Missing apps in /e/ app store

L’appli Boursorama est bien présente et a priori c’est l’équipe /e/OS qui pousse les appli sur son store (ou les référence). Bon Aurora a le mérite de mettre en place des applis plus récentes mais quand même les applis bancaires deviennent de plus en plus critiques à cause des authentifications à deux facteurs.

(DeepL : ‘Banking applications are becoming more and more critical because of two-factor authentication.’ said julek)

Yes, that’s a pity, banks don’t care about common users’ privacy, using ggPS, aws and so on without consent nor alternative.

e.App store is just a provider and can’t guarantee that apps will work smoothly with /e/. Just lists trackers and estimates its ‘privacy’…

But if it acts as a proxy could it integrate those apps in its “white list” ?

I want to suggest the app “Eqiva Lock, eQ-3 AG” for the /e/ app store, but I can not find the"request a new app" feature in the /e/ app store. I am using a Samsung Galaxy S6 with /e/ 06.2019060312136. Newer Versions do not run on this phone. Maybe the feature is not included within this old image.

There is an unofficial Oreo build for zeroltexx, you could use it :

https://ecloud.global/s/627roJggCMLQYDa

This unofficial build is a Test version, it is not fully working according to some users feedback .
The last working official dev build is nougat from 2020.02.15

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Newer Versions of /e/ include this feature. I have installed /e/ on an FP2 and found the “App-Suggestion”-Feature.

How can I request a new app in the /e/ app store? I did not find this feature.

In the settings of Apps you’ll find an option to request missing apps.

Thank you! I’ll try it!

Hello,
In 2019 when I started using /e/, I requested some apps that were missing in the /e/ app store.

After a while some of them became available for installation, but 2 years later I remark that some others are not yet. If I launch a new request, I get the answer that the app is already available or already requested.

Is there a way to check why these apps are still missing despite the request? Or to open a ticket for that?

Thanks!

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I am also wondering about the progress of an app request. I am not even sure that the request was entered correctly, since I never saw a confirmation. I posted a separate topic before I noticed this one (Checking progress from Google store to /e/ Apps).

If someone knowledgeable (which is not me) can write a comprehensive discussion of installing Apps under /e/ OS, that will be very helpful.

The remainder of this post is just general muddled musing on the organization of Apps, which might help a knowledgeable person understand the low level of understanding of potential readers.


I have the /e/ Apps store, and something called F-Droid. I just read about the Aurora store and found a [HOWTO] for using it ([HOWTO] Download every app in the Google Play Store thanks to Aurora Store). But I am reluctant to have 3 different routes for loading Apps, and I don’t understand the long term implications. E.g., if I pull an App through Aurora, and it appears later on the /e/ store, I probably want to switch over. Would I have to check regularly for such things? That’s just an example of a bit of confusion that perhaps could be fixed by a good document. I appreciate that it is not easy to organize these [HOWTO]s, so this is just a soft suggestion, not a complaint.

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As I read more about installing Apps with Aurora, as well as with the /e/ store, I find that I don’t understand the difference. Do /e/ programmers clean up the apps, perhaps purging some Google dependencies? Do they vet them for some good qualities? Is the main point to anonymize the use of the App? One person mentioned that Aurora violates the Google terms of service in its anonymous access. Does /e/ satisfy Google while providing anonymity? Is it possible to install Apps directly from Google Play? If so, what exactly am I exposed to? If it were merely letting Google know that I have the App, not so bad. If it allows Google surveillance to run within the App, much worse.

Any sort of general explanation of the App world would help. My new Teracube with /e/ OS is the first “smart” phone that I have ever used, so I cannot update a previous understanding of Apps by just considering the changes made by /e/.

No. /e/OS developer do not alter the apps that come through the App Store. You can check this using a PGP signature check, or a checksum.
We also do not share any inputs with google regarding this. The point to be noted is if a user is installing an app like WhatsApp or Facebook on top of /e/OS then their information is for sure going to pass on to Google through these particular apps. Also not all apps that can be installed on /e/OS will work as some have a clear dependency on Google code. You can find a list here.

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Thanks. That helps a lot.

I am still not totally sure of the point of the /e/ App Store. I am guessing that anonymizing the download of the App is a key advantage (but, as you point out, there may be further surveillance through the App), and that you include only Apps that will probably work with microG. Also, some of the basic /e/OS Apps are probably not in the Google Play Store at all.

This post by Gael on a connected topic seems to imply that the main point of the /e/ App Store is to download anonymously.

Going on to the Aurora confusion, it seems that there is no disadvantage to an App downloaded through Aurora vs. the /e/ App Store, but the use of Aurora itself requires some work to avoid conflict with the /e/ App Store on items that are in both.

The app store is required as we cannot use the other existing repositories as is. We will be making some changes in the app store as part of the next release. You can read the details here
You as the user can decide which store you want to use regularly.

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These two consecutive FAQ entries give the best information that I can find regarding requests for apps: FAQ entries

I am missing the “requst an app” feature in the new App Lounge, is it a bug should it be like this?

It shouldn’t be needed because - from what developers have said - App Lounge gets it apps

  • direct from Google’s Play Store, for non-FOSS apps. Some apps in the Play store are geo-restricted which may mean they don’t appear for you. This is the case in Aurora Store, and there is a known solution for that. I don’t know whether the same problem (or solution) is present in App Lounge.
  • from F-Droid via cleanapk.org for FOSS apps. cleanapk claim to get their apps direct from F-Droid so, as far as I know, if an app is available in F-Droid it should be available in App Lounge

Which app are you missing? Is it available from F-Droid and / or Google’s Play Store?

That makes a lot of sense, and I should have come up with this answer myself if had thought it through thoroughly, sorry!
It just shifts my problem know:
There seem to be compatibility problems with the “Lego Boost App”, I need it for my kids… :slight_smile:
Thanks for taking care anyway!