# Obtainium

38 Hacker News commenters recommended Obtainium and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 1 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free Android app that installs and updates apps straight from their GitHub, GitLab and other release pages, so you get developer-signed builds. Critics say setup is fiddly and not user friendly.

## Why people recommend it

- Installs apps directly from developers (5 comments): "Best way to install it right now is use Obtanium and put the github url for the app inside Obtanium" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49990065)) "such as via Accrescent or Obtanium (pulls directly from github, gitlab, etc releases)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46414626)) "I get all my apps from GitHub releases straight from the developers now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49832486))
- Pairs well with F-Droid (6 comments): "I typically search on F-Droid to find the apps and then add the github to Obtanium." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49832671)) "switched from F-Droid to Obtanium for any apps not yet on Accrescent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47182205)) "I primarily go for apps via obtainium and fdroid." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47447961))
- Keeps tracked apps updated automatically (4 comments): "point something like Obtainium at the releases page of your vibed app to get auto updates straight from CI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50232673)) "I've found using Obtanium to be a great tool for tracking github android apps" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47022391)) "I use Obtainium to update directly via signal.org for a very long time now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49248333))
- Favored by GrapheneOS users (3 comments): "The GrapheneOS community favors Obtanium due to its ability to fetch developer-signed apps from places like Github." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48079809)) "I'm a GrapheneOS user happy with Obtainium and without Play Services installed in main user space." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49045829)) "happy with Obtainium and without Play Services installed in main user space" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49045810))

## What people warn about

- Setup is awkward and unfriendly (3 comments): "Obtainium is great but not user friendly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49806021)) "I tried Obtainium and it was PITA to set up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49841803)) "I remember Obtainium being PITA to set up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49841784))
- Some apps stop updating or fail (2 comments): "Two stopped updating due to Obtanium falling behind how app releases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49832589)) "1 or 2 apps that didn't work on Obtanium" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49836160))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [F-Droid](https://hackerapproved.com/p/f-droid.md): 230 recommend
- [Apple App Store](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-app-store.md): 75 recommend
- [Google Play](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-play-store.md): 62 recommend
- [Aurora Store](https://hackerapproved.com/p/aurora-store.md): 61 recommend
- [Droid-ify](https://hackerapproved.com/p/droid-ify.md): 15 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Obtainium", https://hackerapproved.com/p/obtainium/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).