This is a list of notable applications (apps) that run on the Android platform which meet guidelines for free software and open-source software.
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aptoide | Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
AdAway | Ad blocker | No | No | Yes [1] | GNU GPLv3 | L16 / 4.1+ | |
Adblock Plus | Ad blocker | ? | No [2] | No | GNU GPLv3 | L7 / 2.1+ | Standalone filtering app was removed from Google Play for breaching Play terms of service. [2] |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aptoide | F-Droid | Google Play | |||||
Brave | Chromium-based web browser with emphasis on tracking prevention, and reforming ad-blocking [3] | Yes | No [4] | Yes | MPL | 4.1+ | Has in-built ad blocker |
Chromium | Primary code-base of Chrome; uses Blink and V8 engines | No | No | No | BSD | 4.4+ | |
DuckDuckGo | Chromium-based; focuses on privacy & tracking protection | Yes | Yes | Yes | Apache 2.0 | 5.0+ | [5] |
Fennec F-Droid | Rebadged fork of Firefox; aims to remove proprietary components | No | Yes [6] | No | MPL | 4.1+ | Same with Firefox for Android, but some proprietary code removed. |
Firefox for Android | Customizable with add-ons; uses Gecko engine | Yes | No [7] | Yes | MPL | 4.1+ | Removed from F-Droid |
Firefox Focus/Klar | Privacy centered browser; uses Gecko engine (GeckoView) | Yes | No | Yes | MPL | 5.0+ | |
GNU IceCat | GNU Project version of Firefox | No | No [8] | No | MPL | 4.0.3+ | IceCat contains features not found in mainline Firefox release and eschews all usage of proprietary components. |
Tor Browser | Mozilla-based browser enhanced for use on Tor anonymity network | Yes [9] | Yes [10] | Yes | MPL | 4.0.3+ | Available in F-Droid by activating the extra Guardian Project repository [11] |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
Collabora Online | Office suite with Microsoft Office compatible word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and vector graphics editor | Yes | Yes [12] | MPLv2 | 5.0+ | An enterprise-ready edition of LibreOffice |
ownCloud | Client for synchronization server | Yes | Yes [13] | GPLv2 | 4.0+ | |
Nextcloud | Client for synchronization server | Yes | Yes [14] | GPLv2 | 4.0+ |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
ConnectBot | SSH, telnet, and terminal emulator | Yes | Yes [15] | Apache 2.0 | 1.5+ | |
CSipSimple | SIP & VoIP client | No | No | GPLv3 | 1.6+ | |
Element | Federated instant messaging and group chat client using the Matrix protocol. | Yes | Yes [16] | Apache 2.0 | 4.1+ | |
Jitsi | Videoconferencing and instant messenger | Yes | Yes [17] | LGPLv2.1 | ? | |
K-9 Mail | Advanced email client | Yes | Yes [18] | Apache 2.0 | 2.2+ | Supports OpenPGP integration with OpenKeychain |
Linphone | Video SIP/VoIP client | Yes | Yes [19] | GPLv2 | 2.2+ | |
Mastodon | federated social network | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | 6.0+ | |
Session | distributed blockchain-based messenger | ? | ? | GPLv3 | ? | Also available for iOS, Linux, and Windows |
Sipdroid | SIP/VoIP client | Yes | Yes [20] | GPLv3 | 2.0+ | works on 1.5 |
WordPress | Official WordPress client | Yes | No | GPLv2 | 2.3+ | |
Zulip | groupware and chat | Yes | No | Apache 2.0 [21] | 5.0+ | Also available for iOS |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
APG | OpenPGP and key management | Yes | Yes [22] | Apache 2.0 | 1.5+ | OpenKeychain available as more up-to-date alternative |
Briar | Peer-to-peer encrypted messaging and forums | Yes | Yes [23] | GPLv3 | 4.0+ | |
Conversations | Federated encrypted instant messaging and group chat | Yes | Yes [24] | GPLv3 | 4.0+ | Interoperable with any Jabber/XMPP clients. End-to-end encryption using OMEMO, OpenPGP (and OTR for versions under 2.0 and the legacy version). Uses traditional login/password with any provider account, instead of quicksy/phone number |
Element (formerly Riot) | Decentralised, encrypted chat & collaboration powered by Matrix | Yes | Yes [25] | Apache 2.0 | 5.0+ | |
I2P | Anonymizing network layer | Yes | Yes [26] | Apache 2.0 | 2.3+ | I2P also maintain their own F-Droid repo. [27] |
IVPN | Privacy-focused VPN service | Yes | Yes [28] | GPLv3 | ? | Also available on Windows, macOS, and iOS; and undergo independent security audit. [29] [30] |
Jami | Softphone and messenger utilizing DHT and strong cryptography | Yes [31] | Yes [32] | GPLv3 | ? | Formerly named "GNU Ring" and "SFLphone". |
Lantern | Peer-to-peer internet censorship circumvention | Yes | No | Apache 2.0 | ? | |
Linphone | SIP client, plus optional ToIP free service | yes | can be used with any SIP provider | |||
Mozilla VPN | VPN service | Yes | ? | MPL 2.0 | ? | Also available for iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows |
Mullvad | Privacy-focused VPN service | Yes | Yes [33] | GPLv3 | ? | Also available for Windows, macOS, and iOS |
OpenKeychain | OpenPGP and key management | Yes | Yes [34] | GPLv3 | ? | Integrates with K-9 Mail. |
Orbot | Client and proxy for Tor anonymity network | Yes | Yes | BSD, GPL | 1.6+ | |
Psiphon | Client for internet censorship circumvention system | Yes | No | GPLv3 | ? | |
ProtonMail | Client end-to-end encrypted email service | Yes | No | GPLv3 | ? | Open source apps on WEB app, Android, IOS, Bridge app. |
ProtonVPN | Privacy-focused VPN service | Yes | Yes [35] | GPLv3 | ? | Also available for Windows, macOS, and iOS; and undergo independent security audits. [36] |
Quicksy | privacy-focused and federated secured xmpp client, using phone number | Yes | yes | Equivalent of conversations, interoperable, but using phone number instead of traditional id/password ; support both PGP or OMEMO encryption plus Jingle for voice/video communication, and file transfers. | ||
Signal | Encrypted instant messaging, voice and video calling | Yes | No | GPLv3 | 2.3+ | Also available for iOS. The Android client is a merger of the former TextSecure and RedPhone apps. [37] |
Surespot | Encrypted instant messaging | Yes | No [38] | GPLv3+ | ? | Also available for iOS. F-Droid build is based on forked repo. |
Telegram | Client for cloud-based messaging platform | Yes | Yes [39] | GPLv2 | 2.2+ | Also available for iOS. F-Droid build is based on forked repo. [40] Server uses closed source software. |
Tox | Peer-to-peer instant-messaging | Yes | Yes [41] | GPLv3+ | 4.0+ | Alpha release |
Tutanota | Client for end-to-end encrypted email service | Yes | Yes [42] | GPLv3 [43] | ? | |
Wire | Encrypted instant messaging, voice and video calling | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | ? | Also available for iOS, Windows and OS X. Server uses closed source software. |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
Citra | Nintendo 3DS | Yes | No | GPLv2 | ? | |
Dolphin | Nintendo GameCube and Wii | Yes | Yes | GPLv2+ | 5.0+ | Requires device with support for arm64-v8a ABI and OpenGL ES 3 or above |
Mupen64Plus | Nintendo 64 emulator | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | 2.0+ | Unofficial port as Mupen64 Plus AE. |
openMSX | MSX | Yes | Yes | GPLv2+ | ? | |
PPSSPP | PlayStation Portable | Yes | Yes | GPLv2+ | 2.3+ | |
RetroArch | Emulates multiple platforms | Yes | Removed | GPLv3 [44] | 2.3+ | |
ScummVM | Emulates multiple gaming engines | Yes | Yes | GPLv2 | 1.5+ | |
Termux | Terminal emulator | Deprecated | Yes [45] | GPLv3 | ? | |
VICE | Commodore systems emulator | Yes | Yes | GPLv2 | ? |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
2048 | Mathematics sliding block puzzle | Yes [46] | Yes [47] | MIT | 2.2+ | Port of 2048 |
Angband | Text-based roguelike | Yes | Yes | GPLv2 | ? | |
Battle for Wesnoth | Turn-based strategy in a fantasy setting | Partial | Yes [48] | GPLv2 | 2.3+ | Ported to Android with SDL |
Brogue | Roguelike | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | ? | |
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup | Roguelike | Yes | No [49] | GPLv2+ | ? | Text-based version also available |
Fish Fillets NG | Underwater puzzle game. | Yes | No [50] | GPLv2 | 1.6+ | Port of Fish Fillets NG |
Freeciv | Turn-based strategy game similar to Sid Meier's Civilization | Yes | No [51] | GPLv2 | 2.0+ | |
Frozen Bubble | Tile-matching puzzle game | Yes | Yes [52] | GPLv2 | 1.6+ | Port of Frozen Bubble |
GLtron | Lightcycle racing game | Yes | Yes | GPLv2 | 2.2+ | Port of GLtron |
H-Craft Championship | SciFi 3D racing game | Yes | No [53] | zlib | 3.2+ | Media is proprietary, but free for personal use. |
HyperRogue | Roguelike in hyperbolic plane | ? | Yes [54] | GPLv2+ | ? | |
Luanti | Sandbox similar to Minecraft | Yes | Yes [55] | ? | ||
OpenArena | First-person shooter similar to Quake 3 (see: id Tech 3) | Yes | No [56] | GPLv2 | 1.6+ | Unofficial port by "pelya" using SDL 1.2 [57] |
OpenTTD | Business simulation game similar to Transport Tycoon Deluxe | Yes | No [58] | GPLv2 | 1.6+ | pelya SDL port [57] |
Pixel Dungeon [59] | Roguelike with pixel art graphics | Yes | Yes [60] | GPLv3 | ? | Also available for Linux, iOS, Windows 10, Mac OS X |
OpenTyrian | Vertical shoot 'em up | Yes | No [61] | GPLv2 | 1.6+ | pelya SDL port [57] |
robotfindskitten | A "Zen Simulation" | Yes | Yes | GPL | 1.6+ | |
Simon Tatham's Puzzle Collection | Collection of puzzle games | Yes | Yes | MIT | 2.1+ | |
Ur-Quan Masters | Source-port of 3DO version of Star Control II | ? | No [62] | GPLv2+, CC by 2.0, CC by-nc-sa 2.5 [63] | ? | Game engine is free, but Star Control art assets are released under a Creative Commons non-commercial license. [64] [63] pelya SDL port [57] |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
Dasher | Accessible text-input method | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | ? | Also available for iOS |
FetLife | Social network catering to the BDSM, fetish, and kink communities | No | No | MIT [65] | 5.0 | Also available for iOS [66] |
GNU Emacs | Extensible self-documenting text editor | ? | Yes | GPLv3+ | 5.1+ | May be compiled to run on Android 2.3 and earlier. [67] Also available for Unix-like systems (GNU, Linux, macOS, BSDs, Solaris), Haiku, Windows, MS-DOS [68] |
Google IO | App for Google IO conference | Yes | Yes | Apache 2.0 | 4.0 | |
OpenLP | Worship presentation software | Yes | Yes [69] | GPLv3 | ? | |
The White House | The official White House app | Yes | Yes | MIT | 2.2+ |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
COVID Alert | Canadian digital contact tracing app | Yes | No | Apache 2.0 | ? | Also available for iOS [70] |
DP-3T | Protocol and reference implementation of decentralized European contact tracing app | ? | No | MPL 2.0 [71] | ? | Also available for iOS |
PEPP-PT | Protocol and reference implementation of centralized European digital contact tracing app | ? | No | MPL 2.0 [72] | ? | |
TraceTogether | Singaporean contact tracing app | ? | No | GPLv3 | ? | Available for iOS [73] Data collected is available to police, and may be used in criminal or other types of investigations [74] |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
AntennaPod | Podcatcher | Yes | Yes [75] | MIT | 2.3.3+ | |
Butter Project | Media player utilising the BitTorrent protocol | ? | ? | AGPLv3 | ? | |
Jellyfin | Client for the Jellyfin Media Server | Yes | Yes [76] | GPLv2+ | 5.0+ | |
Kodi (formerly XBMC) | Media player and center | Yes | Yes [77] | GPLv2+ | Multi | |
Krita | Graphics editor for art and animation | ? | Yes [78] | GPLv3 | ? | Optimized for tablets and may behave poorly on phone screens. [78] Member project of KDE. |
Popcorn Time | Media player utilizing BitTorrent protocol | No | No | GPLv3+ (AGPL exception) [79] | ? | In Nov. of 2015 PopcornTime.io ceased operations after court order from the MPAA issued in Canada. [80] |
Ringdroid | Ringtone maker | Yes | Yes | Apache 2.0 | 4.1+ | |
Rockbox | Media player | ? | ? | GPLv2+ | ? | |
Tribler | Decentralized video sharing | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 [81] | 3.0+ | |
Tux Paint | Simple drawing program for children | Non-free | Yes | GPLv2 | ? | Version on Google Play is published by a 3rd-party & contains proprietary ad libraries in violation of upstream developers' license |
VLC | Media player | Yes | Yes [82] | GPLv2+ | 4.2+ | |
Wikimedia Commons | Client for free media repository | Yes | Yes [83] | Apache 2.0 | 4.4+ | Old CommonsLab app no longer maintained. Current app is community-developed. [84] |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
Avare | GPS aviation application | Yes | Yes | BSD [85] | 4.4+ | Complete *Aviation* EFB & nav app with all official current U.S.A. FAA VFR & IFR charts & data, plus limited free unofficial non-US materials. |
CycleStreets | Bicycle navigation using OpenStreetMap | Yes | Yes [86] | GPLv3 | 6.0+ | |
MAPS.ME | Offline mapping using OpenStreetMap data | Yes | No | Apache 2.0 | ? | |
Mozilla Stumbler | Data gathering for Mozilla Location Service | Yes | Yes | MPL2 | 2.3.3+ | |
Organic Maps | Offline mapping using OpenStreetMap data | Yes | Yes [87] | Apache 2.0 | 5.0+ | Fork of MAPS.ME with proprietary bits removed. |
OsmAnd | Offline mapping using OpenStreetMap data | Yes | Yes [88] | GPLv3 | 2.3+ | Some of the software is available at no cost. There is an unlimited paid version. |
Navit | Car navigation using OpenStreetMap | Yes | Yes [89] | GPLv2 | 2.3.3+ |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
FBReader | e-book reader | Yes | Yes | GPL | 1.5+ | |
iFixit | Official iFixit reader | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | 2.2+ | |
Kiwix | Offline Wikipedia reader | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | 4.0+ | |
MuPDF | PDF and XPS viewer | Yes | Yes [90] | AGPL | 2.2+ | |
Wikipedia | Access to Wikipedia | Yes | Yes [91] | GPLv2 | 2.2+ | |
Wiktionary | Client for crowd-sourced dictionary | Yes | Yes | GPLv2 | 2.2+ | |
XOWA | Offline Wikipedia reader | Yes | Yes | AGPLv3 | 4.4+ |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
BOINC | Participate in distributed grid computing initiatives | Yes | Yes [92] | LGPL, GPLv3+ [93] | 2.3+ | |
Galaxy Zoo | Classify galaxies in crowdsourced astronomy project | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | 3.0+ | |
GCompris | Educational activity suite for children aged 2–10 | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | ? | Member project of KDE |
GNU Octave | Scientific programming language syntax with built-in plotting and visualization tools | ? | No | GPLv3 | ? | [94] [95] |
micro:bit | Interact with a micro:bit device via Bluetooth | Yes [96] | No [97] | Apache 2.0 [98] | ? | Developed by Samsung. [99] Depends on proprietary Google frameworks. [97] |
phyphox [100] | Conduct physics experiments using device sensors | Yes | Yes [101] | GPLv3 [102] | v3.0 | Developed by RWTH Aachen University. Also available for iOS. |
PressureNET | Crowd-sourced barometer network | Discontinued | Discontinued | GPLv3 | Multi | Service and software discontinued |
SageMath | Client for mathematical software | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | 2.0+ | |
Sky Map | Planetarium software developed by Google, and Carnegie Mellon | Yes | Yes [103] | Apache 2.0 | ? | Tracks user telemetry data via Google Analytics [104] |
Stellarium | Planetarium software | Yes | No | GPLv2 | ? | |
Sugar environment | One Laptop per Child learning platform | Yes | Yes | Apache 2.0 | 2.3.3+ | Ported as Sugarizer. |
AnkiDroid | Flashcard spaced repetition for memorization | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | ? |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
Bitwarden | Password manager | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | 4.4+ | |
Haven | Monitoring system to protect against evil maid attacks | Yes | Yes [105] | GPLv3 | 4.1+ | Developed by Edward Snowden under the auspices of The Guardian Project, and Freedom of the Press Foundation. [106] [107] |
Kali NetHunter | Digital forensics and mobile penetration testing platform ROM overlay | No | No | Various | 5.1+ | Developed by Offensive Security |
KeePassDroid | Password manager | Yes | Yes [108] | GPLv3 | 1.5+ | Port of KeePass |
PasswdSafe | Password manager | Yes | Yes | Artistic License 2.0 | 1.6+ | |
Prey | Anti-theft and monitoring | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | 4.0+ |
Application name | Description | Availability | License | API [a] | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Play | F-Droid | |||||
Barcode Scanner | Barcode and QR Code reader | Yes | Yes [109] | Apache 2.0 | 4.0.3+ | |
F-Droid | Graphical package manager for app repositories | No | Yes [110] | GPLv3+ | 4.0+ | F-Droid team also maintain an application repository |
Impress Remote | Presentation remote control for LibreOffice | Yes | Yes [111] | MPL2 [112] | 2.3+ | |
Intra | Experimental DNS over HTTPS client | Yes | ? | Apache 2.0 [113] | 4.0.3+ | |
microG | Replacement for proprietary Google Play Services | No | ? | Apache 2.0 | ? | |
Mycroft | Voice assistant companion | ? | ? | GPLv3 [114] | ? | |
TWRP | Custom recovery image and boot manager | ? | ? | GPLv3 [115] | ? | |
TalkBack | Accessibility services for blind and low-vision users | discontinued | Yes | Apache 2.0 | ? | Integrated into Android and provided by other proprietary Google components |
UserLAnd | Compatibility layer | Yes | Yes | GPLv3 | 5.0+ |
NASA WorldWind is an open-source virtual globe. According to the website, "WorldWind is an open source virtual globe API. WorldWind allows developers to quickly and easily create interactive visualizations of 3D globe, map and geographical information. Organizations around the world use WorldWind to monitor weather patterns, visualize cities and terrain, track vehicle movement, analyze geospatial data and educate humanity about the Earth." It was first developed by NASA in 2003 for use on personal computers and then further developed in concert with the open source community since 2004. As of 2017, a web-based version of WorldWind is available online. An Android version is also available.
Eclipse Jetty is a Java web server and Java Servlet container. While web servers are usually associated with serving documents to people, Jetty is now often used for machine to machine communications, usually within larger software frameworks. Jetty is developed as a free and open source project as part of the Eclipse Foundation. The web server is used in products such as Apache ActiveMQ, Alfresco, Scalatra, Apache Geronimo, Apache Maven, Apache Spark, Google App Engine, Eclipse, FUSE, iDempiere, Twitter's Streaming API and Zimbra. Jetty is also the server in open source projects such as Lift, Eucalyptus, OpenNMS, Red5, Hadoop and I2P. Jetty supports the latest Java Servlet API as well as protocols HTTP/2 and WebSocket.
QGIS is a geographic information system (GIS) software that is free and open-source. QGIS supports Windows, macOS, and Linux. It supports viewing, editing, printing, and analysis of geospatial data in a range of data formats. QGIS was previously also known as Quantum GIS.
Droid is a font family first released in 2007 and created by Ascender Corporation for use by the Open Handset Alliance platform Android and licensed under the Apache License. The fonts are intended for use on the small screens of mobile handsets and were designed by Steve Matteson of Ascender Corporation.
Google Authenticator is a software-based authenticator by Google. It implements multi-factor authentication services using the time-based one-time password and HMAC-based one-time password, for authenticating users of software applications.
Scalatra is a free and open source web application framework written in Scala. It is a port of the Sinatra framework written in Ruby. Scalatra is an alternative to the Lift, Play!, and Unfiltered frameworks.
Kivy is a free and open source Python framework for developing mobile apps and other multitouch application software with a natural user interface (NUI). It is distributed under the terms of the MIT License, and can run on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Aptoide is an online marketplace for mobile applications which runs on the Android and iOS operating systems. In Aptoide, unlike the Android-default Play Store and iOS-default App Store, there is not a unique and centralized store; instead, each user manages their own store. The software package is published by Aptoide S.A., a for-profit company incorporated in 2011, and headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal.
The Guardian Project is a global collective of software developers, designers, advocates, activists, and trainers who develop open-source mobile security software and operating system enhancements. They also create customized mobile devices to help individuals communicate more freely and protect themselves from intrusion and monitoring. The effort specifically focuses on users who live or work in high-risk situations and who often face constant surveillance and intrusion attempts into their mobile devices and communication streams.
K-9 Mail is a free and open source email client for Android. It is designed as an alternative to the stock email clients included with the platform; it supports both POP3 and IMAP protocols and supports IMAP IDLE for real-time notifications. The project is named after the Doctor Who character K9.
F-Droid is a free and open source app store and software repository for Android, serving a similar function to the Google Play store. The main repository, hosted by the project, contains only free and open source apps. Applications can be browsed, downloaded and installed from the F-Droid website or client app without the need to register an account. "Anti-features" such as advertising, user tracking, or dependence on non-free software are flagged in app descriptions.
Sky Map is an Android planetarium software application.
AntennaPod is a free and open-source podcast aggregator app for the Android operating system.
Maps.me is a mobile app for Android, iOS and BlackBerry that provides offline maps using OpenStreetMap data. It was formerly known as MapsWithMe. In November 2014, it was acquired by Mail.Ru Group and became part of its My.com brand. In September 2015, the app was open sourced and a free and open-source software version was additionally made available on F-droid until the application was sold to the payment processor Daegu Limited, part of Parity.com, which changed the application user interface and content, leading original MapsWithMe founders Alexander Borsuk and Viktor Govako to release an open source ad- and tracker-free fork called 'Organic Maps' in response.
Element is a free and open-source software instant messaging client implementing the Matrix protocol.
MicroG is a free and open-source implementation of proprietary Google libraries that serves as a replacement for Google Play Services on the Android operating system. It is maintained by German developer Marvin Wißfeld. In a presentation, Wißfeld described microG as "the framework to create a fully-compatible Android distribution without any proprietary Google components".
There are many apps in Android that can run or emulate other operating systems, via utilizing hardware support for platform virtualization technologies, or via terminal emulation. Some of these apps support having more than one emulation/virtual file system for different OS profiles, thus the ability to have or run multiple OS's. Some even have support to run the emulation via a localhost SSH connection (letting remote ssh terminal apps on device access the OS emulation/VM, VNC, and XSDL. If more than one of these apps that support these protocols or technologies are available on the android device, via androids ability to do background tasking the main emulator/VM app on android can be used to launch multiple emulation/vm OS, which the other apps can connect to, thus multiple emulated/VM OS's can run at the same time. However, there are a few emulator or VM apps that require that the android device to be rooted for the app to work, and there are others that do not require such. Some remote terminal access apps also have the ability to access Android's internally implemented Toybox, via device loopback support. Some VM/emulator apps have a fixed set of OS's or applications that can be supported.
Termux is a free and open-source terminal emulator for Android which allows for running a Linux environment on an Android device. Termux installs a minimal base system automatically; additional packages are available using its package manager, based on Debian's.
Conversations is a free software, instant messaging client application software for Android. It is largely based on recognized open standards such as the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) and Transport Layer Security (TLS).
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)There are a number of third-party maintained lists of open-source Android applications, including: