Need apps for these use cases

1

a. Need to stop internet access for all apps/services, even the background one’s. Netguard does not show background services/apps. Is that because root is needed for that?

b. Both TrackerControl and Netguard need to create a vpn point to work, so they can’t be used together. The use cases are well explained below, copying from some other website-
“NetGuard can block apps access to internet from a specific source of your choice (Mobile data, or Wi-Fi), While TrackerControl won’t help you blocking an app from using either mobile data or Wi-Fi separately
TrackerControl can let you block internet from only the tracking part of an app, while letting the other functional parts work fine (it can let you specify which trackers to block), So, it offers you a nice solution for example to play chess online on a chess app without being tracked or being forced to play offline to avoid tracking.”

Is there an app which is like the combination of TrackerControl and Netguard? I mean an app which lets use firewall, stop an app’s access to the internet, plus block trackers from apps?

Also many a times an app is opened but instead of tracking/blocking the trackers, trackercontrol keeps on saying to launch the app. Is that a bug?

c. Browser which has a feature for user agent switcher, a fingerprint defender and other privacy features. Found about mulch but the download page seems to be invalid
https://f-droid.org/packages/us.spotco.mulch/

d. Is there any metadata removal applicatio for android?

e. Any FOSS maps like google maps?

f. Is there any app which lets one browse twitter without signing in?

g. Any FOSS vpn app?

1 Like
2

What do you mean? Shows all apps, also enable Settings, Advanced, Manage system apps

Netguard can block per app hosts too, not sure what TrackerControl “the tracking part of an app means”, does it hack activities?

Mull can install all the Moziila addons, there’s none in there for that?

Mulch is not in F-Droid, but in the Divest repo Our Apps - DivestOS Mobile

many, for what type of files?

Besides Osmand and OrganicMaps?

The browser

Many, at your own peril lol

2 Likes
3

You could give rethink a try although it may require some set up (it may not block trackers out of the box)

Mulch does not offer anything of the sort. Mull on the other hand has strong fingerprinting protections by default

User agent switching I don’t think is very beneficial for privacy. (Unless the default user agent has non spoofed device info) Either way if you want that feature you can install chameleon in mull

Osmand and organic maps. Worst case scenario you could try GMaps WV but be warned that is still using google maps just in a restricted webview wrapper

2 Likes
4

What do you mean? Shows all apps, also enable Settings, Advanced, Manage system apps
It does show all apps but I am talking about background services. It doesn’t show that?

Netguard can block per app hosts too, not sure what TrackerControl “the tracking part of an app means”, does it hack activities?
What I meant was open say youtube app and trackercontrol will show you background requests made to google and other companies for analytics etc. does netguard block these too?

Mull can install all the Moziila addons, there’s none in there for that?
How to install addons in that? Sorry I don’t have much knowledge about this.

Mulch is not in F-Droid, but in the Divest repo Our Apps - DivestOS Mobile
They have given a link of fdroid to download it but it is not working. Can you please check once and out of mull and mulch, which is more privacy based browser?

many, for what type of files?
Pdf’s, images etc. Usually there is a metadata cleaner app which removes metadata from many different files. Isn’t that the case for android?

Besides Osmand and OrganicMaps?
Let me check those and I will get back

The browser
No it always prompts to login to view tweets

Many, at your own peril lol
So there’s none at al?

One more question, if one has created sepearated apps using island then is it possible to retain those apps but use foss options like shelter and insular instead? Are there any better options than shelter and insular?What extra options does shelter and insular have over island apart from google analytics? And I read that island is actively engaged in google analytics but tracker control does not any trackers by island. Why is that so?

And besides fdroid, aurora store is the only other good alternative?
I am not seeing any images of any app or game in fdroid. How to fix this?

5

You could give rethink a try although it may require some set up (it may not block trackers out of the box)
Can you please eli5 what this app does and how does it do the work of tracker control + netguard? How to set it up?

User agent switching I don’t think is very beneficial for privacy. (Unless the default user agent has non spoofed device info)
Please eli5 this especially the bold part

GMaps works by opening gmaps in browser minus the tracking?

One more question, if one has created sepearated apps using island then is it possible to retain those apps but use foss options like shelter and insular instead? Are there any better options than shelter and insular?What extra options does shelter and insular have over island apart from google analytics? And I read that island is actively engaged in google analytics but tracker control does not any trackers by island. Why is that so?

And besides fdroid, aurora store is the only other good alternative?
I am not seeing any images of any app or game in fdroid. How to fix this?

6

all the apps are all the apps, background services are just the apps that run in the background. sounds like a “translation error” :slight_smile:

It blocks whatever you want to block via the loaded hosts file or domains per app (Pro version) or the whole app

Go to Settings → Addons (Extensions) or whatever is that called for you, scroll down to Install more

Who is they? Please understand, Mulch is in that repository, you need to add it first (scan the QR code(

Can’t tell, Mull is built from source by F-Droid.

Mulch is built by the Divest OS project, for their repo, read this: Browsers - DivestOS Mobile

There are several for images at least, not sure about PDFs, do test and tell us too :slight_smile:

It’s a proprietary silo, submit or be gone!

there are many, F-Droid can’t promise anything, see their terms and see if you trust them

no, profile must be destroyed first

that are FOSS? Not in F-Droid

None that I know

Aurora is Google Play, sends your device info, your app lists, etc to Google… that’s NOT an alternative to anything.

Settings, slide both Wi-Fi and mobile data all the way to the right

Google tracks your location and maps seen…what do you mean?

Don’t repeat questions…

1 Like
7

I will share the screenshot later

Found for photos but not finding anything for pdfs, documents.

libretube is based on the invdious project. There are some open source projects for viewing tweets without logging in so thought that there are apps for that too.

Almost all of them required registration first. Is there any which works without registration?

Do we need to manually uninstall all apps set up in island and then remove island?

Sorry for repeating this question but it is important to understand, if island is sending google analytics then why isn’t trackercontrol blocking it?

I meant this

8

links?

Not sure, maybe ProtonVPN?

yes, it’s connecting to Google so… “Google tracks your location and maps seen”

1 Like
9

Not anymore. If you want to use Twitter, you should create an account.

You don’t need to do that manually. You just need to uninstall island and install shelter.

Calyx VPN, Riseup VPN, Bitmask.

2 Likes
10

Requires registration.

Then how is it on fdroid?

Can you please answer the question related to insland uninstallation? Noob here, so don’t know much about it.

11

see the ones mentioned above by @linsui

The app is free and/or open source, it does not matter that the service it connects to is not… we flag that so you know where it connects to, expand its description, read…

As far as I know you need to destroy to change the app, but I never tested.

nitter

yes, they once worked, last time I checked most did not any more

1 Like
12

This will uninstall all apps and their data which is under island? Are you sure that it won’t leave any app behind? Don’t want any empty space to be covered by it.
And between shelter and insular what are the main differences?

Bitmask is a VPN client using OpenVPN with automatic configuration. Just enter
your account information from any compatible service provider and away you go.
What account info is it asking for?

13

Sorry for asking, what do I need to expand here?

Few of the instances are still working. Anyways no app for this.

14

There are still some working instances only because they register lots of accounts for you.

1 Like
15

Why don’t you install it and have a try before you ask questions?

16

Done will respond back asap.

From the tor project only this app is listed on fdroid

Why are the other tor project apps not listed on fdroid?

17

Because F-Droid can’t yet build them,

18

Rethink is a firewall and DNS application designed to give you control over the network traffic your device makes. It has a lot of configuration options to do so which might make it a bit overwhelming if your not a poweruser.

It can block data and WiFi connections individually like netguard and can perform tracker blocking through either a DNS resolver or on device domain blocklists or both

To do so you need to go inside the rethink app

Configure > DNS and then either select a DNS sever capable of filtering trackers (rethink does offer a flavor of their DNS server that does so if you trust them) or download on device blocklists so rethink itself can perform the filtering like how tracker control itself does the tracker filtering

Mulch is not meant for privacy at all it prioritizes security and does not have many (if any) real privacy features

Mull is meant for privacy and has strong fingerprinting protection by default. It also has the ability to install unlock origin (recommended by the developer) and or other blockers to block trackers

Useragent switching may not do a lot in terms of privacy and may actually make your browser easier to fingerprint because resisting fingerprinting is most effective when your browser appears similar to others and doesn’t leak a whole lot of device information when interacting with a site like say the exact operating system version your using (android 13 for example)

In basic terms it’s mainly about blending in with others

It’s a webview wrapper designed to use the google maps website in a more restricted manner. And as such despite it using the website it can operate independently of whatever browser you use

It cannot stop google from tracking you but it might be able to limit some of their tracking

Due to how the app works though google won’t be able to track you while you are not using it unlike the actual google maps app

In short it’s intended only for use if osmand or organic maps are not doing enough for you

1 Like
19

Thanks for the detailed reply my man. Are there any foss email clients which store mails on the device itself and not upload it somewhere?

Also looking for a ms office file viewer, editor for phones. Any recommendations?

Is there any app which can tell other apps that a user is using xx phone while in reality the user is using yy phone? Basically a phone spoofer or something?

Found this Frequently Asked Questions - Insular After looking at the differences, which one seems a better option shelter or insular?

Is accrescent app store same as aurora appstore? Full of google tracking?

And lastly if google play services are disabled in a phone then most of the apps won’t work especially the banking and upi apps. I read somehere that microg can be used to resolve this issue. Any idea about it?

1 Like
20

email servers can delete email once you download it, or after a while, yes, see POP3 supporting clients like K9 or Fairemail

Add their repo: Collabora Office on mobiles supporting password protected documents and available on F-Droid - Collabora Office and Collabora Online

what is the use case ?

sometimes, but you need an unlocked phone that runs Calyx OS or Divest OS or Lineage OS

2 Likes