NB: This demonstration requires WebUSB implemented in a desktop browser, which is not supported under Firefox, Safari, or derived browsers (e.g., Tor, iOS browsers).
It claims to be supported by any Chromium-based browser: Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Brave, etc.
My own daily driver is Firefox, so I basically only open Brave just for this website. I personally prefer managing apps on my phone through a browser on my laptop instead of fiddling with F-Droid on the phone.
DroidStore is a web catalog of open-source Android apps drawn from F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, and curated GitHub releases.
Talks to the Android phone over USB. Open the page, and install APKs from the browser. It drives ADB over WebUSB, so there is no client to install, no account, and no telemetry.
I built it (vibe coded) because of Google's Android developer verification requirement. From 30 September 2026 in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, with a wider rollout from 2027, any app installed on a certified Android device must be registered to a developer who has verified their identity with Google. That can mean handing over legal name, address, phone number, and a government ID, plus registering every app's package identifier. Apps whose authors have not verified by the deadline will not install through the normal flow in those regions.
F-Droid has refused to comply for very practical reasons. It cannot force the thousands of independent developers it distributes to register with Google, and it cannot claim those apps' package identifiers for itself without seizing exclusive distribution rights to other people's software. By its own account, the requirement would end the project and leave its users unable to install or even update apps.
The one install path Google has committed to keeping open is ADB/sideloading, for local development and power users. DroidStore wraps that in a browser so installing a known, auditable open-source app stays a single click over USB, with no command line and no F-Droid client. It is a stopgap to keep these apps reachable after the deadline. At least until Google also decides to block that route I guess.
I haven't put it on Github yet to publish the source and have others self-host this, but will do if people turn out to be interested in this. So far there was only one user (me) :P
NB: This demonstration requires WebUSB implemented in a desktop browser, which is not supported under Firefox, Safari, or derived browsers (e.g., Tor, iOS browsers).
It claims to be supported by any Chromium-based browser: Chrome, Chromium, Edge, Brave, etc.
Unfortunately, yes.
My own daily driver is Firefox, so I basically only open Brave just for this website. I personally prefer managing apps on my phone through a browser on my laptop instead of fiddling with F-Droid on the phone.
DroidStore is a web catalog of open-source Android apps drawn from F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, and curated GitHub releases.
Talks to the Android phone over USB. Open the page, and install APKs from the browser. It drives ADB over WebUSB, so there is no client to install, no account, and no telemetry.
I built it (vibe coded) because of Google's Android developer verification requirement. From 30 September 2026 in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, with a wider rollout from 2027, any app installed on a certified Android device must be registered to a developer who has verified their identity with Google. That can mean handing over legal name, address, phone number, and a government ID, plus registering every app's package identifier. Apps whose authors have not verified by the deadline will not install through the normal flow in those regions.
F-Droid has refused to comply for very practical reasons. It cannot force the thousands of independent developers it distributes to register with Google, and it cannot claim those apps' package identifiers for itself without seizing exclusive distribution rights to other people's software. By its own account, the requirement would end the project and leave its users unable to install or even update apps.
The one install path Google has committed to keeping open is ADB/sideloading, for local development and power users. DroidStore wraps that in a browser so installing a known, auditable open-source app stays a single click over USB, with no command line and no F-Droid client. It is a stopgap to keep these apps reachable after the deadline. At least until Google also decides to block that route I guess.
I haven't put it on Github yet to publish the source and have others self-host this, but will do if people turn out to be interested in this. So far there was only one user (me) :P