I don’t know if this matters or not but noticed that many old apps are now completely gone. Many and I many are no longer there and this also happens to other apps which have lost older versions of their apk files.
With this, a piece of history is fading away. I wish something could be done to keep these classic collection alive and well for future generations who might want to come back and see how it used to be before major transitions in technological advancements happen in our life…
Direct visibility is key to access files over a search engine and for that we need such a way to head to the right way more easily.
F-droid search will not return them and confusion like this will become more obvious and will lead to more work.
You see the task here is to make it as simple as possible for everyone and most use a search engine to find apps. And more broader way to look at it is imagine someone who’s lost access to their own work but now want to revisit. There could be many reasons here but in the end, let’s just say, a web access gonna help more. . a lot.
By client you mean the official F-Droid app? Sure, why not!
Thing is when we are looking out for apps APK files, it’s better to search across multiple websites say GitHub, developer’s own hosting service, XDA and more. This is how the audience at large operate and will too. A search engine is the index after all.
When search leads to F-Droid, we have to understand the amount of efforts already put in by the seeker. A dreaded 404 message can lead to more struggle and more questions.
Archive, just like main site, should be accessible and searchable like rest of the apps through web.
Remember, we have to consider the aging factor here. A developer or anybody for that matter who’s in their 20s/30s in 2000s is heading towards 40s/50s!
We don’t want to add more friction and take care of everyone acting like a guardian.
