From the browser to the maps to the media player, you can replace all your most-used Android apps with free, private, open-source alternatives.
Android phones come with a lot of essential apps pre-installed. They're usually pretty good, but they don't always treat your privacy concerns as a priority.
To fix this, you can swap your everyday apps for open-source alternatives. They're powerful and have lots of features, and they're also less likely to track you. Let's take a look at the best open-source apps to replace your browser, maps, and more.
The Brave browser is a free and open-source browser that's feature-packed, easy to use, and has tons of ways to enhance user privacy. One of the best parts of Brave is its Shields system that blocks ads and trackers, and it also includes a built-in firewall, a VPN, a video call system, and a bespoke ad reward system, among much more.
Brave's built-in firewall and VPN are a perfect fit for the mobile app, especially for users that are traveling or using public hotspots. The combination of hiding your location and protecting your online activity is fantastic. Do note, though, that both require a subscription.
Brave is well known for its ability to block ads, but you can also use Brave Rewards to activate privacy-preserving ads while browsing to earn Basic Attention Tokens. You can then send these tokens to sites and creators you love to ensure they're rewarded for their work.
Speed is another feature that makes Brave stand out. Users report that it's much faster than alternatives, like Chrome and Edge. The company even claims that it's three times faster than its competitors.
Download: Brave Private Web Browser (Free, in-app purchases available)
Simple SMS Messenger stays true to its name as a free, minimalist, open-source SMS app for Android. It doesn't require registration or signing in, is ad-free, and allows MMS messages as well.
It's easy to get started with the app. Right after opening it, a pop-up notification will request to set it as the default SMS app. After confirming, you're all set.
While stripped-back, it supports a broad range of features, including things like group messaging, blacklisting and whitelisting of contacts, custom notifications and vibration patterns, and message backup and restoration. The one thing it doesn't support, though, is RCS messaging.
Download: Simple SMS Messenger (Free, premium version available)
OpenBoard is a fairly standard keyboard app but has no dependency on Google binaries for typing and other basic features. While it prioritizes user privacy above all else, it's worth noting that the speech-to-text input defaults to Google, which may still collect data. If you're keen on privacy, you can simply disable this feature in the settings and the rest of the features in the app will continue to work properly.
The app is easy to install, configure, and use. It doesn't bring anything too flashy with it, but it's very responsive and offers enough customization for more demanding users.
OpenBoard isn't on the Play Store. You can download it from the open-source app store F-Droid instead.
Download: OpenBoard (Free)
K-9 Mail is an email client you can use to replace the Gmail app. It supports multiple email accounts, allows you to add accounts manually, comes with a ton of customization options, and is completely ad-free.
It has per-account notifications, which means you'll get a run-down on new emails in separate notifications. You can also access each inbox separately, or browse them all through the unified inbox.
Most importantly, though, K-9 Mail prioritizes user security. It doesn't track email usage and it supports encryption and email signing. The only noticeable downside is that it's not as polished as some other Android email apps.
Download: K-9 Mail (Free)
VLC is a versatile media player available for multiple platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. It's considered one of the best media players for Windows, and the Android version matches its desktop version's quality.
It's known for its wide range of supported video and audio formats, customization options, and ease of use. Additionally, it's one of the best apps for streaming content from other devices.
Advanced users will love VLC, as it comes with a plethora of features that are missing from similar apps. Some features include playing video as audio, a screen lock, repeat mode, and the ability to automatically download any available subtitles for some media.
Download: VLC for Android (Free)
Simplenote is a great alternative app for taking notes and you can use it if you prefer not to go with Google Keep instead.
It does a lot of the same things. It stores notes in the cloud, and you can pin, tag, and share notes, use Markdown, check the history, and add checkboxes to lists.
The feature that stands out the most, however, is the ability to add collaborators with their email addresses. And, because it syncs with the cloud in real-time, you can access your saved notes across multiple devices and you don't have to constantly hit save while writing.
Download: Simplenote (Free, in-app purchases available)
OsmAnd is a simple navigation and map app for Android. It's based on OpenStreetMap, which is a free and editable online map. It works online, of course, and you can also download maps for offline use.
At first glance, OsmAnd seems like an overly simplified version of Google Maps. However, if you dig a bit deeper, you'll find it's packed with a wide variety of useful features.
You can use this app to browse points of interest, navigate to one or more destinations with turn-by-turn directions and voice guidance, and even access street view. It's also possible to add audio, video, and image notes and add them to favorites and markers on the map.
Download: OsmAnd (Free, in-app purchases available)
Whether an open-source app as an alternative will work for you depends on a few factors. If you're looking for ways to protect your data, more customization, and improved performance for some devices, it might be just right for you.
When it comes to open-source apps, it's important to know that they're not just available on the Google Play Store. You can also find them on websites like F-Droid, APKPure, and APKMirror. On these sites, you have to download the APK for a given app and install it separately. It's a great way to access apps that aren't on the Play Store, as well as older versions of certain apps.
Brandon is a freelance writer for Android at MUO. Helping others with tech is his passion, and he’s been doing just that from a young age. He’s been writing about tech since 2018.

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