[Apps store] Improvements & Features proposal
Here is my complete review of the Apps store :
Aurora/Yalp features
The application itself (without the content) is very good. That's a great job. But in order to drop Aurora Store for Apps, all Aurora Store features should be in Apps :
In the settings
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"Select Theme" : Light, Dark, Black.
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"Show keyboard on search by default" : show the keyboard directly when we go in the search tab. --> #2703 (closed) vBarbarossa
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"Check for updates" : Manually
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The ability to blacklist an app in order not to see it in the Updates list. --> #732 (closed)
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Is there a spoof thing in Apps like in Aurora and Yalp in order to download the good version of an app for one's device or is there only one APK for all phones ? (I'm not an expert about that)
Tab bar and navigation
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Have a list of installed apps with the ability to hide/show system apps. It should be a sub-tab in the "Updates" tab. --> https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/backlog/-/issues/2865 & https://gitlab.e.foundation/groups/e/-/epics/91 (Maybe the "Updates" tab should be renamed "My apps" with on the top of the screen an "UPDATES" and "MY APPS" sub-tabs.)
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A filter in order to see only apps we want to see : GSF Dependant or not, Apps with ads or not, ratings, number of downloads, FOSS or not. That filter would apply everywhere in Apps (Home, Search and Categories tabs). --> https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/backlog/-/issues/737
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We should be able to find/display an application direcly by typing the codename of an app in the Search tab ("ch.protonmail.android" for instance). --> #2629 (closed)
In an application page
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The ability to flag an app as inappropriate (malware, dumb, useless app, etc) --> #735 (closed)
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A button to download the APK of an app without install it. --> #730 (closed)
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A button to get the APK of an installed app.--> #730 (closed)
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Display the current version of an installed app next to the last version available. --> #736 (closed)
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The date of the last release of an app should be the real date release and not the release date in the Apps application.
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There should be an "Uninstall" button. --> #729 (closed)
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A "Similar apps" slider on the bottom (with priority for FOSS apps maybe). --> #736 (closed)
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The "Permissions" pop-up (under "Privacy analyses") should be more user-friendly. We can't understand what all those permissions are and what they can do. --> #736 (closed)
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The ability to see all the other apps of a publisher. Two ways : a slider "Other apps from [publisher]" under the "Similar apps" slider or just a button that opens a new page with a list of all the apps from [publisher]. --> #728 (closed)
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A button in order to be redirected to the "App info" page in the Settings. (Not the settings of Apps but the Settings of the phone) --> #727 (closed)
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In addition to the "Description" section, a "Novelties/features" section is needed in order to know before doing an update what have been changed. --> #5212
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The codename of the app ("ch.protonmail.android" for instance) should be displayed. --> #736 (closed) Done in App Lounge
Content nonsense
--> #725 (closed)
Even if we get a perfect Apps store application, if the applications proposed inside are irrelevant all the efforts will be lost. In order to see the problem we just have to go in a categorie, like "Communication". We should find applications everybody knows but there are just unknown applications. Same thing for the "Maps and navigation" categorie (and all the others). Multiple choices in order to solve that issue :
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Exclusively heberged FOSS apps like F-Droid : No because majority of users need proprietor applications with trackers. Furthermore, it would be possible to display only FOSS apps thanks to the filter for those who want only FOSS apps.
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Try to heberged as much as possible applications in Apps, with priority for apps downloaded many times on Google Play. For now Apps can't succeed with all those dumb applications promoted in it.
Features proposal
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An "Alternative" sub-tab located in the "Categories" tab next to "APPS" and "GAMES". It would show the Google Maps app and under it proposed alternatives such as OsmAnd. Under Youtube it would show NewPipe, Peertube. Under Gmail it would show ProtonMail, Tutanota. Etc etc with a lot of apps and alternatives. --> #724 (closed)
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Sometimes, an update breaks an application and we have to wait for another update. So in order to avoid that, Apps should save the APK of the local application before update it. In case the update breaks the app, the user would just have to press a "Restore to the previous version" button. --> #723 (closed) (Maybe it's not possible to downgrade an application without deleting it. But at least the user would have the possibility to delete and re-install an application to its previous version if this is a necessary.) By the way, this feature has been requested 1h by another person in the forum so it's a feature people are interested in.
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The ability to submit a new app in the Apps store directly in Apps. Not necessary anymore
EDIT : Link to the existing issues.