Regardless of the distribution, would it be possible to have a phone that can be simplified to include only the features you want? For example, I would only want a calendar, notes, a calculator, calls and messages. I wouldn’t want a browser, an app store or any other way to easily install them. Is this possible on a Linux mobile distro? Does it require a lot of work, like making a specific distro for it?
Linux feels like a great option for this because it can leave enough freedom to dumb down what you don’t need while also keeping a big level of customization, not everyone needs are the same regarding to dumbphones
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I just started experimenting with SailfishOS, a Linux (non-Android) OS for phones. It’s got an app store, but since it’s not Android the app selection is pretty limited. I was actually wondering if this could be a compromise between full smartphone and full dumbphone.
I am able to run some Android apps, by installing them through F-Droid, like Bitwarden, but it seems like I wouldn’t be able to install Facebook I think? Idk. Literally just got this SailfishOS phone from Jolla Devices yesterday.
seems like I wouldn’t be able to install Facebook I think
Bonus.
I know, right! That’s a feature! This… might… just be able to get me off of Whatsapp. I recently learned about Molly, an open source Signal client. They have a F-Droid repo…
If you can install actual Google Play store apps, please don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Lalalalalalala. 🙉🙉🙉🙉
The fact that you don’t want an easy way to install apps outside of the initial deployment but (presumably) want an easy way to update your pre-existing apps would probably give you some trouble because they usually come from the same source. There are ways to blocklist or whitelist packages on some package managers but the specific details depends on the package manager.
Remove the store app and replace it with a daemon which does the updates in background.
If it’s a pure Linux phone then apps would be installed through the command line and could be easily auto updated via a script.
So if you don’t install a terminal emulator on the phone itself and only access the command line through something like SSH. You wouldn’t have to worry about an app store at all ideally?
Yes, I have a PinePhone and PinePhone Pro both with PostMarketOS so doing this is as easy as few
sudo apk add packagenameorsudo apk del firefox.Now… if you want a daily driver then as few others hinted at, it’s much harder. I would instead, if deGoogle Android is an acceptable compromise for you, get a 2nd hand Pixel 8 or above, install GrapheneOS on it, remove the browser and that’s pretty much it already since it doesn’t come with an app store or equivalent. Well, there’s the GrapheneOS equivalent but there are ~10 apps on it at most last time I checked.
Can you remove the browser on GOS? When I was about to switch, the people on the fora were looking down on those who wanted to remove the browser like “self control” or “that is not GOS point”
Right, you actually can’t AFAIK but you can disable it.
It’s indeed not the point. GrapheneOS focus is on security. If you want to have complete control you’d better go with a Linux proper phone but AFAICT, unless you are fine with ~4hrs battery and/or can spend 1000€ on a device that very people have, it’s not for most.
Degoogled Google phone is still the funniest shit to me, I can’t understand it
It’s a pragmatic compromise. The assumption is that Google is not literally evil, solely a very large advertisement company which subsidize very cool hardware in order to sell more ads. It’s the same principle as using a rooted Meta Quest when one doesn’t even have a Facebook or WhatsApp account.
I imagine than everybody who is into that situation will move to Motorola or Valve Frame when those will become available. Until then the bet is that the hardware does not have hardware backdoors because so far nobody disclosed any.
If you really are into trusting hardware I recommend checking https://precursor.dev/ and similar initiatives.
I did mention Linux phones too but again that’s not for everyone.
IMHO it’s much better to use a GrapheneOS deGoogle Android device today, knowing the limitation, than using a Googled Android device today, Pixel or not, and complaining about all the limitations about it while waiting for a theoretical better solution that is simply not yet available.
Who knows if this is true because I don’t have the expertise to understand if it is or not, but supposedly the explanation given by the GrapheneOS team is that the pixel phones were the only phones that had the hardware security strong enough to provide the security model GrapheneOS wanted.
I know the reasoning, it does make sense in a way, if you trust Google. But that’s kind of the point, you can’t truly look into their hardware, who knows what is within the chips, potentially not even accessible by the OS. I wouldn’t trust the firmware made by Google if getting away from Google because it is evil is literally the point.
Ubuntu Touch seems like a decent option, but graphineOS seems much more complete. I would definitely recommend keeping an app store though. Security updates are important.
Does it require a lot of work, like making a specific distro for it?
With phones you are basically making specific distributions for each device anyway.
I recently asked for advice about making a PiPhone, if you’re interested in going that route.
(I’m still trying to figure out the best approach, but my research is slow due to a million projects and no time.)
You could do something like that with Ubuntu Touch, but why waste the battery life and money on a smart phone when you can do this with a feature phone?
Because most feature phones are not compatible with signal
That makes sense. On Ubuntu Touch (if you find a compatible device) you could just delete the apps you don’t want and keep the rest.
Two issues I can think of is updating the apps that you do keep without the app store - I’m not sure there’s an easy way to do that. Maybe transfer the new package via cable or ssh (as you’ve also uninstalled the browser) and install it via the command line? The other issue could be uninstalling system apps. I haven’t tried that myself, but I have heard of others doing it and breaking things.
It’s definitely possible. It’s possible with a custom Android ROM.
There are are also a few phones in existence now that do basically what you request: https://www.thelightphone.com/lightiii
PostmarketOS with some customizations? I think that should be possible.
Yes, it’s possible. Some things might be challenging, like keeping the system up to date without the user having access to an app repository, but it’s possible e.g. by running a script as a cron job.
Whether it’s a good idea is harder to say. Linux distributions for phones are not especially mature and polished compared to desktop Linux. You might get better advice if you explain why you want to do this and who the intended user is.
It will be hard to find a Linux phone that does those things well as a daily driver.
It’s already hard to find an actually fully working Linux phone that is even close to being a daily driver.
of course
Yup, easy, mayhap not, but worthwhile things often aren’t.
