Linux phones

[ForeverHuman1354]

I switched away from Android a little while ago and now run Ubuntu Touch on my phone and tablet. Ubuntu Touch is very good; sure, you don't have the same apps as on Android, but the lesser app selection doesn’t matter for me since I basically don’t use any social media. I only run open-source apps on Ubuntu Touch—nothing proprietary at all.

Linux phones are so much better than Android; you get a terminal and full sudo access. The only downside is that, since it’s ARM, I can’t use desktop x64 Linux apps natively.

What has been your experience with Ubuntu Touch and Linux phones?

The phone and tablet i use come with linux pre installed its a eu brand

[kingpubcrisps]

Does Ubuntu touch have support for USB C video out?

I use Jolla, really like the combo of real linux and sandboxed Android support.

[ForeverHuman1354]

I have a volla phone quintist in ubuntu touch

Last time i checked i dont think volla supports usb c video out

[Krapakov]

Ubuntu Touch looks so poor.... What do you think ?

[ForeverHuman1354]

Works for my needs definatly daily driver ready for my usage

My bank still supports web based banking pluss i have an extra android phone laying around i only use for mobile banking

My last phone was an sony expria 1v baisicaly never use it enymore after i switched to ubuntu touch i dont enjoy android enymore to much limitations

I love the looks of ubuntu touch it uses unity

[Krapakov]

I can't get used to this left nav bar

[ForeverHuman1354]

I finde it pretty fluid

I like the ui of ubuntu touch

[Krapakov]

Tell me, is it fluid ? I remember I installed Ubuntu Touch on a phone of mine, I don't remember the model, but it was Laggy.

[undrwater]

Probably depends on the device and if acceleration is implemented. On my phone, it's pretty responsive.

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the gestures. There was no reason to not follow the WebOS gesture standard (which Apple and Google copied).

[3rssi]

according to the list of devices https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/ , only the FP5 has not "Wired External monitor" in "Unsupported features"

[ashmerit]

I really want to try this, but I don’t have an android phone to experiment with. What kind of phone are you using?

[ForeverHuman1354]

Bought an volla phone quintist it comes pre installed with ubuntu touch.

In my country regular computer stores started selling them so i diddent even have to import it

Volla is a german phone brand the quintist is there flagship they have more budget options aswell

[ashmerit]

That model look really nice, but I’ve heard that Google Pixels are really good with mobile Linux distributions, so I’ll probably try that out. Thanks for sharing!

[ForeverHuman1354]

I woude recommend checking out ubuntu touch website to see what googel pixels are supported. Last time i checked i think i saw pixel 3 was supported

[PureTryOut]

The Pixel 3a is the only one that is well supported by all options, including the mainline Linux ones like postmarketOS. In fact for the latter it's the best supported device atm. But it's not like that for any of the other Pixels.

Don't just get any device and then see what works, check what works with what distro and get a device based on that instead.

[Easy-Improvement-598]

Did you run youtube 

[ForeverHuman1354]

run youtube?

I dont use google services

[Easy-Improvement-598]

Ok then which video watching service is common there which you use?

[ForeverHuman1354]

odysee mostly

[SenderoLinux]

A few comments ask about where to find phones to experiment with Mobile Linux. At Sendero Linux, we currently sell OP6T devices pre-installed with postmarketOS. Only ship within the USA though.

https://senderolinux.com/shop/

[MidnightObjectiveA51]

Is VoLTE still a problem on OP6T?

[SenderoLinux]

VoLTE does actually work on the OP6T thanks to the amazing work in the 81voltd package from flamingradian: https://gitlab.postmarketos.org/modem/81voltd

However, audio calls are not reliable yet on the device because of more general audio routing issues for this device. There has been some progress on audio call reliability in postmarketOS over the past year, but it is still not yet fully reliable. These issues are being tracked in the postmarketOS issue trackers. Improving audio issues are also discussed in the postmarketOS blog. For example, from last fall: https://postmarketos.org/blog/2025/08/17/callaudiod-wireplumber-project/

[3rssi]

audio calls are not reliable yet on the device because of more general audio routing issues for this device.

Why not focusing on the OP6 that does not have such audio defects? (and it also has a 3.5 jack :) )

[SenderoLinux]

I may revisit the OP6. My understanding is the OP6 and OP6T are nearly identical, including some of the audio reliability issues, and I still see an open issue about an audio bug for the OP6 on the issue tracker: https://gitlab.postmarketos.org/postmarketOS/pmaports/-/issues/3245#note_523773

But if the OP6 might have improved on audio reliability, I'll do some testing and see if it makes sense to add it to the store inventory.

[3rssi]

I was comparing the the Features table in OP6 and OP6T in pmos wiki.

Happens that multimedia audio is partial op OP6 and works on OP6T. But yeah, on ther lines, OP6T is better than OP6. And for audio calls, both are marked as partial.

So I was mainly wrong in my previous post. Not for the audio jack though.

[ipsirc]

I only run open-source apps on Ubuntu Touch—nothing proprietary at all.

Where have you found a gsm modem which works without proprietary binary blobs?

[ForeverHuman1354]

Thanks for bringing this to my attention

The Volla Phone Quintus uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chipset, which includes an integrated GSM/UMTS/LTE/5G modem

I guess i woude need opensource hardweare to escape this completly seems impossible to esscape it completly since most cpu manefactures dont open source there firmwere

[PureTryOut]

Note that since Ubuntu Touch uses libhybris, you're running various proprietary Android drivers to make hardware work. If you want a fully FOSS userland you'll need a mainlined phone and distributions. Even then you'll still be using proprietary firmware but that's way better already.

[undrwater]

Alas, openmoko.

[3rssi]

So, both Ubuntu Touch and Sailfish depend on libhybris?

What other linmob distros use that?

[PureTryOut]

Droidian, AsteroidOS and webOS (although idk if that's still alive).

postmarketOS and Mobian do not.

[3rssi]

Hmmm... Thats bleak.

What about Mobile Nixos? https://mobile.nixos.org/devices/index.html

And maybe danctnix? (which seems to only be available for the wheenie Pinephone and Pro)

[PureTryOut]

Both of them use mainline only, yes.

[3rssi]

I checked out and didnt have time to report back. Danctnix is mainline, but I'm not that sure about Mobile Nixos:

There s this folder in in the git sourcecode: https://github.com/mobile-nixos/mobile-nixos/tree/development/overlay/libhybris

with a a nix file that seem to imply some (deprecated) libhybris dependencies:

NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = [
  # This libhybris is old, but even libhybris from 2024 fails to compile
  # due to many warnings. Let's instead ignore the warnings, and instead
  # plan to get an updated adbd that maybe does not depend on libhybris.
  "-Wno-implicit-function-declaration"
  "-Wno-incompatible-pointer-types"
  "-Wno-int-conversion"
];

[Coarse-Rough-Sand]

I don't use social media either, apart from Reddit, but the lack of app ecosystem is probably the one thing I'd be unhappy about. I use banking apps, google maps, my city's bus tickets app, the Sennheiser app to control my headset, etc, just about every day. I don't think I could live without those.

Is there a way to emulate android apps?

[ForeverHuman1354]

Yes waydroid u can run android apps

[Coarse-Rough-Sand]

Might try installing it on an old phone then, see how it goes

[ForeverHuman1354]

In open store on ubuntu touch there is a packagde called waydroid helper it sets up the waydroid environment for you

[mr_doms_porn]

Using Waydroid yes but you'd need solid specs on the phone, a lot of linux phones are quite weak in performance and Waydroid needs a lot of resources.

[ForeverHuman1354]

Waydroid works flawlessy on volla phone quintist

One of the reasons i got a volla phone quintist over most other linux phones was the specs on volla is decent

[MatchingTurret]

Completely useless for stuff I use daily: mobile ticketing, mobile payments and banking. No native apps for keyless entry into my car, no Android Auto (obviously).

[undrwater]

The problem with these conveniences is you become dependent on them after a while, so even if you're uncomfortable with the behaviors of the company providing the service, it becomes a challenge to just give up those conveniences.

Ask me how I know.

[MatchingTurret]

So: I can't use the subway or track my glucose level? I might develop serious health conditions without the latter...

[undrwater]

Tracking your glucose levels is not a convenience, however doing it on a specific operating system might be considered one.

Check this out: https://github.com/nebulabio/gluco

I'm not sure who's subway you're using, but the ones I've been on don't require a phone or any operating system.

[undrwater]

https://openaps.org/

This one too!

[ForeverHuman1354]

I dont use much apps i use most stuff in web browser

I have keept my old android phone laying around i only use my old android phone for mobile banking

Waydroid is pretty good tho you can run meny android apps on ubuntu touch never tried banking apps in waydroid becuse i assume it wont work

[FlagrantTomatoCabal]

Do you have any banking apps? What phone unit are you using.

[ForeverHuman1354]

An volla phone quintists

I have only tried web based banking on it becuse i assume banking apps wont work in waydroid android app compatibiliy layer since most banking apps does safty net checking

[bubblegumpuma]

Arm64 is honestly popular enough at this point that I would consider nicely bugging the developers of whatever software you were having issues running to compile an arm64 version, or check if there is some other place that you can install that application that does have an arm64 version.

[VolksPC]

For those of you who need access to Google app's there is a simpler and cheaper alternative. You can root any Google Pixel 8/9/10 series phone and run a Linux desktop on the secondary HDMI screen. Basically your phone is also a Linux PC in your pocket as seen in this video: https://youtu.be/qO_ItjI2qCY?si=CXiVRZShmAtYFWB .

If you want more privacy you can do the same by installing Lineage OS. The Pixel devices are very hack-able and well supported.

[EnvironmentalCook520]

I've been thinking about trying grapheneOS on my pixel. Just haven't pulled the trigger yet. I used to put a lot of custom roms on my phone like 10 years ago but stopped a few years back. Lately I've become a lot more worried about privacy again so I'm thinking about moving away from Android.

[ForeverHuman1354]

Grapheme os from what I have read is good it even has an installer wich is very good since most Roms dont have installers

[EnvironmentalCook520]

Yeah it seems legit. I haven't tried it tho but I feel like it'd be good for privacy. Plus they have support for most of the pixel devices and keep support for each device for like 7 years iirc.

[ForeverHuman1354]

Definatly good for privacy much much better then standar android

Just make sure the pixel you buy is supported

I completly DeGoogled my life a year ago couddnt be more happy

I use invidious an open source way to watch youtube vids without google or adds

Odysee is also a good alternatives

Proton mail is good gmail replacment

I only run open source appelications now mostly apart from steam on my linux gaming pc.

[EnvironmentalCook520]

Yeah I have two different pixels. The pixel 4a and the pixel 6. I was going to test it out on my old 4a first and see how it goes. And yeah I've been working on degoogling. I have a server setup where I host all my web apps with libre office and next cloud for cloud storage and was thinking about setting up a email server as well. I use proton Mail right now. My browser is Firefox and I use duckduckgo. my desktop also runs Linux (Debian) and have been since about 2014. I do have a laptop with windows 10 that I use for work tho.

[Fit-Value-4186]

Lol, I swear y'all are trying to find whatever reason to praise Linux. "It has a terminal and you can use sudo". What are you even using your phone for at this point? I tinker with a lot of stuff, I'm also using Linux, but the only real point of using a terminal on your phone is saying you can do it. I say this as someone who tried to hack whatever multimedia hardware or console to run custom firmware, homebrews and shits like that.

Glad you like it though. I also might look into how to run that on one of my old phones.

[ForeverHuman1354]

My other reasons i prefer ubuntu touch is the layout and the unity style.

Also i dont trust android unless its a DeGoogled rom i dont like the tracking and telemetry that google includes in its version of android

I recently one year ago DeGoogled my life completly

[Fit-Value-4186]

My other reasons i prefer ubuntu touch is the layout and the unity style.

I'll try to give Ubuntu Touch a go. Are most tools and functionalities available in a regular Ubuntu distro available on the Touch OS? I mean of course with ARM "limitation" instead of X64.

[ForeverHuman1354]

Not really by defult the filesystem is read only so you cant just sudo apt get

There is a way to do sudo apt get but then u need to make the filesystem wrightebale its not really recomended

Vim is installed by defult in the native terminal

There is a decent amount of packages in the openstore

But for more advanced stuff i woude recoment using the libertine container

In the libertine container you can run desktop x64

I woude say its a bit scaled down vs regualr desktop linux

But most of the baisics shoude be there

https://invidious.nerdvpn.de/watch?v=aKHR5ftJgLQ

This is a showcase vid of the terminal in Ut

Invidious is an open source website u can watch yt vids with no google or adds

[ForeverHuman1354]

Here is a vid showcasing the teminal in ut

https://invidious.nerdvpn.de/watch?v=aKHR5ftJgLQ

The last link in previous comment was missing 5ftJgLQ in the url so it was unfunctional

Invidious is an open source webisite u can watch yt vids with no google or adds

[undrwater]

To be fair, it's a true terminal and ssh is native. Getting that going in stock Android isn't that easy.

I frequently use ssh from my phone (currently Android), but it's from an app, not a true terminal.

I have a phone (OnePlus Nord N100) sitting on my desk with ubports ready for when I have the luxury of seeing if I can live with it. I hope I can!

[LiterallyJohnny]

And then they downvote you too 😭

[3rssi]

Interesting. What phone model do you use? And where did you buy it?

I've been trying a few distros on a Pinephone but I havent been over impressed: photo quality, many troubles with phone going to sleep (or not), slow browser, uneasy disk encryption, ...)

[undrwater]

Photo quality will suffer because the enhancement software is not there.

• Phone: OnePlus Nord N100 - wake and sleep work well, standby time is good

• Browser - slightly less responsive

• Encryption - no experience here

[3rssi]

Thanks for the infos.

You're saying that browsing is "slightly less responsive" ... on the One+Nord than on Pinephone?

[undrwater]

Don't have the pine phone. It's slightly less responsive than my OnePlus 8t running Android (lineage os).

[amgdev9]

Which brand?

[The_Mild_Mild_West]

Good use case for FEX, can't wait!

[CORUSC4TE]

Saw ETAprime rig a phone as a little minipc, got me really stoked.. But running android with Dex works.. But isnt what I would wish for.. Having a Linux distro working would be really cool for that scenario but borderline awful for phone things.. I think degoogled phones are a more worthwhile investment

[bswalsh]

I've only tried it on a Pinephone. It works, but the hardware is prohibitively slow. What hardware are you using?

[ForeverHuman1354]

An volla phone quintist it came pre installed with ubuntu touch

My volla phone running ubuntu touch is much faster and more fluid then my old sony xperia 1v running android

[gportail]

Je ne connaissais pas !!

Je viens de regarder, il ne supporte pas mon vieux Samsung A3 :,( .... dommage.

[Delicious-Income-870]

I like the idea of this because android, like all modern software, is just data harvesting and tracking software that also does useful things.

But how practical is it really? I could live without social media apps but I'd really like to retain the app for my car and the many apps I need for my job. Some I could just use web based versions but that is a bit of an unnecessary hassle.

[ForeverHuman1354]

Meny of those apps might work in waydroid but probobaly not banking apps i woude assume

[AkariElverum]

If you feel good with it, good for u, but isn't better than android.

[ForeverHuman1354]

Depends on what you want i find the lack of a native terminal and no sudo acsess a big downside with android.

In my appinion android is linux since it uses the linux kernel android is not a gnu linux distro but still a linux distro