this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2025
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Is Linux Smartphones any good? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by SuperDuperKitten@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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When I have read anything Android phone related on Lemmy, I often see comments talking about how they switch to Linux phone or tell people to swap Android with Linux ASAP.

What's the general experience like using Linux as your phone and is it any good? I remember watching video couple years about it and hearing about it and the lack of apps (at least that is made for mobile in mind) and wonder if that has changed or is it just good enough.

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[–] Zak@lemmy.world 48 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I put PostmarketOS on a spare device recently. PostmarketOS describes itself as currently being in a state suitable for Linux enthusiasts to try out, not for wider use. That seems about right to me.

On the fun side, it's proper desktop-style Linux. I can SSH to it from my laptop. I can compile software on it. I can run programs that have no business running on a phone. On the not so fun side, the cameras barely work, data over USB doesn't work at all, and battery life is not good. Desktop Firefox on a phone screen is pretty bad. Rumor has it there's some support for Android apps, but I've been looking at Waydroid's splash screen for a long time now with no progress.

[–] wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works 7 points 6 days ago

Epiphany browser works well on phones

[–] asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev 0 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Why not use something like Angelfish instead of Firefox?

[–] Zak@lemmy.world 31 points 6 days ago (1 children)

This Angelfish?

[–] asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev 7 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Welp, I guess it needs some more development time.

[–] mistermodal@lemmy.ml 34 points 6 days ago

PostmarketOS makes no claim that it is ready to be a daily driver, Linux phones are pretty experimental right now. That's why there is so much tension over the custom ROMs that manage to function on such locked-down hardware

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 28 points 6 days ago

I wouldn't consider any Linux phone ecosystem developed enough to consider a "daily driver" phone yet. If you need a phone to be functional at pretty much all times as a phone, but you don't want to give into smartphones, I honestly would suggest a VOIP landline (that you potentially roll out and serve yourself, depending on your level of technical ability and available resources).

[–] Kroko@feddit.online 12 points 6 days ago (1 children)

List of all Linux phones https://linmob.net/resources/#smartphones

[–] mal3oon@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

That's a neat resource list! I don't know why anyone wants to torture themselves porting void to mobile, cool nonetheless!

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 19 points 6 days ago

They all have issues. The OS portion is just ramping up again brought on by the Google coup on Android.

Honestly, you'd be better off getting something that runs a better Android OS for now versus running a Linux derivative.

The main issues:

  • Camera sensor support and control
  • Modem (phone) stability
  • Sensor support
  • Biometric sensor support
  • Specialized hardware support
[–] reagansrottencorpse@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago

Aside from the money and resources, why is making a Linux phone OS so difficult? Android is based on Linux after all.

[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 13 points 6 days ago

No.

[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 10 points 6 days ago

not yet

[–] slacktoid@lemmy.ml 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The closest to a daily driver you can get to is Sailfish OS on a supported phone. There's a lot if amazing work in the linux phone space as the bar for daily driver is fairly high.

[–] PetteriPano@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Maemo on the N900 was close, but MeeGo on the N9 was there. The Ovi store even had the hot apps of the era.

Fuck Microsoft for killing that dream.

[–] slacktoid@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 days ago

Agreed. Tho we have unfortunately moved from that golden age

[–] pwalker@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Few weeks ago I saw a really cool presentation about the history and current state of Linux phone. It is unfortunately in German, slides in English though: https://youtu.be/JeFoRE72Gu0

[–] uKale@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I daily drive Ubuntu touch and like it very much, but I can see how that would be hard in certain situations. Keep doing some research, and pick one that seems to fit your needs to try it out! Only you can decide if it is good enough for your particular circumstances.

[–] PixelatedSaturn@lemmy.world 13 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Maybe you could write a bit more about your experience?

[–] uKale@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Why I love it:

  • I love the UI. Quick, intuitive and good looking.
  • Basic functions are good. The phone works well as a phone, with calls (including VoLTE for a number of newer models now), SMS, MMS, wifi hotspot ++ working
  • The amount of native apps is pleasing to me. Of course, you won't get the usual proprietary big tech developed apps, but other basics are there.
  • The flexibility is awesome. You can install apps from the Open Store built especially for UT, Snaps (not all of which are meant for small screens with touch input, but you get to try it and decide for yourself if you can make it work), nix packages, installing stuff in libertine containers, AND Android apps in a Waydroid container.
  • The community is extremely helpful and diverse.
  • The two previous points, community + flexibility, helps whenever you miss one of the larger apps. Miss Telegram? Meet the native app Teleports! Miss Signal? The community can give you several options. WhatsApp? Of course some generous soul has made a UT adapted web app that you can use in stead.
  • I finally feel free. I own my device, and the software I run on it doesn't feel invading or dishonest.

What is sometimes difficult:

  • I need to be honest about the browser situation. The default browser has a nice UI, but it is very outdated. There is a lot of improvements going on behind the scenes, but the new version is not ready for launch yet. The alternatives are UT adapted versions of Librewolf and Firefox, but they are both in an alpha state.
  • VoLTE only works for some of the supported phones, and it is still considered experimental.
  • Banking and ID verification apps have almost no UT native solutions, and running them in Waydroid is very hit and miss.
  • General stability. There are more bugs and crashes here than in Android/iOS.
[–] PixelatedSaturn@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Awesome, thanks for the info! Great insights.

How do you mean running stuff in waydroid is hit and miss. Stuff just doesn't work? And you mentioned signal not working and needing alternatives? Signal is my main chat app...

Does it feel cool to use it? Or is it still more troublesome than cool? 😎

[–] uKale@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

The Waydroid container runs Lineage, a degoogled android based os. Many apps require Google play services to run, or they do other checks that fail in that environement. Most stuff from F-droid will run.

Signal does not have a native UT app at the moment, but some use Matrix bridges to send and receive messages. Others run it in Waydroid, or do experiments with the cli version. The first works very well, but you need to find/make a bridge host that you trust.

Oh, it feels very nice to use! Most of my troubles these days stem from me experimenting and running the devel version of the os. I can go days between serious issues, and the issues that do appear are never deal breakers as they don't tend to affect basic phone functionality. It feels great and it is way too much fun.

[–] thunderfist@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I’d be interested in hearing more! I’m thinking about making the jump, myself.

[–] uKale@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Have a look at my other answer in this thread! If you are a tinkerer with a bit of patience, UT could be a good OS for you.

I would love to try Mobian and PostmarketOS too, I bet that there are some really good ports out there.

[–] PetteriPano@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago (1 children)

If you're coming from a feature phone - it's great!

If you're coming from a modern smartphone, you probably won't be happy with it as a daily driver.

I'm voting with my feet, but carrying two devices.

[–] jumping_redditor@sh.itjust.works 5 points 6 days ago

if you're coming from a feature phone you probably expect the modem to work reliably and support volte

[–] cevn@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago

I had a pine phone for a while and it was sufficiently developed to use it as a daily driver… if you could put up with dropped calls, and texts, and burning thru ur whole battery in one hour cuz sleep didn’t work.

[–] hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 6 days ago

ubports was pretty good last I tried but there were basically no apps. that was on xenial so it may be a bit better now especially with waydroid.