates with your last.fm and allows you to edit tags on the files.

40. ScreenCam:  This app lets you record the phone screen without any root access. You get a couple of different options for setting resolution, changing the frame rate and seamless recording pause.

41. VLC: It is one of the best open-source media players for most platforms. It is quick, responsive and supported the majority of the video file formats.

42. Timbre: A simple video editing app for Android that allows you to cut, join and convert audio or video files.

Messaging

43. Signal: An open-source alternative to all the instant messengers and telecommunications apps.

44. QKSMS: Let’s make texting great again. Use this app to replace your native text messenger to a more stylish app while using it just like an Instant messenger.

45. ProtonMail: E-mails are not always secure and can often cause controversy, ProtonMail keeps your E-mails secure with end-to-end encryption just like the popular messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp.

Misc

46. Nfc reader:  You can read all kinds of RFID tags with this, decode hex and reverse hex codes and figure out the technology its based on.

47. Microphone: Use your phone as a loudspeaker or a mic for your computer. Just plug a male-to-male headphone jack and this app instantly transmits your audio.

48. Xkcd: One of the best comic strips about everything and you can view it with this app. You can read the comics, save them offline, share it with your friends and feel relevant reading them.

49. Metronome: Sometimes it’s best to use an app instead of carrying an actual Metronome. Metronome is a device that produces a click at regular intervals that lets you set a tempo and maintaining that pace.

50. Syncthing: It’s a peer to peer file syncing app that lets you share file between platforms over a local network or remote devices. As a result, this app performs better than most of the paid apps.

51. Tachiyomi: It is among the more popular manga reader apps. It supports most of the popular manga websites and the reader is configurable with multiple layouts.

52. AntennaPod: AntennaPod is a podcast manager and player that streams both free and paid podcasts. Additionally, It serves most of the independent and major podcasts like CNN, NPR, and BBC.

Also Read: Best Open Source Browsers for Android

53. Anecdote: It is a famous quotes app that also lets you browse 9gag.

54. Forecastie: Use this app to view the weather on your phone. It is powered by OpenWeatherMap public API and delivers mostly accurate predictions while maintaining a lightweight background.

55. KIWIX Reader: It is an offline Wikipedia reader, instead of downloading the whole encyclopedia you can choose to download your favorite articles and read them later on your phone.

56. 2048: It is my favorite game and I recommend this game to people looking for a fun way to kill time. It’s simple fast and open source and really addictive.

Open Source Android Apps

Open Source Apps in most of the situations are the best bet for a cleaner interface and satisfactory performance. The transparent privacy policy is a big advantage for these apps due to the available source code. We listed 50+ open source apps that are alternatives to their paid counterparts.