publish android app on f-droid as well

[natrius]

As it is open source, do you plan to release it on F-Droid store as well? Its an open source store for android. https://f-droid.org/ You can use a special template so its easy to see directly in the app the last changes or the cahngeset of the last update. Should work automatically as well, afaik.

https://f-droid.org/

In the FAQ there is a short introduction as well https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Submitting_to_F-Droid_Quick_Start_Guide/

Ref: https://github.com/UltraStar-Deluxe/Play/issues/104

[achimmihca]

The apk of UltraStar Play can be found on the release page. Further, an apk is created for every push to our main branch by GitHub Actions.

I guess, someone can publish this apk on F-Droid

[achimmihca]

Here is a PR of someone who added a project to F-Droid: https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata/-/merge_requests/2121/diffs Looks like one has to provide a txt file with some data. The example links to a gradle project on GitHub.

Question is, how to provide a link to an apk? Or maybe even to a release containing an apk? Then a new GitHub release of USPlay might be available in F-Droid without further doing

[achimmihca]

UltraStar Play does not satisfy the Inclusion Policy of F-Droid:

For software to be FLOSS, the software in its entirety must be so - including all libraries and dependencies used.
Additionally, it must be buildable with only FLOSS tools.

UltraStar Play is built on Unity, which is a proprietary platform. Thus, we cannot publish it to F-Droid

[natrius]

Thanks for looking into this. Maybe create your own repository so everybody can just include your repository into F-Droid? https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Setup_an_F-Droid_App_Repo/ Just a thought :)

[natrius]

@achimmihca You could, as i said, create your own repository and make it autogenerate. It has the benefit of the people installing it through the f-droid repository getting autoupdate and that quite fast. You might be able to ask if @IzzySoft is able to take into his repository, but you have to match/use the fastlane file structure if I remember correct.

Nice to see the project getting forward :)

[achimmihca]

As I said above, UltraStar Play does not satisfy the Inclusion Policy of F-Droid.

People are free to fork and modify UltraStar Play as they please and can try to create a release on F-Droid.

But given their policy, I think any attempt will be in vain because the Unity platform is not FOSS software.

However, a release on Google Play may be nice for Android users.

[IzzySoft]

While criteria for my repo are a bit less strict than F-Droids, it usually does not include games. I might consider an exception to that here, but then the file size of the APK is also beyond the 30M per-app limit set with my repo. A quick scan of the APK reveals:

Offending libs:
---------------
* Google Mobile Services (/com/google/android/gms): NonFreeDep
* Unity3d Ads (/com/unity3d/ads): Ads
* FMOD (/org/fmod): NonFreeDep

3 offenders.

which would be just inside the tolerated numbers.The missing Fastlane structure however would not be a stopper; though I'd highly recommend it (so you have control about how the app is presented), I'd just need a fine description, the icon, and ideally some screenshots. But category PLUS size not fitting somehow outrules it.

An open way would be, as @natrius suggested, to create your own repo. That might be easier than you expect, see this article and its follow-up one in my blog. All ingredients are free.

[achimmihca]

I see, users can add custom repos to their F-Droid client? And we could use this to provide our own repo for UltraStar Play?

I guess this would be similar to how Ubuntu supports personal package archives (ppa)?

[IzzySoft]

users can add custom repos to their F-Droid client?

Exactly. On the linked article, you can use the fdroid tag to discover more. Adding custom repos is described in the article for advanced users (part 2 of the series on F-Droid).

And we could use this to provide our own repo for UltraStar Play?

Definitely! I e.g. host (and maintain) a repo for a customer who did the very same, also in the game sector. If you want to take a look, it's included with my repo browser: the Metatrans Apps Repository.

I guess this would be similar to how Ubuntu supports personal package archives (ppa)?

Good comparison, yes. As for the apt-add-repository command (or its graphical counter-parts): that's as easy as scanning the QR code presented there and opening the link. If the repo url contains /fdroid/repo (which it usually does), the F-Droid client offers itself then along with any installed browser. User picks that, and gets a pre-filled form just waiting for its "add" button to be pushed – et voila, added.

What's more (and you did not ask): there are several lists around listing available repos. I bet not a single one of them is complete, but users find their way around. The 3 most common can be found 1) in the F-Droid forum, 2) with a collection presented by Mondstern and 3) again with my blog. I can add repos to the latter, you to the first, and Mondstern to his – making it more likely to be found. And of course you can advertise it with your Readme, website etc. On the Fediverse, make sure using the #FDroid hash-tag which many follow.

[achimmihca]

The apps can now be found as open test release on the Google Play store for easier installation:

• Main game: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ultrastar.UltraStarPlay
• Companion app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ultrastar.UltraStarPlayCompanion

F-Droid is not a priority for me. But others may create a release on F-Droid.