Dec 4, 2023 at 1:40 PM Simple Mobile Tools bought by ZipoApps, sparks controversy over future of open source apps
Simple Mobile Tools, a developer known for its suite of free and open source Android apps, has recently been in the spotlight following a Reddit user's discovery that the “website” field on some of the developer's Google Play Store apps now redirects to ZipoApps' website. ZipoApps, an Israeli company, has a track record of acquiring popular apps and incorporating ads and trackers for monetization purposes, and several Google Play Store pages for Simple Mobile apps are already marked with the “Contains ads” warning.
When queried on GitHub about a potential acquisition by ZipoApps, the main developer behind Simple Mobile Tools confirmed that the sale was underway. He acknowledged the controversy surrounding the move, attributing it to the declining quality of the Android ecosystem and the need to avoid a “slow death”.
The developer was uncertain about whether the apps would remain open source, suggesting that while the versions on F-Droid would remain unchanged, future plans might involve moving away from open source. This has caused a stir among users who argue that the apps' source codes, published under the General Public License v3.0, should not be subject to license changes unless all code contributors agree.
In response to these developments, a key contributor to the Simple Mobile apps, Naveen Singh, has established a new GitHub organization, FossifyX, where he has forked all the Simple Mobile tools. His intention is to maintain these apps, ensuring they remain free, open source, and devoid of trackers and ads.
FossifyX is now FossifyOrg, btw https://github.com/FossifyOrg
This is outrageous! I have like a dozen many of their apps on my smartphone and will have to find replacements for all of them. I never liked the "Tibbi" guy anyway, I should've known that trusting him was a mistake! Like the time when a security vulnerability was found in his file manager app, he just dismissed it as saying that the app did not connect to the internet anyway. I always heard stories like this happening but I never was a victim. For me, I have learned a good lesson to not collectively rely on a suite of apps or developer. RIP Simple Mobile Tools. Your "privacy" phone was garbage anyway.
I really like Simple Mobile Tools, I would hate for them to have adds added to them, it just defeats the point of it being simple.
... This is the end of an era. Hope a team of dedicated people will fork this project and continue on their path
Good to see the community be reactive, I'll won't forget to install the forks on my phones
Sad to see the original go, but at least there is an immediate fork. Simple Gallery/Simple Gallery Pro is one of the best mobile galleries out there, so it's good that it won't be riddled with ads and remain available.
Sharing two alternatives for myself and others to migrate (preferably IMMEDIATELY): https://github.com/FossifyX and https://github.com/goastian (direct clones) and https://github.com/you-apps and (another alternative)
Reply written Dec 4, 2023
Nice! Thanks. 👍️
Reply written Dec 4, 2023
FossifyX is now https://github.com/FossifyOrg
Reply written Dec 26, 2023