Cannot install F-Droid apps through App Lounge

Hi,

On a fresh install of official /e/OS on a Google Pixel 5, I can not install any open-source apps through App Lounge, but only the closed-source apps. I’m logged in with “Anonymous mode”, showing all apps.

Apparently, I’m not the only one, people have been having this problem for a long time (see e.g. here and here). The solutions suggested are to clean App Lounge cache+storage & turning off Advanced Privacy, which I have tried, and simply not using App Lounge, which I have not tried, yet.

I can also see that App Lounge is still serving beta software, which is a pretty serious condition imo, and this has been known and accepted for a long time.

The point is that I need some closed-source apps, so I cannot rely only on F-Droid. I thought the whole point of App Lounge was to make the integration of open-source apps and closed-source apps offered only through Google Play simple, with the “Anonymous mode” to keep Google out. How can I achieve this without App Lounge? And, as this is a central theme of the whole /e/ philosophy, why isn’t more resources put into fixing App Lounge? The whole thing seems like beta software at best.

@Manoj ?

Due to the outage, services were impacted. For now, App Lounge Open Source app downloads will not be functional.

Alright, thanks for the quick reply. What about the beta software being offered through App Lounge in place of stable releases? Any ideas to fix that soon?

Install Aurora Store (from F-Droid). It allows anonymous installation of any app from the Google Play Store

You only need F-droid to install open-source apps, apps from Gplay Store are still available through App Lounge.

will download of open source apps be possible in future with the app lounge?

It already is (given issues are fixed)
If you don’t find them check app lounge settings, might be switched off…

1 Like

And btw, how would one add f-droid repositories to app Lounge?

As far as I know that is not possible,
app lounge only provides the “original fdroid”,
if you want to use other fdroid-repositories you need to install fdroid and add them there (or droidify or the like…)

Thank you @obacht , that was my workaround so far.
But it would be nice to get rid of the redundancy…

That’s the trouble with small screens, they’re narrow minded and don’t allow the broad world view which might have allowed me to notice someone had asked a v similar - in fact, direct opposite - Q before I posted my own

Oops; Soz

Anyway, if it’s useful info, I installed the Amazon App Store when I needed an ‘official’ version of Tailscale and couldn’t work out how to disable the F-Droid ‘inofficial’ (Tailscale do link to F-Droid, but don’t build for it) version in App Lounge

They plan to add it, don’t ask when

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