Guardian Project Repository

The Guardian Project Repository is the project’s official F-Droid compatible source of its own privacy apps. The Guardian Project has run it since 2012, and it is no longer included in the F-Droid client by default. Here is why that changed and how to add it safely.

The Guardian Project Pulled Itself Out Of F-Droid’s Default List

In a February 2024 post, the project explained the change. It still commits to free software, but some key use cases currently require proprietary libraries, and F-Droid can now enforce free-only libraries, which this repository cannot guarantee yet. Apps continue to carry F-Droid anti-feature labels, so you can see what each one depends on.

The Guardian Project is known for privacy and security tools aimed at people in difficult situations, and it has kept its own repository for years so users can get its builds directly. The page describes the contents simply as official, trusted builds of its apps.

Five Apps Show What The Trade-Off Looks Like

• Proofmode, which uses Google Play Services libraries for media provenance
• Circulo and Haven, which use proprietary Google libraries for location and maps
• Save, which connects to services like Dropbox and Google Drive
• Tor Browser, held back from f-droid.org by a proprietary binary library
• Orbot, already free software and planned for f-droid.org

The post is dated February 24, 2024, so check the current repository for changes.

Removing a repository from the default list does not mean the apps vanished. The post says Tor Browser and Orbot are being worked on for f-droid.org, and some free versions of Save are already there. Where an app is on both, the main F-Droid copy is the easier route.

The Fingerprint Lets You Confirm You Have The Real Repository

The official page publishes the signing key fingerprint, beginning B7 C2 EE FD, along with the canonical address guardianproject.info/fdroid/repo. It also lists mirrors on GitLab, Amazon AWS S3, and GitHub Raw in case one does not connect. Compare the fingerprint shown in your client with the one on the page before accepting the repository. Questions go to support@guardianproject.info.

Prefer The Main Stores First, Then Add This One On Purpose

Get apps from Google Play or the main F-Droid repository when they are there, since a smaller repository is one more source to trust. Add this one only if you want the project’s own builds of an app and cannot find them elsewhere. Type the address yourself rather than following a link from a forum, and confirm the fingerprint. Remove the repository later if you stop using its apps.

Mirrors help when a host is blocked or slow. The page lists GitLab, Amazon AWS S3, and GitHub Raw copies, and all of them should serve the same signed repository. If you add a mirror, check the same fingerprint, because that is what ties a mirror back to the real repository.