Gallery app

[Carlos E.R.]

My Motorola phone doesn't have a Gallery app to see all photos, not only
those made by the local camera. So, time ago, I asked here, and it
resulted in me installing "Simple gallery" from Simple Mobile Tools. It
was not updated, but that was fine.

Suddenly they made an update, and they want me to pay. The app has
stopped working.

So, what other gallery tool is there that you know it works and is free?

Or maybe I should shut up and pay. It is 0.79€. But I am pissed by their
attitude.


(meanwhile, I got it to work by deleting its data)

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[VanguardLH]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro
Cost: $1.59 USD

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.gallery
Cost: free

Looks like they yanked several features to put into their Pro (paid)
version. Have you tried stopping the app, clearing its cache, clearing
storage by the app, and reinstalling the free version? Could be they
are detecting their old free version as their "new" Pro version since
they claim the trial has expired.

Or dump the old app, and find a new gallery app. I don't do much with
photos on my smartphone. Instead I transfer them to my online storage,
and to my desktop PC (where I move them onto removable storage, like USB
flash drives). There are LOTS of articles suggesting gallery apps,
like:

https://www.androidauthority.com/best-gallery-apps-android-687764/
https://nokiapoweruser.com/best-gallery-apps-android-2017-56435/

Many apps are adware (contain ads you have to pay to get rid of), or
lureware (crippleware that lures you to pay for their pro version).

[Andy Burnelli]

VanguardLH wrote:

> Or dump the old app, and find a new gallery app.

There is a much simpler solution that directly solves Carlos' question.
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro/>

[Andy Burnelli]

Carlos E.R. wrote:

> Suddenly they made an update, and they want me to pay.

Hi Carlos,

I think you'll be ok, so let me know if this works as I care to help you.

It's not at all unusual to have the EXACT APP (exact unique name!) be
freeware on F-droid & yet payware on the Google Play Store (e.g., OSMAnd+).
$00.00 <https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.osmand.plus/>
$12.50 <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand.plus>

I don't allow my apps to automatically update, either in the app itself, or
by the Google Play Store Update mechanism, but I think I might know what
happened.

Given _many_ people use the _free_ "payware" for SimpleMobileTools...
I suspect "they" did NOT update the app to the payware or EVERYONE
(including me!) would have had the same problem, I would think.

I suspect something _else_ updated the app, which isn't surprising that it
might happen. I suspect that something else updated the app which, perhaps,
overwrote the free app with the exact same uniquely named Google Play Store
version of that app (which is payware).
$0.00 <https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro/>
$1.60 <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro>

I don't know how to test out that hypothesis but it seems plausible to me,
although I've never quite understood "signing" which makes it not possible
most of the time (all of the time?) for the Google Play Store to update
an F-Droid app even when the apps have the exact same unique name.

Andy Burns is likely the only one who can explain that to us.
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
which, in this case, is to faithfully try to help the original poster.

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

On Fri, 17 Mar 2023 at 13:24:41, Andy Burnelli <nos...@nospam.net> wrote:
(my responses usually follow points raised):

Given what happened seems to be the free F-Droid app was updated by Google
Play but where a free F-droid app is not free on the Google Play Store,
I also likewise wondered how Google Play updates F-Droid apps w/o asking.
https://forum.f-droid.org/t/prevent-google-play-store-from-proposing-updates-to-f-droid-installed-apps/4830

People have tried to hide F-Droid apps from the Google Play Store update.
https://www.reddit.com/r/fdroid/comments/xyim5g/google_play_trying_to_update_fdroid_apps/

This says F-Droid can automatically update its own apps in Android 12.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27470525
But it says you could always have manually updated from within F-Droid.

[Carlos E.R.]

The pro version is payware.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Carlos E.R.]

I can try the f-droid version in an older phone.

How do you impede a single app from updating automatically?

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Andy Burnelli]

Carlos E.R. wrote:

>> There is a much simpler solution that directly solves Carlos' question.
>> <https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro/>
>
> The pro version is payware.

Hi Carlos,

I'm trying to help you so I'll repeat stuff that you might think is too
much verbiage, but you didn't get it the first time when I was succinct.

I think I understand your confusion where the "pro" version (as far as I
know) has always been payware if it's installed from a Google Play Store
client but that same version has always been "free" if from F-Droid.

Notice the name of the "pro" app is <com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro/>.
Notice the name of the "free" app is <com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro/>.

It's the same app.

See the other post where it's common for F-Droid to have the EXACT app for
free that the Google Play Store sells to you (as a tax on the uninformed).

I suspect what might have happened is long ago you installed it for free
from the F-Droid repository (or maybe from Github, I don't know), and then,
somehow, somewhere, something updated it to the Google Play Store version.

If that's the case, my first suggestion, contrary to what VanguardLH kindly
had suggested, is the same as Gilliver suggested, which is delete the
existing Google Play Store app & install the latest F-Droid version.

Andy Burns or someone else may know why you can't just "update" it to the
F-Droid version since it probably came from there, but I guess it all boils
down to the fact that your Android phone doesn't know it came from F-Droid.

The F-Droid app knows this.
But not Android's Google Play Store update mechanism (I think).

Anyway, if this solves your problem, please "like & subscribe", so to
speak, as I get my jollies by helping others (unlike many who don't).

--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information

which, in this case is to suggest to Carlos the F_Droid free "pro" version.

[Andy Burnelli]

Carlos E.R. wrote:

> I can try the f-droid version in an older phone.

On the current phone, I think you might have to delete it first and then
install the F-Droid version and then you should be fine again.

> How do you impede a single app from updating automatically?

Dunno, as I have Google Play Store disabled completely.
<https://i.postimg.cc/qqVFqVwD/updateallapps10.jpg> Disabled Google stuff

But I tested it without even logging into Google so it's important to note
that Google Play Store and the update are _separate_ from each other.
<https://i.postimg.cc/3xxyCJYB/updateallapps04.jpg> Needs no account

There are "some" options for update but not any that are for 1 app (AFAIK).
<https://i.postimg.cc/HsXKj7WK/updateallapps01.jpg> Update options

Those screenshots are from when I extensively tested Google Play Store
updates, so they may or may not still be valid as I found the whole
thing a farce given it doesn't even come close to updating all apps.
<https://i.postimg.cc/fy8TpHFW/updateallapps06.jpg> Real update apps

My suggestion, for update, is to turn off the Google Play Store updates,
and then just use a "real" update app that does a much better job of it.
<https://i.postimg.cc/kgBB3mq0/updateallapps05.jpg> Use dedicated updaters

Sorry this wasn't succinct but if I'm succinct you won't know what I know.
However, I want to be clear all that I know was only from the last time
I tested it (a while ago); and I never tried to stop just one app from
updating.

Sometimes the app itself has the update inside its settings.
Let me look at my Simple Gallery app to see if it's there...

OK. I checked "v 6.16.4 Pro" and while there are a ton of things in its
settings activity, I didn't find anything related to the app update.

[Cecil Westerhof]

Andy Burnelli <nos...@nospam.net> writes:

> Carlos E.R. wrote:
>
>> I can try the f-droid version in an older phone.
>
> On the current phone, I think you might have to delete it first and then
> install the F-Droid version and then you should be fine again.
>
>> How do you impede a single app from updating automatically?
>
> Dunno, as I have Google Play Store disabled completely.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/qqVFqVwD/updateallapps10.jpg> Disabled Google stuff

As far as I know this is not necessary. When an application is
installed through F-Droid it will only be updated through F-Droid and
not through Google Play Store.

--
Cecil Westerhof
Senior Software Engineer
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilwesterhof

[Carlos E.R.]

On 2023-03-17 13:37, VanguardLH wrote:
> "Carlos E.R." <robin_...@es.invalid> wrote:
>
>> My Motorola phone doesn't have a Gallery app to see all photos, not only
>> those made by the local camera. So, time ago, I asked here, and it
>> resulted in me installing "Simple gallery" from Simple Mobile Tools. It
>> was not updated, but that was fine.
>>
>> Suddenly they made an update, and they want me to pay. The app has
>> stopped working.
>>
>> So, what other gallery tool is there that you know it works and is free?
>>
>> Or maybe I should shut up and pay. It is 0.79€. But I am pissed by their
>> attitude.
>>
>> (meanwhile, I got it to work by deleting its data)
>
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro
> Cost: $1.59 USD
>
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemobiletools.gallery
> Cost: free

No, the later is wrong info. It is tryware, it runs for 15 days only.

>
> Looks like they yanked several features to put into their Pro (paid)
> version. Have you tried stopping the app, clearing its cache, clearing
> storage by the app, and reinstalling the free version? Could be they
> are detecting their old free version as their "new" Pro version since
> they claim the trial has expired.

No, it is the last update that does this.

>
> Or dump the old app, and find a new gallery app.

That's what I'm asking here :-)

> I don't do much with
> photos on my smartphone. Instead I transfer them to my online storage,
> and to my desktop PC (where I move them onto removable storage, like USB
> flash drives). There are LOTS of articles suggesting gallery apps,
> like:
>
> https://www.androidauthority.com/best-gallery-apps-android-687764/
> https://nokiapoweruser.com/best-gallery-apps-android-2017-56435/
>
> Many apps are adware (contain ads you have to pay to get rid of), or
> lureware (crippleware that lures you to pay for their pro version).

Well, this simple one is now lureware. Except that the trial version sis
good enough.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Carlos E.R.]

On 2023-03-18 10:32, Cecil Westerhof wrote:
> Andy Burnelli <nos...@nospam.net> writes:
>
>> Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>
>>> I can try the f-droid version in an older phone.
>>
>> On the current phone, I think you might have to delete it first and then
>> install the F-Droid version and then you should be fine again.
>>
>>> How do you impede a single app from updating automatically?
>>
>> Dunno, as I have Google Play Store disabled completely.
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/qqVFqVwD/updateallapps10.jpg> Disabled Google stuff
>
> As far as I know this is not necessary. When an application is
> installed through F-Droid it will only be updated through F-Droid and
> not through Google Play Store.

Ah, this is good.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Carlos E.R.]

On 2023-03-18 03:37, Andy Burnelli wrote:
> Carlos E.R. wrote:
>
>>> There is a much simpler solution that directly solves Carlos' question.
>>> <https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro/>
>>
>> The pro version is payware.
>
> Hi Carlos,
>
> I'm trying to help you so I'll repeat stuff that you might think is too
> much verbiage, but you didn't get it the first time when I was succinct.
>
> I think I understand your confusion where the "pro" version (as far as I
> know) has always been payware if it's installed from a Google Play Store
> client but that same version has always been "free" if from F-Droid.
>
> Notice the name of the "pro" app is <com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro/>.
> Notice the name of the "free" app is <com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro/>.
>
> It's the same app.
>
> See the other post where it's common for F-Droid to have the EXACT app for
> free that the Google Play Store sells to you (as a tax on the uninformed).

Ok.

> I suspect what might have happened is long ago you installed it for free
> from the F-Droid repository (or maybe from Github, I don't know), and then,
> somehow, somewhere, something updated it to the Google Play Store version.

Nope. Impossible, I don't have those services.

>
> If that's the case, my first suggestion, contrary to what VanguardLH kindly
> had suggested, is the same as Gilliver suggested, which is delete the
> existing Google Play Store app & install the latest F-Droid version.
>
> Andy Burns or someone else may know why you can't just "update" it to the
> F-Droid version since it probably came from there, but I guess it all boils
> down to the fact that your Android phone doesn't know it came from F-Droid.
>
> The F-Droid app knows this.
> But not Android's Google Play Store update mechanism (I think).
>
> Anyway, if this solves your problem, please "like & subscribe", so to
> speak, as I get my jollies by helping others (unlike many who don't).

:-D

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Carlos E.R.]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-Droid

Key management

The Android operating system checks that updates are signed with the
same key, preventing others from distributing updates that are signed by
a different key.[51][52] Originally, the Google Play store required
applications to be signed by the developer of the application, while
F-Droid only allowed its own signing keys. So apps previously installed
from another source have to be reinstalled to receive updates.[53]

In September 2017 Google Play started offering developers a signing key
service managed by Google Play,[54] offering a similar service to what
F-Droid offered since 2011, and F-Droid now lets developers use their
own keys via the reproducible build process.[55]

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Carlos E.R.]

Ok, installed the F-droid installer (had to tap "yes, I am sure" several
times). Then I installed the simple gallery app, pro.

Yes, it is true it doesn't nag about paying. Interesting.


I installed it in a "decommissioned" phone. It doesn't have a SIM. Will
watch it a bit, and if all is fine, I'll put it in the "real" phone as well.

Oh, before that I uninstalled the version from Google Play, removing its
cache and data as well.


Thanks, guys :-)


--
Cheers, Carlos.

[VanguardLH]

Guess they turned their "free" version into a trial version after they
decided to yank out some features to offer a Pro version. I was
thinking the prompt the 15-day trial was over meant the free-now-trial
version stopped working. From your "trial version is good enough", I
take it their free/trial version became nagware, but it still works.

[Carlos E.R.]

No, it nags and does not work any more. Well, it can run for one more
day if you tap that option.

But if you install the version from f-droid, it works non stop, no
nagging. Still, I'm not absolutely sure the fdroid "Pro" version is the
same as the "Pro" in Google Play, I can not know. I say this because
apparently the Pro version has an editor. If I try to edit in the
f-droid version, it asks what editor to use, and one of them is "simple
editor" from the same programmer. I don't know if it is internal or
another app, because the "simple" version from Google Play does exactly
the same thing.


--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Andy Burnelli]

Carlos E.R. wrote:

> But if you install the version from f-droid, it works non stop, no
> nagging. Still, I'm not absolutely sure the fdroid "Pro" version is the
> same as the "Pro" in Google Play, I can not know. I say this because
> apparently the Pro version has an editor. If I try to edit in the
> f-droid version, it asks what editor to use, and one of them is "simple
> editor" from the same programmer. I don't know if it is internal or
> another app, because the "simple" version from Google Play does exactly
> the same thing.

Thanks Carlos for bringing up this new "trialware" gimmick from Simple
Mobile Tools, which seems to be new (I think) as of January 23, 2023.
<https://www.simplemobiletools.com/blog/trial-period>
(See the full text below for the permanent Usenet record.)

As you've learned from a few people here, the "really free" software is
still available using a web browser and downloading it from F-Droid.
<https://f-droid.org/repo/com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro_385.apk>

It's my understanding that it's exactly the same app although there will be
differences in signing, which, thanks to you Carlos, you also found out.
�*What is the actual difference between an F-Droid app & updating SAME APP that is on the Google Play Store repository?*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/MtqXR8CtBCc>

As far as I'm aware, the automatic update only works with F-Droid apps if
you downloaded them using the F-Droid app (which you don't need to use).

Likewise with the Google Play Store app, in that it apparently only auto
updates apps that it installed (likely due to the signing being different).

I generally don't use F-Droid as I just download the APK onto Windows
and then slide it over to the Android phone which installs automatically.
<https://i.postimg.cc/wvsbcNBz/scrcpy05.jpg> Drag APK from Windows

But I'm aware others like their apps being autoupdated, so that's OK.

For the benefit of the permanent Usenet record, below is the blog
explaining what Simple Mobile Tools calls now the "trial period".
<https://www.simplemobiletools.com/blog/trial-period>

You might have noticed that some of our free apps on Google Play are
getting limited to a 14 days trial period where you can test out most of
the Pro functionality. It affects only those 6 apps that have a Pro version
too, namely Draw, Calendar, Contacts, File Manager, Gallery, Notes. These
free apps haven't been developed for a long time now, they just received
some stability and translation updates from time to time, so they slowly
became quite dated. They haven't received any UI and functionality
improvements either since we announced that some of our apps are becoming
paid, you can find more info about that decision here. We believe that the
user experience of the free apps just wasn't good enough anymore and they
didn't really show the full potential of what their full Pro equivalents
might be like.

So to get a better understanding of what the Pro versions look like, we
updated the old free versions' user interface and unlocked most of their
functions including widgets, color customization and many others. Some of
the more advanced features, latest redesigns and Material You theme are
still exclusive to the Pro versions only so you cannot try them in the free
trial period. These free trials still don't contain any ads or any other
tracking as they still have no internet access. That way we are not making
any shady money on spying on you or selling your data as we don't even have
any. This is still a really good deal for you as the payment for the apps
is a small one time fee only, meaning that once you purchase it, you will
never have to pay for it again. Not even if you reinstall the app or
install it on a new device. Just to make it clear, it is not a monthly or a
yearly payment, you just pay a small fee once. The price depends on the app
and your country, it is usually around 1 dollar.

Once the trial expires, you will not be able to use the apps anymore. You
have to upgrade to the Pro versions yourself, you will not be charged
automatically. To avoid losing any data, you will still be able to export
locally stored events from Simple Calendar, privately stored contacts from
Simple Contacts (you don't have to export casual contacts, just ones stored
under "Phone storage (not visible by other apps)"), notes from Simple Notes
and favorites from Simple Gallery. You can then import those into the Pro
apps after upgrading, that ensures a really easy migration.

Don't forget that if you uninstall any paid app within 2 hours, you will be
automatically refunded. If you want a refund anytime later, just contact us
at he...@simplemobiletools.com and you will get it. That makes it really
easy to try out the real fully unlocked Pro apps. They are highly rated and
loved by lots of people so we are really confident that you will be
satisfied.

In case you are already using the Pro apps, you can ignore this whole post.
There are no limitations coming to you whatsoever, you can still enjoy the
apps to the fullest :)

[Andy Burnelli]

Carlos E.R. wrote:

> Ok, installed the F-droid installer (had to tap "yes, I am sure" several
> times). Then I installed the simple gallery app, pro.

Just an added set of three bits of data with respect to F-Droid use models.

1. I generally don't use the F-Droid app but instead I download the
APK from F-Droid using any web browser (usually on Windows).
<https://f-droid.org/repo/com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro_385.apk>

2. However, a lot of people do what you did, which is use the F-Droid app
itself to download (and auto-update) the apps you want, which is fine.
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro/>

3. Just for your information, there's another (often better but not always)
F-Droid client which is called "Aurora Droid", which I sometimes use.
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.aurora.adroid/>

So as to not confuse you, these are two different repositories for apps.
Aurora Store === Google Play Store (they both get the same apps)
F-Droid === Aurora Droid (they both get the same apps)

You can get both Aurora and Aurora Droid at this location if you like.
<https://auroraoss.com/>

[Andy Burnelli]

Carlos E.R. wrote:

>> I suspect what might have happened is long ago you installed it for free
>> from the F-Droid repository (or maybe from Github, I don't know), and then,
>> somehow, somewhere, something updated it to the Google Play Store version.
>
> Nope. Impossible, I don't have those services.

Hi Carlos,

I'm sorry you ran into this problem as I think I finally (belatedly)
understand what happened to you which is not "normal" in my experience.

It's not normal for an app to suddenly become payware which wasn't payware
prior, so it took us both a while to figure out that was the main problem.
<https://www.simplemobiletools.com/blog/trial-period>

I'm especially embarrassed in that I was likely one of the people who
suggested Simple Mobile Tools years ago, almost all of which I use, but I
download mine on Windows using a web browser (which is how I get almost all
my apps for Android - so you don't need F-Droid, per se, to get it).

All you need is a web browser since F-Droid doesn't require a login and
since F-Droid always provides the URL to the package APK (for all version).
<https://f-droid.org/repo/com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro_385.apk>

My current version is 6.164 (since I don't generally automatically update
anything, even as I have tested the automatic update programs out there).
<https://i.postimg.cc/9QTHSpYH/signature01.jpg> SMT Gallery Pro v 6.164

I looked at who signed the signature and it's clearly signed by "FDROID".
<https://i.postimg.cc/SsLsh4Lq/signature02.jpg> Signed by FDroid

What happened to you, I think, is that Simple Mobile Tools unilaterally
switched your free Gallery app from them to their pro Gallery app from
them, giving you 14 days of supposedly free pro features, and then they
locked you out of it, asking you to pay for the pro version instead.

Luckily, you asked here where folks suggested that the same package name of
<com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro> was available on the F-Droid repo.

Hopefully that will solve the issues they foisted upon you, where it would
be nice if someone with the Google Play Store version can let us know who
signed that certificate (probably Google or the developer did though).

*What is the actual difference between an F-Droid app & updating SAME APP that is on the Google Play Store repository?*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/MtqXR8CtBCc>

In summary, it's good for us you had this problem and that you asked for
help as we wouldn't even have known about it had you not asked us for
advice. Please let us know in a while if the F-Droid package works for you.

--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information

which, in this case, is to faithfully try to track down the update issue.

[Eli the Bearded]

In comp.mobile.android, Carlos E.R. <robin_...@es.invalid> wrote:
> My Motorola phone doesn't have a Gallery app to see all photos, not only
> those made by the local camera. So, time ago, I asked here, and it
> resulted in me installing "Simple gallery" from Simple Mobile Tools. It
> was not updated, but that was fine.
>
> Suddenly they made an update, and they want me to pay. The app has
> stopped working.
>
> So, what other gallery tool is there that you know it works and is free?

I believe the Simple Mobile Tools apps are all available for free in
F-Droid. There's another F-Droid app you may like, Aves Libre:

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/deckers.thibault.aves.libre/

This one is e paid app in Play and free in F-Droid. There's explicit
documentation of differences between the two (F-Droid version doesn't
use Google tools, so most notably, the map functionality is hobbled).

Personally I use a paid gallery app, F-Stop Gallery, and would pay an
even larger amount for a better one, for my definition of better, but I
haven't found such a thing.

Posted here in August last year:
Message-ID: <eli$22080...@qaz.wtf>
Subject: looking for image gallery recommendations

Here's what I use and like with F-Stop:

tagging images with tags stored in EXIF[1]

full control of tags, not just strings choosen by someone else

easy filter to find untagged photos, photos with a particular tag, or
photos from a particular directory

image edit: crop, resize, rotation in 90 degree increments

viewing videos taken by the camera apps in tool

Here are some limitations I'm hitting with F-Stop:

with over 600 tags currently, I'd like a better way to find existing
tags when adding them to photos

since I can't search by size, aspect ratio, or general EXIF data[2],
I tag panorama images, but since I can't search for things that mark
them, I sometimes miss tagging them

date/time search is not great. Within a tag, or directory, things are
chronological, but only grouped by month. With filename searching I
can get better, but not all my images have the same format
(YYYMMDD_HHMMSS vs YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS)

searching for tag intersections like "Hazel" with "Willie" or "Hazel"
without "Willie" (those are my two dogs)

the view on map feature feels fairly limited, making selecting of
things within, say, Yellowstone but not in nearby Grand Tetons,
difficult. Zoom out, and they are grouped together. Zoom in, and it's
a bunch of separate groups that can't be multi-selected

resizing photos is only done by slider, making precise (eg 2000 wide)
sizing basically impossible; cropping has similar issues

when resizing to share, I want to strip all metadata (exif, etc)
ideally even renaming the file. This requires two steps in F-Stop

As of right now, F-Stop says I have 699 tags, and just over 14,750
items, of which under 300 are videos. I'd definitely use more tags if it
were easier.

BTW: Aves is good about tag searching, but not good at adding tags.

Elijah
------
has Aves Libre installed, but basically never uses it

[Carlos E.R.]

On 2023-03-19 22:40, Eli the Bearded wrote:
> In comp.mobile.android, Carlos E.R. <robin_...@es.invalid> wrote:
>> My Motorola phone doesn't have a Gallery app to see all photos, not only
>> those made by the local camera. So, time ago, I asked here, and it
>> resulted in me installing "Simple gallery" from Simple Mobile Tools. It
>> was not updated, but that was fine.
>>
>> Suddenly they made an update, and they want me to pay. The app has
>> stopped working.
>>
>> So, what other gallery tool is there that you know it works and is free?
>
> I believe the Simple Mobile Tools apps are all available for free in
> F-Droid. There's another F-Droid app you may like, Aves Libre:
>
> https://f-droid.org/en/packages/deckers.thibault.aves.libre/
>
> This one is e paid app in Play and free in F-Droid. There's explicit
> documentation of differences between the two (F-Droid version doesn't
> use Google tools, so most notably, the map functionality is hobbled).

That's an interesting difference.

So apps in F-droid can have "important" differences to the apps in
Google. Not saying better nor worse, just different.

> Personally I use a paid gallery app, F-Stop Gallery, and would pay an
> even larger amount for a better one, for my definition of better, but I
> haven't found such a thing.

Oh, the simple gallery app, pro version, in Google Play is not
expensive, not even one euro. It is the change of the free one I had to
suddenly be updated to trialware to force people to buy the Pro that
pissed me.

I might eventually buy it.

>
> Posted here in August last year:
> Message-ID: <eli$22080...@qaz.wtf>
> Subject: looking for image gallery recommendations
>
> Here's what I use and like with F-Stop:
>
> tagging images with tags stored in EXIF[1]
>
> full control of tags, not just strings choosen by someone else
>
> easy filter to find untagged photos, photos with a particular tag, or
> photos from a particular directory
>
> image edit: crop, resize, rotation in 90 degree increments

I don't use tags inside the phone. Only when I move to the computer I
add tags.

You like tags, I see :-)

>
> Elijah
> ------
> has Aves Libre installed, but basically never uses it

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Andy Burnelli]

Eli the Bearded wrote:

>> So, what other gallery tool is there that you know it works and is free?
>
> I believe the Simple Mobile Tools apps are all available for free in
> F-Droid. There's another F-Droid app you may like, Aves Libre:
>
> https://f-droid.org/en/packages/deckers.thibault.aves.libre/

Hi Eli the Bearded,

Thank you, on behalf of everyone, for being one of the few helpful people
who provide an actual link to the app you mention, as all too often people
say "notes" or "gallery" or "file manager" (or whatever) which is generic.

Even just "Aves" might be confusing to a person who doesn't know what you
know where the logo is the same from two different developers' apps.
Freeware Aves Gallery, by Thibault Deckers (see logo in next entry!)
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=deckers.thibault.aves>
Adware Aves by Schnupfeld (same logo!)
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=deckers.thibault.aves.libre>

Note there is even an "Aves Browser" but at least the logo is different.

> This one is e paid app in Play and free in F-Droid.

Here are the some of the most important things people want to know.
*Aves Gallery* by Thibault Deckers
Free, ad free, requires gsf, 4.5 star 656 reviews 10K+ Downloads
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=deckers.thibault.aves>
"Aves can handle all sorts of images and videos,
including your typical JPEGs and MP4s,
but also more exotic things like multi-page TIFFs,
SVGs, old AVIs and more! It scans your media collection
to identify motion photos, panoramas (aka photo spheres),
360° videos, as well as GeoTIFF files.

Navigation and search is an important part of Aves.
The goal is for users to easily flow from albums
to photos to tags to maps, etc.

Aves integrates with Android (from KitKat to Android 13,
including Android TV) with features such as widgets,
app shortcuts, screen saver and global search handling.
It also works as a media viewer and picker."

> There's explicit
> documentation of differences between the two (F-Droid version doesn't
> use Google tools, so most notably, the map functionality is hobbled).

For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with F-Droid, every app must be
FOSS (AFAIK) where what's important to most of us is not so much the source
https://github.com/deckerst/aves

But what's important is we _know_ it's free and ad free which is, you have
to admit, a good start where this one is available in a half dozen repos.
Google Play:
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=deckers.thibault.aves>
F-Droid:
<https://f-droid.org/packages/deckers.thibault.aves.libre/>
GitHub:
<https://github.com/deckerst/aves/releases/tag/v1.8.4>
Amazon:
<https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XQHQQ72>
IszzyOnDroid:
<https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/deckers.thibault.aves
AppGallery:
<https://appgallery.huawei.com/app/C106014023>

> BTW: Aves is good about tag searching, but not good at adding tags.

I love that you suggested this FOSS Aves Gallery app which I have
downloaded and will test out. I thank you especially since it was
actually harder to find in a search because it only has 10K downloads.

Everyone benefits when the poster, like Eli the Bearded, provides URLs!

--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information

which, in this case, is to faithfully try to learn more about Aves Gallery.

[Andy Burnelli]

Carlos E.R. wrote:

>> This one is e paid app in Play and free in F-Droid. There's explicit
>> documentation of differences between the two (F-Droid version doesn't
>> use Google tools, so most notably, the map functionality is hobbled).
>
> That's an interesting difference.

I was (and still am) confused by the description Eli the Bearded gave.

While he was clear about the app names, a search showed multiple apps
with a similar name and the same logo from different developers.

Freeware Aves Gallery, by Thibault Deckers (see logo in next entry!)
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=deckers.thibault.aves>
Adware Aves by Schnupfeld (same logo!)
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=deckers.thibault.aves.libre>

Another bit of confusion crept in where one was called "Aves *Gallery*"
(which is the topic at hand) while the other was called just "Aves"
but it was the one that was linked to in the Eli post I followed.

So I wouldn't conclude anything yet without digging deeper into that.

> So apps in F-droid can have "important" differences to the apps in
> Google. Not saying better nor worse, just different.

I'm not convinced that is the case, but I never delved into it before.
It's my understanding that apps with the same _package name_ have the same
fundamental functionality (assuming the same version numbers of course) but
I'll let others correct me on that assumption if I am wrong about that.

Notice the package names are different in the various incarnations:
Google Play: *<deckers.thibault.aves>*
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=deckers.thibault.aves>
F-Droid: *<deckers.thibault.aves.libre/>*
<https://f-droid.org/packages/deckers.thibault.aves.libre/>
GitHub: (see listing below)
<https://github.com/deckerst/aves/releases/tag/v1.8.4>
Amazon: *<deckers.thibault.aves>*
<https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XQHQQ72>
IszzyOnDroid: *<deckers.thibault.aves>*

<https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/deckers.thibault.aves
AppGallery:
<https://appgallery.huawei.com/app/C106014023>

Notice the _icon_ is the same (or very similar) for different package names
too, where Github lists these package names for essentially the same app.
<app-huawei-release.apk> 45 MB updated 2 days ago
<app-izzy-arm64-v8a-release.apk> 16.7 MB updated 2 days ago
<app-izzy-armeabi-v7a-release.apk> 16.8 MB updated 2 days ago
<app-izzy-x86_64-release.apk> 17.5 MB updated 2 days ago
<app-libre-arm64-v8a-release.apk> 16.4 MB updated 2 days ago
<app-libre-armeabi-v7a-release.apk> 16.5 MB updated 2 days ago
<app-libre-x86_64-release.apk> 17.1 MB updated 2 days ago
<app-play-release.aab> 45 MB updated 2 days ago
<app-play-release.apk> 44.9 MB updated 2 days ago

Given all that package-name confusion above, and given I am unfamiliar with
the app capability, I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the same package
name has different functionality between F-Droid and Google Play just yet.

>> Personally I use a paid gallery app, F-Stop Gallery, and would pay an
>> even larger amount for a better one, for my definition of better, but I
>> haven't found such a thing.
>
> Oh, the simple gallery app, pro version, in Google Play is not
> expensive, not even one euro.

Personally, I don't see how a gallery app can charge given every Android
phone comes with one, where we've covered gallery apps in c.m.a before.
*Photo gallery app suggestion?* by Carlos on Jul 18, 2018,
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/C3wUHA_CDjs/>

Here I provided a thorough review of the literature on gallery apps.
*looking for image gallery recommendations* by Eli the Bearded on Aug 2, 2022
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/j1IPuQMZ-00/>

> It is the change of the free one I had to
> suddenly be updated to trialware to force people to buy the Pro that
> pissed me.

I agree with anyone who espouses a sensible logically understandable
position, where I'm livid that Simple Mobile Tools pulled the stunt that
they did.

> I might eventually buy it.

I've never felt the need to purchase any app on Android or on iOS in my
life but I'm good at researching apps & I know how to test software.

> I don't use tags inside the phone.

Me neither!

> Only when I move to the computer I add tags.

The only time I've ever used tags was when I had the iPod and I needed to
put thousands of songs onto them using _consistent_ tags (which I used
batch taggers on Windows to perform, & then SharePod freeware to install).

> You like tags, I see :-)

He seems to be really good using those metadata tags for search &
organization, which is a testament to his organizational skills.

Good for him!

--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information

which, in this case, is to bring up that there is still some confusion.

[Carlos E.R.]

The wording ".libre" points to the difference he mentioned «(F-Droid

version doesn't use Google tools, so most notably, the map functionality

is hobbled)»

And they document it (somewhere).

Well, you mention in another post that all apps in F-droid have to be
free. This means that they may have to remove some features or implement
them differently.

For example, I have a rain radar app, which can show the map using the
google map, or the openstreet map. If the app is in F-droid it will
probably not use the google map (rain alarm, Michael Diener - Software
e.K.). Trying to locate the canonical name and failing... I have done
this in the past, now I can't.

Well, Motorola phones do not have a gallery app.

I can open the camera, and inside the camera tap bottom-right and it
will display existing photos. That's the gallery equivalent, but it is
not a separate app, and functionality is quite limited.

>
> Here I provided a thorough review of the literature on gallery apps.
> *looking for image gallery recommendations* by Eli the Bearded on Aug 2,
> 2022
> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/j1IPuQMZ-00/>
>
>> It is the change of the free one I had to suddenly be updated to
>> trialware to force people to buy the Pro that pissed me.
>
> I agree with anyone who espouses a sensible logically understandable
> position, where I'm livid that Simple Mobile Tools pulled the stunt that
> they did.
>
>> I might eventually buy it.
>
> I've never felt the need to purchase any app on Android or on iOS in my
> life but I'm good at researching apps & I know how to test software.

I have bought some. For instance, OSMand+, I wanted the improvement and
I feel they do a good job.

I remember I also paid for "TPE", a tool to calculate where to put the
camera so that a mountain opposite is just where the sun or the moon is.
Very specific software. Saves days of exploration and experimenting. I
only used it very few times, but it worked.

...

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Andy Burnelli]

Carlos E.R. wrote:

> The wording ".libre" points to the difference he mentioned «(F-Droid
> version doesn't use Google tools, so most notably, the map functionality
> is hobbled)

Hi Carlos,
Yes. I noticed the _package name_ was different so that's why I said we
should be cautious in concluding anything just yet, especially as I had
never even heard of that app so I can't say anything with any experience.

> And they document it (somewhere).

<https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Inclusion_Policy/>

> Well, you mention in another post that all apps in F-droid have to be
> free. This means that they may have to remove some features or implement
> them differently.

F-Droid calls their rules "FLOSS" (which is where the "Libre" comes in).
"All applications in the repository must be Free, Libre and Open Source
Software (FLOSS) – for example, released under a GPL or Apache license."

Surprisingly, I see they "can" do ads but they have to be done in a certain
way according to a blurb a bit further down in that inclusion document.
"We cannot build apps using proprietary ad libraries.
We have nothing against advertisments (see Anti-Features),
<https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Anti-Features/>
but they must be provided by a FLOSS-compatible way."

These are the 30 apps on F-Droid that have ads in them done that way.
<https://monitor.f-droid.org/anti-feature/Ads>
Half of which are from the same company so it's really only about a dozen.

> For example, I have a rain radar app, which can show the map using the
> google map, or the openstreet map. If the app is in F-droid it will
> probably not use the google map (rain alarm, Michael Diener - Software
> e.K.). Trying to locate the canonical name and failing... I have done
> this in the past, now I can't.

The F-Droid inclusion document says they will not build an app that has
what I'll refer to as "google spyware" incorporated in it, including:
We cannot build apps using Google’s proprietary Play Services
We cannot build apps using proprietary tracking/analytic dependencies
(such as Crashlytics and Firebase)
We cannot build apps using proprietary ad libraries
We cannot build apps requiring Non-Free build tools
(including Oracle’s JDK or some pre-release toolchains)

Although we should note that GSF is allowed, apparently.

In addition:
Source code must be publicly accessible & must be maintained
The app must not download additional executable binaries
without explicit user consent
Those include addons & auto-updates where consent must be opt-in
(where it must not be harder to decline than to accept)
(and it can't be presented in a way users may click w/o reading)
The package_name must be honestly yours
If a fork, it must have a new name
etc.

>> Personally, I don't see how a gallery app can charge given every Android
>> phone comes with one, where we've covered gallery apps in c.m.a before.
>> *Photo gallery app suggestion?* by Carlos on Jul 18, 2018,
>> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/C3wUHA_CDjs/>
>
> Well, Motorola phones do not have a gallery app.

That's a bummer. My Samsung comes with one but I have never used it.
I just use the one you use from Simple Mobile Tools (from F-Droid).

> I can open the camera, and inside the camera tap bottom-right and it
> will display existing photos. That's the gallery equivalent, but it is
> not a separate app, and functionality is quite limited.

Understood.

You can check if a gallery exists under a motorola name using this:
*App Manager* - Android package manager by Muntashir Akon
A full-featured open source package manager for android.
<https://f-droid.org/packages/io.github.muntashirakon.AppManager/>
<https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager>
<https://muntashirakon.github.io/AppManager/en/>

Just search for "motorola" in that app manager and it will find what may
be hidden (as an app drawer search isn't always foolproof).

That app manager, by the way, is one of the best apps on Android, IMHO.

>> I've never felt the need to purchase any app on Android or on iOS in my
>> life but I'm good at researching apps & I know how to test software.
>
> I have bought some. For instance, OSMand+, I wanted the improvement and
> I feel they do a good job.

Nothing wrong with donating to the OSMAnd+ team, as long as you knew at the
time that OSMAND+ is free if you get it from F-Droid (but not Google Play).

I think you get support for the "paid payware" on Google Play whereas I
don't know if you get support for the OSMAnd+ "free payware" on F-Droid.

Note: Same package name but slightly different icon name OSMAnd~===OSMAnd+
which we covered in gory detail in the past so consider that a summary.

> I remember I also paid for "TPE", a tool to calculate where to put the
> camera so that a mountain opposite is just where the sun or the moon is.
> Very specific software. Saves days of exploration and experimenting. I
> only used it very few times, but it worked.

I couldn't find it on Google Play; but I only looked briefly for it.
<https://play.google.com/store/search?q=tpe&c=apps>
<https://play.google.com/store/search?q=tpe%20camera&c=apps>
<https://play.google.com/store/search?q=tpe%20photo&c=apps>
etc.

--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information

which, in this case, is to faithfully add technical value to the topic.

[Carlos E.R.]

On 2023-03-20 16:17, Andy Burnelli wrote:
> Carlos E.R. wrote:
>
>> The wording ".libre" points to the difference he mentioned «(F-Droid
>> version doesn't use Google tools, so most notably, the map
>> functionality is hobbled)
>
> Hi Carlos,
> Yes. I noticed the _package name_ was different so that's why I said we
> should be cautious in concluding anything just yet, especially as I had
> never even heard of that app so I can't say anything with any experience.
>
>> And they document it (somewhere).
> <https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Inclusion_Policy/>
>
>> Well, you mention in another post that all apps in F-droid have to be
>> free. This means that they may have to remove some features or
>> implement them differently.
>
> F-Droid calls their rules "FLOSS" (which is where the "Libre" comes in).
> "All applications in the repository must be Free, Libre and Open Source
>  Software (FLOSS) – for example, released under a GPL or Apache license."
>
> Surprisingly, I see they "can" do ads but they have to be done in a certain
> way according to a blurb a bit further down in that inclusion document.
> "We cannot build apps using proprietary ad libraries.  We have nothing
> against advertisments (see Anti-Features),
>  <https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Anti-Features/>
>  but they must be provided by a FLOSS-compatible way."

That's nice.

>
> These are the 30 apps on F-Droid that have ads in them done that way.
> <https://monitor.f-droid.org/anti-feature/Ads>
> Half of which are from the same company so it's really only about a dozen.
>
>> For example, I have a rain radar app, which can show the map using the
>> google map, or the openstreet map. If the app is in F-droid it will
>> probably not use the google map (rain alarm, Michael Diener - Software
>> e.K.). Trying to locate the canonical name and failing... I have done
>> this in the past, now I can't.
>
> The F-Droid inclusion document says they will not build an app that has
> what I'll refer to as "google spyware" incorporated in it, including:
> We cannot build apps using Google’s proprietary Play Services
> We cannot build apps using proprietary tracking/analytic dependencies
>  (such as Crashlytics and Firebase)
> We cannot build apps using proprietary ad libraries
> We cannot build apps requiring Non-Free build tools  (including Oracle’s
> JDK or some pre-release toolchains)
>
> Although we should note that GSF is allowed, apparently.

They are consistent. The problem is that they are proprietary, ie,
closed source, not that they spy or want money.

>
> In addition:
> Source code must be publicly accessible & must be maintained
> The app must not download additional executable binaries   without
> explicit user consent
> Those include addons & auto-updates where consent must be opt-in
>  (where it must not be harder to decline than to accept)
>  (and it can't be presented in a way users may click w/o reading)
> The package_name must be honestly yours If a fork, it must have a new name
> etc.

All fair.

>
>>> Personally, I don't see how a gallery app can charge given every Android
>>> phone comes with one, where we've covered gallery apps in c.m.a before.
>>> *Photo gallery app suggestion?* by Carlos on Jul 18, 2018,
>>> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/C3wUHA_CDjs/>
>>
>> Well, Motorola phones do not have a gallery app.
>
> That's a bummer. My Samsung comes with one but I have never used it.
> I just use the one you use from Simple Mobile Tools (from F-Droid).

Well, I don't know if Google Photos or Files come preinstalled, because
the automatism to clone the old phone kicked in too early to check.

>> I can open the camera, and inside the camera tap bottom-right and it
>> will display existing photos. That's the gallery equivalent, but it is
>> not a separate app, and functionality is quite limited.
>
> Understood.
> You can check if a gallery exists under a motorola name using this:
> *App Manager* - Android package manager by Muntashir Akon
>  A full-featured open source package manager for android.
> <https://f-droid.org/packages/io.github.muntashirakon.AppManager/>
> <https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager>
> <https://muntashirakon.github.io/AppManager/en/>
>
> Just search for "motorola" in that app manager and it will find what may
> be hidden (as an app drawer search isn't always foolproof).

It doesn't matter, as long as the user doesn't have a tool to see photos
easily.

I know that an older Motorola phone I had (X-play?) definitely did have
a Motorola Gallery app (I can see it in the list of "not installed apps"
in Google Play (marked as "not available for this device).

>
> That app manager, by the way, is one of the best apps on Android, IMHO.
>
>>> I've never felt the need to purchase any app on Android or on iOS in my
>>> life but I'm good at researching apps & I know how to test software.
>>
>> I have bought some. For instance, OSMand+, I wanted the improvement
>> and I feel they do a good job.
>
> Nothing wrong with donating to the OSMAnd+ team, as long as you knew at the
> time that OSMAND+ is free if you get it from F-Droid (but not Google Play).

I didn't, but they didn't piss me :-)

>
> I think you get support for the "paid payware" on Google Play whereas I
> don't know if you get support for the OSMAnd+ "free payware" on F-Droid.
>
> Note: Same package name but slightly different icon name OSMAnd~===OSMAnd+
> which we covered in gory detail in the past so consider that a summary.
>
>> I remember I also paid for "TPE", a tool to calculate where to put the
>> camera so that a mountain opposite is just where the sun or the moon
>> is. Very specific software. Saves days of exploration and
>> experimenting. I only used it very few times, but it worked.
>
> I couldn't find it on Google Play; but I only looked briefly for it.
> <https://play.google.com/store/search?q=tpe&c=apps>
> <https://play.google.com/store/search?q=tpe%20camera&c=apps>
> <https://play.google.com/store/search?q=tpe%20photo&c=apps>
> etc.

Full name "The Photographer's Ephemeris" by "Crookneck Consulting LLC"

https://photoephemeris.com


I don't see the app itself. I suspect that now it is Apple only, there
is a download icon at the bottom. But I certainly have the app in Google
Play.

On Google Play it says:

<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crookneckconsulting.tpeandroid>

but then it says "link not found".

--
Cheers, Carlos.

[Eli the Bearded]

In comp.mobile.android, Carlos E.R. <robin_...@es.invalid> wrote:

> On 2023-03-20 04:10, Andy Burnelli wrote:
>> I was (and still am) confused by the description Eli the Bearded gave.

> The wording ".libre" points to the difference he mentioned «(F-Droid
> version doesn't use Google tools, so most notably, the map functionality
> is hobbled)»
>
> And they document it (somewhere).

There are multiple versions with differences documented on Github:

https://github.com/deckerst/aves/wiki/App-Versions

For my purposes, I only care about Play and F-Droid versions.

Elijah
------
open street maps would be nice to have, but non-essential