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.
Obtainium
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.
Bitwarden
Android client for the popular password manager.
Breezy Weather
Beautiful and free weather app.
Cheogram
A fork of the Conversations XMPP app with support for various VOIP providers.
Collabora Office
Free office suite. I don’t do much editing, but keep it installed so I can view Word and Excel attachments.
DAVx5
CalDAV and CardDAV client for synchronizing calendars and contact lists.
Element X
The standard matrix chat client.
Etar
Minimalist calendar application that integrates well with DAVx5.
Fork Client
Fork of the official Telegram client with telemetry removed.
FUTO Keyboard
Modern offline Android keyboard. Personally, I find the stock AOSP keyboard almost unusable.
This is always one of the first apps I install.
ICSx5
Similar to DAVx5, but for subscribing to public iCal URLs.
Libera FD
PDF client with good library organization and ebook features. I mostly use it for sheet music.
Markor
Fantastic Markdown client. I use this as my notes app.
Molly
Unofficial Signal client with various privacy enhancements. I use it for the UnifiedPush support.
NewPipe
Unofficial YouTube client. I’m not sure how anyone uses YouTube without this.
Organic Maps
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!
ReFra Gallery
By far the best open-source gallery app I have ever used, despite having far less hype than most of the competition.
Semitone
Musician’s app with a tuner, a metronome, and piano. Good for tuning string instruments, or for choir when you forget your pitch pipe.
Syncthing-Fork
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.
Thunderbird
Open-source email client, previously known as K-9 Mail. Despite being acquired by Mozilla, it’s still the best.
Tusky
My favorite Mastodon client.
Vinyl Music Player
Material designed local music player for Android. The last release was two years ago, but still no other music library app even comes close.
VLC
Simple as.
WG Tunnel
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.