Hello Guys, sorry for the late replay, ill share with you a little bit of history.
before star, the address i gave was for adding to you fdroid client and fetch the apps, i am using the new version of fdroidserver (i think): http://cubapk.com/repo/index.jar.
my stack:
Python 3.5
Django 1.11
Grappelli for the admin(no responsive gggggrrrrrr)
FdroidServer (updated to the latest version some weeks ago)
FdroidClient (a little unupdated)
I started this project two years ago with a friend, i had the idea and he help me to implemented since my knowledge about python was very poor or none, my experience as software development has been mostly with Ruby. My role was taking to developers, marketing(if so), getting as much cuban apps as possible, etc. At that time we where only using fdroid server to strip the app, taking out the metadata and store it into our database. Then after three month my friend left to Germany and i had to get my hand dirty with the code, maintaining it, adding new features, fixing others and so far…
After about a year i had the idea of incorporate F-Droid client into my ecosystem, and challenges start to raise.
The distribution of the stored icons did not fit the fdroid client structure and i had to fix that so support former uploaded apps. Writing the metadata file was also challenging i had to create them in an after save callback, but i had some troubles to update it when enabling or disabling and app.
the client app was very challenging, i haven’t ever written a line of code for any mobile app, this was my first experience. I wanted to have it as com.cubapk.app and i have to change a lot of file with no idea if this could be made easier or any other way, i also wired the url of the jar file to and change the icon. this was one of the things that force me to update FdroidServer because i wanted to have support for screen shoots of apps and had to update it in a spring. I haven’'t published the code but not for any particular reason other than not been shame for my code signs…hahahaha.
At the begging was a hobby but with a wife and two kids every cent count, the cost is very low, but anyway cost me something so i decided to put ads into my site after a year or so, and this is one of my question. Can i add ADS to the fdroid client? does the license allow me that? In order to been able to maintain the site i have to make it autosustentable since publishing and downloading apps is free and no plan to have paid apps since the embargo does not allow Cuba to have any or that.
I also figurated out a similar way to strip jailbraked IOs apps, i knew there where a few but i wanted to support them, since everyone deserve a place in the world. there is a python software that help me with that. I am having some troubles processing the images inside IPAs because they are coded a different way but no time to look closer.
Next chapter is, this project inspired a clone software named Apklis only viewable from inside Cuba, and created by a University(read goverment), the facebook page with some images can be found in here they are an open competitor of my website and not a paired one. the cost of accessing *.cu is 0.10cuc/h and accessing Internet(my site) is 1cuc/h, Apkis has count with all media inside Cuba with a big intention of boosting it. But anyway no problem, are the rules and my project have to leave with it…
Next Chapter: Last section i added only a month ago is for cuban youtubers, the main idea here to curate the list from youtube with a filtered one, mine, this can be viewed in here. I am fetching the data from the api with a cron task, and here is where i am putting more effort in, since i have pending to create my own formula for a ranking and creating an app. There are some open source apps in github i could use but not sure with one to use.
Yes, i discovered letsencrypt some time ago, it is something that i have in todo.
Concluding i have a running software that works with minimum interaction that is the objective, with good and bad things like any software. Google Analitys says that bout 50% of my visit are by organic search that please me a lot…
well guys this is more or less the history of a website that has a lot to greed to Fdroid, describing more less all i have done is kind of honoring the code and all the people that has contributed to this wonderful project.
hope to hear from you.
Best, Raul