August 25, 2026 AD
I run GrapheneOS on my smartphone, and highly recommend it to any open-source fan with a healthy distrust of Big Tech.
However, the default installation is very spartan. You basically get a dialer, SMS app, and browser. Sure, you can always install the Google Play Services layer and load a bunch of proprietary apps, but where’s the fun in that?
Here’s my list of quality, must-have apps for GrapheneOS. Most of them are open source (to varying degrees of Stallman).
You can import my Obtainium configs to download all of them at once.
Install this one first.
Obtainium is your personal app store. Basically, you load it up with .apk URLs for your desired
apps, and Obtainium takes care of keeping them up to date.
Typically you’ll find APKs in GitHub releases.
Android client for the popular password manager.
Beautiful and free weather app.
A fork of the Conversations XMPP app with support for various VOIP providers.
Free office suite. I don’t do much editing, but keep it installed so I can view Word and Excel attachments.
CalDAV and CardDAV client for synchronizing calendars and contact lists.
The standard matrix chat client.
Minimalist calendar application that integrates well with DAVx5.
Fork of the official Telegram client with telemetry removed.
Modern offline Android keyboard. Personally, I find the stock AOSP keyboard almost unusable.
This is always one of the first apps I install.
Similar to DAVx5, but for subscribing to public iCal URLs.
PDF client with good library organization and ebook features. I mostly use it for sheet music.
Fantastic Markdown client. I use this as my notes app.
Unofficial Signal client with various privacy enhancements. I use it for the UnifiedPush support.
Unofficial YouTube client. I’m not sure how anyone uses YouTube without this.
Fully offline maps and GPS app with turn-by-turn navigation. I still install Google Maps for long car trips, but this one is more than adequate for casual use!
By far the best open-source gallery app I have ever used, despite having far less hype than most of the competition.
Musician’s app with a tuner, a metronome, and piano. Good for tuning string instruments, or for choir when you forget your pitch pipe.
The currently maintained Syncthing client for Android. I use this to synchronize my photos, videos, music library, and notes back to my NAS at home.
Syncthing is critical to my entire mobile setup, and it makes me nervous that Android lacks first-class support. Hopefully this client sticks around for awhile.
Open-source email client, previously known as K-9 Mail. Despite being acquired by Mozilla, it’s still the best.
My favorite Mastodon client.
Material designed local music player for Android. The last release was two years ago, but still no other music library app even comes close.
Simple as.
Wireguard VPN client that supports automatically connecting and disconnecting based on various events.
I use it to disconnect from my VPN when I connect to home WiFi.