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SimpleMobileTools
Simple Mobile Tools bought by ZipoApps?
https://www.reddit.com/r/SimpleMobileTools/comments/187w64x/simple_mobile_tools_bought_by_zipoapps/
I can confirm it's true, but I don't have details on who, when, or where.
Understandable, I'm sorry you couldn't find a suitable business model for this project. Thanks for your work in these years
I hope ZipoApps understands that they cannot simply make the apps closed source and suck out the userbase because these apps are used by people that value the FOSS principles. Otherwise the users will switch to real FOSS alternatives and/or the apps will be forked.
I hope ZipoApps understands that they cannot simply make the apps closed source
That would violate the current license of all the apps. GPLv3 forbids it.
That would violate the current license of all the apps. GPLv3 forbids it.
The owner of the code still owns the copyright and can relicense the code under whatever license he/she wishes.
The owner of the code still owns the copyright and can relicense the code under whatever license he/she wishes.
That's not as easy. There are a few things:
- https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html.en#Consider
- https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html.en#GPLInProprietarySystem (if apps use any external GPL libraries)
- https://opensource.stackexchange.com/questions/270/is-it-possible-to-close-an-open-source-project
Like many others, I am very disappointed about this move 😞
Not directly because of a sale, I can understand that you want money for your work. But because of who the apps are sold to. This company ZipoApps seems to be mainly about quantity instead of quality, has lots of ad-ridden crapware in the PlayStore and does not adhere to privacy standards. All in all, most values of this company seem to completely contradict the values of SimpleMobile apps.
Another app lost to ZipoApps. They will add advertisements, trackers and more as they have done for other well-made apps that they've purchased in the past.
Thank you for maintaining it thus far.
Since it's GPL I suppose anyone interested in maintaining it can simply fork and republish.
Until then, I disabled auto-update on PlayStore for the SimpleMobileTools apps I have.
Of course, the license allows the project to be forked and maintained and I would be happy to do so in my free time but I believe it's essential to honor @tibbi's decision. He's been tirelessly maintaining this project since it was created, it would only be fair if he gets to determine its future direction. I'll proceed with maintaining a fork only upon receiving a green light from @tibbi.
@naveensingh What do you mean by: "it would only be fair if he gets to determine its future direction."? The direction of the fork?
Why do you need green light from @tibbi ?
When I mentioned 'it would only be fair if he gets to determine its future direction' I was referring to the direction of the current project, not some forked version. As for seeking a green light from @tibbi, it's a courtesy to ensure that he's comfortable with the idea of someone else taking on the maintenance. Given his experience and commitment to the project, I want to make sure he approves before proceeding with the fork.
The owner of the code still owns the copyright and can relicense the code under whatever license he/she wishes.
No, relicencing is very complicated. It requires the consent of everyone who ever contributed, which will not be given I believe. So the owner can sell, but the licence has to stay the same. They are allowed to relicense everything they have contributed though, so they could change the licence of some parts of the code, but relicensing everything is a violation of the terms.
@naveensingh I think he lost the right when he sold it and killed it. And he already showed what he wants.
https://github.com/you-apps
https://www.reddit.com/r/SimpleMobileTools/comments/18929pq/simplemobiletools_was_sold_alternatives/
Is time to move to another project. Unfortunately is the life cycle of all apps: sell or die when the devels move to other projects or centers their hearts in the real life.
I'm sorry, I get that you would have to sell Simple Mobile Tools, but to ZipoApps? Hell no, hell to the back no.
They're notorious for buying apps from developers like TreyDev and then packing the apps with ads, putting a "no-ads" subscription to remove it for $15usd a week.
^^ An example of an app published by ZipoApps, (This app should only have one $2-10 lifetime purchase to remove ads, not a weekly subscription model more expensive than a month of Spotify)
As far as I know, they go directly against the ethos of Simple Mobile Tools, and they're going to alienate your user base in their pursuit to make as much money as possible. What they're going to do with your set of apps is going to be so predictable that it's almoat comical, and I would never use an app published by them.
I hate the fact that these people think 15/week, ~65/month, is a great price for removal of ads and "premium support" when they suck at making updates and their apps need little to no support at all. Its all subterfuge to pretend that its a great service when its literally a nothing burger with gold shavings sprinkled on top. Jerks and a giant waste of space on the internet, and the developers not announcing the fact they are selling the apps are just as big of jerks for being non-transparent.
Time to edit all my posts to boycott these apps and stop them from hurting our communities.
If someone will fork it i will definetly help and contribute.
@naveensingh I think you should just do it if you really want, you should not push the dev into "allowing" it because this is a shady company..
I have no experience in Kotlin but i want to learn it anyway so...
I dont think we should also fork everything
- its too much work
- there are better (for some simple apps) alternatives anyway
(for example the calculator)
It's always a controversial step and even though I too hate this sale, I support the original author for this decision.
On a personal level, it's hard to maintain open source software without any significant financial support. Even if everything goes right, there could be lots of nuances going on in his life at a personal level which we don't need to know, that could be driving this decision.
Since Simple Mobile Tools is a Gold Sponsor of Linux Mint, I feel the situation must be dire for him to take such a step now.
The beauty of FOSS software lies in the fact that anybody can fork and continue the maintenance. We don't need to expect or rely on the original author to support the software in perpetuity 🙂.
I believe the best we can do here is to tell him we are unhappy about this, but we still respect his decision and his personal space. Thank you @tibbi for creating and maintaining these awesome apps all these years!
So, your typical user that is currently using google play simple mobile apps will just randomly one day get ads on apps they installed and possibly some personal data mined via telemetry? Am I missing something?
@musq
It's always a controversial step and even though I too hate this sale, I support the original author for this decision.
On a personal level, it's hard to maintain open source software without any significant financial support. Even if everything goes right, there could be lots of nuances going on in his life at a personal level which we don't need to know, that could be driving this decision.
Since Simple Mobile Tools is a Gold Sponsor of Linux Mint, I feel the situation must be dire for him to take such a step now.
I dont respect that decision. If he said what was happening and some good reason for that, before this happened then I could and would respect that decision. Maybe he would even get that money from us if we knew what would happened without that.
The official website PlayStore dev ID linked to : https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=9070296388022589266 (Simple Mobile Tools) with 0 apps. [archives]
While all apps repository badges linked to : https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=8214346176194980263 (Simple Mobile Tool). Here no "developer website" provided in Additional Information. [archives] What's going on?
The official website PlayStore dev ID linked to : https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=9070296388022589266 (Simple Mobile Tools) with 0 apps. [archives]
While all apps repository badges linked to : https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=8214346176194980263 (Simple Mobile Tool). Here no "developer website" provided in Additional Information. [archives] What's going on?
The Developer (tibbi) renamed his 'developer/business' name for his apps pending sale to ZipoApps.
I presume he renamed the developer account that holds the suite of apps so he can retain the name "Simple Mobile Tools" on another as he owns the domain name.
Going through all the apps on his developer page on Google Play, SMS Messenger, Calendar, Flashlight, Contacts, Gallery, Draw, File Manager, Camera, Calculator, Keyboard, Notes now all have the "contains ads" warning.
A major breach of trust considering his own website says, and I quote:
"A group of simple, open source Android apps without ads and unnecessary permissions, with customizable colors."
In other words: He sold his installed userbase to another company.
So, will the people using these apps get a notification or any prompt inside that app informing them of the sale/ads/telemetry?
Well, I've already forked and mirrored all the repos to my own Forgejo server, plus grabbed the latest APKs. If enough people do that same, we can rebuild from here.
