Is there any device where everything works? Whenever i try to check Linux phones, there’s always trouble like “calls don’t work”, “camera doesn’t work”, “gps won’t fix” and so on… Is there a device with full working support?
purism librem 5 seems to have everything working https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Purism_Librem5_(purism-librem5)
Sigh… Thanks. I’m afraid that device was already outdated on release. These days you’ll take the full 3GB of RAM it has just by opening the browser. I don’t think that’s usable anymore by today’s requirements.
It’s partially a moving target issue, from what I see. The oneplus 6 and the pinephone were almost there until countries started mandating volte (daily drove a op6 for a bit pre-volte requirement, with the only thing not working being the camera)
qemu vm. I really wanna run this with the first fairphone to become readily available in US (fp6 i assume) but there’s still a ways to go…
As far as fairphone goes, fairphone 5 is probably your best bet. Audio is almost working, that just leaves camera, VoLTE, and NFC (which I personally don’t use, so I don’t care) Everything else should work
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Fairphone_5_(fairphone-fp5)
Volte is a big deal when carriers are phasing out old tech.
I believe if you install Ubuntu Touch on it, VoLTE either should work now, or is being added soon.
That’s… Quite a long list of deal breakers for me, I’m afraid. I really want a Linux phone, and i wouldn’t mind paying extra for the effort. But i need one that works with all its hardware. Calls, data, gps, camera, sensors and yes, also NFC. My country’s digital ID app uses it to verify your physical ID in order to allow you to login for some paperwork.
If you install Ubuntu Touch on it, everything works because its using the vendor’s android kernel for hardware drivers. PostmarketOS is using the standard Linux kernel and a LOT of volunteer hours have been spent by people reverse engineering the hardware without manufacturers help, to get working drivers added to the Linux kernel. That’s why not 100% of the hardware works yet on most phones postmarketOS supports.
My gripe with ubuntu Touch is I like the app ecosystem and desktop interface (gnome mobile) better with postmarketOS, so I’d rather run that instead.
They got camera working on FP3 and FP4. Fairphone employs a guy who basically does work to get their hardware to run Linux.
i wish there were as many testimonials of people daily driving the likes of postmarketos (eg graphene, eos, etc.) so help me decide on which one to use.
i keep vacillating on which one to use based on the few testimonials i’m able to find because i realize that the person giving the testimonial has a much deeper experiences with privacy and security that i do that makes their experience incompatible with mine and it sometimes feels like i’m the only one using android auto on car that never was intended to work with it.
Graphene OS for the past year or two. Zero problems and only benefits.
You will need to get used to fiddling with security settings on some apps. For example, banking apps need reduced (meaning standard Android) levels of security. I consider this a feature so I can know which apps to find alternatives for
graphene is good your honor
What alternative OS you adopt depends on your phone and needs.
If you just want to mostly degoogle you phone, but aren’t that concerned about privacy or security, LineageOS is basically that. It’s as close to a stock android experience as you can get, minus the pre-installed google apps. It supports a wide range of android phones.
If you want more security and privacy, GrapheneOS is currently king, but the downside is it only works on Google Pixel phones, and it’s possible certain apps won’t work (banking apps can be hit or miss, and the Uber app I believe blocked it). It otherwise functions just like a regular android phone and can install sandboxed google play to use any app you could need, making it just as easy to daily drive. It’s the best choice if you’re an activist, journalist, or fear state actors. But even if you’re not, I’d say it’s the best choice if you already have a pixel phone.
CalyxOS has paused development, so not currently an option.
eOS has a bigger focus on
security andprivacy than LineageOS, but isn’t as secure as Graphene. The advantage is that it supports more phones than just the google pixel.PostmarketOS is not based on Android, and instead is a real Linux Distro made for mobile. It’s still very much in an alpha stage, with varying levels of support for different phones, many of which cannot take calls or even use their camera properly. I would only recommend it to developers or people who want to tinker with a project phone.
/e/ OS is not more secure than lineage. It tends to lag behind on security updates by months.
https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm
For privacy, security, and usability, GrapheneOS is the best alternative mobile os by far. The only downsides are if you don’t like or can’t afford Pixel phones, and even GrapheneOS won’t have certain features you may need such as mobile device management, google wallet nfc payments, certain apps especially banking apps.
Ah, wasn’t aware they were so far behind, thanks for the heads up.
Hadn’t heard of IodeOS either until seeing that chart. They also seem a bit slower than Lineage for certain updates, but for the more privacy minded, may be the best option for non-pixel folks.
If I can answer any questions about GrapheneOS lmk. Android auto works, I don’t drive much but I’ve used it before. You can also ask on https://discuss.grapheneos.org/
