BLBluestein·Oct 31, 2026Submission
Obtainium Get Android app updates straight from the source
1 points · Open discussionImranR98
Obtainium
Dart2022–2026
ImranR98 / Obtainium
Obtainium
Get Android app updates straight from the source.
30Distinct people
32Mentions
2Explicit recommenders
21.5KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Get Android app updates straight from the source.
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
If you like the Obtanium user experience, I recommend you get involved and help them implement signature verification on F-Droid repos:…
eighthave used a recommendation phrase. 2 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
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Also in these discussions
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This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 5:04:57 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year32 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2022-10-13 22:16:10 UTC to 2026-10-31 13:17:21 UTC.
* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 12 | 2 | 10 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 9 | 1 | 8 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 1 | 2 |
What Hacker News says
32 sourcesIf you like the Obtanium user experience, I recommend you get involved and help them implement signature verification on F-Droid repos:
https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium/issues/3348
In F-Droid 2.0Fwiw, that link is documented in the readme at https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium so it's not hard for someone to find again. It's also prominent in the Obtainium app UI itself.
In F-Droid 2.0I have been using Obtainium [1] to install apps on my Pixel including Emacs.
[1] https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
In Surprisingly, Emacs on Android is pretty goodMore googling, Shizuku² does this already in a polished way and exposes an API for other apps. Some related-ish apps are SAI³ (for installing split apks) and Canta⁴ (removing system apps).
EDIT: Even more googling, the whole setup already exists in
Obtainium (i.e. F-Droid but with Github Releases) apparently so apps show up as being installed via Play Store and subsequently be usable in Android Auto⁵.
So hypothetically you can install stuff day one on a stock phone after this atrocity is turned on.
[2]: https://shizuku.rikka.app/
[3]: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.aefyr.sai.fdroid/
[4]: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/io.github.samolego.canta/
[5]: https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium/issues/1859
In What we talk about when we talk about sideloadingFor people looking for a more vanilla experience I'm publishing Google's official extension supporting Chromium builds for Android here https://github.com/andrewginns/chromium-browser-snapshots-An...
Combined Obtainium it's easy to keep it updated. https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
In Show HN: Helium Browser for Android with extensions support, based on VanadiumThe dream would be Apple letting https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium (a decentralized app store 4 Android) on IOS
In Apple revokes EU distribution rights for an app on the Alt StoreObtanium – Get Android app updates straight from the source
2 points · Open discussionUnobtanium supports more sources, has more features, and is actively developed.
https://obtainium.imranr.dev/
https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
In GitDroid: A third party Android app manager for apps uploaded to GitHub releasesSounds similar to Obtainium:
- https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
- https://obtainium.imranr.dev/
In OpenAPK – open-source Apps for Android, updated weeklyI've got about 80% of my apps that would normally be on F-Droid installed through Obtainium (https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium), which handles Git releases (among other sources). The F-Droid client feels clunky and in the past I had some update errors that were annoying. With some improvements it should return to being a good discovery tool and app manager, so this is good news.
In F-Droid Awarded Open Technology Fund's FOSS Sustainability GrantI now use Obtanium[1] for my open source android apps, it grabs apks straight from the source (github, gitlab etc.). Once you get each app set up its a breeze and you don't have to deal with fdroids strangeness.
[1] https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
In F-Droid Security Issues (2022)here's their github: https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
In Obtainium: Get Android App Updates Directly from the SourceWhile F-Droid may be important, I personally tend to prefer Aurora Store and even more Obtainium[1]. Although you have to be even more careful what you install, Obtainium is extremely good at keeping apps up to date.
Some projects don't even provide an F-Droid release, so just adding the github repository to Obtainium is much easier than having to deal with apk stuff.
1: https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
In The importance of F-Droid, an Android app storeSimilarly, there's Obtainium for Android. I love it for open source apps.
https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
In PSA: Eget That Executable from GitHubShowing the 15 most recent of 32 sources. Enable JavaScript to search and browse every indexed mention.