I can't give you any useful advice on the phone/os, but I really think you should keep an old or cheap android phone as a backup. You never know when you are going to absolutely need some app, that is unfortunately only available on mainstream phones (android or iOS).
this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2024
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Linux Phones
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Community about running GNU/Linux on phones. Projects like Ubuntu Touch, Plasma Mobile, PostmarketOS, Mobian etc. Either on former Android phones or hardware like the PinePhone.
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Maybe you can answer one for me, too. I'm not a coder or really great with computers. I use Linux because of the philosophy behind it/political reasons, and because I really love the look and feel of Gnome, and it has just about everything I need. I dual boot Windows in case my college has some program I absolutely have to have, and I'm too dumb to figure out virtual machines and wine.
Do you think Linux phones are ever going to be a viable option for someone like me? I use my phone for browsing Lemmy, gps, streaming/YouTube, audiobooks, et cetera. I don't have a lot of niche use cases, but I also don't have a lot of understanding on how to do certain things myself. I can use a terminal if I can copy/paste or have a guide.
A postmarketOS ready phone should do it. On your Linux PC you install pmbootstrap and follow the guides. Its easier than flashing android ROMs. A combination of phosh, fde and f2fs gave a secure and rock solid linux phone with the experience of near all apps known from gnome desktop.
I would advice op the same btw. but I don't know how good every phone is supported. I use a pinephone.
Thank you! I'll start looking into it!
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Currently those phones are meant for advanced GNU/Linux users and tinkerers. So you will have to learn some things or maybe ask other people for help from time to time. It might be hard and there is no guarantee that it will work for you. But if you have the patience, you could give it a try. Check out my short PinePhone review and this thread.
https://wiki.debian.org/Mobian/Devices
I think OnePlus 6/6T and Pocophone F1 are currently the best supported Android devices, for both Mobian and PostmarketOS.
I'm using Poco F1 with postmarketOS and mobile data doesn't work for me. Anyone else has this problem?
That might be true for Android phones, but GNU/Linux phones have the best support.
PinePhone, PinePhone Pro and Librem 5 should have the best GNU/Linux or postmarketOS support, but their SoCs are not be as fast and energy efficient as other modern phones. You can check my short PinePhone review and there is also some information in this thread. PinePhone's battery will last a day only if you don't use the phone much.
for os i have thinked to use ubuntu touch or postmarket os
Note that postmarketOS is not GNU/Linux, since it's based on Alpine and Ubuntu Touch is GNU/Android or something like that, since it uses the Android kernel. The most popular GNU/Linux distros are Mobian and Manjaro.
Librem 5
URGENT WARNING: Purism, the company manufacturing Librem 5, is a company you should avoid. There is a non-zero chance you will give your money away, and receive nothing. https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=-IjUryQOlgk
Carry on.
To be fair those were preorders and I'm pretty sure everyone did get their phone eventually. It just took a really long time. At least they don't make proprietary software like Louis Rossmann and unlike Pine64, they contribute a lot to the software development. They've created Phosh and still develop it, so it would be a shame if this company didn't exist.
I’m pretty sure everyone did get their phone eventually.
Please update to say, they will get their phone. Eventually.
This FAQ was posted August 29th of 2023: https://puri.sm/faq/can-i-get-a-refund-on-my-librem-5-order/ There is no yes or no. Why? Because their answer is a roundabout, "Why we won't refund your money."
To be clear. Purism took people's money starting in 2017, failed to deliver 2 years later, and is currently stringing people along. This has been going on for 5 YEARS. Do yourself a kindness and avoid this company like you would thieves, as there are still many cases of people spending $2.5k on a laptop, and not getting a refund as recent as 30 days ago.
They way I understand it, their FAQ says that they will not refund any Librem 5 preorders.
We have your phone, and we will ship all the phones to those who have confirmed their mailing address, with the store credit available to the rest.
This is what they promised in 2023 and I haven't yet see any evidence that this didn't happen.
Do yourself a kindness and avoid this company like you would thieves, as there are still many cases of people spending $2.5k on a laptop, and not getting a refund as recent as 30 days ago.
If that's true, then it's pretty messed up. Is that legal under US law?
I haven’t yet see any evidence that this didn’t happen.
Flip that around. Pursim should prove they have fulfilled their orders, instead of consumers assuming they have. On the other hand, if purism spent time writing an answer to a "frequently asked question", they likely are still being asked the question... frequently.
Is that legal under US law?
Depends on what you've agreed to and possibly how long since you've agreed. See 16 CFR 435.2(b), but generally, internet/mail/phone order companies must ship ordered product within 30 days of the agreed upon shipping date, or within 30 days of purchase if no date was agreed upon. Assuming someone does not agree to a delay in shipping, the company must provide a prompt (within 7 days) refund. In the case someone demands a refund after a shipping delay, no, it is not legal.
This thread is very enlightening. https://forums.puri.sm/t/worst-service-refund-not-processed-since-july-2021/19080
You are right that it looks pretty bad. It's a shame, since they don't have much competition.
Ubuntu Touch uses Linux Kernel and minimal android system
Ah, I see. So I guess we should call it Android/Linux?
Or as I recently began calling it GNU slash Linux PLUS Android
I daily drive PinePhone Pro with the Pine keyboard to extend battery life. The experience is far from Android, but it's usable.
What distro do you use? Is there anything that doesn't work/works awfully? I understand the camera used to be a problem but dunno if that's still the case
I use Arch Linux ARM (with Danct repos).
Camera works and sometimes broken after suspend, but I don't use it. Audio on calls sometimes buggy. But megi resolved call issues, I updated today. Battery life is poor unless you use a keyboard. Battery indicator displays combined percentage which isn't ideal.
Sounds good. I use my phone camera a lot so that's a slight dealbreaker for me but could probably live with the rest. Super interesting to see how it's improving all the time!
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I wonder about this too. And instead of a secondary, backup android, can't we just emulate andoid in a vm/container under linux? Sounds crazy, but it isn't really.
I present to you https://waydro.id/
Works pretty well, but I've had issues with user input (touch screen) that made it not viable for my purposes (using Signal)
You are literally talking about sailfish os at this point. (what they do isnt exclusive to them)
Someone make a Framework laptop phone ;P
MNT Reform has some interesting innovations as well.
But purely phone the problem is computing power typically.
If you can get a small enough screen say 6-7" you could always do a m.2 modem or just forego traditional for VOIP, Chatty has SIP plumbed in.
I think we should really just can the love affair with "phones"
You now have a Star Trek "Communicator" thing in your pocket. That does many communication apps, video, audio, text.
Seeing the small form factor handheld game consoles gives me hope a SFF Linux Phone Mod is close to come.
Its probably already doable if any of them can have the controller wings removed.
@electricprism @Volfase I think MNT pocket reform can already do everything. Has SIM card slot, mic and speaker. I'm not sure of OS available for it though
Don't tell me that /s this is an expensive hobby, I might just have to give that a go now I must have missed it.
@electricprism haha I'm trying hardest to not buy new toys but if you end up getting it, please document the process of using it as phone
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I use a PinePhone (non-pro) as a daily-driver for 4+ years now. Sure it runs well. Just depends by what you mean by "linux". If you use firefox and KDE you're gonna suffer and complain about battery life.
If you're ready to work a bit to make it custom and very frugal (in my case: pmos + sxmo) and use mostly CLI and TUI applications, then you can get a lot from it. I use links -g for a majority of my browsing, tut for the fediverse, aerc, gomuks, etc. for communications. heck there is even a simplex CLI client.
It's exciting, it's customized and i find it 10x more interesting than #$%!ndroid. and i make my backups through rsync. but it's for sure a bit of work...
Ubuntu touch is pretty great for me
What device do you use?
Pixel 3a xl
does battery last full day? thanks for your information
Battery is fine for usage but not so much for standby as it would last 1.5 days sitting on top of the bedside table going from 100% to 0.
Does anyone know is there coming pinephone 2 or something like that? And has somebody used pinetime like or hate it?
I've been told that PinePhone 2 is not happening this year. (If AllWinner will continue to supply A64 SoCs, it might take even longer.)
Regarding SoC, the likely/obvious candidate is RK3566 - but we'll have to wait and see for the when and how. (I, personally, would love to see a PinePhone V - think PineTab V, but as a phone).
PineTime: It has nice companion apps on Mobile Linux, but I went back to my Pebble Time Steel - the always on display matters to me.
@Volfase I'd say the #Pixel3a with #UbuntuTouch is up there. Some minor usability issues here and there but all the more reason to look forward to 24.04.
Nokia N900
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