F-Droid released version 2.0 of its Android app store client on September 24, 2026, calling it its largest app update in 10 years. The client was rewritten from scratch, now needs Android 7.0 or newer, and installs apps in a new way. For developers who ship apps outside Google Play, it changes what their users see and how updates arrive.
F-Droid is a catalog of free and open-source Android apps, installed as its own app rather than through Google Play. Developers publish there to reach users who avoid Google's store, and the project builds apps from their public source code.
What changed in F-Droid 2.0
The announcement on F-Droid's blog describes a complete redesign. The new interface is written in Kotlin Compose, the toolkit Google now recommends for building Android screens in code.
The app is reduced to three areas: Discover, Search and My Apps. Categories moved into Discover and grew. The post lists 17 game genres and new groups for VPNs, firewalls and password managers.
| Area | F-Droid 1.x | F-Droid 2.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Android | 6.0 (version 1.23.2) | 7.0 |
| Interface | Previous interface | Rewritten in Kotlin Compose |
| Checking for updates | Pull to refresh | Automatic, in the background |
| Installing | Previous installer | One installer using Android's pre-approval API |
| Privileged Extension | Supported | No longer supported |
| Tor | Separate setting | Moved into proxy settings |
According to the package page, the build is 2.0.0 (version code 2000050). The previous stable release, 1.23.2, came out on February 19, 2026.
A new installer, and what it replaces
The biggest change for app makers is the installer. F-Droid 2.0 asks for installation approval before the download starts, using Android's pre-approval API. That means the user confirms an app once, up front, instead of waiting for a download and then tapping through a prompt.
The project's changelog adds a fallback. If a pre-approval request fails, F-Droid cancels it and shows the normal system prompt.
Updates changed too. The client now checks for them in the background, and it can run several updates and downloads at the same time. "The best refresh button is the one you never have to press," the blog post says.
The F-Droid Privileged Extension is gone. It was an optional add-on, usually built into custom Android versions, that let F-Droid install apps silently. The package page also lists new user notifications for app problems, such as a change in an app's signing key.
What was removed, and what carries over
Some features did not make it. The panic trigger that wipes apps is removed for now, the blog says, while other panic features remain. App hiding was redesigned, and the changelog says the old calculator disguise was removed along with it.
Users upgrading from 1.x keep their settings. The changelog lists migrated options including data and Wi-Fi rules, auto-update, mirrors, proxy and Tor.
Search is broader. It now covers app descriptions, categories and translated text, with better support for Chinese, Japanese and Korean, plus a search history.
How it was tested
F-Droid says the release went through 14 test releases before the public rollout, and an independent security audit. The project's GitLab tags show alpha and release-candidate builds going back to January 2026.
What this means for developers
If you publish on F-Droid, check your app's listing in the new Discover view. Categories now drive what users browse first. Make sure your metadata puts your app in the most specific category that fits, especially if it is a game or a security tool.
Plan for users on Android 6. They stay on the old 1.x client, which will not get these features. If your own app still supports Android 6, those users can keep installing it, but they are now on a client the project has moved past.
Keep your signing key stable. F-Droid 2.0 now warns users when an app's signing key changes. A key rotation you did not announce may look like tampering to your users.
If you maintain a custom Android build that shipped the Privileged Extension, remove it from your plans. Test your images against the new pre-approval installer instead, since that is now the one path F-Droid uses.
Finally, try the new client yourself on a spare device before your users report problems. Background update checks and parallel downloads change the timing of when your new releases reach people.
This article was first published on Tech AI Wire.
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Sources
- F-Droid 2.0: A New Chapter for Android Freedom - F-Droid
- F-Droid (org.fdroid.fdroid) package page - F-Droid
- fdroidclient CHANGELOG.md - GitLab
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