Okay, since my first reply, I found that it's not really any worse to install the SMAPI version for Android, and Content patcher, and now have a modded Android game. Following the directions from the wiki works, it only has a couple of extra steps (the apk to load SMAPI, mostly). The real trick is finding which mods work for Android.
Some things I know or was told will work (I'm not using all of these myself; some was gleaned from other lists. I am using several of them, which will be italicized. A couple of others I have used with other farmers and recommend, but have not used in Android.):
Background requirements for other mods (frameworks):
- Generic Mod Config Menu (GMCM)
- Farm Type Manager
- Portraiture (with a caveat; you need to be able to go into the config manually to choose your portrait set as it usually works by a key-binding and does not work with GMCM.)
- PYTKLite
- AntiSocialNPCs
- CustomCompanions (& presumably its content packs)
- Expanded PreconditionsUtility
- Faux Core
- MailFrameworkMod
- ShopTileFramework (shouldn't still be needed as 1.6 moved most of its abilities into Content Patcher)
- SpaceCore
- Unlockable Bundles
Mods that change the game:
Anything that is written entirely as a Content Patcher patch or FTM patch works for sure, including dialogue/events, visuals/decor, animals, forage, or crops, but watch out for ones with extra frameworks. So I stopped listing things in those sections after one or two examples.
- Better Ranching
- NPC Map Locations (Has a separate mod for Android)
- Tractor
- Stardew Valley Expanded (and its various farms and forage etc)
- Ridgeside Village
- Community Centre Reimagined
- Canon friendly dialogue Expansion
- Nature in the valley (& presumably its content packs)
- Seasonal outfits, slightly cuter Aesthetic
- Daisyniko's Earthy Recolor
- Elle's Seasonal Buildings and Town Buildings
- Elle's Cuter (Barn Animals/Coop Animals/Cats/horses) - caveat, it's really finicky working with GMCM on a mobile device for the long lists inside some of these mods. But the images come through fine
- Simple Foliage
- Dynamic Reflections
- Pride in the Valley
- Visible Fish
- Odd Quality of Life
- Automatic Gates
- Like a Duck to Water (if ducks swimming makes you happy, you WANT this...)
- Rabbits have Babies
- Murmur of Bees
- Bachelors and Bachelorettes stay friends
- No Harvey x Maru
- Harvey Attends Aerobics
- Miihau's (Character) event expansion (there are several, I'm only using one.)
- Em's Tree Seed Birds
- Em and Harry's Exotic Cattle
- Abilities Experience Bars
- Auto Watering Can
- Carry Chests
- Event Lookup
The following Frameworks
do not work, so assume anything that uses them ALSO
does not work:
- ExtraMachineConfig
- Producer FrameworkMod (Crash when place chest, open)
- AlternativeTextures
- Custom Obelisks
- CustomNPCExclusions
- CustomNPCFixes
- DynamicGameAssets
- ExtraMapLayers
- StardewHack (at least one list claims it does, but at last check, it doesn't)
- SAAT
- Destroyable Bushes (looks like it should work but the method for choosing and using tools is different enough that the axe just doesn't react)
