iodéOS 7.7 - "F-Droid" -> "ioDroid"

General Discussion
1

With the latest update of iodéOS, you’ll notice the preinstalled F-Droid app is now called “ioDroid”.

Why the rebrand? Same functionality—we just wanted to be crystal clear that this isn’t the official F-Droid app. This avoids conflicts if you want to install the upstream version alongside ours (available at http://f-droid.org). Similar to how we removed Google telemetry from Firefox and rebranded it as the iodé browser.

Key Improvements:

  • Auto-updates for apps
    Apps like microG target old SDKs (e.g., sdk 29) and normally require user confirmation to update on newer systems (sdk 36). Thus, all apps can be auto-updated, without the need for user confirmation. We decided to give maximum trust to apps distributed through f-droid and remove these confirmations, which we think is more user-friendly.

  • The ioDroid repository takes priority
    In official f-droid the built-in repo has top priority over additional repos. Additional repos can be declared in a json file added to the system, but they’ll always have a lower priority. For example, if you search ‘Breezy Weather’ in F-Droid and go to its dedicated page, you’ll see that the official f-droid repo is selected as the preferred repository. This limits it to free weather sources. The repository of ioDroid distributes the full app from github releases, which also gives access to non-free weather channels, which can provide more accuracy. With Comaps, we do the same, distributing the github version.

  • Updates over data
    App updates—including microG—are prioritized over saving mobile data. Toggle this in settings if you prefer otherwise.

  • ioDroid category on top
    Easily spot which apps come from our channel vs. upstream F-Droid. Includes extras like Jelly (Lineage’s browser, not preinstalled).

:wrench: Uninstalling
Want to remove ioDroid (or other preinstalled apps)? Go to Settings → Apps → Preinstalled Apps after a reboot it will be completely removed.

:white_check_mark: Benefits of forking:

  • Control release timing (faster fixes/feature rollouts)
  • No conflicts with official F-Droid—both can coexist!
9 Likes
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Nice update! Using the F-Droid 2.0 UI is pretty cool. There’s a minor problem though. This breaks Aurora Store’s “Filter F-Droid apps” feature because the apps are now marked as installed by ioDroid instead. This can obviously cause conflicts because now Aurora Store will try to update your F-Droid apps that exist in both stores. Enabling the “Filter apps from other sources” option fixes this since it disables updating any app installed outside of Aurora. So either that should be on by default or the Aurora Store app should be modified to filter apps installed by ioDroid by default as it did F-Droid apps. Like I said minor but this will probably bother some people.

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This is one of the downsides of forking an app instead of working with upstream to find ways of doing what you want. As well as causing unexpected / unwanted behaviours like this, other dangers include introducing new bugs, delay in implementing upstream bug fixes, extra costs.

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I have not updated yet - mainly, because my news app AND the updater have stopped notifying me. Then I read about the update here on the forum.

I’d appreciate some more information from the devs about their thoughts/plans in the F-Droid/ioDroid matter to decide if I should update anyway or should wait for a workaround/fix.

Thank you! :grinning_face:

1 Like
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This actually puts lots of apps on my blocklist, though it was installed from Aurora according to app-details. I think I used SeedVault when swapping devices and now it can’t identify it correctly :thinking:

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Version 2.0-alpha11-iode.2 is what was installed on my Tab S7 and Alpha versions should only be deployed to users who are willing to test and not as a release, sounds like banana ware :frowning:

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Nice work, but…

I exclusively use F-Droid Classic because of its simplified, uncluttered interface, and enable the repositories I need, including the iodé repo.

I find that having an additional F-Droid-ish app that also checks for and applies updates, and that has a different interface from F-Droid Classic is a bit annoying, so I’ve uninstalled ioDroid.

(I don’t really use Aurora, either. Lol.)

2 Likes
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Another great update! One piece of feedback: beta and stable release announcements are sometimes delayed or inconsistent, which makes beta testing difficult when we don’t know what’s changed. For example, I couldn’t find a forum post for either of the 7.7.X BETAS before or after its release. Also this post isnt tagged as an announcement. Thanks for all the updates, though!

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Beta releases get announced, tested, and commented on in the ‘IodéOS’ Matrix channel. That’s the place to be if you’re interested in betas.

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I like the ioDroid (fdroid classic was fine as well though), but it seems to also not show updates from already installed apps from alternative repositories. E.g. I am running Gadgetbridge nightly, which should update once a day, but didnt show an update since ioDroid replaced fdroid classic.

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The conflicting update situation should be resolved now. Aurora Store just updated and now it filters apps installed from other stores (but not any manually installed app) by default.

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Hi everyone,

I have a problem with the Fdroid to ioDroid migration.

After updating my Fairphone 5 to iodéOS 7.7 through the Updater app, the announced F-Droid → ioDroid transition did not complete correctly on my device. I have spent some time narrowing down the cause, and I believe this is a migration issue rather than a launcher glitch. I am posting the full picture in case it helps, and in case other users are affected.

Device / build

  • Fairphone 5

  • iodéOS 7.7 stable, upgraded over an earlier release — not a clean install

Symptoms

  • ioDroid is listed as installed under Settings → Apps.
  • It never appears in the app drawer, and drawer search does not surface it either.
  • Activity Launcher does not list it at all.
  • App Manager does list it, but offers no “Launch” action — no launcher activity can be resolved for the package.
  • App Manager reports the package as hidden and stopped.
  • F-Droid and ioDroid exist side by side as two separate packages. The legacy F-Droid is the visible, working one.

What I tried, without any result

  1. Rebooted the device several times.
  2. Cleared the launcher (Trebuchet) cache.
  3. Uninstalled the store from Settings → Apps → Preinstalled apps and reinstalled it from the same screen — this brought back F-Droid, not ioDroid.
  4. Ran a full cycle specifically on the ioDroid entry: uninstall → reboot → reinstall → reboot. The hidden flag survived the whole cycle. ioDroid is still installed, still hidden, still unlaunchable.
  5. Looked for a way to fix this from the Preinstalled apps screen: it already shows ioDroid as installed and only offers install/uninstall. There is no toggle or option there that would clear the hidden flag.

So as far as I can tell, this state is not recoverable through the settings UI. The system considers ioDroid installed and therefore offers nothing further, while the package remains hidden and cannot be started.

In the meantime I am not blocked — the legacy F-Droid still works, and adding the iodé repository to it covers most of my needs.

Thanks a lot for your work on iodéOS.

Best regards

2 Likes
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Update — root cause identified : the package is flagged as "hidden"

I kept digging since my first post, and I think I have found what is actually going on.

“App Manager” reports the ioDroid package as “hidden” (and stopped).

That single flag explains every symptom I described, and a few more I found since :

- No entry in the app drawer, and nothing in drawer search.

- Activity Launcher does not list the app at all.

- App Manager does list the package, but offers “no “Launch” action” — no launcher activity can be resolved while a package is hidden.

- After adding the iodé repository to the legacy F-Droid, ioDroid shows up there as “available for download”, i.e. “not installed”. The store genuinely believes the package is absent, because hidden packages are filtered out of package queries made by third-party apps.

- Meanwhile, Settings → Apps and the Preinstalled apps screen both report it as “installed”.

So the device holds two contradictory views of the same package depending on which subsystem you ask.

Two further things I tried, neither of which worked :

1. A full cycle from the Preinstalled apps screen, this time on the ioDroid entry specifically : uninstall → reboot → reinstall → reboot. The hidden flag survived the whole thing. That screen only offers install/uninstall, and since it already considers ioDroid installed, there is nothing there that can clear the flag.

2. Reinstalling ioDroid from the iodé repository via the legacy F-Droid. F-Droid lists the app as not installed, but on tapping Install it switches to “Update” — so the installer layer clearly sees the package even though the query layer does not. I confirmed, and F-Droid then reported “ioDroid installed successfully”.

And nothing else changed. Still hidden in App Manager, still no “Open” button anywhere, still absent from the drawer.

My hypothesis is on upgrade paths where F-Droid was already installed, the 7.7 OTA installs ioDroid but leaves it hidden, while leaving the legacy F-Droid package visible — effectively the reverse of the intended migration.

I am aware `adb shell pm unhide ` would very likely fix this on my side. I have deliberately **not** run it, so the device stays in its current state in case you want diagnostic output first, and because I would rather see an official fix that covers everyone affected.

Belle journée à toutes et tous

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I am notifying Vincent of your issue, it describes pretty well a similar issue in the past of “Preinstalled App” confusion that we have a hard time re-creating.

1 Like
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Nearly the same at my FP5.

I deinstalled ioDroid. Later i try to install it again and reboot. Under preinstalled apps there is now the trash can beside IoDroid, so it shoud be installed again. But the symbol doesnt apears in apps.

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@Turtle and @EthGahus I did hear back from Vincent that he can’t re-create it, but that the FP5 (and only the FP5?) has an issue with “Preinstalled Apps” confusion like this.

He indicates there isn’t enough logging in the blocker for traces to be useful, unfortunately. But he does note that the Preinstalled Apps management uses the same process as the blocker (partly due to them both needing to run at the system level not just user level). Due to this, a trial to work around the problem is “to remove blocker data (in the app itself) and reboot, then uninstall ioDroid, reboot, and install it again”.

1 Like
News app throws error
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Solved — thanks for relaying Vincent’s suggestion.

I never got as far as the blocker reset. While preparing for it, I removed the ioDroid update I had previously sideloaded from the iodé repository (Settings → Apps → ioDroid → ⋮ → Uninstall updates) — and the app launched immediately. It is now in the drawer and working fine.

Reverting to the factory version of the package seems to reset the per-user state and clear the stuck hidden flag. That would explain why nothing else worked: neither the Preinstalled Apps screen nor installing the APK from the repo ever rolls the package back to its system version.

Note for others: “Uninstall updates” only shows up if there is an update to remove. If ioDroid is still at its system version and hidden, install it from the iodé repository first (it will report success and change nothing), then uninstall the update.

Still a workaround rather than a fix — the OTA can leave ioDroid installed but hidden on an upgraded FP5, with no direct way out. Happy to help further now that I can get back to a working state.

Belle journée à toutes et tous

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In German:

<ich habe bei der Iode App unter: Allgemeine Einstellungen

Daten zurücksetzen gemacht.

Danach ioDroid deinstalliert. Neustart, Installiert, Neustart.

Die App ist immer noch nicht da, aber:

In der Iode App steht nun unter Schutzniveau ein roter Halbkreis und rot keine.

Ist der Schutz nun aus und ioDroid weg?

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Nachtrag:

Wenn ich in der Iode App nun unten auf Karte tippe, stürzt die Iode App ab.

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