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OctoLab: a free, open-source GitLab client for Android (gitlab.com and self-hosted) (lemmy.nz)
submitted 17 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) by 0dxJayB@programming.dev to c/opensource@lemmy.ml
12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I've been building OctoLab, an unofficial GitLab client for Android. It works with gitlab.com and self-hosted GitLab (CE/EE), started as a GitLab-focused fork of OctoDroid, and is Apache 2.0 licensed.

What it does:

  • Issues and merge requests: browse, create, edit, comment, review diffs, subscribe/unsubscribe
  • To-dos | Participating: your to-dos plus new comments on issues and MRs you take part in, with notifications and counts per account
  • Your activity as a timeline, grouped by project
  • Projects: files, README, branches, tags, commits, releases, code search; images, videos and files open in the app
  • Bookmarks for projects, groups, issues, MRs, commits and snippets
  • Sign in with gitlab.com in your browser (OAuth), or with a token on any GitLab instance
  • Epics (Premium/Ultimate): a group's epics with their child items, comments and reactions
  • Role-aware: shows what your GitLab role allows; what it doesn't is hidden or explained
  • Multi-account (self-hosted and gitlab.com side by side), dark and light theme

No tracking, no analytics, no proprietary services.

F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.secninjaz.octolab/

GitHub (releases, Obtainium): https://github.com/secninjaz/OctoLab

Feedback and bug reports welcome.

Edit: How it's built: development happens on our own GitLab instance in small commits; each release is squash-merged into one commit on GitHub, so issue numbers in commit messages and changelogs refer to that internal tracker. Development is AI-assisted, as disclosed in the README; I review and test every change on my own devices before release, and the full changelog is in each GitHub release.

~~Development is AI-assisted (disclosed in the README); every change is reviewed and tested by a human.~~

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[-] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 13 points 16 hours ago

I don't get why people consistently lie in the few that have an AI disclosure lol. (I mean I guess I know because they have AI write the disclosure because they are all the same).

Like, sure you manually checked all of the 1000-4000 lines of code per day. Just say "this is a claude generated project lightly tested and checked over by a human with occasional human fixes or contributions"

[-] 0dxJayB@programming.dev -3 points 14 hours ago

Thanks for the feedback. I will consider modifying disclosure as and if applicable.

For clarity, the app is not made from scratch and is a fork of OctoDroid(FOSS client for github) so only gitlab specific APIs and screen changes have been modified/added. There's no 1000-4000 lines to review at any point of time. Commits are made in small batches while fixing/development/test cycles and squash-merged into one commit for release, so you probably are referring to such squashed commits. I don't blame you for thinking that and your feedback makes sense.

On a side note, I just recently saw a post on Lemmy regarding reddit becoming too negative recently. It seems its not specific to reddit and Lemmy may not be so different in that regard, especially as the userbase grows.

[-] eldavi@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 hours ago

On a side note, I just recently saw a post on Lemmy regarding reddit becoming too negative recently. It seems its not specific to reddit and Lemmy may not be so different in that regard, especially as the userbase grows.

lemmy's ranks are filled with moonlighting/ex-redditors who have brought their toxicity with them -- the only way to avoid most of it is to stick to the instances and communities that predate the first reddit diaspora and you can see this for yourself in how all the negativity you're getting is coming from other instances.

lemmygrad, hexbear and lemmy.ml are some of the original instances that a majority of the lemmyverse still federates with and there are still plenty of ex-redditors on that last one so be advised.

[-] 0dxJayB@programming.dev 2 points 2 hours ago

Thanks for the info and heads-up ๐Ÿ‘

[-] IanTwenty@piefed.social 1 points 13 hours ago

Am I right that those smaller commits and branches are not in the public repo though? Some commits also mention they close issues but those issues also do not exist in the repo? E.g.

https://github.com/secninjaz/OctoLab/commit/796e859c7165b6d4543f1491e0dd5fde169d8d2d

...Closes #275, #277 and #278

What do these refer to?

[-] 0dxJayB@programming.dev 1 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Yes, those are not on public repo, github releases mention that although its not mentioned in readme.

That refers to development and fix cycles over days/week and then squash-merged into a release. Those are worked on an internal gitlab repo so they're not on github but release notes include full changelogs.

To avoud confusion, maybe I should exclude issue numbers from changelogs unless they're from github issues.

[-] dusk@piefed.social 0 points 14 hours ago

Lemmy isn't the issue here.

[-] dusk@piefed.social 9 points 16 hours ago

"I've been" claude

[-] MisterFred@reddthat.com 1 points 11 hours ago

Can you cross-host (not crosspost) it on Gitlab? It only makes sense for a Gitlab client to be on Gitlab

[-] 0dxJayB@programming.dev 1 points 9 hours ago

I had thought about that initially, but chose github thinking that gitlab repos don't get as much attention(in terms of contributions and popularity) compared to github for some reason. I might be wrong but that's what I thought looking at other unrelated awesome apps hosted on gitlab.

[-] beyoublahaj@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago

For ya'll unhappy with OP and their software, you can use something else. For example I've found Swatian Software works git clients very helpful.

  • LabNex - Android client for GitLab (gitlab.com or self-hosted)
  • Gitnex - Android client for Forgejo or Gitea instances
[-] 0dxJayB@programming.dev 0 points 12 hours ago

Well, people can use whatever software they like, be it any. I've just shared something that I initially created for internal use only and thought would help larger gitlab community to be more productive in their day to day work. Btw OctoLab is for GitLab instances only. And your reply sounds more like promotion than app alternatives suggestions.

Personally, I had tried LabNex and Labcoat before for gitlab but none come even close to(what i wanted from a gitlab client and hence OctoLab was created) OctoLab in terms of UX and features.

Let users decide for themselves. Thanks

this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2026
9 points (62.9% liked)

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