[5] The website also offers the source code of applications it hosts, as well as the software running the F-Droid server, allowing anyone to set up their own app repository.

[17] Replicant, a fully free software Android operating system, previously used F-Droid as its default and recommended app store.

[21] Guardian Project, a suite of free and secure Android applications, started running their own F-Droid repository in early 2012.

[25] In January 2016, Hans-Christoph Steiner, a developer for Calyx Institute,[26] Debian, F-Droid, and Guardian Project, said F-Droid was focusing on issues like security, building with Debian, reproducible builds, software requiring trust of as few people as possible, transparency, user privacy, non-internet distribution of apps, block avoidance, and media distribution.

[28] Follow-on project GrapheneOS does not include F-Droid, and is developing their own app distribution method for "higher robustness and security".

This statement was issued to address the project's failure to prevent "oppression or harassment ... at its communication channels, including its forum", controversy surrounding alt-tech social media website Gab, and to explain how Fediverse client Tusky blocking access to it, while client Fedilab allowed its users to choose, was consistent with their principles.

[30][31][32][33] Action was considered against several applications, including Purism's Librem One, to exclude them for allowing access to sites such as Gab or spinster.xyz.

[34][35][36] According to Ankush Das writing for ItsFoss.com in 2021, F-Droid is known for hosting open-source apps such as Element or Tusky (later reinstated)[when?]

[39] The project incorporates several software sub-projects: F-Droid builds apps from publicly available and freely licensed source code.

[63] In an April 2022 detailed article for HowtoGeek, Joe Fedewa wrote "The selection of apps is much smaller in F-Droid than the Play Store, around 3,000 compared to around 3 million, but that's to be expected.

"[64] In a December 2022 detailed article in Popular Science, Justin Pot wrote "F-Droid isn't going to replace Google Play for most people, but it's a nice and simple alternative for finding free and safe apps before you dive into the swamp that is Google's app store.