F-Droid received its biggest update in ten years. But one feature disappeared

For anyone who wants to use Android without the Play Store, F-Droid has long been the first choice. After a year of development and fourteen test builds, the project has now released version 2.0, which it calls the biggest change in a decade. And it’s not exaggerating — virtually the entire application has been rewritten.

Search that finally works

The biggest pain point of the old F-Droid was that you had to know the exact name of the app. The new search now also goes through descriptions, categories, and translated content, so you can find something even if you only know what it does. Furthermore, results can be filtered by category, device compatibility, and so-called anti-features — properties that may not be desirable, such as reliance on closed services.

The main menu consists of three sections: Discover, Search, and My Apps, while settings and app sharing between devices have moved to the top bar. The Discover section collects categories, newly added apps, fresh updates, and most downloaded titles.

Installation without waiting

Installation has also undergone a practical change. F-Droid 2.0 utilizes the pre-approval interface that Android offers — on supported devices, you can approve the installation immediately after selecting the app, instead of waiting for the download to complete. The client can also check for and install updates in the background. The pull-to-refresh gesture, however, has disappeared; manual update checks have moved to the three-dot menu.

Warning: One feature is missing

The emergency feature for risky situations has changed — previously, when an emergency signal was triggered, the app could pretend to be a calculator; now it only changes its icon and name, but remains visible in system settings. More importantly, the ability to delete apps upon an emergency signal has not returned in version 2.0. According to the developers, those who rely on it should wait to update.

Tor network support has also been simplified. Automatic detection has disappeared, and the previous option has moved to general proxy settings, with Tor VPN now being the recommended method.

Do you use alternative app stores, or is the Play Store enough for you?

Source: Notebookcheck, F-Droid