this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2026
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Linux Phones
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The Discussion on Linux-based Phones.
Benefits:
- Hardware freedom.
- Perfect operating-system competition.
- Full utilization of specs.
- Phone lifespan raises to 10+ years.
- Less e-waste.
Linux Mobile Distros:
- Sailfish🇫🇮
- FuriOS🇺🇸
- Ubuntu Touch🇩🇪
- Postmarket OS🇨🇭
- Mobian
- Pure OS🇺🇸
- Plasma Mobile🇩🇪
- LuneOS
- openSUSE Mobile🇩🇪
- Nemomobile
- Droidian
- Mobile NixOS
- ExpidusOS
- Maemo Leste
- Manjaro Arm
- Tizen
- WebOS
Linux Mobile Hardware:
- Jolla Phone🇫🇮
- Shift Phone🇩🇪
- FLX1🇺🇸
- Fairphone 5🇳🇱
- Volla Phone🇩🇪
- Librem 5🇺🇸
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How is the open-sourcing of their previously closed main UI components going? IMHO before that isn't completed this is a complete non-starter.
Absolutely, it's also an accessibility and UX problem.
The fonts they use are too thin and frequently semitransparent (!) over a blurred and/or gradient background. So you end up with a thin light grey font on a darker grey, visually cluttered background. Unreadable if you have the slightest sight issues or if you're out in sunlight.
I was an early adopter (first batch of their first phone) and posted issues to their tracker about their font problems already 12 years ago. They never acknowledged this.
We can't fix the proprietary UI even if we knew how. The best you can do is splice your own font into the system, but that broke a bunch of UI elements when I tried. The video doesn't show it clearly, but from what I saw it looks like the situation is still as bad as it was. Back then I ended up mostly using Android apps because they didn't have that problem, they rendered with some halfway decent Roboto. If I'm just using Android apps, I don't need to buy a Jolla phone.
For a mobile phone in 2026, you need someone doing proper UX and you should have the bare minimum of accessibility features. Other systems have screen readers and voice navigation built in, etc. Sorry for the rant, it pisses me off to no end that we can't have a decent European phone and Jolla is our best chance. Maybe one day Plasma Mobile will run on more things...
Completely agree.
Plus the fact that they can't run regular Linux apps liks others, for example Mobian, PostnarketOS, Maemo Leste, even UBPorts to some degree.
Also, without mainline kernel support, it will not get updates for very long. And then when an application requires a newer kernel, you cannot run it. Of course security will be the main issue by then.
I finally want to see them selling phones with mainline kernel support. They're mostly doing great work, but I don't want to buy another phone that'll be e-waste not too far in the future, simply because it can no longer be updated. We've got a planet to save, after all.
What I do appreciate: XMPP built into the system, well integrated.
But still no OMEMO support. No other app available for that. I cannot simply install Dino on SailfishOS.
I do have a SailfishOS phone, it mostly lives in my drawer, as there are too many things that keep me from using it, unfortunately.
EDIT: Not really a fan of Flatpak, but it'd certainly help with software availability and I do hope they will add it.
Eh, there's more apps than on the UBports. But you still have the app support (for some reason, it's not available on the unofficial devices(why?)).
AppSupport is proprietary, I'd just use Waydroid. No artificial limtation and licence requirements there.
Then look somewhere else.
There has been meaningful progress with many of the core apps. The camera app has been fully open sourced and the weather app too and if I am not mistaken also Notes and Gallery. Most of the system has been open source anyway. It is primarily the UI that isn't and there has been no sign of that changing in the near future.