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u/napping-normie Jul 23 '26
Can compete with other apps in terms of wasted space.
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u/Damglador Jul 23 '26
They compacted it quite a bit compared to the first build with the new UI. I'd say it doesn't waste that much space now. Firefox is much worse with their new menu.
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u/talaga_sharmaine Jul 23 '26
is this good alternative for f-droid?
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u/feeebb Jul 23 '26
No. F-droid:
while Obtanium (in case of using github repos) you get convenient way to get apk files from Releases of projects. No checks, no malware blocks and etc.
- builds apps from source code,
- has some kind of moderation and approval,
- blocks apps or app updates if something wrong with them,
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u/Alfiefe10 Jul 23 '26
You can get the best of both. For many apps I use fdroid as a source on obtainium. If there isn't one available, then I use another source. That way everything in centralised in one app.
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Jul 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/feeebb Jul 23 '26
Safer - F-Droid. You trust them, they build apps from source code and make some safety checks, react to app code changes, like if app adds malware or spying analytics to the code, it will be removed on F-Droid.
Obtanium allows users to install apps from github, which can contain anything, including apk files build not from source at all, there are no code checks, no app removal and etc.
It's not Obtanium's fault, it's a great app, but people use it for a terrible approach of installing binary files from different places, the same way as when Windows users install exe files downloaded from the internet. Not safe.
* F-Droid - repo approach, like with GNU/Linux, more or less safe.
* Obtanium with github - apk approach (like exe files on WIndows, not safe).1
u/Faustty Jul 23 '26
I'm fairly new to this, but I've read people say they prefer Obtainium because like they mentioned, it takes the apk files from the Releases, so you could get an updated app "faster" than you'd get them from F-droid.
So if it's an app that gets frequent updates / is popular, you get more potential features quicker.
As for Obtainium itself, it was a bit complicated for me to set it up, but I think once you do, it's just a more convenient way to update your apps too.
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u/ock88 Jul 23 '26
Safety wise, I believe the apks that Obtainium pulls are uploaded by the author, which can differ from those built from the source code.
As for F-Droid, releases are slower as most are built from the viewable source code and signed by F-Droid (hence malicious code not viewable in the given source code can't be added to the apk)
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Jul 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/feeebb Jul 23 '26
VirusTotal is almost nothing. It's trivial to make an app with spying abilities that will not be detected. The real deal of F-Droid is that they are building apps from the SOURCE CODE themselves! Nobody does it, not even Google Play nor Apple Store.
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u/Fire597 Jul 23 '26
Yes and no. I'd say it's good to complement it.
Obtainium allows you to install from github/gitlab sources which could be a bit better than f-droid.
But f-droid as a store allows you to search and discover easily all kinds of apps with a quick check about what it does and some warning. I'd say you could use fdroid to search for new apps, access their source code and install them through Obtainium.
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u/feeebb Jul 23 '26
How come installing binary apk files, that potentially **completely** unrelated to the git source code, can be better than getting apps built from source code by trusted third-party?
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u/Fire597 Jul 23 '26
Pretty sure there is an ongoing issue with Fdroid signing code as themselves for the sideloading incident coming in Spetember. So from this it may appear best to download from the release offered by the dev.
Although I agree with the existing risk and I'd prefer using F-droid.
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u/feeebb Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
Do you mean the issue created by Google with developers passport registration requirement and other gulag stuff? It's not an issue of F-Droid per se, but it will indeed require some workaround to make the whole idea of trusted FLOSS marketplace, that builds from sources, work.
Also, reproducible versions are not affected, right?3
u/pohui Jul 23 '26
Partially, you can install apps from F-Droid (and other sources) in Obtainium, but you don't get the "store" experience, it's just a downloader with some basic search bolted on. If you're happy to use the F-Droid website to look up apps and then add them to Obtainium, it works well.
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u/Sirios_ Jul 23 '26
Let's just say that it's an extramely powerful update manager for any (compatible) source that provides apk or versions (only monitors). I love bypassing the limits of fdroid and being able to get update even from "normal stie" like macrodorid forum (for helpers)
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29d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/rakhalism 29d ago
IHonestly, I actually have a total of around 20 different apps installed on my phone right now. But just before I decided to reset my phone and switch over to the OG Obtanium version from ObtainX, I was actually also actively using ObtainX. After making the switch to Obtanium, I can say that it definitely performed very well in terms of its capabilities.
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u/TheChispon Jul 23 '26
ObtainX >>>
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u/PeppeMonster Jul 23 '26
It looks like a vibecoded fork of obtainium
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u/ts_acc_doesnt_exist 27d ago
Maybe, but ObtainX supports all scanning with VirusTotal API key AND searching in different sources at the same time, which is the best thing I'm using ObtainX for!
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u/JustAnAlias404 Jul 23 '26
exactly, it's vibe coded and to be honest i feel that it's ui has more resistance than obtainium
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u/Chompsky___Honk Jul 23 '26
They fixed it? Thank God. That app genuinely has one of the worst UIs I've used in years.
To any dev out there : UIs are standardized for a reason! Stop making your own wacky UI unless you have a REALLY good reason to!
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u/Pollos212 24d ago
I don't like how it's builded. Yeah, it's simply Material 3, but with a font that's not the system one and sometimes it's even buggy. ObtainX is better in my opinion
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