“ F-Droid is bad because X and Y, Check out Acrescent which solves problem X and Y”.
But this is only part of the story. What about F-Droid advantages? Nothing is said.
Let me give you a example. I recently downloaded “Qlango” from Acrescent. It dubs itself as “the most effective language app”. U thought: great, a mainstream-use app that isn’t only available on Google Play. But the app is freemium, so I decided to test a premium subscription. I click and it opens Google Play billing system. Seriously?
So my broader point is : Acrescent doesn’t have any philosophy that apps need to follow It’s essentially just a Google Play but without the tracking.
On F-Droid on the other hand, the app need to be open-source, and the user is warned when there is tracking or ads (very very rare) or anti-Freedom/non Opensource parts or features. The open-source requirements isn’t just a mere technical aspects, it ensure only developers with a mindset (generally) aligned with digital rights can publish,and you as a user don’t have to worry about spyware, adware or crapware.
If Acrescent want to grows, it needs to establish clear goals on which category of apps it want to allow and promote, and which it doesn’t.
I think Accrescent is still a beta. I dont think they’re even accepting new apps at the moment.
So yeah, this isnt really a hot take. The beta app store is not positioned as a drop-in replacement for established alternatives.
The project has potential. Its future depends on where the devs take it. But today, there are only ~30 apps available. It’s basically a proof of concept
Mainly I think we can’t expect the average user to use more than two app stores - and two is already pushing it. The options here are play store and fdroid when it comes down to it. It doesn’t matter if there’s technically better options because people will use what other people are using, both end users and devs. It’s like how most people don’t choose the technically best social media platform or messaging app.
Fdroid and google play also both fill their niches very well. I think the vast majority of people who use them are fully satisfied with them.
I’m speaking as someone with accrescent on my phone who likes and uses it. I use a mix of open and close source applications and I want security without tracking, so I would love for it to get more popular, but I don’t know where they’re supposed to get the momentum to do that. Maybe if grapheneOS continues to get more widely used they’ll eventually have enough clout to generate it themselves, but for now they don’t.
And that is great. PlayStore is the only reason left why I’m signed in to google on my GrapheneOS device, since aurora is too unreliable and I need some closed source apps. If there were more closed source apps on Accrescent in the future it might exactly fill the gap that f-Droid leaves with their FOSS only philosophy. Also AFAIK Accrescent doesn’t aim to be some kind of FOSS-Only or privacy focused app distribution platform, they just want to be a secure place for distributing and getting apps.
I’ve been saying Accrescent is a pointless project for years and they keep pushing it on GOS discussion spaces. No proprietary app is going to be bothered with another app store.
This whole post feels like a response to a conversation that nobody was having. They almost ran out of money in August and have no semblance of a business plan. I am not sure where this idea that people were calling it “the future” is from.
The big advantage F-Droid has over Accrescent is that it’s a functioning app store and not a $5,800/month proof of concept.
Acresscent functions quite well. I find it just as easy and reliable as google play.
I didn’t use it when it was newer, so I don’t know if that’s a change from the past. The only issue is the lack of applications, but that’s a big deal considering we’re talking about an app store.
I hope accrescent is the future, it’s a great concept but it certainly isn’t the present and highlights to me what a great shame it is that GrapheneOS and F-Droid can’t iron out their misalignments.
Currently imo obtanium/Appverifier are a better resource for loading apps and I think they could be combined to make a useful appstore like experience.
While I agree in general, appverifier in some ways has a similar problem to accrescent in that its database is far to small. Part of this is out of their control as its not common for apps to publish their certificate hash for people to check against.
I was actively reading the Accrescent matrix chat about a year ago, and I remember the lead Dev being open to adding closed source and paid apps (with basic security checks like devs having to explain why they use “dangerous” permissions etc.). So I can’t really give a concrete source stating this but you could check out the matrix chat.
I think this is the least of Accrescent’s problems. The main issue is the development of the project. The developers made many promises that the app itself would be improved in the near future and that more applications would be added to the store. However, after a year, I still haven’t seen any progress.
This blog, which was created almost a year ago, speaks for itself. The apps have remained the same for nearly a year. I also donated some money to this project, but apparently, I was mistaken. To me, it’s a flop project that won’t continue to grow.
However, I still hope that what I’m saying is completely wrong, because the idea is brilliant, in practice they’re applying really badly.
I feel like this is the problem with a lot of (mostly security focused) projects like these, which is that they are not born out of a genuine need that most users know they have.
Like, I kinda have no worries about F-Droid staying around forever even if they stopped getting donations, because enough people use it and need it to stick around that there will inevitably be some people who just volunteer to keep it running.
Accescent doesn’t even fully serve the needs of the developer himself, unless he literally only uses the few apps that are on Accrescent and installs nothing else? Like all other Accrescent users, he must need to use GPlay/Aurora/F-Droid/whatever too, which kinda makes Accrescent a tough sell.
The second problem is that after you make a blog post like that, and have a specific number, I think it really harms donations. I just went to look at donating, and I see:
To me, I’m looking at this and I’m really wondering where my $50/month will even go, if he is nowhere near getting the $5,800/month goal yet. Is it basically just a gift I’m giving that he’ll just pocket because he doesn’t have time to work on it yet? I’ll do it anyways (kept forgetting to before lol) but I still worry it is a bit of a waste.
In their defense, they have a few subsequent blog posts like this one which are a bit more reassuring.
