by kej on 6/17/25, 9:39 AM
To save the next person a few clicks, these are Android apps forked from the Simple Mobile Tools collection when that was sold to ZipoApps.
by solstice on 6/17/25, 12:58 PM
I use them and like them. One thing to be aware of with the dialer (that might not be unique to Fossify): when dialing the number of an emergency service (like 112 in Germany), there is no indication in the app's UI that something is happening and it looks as if the call failed and you will be back looking at the dial pad, even though the call will eventually be connected. The reason is that these types of calls get handled by something deeper in the Android system and will show up neither in the "calling" UI of the dialer nor in the list of calls.
by account-5 on 6/17/25, 9:59 AM
Annoyingly brilliant apps, used the old ones before they were sold off, now use these. If only there was other androi apps like this set for other things. Instead the vast majority of the shit (in the truest sense of the word) you get from play store is pretty much akin to malware but definitely spyware.
by reify on 6/17/25, 9:34 AM
I use quite a few of the fossify apps.
love the calculator. with length, area, volume, mass, temperature and time calculations.
the gallery app. I like the renaming and proper deleting. easily remove exif metadata
non intrusive calender. I use it to set up my plant watering schedule.
messages, clear and easy to use
voice recorder, again simple and easy to use
All with absolutely minimal permissions..
NO ADS, no tracking, no data collecting
by kissgyorgy on 6/17/25, 11:14 AM
The apps are so simple, so clear, no fuss, no ads, no nothing. Just the functionality you need from every app. Excellent work!
This is the only project I immediately "donated" with the Thank You app.
by __rito__ on 6/17/25, 12:35 PM
After my smartphone vendor's SMS app, and Google Messages both started serving me non-stop loans ads and gambling ads (never gambled ever in my life), I switched to Fossify Messages, and it has been going great for me. Never looked back.
by heybrendan on 6/17/25, 10:47 AM
by encom on 6/17/25, 10:40 AM
Was recommended the calendar app by a colleague recently, after I complained about how crap the FastMail app is. So far I like it a lot. Does exactly what I need, and nothing more. Together with FairEmail, I can finally purge FastMail from my phone. (I like FastMail as a mail host, just not their app)
by degif on 6/17/25, 11:41 AM
Genuine question – do Android people get ads in their OS default camera, calculator, calendar, phone, file-manager or SMS messaging applications? Or do have these Fossify application some extra privacy features that do not come with the default ones?
by meonkeys on 6/17/25, 1:32 PM
/e/ OS installed DIY or pre-installed by Murena (especially on a Fairphone) solves many of the issues mentioned in other threads. It's an AOSP fork with a simple decent launcher and near-zero bloatware (I only chose to disable weather and magic earth maps). Built-in access to many simpler and more user-respecting apps in F-Droid. Tracker protection and other privacy features. Works well with Nextcloud if you use that.
Doesn't fit everyone's use case. No iMessage, no RCS, no visual voicemail, no spatial audio. Personally I don't need or want any of that, I just want a smartphone I can mostly control.
by floppyd on 6/17/25, 11:50 AM
What's strangely missing from the list of FOSS android apps is a simple "pixel-like" launcher. I have some old devices that I use for small tasks, and I'd love to install the very basic launcher on them, basically the only thing I need is a paginated grid on the desktop, a scrollable list of apps in the main app menu, and a swipe up gesture to bring this menu. I checked a lot of launchers some time ago, and all of them either go hard into "minimalism/functionalism" and don't even show icons, or go deep into customization and fail to be lightweight.
by mrbluecoat on 6/17/25, 8:21 PM
by dingdingdang on 6/17/25, 10:07 AM
I love these projects, a simple way to collectively cleanly payroll a-person/persons to work on these projects would be superb. Structuring of the Zig org is a light-in-the-dark for this sort of thing!
by aquir on 6/17/25, 10:52 AM
Do we / can we have something like these in the Apple Ecosystem?
by edvardas on 6/17/25, 10:01 AM
I was tired of constant popups in stock apps for features I don't want.
Fossify apps get the job down surprisingly well, no more no less.
I use their apps for messaging, gallery, file manager, paint, contacts
by jgarzik on 6/17/25, 1:34 PM
Love this! I had the same idea, and was pondering funding apps like this. Was going to call it "SimpleFree" and focus on privacy, offline, mobile, games.
by b0a04gl on 6/17/25, 11:49 AM
that bit on
> “could end up like simple tools” hits.
seen this before: forks start strong, get love on HN and reddit, but slowly stall. either one dev's doing too much or nobody else steps in. fdroid’s full of ghosts like that. would be smart if fossify locks focus on 3to4 core apps first, builds a contributor base now not later. maintenance isn't exciting, but that's what kills most clean forks
by mcv on 6/17/25, 11:41 AM
I've recently started using several Fossify apps from F-Droid, mostly because it's become impossible to find good non-enshittified apps on Google Play anymore. I don't know if Fossify is the best, but it seems to be a pretty good baseline. Although their launcher and keyboard are lacking. Still looking for something better there.
by crtasm on 6/17/25, 1:29 PM
I was still using an old version of Simple Tools Gallery - thanks for the reminder to try these. I will donate too.
by Imustaskforhelp on 6/17/25, 11:37 AM
I use fossify. its genuinely good.
by devnull3 on 6/17/25, 1:08 PM
Is there any list of games with same focus on being ad-free?
Does not have to be free.
by guerrilla on 6/17/25, 12:46 PM
Is this the suite that was originally made by Germans or is that a different one?
by neiesc on 6/17/25, 1:22 PM
Awesome thx!
by laci37 on 6/17/25, 12:13 PM
This really tells a story about the sad state of android devices, that you have to use third party apps for basic stuff like the file manager to avoid spyware/adware.