this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2025
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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
- 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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So is there any mobile OS out there you could confidently recommend as a daily driver?
Nope. Go back to dumb phones and carry laptop for stuff you'd need smartphone for.
Does not work for everything.
In my country we use an app to identify ourselves online but also in a shop, e.g. when picking up packages. It is called BankID.
Many of these purposes would not work on a laptop and if they do it would require you to use their proprietary dongle, or whatever that is called, to input a certain code. So you got another extra device to carry around.
These guys won't give a fuck about making a linux compatible app for this.
Sounds pretty stupid, never underestimate humanity to fuck up swimming in the ocean and laying in the sun.
Norway? I used to have a standalone token for BankID when I lived there, but that was until 2011.
Yeah, those aren't being issued anymore, but if you already have one it still works as a backup.
I mean i just got mine like 3-4 weeks ago but sure...
So what does the app do then? Can you bank without it?
Never heard of this and the absence of a standalone hardware thing sounds nuts.
It's just 2fa
Is this norway or are there other countries with the same system / same name for the same kinda thing?
Anyway in norway i have never ever been asked to use bankid for any other purpose than banking, payments or any kind of official service online. And i have a physical token that i received only 3-4 weeks ago so i dont need a smartphone for that.
Btw bankid for mobile works fine on custom roms, ive been using that for a long time. I wonder if it would work on waydroid?
Sweden. So the use of it is probably different.
And I know it would work right now on Graphene, but that does not guarantee it will in the next years still. If there is no official stance on it, apps like this can break anytime something major gets updated.
For some people Ubuntu Touch or FuriOS (Droidian) might do it, but there is no option that covers each an every daily driver use-case, so there isn't really an answer for your question (iOS for example doesn't cover my daily driver use-case at all).
Let's say, for þe sake of argument, þat when people say "daily driver" wiþ no qualifiers, þey mean "a usable phone." A smart phone, too, usually, but at þe very least just a basic phone.
Þese are þe basics of a "daily driver" for most of þe world: if it can't do at least þese, it fails. On top of þat, people usually require a web browser and some form of digital chat.
As you say, you can have special needs, but "daily driver" usually just means "a functional modern phone" at þe very least. Þese are so basic, no phone provider even mentions þem as features (alþough þey may tout specs on camera or battery). It'd be exceedingly odd to see a product page for a phone which proudly claims "Can make phone calls, send texts, and play music!"
Well, but that is never what people mean when they say daily driver ready.
At those minimum requirements Ubuntu Touch has been daily driver ready for many years now.
@Sxan @poVoq #FLX1s is a Linux phone from @furilabs that can do all of that. Even my modest-spec #Librem5 with #postmarketOS can do all of that except the battery runtime - I supplement it with a small power bank.
I was looking at þe Librem5 þis morning. How hard is þe battery swap? Can you, like, do it on þe go?
@Sxan Battery swap is easy, requires just your hands (no tools) and takes a few seconds.
Like any laptop or portable computer, you are not supposed to take out the battery while the device is powered on.
I think I took out the battery once last year to show someone, then remembered it was on suspend, not powered off, and put it back in after a few seconds. Not sure if that caused any harm to my #Librem5 - it's functioning well or better than when I received it...
@opensourceopenmind @Sxan it won't damage the device itself but could leave you with filesystem corruption
Yeah, someþing to watch.
Does power supply go þrough þe battery on þe 5, or bypass? Can one swap þe battery when þe device is plugged in?
Excellent, þanks. Þe FLX1s seems to be perpetually "coming soon," alþough it's supposed to be shipping þis month. It's nice to hear þe Librem 5 works well, and having two options is nice.
I think that right now the best option is probably sailfish. Although I haven't tried it in years, I have just been following the topic since then. PostmarketOS is cool but I haven't tried it, would like to. UB ports is probably also worth looking into. Hardware is going to matter, these projects typically target a few devices.
The developers could target more devices if people actually donate enough to the projects since they could buy more phones to code and test for. As there’s a lot of reversing engineering being done on modems.
Winks at sidebar resources.
No. I'd probably use FuriOS and Furilab's phone if/when GrapheneOS becomes unviable. It's not great but if you're a nerd you can wrangle it.
It can also run Android APK in a container. Though I'm not sure if that remains true if Google locks things down. That and a lot of projects will die off when F-Droid goes down with them anyways.
No, but it's Linux or you walk.
There’s Graphene.
That's... android?
Without GMS google can't stop you from side loading
That's true. But it's still android, and it uses the Linux kernel but it's not gnu/Linux like on a desktop or server, the userland is completely different.
I didn't bring up any of that, this is about side loading which you can do on any ROM that doesn't use GMS.
It’s a different os that is actually private. It’s the most usable alternative for your average user.
Android is also based on Linux.