APK available outside Play Store?

[IzzySoft]

As not everyone can or wants to access Play Store: any plans to make your app available outside that walled garden – eg by tagging releases and attaching the signed APK there, or have it included with F-Droid?

[brentvollebregt]

I've set up a workflow to build, sign and release the app in this GitHub repo 👍
Let me know if I've missed anything.

[IzzySoft]

Thanks a lot, Brent – looks good! Your app will become available here in about 7.5h from now, so people can use the F-Droid client to install and keep it updated (updates will be fetched within 24h of your attaching the APK to a fresh release). One missing fact: What license did you put your app under?

PS: That "flag" VirusTotal reports can be ignored, it's a frequent "false positive" IMHO (the signature MaxSecure mentions you find only explained at Kaspersky, which itself does not report it).

PPS: Depending on your choice of license, your app would fit all inclusion criteria of F-Droid itself, which is more prestigious than my repo. Should you wish to get your app listed there, I gladly assist (disclosure: I'm one of the maintainers there).

[brentvollebregt]

Wow, that was quick! Thanks for helping with this, I know how much it means to be able to get apps outside the play store for some users and you're doing a great job.

I just put an Apache-2.0 License on this repo/project - hopefully that is all you need.

[IzzySoft]

Yes, thanks! Updated (will become visible with the next sync at the usual time, around 7:45 pm CET/UTC+1). I also promoted your app (and its availability in my repo) on Mastodon yesterday.

My offer to help with bringing it to F-Droid.org still stands. Whenever you're ready, you can take me on it. Thanks again for making your app available as free, libre and open-source!

[brentvollebregt]

Cheers 👌. I am happy for this to be made available on F-Droid.org, what do you need from me?

[IzzySoft]

^^ that statement (thanks!) and that PR #2 merged would make a good start. I'd then open a merge request to get your app in. As it's pure Java, I guess I can manage that.

[brentvollebregt]

Cheers, I've merged #2 and added some more metadata.

Is the version code used in the changelogs folder the android.defaultConfig.versionCode value from the apps build.gradle? e.g. my is currently at 12 (or is it the 1.3.6 value?)

Also with you noting that this app is written in pure Java, would there be something wrong if Kotlin was used?

[IzzySoft]

Thanks! Will go over it in a minute to integrate it with your app's configuration in my repo (done).

And yes, the <versionCode>.txt in the changelogs is based on the versionCode in your build.gradle – so 12 is indeed the current one. Please give me a ping when you've integrated that so I can enable it here as well.

Both Java and Kotlin are the easiest to integrate with F-Droid, and I dare processing them myself. Flutter is a bit so-so (sometimes tricky); while easy for the developer, it often rules out usage on low-end devices due to the app size (I test on an Android Go device, and found that a Flutter app with more than 25M kills everything else), and the build block is not as "easy" as with Java or Kotlin. All other apps I have to leave to more experienced packagers 😉

[brentvollebregt]

@IzzySoft I've just added the changelog files to the fastlane metadata directory - cheers for the note on the versionCode.

What else do I need to do to get this app onto F-Droid.org?

Both Java and Kotlin are the easiest to integrate with F-Droid, and I dare processing them myself.

Sweet, I don't intend on adding anything other than Java or Kotlin to this project.

[IzzySoft]

What else do I need to do to get this app onto F-Droid.org?

Just waiting for your next release (so we have a tag with Fastlane inside). Give me a ping when it's there, and I'd start the merge request to bring your app in.

I don't intend on adding anything other than Java or Kotlin to this project.

Then there's good hope I can fully process it myself 😃 But even if not, I'd just call for assistance there and one team member or the other would help out.

[brentvollebregt]

@IzzySoft I've just released v1.3.7 - thanks for the help

[IzzySoft]

Thanks! And there you go. Just opened that MR, will take about an hour for the issuebot to turn up with its scan results. If all goes well, what follows is a review by me, and finally the merge. From then on it usually taks about a week for the app to show up (needs to run through the build cycle incl. manual signing and index publishing). 🤞

[IzzySoft]

Good news: Straight hit, build succeeded right away! Now waiting for issuebot…

[IzzySoft]

All done! Find my review here. I've just merged the metadata, so the next build cycle (probably starting on Monday) should pick it up. With some luck, you're app will be listed at F-Droid.org before the next week is over. Congrats!

About a week after your app is online there, I'd usually remove it from my repo – unless explicitly requested to keep it (some background here in my FAQ). So just let me know in case I shall keep it then 😉

[brentvollebregt]

Thanks heaps @IzzySoft, this process has been very smooth with your help 🙏

[IzzySoft]

Gladly done 😃