Yes, registrations are currently limited (just need to ask, it's not really close), but the question (as I understand it) was : to add an application, should I contact the developer or accrescent?
It's up to the app developer to do it. Accrescent will only give permission to publish apps, they don't publish apps themselves.
Accrescent Store
I was in favour of making Accrescent the "official" store of GrapheneOS. But I think the move might have come too early in the life of Accrescent since it is for now very limited in terms of offer. I hope its offer will broaden quite fast ...
Works pretty descend for an alpha. But I think it needs more apps. I don' t like PlayStore or f-droid.
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This is such a great news, thank you @lberrymage for doing this awesome project! Can't wait the updates, I hope this will become the future of private and secure alternative app stores. Such a missing space here to fill. Best wishes for doing this!
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treequell Hi, I have a question, I'm going crazy to find a way to install apps without verifying manually by myself (which also means I don't have a package manager at the moment apart Accrescent), but then I see that Google Services is in Accrescent, so, is it kind of safe to install them despite I don't want Google to collect all the info?
My goal is to have a package manager, so am I supposed to install Google Play right after?
xxx It depends, in my case I need to close the app every time I click on an app, it would be unusable for a first time deployment where you need to install many apps (or if you just browse them), you would go crazy to install apps and kill the store every time... For some reason I can't go back, or moreover there is no button.
Though this initiative is great, I hope it improves.
some reason I can't go back, or moreover there is no button.
It's assumed that users will use system navigation (i.e. gesture or 3-button navigation) to navigate backward through the app, which is why there's no back button. We can reconsider this, but it is currently possible to navigate backward through the app.
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Right: It works with the back gesture. But a back button like in GrapheneOS Store would help/make sense.
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Thanks both, but I'm still a bit confused, at the moment, the whole point is to install Apps from Google?
I don't see other ways if I keep using Accrescent, unless I use other repos like Aurora.
Though is not clear to me how this protects me, I see that the GServices in GrapheneOS are sandboxed, does it mean that every app requesting GServices will be sandboxed too?
I just need to avoid Google collecting info from my phone.
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steve66th does it mean that every app requesting GServices will be sandboxed too?
Every app is sandboxed, period. If its requesting GServices, then its using IPC to communicate past the sandbox with mutual consent. If this is a concern, isolate the app(s) in a separate profile from GPlay or avoid the app altogether. An IPC restriction (app communication) feature is being worked on that will allow concerning / troublesome apps to still exist in the same profile as GPlay.
App Developer says: regarding accrescent store, it has privacy issue where it asks for email address from GitHub, so that's why SimpleX Chat has not been added yet.
Out of curiosity, is it a good idea to install packages manually and the verify from GrapheneOS with Appverify??
I don't use many apps as of today so it may suit my needs, though it always says that is present as a signature but not verified, I guess that it takes a lot of time to verify all the developers out there, right?
Anyway, so far so good.
Dumdum thank you for that, most of apps also run with containers, which in theory are isolated...
I wonder how a VPN app could work, I guess that at least they don't use containers, but a process in user-space, sad that there is no console/terminal stock app :D .
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steve66th I believe Obtanium works well with AppVerifier, you can share from Obtanium straight to it before installation, if I'm not mistaken.
I am not sure if the devs of AppVerifier are concentrating their efforts on adding every single app to the internal database and keeping that updated (not that the hashes change that often but it does happen occasionally), I may be wrong though.
You can obtain the hashes for apps from other places too, like from the developer or from a friend who has the app installed already, or even from this forum. I would be happy to give you the SHA-256 hashes of any app that you want to install, if I already have it installed. Though I don't think it would be appropriate to do that in this thread as that is pretty far off-topic from OP's original question.
Out of interest though, would you mind explaining what you meant about apps running with containers and wondering how a VPN app could work? Not sure what you meant there. Sounds like you're used to how desktop OSes run. If you want a terminal app, there are some options, with the closest to a desktop experience being Termux, though there are some very big security issues with that one so I wouldn't recommend it unfortunately. I know there are others, but I'm not sure which is the best in terms of security.
roamer4223 I was just wondering how VPNs work on Android, considering that most of the apps are containers, and unless you configure the VPN in the VPN software provided by the OS, it would be a just a container and it would suffer all sort of problems, like leaks.
In theory, you need admin priviledges on a desktop to configure a VPN usually, and if you don't, you may expose yourself to leaks, especially in a multi-user environment, which is very common when using a smartphone, though this goes beyond the thread.
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steve66th I was just wondering how VPNs work on Android, considering that most of the apps are containers [...]
For many people the term "container" has one or another specific technical meaning which does not apply to Android systems. Android apps are not run in LXC or LXD containers, for example. It is unclear how using that term in this context adds clarity.
xxx That' s always the case regardless from were you get the app.
Of course I agree it is possible in all cases. But is it equally probable? Are devs equally likely to give up on maintaining their apps on a store with 3 billion users, one with 200 thousand users or one with 1000 users?
duck1 If I understanding correctly, apps that go without updates for over a year or so will be deleted from the store. But how does that change the scenario I asked about? If the app is be removed from the store, the user will not be notified, they will just be stuck with an app that won't get updated. Right?