It has been some time since I last posted updates about our Android development, and several I2P releases have gone by without any matching Android releases. At last, the wait is over!
New app versions
New versions of I2P Android and Bote have been released! They can be downloaded from these URLs:
The main change in these releases is the transition to Android's new Material design system. Material has made it much easier for app developers with, shall we say, "minimalist" design skills (like myself) to create apps that are nicer to use. I2P Android also updates its underlying I2P router to the just-released version 0.9.17. Bote brings in several new features along with many smaller improvements; for example, you can now add new email destinations via QR codes.
As I mentioned in my last update, the release key that signs the apps has changed. The reason for this was because we needed to change the package name of I2P Android. The old package name (net.i2p.android.router) had already been taken on Google Play (we still don't know who was using it), and we wanted to use the same package name and signing key for all distributions of I2P Android. Doing so means that a user could initially install the app from the I2P website, and then later if the website was blocked they could upgrade it using Google Play. Android OS considers an application to be completely different when its package name changes, so we took the opportunity to increase the strength of the signing key.
The fingerprint (SHA-256) of the new signing key is:
AD 1E 11 C2 58 46 3E 68 15 A9 86 09 FF 24 A4 8B C0 25 86 C2 36 00 84 9C 16 66 53 97 2F 39 7A 90
Google Play
A few months ago we released both I2P Android and Bote on Google Play in Norway, to test the release process there. We are pleased to announce that both apps are now being released globally by Privacy Solutions. The apps can be found at these URLs:
The global release is being done in several stages, starting with the countries for which we have translations. The notable exception to this is France; due to import regulations on cryptographic code, we are unable yet to distribute these apps on Google Play France. This is the same issue that has affected other apps like TextSecure and Orbot.
F-Droid
Don't think we have forgotten about you, F-Droid users! In addition to the two locations above, we have set up our own F-Droid repository. If you are reading this post on your phone, click here to add it to F-Droid (this only works in some Android browsers). Or, you can manually add the URL below to your F-Droid repository list:
If you would like to manually verify the fingerprint (SHA-256) of the repository signing key, or type it in when adding the repository, here it is:
68 E7 65 61 AA F3 F5 3D D5 3B A7 C0 3D 79 52 13 D0 CA 17 72 C3 FA C0 15 9B 50 A5 AA 85 C4 5D C6
Unfortunately the I2P app in the main F-Droid repository has not been updated because our F-Droid maintainer has disappeared. We hope that by maintaining this binary repository, we can better support our F-Droid users and keep them up-to-date. If you have already installed I2P from the main F-Droid repository, you will need to uninstall it if you want to upgrade, because the signing key will be different. The apps in our F-Droid repository are the same APKs that are provided on our website and on Google Play, so in future you will be able to upgrade using any of these sources.