Publishing your app on F-Droid involves several steps, from ensuring your app meets the required criteria to submitting the necessary metadata. Here's a detailed guide to help you through the process:
1. Preparing Your App
Open Source License
Ensure your app is under an open-source license such as MIT, GPL-3.0-only, or Apache-2.0. F-Droid only accepts apps with open-source licenses.
Repository Setup
Your app's source code should be hosted on a public version control system like GitHub or GitLab. The repository must be public and contain all the necessary files to build your app.
2. Setting Up Your Environment
Install F-Droid Tools
You need to install the F-Droid server tools. This can be done on a Linux machine using the following commands:
sudo apt-get install fdroidserver
3. Creating Metadata
Clone the F-Droid Data Repository
You need to clone the F-Droid data repository, which contains the metadata for all the apps.
git clone https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata.git
cd fdroiddata
Create a New Branch
Create a new branch named after your app’s package name:
git checkout -b com.example.myapp
Create Metadata File
Create a new YAML file in the metadata directory with your app’s package name:
nano metadata/com.example.myapp.yml
Populate the file with your app’s details. Here's an example:
Categories:
- Science & Education
- Reading
License: MIT
AuthorName: John Doe
AuthorEmail: john@example.com
AuthorWebSite: https://example.com
SourceCode: https://github.com/username/myapp
IssueTracker: https://github.com/username/myapp/issues
Changelog: https://github.com/username/myapp/releases
AutoName: My App Name
RepoType: git
Repo: https://github.com/username/myapp.git
Binaries: https://github.com/username/myapp/releases/download/v%v/MyApp-%v.apk
Builds:
- versionName: 1.0.1
versionCode: 1
commit: v1.0.1
subdir: app
sudo:
- apt-get update
- apt-get install -y openjdk-17-jdk-headless
- update-java-alternatives -a
gradle:
- yes
4. Verifying and Building
Read Metadata
Ensure your metadata file is error-free:
fdroid readmeta
Rewrite Metadata
Clean up and rewrite the metadata file:
fdroid rewritemeta com.example.myapp
Lint Metadata
Check for any warnings in the metadata:
fdroid lint com.example.myapp
Build the App
Build your app using F-Droid tools:
fdroid build -v -l com.example.myapp
5. Submitting Your App
Push to GitLab
Commit your changes and push them to your fork of the F-Droid data repository on GitLab:
git add .
git commit -m "Added My App"
git remote set-url origin https://gitlab.com/YOUR-USERNAME/fdroiddata.git
git push -u origin com.example.myapp
6. Creating a Merge Request
Go to your GitLab repository and create a merge request to the main F-Droid data repository. The F-Droid maintainers will review your request, and if everything is in order, they will merge your app into the main repository.
7. Additional Details
Graphic Assets
To include icons and screenshots, add them using a Fastlane or Triple-T folder structure in your app’s repository. This helps F-Droid fetch and display these assets in the app store.
CI/CD Pipelines
Monitor the CI/CD pipelines in GitLab to ensure there are no build errors. If the pipelines pass successfully, your app will soon be available on F-Droid.
Final Notes
Publishing on F-Droid can take a day or two after the merge. You can promote your app using F-Droid's official graphics, which can be found on their website.
For more detailed instructions and examples, refer to F-Droid's official documentation, Dev Community guide, and Random Bits blog.
This comprehensive process ensures your app meets F-Droid’s standards and provides users with a trustworthy source for open-source Android applications.
Top comments (0)