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Remove Neo Store, Rephrase F-droid section (#1821)

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@ -256,44 +256,6 @@ The Google Play Store requires a Google account to login which is not great for
Aurora Store does not allow you to download paid apps with their anonymous account feature. You can optionally log in with your Google account with Aurora Store to download apps you have purchased, which does give access to the list of apps you've installed to Google, however you still benefit from not requiring the full Google Play client and Google Play Services or microG on your device.
### F-Droid
![F-Droid logo](assets/img/android/f-droid.svg){ align=right width=120px }
F-Droid is often recommended as an alternative to Google Play, particularly in the privacy community. The option to add third-party repositories and not be confined to Google's walled garden has led to its popularity. F-Droid additionally has [reproducible builds](https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Reproducible_Builds/) for some applications and is dedicated to free and open-source software. However, there are problems with the official F-Droid client, their quality control, and how they build, sign and deliver packages, outlined in this [post](https://wonderfall.dev/fdroid-issues/).
Sometimes the official F-Droid repository may fall behind on updates. F-Droid maintainers reuse package IDs while signing apps with their own keys, which is not ideal as it does give the F-Droid team ultimate trust. The Google Play version of some apps may contain unwanted telemetry or lack features that are available in the F-Droid version.
We have these general tips:
- Check if the app developers have their own F-Droid repository first, e.g. [Bitwarden](https://bitwarden.com/), [Samourai Wallet](https://www.samouraiwallet.com/), or [Newpipe](https://newpipe.net/), which have their own repositories with less telemetry, additional features or faster updates. This is the ideal situation and you should be using these repositories if possible.
- Check if an app is available on the [IzzyOnDroid](https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/) repository. The IzzyOnDroid repository pulls builds directly from GitHub and is the next best thing to the developers' own repositories. We recommend that you download the GitHub builds and install them manually first, then use IzzyOnDroid for any subsequent updates. This will ensure that the signature of the applications you get from IzzyOnDroid matches that of the developer and the packages have not been tampered with.
- Check if there are any differences between the F-Droid version and the Google Play Store version. Some applications like [IVPN](https://www.ivpn.net/) do not include certain features (eg [AntiTracker](https://www.ivpn.net/knowledgebase/general/antitracker-faq/)) in their Google Play Store build out of fear of censorship by Google.
Evaluate whether the additional features in the F-Droid build are worth the slower updates. Also think about whether faster updates from the Google Play Store are worth the potential privacy issues in your [threat model](basics/threat-modeling.md).
#### Neo Store
The official F-Droid client targets a [low API level](https://wonderfall.dev/fdroid-issues/#3-low-target-api-level-sdk-for-client--apps) and does not use the [seamless updates](https://www.androidcentral.com/google-will-finally-bring-seamless-app-updates-alternative-app-stores-android-12) feature introduced in Android 12. Targeting lower API levels means that the F-Droid client cannot take advantage of the new improvements in the application sandboxes that comes with higher API levels. For automatic updates to work, the F-Droid client requires that the [Privileged Extension](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fdroid.fdroid.privileged/) be included in the operating system, granting it more privileges than what a normal app would have, which is not great for security.
To mitigate these problems, we recommend [Neo Store](https://github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Store) as it supports seamless updates on Android 12 and above without needing any special privileges and targets a higher API level.
!!! recommendation
![Neo Store logo](assets/img/android/neo-store.png){ align=right }
**Neo Store** is a modern F-Droid client made with MaterialUI, forked from [Foxy Droid](https://github.com/kitsunyan/foxy-droid).
Unlike the official F-Droid client, Neo Store supports seamless updates on Android 12 and above without the need for a privileged extension. If your Android distribution is on Android 12 or above and does not include the [F-Droid privileged extension](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fdroid.fdroid.privileged/), it is highly recommended that you use Neo Store instead of the official client.
[:octicons-repo-16: Repository](https://github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Store){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Store){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
??? downloads
- [:simple-android: IzzyOnDroid (APK)](https://android.izzysoft.de/repo/apk/com.machiav3lli.fdroid)
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Store/releases)
### Manually with RSS Notifications
For apps that are released on platforms like GitHub and GitLab, you may be able to add an RSS feed to your [news aggregator](/news-aggregators) that will help you keep track of new releases.
@ -342,3 +304,19 @@ If you download APK files to install manually, you can verify their signature wi
Signer #1 certificate SHA-1 digest: 23e108677a2e1b1d6e6b056f3bb951df7ad5570c
Signer #1 certificate MD5 digest: dbbcd0cac71bd6fa2102a0297c6e0dd3
```
### F-Droid
![F-Droid logo](assets/img/android/f-droid.svg){ align=right width=120px }
==We do **not** currently recommend F-Droid as a way to obtain apps.== F-Droid is often recommended as an alternative to Google Play, particularly in the privacy community. The option to add third-party repositories and not be confined to Google's walled garden has led to its popularity. F-Droid additionally has [reproducible builds](https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Reproducible_Builds/) for some applications and is dedicated to free and open-source software. However, there are [notable problems](https://wonderfall.dev/fdroid-issues/) with the official F-Droid client, their quality control, and how they build, sign, and deliver packages.
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.
Other popular third-party repositories such as [IzzyOnDroid](https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/) alleviate some of these concerns. The IzzyOnDroid repository pulls builds directly from GitHub and is the next best thing to the developers' own repositories. However, it is not something that we can recommend, as apps are typically [removed](https://github.com/vfsfitvnm/ViMusic/issues/240#issuecomment-1225564446) from that respository when they make it to the main F-droid repository. While that makes sense (since the goal of that particular repository is to host apps before they're accepted into the main F-Droid repository), it can leave you with installed apps which no longer receive updates.
That said, the [F-droid](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/) and [IzzyOnDroid](https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/) repositories are home to countless apps, so they can be a useful tool to search for and discover open-source apps that you can then download through Play Store, Aurora Store, or by getting the APK directly from the developer. It is important to keep in mind that some apps in these repositories have not been updated in years and may rely on unsupported libraries, among other things, posing a potential security risk. You should use your best judgement when looking for new apps via this method.
!!! note
In some rare cases, the developer of an app will only distribute it through F-droid ([Gadgetbridge](https://gadgetbridge.org/) is one example of this). If you really need an app like that, we recommend using [Neo Store](https://github.com/NeoApplications/Neo-Store/) instead of the official F-droid app to obtain it.

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@ -83,7 +83,6 @@ For more details about each project, why they were chosen, and additional tips o
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
- ![Neo Store logo](assets/img/android/neo-store.png){ .twemoji } [Neo Store (F-Droid Client)](android.md#neo-store)
- ![Aurora Store logo](/assets/img/android/aurora-store.webp){ .twemoji } [Aurora Store (Google Play Client)](android.md#aurora-store)
- ![Shelter logo](assets/img/android/mini/shelter.svg){ .twemoji } [Shelter (Work Profiles)](android.md#shelter)
- ![Auditor logo](assets/img/android/auditor.svg#only-light){ .twemoji }![GrapheneOS logo](assets/img/android/auditor-dark.svg#only-dark){ .twemoji } [Auditor (Supported Devices)](android.md#auditor)