Conversations makes F-Droid its primary distribution channel

Conversations developer Daniel Gultsch describes moving the Android messenger’s primary distribution to F-Droid after slow Google Play reviews complicated updates. Grant funding reduces the project’s dependence on paid Play downloads. The change connects a practical maintenance problem to a funding decision: a project can change its release channel more easily when that channel no longer pays its bills.

Daniel Gultsch

Why it matters

The account shows how distribution policy and project funding shape software maintenance.

More context

This is an undated firsthand account, discovered recently. Gultsch describes a fourteen-day review wait and reproducible APK builds signed with his key. Read it for the distribution trade-offs, rather than as a new messenger launch.

Keep in mind

This is one maintainer’s experience, not a general measurement of Play review times. Funding through 2029 supports this particular decision; other projects may face different constraints.

Original read