Make app F-Droid ready #212

Ch4t4r · 2021-01-01T02:51:21Z

This PR aims to remove closed-source dependencies (or pre-compiled binaries from non-approved sources) to make this app ready for F-Droid.
I like to share my progress early as a PR to show progress and get feedback.

Right now this PR removes the play-services-core library from the assembled app and only includes it when an .apk file compiled from ./gradlew assemblePlayRelease is used. For other, non-play builds it uses the server for checking for updates. This way folks at F-Droid could compile without the proprietary library bundled.

Things left to do:

~~Compile & test app~~
- ~~Verify both updaters are called properly~~
~~Extract other dependencies~~
~~fix copyright header~~
~~refactor~~

ignoramous

Thanks! :D

cc: @hussainmohd-a

app/src/main/java/com/celzero/bravedns/NonStoreAppUpdater.kt

app/src/play/java/com/celzero/bravedns/StoreAppUpdater.kt

app/src/play/java/com/celzero/bravedns/RethinkDnsApplicationPlay.kt

app/src/play/AndroidManifest.xml

app/src/main/java/com/celzero/bravedns/ui/HomeScreenActivity.kt

app/src/main/java/com/celzero/bravedns/NonStoreAppUpdater.kt

…tCode is not required as of now

Ch4t4r · 2021-01-01T15:08:17Z

app/src/main/java/com/celzero/bravedns/ui/HomeScreenActivity.kt

                checkForBlockListUpdate()
            } else {
                Log.i(LOG_TAG, "App update check not initiated")
            }
        }
    }

+    fun checkForUpdate(userInitiation:Boolean = false) {
+        if (persistentState.downloadSource == Constants.DOWNLOAD_SOURCE_PLAY_STORE) {


Should this stay? With this PR the G-Play update check is only done for apps installed from G-Play, other builds (F-Droid in the future, from website) won't even contain the dependency for it and always use the web updater.
Currently I left this check in here for users who use the G-Play version but did not download from G-Play.

We don't need this shared pref value or check anymore.

@Ch4t4r Hussain says, this check isn't required (we won't distribute PlayStore flavoured builds from anywhere else). But... PlayStore mirrors like ApkMirror and others might distribute that flavour... In which case, we would need to fallback on the web-updater, right, and not the PlayStore update checks? Or... How is this ideally supposed to work?

Today, RethinkDNS distributed from the website and PlayStore are signed with the same keys.

I had the mirrors in mind as well. You can't know whether the play services are present on those devices in advance -- you could test at runtime though and fallback to the web updater if they aren't.

You're right. I guess we need to check for presence of Play Services too (which, if absent, would skip update-checks and show an error toast on Play flavoured builds):

https://github.com/googlesamples/google-services/blob/7cbe0486697a/android/gcm/app/src/main/java/gcm/play/android/samples/com/gcmquickstart/MainActivity.java#L103-L117

app/src/play/java/com/celzero/bravedns/StoreAppUpdater.kt

Ch4t4r · 2021-01-01T15:15:46Z

I couldn't find any other proprietary dependencies. I checked that it runs the web updater on fdroid-flavored builds (./gradlew installFdroidDebug) or play-flavored builds (./gradlew installPlayDebug) not actually installed from G-Play. On play-flavored builds installed from G-Play it calls the play service updater.

The web updater works as intended (checks in the background; shows dialog when up-to-date/check failed only when user clicked on check for app updates).
The gplay updater is called correctly but I could only verify the negative-case (no update availabe). You might want to test it using internal app sharing as described here.

Ch4t4r · 2021-01-01T15:19:07Z

I'm not sure whether the prebuilt tun2socks is okay. Open-source dependencies on a private binary repository would not be okay as only a handful of repos are approved for F-Droid apps. In this case the library is included in the git repo however, which might be fine? Anyone could verify the included binary in the git repo is compiled from the commit mentioned.

Ch4t4r · 2021-01-01T15:25:41Z

If a prebuilt tun2socks would not be okay a more complex config file would have to be created in the F-Droid RFP repo which first builts the library and then copies it over, using the prebuilt directive (something like here https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata/blob/master/metadata/chat.rocket.android.yml#L141)

ignoramous · 2021-01-01T19:51:05Z

I'm not sure whether the prebuilt tun2socks is okay.

Apart from outline-go-tun2socks, isn't the guava lib embedded as a binary (jar) as well, which would also be a special-case as far as F-Droid builds are concerned? #198

We should ideally build outline-go-tun2socks with RethinkDNS. May be git submodules is worth a shot: github/working-with-submodules

…ure callback when it actually failed

Ch4t4r · 2021-01-01T20:19:44Z

I totally missed the guava dep. Is there any reason why it is not pulled from maven?

ignoramous · 2021-01-01T21:35:00Z

I totally missed the guava dep. Is there any reason why it is not pulled from maven?

May be an artifact of Intra's early beginnings: Jigsaw-Code/Intra@c20b993

May be guava can simply be fetched from maven-central without fuss and both those jars in the app/lib folder can be rid.

ignoramous

To me, this PR is good to merge. Thanks for your time and effort, Daniel.

Note: Re: F-Droid, at least two more changes required:

Fetch guava from maven central.
Move outline-go-tun2socks in as a git submodule.

app/src/main/java/com/celzero/bravedns/service/AppUpdater.kt

Ch4t4r · 2021-01-01T22:02:27Z

I removed the file dependency and added the maven one. App still compiles and country flags (that is what it is used for, right?) still show properly in query log.

Ch4t4r · 2021-01-01T22:34:11Z

2. Move `outline-go-tun2socks` in as a `git submodule`.

Would having a monorepo (subfolder/module for tun2socks) also be fine for you? That would be simpler and we could just depend on it using pure gradle (and wouldn't have to init/pull the submodule all the time).
I'm not sure whether Android projects can have non-Android modules though.

hussainmohd-a · 2021-01-01T22:41:48Z

Including guava along with firebase was having an known issue Duplicate class com.google.common.util.concurrent exception. That's the reason in Intra it was included as part of lib.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/56639529/duplicate-class-com-google-common-util-concurrent-listenablefuture-found-in-modu

As we are not using any firebase dependency I think we can add as maven.

ignoramous · 2021-01-02T07:02:43Z

2. Move `outline-go-tun2socks` in as a `git submodule`.
Would having a monorepo (subfolder/module for tun2socks) also be fine for you? That would be simpler and we could just depend on it using pure gradle (and wouldn't have to init/pull the submodule all the time).
I'm not sure whether Android projects can have non-Android modules though.

We are going to include WireGuard in this project at some point, too: Prefer that it comes in as a git-module. I am mostly basing it off of on how Orchid handles external but critical (security sensitive) cross langauge deps: https://github.com/OrchidTechnologies/orchid/blob/master/.gitmodules

I take, your concern is that gradle process won't be straight-forward? That is, Android Studio build integration would be convoluted more than necessary?

hussainmohd-a

Looks good for me.

Use play services in non-FDroid flavored builds for update checks

90a3fcf

Ch4t4r mentioned this pull request Jan 1, 2021

F-Droid #210

Closed

ignoramous reviewed Jan 1, 2021

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Ch4t4r added 12 commits January 1, 2021 14:19

Add missing replace directive

c20af68

Remove unnecessary function call

d7453b4

Refactor

46c3512

Run on UI thread

eb7af39

HomeActivity does not have multiple activity results, thus the reques…

f6db209

…tCode is not required as of now

Re-add public function to be able to initate update from child fragment

3c0b129

Fix NPE

f87c0ce

Add more logging

18cc912

Always use web updater for installs from non-play sources

653c4c8

Only show up to date dialog when user-initiated

9349e3e

Add fdroid flavor

d3e4e77

Apply suggestions

0567f74

Ch4t4r commented Jan 1, 2021

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app/src/play/java/com/celzero/bravedns/StoreAppUpdater.kt Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Ch4t4r changed the title ~~[WIP] Make app F-Droid ready~~ Make app F-Droid ready Jan 1, 2021

Ch4t4r added 2 commits January 1, 2021 21:00

Call the upToDate callback when no update is available, call the fail…

96ef4bf

…ure callback when it actually failed

Show a different dialog when update quota is exceeded

e4e8e0f

ignoramous approved these changes Jan 1, 2021

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app/src/main/java/com/celzero/bravedns/service/AppUpdater.kt Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Ch4t4r added 2 commits January 1, 2021 23:01

Pull guava from maven

6d3b829

Remove lib folder

cd4c23c

Update copyright year

83adfa2

ignoramous approved these changes Jan 2, 2021

View reviewed changes

ignoramous mentioned this pull request Jan 2, 2021

If PlayServices are missing or install-source isn't PlayStore, use NonStoreUpdater #214

Closed

hussainmohd-a approved these changes Jan 2, 2021

View reviewed changes

ignoramous mentioned this pull request Jan 2, 2021

Move outline-go-tun2socks to a git submodule #215

Closed

ignoramous merged commit 46da627 into celzero:master Jan 2, 2021

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Make app F-Droid ready #212

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Make app F-Droid ready #212

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