Hello all!
Due to the recent statements by Google (as well as their track record the last few years) I've decided I do not want to use Android as a phone operating system anymore. But Apple is just as bad, if not worse. So I've decided to build my own custom device.
I am working on building a phone using a single board computer, right now I'm using the raspberry pi 5. This is still a proof of concept, but I want to share my ideas with others, so like minded individuals can start messing around with this idea in their own homes to further this goal.
You can view more images of the device here, as well as the step by step instructions here (these are still very rough and incomplete) https://github.com/muhammadmanwar/cheaphone OR https://codeberg.org/muhammadmanwar/cheaphone
Right now it just runs raspberry pi OS, with a different desktop look and feel. Everything that normally works in a pi 5 works on this device, additionally I am experimenting with a Mobile Broadband modem, to allow the device to text and call, as well as access internet, like a normal phone off wifi
The total cost is around 200 dollars, not including the 3d printer to make the custom case.
This project is barely off the ground, and I've got a lot to learn before I can stop relying strictly on the raspberry pi 5, my end goal is to custom design SBCs, and release those designs for free alongside the plans for the device, so that interested parties can select their own System on a Chip to use for the device. I need to get into designing boards, I'm interested in trying Stephen Hawes' Lumen PnP (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlkTcxh-9gA) for that phase.
But that's for the future, for now, I'm hoping to get more people interested in the prototype so that I'm not the only one noodling around on this idea. I'd love some feedback, and if anyone was willing to put one together for testing, I would appreciate it greatly!
I think we should get the focus away from the "phone." Most people justify buying a smartphone by saying they "need a phone" but the phone app becomes the least used thing on it.
I like the term 'cyberdeck' from the Cyberpunk game. It's a bit... punk... but it more accurately describes what a phone is these days. It's more accurate to say it's a handheld personal computer. The iPhone is the easier example. It's a handheld Mac with a custom launcher and a cellular modem. It can be used as a phone, and it's a good one because it has FaceTime to fall back on. This is interesting because, technically speaking, an iPhone without a cellular connection can still call other iPhones over WiFi, via FaceTime. Of course, with Android as with iPhone, you can do the same with a lot of other networks. WhatsApp/Facebook can do it. Telegram can do it. I think Instagram can do it. I think Google has a platform that can do it. But you need a cellular network to call your grandmother's landline, though there are apps for doing that over VOIP (Voice Over IP) as well, so even then... not really.
So my dream Linux phone isn't a Linux phone, it's a handheld Linux PC that can make and receive phone calls.
That's actually the vision I have as well for the device, its basically just a Linux Desktop that fits in an average (cargo pants) pocket, and can do anything a PC can, so in my eyes it is functionally a cyberdeck. The biggest issues with the current configuration are that the UI is a bit tough to use, given the slightly smaller screen size than an average phone, and that it only gets about 7.5 hours of battery life when idling. I've already successfully made VOIP calls from the device, though it doesn't have built in speakers or mics, so you have to use bluetooth or a USB to 3.5 mm adapter.
The thing is that I bet that Android has had a lot of engineers work on making it idle efficiently. Gonna be a high bar to compete with that.
thinks
This isn't a universal solution, since it won't handle incoming calls, but I wonder how viable it is to have an option to well, not idle much of the time?
I mean, okay. Say that there's a physical switch added to the case. I haven't messed around with the RPIs, but I figure that the RPi 5 probably has some GPIO pins, and that if it doesn't, there's some trivial way to add them, since a lot of RPI projects probably make use of them. So a switch gets wired up to that.
When the switch is open ("stay awake"), the system operates as normal.
When the switch is closed ("power save"), the system shuts down if it's idled for T seconds. It looks like the RPi 5 hardware has time-controlled boot:
https://www.makerspace-online.com/remote-raspberry-pi-5-boot/
So it boots and lets the SIP client (or whatever VoIP stuff is running) start up and check for anything new. Maybe have a mechanism to let a couple software packages register themselves and do something similar, query for new data (Signal, etc). When they've completed, If nothing's present, system sets the time controlled startup for S seconds in the future and hibernates (I'm assuming that the Linux kernel can hibernate the hardware on the RPi 5, including the modem).
A phone couldn't get an immediate incoming call VoIP notification if it were shut down like that when an attempt came in, but a user would get a "missed call" notification and could call back. And if they were expecting a call, they could keep the thing in "normal" mode rather than "power save".
I would assume that wakeup and hibernate are somewhat power-expensive, but that there's some interval above which the S seconds become worthwhile.
It would also increase the wake time if one wanted to use the thing, of course. I dunno how fast unhibernate is on an RPi 5.
thinks
I guess it doesn't even really need a hardware switch. The toggle could be done in software running on the touchscreen.
This is very much in line with what I was thinking, but I have not had the time to test the theory yet. I've also considered potentially adding some sort of clock limited state using a GPIO connected switch, but that definitely sounds harder.
I haven't really kept up with the raspberry pi space, but was talking to someone years ago who was trying to use a raspberry pi outdoors with solar to do regular intervals of water testing for a polluted stream. He seemed to imply that the lack of power efficiency and issues around that were at the chip level. I thought like the chip itself didn't have an efficient idle or sleep state so it just burned through battery doing nothing, but still active with all cores engaged, etc.
Not sure if thats still the case all these years later with the new chips or not, but it could be part of the problem, not sure.
The prefix "cyber" is passe and in fact now has a connotation of being dumb and poser
At least as of 2022, which is as late as Google n-grams runs, it seems to be on a pretty determined increase.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cyber&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=false