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How much of F-Droid is LLM generated?

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AI summary · glm-5.3

A FOSS maintainer manually graded 102 F-Droid apps from the September 12, 2026 update batch, finding many show signs of LLM-generated code.

A student and FOSS app maintainer reviewed 102 apps pushed to F-Droid on September 12, 2026, assigning each a three-tier rating for likelihood of LLM-authored code (mostly AI >50%, hard to say/mostly human, no signs of AI). The heuristic relies on commit aesthetics, README and branding style, and the presence of agentic infrastructure like Claude Code or Codex, which automatically places an app in the 'mostly AI' tier. Example ratings include Amber (Nostr event signer) as mostly AI, and Aria for Misskey as showing no AI signs. The author stresses reliable detection of LLM-generated code from text alone is impossible, so ratings are approximate.

  • Reviewed 102 F-Droid apps from the September 12, 2026 update batch
  • Three-tier heuristic: >50% LLM-authored, mixed/mostly human, no AI signs
  • Agentic tooling like Claude Code or Codex auto-flags apps as mostly AI
  • Author concedes reliable LLM-code detection from text alone is impossible
  • Findings are informal and based on commits and branding, not history
Full article2,735 words · extracted from tintotint.eu · click to collapse

I love F-Droid. I love what F-Droid stands for and I like the freedom that it gives its users. As a FOSS app maintainer I also have nothing but good things to say about the people behind the project. Maybe they’re even a bit too nice, considering how many times repro has failed due to me forgetting to commit before building 😅.

But my god is it hard to find human-written software now.

Intro

The problem

Sometimes I open F-Droid just to browse. You know, maybe I’ll find an app that solves a problem I didn’t know I had, or maybe I’ll find a better alternative to something I already use.

And one day, while browsing, I noticed an app with an obvious and ugly AI generated icon. It’s not on the list and I will not shame it, but it got me thinking. How much of F-Droid is AI?

As someone who does programming for fun and is only a student, untarnished by honest work, I get my knowledge of what the coding world is like mostly from clickbaity YT videos and Reddit posts of CS professionals. They either describe LLMs as god reincarnate or as glorified autocomplete.

Both are, obviously, wrong, but that’s not really helpful in determining what I want to know. What is the actual state of programming nowadays? Whenever I use FOSS software, how likely it is that it has been vibe-coded by a rando in an afternoon?

How to know if an app is vibe-coded?

That’s the trick—you can’t. Text just doesn’t carry enough meta information for any kind of assessments to be even close to accurate. However, just as that em-dash I used in the first sentence probably triggered an alarm in your brain, there are signs.

While that does make the task at hand sound fickle and dependent on happenstance, the signs, especially concerning LLM code repositories, are never too hard to find.

You see, the main allure of LLMs is that they allow the developer to be more lazy. That’s kind of the whole point! You just prompt, sit back and relax. So it should not surprise you to hear that this attitude is then reflected in everything the vibe-coder touches.

Why write a README from scratch? Lol, just let the LLM do it.

Do code-review? Naw, just let the LLM review its own changes and then also give it access to the repo so you don’t even need to press the commit button.

If a project was concerned with looking legitimate, it would be trivial to do such things by hand. But it’s low effort all the way down.

My biases

This part can be skipped if you don’t care about my stance on LLMs, but I need to make my position clear to avoid contributing to the circlejerk too much.

To begin with, I’d like to acknowledge that LLMs are incredibly useful and capable. As 2026 has progressed, this has become more and more visible, but people being able to one-shot medium scale games and software in half an hour is ridiculously impressive, even if the end product is usually not very good.

I also am very much in favor of software getting faster and more secure. The story of the Linux kernel development has shown that LLMs are capable of finding and sometimes even solving many types of code issues.

With the pleasantries out of the way though, I have to admit I really hate LLMs and what they have done to programming, related engineering fields, and society as a whole.

Their mere existence makes educating yourself and going on fun side projects much less rewarding. Like yeah, I did something, but with an LLM I could have done this in a quarter of the time. And when you do take the black pill and vibe-code, it’s even worse. It’s not like you did anything. The machine did that.

Then there’s the atrophying effects on human brains, their unfathomable capability for serving plausibly sounding misinformation and the climate disaster that we’re just kinda ignoring. All very fun things to think about.

Criteria / The experiment

As mentioned before, there’s no way to effectively detect slop, so I propose a rough 3 tier system based on the aesthetics of the repo:

  • Mostly AI
    • This is mostly for projects that have significant LLM smells and means I expect >50% of the code is LLM authored. Any kind of agentic infrastructure automatically lands an app in this tier as I do not believe it is possible to use AI responsibly from within a coding harness.
  • Hard to say / Mostly human / Other
    • Occasional LLM commits either by maintainers or contributors, but mostly looks human. May have an LLM policy which permits certain uses. This tag means I expect <50% of the code is LLM authored.
  • No signs of AI
    • Could not find anything suspicious/Has a strict LLM policy.

Note that my rating will still be quite superficial and the tiers quite loose. I did not build a “slop detector” or anything like that, so my decisions are based on looking at recent commits and their content along with the project’s branding.

Also note that since I have no way of knowing for sure, there may be errors. I still believe most of my findings to be accurate however.

I will also not look at the history of the app. If it has existed since 2014 but recent commits are LLM authored it will be categorized as “mostly AI”

The apps chosen were the batch of updates pushed to F-Droid on September 12, 2026. That amounted to 102 apps, which was quite a lot of work for me to go through.😅

If you just want the results, feel free to skip to the results

Apps

Amber

Amber

Description: Nostr event signer for Android

Repository: https://github.com/greenart7c3/Amber

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All recent commits were done with LLM, PRs accepted from agents, Claude Code and Codex infrastructure present.

Aria for Misskey

Aria for Misskey

Description: Dive into the interplanetary microblogging platform 🚀

Repository: https://github.com/poppingmoon/aria

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: This is a hard one as commit naming and structure felt a bit suspicious, but I did not see anything else and decided to err on the side of caution

Atmo Engine

Atmo Engine

Description: Animated wallpapers with Atmosphere, Glass, Canvas Sketch and playlists.

Repository: https://github.com/saad-khan-rind/nosatmosphereeffect

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Heavy emoji usage in the README, but otherwise nothing looks suspicious.

Aves Libre

Aves Libre

Description: Gallery and metadata explorer

Repository: https://github.com/deckerst/aves

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Nothing looked suspicious

Balance

Balance

Description: Private offline bank balance dashboard

Repository: https://github.com/AshkanRafiee/balance

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Code and commits exhibit various AI smells.

Baly Groceries Tracker

Baly Groceries Tracker

Description: Track your groceries, without worrying about running out.

Repository: https://github.com/rw-account/baly_groceries_tracker

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Code and commits exhibit various AI smells.

Bati: Fitness RPG

Bati: Fitness RPG

Description: Turn workouts into quests, boss fights and a village built by your training.

Repository: https://github.com/Guiforge/bati

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: AI disclosure in README (Thanks for making it easy :D)

BayesianBahn

BayesianBahn

Description: Empirical arrival-time distributions for Deutsche Bahn trains

Repository: https://github.com/DerWeh/BayesianBahn

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All commits are Claude co-authored. Though it’s really funny how Deutsche Bahn sucks so hard it has enticed people to vibe-code unofficial timetables.

BeatBridge: Bluetooth Music

BeatBridge: Bluetooth Music

Description: Auto-play music when your Bluetooth car, headphones, or speakers connect.

Repository: https://github.com/brandonp2412/BeatBridge

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Includes Claude Code contributions, quite a lot of the commits look to be at least AI

Binary Eye

Binary Eye

Description: QR code and barcode scanner with no ads

Repository: https://github.com/markusfisch/BinaryEye

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Nothing suspicious

BlockDrop: Block Puzzle

BlockDrop: Block Puzzle

Description: Free and open source block-stacking puzzle game. Arrange falling shapes to clear

Repository: https://github.com/brandonp2412/BlockDrop

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Has infrastructure for LLMs, Claude co-authored commits.

Braincup - Brain Training

Braincup - Brain Training

Description: Train your focus, memory and math skills.

Repository: https://github.com/SimonSchubert/Braincup

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All recent commits are Claude co-authored

BVD

BVD

Description: bilibili video resource downloader

Repository: https://github.com/KafuuNeko/BiliDownload

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All recent commits look LLM authored

CaptureCap

CaptureCap

Description: Record and Stream Audio and/or Screen

Repository: https://github.com/yepgoryo/CaptureCap

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Has an AI disclosure listing files written with LLM help

Casio G-Shock Smart Sync

Casio G-Shock Smart Sync

Description: Add smart functions to your Casio square BT G-Shock Watch.

Repository: https://github.com/izivkov/CasioGShockSmartSync

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: AI artifacts such as planning .md files pushed to repo.

Chompass - Calorie Tracker

Chompass - Calorie Tracker

Description: Ad-free AI calorie tracker. Snap, speak, or type meals. Open source.

Repository: https://codeberg.org/fitguy/chompass

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Recent commits look AI authored. Note that this repository is hosted on Codeberg and likely violates their terms of use.

DeltaSync

DeltaSync

Description: Encrypted KeePass sync — requires your own self-hosted server.

Repository: https://gitlab.com/Star95/keepass-deltasync

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All recent commits co-authored by Claude Opus 5

DuressKeyboard

DuressKeyboard

Description: Keyboard that reacts to triggers and performs security actions

Repository: https://github.com/pofesk0/lastcodeduresskeyboard

Rating: ???

Justification: This may be the most confusing repo I’ve ever seen lol. Has been in development since November of 2025, but the owner doesn’t seem to know how to use git??? All the commits have seemingly been done by copy pasting the change code by hand through the GitHub web file editor. Quite bizarre!

eQuran

eQuran

Description: Read, listen, choose from 5 reciters, and track your Quran journey.

Repository: https://github.com/ya27hw/equran_app

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Has infrastructure for agents; most recent commit looks LLM generated.

evcc - solar charging

evcc - solar charging

Description: charge your EV when the sun is shining or electricity is cheap and clean

Repository: https://github.com/evcc-io/app

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Agent infrastructure; Claude co-authorship of commits; even commits without explict co-authorship look largely LLM generated.

Fechtkarte

Fechtkarte

Description: Warm-up drill card generator using notation credited to Joachim Meyer

Repository: https://github.com/J0s3f/Fechtkarte

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Agent infrastructure; commits and code look LLM generated

Feeder

Feeder

Description: An awesome Libre and Open Source RSS feed reader

Repository: https://github.com/spacecowboy/Feeder

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent code commits look LLM generated, accepted PRs from agents. Quite unfortunate, as this is the first app in this list that I actually use, but it works.

Felicity Music Player

Felicity Music Player

Description: Advance audiophile grade offline music player.

Repository: https://github.com/Hamza417/Felicity

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Several commits I checked exhibit signs of heavy LLM use.

FixupXer - URL Enhancer

FixupXer - URL Enhancer

Description: Clean URL tracking, fix embeds (X, IG, FB, TikTok, Bluesky), catch link leaks

Repository: https://github.com/NeatCode-Labs/fixupxer

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: AI generated icon + all recent commits look LLM generated.

Flexify: Gym Workout Log

Flexify: Gym Workout Log

Description: Log workouts, reps, cardio, and rest timers. Track strength offline.

Repository: https://github.com/brandonp2412/Flexify

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Lot of LLM infrastructure; code looks almost entirely AI.

Forkyz

Forkyz

Description: Crossword puzzles application, download and play.

Repository: https://gitlab.com/Hague/forkyz

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

Gem Wallet: Bitcoin, USDT, BNB

Gem Wallet: Bitcoin, USDT, BNB

Description: Secure crypto wallet for 100+ blockchains: Bitcoin, USDT, ETH, Solana, and more.

Repository: https://github.com/gemwalletcom/wallet

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

GeoWeather

GeoWeather

Description: Modern weather app with 16-day forecast for multiple cities

Repository: https://github.com/FreetimeMaker/GeoWeather

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look LLM generated.

GitHub Trending & Hacker News

GitHub Trending & Hacker News

Description: Daily AI picks from GitHub Trending, Hacker News & Product Hunt.

Repository: https://github.com/HarlonWang/TrendingAI

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All recent commits Claude co-authored.

GPTMobile

GPTMobile

Description: Your all in one chat assistant - Chat with multiple LLMs at once!

Repository: https://github.com/Taewan-P/gpt_mobile

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look LLM generated.

GymMane

GymMane

Description: Dark, offline gym log. Tap the muscle, log your sets, watch your numbers move.

Repository: https://github.com/InlitX/GymMane

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: README got that LLM emoji vomit; recent commits look AI

Harp

Harp

Description: Private on-device Personal Health Record Application

Repository: https://git.sr.ht/~lepisma/harp-kmp

Rating: Not sure

Justification: My browser could not get through the sourcehut bot-detection test for some reason, so I was unable to check code. Saw one commit co-authored by Claude, status of others remains unknown.

Hue Spill

Hue Spill

Description: Fill the entire board with a single color.

Repository: https://github.com/sidhant947/HueSpill

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Very new, only few commits. UI looks vibe-coded though and UI is all this game has.

invoice, quote, delivery note

invoice, quote, delivery note

Description: Invoice in 10 seconds — bundle quotes and delivery notes into invoices!

Repository: https://github.com/gatesuperapp/g8-invoicing

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All recent commits look entirely AI generated

KeyStoreViewer

KeyStoreViewer

Description: Quickly view MD5, SHA1, and Public Keys for App Signatures.

Repository: https://github.com/qdsfdhvh/KeyStoreViewer

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look entirely AI generated.

kitshn (for Tandoor)

kitshn (for Tandoor)

Description: An unofficial client for the self-hosted Tandoor recipe management software.

Repository: https://github.com/kitshn-app/kitshn

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look entirely AI generated.

Klick'r - Smart AutoClicker

Klick'r - Smart AutoClicker

Description: Automating clicks based on what is displayed

Repository: https://github.com/Nain57/Smart-AutoClicker

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Nothing looks suspicious

Lens HRV

Lens HRV

Description: Measure heart-rate variability with your phone camera, no extra sensors

Repository: https://github.com/LensHRV/lenshrv-app

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Born from one +10k LOC “init” commit. 2 remaining commits look LLM authored

Léon – The URL Cleaner

Léon – The URL Cleaner

Description: Removes tracking & other redundant parameters from web links for sharing

Repository: https://github.com/leon-cleaning-services/leon

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

LetterBox

LetterBox

Description: LetterBox is a simple kids game for learning letters

Repository: https://gitlab.com/muelli/letterbox

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look entirely AI generated.

Description: Offline and encrypted contact backups

Repository: https://github.com/AshkanRafiee/Libre-Contacts-Backup

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All recent commits look entirely AI generated.

Lissen: Audiobookshelf client

Lissen: Audiobookshelf client

Description: Clean Audiobookshelf Player

Repository: https://github.com/GrakovNe/lissen-android/

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look entirely AI generated.

MainTask

MainTask

Description: Reminders for your recurring tasks: filters, plants, backups, car checks…

Repository: https://codeberg.org/kapoue/MainTask

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All recent commits co-authored by Claude Sonnet 5. Note that this repository is hosted on Codeberg and likely violates their terms of use.

Mako

Mako

Description: Privacy-first Android launcher designed for focus, speed, and simplicity.

Repository: https://github.com/rama-io/mako

Rating: Mostly Human

Justification: I see some commits that look LLM generated, but others look human. Let’s err on the side of caution.

MarketMonk: Stock Tracker

MarketMonk: Stock Tracker

Description: Track stocks, build a portfolio, and view performance charts.

Repository: https://github.com/brandonp2412/MarketMonk

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

Markleaf

Markleaf

Description: Local-first Markdown notes with tags, search, and file export

Repository: https://github.com/jeiel85/markleaf-android

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

MateDroid

MateDroid

Description: View Tesla vehicle data from your self-hosted Teslamate instance

Repository: https://github.com/vide/matedroid

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

Materialious

Materialious

Description: Modern material design for YouTube and Invidious.

Repository: https://github.com/Materialious/Materialious

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Only a brief look, but nothing jumped out as suspicious.

Description: Anonymous search and tab groups, private browsing with tracker and ad blocking.

Repository: https://gitlab.metager.de/metager/metager-app

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

Mihrab: Prayer Times & Quran

Mihrab: Prayer Times & Quran

Description: Adhan alarms, qibla compass, the Madinah mushaf, widgets. No trackers.

Repository: https://github.com/Hassan-PS/Mihrab

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

Minesweeper

Minesweeper

Description: Beautiful Minesweeper. No ads, no trackers, no permissions.

Repository: https://github.com/john-athan/minesweeper

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look entirely AI generated. So does the UI.

MinkLauncher OpenSource

MinkLauncher OpenSource

Description: A minimal, keyboard-first Android home-screen launcher

Repository: https://github.com/katoaapps/openminilaunch

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Was suspicious about the incredibly verbose README, but could not find anything else.

motd

motd

Description: Native IRC client with a modern chat interface

Repository: https://github.com/trevarj/motd

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

N-Zik

N-Zik

Description: A modern, multilingual YouTube Music client for Android with offline support.

Repository: https://github.com/N-Zik-Group/N-Zik

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

neutriNote CE

neutriNote CE

Description: A hub of written thoughts in fast searchable plain text

Repository: https://github.com/appml/neutrinote

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Found nothing.

Nextcloud

Nextcloud

Description: Synchronization client

Repository: https://github.com/nextcloud/android

Rating: Mostly Human

Justification: Has LLM infrastructure, but most commits look human.

Nextcloud Pantry

Nextcloud Pantry

Description: Shared household lists, photos & notes on your own server — and on your watch.

Repository: https://github.com/chenasraf/pantry-flutter

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look entirely AI generated. So does the UI.

NFC Alarm Clock

NFC Alarm Clock

Description: Customizable and feature-rich alarm clock app.

Repository: https://github.com/gabeg805/NFC-Alarm-Clock

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

NouTube

NouTube

Description: YouTube and YouTube Music in a single app. No ads, plays in the background.

Repository: https://github.com/nonbili/NouTube

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

NovaDial

NovaDial

Description: Unlock a secure, open-source calling experience with NovaDialer

Repository: https://github.com/dhilipmpms/NovaDial

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Nothing looks off at a quick glance.

Offline Translator

Offline Translator

Description: On-device translation of text, images and pdf/odt files, with TTS

Repository: https://github.com/DavidVentura/offline-translator

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Nothing looks off at a quick glance.

OPNsense Manager

OPNsense Manager

Description: Manage OPNsense firewall: monitor, configure rules, view logs & services

Repository: https://github.com/Etregin/OPNsense_Manager

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

PCAPdroid

PCAPdroid

Description: No-root network monitor, firewall and PCAP dumper for Android

Repository: https://github.com/emanuele-f/PCAPdroid

Rating: Almost no signs of AI

Justification: Some commits include LLM created translations, however they are disclosed and few and far between

Personal Stuff

Personal Stuff

Description: App used to track, manage and remind you of your own stuff.

Repository: https://github.com/rh-id/a-personal-stuff

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

Phylax

Phylax

Description: Viewer for Frigate NVR with smart URL switching and notifications

Repository: https://github.com/sfortis/phylax

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

PingOff

PingOff

Description: Silence your phone automatically when using selected apps.

Repository: https://gitlab.com/juanitobananas/ping-off

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; most commits look entirely LLM generated.

PipePipe

PipePipe

Description: A FLOSS Android app to let you browse YouTube, NicoNico and BiliBili freely.

Repository: https://github.com/InfinityLoop1308/PipePipe

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

PlainApp: Phone Web Portal

PlainApp: Phone Web Portal

Description: Manage your phone on the web! Access files, contacts, videos, music & more.

Repository: https://github.com/plainhub/plain-app

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

Privacy Flip

Privacy Flip

Description: Manage your device privacy based on lock/unlock state

Repository: https://github.com/dorumrr/privacyflip

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

Queens

Queens

Description: Challenging crown-placement logic puzzle. Infinite levels. No tracking & ads.

Repository: https://github.com/sidhant947/queens

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

ReadBear

ReadBear

Description: A cute&chill CBZ, PDF, EPUB reader that’s ridiculously configurable!

Repository: https://github.com/Tulis12/ReadBear

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Some commits look a bit suspicious, but at a glance I did not see any obvious signs of explicit LLM usage.

Relatrix

Relatrix

Description: An active knowledge-management and multi-modal note-taking platform.

Repository: https://github.com/saad-ibra/gray-matter

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

ReteClock

ReteClock

Description: Full-screen digital clock and dock screensaver for old Android phones.

Repository: https://github.com/rubidus-api/reteclock_apk

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All recent commits are AI generated.

ReteKey

ReteKey

Description: Hangul keyboard with Esc, Tab, Ctrl and F-keys. 470 KB, one permission.

Repository: https://github.com/rubidus-api/retekey_apk

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: All recent commits are AI generated.

Description: Send text to your InputStick straight from the Share menu

Repository: https://github.com/TheLastProject/ShareToInputStick

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Nothing suspicious

Shattered Pixel Dungeon

Shattered Pixel Dungeon

Description: A roguelike game based on Pixel Dungeon

Repository: https://github.com/00-Evan/shattered-pixel-dungeon

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Some stuff looks a bit sus, but found nothing serious.

ShelfDroid

ShelfDroid

Description: Audiobookshelf Android client with playback, downloads, and server management

Repository: https://github.com/100nandoo/shelfdroid

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

ShizuWall

ShizuWall

Description: Lightweight no root, no vpn firewall solution powered by Shizuku

Repository: https://github.com/AhmetCanArslan/ShizuWall

Rating: Mostly Human

Justification: Found some evidence of AI usage, however nothing that looks too widespread.

Simple Notes Sync

Simple Notes Sync

Description: Offline notes & checklists, self-hosted sync. Under 5 MB, no ads, no tracking.

Repository: https://github.com/inventory69/simple-notes-sync

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

Sky Map

Sky Map

Description: Sky Map turns your phone into a window on the night sky.

Repository: https://github.com/sky-map-team/stardroid

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

Snowdrop

Snowdrop

Description: Multiplatform Mastodon API client using Compose

Repository: https://github.com/ihateblueb/snowdrop

Rating: Mostly Human

Justification: Some evidence of AI use, but it looks limited.

Suntimes Calendars

Suntimes Calendars

Description: A calendar provider add-on for Suntimes.

Repository: https://github.com/forrestguice/SuntimesCalendars

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Nothing looks suspicious

TacticMaster

TacticMaster

Description: Chess tactic trainer based on https://database.lichess.org/#puzzles.

Repository: https://github.com/jazzm0/tactic-master

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Nothing looks suspicious

Tallybook

Tallybook

Description: Private, offline-first expense and budget tracker, no account required

Repository: https://github.com/herrerad85/tallybook

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

Tasks.org: Open-source To-Do Lists & Reminders

Tasks.org: Open-source To-Do Lists & Reminders

Description: Private, ad-free task lists! Optional sync with Google Tasks, CalDAV or EteSync!

Repository: https://github.com/tasks/tasks

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Nothing looks suspicious

Terminator

Terminator

Description: Multi-session terminal emulator with Material UI theming and root support

Repository: https://github.com/8dmusichannels-star/terminator

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

TigerDuck

TigerDuck

Description: NTUST campus assistant for courses, assignments, and more

Repository: https://github.com/tigerduck-app/tigerduck-app-android

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look entirely LLM generated.

TimeLimit.io

TimeLimit.io

Description: Flexibly limit the usage duration

Repository: https://codeberg.org/timelimit/timelimit-android

Rating: No signs of AI

Justification: Nothing looks suspicious

Timety

Timety

Description: Offline-first productivity, focus, and habit tracking.

Repository: https://github.com/Benji377/Timety

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

trale

trale

Description: privacy-respecting body weight-diary

Repository: https://github.com/QuantumPhysique/trale

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look mostly LLM generated.

Tuisku

Tuisku

Description: A simple and lightweight encrypted notes app

Repository: https://github.com/omaawr/tuisku

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look mostly LLM generated.

Unciv

Unciv

Description: Open source 4X civilization-building game

Repository: https://github.com/yairm210/Unciv

Rating: Mostly Human

Justification: Some commits co-authored by Claude, but a bunch of others look human.

Universal Installer

Universal Installer

Description: APK/XAPK installer with silent installs via Shizuku, Root or Dhizuku.

Repository: https://github.com/pass-with-high-score/universal-installer

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look mostly LLM generated.

UnlicenseLauncher

UnlicenseLauncher

Description: Simple and secure FOSS launcher with fully FREE🐍 license

Repository: https://github.com/sirdeepsleep/UnlicenseLauncher

Rating: ???

Justification: Looks to be a repeat of “DuressKeyboard”. Quite a bizarre repo, but it looks like the accounts are different.

Victoria Launcher

Victoria Launcher

Description: A minimal, list-based home screen and open source Niagara Launcher alternative

Repository: https://github.com/adelmonte/victoria-launcher

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

Voxscribe - Offline Voice Input

Voxscribe - Offline Voice Input

Description: Voxscribe is an offline voice keyboard that transcribes speech on-device.

Repository: https://codeberg.org/y20k/voxscribe

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated. Note that this repository is hosted on Codeberg and likely violates their terms of use.

Water Sort

Water Sort

Description: Relaxing color-sorting puzzle. Infinite levels. Zero tracking. No ads.

Repository: https://github.com/sidhant947/water-sort

Rating: Not sure

Justification: README shows lots of AI signs, but I did not see anything too suspicious in code.

WaveUp

WaveUp

Description: Turn on the display by waving

Repository: https://gitlab.com/juanitobananas/wave-up/tree/HEAD

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; most commits look entirely LLM generated.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Description: The official app for Wikipedia, the world’s largest source of information.

Repository: https://github.com/wikimedia/apps-android-wikipedia

Rating: Mostly Human

Justification: Most commits look human made, but there’s quite a lot of claude infrastructure. I know! I thought Wikipedia would be an easy pass too!

Wristotle Companion

Wristotle Companion

Description: Voice control for Pebble watches — on-device by default, no account.

Repository: https://codeberg.org/wristotle/wristotle-companion

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated. Note that this repository is hosted on Codeberg and likely violates their terms of use.

Xime IME

Xime IME

Description: A Rime-based Chinese IME for Wubi and Pinyin input

Repository: https://github.com/ximeiorg/Xime

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: LLM infrastructure; recent commits look mostly LLM generated.

Yubico Authenticator

Yubico Authenticator

Description: Generate OATH codes with YubiKey NEO over NFC

Repository: https://github.com/Yubico/yubioath-flutter

Rating: Mostly AI

Justification: Most recent commits look AI generated.

Some interesting observations

brandonp2412

While going through the apps I noticed one user named brandonp2412 maintaining quite a few in this update cycle. Of course, all entirely vibe-coded.

That wouldn’t be that much of a surprise, however they all seem to be under widely different namespaces. Some are just the app name, but some are quite confusing: “com.presley.*” or “com.codesail.*”.

Either they’re just a very avid vibe-coder, or they’re one of those agents that have been given a GitHub account for some reason.

Codeberg

Out of the 5 apps hosted on Codeberg, 4 are mostly AI generated and thus likely violate Codeberg’s AI policy.

The “Don’t tread on me” apps

I also noticed a pair of very bizarre apps, both branded with the yellow “Don’t tread on me” flag.

DuressKeyboard & UnlicenseLauncher

What’s most curious is that they have been in development for quite some time, yet all the changes are done not with git but through the GitHub web file editor!

Someone go find that person and teach them to use git😭😭.

Statistics & Conclusion

Out of 102 apps:

74 were largely written by AI (72.5%)
10 were hard to categorize one way or another (9.8%)
18 showed little to no signs of AI involvement (17.6%)

Really not sure how to cope with these numbers though.

On one hand, some seem to have quite a few users. And if people are having their lives improved by using said software, who am I to say “no”?

On the other hand, I’m really concerned about what the data means for the FOSS community as a whole.

I explicitly did not do any code quality analysis as that would have taken much more time and would have probably been out of my skill level anyway, but I am curious about the robustness and maintainability of the 72%.

Just for fun I also checked a few of the FOSS apps I actually use and quite a few showed signs of heavy LLM usage.

I’ll still use them, as I find them useful, but this whole experiment has left me feeling quite conflicted.

I know how to fix this though:

Hey Claude, make a load-bearing time machine set to 2016 – a time when I was a happy kid, nothing bad ever happened and all was good in FOSS-land.

Make no mistakes

Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://tintotint.eu/whacky-corner/f-droid_slop/