What's happening September 30?
this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2026
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Linux Phones
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The Discussion on Linux-based Phones.
Benefits:
- Hardware freedom.
- Perfect operating-system competition.
- Full utilization of specs.
- Phone lifespan raises to 10+ years.
- Less e-waste.
Linux Mobile Distros:
- Ubuntu Touch
- Sailfish
- FuriOS
- Postmarket OS
- Mobian
- Pure OS
- Plasma Mobile
- LuneOS
- openSUSE Mobile
- Nemomobile
- Droidian
- Mobile NixOS
- ExpidusOS
- Maemo Leste
- Manjaro Arm
- Tizen
- WebOS
Linux Mobile Hardware:
- Fairphone 5
- Volla Phone
- PinePhone
- FLX1
- Librem 5
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Google begins developer identification. So you can't be an app developer and get on devices without identifying yourself to Google.
Look up the Keep Android Open initiative.
I looked into this a bit when my partner wanted a new phone. It looked like Linux phones weren't quite ready for adoption by the masses and they were expensive compared to other Android based solutions
I didn't find the expense to be the big issue so much as I don't see a new-ish device that's capable.
Postmarket OS, for example, appears to work the absolute best on the Google Pixel 3 and the OnePlus 6, and both of those are well past their production dates and are hard to get hold of.
I think they ought to put up a list somewhere of the newest devices they support with at least decent support such as your standard calling, texting, media, etc.
It makes a lot more sense to put an OS on an existing phone. His phone is what needed replacing so I was looking for devices that ran Linux out of the box. He mostly wanted to avoid bloatware, telemetry and bullshit.
Fairphone 2-6 and Shiftphone 6 & 8 have relatively good pmos support for newer phones.
According to this recent post it seems one brave developer just made the microphone work with PMOS on FP6 and it does not yet work for calls. It looks quite far from being ready for the average user. https://ani.social/post/33936031
I factored in Mighty Cat’s recent driver upgrades into my calculations.
It seems on average the 6 Fairphone models are 64% functional while the Fairphone 6 is 73% the way there. Quite impressive for a year old phone.
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I think they ought to put up a list somewhere of the newest devices they support with at least decent support such as your standard calling, texting, media, etc.
pmOS does have a list of supported devices, and for the list labeled "main" support, it's empty, as they do not deem any if their currently supported devices (in the "community" or "testing" sections) to be usable/stable enough for daily use for the average person. Of the supported devices, it's clearly labeled what does and doesn't work for each device
Other spins like Mobian and Ubuntu Touch have similar pages too!
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Nick at The Linux Experiment posted a video today on Ubuntu Touch 30 day trial he did. It's come a really long way and is in the "usable" category now.
Bought an Oneplus 6 for testing, but didn'tmake it my daily driver. PMOS is there software-wise, but the drivers (calling, camera) aren't there yet. Sailfish works (because it uses that Halium thing), but I found the software unintuitive and the lack of a proper web browser being available without the use of the android sandbox scared me away.
However I've been noticing that one legend who recently regularily updates on the fediverse how he tries to get feature completeness for the Fairphone 6 in PMOS, so maaybe we're up to someyhing there?
I can't wait for the legend's next post 🥹
The next one is going to be an absolute banger, coming soon!
all hail Mighty Cat.
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Yes they are, but it really depends on which one you get.
I have a fairphone 6 with pmOS on my desk here right now.
And it is ready to be a daily driver, and i will soon fully switch over to it.
As of right now, I think mobile Linux still needs some more time before it's ready for mass adoption. For the developers and tinkerers, it's a fun project and, depending on your needs, it can be usable as a daily driver as your main or side phone, but it's still a little unstable with many missing conveniences compared to the duopoly. App support is already good enough in my opinion, especially with Waydroid being a thing. As for device support, I think if you do want to try mobile Linux, get a well-supported device to start, like a used OnePlus 6 or Pixel 3a series, and just play around with it. I found it very fun, and there are lots of cool things you can do with mobile Linux too! I particularly enjoyed the lack of microtransactions in all the games...(Animatch, Ultimate Tic Tac Toe, Pentobi, a few desktop games are playable with mouse and keyboard)
A good alternative right now is to recommend a degoogled Android ROM for people who want to keep the openness of Android but don't want to go all in to Linux phones just yet. iodeOS, GrapheneOS, e/OS, and now CalyxOS (they're back!) are all great options that won't have the same restrictions as stock Android. Fairphones, Pixels, etc. are all great devices to be recommended for this purpose.
While I'm also asking for myself, I'm currently running Lineage OS with no Google apps or services, but eventually I think I'll be forced off of an Android-based system entirely.
Besides installing malware on devices with Google Play services, Google is also doing things like making AOSP less frequent updates and stuff like that too. Eventually, I'm figuring I'm just going to have to leave and go to a Linux phone entirely, whether I want to or not.
For me personally, the things that I absolutely need to work are the touchscreen, calling, texting, cellular data, microphone, speaker, bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.
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Not even remotely, even if Mobile Linux was good and viable the grand majority of disgruntled Android users aren't switching. Thats if it was good and viable which it isnt even remotely. Hardware support is poor, the software experience is extremely bad (yes I have actually used postmarketos), and overall its just not something that people are gonna want to use.
On September 30th when people look for alternatives they will find nothing and give up, if there was a viable alternative google wouldn't be doing this
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My Jolla phone with SailfishOs should be coming at the end of September, can't wait!
It seems really phone-dependent, so it might strain the used market and raise prices of Google Pixels and OnePlus phones.
I think a lot of newcomers will struggle with getting microG running. TBH I still haven't figured it out and just kind of avoid apps requiring Play Services lol.
And, as always, Europe will fare better than the U.S.
IMO no, but I also think there will be a growth spurt in developers interested in getting something done in the near future.
Maaaybe SailfishOS? Although it only works on Jolla Phone and Sony Xperia phones...
and the new commodore flip phone!
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At this point, what I'm thinking about is not using my phone as more than a phone+hotspot. Anything I want to run will be on a second device with me, which would be for everything else.
What that second device is.... currently up for debate. I was going to build a clamshell style palmtop, but honestly I just don't have the time. Maybe I'll get a PMOS friendly tablet?
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SailfishOS as main driver since at least 2020.
On several of the Sony Xperias.
I'm not looking back.
I know what people are going to criticize about it.
It's a EU company, I have read all the small print and I trust them.
do banking apps (or apps that require some sort of attestation) work? That's my blocker.
As far as banking apps go, I would do exactly what I'm doing now and use my bank from the web browser.
Unfortunately my country (sweden) has built the entire society around a 2FA-app created by the banks. When I need banking apps, it's not to handle bank things, it's to pay for a bus ticket, book an appointment at the dentist, sign contracts, log into my work computer, etc. It's very difficult to function in society without this app.
Plenty Swedes use SfOS, this has been mentioned on the forums, and it is working.
It's similar in Finland btw and does not even require an app (depending on your bank of course).
Yes.
https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/banking-apps-on-sailfish-os/
But I'm with OP here; I simply use my browser, I don't even want to install my bank's app (it's listed as working well).
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I do trust them, they're great people, but I don't like the proprietarieness of it :(
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There isn't a daily driver with enough stock available that runs all android apps with Google Play services.
I have not used Google Play services on my Android phone since 2019, so I'm perfectly used to not having those.
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ubports and sailfish just works, but there's no apps
there’s no apps
https://openrepos.net/
https://sailfishos-chum.github.io/
The official Jolla Store has no web ui, but somebody made a listing here (it's pretty old and the store has only gotten larger since then).
Also consider that you can use/install tons of common Linux CLI tools, and the road to achieve a particular goal doesn't necessarily go through an "app".
FuriOS and Ubuntu Touch are the closest options to daily-drive.
There is the Volla phone which can dual boot their degoggled Android and Ubuntu Touch. Im interested in this concept.
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