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I used https://f-droid.org/ to search the F-Droid repository for an app and to download the respective APK file. I did find the app, however, the newest version has unwanted changes or requirements like a newer Android system version.

How can I download the previous/older versions of this app?

rattlesnake
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  • The apps I have tested always have the last three versions as direct download available on f-droid. E.g. https://f-droid.org/de/packages/com.simplemobiletools.gallery.pro/ has the versions 6.25.0 and 6.24.1 and 6.24.0 available as direct download at the moment. – Robert Sep 15 '22 at 07:29

3 Answers3

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It is easy to install older versions, just from within the F-Droid app. From the specific page of the desired app on the device, scroll to its bottom, and open the directory node "Versions", revealing previous F-Droid versions.

For example, on the main page just now, "Diary", a personal diary, has a version page with DOZENS of versions, (dated). Knowing the prior release date roughly will lead you to the version you want with an "Install" button.

wbogacz
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  • If you want to do it via the app, you should know that Android 4, for example, is not supported by the F-Droid app anymore. This could be relevant, especially since this whole question is about accessing older version of apps. So you'll have to install an older version of F-Droid, too. See https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Running_on_old_Android_versions – rattlesnake Sep 15 '22 at 17:24
  • If I expand the old version that I want to install, there is no button to press to downgrade or install the old version. This answer is a "draw the owl" unfortunately – Michael Altfield Mar 09 '24 at 01:02
  • If you don't have any buttons to install the old version, try uninstalling the app first. Then the Install button should appear for old versions. – Michael Altfield Mar 09 '24 at 01:04
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The APK files for old versions don't seem to be available/linked on the main homepage.

However, after doing some research, I found this forum post https://forum.f-droid.org/t/archive-repositories/10556 which contains a list of all archive repositories, including the official F-Droid archive https://f-droid.org/archive.

Using https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/?repo=archive, it is possible to browse said archive and download the APK file that you're looking for. You can verify that the actual download URL begins with https://f-droid.org/archive/.

rattlesnake
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You can use the WayBack Machine website, I found some versions here for F-Droid and by plugging that into the Wayback Machine website I could get back to earlier versions, albeit some are not cached and cannot be accessed. I found that version 1.10 would download for example, is that old enough for you?

Archerbob
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