Tbh, Linux on a phone sucks. I am fine with Android. Custom ROMs are good enough for me. I value being able to use most Android games and software. Maybe in the FAR FUTURE I would if Linux on phones improved, but not any time soon.
this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2026
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Linux Phones
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The Discussion on Linux-based Phones.
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Listened to the video. She didn't have a great experience.
Unfortunately I need my electronic ID that only runs on Windows, Apple, iOS and the Google Android unless you can spoof it. Not even regular Linux or with Wine. And I use it near daily.
Boo Sweden.
Boo EU.
I hope they develop a Linux Version soon. At least in Germany some Gouvernement institutions have switched to open source to avoid microsoft
Thankfully the German eID app is open source and in the package repos of many Linux distros. It's even on FreeBSD & F-Droid.
That's strangely forward thinking for a country stuck in 2005 when it comes to internet access
Based. This makes me want to install it, and I'm not even German
Used it several times, works like a charm
I think it needs to be brought up by some group of the EU parliament but I don't know who. An open source validation protocol and client that can be implemented anywhere by anyone because any important part of it needs to be server side anyway.
They had a linux version way back. I do not think it will ever come back. Not in Sweden at least. Either Google will pressure the cartel of banks which develops the eID app to use the dumb Google Play attestation API which prevents it from working even on more open android versions like GrapheneOS, or they will simply find it too convenient to start using that API. Then it's finished. There is no demand from anyone, as you cannot even run it on any non-Google sanctioned device. There is no competition, but just a cartel of all the biggest banks which develops the single eID app (there is one alternative which works in very few places). It is not looking good.
"There is no demand"
But only because Linux users don't bother writing letters.
If a lot of people asked the banks for a solution, they would of course consider it.
BlackBerries were never really that large, but still many apps ran on them as well.
EDIT: Also, I'm pretty sure the decision makers at banks do not tend to know Linux exists, so we canno really blame them unless we kindly ask them to provide something we can use.
There was a Linux version of BankID, they discontinued it in 2014.
BankID has been around since 2001.
Having an accessibility service on android also trips its security which is just a vile practice. Its one thing that i cant use some apps to automate stuff on my phone, but what about the disabled people who need an accessibility service to use their phone. All of this stuff should be open source and use actual security instead of security by obscurity.
Pretty sure this is an illegal practice and can be ended by pressuring the bank a bit (just tell the largest newspapers, the press coverage should make them fix it to not look like idiots).
Its not even the bank.... the bank application works well but its the digital id app that doesnt work. Its kinda a complicated thing cause its more accurately mainly used as an application that can provide a digital signature, so for example if you transfer money to someone you can either physically sign it or digitally sign it, and thats what this does. Most swedish banks support it so like 95% of sweden has to use this app. But sweden being sweden, im pretty sure the app is privately developed and not governmental. Which is extremely dangerous because swedens economy very much depends on this application, which once again DOES NOT FUNCTION if youre using accessibility features. This id why i call it vile, because it is.
Yeah, that's why it's probably illegal. You could find people that cannot use it, due to a disability perhaps, go to court with them and force government and banks to behave.
If it is excluding people due to a disability, it surely is illegal.
Yeah tho someone would have to take them to court which im not gonna do as an immigrant, especially with the current government. But once again this is another reason to have open standards instead of closed off apps.
electronic ID that only runs on Windows, Apple, iOS and the Google Android
Would Android running in an LXC conatiner suffice? That's what SailfishOS offers, and many users report their ID apps working that way, also Swedes.
unless you can spoof it.
Not sure what you mean.
I wonder how hard it'd be to flash android on a pi zero or similar to display only the ID forever. I'd never put something like that on my phone.
You could just install Waydroid. It's recently become part of the Debian repos and supports armhf.
It should run fine with a fast microSD and nothing else running, considering the Pi Zero is a slow device.
Oh and the docs even say how to run Waydroid full screen and directly boot into it: https://docs.waydro.id/faq/setting-up-waydroid-only-sessions
Would Android running in an LXC conatiner suffice? That’s what SailfishOS offers
I've tried SailfishOS AppSupport and Waydroid and the FOSS Waydroid seems to work better, so I'd try that.
Also, it runs on many more devices.
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what is the government ID used for? why do you need to have it on your phone as opposed to a physical copy of it?
Online banking, extra validation during online purchases, online government services, validating mobile payment, and more.
And technically it's not government ID but rather organized by banks. There is a government organized one(at least I think it's government organized) as well but only really works for government services.
Banking and plenty of online transactions require it too. Login to government services and anything healthcare, pharmacy, social security and so on. For some there are cumbersome alternatives with two step validation and codes by email or text messages that may or may not work while electronic ID is a thumb on the phone.
Note that it is not a government ID, a lot of correspondence with the government; taxes, health care, ..., is used for it. But it is made by a cartel of seven swedish banks.
Can someone fill me in on this required electronic ID thing? What happens if someone doesn't have a phone at all? Kicked out of the country?
You can get a physical one time code generator thing instead for the 2fa part of the digital ID. No phone required.
The one we have in Norway looks like this
Doesn't that depend on the bank? Or is that a Norwegian government thing? In Finland it varies by bank. My wife has a calculator looking thing where you input the code given and it gives you the code to put in, and I have a little plastic number/letter table
Not in Norway or Sweden.
In both countries all the big banks conglomerated to make an eID system and then everyone just accepted it as the default used everywhere.
I take it this is a special app?
Linux on a phone sucks too. Hopefully, it won’t one day but for it now, it does. To be fair, I’ve only used Ubuntu Touch and PocketBlue. Of those two, Pocket Blue was better, in my opinion. PostmarketOS looks promising but I don’t have a device that will run it well. Too many key features don’t work on my OnePlus 6t at the moment.
For now, AOSP with FDROID is where it’s at.
Fingers crossed the new Jolla phone will be good
Jolla uses a downstream kernel and when the SoC manufacturer drops supports, usually after just a few years, you will no longer get updates with it.
That's why devices with mainline kernel support are great, you can use them until they literally fall apart.
For example Fairphone has devices that are well supported with a mainline kernel and those are repairable as well.
Also, keep in mind there are very few SailfishOS apps, compared to just regular Linux apps that run well with Phosh or KDE Plasma Mobile. You can often just use the exact same software as on the desktop, which is neat.
On SailfishOS, you'd probably have to make extensive use of the prorietary Android app support, which is just an LXC container running Android.
That way you'd run a downstream kernel with a Linux userland and an Android container on top instead of just a regular Linux system.
The reason most phones lose support in general is Qualcomm and their binary blobs.
I think what Fairphone does in part to greatly extend y phone life (at least initially) was to use an industrial version of the mobile chips they offer which they give support for way longer.
in curious about graphene I just want to put it on a non critical device (which I don't have) first.
Grapheme is generally good, Unfortunately they have very poor device support. They currently only support Pixel devices with reportedly adding some select Motorola devices later next year. They seem to refuse to branch out to more open hardware.
Woah, that's a pretty hectic presentation style. I constantly felt an urge to slow down the video... and I'm used to podcasts at higher speeds.
Nice to see more people try something other than Google and Apple stuff, though.
EDIT: 10/14 minutes and I'm getting a headache. Can't everyone just calmly explain like Tom Scott? No?
I mean, she does well, I just wish she'd leave some time for the brain to process the information, this just makes it hard to get anything out of it, really.
I mean, she does well, I just wish she'd leave some time for the brain to process the information, this just makes it hard to get anything out of it, really.
I read this in Tom's voice.
iodéOS looks great ! A Lineage fork but truly degoogled + with a firewall running as a system app (freeing up your VPN connection)
iode is not degoogled
I agree, i have been looking at it a while, but can't figure out how it can install on non-rooted phones.
Do you mean phones without unlocked bootloaders ? errrrmmmmmm you can't
Check the LineageOS device suport list : if your device was ever supported, you cand build for yourself (provided you have enough horsepower), or request an unofficial build in the iodéOS forums
No, I am referring to iodéOS.
iodéOS official supported devices
For example the Motorola moto g32 (devon) is compatible with their installer, and has its bootloader locked.
I had asked here - https://feddit.uk/post/49734939
The wording on that table can be confusing; "Bootloader locked?" Yes/No is referring to the ability of Iodé installer and ROM to have that device bootloader re-locked after installation.
I can garantee you pretty much all of them come with a locked bootloader from the factory/shop (even if they have a "no" on that page), and it needs to be unlocked to install a different rom from the stock one. Doesn't matter what flavor of Android it is. It might be that IodéOS installer is doing the re-locking immediately after and so you'd think it wasn't ever unlocked, but it was.
Yeah, I took another look at it yesterday as I had worded it differently in my OP asking about it, and realised that it must be just presented incorrectly. I was wondering why I had asked differently.
For example in my OP I asked why the Samsung has "No" across the board, and above, I asked why the Motorola has "Yes" across the board. Maybe it refers to if the Bootloader can be re-locked.
Oh ok I didn't even know that, given my device isn't supported 🙈