Core Apps » Bazaar

Presently the Kerplapp bootstrapping process is (roughly) as follows:

1. Transfer FDroid client APK from Alice (bootstrapper) to Bob (bootstrapee)
2. Have Bob add Alice's Kerplapp repo to their newly installed FDroid client)

In order to reduce this process to 1 step (transferring & installing the FDroid client) we need a way to bundle repo configuration data into the APK that is sent.

It turns out we can inject resources into the META-INF directory of a signed APK without breaking the signature validity or the APK installation process. This Feature has two sides. On the kerplapp sid we need to have the Kerplapp client insert a prop file into the META-INF of the FDroid apk that is used to bootstrap clients. This prop file should contain the connection info & fingerprint for ALL of the repositories that the sending device has information for. There should be a prop setting to indicate which the "default" repo/category is to display. This default should be set to the connection info/fingerprint for the Kerplapp repo in order to display apps from this repo when bootstrapping completes.

On the FDroid client side we will need to write a patch that on app installation checks to see if there is a configuration bundle in the app's own APK's META-INF directory. If the bundle exists we need to load/parse it and add the corresponding information to the FDroid SQLite database. After performing a repo update the 'default' category/repo from the prop bundle should be displayed.

This mechanism will also allow FDroid to easily support "branded" FDroid experiences. By having FDroid repo's include a bootstrapping page with a download link to an FDroid client that has a pre-configured prop bundle for that repo a new user can download FDroid and immediately be viewing the apps from the repo they are interested in. Existing FDroid users can add the repo from the bootstrap page using a QR code or the fdroidrepo(s) URI link.