/e/ App store is live

ralxx · May 17, 2019, 9:07am

I confirm that. The same for me.

nihar1024 · May 17, 2019, 9:12am

There seems to be a GitHub issue open on the Blokada repo regarding this: https://github.com/blokadaorg/blokada/issues/324

darkvadd7 · May 17, 2019, 9:12am

Yes, yesterday I had an update for Vinyl Music Player, I saw it in F-Droid, but not in Apps.

nihar1024 · May 17, 2019, 9:15am

Alright, thanks for letting us know. Maybe the update was very new. In that case, it could take a few hours to a day for the update to show up in Apps.

If the update still doesn’t show up after two days, please let us know.

MarcusE1W · May 17, 2019, 3:01pm

First of all, thanks for this app, really great.

Here are my thoughts after using it a bit. Some might sound critical but is really only meant as my view and suggestions. The -app-store is super already.

Discovery

With search, categories and the home screen discover ability of app is very good.

The instant search while you type does not always work (e.g. firefox). After a few more try’s I think it takes just a bit long so that you have typed the full search name and pressed search already in some cases before the search help comes up.
In am not sure by what the apps in the Categories menu are sorted. Maybe some sort and filter functions could be helpful moving foreward?

Privacy rating

Excellent to show the privacy rating in the search result. Although it is not really clear to me what it actually means and some apps that I use and trust have a surprisingly low rating.
e.g :
The Chrome browser from Google has a privacy score of 5.0 and Firefox from Mozilla has a score of 3.0 ?

Install

Works nice.

The feedback the screen gives during the install process might be a bit confusing when it first shows a percentage (for download ?) that goes to 100% and after that comes the install process. This is when installing from the search result list directly. Due to the 100% I thought all is done at first…

Rating

It is unclear to me why it says N/A in the rating for an app. Example Joplin
Is this not a user rating gathered in the /e/ app store from people who installed the app?
-As of now I amnnot sure how the rating works.

Or maybe is this feature not active yet?

Appearance

The /e/-app-store looks super

I love the icon as well.

General info

At least for me it might be helpful to understand a bit how the app manager works and which apps it contains. I am not so familiar with this.

Are all apps from f-droid automatically included in the /e/-app-store?
How do the various app-stores play together?
If I have previously installed an app with yalp.
Should I uninstall it and reinstall with the /e/-app-store or does it not matter?

cedricoola · May 17, 2019, 4:05pm

Lastpass is rated 0 in Privacy!?
If this proves to be true I will only use their service from my pc.

q3adr · May 17, 2019, 6:02pm

Some examples of apps could have updates.

I haven’t any updates listed in “updates”. I installed “Moovit” and “Nike training club” from /e/App and Yalp proposes updates when /e/ doesn’t. It appears that /e/Apps have older versions. Some examples :

Facebook Lite :

Current version on phone (using Yalp) : 146.0.0.9.102 (this is the version https://www.facebook.com/lite/ proposes)
Version available on /e/Apps : 143.xxxx
Version available on Aptoide : 147.xxx (maybe they are in the future or fake apps ?!)

Whatsapp :

Version on phone (using Yalp) : 2.19.134
Version on /e/Apps : 2.19.115
Version on Aptoide : 2.19.144

Clash Royale :

On phone : 2.7.2
On /e/ : 2.7.1
On Yalp : 2.7.4 (but Yalp cannot install it on my phone because of split apk)
On Aptoide : 2.7.5 (until now the only store that allow me to install it)

And so, Moovit and Nike Training Club

So I will wait to test this functionnality.

Sometime apps cannot be installed or search fails :

It loads and then say “something went wrong”, but eventually it works. Regarding what is said it seems to be a known bug.

Missing apps
There isn’t tinder, how will I find a girlfriend ?!

Globally easy to use, nice design, fluid and good point it seems to be able to install split apk (I had some issues with this point when using Yalp that was the reason I also used Aptoide).

Nice job, waiting for Tinder.

Question : If I have to reinstall my phone, apps will be restored when syncing my /e/ account ? That would be awesome, currently I’ve always to reinstall everything.

Thank you for all the job done anyway !

donut3 · May 17, 2019, 6:14pm

I love the idea of syncing the apps, tied with /e/ account!!!

Usem · May 17, 2019, 6:40pm

I encounter the same issue with downloading via firefox focus or Frost for facebook. All app using androids download manager and blokada.

Usem · May 17, 2019, 7:01pm

I received the OTA update today,

Phone: Oneplus One - bacon.
I’m agree with all feedback on /e/ app store. I wait the black/dark theme.

Apps updates:

I put here two screenshot , the first is Aurora update tab and the /e/ apps store one:

Genjuro · May 18, 2019, 2:03pm

The apps store looks very promising. Love the slick UI.
Will we have to reinstall all our non-system apps downloaded from F-Droid and YALP in order for the updates to work though ?

What I’d like in the future:

A dark mode.
Fresher apps updates.
Apps filters (by language, privacy rating, open source or not etc…).

nihar1024 · May 19, 2019, 1:58am

Hi! Thank you for your feedback! I’m glad you like the UI.

No, you most likely do not need to reinstall apps downloaded from other sources.

Thanks for your suggestions for future updates. Dark mode is already on my ToDo list, hopefully I can get to it soon

One question: I don’t think I know what you mean by fresher app updates

pjmbraet · May 19, 2019, 5:06am

I like it, but there is still a lot of work to do: it can be somewhat buggy (already reported). It would be nice if the app store could find installed apps, which it apparently can’t. Shouldn’t there be a category “Security and Privacy”? I also don’t understand wat an app as this (screenshot) does in the app store of a “degoogled” system like /e/:

Genjuro · May 19, 2019, 8:12am

Thanks for your answer.
Glad to know about the upcoming dark mode !
By “fresher apps updates” I meant more up to date *.apks.
For instance, on Apps, Brave Browser is 1.0.91 while it’s 1.0.94 On Yalp (Play Store).

nihar1024 · May 19, 2019, 8:16am

Ah okay. Thanks for clarifying.

Tycho · May 19, 2019, 2:06pm

I am sorry to say I am rather disappointed with the new Apps store. I thought it would be a more curated selection of privacy and security adhering apps. Instead I see rubbish like Facebook, Google+ and “Fake Girlfriend Video Chat”. What does this store have over Yalp or Aurora? Maybe if it had a special privacy section
prominently listed it would be worth it but it does not. How does this app benefit a person who just installed /e/ fresh and is looking for apps that align with the /e/ philosophy?

(fixed typo)

mcmd · May 19, 2019, 3:25pm

I am not a dev. Heck, I’m not even a user yet as I am awaiting a phone with /e/ preinstalled so please take what I’m about to say with a large grain of salt and great respect-

I think we can agree that anyone using the /e/ OS is already cognizant generally of the risks of the apps they install…

I’m not sure I want any organization (no matter how well-intentioned) to limit my ability to install an app/use my phone as desired and in keeping with my own risk tolerance so long as it is technically feasible.

So if someone wants to use (or has to use) a FB, Google, etc. app I respectfully submit that there should be no prohibition nor disparagement in doing so. I believe that disallowing access to these type of apps is contrary to the goal and philosophy of freedom of use.

Again, just to be clear, I’m not a dev and my thoughts aren’t sanctioned by them.

EDIT: Made a sentence a bit clearer.

willysama · May 19, 2019, 7:36pm

I’m a dev and I agree with you.
People shouldn’t be limited in their app installation. I think it’s important we don’t forget that we want mum and dads to use our OS. So they could begin to think about their privacy. And maybe don’t install FB and others.
As soon as they aren’t installed by default I think it’s ok

Tycho · May 19, 2019, 7:50pm

I agree, and there is no prohibition at the system level. You can install almost any app you want and it should work as long as MicroG can emulate the necessary google bits. Anyone can install Yalp or Aurora and get access to all the play store apps.
Why not just include Aurora as the installed App store? It seems the limited development resources could be better spent on other things than the Apps app if it doesn’t offer something different.

Manoj · May 20, 2019, 2:56am

I agree with the viewpoint that w/e/ should not be dictating what users install on their device. Then that becomes the same as a default Samsung ROM or a MIUI ROM which is packed with uninstallable system apps. Let the user decide what he / she wants to install. If I am foolish enough to install a Facebook or WhatsApp then that is a risk I am taking! Unfortunately a lot of our friends and relatives are still on these apps so unless we plan to live in total isolation I guess we will still need these apps to be around for some time . At best we should give the user a brief warning about the dangers of installing the app.