Android Configuration - 2015

This is a list of Android applications that I have installed on my Android device which I recommend.

Note: If an application doesn’t have a URL attached to its name, then it doesn’t have an actual website dedicated to it.

Name Description License Download
AcDisplay Minimalistic lock screen which lets you view notifications directly on the screen. GPLv2 F-Droid / Google
AdAway An excellent ad blocker with multiple source lists that uses the hosts file. Root required. GPLv3 F-Droid
AFWall+ Front-end to iptables and an overall excellent firewall application. Restrict what applications can connect to the Internet. Root required. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
Amaze File Manager A nice file manager. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
AndStatus A social networking client which supports GNU social, Pump.io, and Twitter. I personally use it for connecting to a Pump.io instance. Apache 2.0 F-Droid / Google
AntennaPod A podcast manager. MIT F-Droid / Google
Atomic An IRC client which was forked from Yaaic. GPLv3 F-Droid
Autostarts Shows you what applications are set to start at boot and other Android event triggers they use as well. Root required to make changes. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
BusyBox Pro Installs and maintains BusyBox on Android. This is the donation version; there is a free version as well. Root required. Apache 2.0 Google
Cache Cleaner Light-weight cache cleaning tool. It is essentially a front-end to Android’s cache manager. MIT F-Droid / Google
CatLog A graphical system log reader. WTFPL F-Droid / Google
Clip Stack A clipboard history manager which follows the Material design guidelines. MIT F-Droid / Google
ConnectBot SSH and local shell client.
Note: The F-Droid version is much newer than the one in the Google Play store.
Apache 2.0 F-Droid / Google
Conversations An excellent XMPP/Jabber client with Off-the-Record (OTR) and OpenPGP support. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
Dimmer Lowers the brightness of your Android device past what is normally available via a filter. It can also be set to activate/deactivate at specific times. Apache 2.0 F-Droid / Google
DuckDuckGo Search & Stories Search the web using DDG (An excellent search engine focused on privacy). It also works as a news reader upon initial launch to show you popular stories from across the web until you type in a search query. Includes a search bar widget as well. Apache 2.0 F-Droid / Google
F-Droid An excellent application manager and repository of open source software. GPLv3 F-Droid
Firefox The mobile version of the Mozilla Firefox web browser. MPL 2.0 F-Droid / Google
Flym A very nice RSS/Atom feed reader. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
FreeOTP A two-factor authentication application utilizing one-time password protocols. A good open source replacement for the aging Google Authenticator application. Apache 2.0 F-Droid / Google
Gear Shift Allows you to remotely and easily control the Transmission BitTorrent client from your Android device. MIT F-Droid / Google
Hacker’s Keyboard I highly recommend this keyboard if you use SSH clients or the terminal in general on Android. It provides Alt, Ctrl, Tab, Esc, & Arrow keys. Apache 2.0 F-Droid / Google
HN - Hacker News Reader A nice looking client for the Hacker News website. MIT F-Droid / Google
Hangar A customizable shortcut launcher which resides in your notification drawer. Allows you to quickly access your most recent and top applications. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
K-9 Mail Full featured email client which can also do encryption using OpenKeychain. Apache 2.0 F-Droid / Google
KDE Connect Integrates Android with KDE’s Plasma Desktop in order to sync notifications clipboards, and more. GPLv2 F-Droid / Google
KeePassDroid An implementation of the KeePass password safe for Android. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
MPDroid Client that allows you to control your Music Player Daemon (MPD) server. Can fetch and display album artwork as well. Apache 2.0 F-Droid / Google
Muzei Live Wallpaper A live wallpaper that changes the background every few hours. It blurs and dims the background so that your widgets and icons stand out. Double tapping the screen will focus the image so that you can enjoy it.
I personally alternate between the Wikimedia Commons and Unsplash sources (both plugins are available in F-Droid.)
Apache 2.0 F-Droid / Google
oandbackup A backup manager. Backup and restore applications and their data to any user-accessible location. Root and BusyBox required. MIT F-Droid
OpenKeychain Encrypt files and communications with OpenPGP. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
OS Monitor As the name implies it is an application that monitors the operating system. It can show processes, network connections, real-time logs, processor/battery usage, and more. Apache 2.0 F-Droid / Google
Piwik Mobile 2 Mobile application for viewing your website’s Piwik-based user analytic data. GPLv3 Google
Plumble This is probably the best Mumble VoIP client available for Android. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
Port Authority A very fast port scanner. Useful for pinging machines on your network and seeing what services are running. GPLv3 F-Droid
RedReader Beta A Reddit client. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
VLC An excellent video and audio player which supports a large array of formats. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
wallabag A read-it-later client. GPLv3 F-Droid / Google
Wi-Fi Privacy Police Attempts to prevent your Android device from leaking information via wifi networks. GPLv2 F-Droid / Google
WPGen Generates solid color or diagonal gradient wallpapers. I use this when I don’t want to use a live wallpaper like Muzei. GPLv3 F-Droid

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