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@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ Furthermore, F-Droid **doesn't enforce a minimum target SDK** for the official r
- Since August 2021, Play Store requires new apps to target at least API level 30. - Since August 2021, Play Store requires new apps to target at least API level 30.
- Since November 2021, existing apps must at least target API level 30 for updates to be submitted. - Since November 2021, existing apps must at least target API level 30 for updates to be submitted.
While it may seem bothersome, it's a necessity to keep the **app ecosystem modern and healthy**. F-Droid sends here the wrong message to developers (and even users) because they should care about it, and this is why many of us think it may be even harmful to the FOSS ecosystem. Backward compatibility is often the enemy of security, and while there's a middle-ground for convenience and obsolescence, it shouldn't be exaggerated. As a result of this philosophy, the main repository of F-Droid is filled with obsolete apps from another era, just for these apps to be able to run on the more than ten years old Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Let's not make the same mistake as the desktop platforms and complain to your vendors for selling devices with no decent OS/firmware support. While it may seem bothersome, it's a necessity to keep the **app ecosystem modern and healthy**. F-Droid sends here the wrong message to developers (and even users) because they should care about it, and this is why many of us think it may be even harmful to the FOSS ecosystem. Backward compatibility is often the enemy of security, and while there's a middle-ground for convenience and obsolescence, it shouldn't be exaggerated. As a result of this philosophy, the main repository of F-Droid is filled with obsolete apps from another era, just for these apps to be able to run on the more than ten years old Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Let's not make the same mistake as the desktop platforms: complain instead to your vendors for selling devices with no decent OS/firmware support.
## 4. General lack of good practices ## 4. General lack of good practices
The F-Droid client allows multiple repositories to coexist within the same app. Many of the issues highlighted above were focused on the main official repository which most of the F-Droid users will use anyway. However, having **other repositories in a single app also violates the security model of Android** which was not designed for this at all. As a matter of fact, the new unattended update API from Android 12 that allows seamless app updates for app repositories without [privileged access](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fdroid.fdroid.privileged/) to the system (such an approach is not compatible with the security model) won't work with F-Droid. It should be mentioned that [Droid-ify](https://github.com/Iamlooker/Droid-ify/issues/20) is trying to figure out a way to make it work, although the underlying issues about the F-Droid infrastructure remain. The F-Droid client allows multiple repositories to coexist within the same app. Many of the issues highlighted above were focused on the main official repository which most of the F-Droid users will use anyway. However, having **other repositories in a single app also violates the security model of Android** which was not designed for this at all. As a matter of fact, the new unattended update API from Android 12 that allows seamless app updates for app repositories without [privileged access](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.fdroid.fdroid.privileged/) to the system (such an approach is not compatible with the security model) won't work with F-Droid. It should be mentioned that [Droid-ify](https://github.com/Iamlooker/Droid-ify/issues/20) is trying to figure out a way to make it work, although the underlying issues about the F-Droid infrastructure remain.
@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ It is an important security feature that is also straightforward to implement. S
F-Droid also has a problem regarding the adoption of **[new signature schemes](https://source.android.com/security/apksigning)** as they [held out on the v1 signature scheme](https://forum.f-droid.org/t/why-f-droid-is-still-using-apk-signature-scheme-v1/10602) (which was [horrible](https://www.xda-developers.com/janus-vulnerability-android-apps/) and deprecated since 2017) until they were forced by Android 11 requirements to support the newer v2/v3 schemes. Quite frankly, this is straight-up bad, and **signing APKs with GPG** is no better considering [how bad PGP and its reference implementation GPG are](https://latacora.micro.blog/2019/07/16/the-pgp-problem.html) (even Debian [moved away from it](https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Apt/Spec/AptSign)). F-Droid should instead enforce v3/v4 signatures. F-Droid also has a problem regarding the adoption of **[new signature schemes](https://source.android.com/security/apksigning)** as they [held out on the v1 signature scheme](https://forum.f-droid.org/t/why-f-droid-is-still-using-apk-signature-scheme-v1/10602) (which was [horrible](https://www.xda-developers.com/janus-vulnerability-android-apps/) and deprecated since 2017) until they were forced by Android 11 requirements to support the newer v2/v3 schemes. Quite frankly, this is straight-up bad, and **signing APKs with GPG** is no better considering [how bad PGP and its reference implementation GPG are](https://latacora.micro.blog/2019/07/16/the-pgp-problem.html) (even Debian [moved away from it](https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Apt/Spec/AptSign)). F-Droid should instead enforce v3/v4 signatures.
It is worth mentioning that their website has (for some reason) always been hosting an [outdated APK of F-Droid](https://forum.f-droid.org/t/why-does-the-f-droid-website-nearly-always-host-an-outdated-f-droid-apk/6234), and this is still the case today, leading to many users wondering why they can't install F-Droid on their secondary user profile (due to the downgrade prevention enforced by Android). "Stability" seems to be the main reason mentioned on their part, which doesn't make sense: either your version isn't ready to be published in a stable channel, or it is and new users should be able to access it easily. What's wrong with that? It is worth mentioning that their website has (for some reason) always been hosting an [outdated APK of F-Droid](https://forum.f-droid.org/t/why-does-the-f-droid-website-nearly-always-host-an-outdated-f-droid-apk/6234), and this is still the case today, leading to many users wondering why they can't install F-Droid on their secondary user profile (due to the downgrade prevention enforced by Android). "Stability" seems to be the main reason mentioned on their part, which doesn't make sense: either your version isn't ready to be published in a stable channel, or it is and new users should be able to access it easily.
F-Droid shows a list of the [low-level permissions](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission) for each app: these low-level permissions are usually grouped in the standard high-level permissions (Location, Microphone, Camera, etc.) and special toggles (nearby Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth devices, etc.) that are explicitly based on a type of sensitive data. While showing a list of low-level permissions could be useful information for a developer, it's often a **misleading** and inaccurate approach for the end-user. Apps have to [request the standard permissions at runtime](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/permissions/overview#runtime) and do not get them simply by being installed, so knowing all the "under the hood" permissions is not useful and makes the permission model unnecessarily confusing. F-Droid shows a list of the [low-level permissions](https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission) for each app: these low-level permissions are usually grouped in the standard high-level permissions (Location, Microphone, Camera, etc.) and special toggles (nearby Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth devices, etc.) that are explicitly based on a type of sensitive data. While showing a list of low-level permissions could be useful information for a developer, it's often a **misleading** and inaccurate approach for the end-user. Apps have to [request the standard permissions at runtime](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/permissions/overview#runtime) and do not get them simply by being installed, so knowing all the "under the hood" permissions is not useful and makes the permission model unnecessarily confusing.