I have been out of the loop for a while with the development of Linux/GNU based OSes on phones. However, with seeing how companies (like reddit) can change the rules as they wish, I want to see if completely switching to Linux is possible.
Long story short… what are the current phone providers that have Linux as an OS, or what is the best way to run Linux on an off-the-shelf phone?
As a side-question, is Nextcloud still the next best option for a complete service alternative to Google/iCloud?
Thank you!
Because phone manufacturers don’t open source their firmware, you probably won’t be able to get Linux on an off-the-shelf phone. (Please someone correct me if I’m wrong).
Your best bet, if you want to go down thus route, is to get the PinePhone Pro.
It’s relatively affordable.Before you try anything, think hard about your relationship with your phone and what you expect from it. Does work require you have an app installed? What kind of apps do you use regularly? You won’t have things like: CVS for meds, AA for flying, Steam for 2fa, Signal, Telegram, google maps, etc. Some you might be able to use their webapps, but the browser might be a bit sluggish because it’s the full desktop version. Firefox isnt fully mobile friendly. Battery life won’t be what you’re used to. Linux on the phone is just like your regular Linux, so you’ll have the stuff your used to from there, and you’ll having calling, sms, mms, and voicemail.
I have the PinePhone and the Librem 5, but I still use my android.
I guess they could implement the closed firmware source like the radio firmware binaries; same as Linux uses open-source and closed-source drivers. I think the PinePhone Pro might have issues with performance, connectivity, etc. with that SoC but thank you for the tip, I’ll have a look at it. You might be right with the app support. That is something I have not taken into consideration too much, especially, with regard to banking apps. I’ll keep that in mind as well. What is missing in your opinion that you are still on Android?
Signal app was the first thing I missed. Then I switched to Element, and there’s no good app for that. Then I missed >24hr battery life. I was doing a lot of traveling when I got my Librem 5, but no American Airlines app was a no-go (gate change alerts is too good). The Linux mobile situation is really impressive, but they’re just a decade or more behind on development.
The real straw that broke the camel’s back was I need a particular 2FA app for work, so I need a “regular” smartphone regardless of how good my Linux phone situation is. But, man, the second I can daily drive Plasma Mobile will be amazing. Such a good UI. I don’t use KDE, but their devs are truly the best.
Yup, pretty much this. The short answer to this question seems to be “check back in five years.” There have been exciting developments on this front, like Gnome’s mobile focused project and their efforts on adaptive design, but we’re still a long way off.
Like another user commented below, buying a FairPhone and installing a “clean” Android version of it is probably the most usable experience that’s vaguely in the line of what OP is asking. It’s not quite Linux on mobile, but it is a device that’s actually usable day to day.
Assuming that their asking how to get Linux on an “off-the-shelf phone” means they want to flash Linux on a device that doesn’t come with it, it’s very possible to flash a custom ROM on lots of Android devices. Projects like LineageOS have a very healthy, active userbase that has ported their ROM to many different models of phone. Lots of Samsung devices can be used, some Nokia devices, nearly every Google Pixel device. There are plenty more, those are just the ones I remember.
The caveat is that your phone has to have an unlocked bootloader; if your phone is provided to you by your carrier, it’s almost definitely not unlocked. Unless you’ve finished paying off a carrier-provided device, you can’t unlock it yet.
I wanted to flash LineageOS on my G Pixel 6, but the bootloader is locked down.
EDIT to add: custom ROM does not just mean custom version of Android. There’s postmarketOS, Ubuntu Touch, Plasma Mobile, Mobian, and more that are Linux, w/o any hint of Android. SailfishOS got a lot of attention awhile back, but it’s not open source, and it’s not free.
LineageOS and a couple of the others have the ability to run Android app, sometimes including the ability to add the play store and other Google services to their ROMs. Of course, those are all built on top of Android (which is still modified Linux) so it depends on how far “just Linux” you want to go.
Thank you kind…uh…hooman person. I gotta try this with one of my old phones sometime! Remove battery, solder in power supply, install linux, connect usb ethernet, webserver!
Hahah, definitely human. I can complete a captcha if you’re worried. Probably. 😉
I’ve actually seen people do that more than a few times, lol. You can probably even find a guide somewhere!
There are a couple of phones that can run Linux. Oneplus 6 for an example. But most can’t indeed. PostmarketOS has a list of devices that their distro works on.