This is great news!
For those unaware, Google is continuously enacting policies that are closing down the open environment of Android, and I fear this will significantly harm projects like GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, and others.
If you can spare a couple dollars, please consider throwing some money at PostmarketOS or any other mobile Linux project you like.
are you aware of any articles/documentation that can make a noob aware of how these projects compare to each other?
i’m going to eos on a nothing phone in the near future, but that’s only because i can find step-by-step documentation with exact hardware and eos version on how to do so thanks to Lemmy.
Just donated some money to them. Haven’t even tested a build yet but I’m excited based on what I’ve seen over the years.
The sooner there is a rom compatible with most android devices, the better.
I’d be off Android so fast.
And Signal gets on board
They already have a Linux app, I can’t see them not making UI adjustments for Linux phones.
I’m also personally fine just using matrix but thats just me.
The Linux app is just the desktop app, which doesn’t have the functionality that the Android and iOS apps do. It only works when paired with an Android or iOS device, so you’d still be shackled to those ecosystems without proper support for a mobile Linux app.
The Signal lead has been vocally against doing a fully fledged version for Linux for a while now. He really likes his closed ecosystems. “for security”
Desktop Linux is soooo insecure because users can access their own data.
Ah, good to know. I don’t really use it (just have previously) so didnt know that.
I’d be curious how that would swing with a heavy number of users switching to a linux phone.
Wait…signal has a linux-native standalone app that doesn’t depend on android or iPhone? Since when??
Edit: looks like no
matrix lad myself… but
Agreed, just not the statement I was responding to, which I took as Signal - the company - getting on board with Linux mobile. But maybe I misinterpreted.
That was indeed what I meant
Project status: archived
oof
i know Flare is another client for Linux, which does adapt itself to window size so it should work on mobile
tho it can’t be used as a primary device easily (so you’ll need signal on another phone) and from past experience, the linking can be pretty iffy
It’s also that any 3rd party apps violate the TOS and if they discover that you’re using it they’ll boot you from the service
…i saw that… curious. #linuxphoneapps had a few options tho… but i, sadly, don’t use signal… so not sure.
Like 90% of the blame here goes to Qualcomm AFAIK :/
Why is that? (Genuine curiosity)
Most of the chips in a smartphone are made by Qualcomm, both processors and peripheral chips like 5G modem, LTE modem, WiFi, and Bluetooth. Qualcomm chips require proprietary binary blobs to function, and usually only have a support lifetime of about 2 years. They also only supply those blobs to the manufacturer of the device.
Now I wish we had riscV mobile phones too…
Pine64 I think said they’re making the next Pinephone when they can make it RISC-V.
Which either means they’re enthusiastic about the pace of RISC-V development, or they don’t want to make a new phone anytime soon.
Ah that makes sense. Thanks.
Qualcomm being what they are is the reason Apple was able to provide a better lifespan for their phones for like a decade (you’d get 5-6 years of iOS major version upgrades compared to 0-2 on Android phones).
Google actually pushed the Android ecosystem to do better by creating its’ own Tensor SoCs which they support for longer… But they don’t really make the drivers for those open source either. So we’re still not doing better in that regard.
I hope there’s a good alternative soon. I’d love a Linux variant phone that is usable.
are there any decent devices that have a fully working pmos build?
The best ones where basically everything works as intended are: OnePlus 6, OnePlus 6T, Xiaomi POCO F1
I have a OnePlus 6T and the only missing pieces are calls and camera. Both work, but not reliably yet. Everything else is pretty much there.
Shit, I have an old OnePlus 6 laying around, currently running LineageOS. Hmmmmm
also have a one-plus 6t, mms and SMS are also spotty
rooting for the guys although I don’t want none of them things. I run my device without a modem on (hopefully I disabled it correctly) and I want it to run like my other shit runs - I turn it on when I want it, no doing shit in the background nobody asked it to, syncing to the clown, none of that.
the results are awesome - I get like days of standby out of a severely degraded battery that can’t manage a whole day under android. still, I understand that other people need this stuff. for me, SMS and calls utilizing the utterly broken, insecure, and definitely compromised telecom infra shouldn’t be a thing in 2025.
syncing to the clown, none of that
What did that clown ever do to you?
stole it off jwz
Replace “clown” with “AI”.
i’d rather sync to a clown than a cloud tbh. the clown is more likely to keep my data safe
if there was any voice protocol with anywhere near the adoption rate of phone service I could understand this
Will there ever be an app ecosystem for Linux phones. I don’t see how could happen. I’m talking actual apps like banking or payment systems. Institutional software such as government apps that requires a stable platform. Not a janky Linux system that is prone to breakage every few updates or scatter across different distros. Seems like the year of the linux desktop meme could end up morphing into the year of the linux phone.
Why can’t we just use banking websites? You don’t need an app ecosystem for that. They just need to build a responsive website that will work on a computer or phone. If you have bank to bank transfer (like e-transfer in Canada) that can be done from the mobile website as well.
Payment like NFC payment is a different story. I suspect its unlikely we ever see that.
Exactly. And as I said in another comment, you can make a wrapper for it if their website is not the most mobile-friendly. Any browser can handle everything beneath the skin.
Well, they all have standard web interfaces, and so many apps are merely wrappers for it or a rebuilt front-end. On a Linux device one would presume you’ll have a standard web browser so all you need really is a wrapper for the website and the browser engine handles all security. Is there any reason not to just go that route?
Apps on Linux phones are just Linux apps that scale well.
