What are your thoughts about smartphones running on #Linux ?

#pinephone #librem5 #zerophone

(Just researching options that could let me decrease the grip Apple has on me 😅 (or any tech giant) and also looking to extend the lifespan of my electronic devices with stuff that can be repaired (or that we can just do a thing as simple as changing the battery 😛)

@pcublogue I bought 2 pine phones. The original and then the upgraded version. Both lasted a couple of weeks before dying. One just stopped booting. The other would boot, and I could ssh into it, but the screen was black. I will not purchase any other Linux devices from them.

@pcublogue I sold my pinephone because it was a disaster as a phone. It couldn't receive phone calls or text messages reliably. It certainly couldn't be trusted as a morning alarm clock. The camera was a disaster. As a linux device it was fine. But I can buy a respberry pi if I just want a small linux device. Until somebody reports there is a linux phone that has basically reliable hardware, I'm staying with a Samsung X Cover Pro: user replaceable battery, fine camera, doc charger: reliable.

@pcublogue
Would love to have a reliable linux option.
So tired of the black box iphones.

@pcublogue I’m running #GraphenOS on a pixel 6 as a trial. Quite happy with it so far. Can’t use it as my main phone because rest of family on Apple so I still need access to that infrastructure ☹️

@pcublogue

Uh... critical for the future of independent thought and freedom of association?

That said, last time I checked - which was quite a while ago - they definitely weren't ready for even basic daily driver usage. That said, a lot seems to have happened since then. Personally I'm considering a #FuriPhone now. Hearing a lot of good things there. All I really want is reliable calls, texts, mobile data and camera.

#LinuxMobile #FuriPhone

@pcublogue You might also want to look into fairphone. I believe they have replaceable batteries and such. Also can run either stock android or e/OS. I think they operate under murena in the states? (Don't quote me). Personally I run grapheneOS on a pixel 7. have no problems with it and don't leverage google enough to warrant needing stock android. I have found the android auto to be a bit finicky with the profiles and having a media app on a different profile doesn't seem to link up with the car's screen. But it's a minor annoyance I can live with.

@pcublogue i would absolutely love to use Linux on my phone, but it seems like it's not easy at all. Every Smartphone-Company makes their own thing. Making linux accessible for every device seems nearly impossible.

And I think, a huge problem would be accessible apps. Playing games on a smartphone Linux distro is probably very difficult. I don't talk about those crapy games, but actually good games like Bloons TD6 and stuff. Or a good Maps-App ect.

@pcublogue I just hope it's possible and accessible in the future ☺️

@pcublogue i daily drove a #librem5 for 1 1/2 years and it was workable, but it is really, really slow and the battery is bad. now i am on a #oneplus6t running #pmos and thats quiet fast. big downer is the missing camera and an annoying bug with calls though. however, i thing the #pixel3a with @postmarketOS is nearly there for daily driving (e.g. camera is somewhat working). on the #Fairphone5 the camera seems to work with pmos, too, just recently. however, i do not know about the rest.

@pcublogue I daily drive a #Librem5 at the moment and used the #PinePhonePro for about a year before that.

For me, it's fantastic. But I am thoroughly indoctrinated (radicalised?) in the world of #FreeSoftware, so I will put up with a lot.

Even though I daily drive it, I still carry a dumphone and do all important calls through that. I also have to reboot the wireless modem multiple times per day as it keeps cutting off.

Haven't properly investigated, but I'm sure there are fixes out there.

@wielding Wow :(
Ok thanks a lot for the feedback, it's helpful.

@poleguy Ok very interesting, thanks :)

@bonoky I tried GrapheneOS as well, but I’m so used to the Apple UX…
But since I would like something that can be repaired with easily replaceable batteries, I’m not sure the pixel will do the job. :(

@Blort Cool, thank you, I’ll take a look at it today 🙂

@Lorker Yes, it seems very hard to have something decent, indeed.
I'll keep looking. :) If at least I could find a phone that is easily repairable with a secured OS, that could be a good start.

@Blort @pcublogue thanks for mentioning the #FuriPhone, that's the first time I hear of it.

I have two original Pinephones, each with a screen issue. If only I could get half-decent pictures from them, and also video, I'd be more inclined to order the screen replacements to get them properly working again...

I'm a little bit put off by the dearth of detailed info on the FuriPhone website (not a single picture of the darn phone apart from an interactive view that doesn't show much 🤦‍♂️). Also, the phablet size is disappointing.

@pcublogue on a societal level, I think that it's absolutely crucial. Having a duopoly of two massive companies is creating lots of problems:

Governments are really starting to try and control Android and iOS app stores.

More and more life activities now require you to use an app, with no website/open alternative available.

If we had a viable, fully #FreeSoftware alternative, at least it would constrain what Apple and Google feel they could get away with.

@pcublogue you’re right there. How about #calyx on #Fairphone ? No experience with either but it’s an option I was investing.

@bonoky I'm already doing a few researches on Fairphone, but I didn't hear about Calyx, will take a look :)

@pcublogue @bonoky Calyx has been working great on my FP4 (USA using a t-mobile network). No driver issues and Android 14 is available. Android 15 is under evaluation.

@debacle @pcublogue It should be fine for 24hours standby with maybe hour of use. If you want longer battery life, I guess easiest would be just to glue powerbank to its back :-). 18650 is likely easy, too, soldering iron and duct tape, I'd say, no need for CAD :-).

@pcublogue If you consider zerophone viable, you should consider oneplus 6, too. All are usable. PinePhone and Librem 5 are a bit slow for today's web.

@pcublogue as already mentioned, FuriPhone FLX1 might be a good starting point, especially if you still rely on some Android applications as Waydroid is integrated well @furilabs

@pcublogue

If you care about reliable calls, texts, mms then stay away from "linux phones".
I did not find any " linux phone" with reliable calls. Not even one. Tried 4 different ones.

Save yourself stress and disapointment. Buy Pixel and run @GrapheneOS.

@pcublogue

Just an example:

https://furilabs.com/forum/flx1/incoming-call-no-audio/

@as400 @GrapheneOS I already tried GrapheneOS and it worked well, but I would also like to have a phone that I could repair myself or change the battery to extend its lifespan and save a little bit of electronic waste :)

@pcublogue

Sure. It's understandable.
I just presented my story. Or the other, less positive, side of the coin :)