Aves Libre
by Thibault Deckers · BSD-3-Clause · open source
A gallery for the photos and videos on your phone that also shows and edits their metadata, finds motion photos and panoramas, and maps where your pictures were taken.
Needs:No root · Android 7.0+ · 64-bit ARM
2113 Apps is independent, not affiliated with or endorsed by Thibault Deckers. Official sources: source code on GitHub.
- Version
- 1.15.8
- Size
- 63.1 MB
- Requires
- Android 7.0+
- Updated
- 2026-10-25
Screenshots
Introduction
Aves is a gallery app and, in its developer’s words, a “metadata explorer”. It is written by Thibault Deckers in Flutter and is actively developed: the 1.15 series alone had nine releases between 8 September and 21 October 2026. Aves Libre is the edition without Google components, which F-Droid builds.
What it does
- Many formats. Besides JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, HEIC, AVIF and MP4, it handles RAW files from most camera makers, SVG, multi-page TIFF and “old AVIs”, as the README puts it. It doesn’t show JPEG XL, JPEG 2000 or PSD files.
- Special photos. It identifies motion photos, panoramas and 360° videos in your collection, and since 1.15.5 plays the audio some phones record behind a panorama. It also recognises GeoTIFF maps.
- Metadata. It shows Exif, XMP, IPTC and other metadata, and can edit the date, location, title, description, rating and tags of JPEG files, with fewer fields for other formats. HEIC editing isn’t supported.
- Organising. Albums, tags, ratings and dynamic albums built from filters, hiding by filter, a calendar view and statistics. Since 1.15.6 you can rename a tag or a tag group directly.
- Vaults locked with a PIN, pattern, password or fingerprint. Aves warns: “If you uninstall this app, or clear this app data, you will lose all these items.”
- Map of where your photos were taken, once you choose a map layer.
- Video playback through mpv, casting to TVs over DLNA, setting wallpapers, home-screen widgets, a screen saver, Android TV support, and use as a viewer or picker for other apps.
Aves and Aves Libre
The developer publishes three editions from one codebase. The Google Play one includes Google Maps and Firebase Crashlytics, which you can opt into for error reports. Aves Libre swaps both for versions that do nothing, so it has no Google map layers, no crash reporting and no map layer at all until you choose one. It doesn’t need Google Play services. Its package name ends in .libre, so it installs next to the Play version as a separate app.
What goes online
- Map tiles, only after you choose a layer: OpenTopoMap, OpenStreetMap’s Humanitarian style, Stamen Watercolor, or a tile address you add yourself.
- Place names. When Aves scans your photos, it looks up place names for photos with a location through Android’s built-in geocoder, if the phone has one. Aves’ code notes that geocoding “requires Google Play Services”; on phones without them it most likely doesn’t happen. We found no setting to turn it off. Country names come from a map file inside the app, offline.
- Casting serves the chosen photo or video from your phone on the local network, only while you cast.
There are no analytics, no crash reporting and no update check in this edition, and our scan found no trackers. The app’s terms say “The app does not collect any personal data.”
About this file
- 1.15.7 and 1.15.8 rotate the video part of a motion photo along with the picture, fix sorting by date when some items have no date in their metadata, and give the app a larger memory allowance to reduce decoding failures on big images.
- This is F-Droid’s build of 1.15.8 (F-Droid skipped 1.15.7, whose fixes are included), for 64-bit ARM phones, compiled from the source and signed with F-Droid’s key. The developer also publishes Aves Libre on GitHub, signed with their own key; the two can’t update each other.
- The 63.1 MB file runs on Android 7.0 and later and declares 21 permissions: reading and, if you allow it, managing your photos and videos, the photos’ original location data, a background service for scanning, internet for maps and place names, wallpaper, fingerprint for vaults, and keeping the screen on.
- Aves is licensed under the BSD-3-Clause; its icon fonts are under the Apache License and its world map data under the ISC licence. The APK also contains three small preview images of Google Maps styles, used only by the Play edition, whose licence isn’t stated.
- The screenshots are the ones F-Droid lists for the app.
What’s inside the APK
Trackers
No code matching the Exodus Privacy tracker signatures.
Native code
Needs a 64-bit ARM phone; 32-bit-only devices are not supported.
Android versions
Built for Android 16 (target API 36).
Permissions
6 of them need your approval first.
CPU types in this build: arm64-v8a (64-bit ARM, almost every phone since 2017).
Asks you first (6)
Android shows a prompt before the app can use these.
- Show notifications (Android 13+) · POST_NOTIFICATIONS
- Read shared storage (Android 12 and older) · READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
- Read photos · READ_MEDIA_IMAGES
- Read videos · READ_MEDIA_VIDEO
- Read only the photos and videos you pick · READ_MEDIA_VISUAL_USER_SELECTED
- Write shared storage (Android 10 and older) · WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Granted at install (13)
Low-risk permissions Android grants automatically, plus any we have not classified.
- ACCESS_MEDIA_LOCATION
- ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
- ACCESS_WIFI_STATE
- FOREGROUND_SERVICE
- FOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC
- FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROCESSING
- INTERNET
- MANAGE_MEDIA
- RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED
- SET_WALLPAPER
- USE_BIOMETRIC
- USE_FINGERPRINT
- WAKE_LOCK
Defined by other apps (2)
Permissions that belong to another app or to this app itself.
- com.android.launcher.permission.INSTALL_SHORTCUT
- deckers.thibault.aves.libre.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION
More Information
- Package name
- deckers.thibault.aves.libre
- Version
- 1.15.8 (build 18202)
- File size
- 63.1 MB (63,051,639 bytes)
- Requires
- Android 7.0 or later
- Category
- Media
- License
- BSD-3-Clause
- Developer
- Thibault Deckers
- Source code
- github.com/deckerst/aves
- Released
- Oct 25, 2026
- Signed by
- F-Droid, which built this APK from the published source code. Because the key is F-Droid’s, it won’t install over a copy from Google Play or GitHub (or the other way round) without uninstalling first.
- Signer SHA-256
- e4378c86e5df4c401b0c9c4ca800d335c8b0750467eae61386a803089ee9972e
- File SHA-256
- 98cab9a516510dfd0bfead8ba1d12ef321788597766b866b8ba1af5514fab9bf
- Checked
- , against the F-Droid index · how we check · verify it yourself
Common questions
Is this APK the official Aves Libre release?
It is F-Droid’s build rather than the developer’s own: F-Droid compiled Aves Libre 1.15.8 from the published source code and signed it with its own key. Its SHA-256 matches F-Droid’s signed index. Because the key is F-Droid’s, it won’t install over a copy from Google Play or GitHub without uninstalling first.
What Android version does Aves Libre need?
Android 7.0 or later (API level 24). Version 1.15.8 is built for Android 16 (target API 36). Needs a 64-bit ARM phone; 32-bit-only devices are not supported.
Can Aves Libre access the internet?
Yes. The APK requests Android’s internet permission. In total it declares 21 permissions, and 6 of them need your approval first.
Does Aves Libre contain trackers?
No known trackers: our scan of version 1.15.8 found no code matching the Exodus Privacy tracker signatures. The scan covers known tracker libraries; it doesn’t show what data the app itself sends.
Is Aves Libre open source?
Its code is. The source code of Aves Libre is released under the BSD-3-Clause licence and published at https://github.com/deckerst/aves. The APK also contains three small Google Maps preview images, used only by the Play edition, whose licence isn’t stated.
What is the difference between Aves and Aves Libre?
They are built from the same code. Aves Libre leaves out Google Maps and Firebase Crashlytics error reporting, and has no map layer until you pick one of the OpenStreetMap-based layers. The changelog describes it as the flavour with “no mobile service maps, no Crashlytics”.
Which servers does the map use?
None until you choose a layer. Aves Libre offers OpenTopoMap, OpenStreetMap’s Humanitarian style and Stamen Watercolor, and you can add your own tile address. The tiles are then loaded from that layer’s server.
Can I move from the Play version and keep my favourites?
Yes, with Export in the old app and Import in Aves Libre, which carry covers, dynamic albums, favourites and settings. The two are separate apps and can’t update each other. Items in a vault don’t move: Aves warns that uninstalling the app that holds them loses them.
Can it edit metadata in HEIC photos?
Not in this version. The project’s metadata-editing table marks HEIC as unsupported, an open request since 2021. JPEG supports the most: date, location, title, description, rating and tags.
Recent releases
| Version | Released | Size | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| v1.15.8 · this download | Oct 25, 2026 | 63.1 MB | Android 7.0+ |
| v1.15.6 | Oct 18, 2026 | 68.3 MB | Android 7.0+ |
| v1.15.5 | Oct 4, 2026 | 68.1 MB | Android 7.0+ |
Versions currently kept in the F-Droid repository. We host and check only the newest one. Full changelog.
Alternatives and related apps
-
Fossify Gallery A simpler gallery with a built-in photo editor and a recycle bin, and no internet access at all.Download -
ImageToolbox For editing, converting and resizing images, which Aves doesn’t do beyond metadata.Download