Linux phones are still behind android and iPhone, but the gap shrank a surprising amount while I wasn’t looking. These are damn near usable day to day phones now! But there are still a few things that need done and I was wondering what everyone’s thoughts on these were:
1 - tap to pay. I don’t see how this can practically be done. Like, at all.
2 - android auto/apple CarPlay emulation. A Linux phones could theoretically emulate one of these protocols and display a separate session on the head unit of a car. But I dont see any kind of project out there that already does this in an open-source kind of way. The closest I can find are some shady dongles on amazon that give wireless CarPlay to head units that normally require USB cables. It can be done, but I don’t see it being done in our community.
3 - voice assistants. wether done on device or phoning into our home servers and having requests processed there, this should be doable and integrated with convenient shortcuts. Home assistant has some things like this, and there’s good-old Mycroft blowing around out there still. Siri is used every day by plenty of people and she sucks. If that’s the benchmark I think our community can easily meet that.
I started looking at Linux phones again because I loathe what apple is doing to this UI now and android has some interesting foldables but now that google is forcing Gemini into everything and you can’t turn it off, killing third party ROMS, and getting somehow even MORE invasive, that whole ecosystem seems like it’s about to march right off a cliff so its not an option anymore for me.
You must log in or register to comment.
tap to pay, voice assistants, carplay…everything I hate about modern phones. Don’t threaten me with a good time, Linux.
You may not like tap to pay or CarPlay but I and a lot of others do.
It’s a deal breaker for me to not have these two features in a product I’d like to spend hard earned money on.
Power consumption needs work also.
As for tap to pay, I’ve found I’ve used it a lot less after getting a mag safe wallet. It’s a good stopgap imo
tap to pay. I don’t see how this can practically be done. Like, at all.
The same way it was done with Google, Samsung and Apple. Just has to become more popular until banks and credit card companies will have to work with developers to make it happen.
android auto/apple CarPlay emulation.
Again, it will have to require the compliance of OEMs. However I see the entirety of these systems disappearing soon as more OEMs want to lock users into paid subscriptions for such features.
voice assistants
I’m not convinced this will ever be useful. Several of the largest tech companies on the planet have tried and all have failed miserably to produce anything useful for decades at this point.
For Linux it could be tied in with terminal commands using an LLM:
“Install Firefox” ->
apt install firefox“Open Firefox” - >
firefox & disownaichat --executealready turns natural language into terminal commands through any OpenAI-compatible API (and OpenRouter provides free Deepseek R1/Kimi K2 access), so there just needs to be speech-to-text.
…they still have Linux phones?
Everyone here just saying “oh I don’t use that therefore no one needs it and should just lose it and switch to a Linux distro” is not helping anyone. This person told us their requirements to switch. How hard is that to understand for anyone. They also told us the requirements of most of the population. This concept should not be so hard to understand. Everyone has features they need in certain products. Some people don’t care how headphones sound they just care that they make sound others are really picky audiophles. It’s all preference
Who said that? There is a lot of comments saying “I dont use those features maybe i should switch” but I dont see a single comment telling others to switch.
Are those actually the only things you find lacking? If so that’s really good, practically the same as using LineageOS without any Google services.
I don’t use any of the stuff you mentioned and might have to consider Linux mobile as a daily driver if it’s that good. Especially if Google kills custom ROMs, it sounds like the people already running them would feel right at home switching to Linux mobile.
More importantly, how’s the app situation? Can people generally expect most of the desktop GTK or Qt apps they’re familiar with to be usable on a phone form factor? Is there a reliable way to run Android APKs on regular Linux now? At the very least F-droid apps?
To answer your question about Android apps, there is an application called Waydroid that can run on Linux phones. This essentially emulates Android and you can install apps on there. Some Play Store apps require access to Google Play Services, and even though MicroG tries to emulate it without being as privacy invasive, it is not perfect and some apps won’t run well or even at all.
I only use it for a few things that do not have any way to access through a web browser.
Yes most native applications are responsive and adapt to mobile.
GTK has it built into it’s widgets. But some third party apps on GTK/QT may not adapt.
The capability is there though.
As someone who spent some time on the topic (result), it’s not that every new app is adaptive. Even if someone uses the nice new widgets of libadwaita (or previously libhandy (GTK3)), that app is not necessary running well on mobile if width-reqests demand a higher minimal width or content is just too wide.
The same is true for QtQuick Components or Kirigami, which are the equivalent for adaptive Qt apps.
That said, yes, many new apps developed with these technologies work fine OOTB without the developer even knowing; and if they are too wide or tall, fixing that is usually rather simple and not a full rewrite/redesign.
Yes, you can even run android apps on Linux mobile using waydroid or something similar. So even if you need your stopgap android apps while waiting for Linux equivalents, waydroid has your back.
As for me, I plan on using PWAs as much as possible.
Seeing where desktop Linux was just less than 10 years ago and where it is now gives me optimism for mobile Linux. But I suspect the overlap between developers and users of those 3 features is pretty small, so they might be a ways out.
I was about to suggest getting a head unit that isn’t tied down to CarPlay or Android Auto, but then I realized I drive a really old car from the days you’d easily take out the faceplate or the whole unit to deter theft.
Yea, modern vehicles tie a lot of things into the head unit and they just aren’t possible by going third party. But using the CarPlay/AA feature could be a way to bring similar choice to a system that is otherwise locked-in
As a long-time Linux user I can’t say I’ve noticed big changes in the last 10 years… Maybe I’m forgetting, but when I first used Linux on a desktop I had to compile drivers from source to have working graphics acceleration and WiFi. Things have come a long way since then, but by 2015 I feel like those big things were all sorted. There are still many small things but I think most of those are unchanged, too.
I’m personally really excited for Linux phones and want to move to one relatively soon. They’ve done amazing work on the experience of using them. What I’d really miss, based off of talking to folks and trying them at conventions, is:
- battery life. My Pixel 3a lasts over a day on Android, likely much less on pmOS
- UnifiedPush for notifications. I only see a Matrix client listed as WIP. Every other app (Fediverse, Signal) I would have to keep running in the background
- Notifications while in sleep mode. Looks like we don’t have “Doze Mode” from Android, so only calls & SMS work while asleep
- Fingerprint sensor. More of a QoL but I kept my phone model specifically for the ergonomics of the sensor on the back, and being able to scroll with it. Communication with the sensor is not yet figured out
1 - tap to pay. I don’t see how this can practically be done. Like, at all.
Yeah, better go back to carrying pieces of plastic with you at all times. Bonus: you can leave your phone home and still pay for things.
Better yet, cash
You heathen!
Actually I don’t care.
That’s fine if your bank provides tap-to-pay plastic, but not all do, so you end up more vulnerable to skimmers.
Each contactless payment generates a transaction-specific, one-time code, that is extremely effective in reducing counterfeit fraud.
https://usa.visa.com/pay-with-visa/contactless-payments/contactless-payments.html
Don’t want or need any of those things you mention. I want a phone, I want to be able to send messages, I want GPS and a camera. Good battery life, wifi and enough memory and storage… And then privacy…
Same. Has that been solved yet?
Vollaphone with Ubuntu touch can do that.
I thought Ububtu Touch was abandoned?
XL device
Ugh, nope. I want something small
It didn’t die but interest really died down. It’s still based on 20.04 if that’s any indicator and was on 16.04 before that.
fwiw regarding point 3, I had Mycroft on my pinephone. Was toying with other distros at some point so I don’t have it anymore, but it worked. Took a few seconds to process.
Whatever you personally think about these features, you’ll never convince the general public to do without them. We need widespread linux phone adoption as table stakes to affect our mobile world.
Awwww man, why would you rebuke my argument before I even make it?
Are the echos in the chamber that predictable?
All I need is a smartphone that can run all my daily drives. Browsing, messaging, socials, banking, utilities and games. Especially with companies pushing that everything be done through an app instead of available through a browser. The problem is very few companies bother to develop Linux versions of their software.
Oh I’m already having those arguments about installing apps. It’s one of the many reasons I’m leaving T-Mobile soon actually. If I have to call in I will but I don’t trust apps at this point and they are frankly unnecessary in almost every case.
All I need is a phone that can connect to mobile networks and run a web browser with decent battery life and form factor. Maybe i could run a linux phone.
I need none of that. Can I run OsmAnd?
62 comments and not a-one mentioned Sailfish OS yet?
Yes, it’s not 100% open source, yes, it used to do business with Russia but not anymore since 2022, yes, it only supports a few Sony phones (available cheaply on the used market) but it is a 100% Linux operating system!
It has been my daily driver for 5 years now.
Also, Finland bonus.
Yeah, pity is not available worldwide
It surely is available - and usable - worldwide.
didn’t it require an online account?
You need to register to download it. After that, no. Unless you want continuous OTA upgrades.
Yikes.
They did release a new community phone too - C2. Nothing spectacular in terms of specs but still.
Damn I keep forgetting that. I’ve been buying used phones for so long, it doesn’t even enter my mind.
The used phone market is so oversaturated, you can always get yesterdays favorite for a fraction of its new price.
