F-Droid is an installable catalogue of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications for the Android platform. The client makes it easy to browse, install, and keep track of updates on your device.
Something worth noting is that F-Droid is both an app to download other apps but they also maintains a repository of apps. You can use alternative store apps (like Droid-ify) with the F-Droid repository OR you could use the F-Droid app with a different repository (like IzzyOnDroid). You can mix and match to meet your needs.
I use the Droid-ify app with the F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, microG, NewPipe, and Collabora repositories.
Once you start down this rabbit hole, give Obtanium a look.
Been using Fdroid to the point where my first boot into a new phone is:
Open chrome > download fdroid > open settings > uninstall/disable every single application I can > open fdroid > install all the relevant apps I require for making my phone useful
I'm just waiting for a small life upgrade in order to be able to support some app developers; it will be money better spent than using the standard google apps.
I know this thread is already a little old, but here is the list of my favorite apps from F-Droid/Izzy. I use a lot of these almost daily and just thought I would share these in case someone might find a new app they find useful
Eternity (Infinity for Lemmy)
Buckwheat (Budgeting)
Aegis (Authentication)
Lawnchair (Pixel-like launcher)
Quillnotes (Markdown notes app)
Forkyz (Crosswords)
Geometric Weather
Imagepipe (Removes exif data and reduces pics)
AntennaPod (Podcast app)
Olauncher (Beautiful and minimal text based launcher)
It's also a buggy piece of crap...
Update notification? Sweet! Gotta click it, right? Oh, some obscure error message that doesn't let me update the apps. I guess I start the app itself then, right? Oh, it immediately crashed with an even more obscure error message. And what's this? It shows me updates for apps that I have already removed. I wonder why? Maybe I should clean the cache and update the repositories. Huh? Oh, the update is stuck somewhere and doesn't move forward anymore and now I can't even search for anything.
I can't use F-Droid without the Play Store but I tend to check there first to see if there is something available there before installing something from the Play Store.
What's the average time for an app to be approved? I submitted my app almost 1 month ago and it never got any comments whatsoever like other submitted apps do. I love the store though, most of my phone apps are downloaded from there!