Open-source apps can have a mixed reputation. They’re often seen as being very powerful but lack the polish of their closed-source counterparts. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Some of the best apps I use every day on my Android phone are open-source.
They’re great-looking, and packed with features, and the layer of transparency that comes with being open-source makes me more willing to trust them with my data. I’d recommend these open-source apps to anyone.
Bitwarden: The best password manager
Bitwarden is, for me, the best password manager. It’s secure and easy to use, auto-fill works perfectly, and you can run it on almost anything via apps and browser extensions. It also supports a load of advanced features that I don’t need—but you can self-host it if you want to, for instance.
The free tier is extremely generous and has everything that most people need. But the premium tier is stupidly cheap at $10 a year, so I pay for that in order to support the project.
Brave: A private alternative to Chrome
Brave is a Chromium-based browser that gives you all the best bits of Chrome but with a greater focus on privacy and a lot less Google.
It’s got a few extra features that I always disable, like some weird crypto stuff and the Discover-style Brave News. Once that’s stripped away, though, the browser is clean, fast, and secure.
Ente Auth is my favorite two-factor authentication app because it works on pretty much every platform. As one of the rare people who uses both an Android phone and a MacBook, the options for 2FA tools that work on both are pretty limited. This fits the bill.
It’s easy to set up. You can import your codes from most other popular 2FA apps, and you can export them again just as easily. There are lots of extra security options, you can use it without an account if you want, and the open-source nature makes it extra trustworthy.
I came across Image Toolbox a while back when I was looking for an open-source alternative to Snapseed. Image Toolbox isn’t quite that, but it has some powerful editing features, including a Curves tool and an enormous number of filters.
It also makes it easy to crop and resize images, change file types, remove backgrounds, and much more.
LocalSend: A fast file-sharing app
LocalSend is a simple cross-platform, open-source tool for sharing files between an Android phone and other devices. It’s fast, even with large or multiple files, and needs almost no setup or configuration. Just make sure both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, then load up the app, select your files, and send.
NOVA Video Player: For watching and managing videos
Although many people like the open-source VLC app for local media playback, I prefer NOVA Video Player. It supports a similarly wide range of video formats, so you can play pretty much everything. However, it doubles as a media management tool as well, downloading metadata for your videos, organizing series and movie collections, and so on.
This app works great on Android phones and tablets and I also use it with external storage on my Amazon Fire Stick.
OLauncher: The best minimalist launcher
OLauncher is a minimalist Android launcher that I keep on my phone and use whenever I feel the need to reduce my screen time. It’s absolutely perfect for that.
The design of OLauncher couldn’t be more basic. It strips away all the eye candy that tempts you into swiping and tapping constantly. You get a single home screen with no widgets, and all the app icons are replaced with text. You can place up to 10 apps on your home screen; the rest are tucked away in an alphabetized list.
Not only is OLauncher open-source, but it doesn’t ask for any extra permissions either, unlike most launchers.
Pocket Casts: A powerful podcast app
Pocket Casts is one of the most well-known podcast apps, and it is open-source. It runs on most platforms and includes a free web player too.
I love it because it has got all the features that I need. The basics are covered, like downloading and queuing up episodes and support for local files. There are some neat extras too. You can trim the silence from podcasts, automatically skip the start and end of episodes, and set a variable speed. You can adjust these globally, or per-podcast.
Wavelet: Improve the sound of your wireless earbuds
Wavelet is an essential app for anyone who uses wireless earbuds. It comes with preset sound profiles for thousands of models of earbuds across hundreds of brands. It’s so easy to use that you don’t even need to tinker with it and you’ll still immediately hear an improvement in sound quality.
It works brilliantly with my Pixel Buds Pro and I didn’t even touch a single setting. I just loaded the preset and the difference was like night and day. But if you are more of an audiophile, there are plenty of options to experiment with.
Windscribe: A fast and secure VPN
Windscribe is my favorite VPN app. It has a huge number of servers throughout most of the world, delivers fast and reliable performance, and is very affordable (as well as offering a very usable free tier). It’s got a robust no-log policy, lots of privacy-oriented features, and a browser extension. That it’s open-source only makes it better.
Free yourself from proprietary apps
I use all of these apps pretty much every day and highly recommend them. But the list only scratches the surface of what’s available. We’ve got a guide to other Android open-source apps if you need any more.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
