Plus KDE Connect is on iOS

It won't work if you don't have the app on your screen ie. it is immediately stopped on background. One of the major reasons I moved away from iOS.

What are your thoughts on this?

I'll see if I can patch out the components that will bring the bogus updates. Or prevent them from updating.

A Purism phone is the only thing I would even consider.

Yes, I know that the basis of Android is technically open source but hardly any Android device is ever open in practice. I actually don't even use phones because the whole situation is so hopeless.

Oh! Here I can give my two cents.

I have a Fairphone 5 and 6 as my phones.
The 5 is admittedly, mostly for trying out other platforms.

So far I have test Ubuntu Touch by UBPorts and PostMarketOS with KDE Plasma.
My experiences in short are:

Ubuntu Touch is the most feature complete 'Linux' phone. Everything works on the Fairphone 5, but for most android apps that you can't do without you can use Waydroid. Ubuntu Touch itself runs through Halium, so it's not a pure linux kernel on your phone.
The looks and feel are... old fashioned Ubuntu. It's a bit sluggish and doesn't work as enticing as gestures on android.

PostmarketOS with KDE Plasma LOOKS a lot better but is so buggy at the moment that daily driving it is not possible. (They don't claim this either so no hate here to PostmarketOS or anything).
For me this is the project I want to succeed.
THey have, not long ago, released an immutable version:
https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Duranium_(Immutable_postmarketOS)

There is also Jolla Phone, but I have no experience with them!

TL;DR:

Ubuntu Touch is closest to being daily driveable, personally I like PostmarketOS with KDE Plasma more, but can't daily drive it.

Last edited by Strigi on 2 Apr 2026 at 9:40 am UTC

Quoting: StrigiThere is also Jolla Phone, but I have no experience with them!

I've been a Sailfish OS user since the original Jolla Phone, so more than a decade of experience. It works well and does everything I need it to do, but I'm no power user. My phone is only for stuff I absolutely need to do on the go, everything else happens on a bigger screen.

Quoting: Linux_RocksWhat are your thoughts on this? I might be switching to an iPhone and a new carrier cause of this shit outta principle. Google's half-assed backtracking on it isn't enough and this is a bunch of bullshit.

While situation in the hands of Google is dire, switching to an even more closed down system feels rather counter-intuitive. By their pressured, you'd just be rewarding them, even if not directly.

Pressuring back where you still can and considering the alternatives is the better option, I think. And though indeed there's much to catch up to in terms of counter-pressure, they've been at it for decades, so with equal patience, resilience and rising awareness of others, reverting may still be possible.

Quoting: mr-victory

Plus KDE Connect is on iOS

It won't work if you don't have the app on your screen ie. it is immediately stopped on background. One of the major reasons I moved away from iOS.

Yeah, and it doesn't have any texting either. Though (like Phone Link in Windows) it's only SMS, not RCS, and it didn't really work all that great in KDE Connect anyways. So it is what it is.

Quoting: Auster

Quoting: Linux_RocksWhat are your thoughts on this? I might be switching to an iPhone and a new carrier cause of this shit outta principle. Google's half-assed backtracking on it isn't enough and this is a bunch of bullshit.

While situation in the hands of Google is dire, switching to an even more closed down system feels rather counter-intuitive.

At this point, if I'm gonna be trapped in a walled garden regardless, then it's just pick your poison and makes little difference. I may as well be trapped in the nicer walled garden then.

I can use an iPhone on Google Fi if I did decide to switch. So I can at least keep my phone carrier, cause PAYG phone carriers are stupid and T-Mobile and Verizon are kinda expensive for unlimited data. Plus Google Fi doesn't charge extra for data-only SIMs either. Which is useful for an iPad or my 4G hotspot.

At this point, if I'm gonna be trapped in a walled garden regardless, then it's just pick your poison and makes little difference. I may as well be trapped in the nicer walled garden then.

Well the nicer garden is android for me, the benefits are not limited to being able to sideload APKs

Just get an Ubuntu phone from Volla, I did and it's great. If there's some app you desperately need you can run it through Waydroid, though I'd recommend just telling the company to either port it to Ubuntu Touch or lose you as a customer.

I really want to get a Linux phone because of this whole situation. I loved Android until about Nougat, and gradually became more and more upset with the UI and overall direction. Nowadays, I cannot stand Android's look and feel. Now given the incoming lockdown and age verification nonsense, I have been trying to find my alternative.

Looking into it, buying an existing handset and putting something like postmarketOS on it is what will suit my needs best. My problem is that I want a phone with a headphone jack and no notch/droplet/punchhole/etc. I will not budge on these, I want a clean forehead and chin, exactly the way Sony make the Xperia phones except with a larger screen.

I don't enjoy using my phone, so if I don't find a way to use a Linux phone, I think I will simply give up my phone. I don't really use it anyway, I barely take it out with me anymore too. It's a glorified alarm clock, and when I do travel I really only use it for KDE Itinerary. It would just be nice to have something I can take out that functions like my desktop PC that I can use to listen to music and give me that PC-like experience when I'm not at my PC.

Last edited by sonic2kk on 8 Apr 2026 at 12:52 am UTC

Quoting: sonic2kkI really want to get a Linux phone because of this whole situation. I loved Android until about Nougat, and gradually became more and more upset with the UI and overall direction. Nowadays, I cannot stand Android's look and feel. Now given the incoming lockdown and age verification nonsense, I have been trying to find my alternative.

Looking into it, buying an existing handset and putting something like postmarketOS on it is what will suit my needs best. My problem is that I want a phone with a headphone jack and no notch/droplet/punchhole/etc. I will not budge on these, I want a clean forehead and chin, exactly the way Sony make the Xperia phones except with a larger screen.

I don't enjoy using my phone, so if I don't find a way to use a Linux phone, I think I will simply give up my phone. I don't really use it anyway, I barely take it out with me anymore too. It's a glorified alarm clock, and when I do travel I really only use it for KDE Itinerary. It would just be nice to have something I can take out that functions like my desktop PC that I can use to listen to music and give me that PC-like experience when I'm not at my PC.

Sounds to me like you'd be happy with Sailfish on an Xperia, if you can deal with the screen size. If you own or can find one of the [supported phones](https://docs.sailfishos.org/Support/Supported_Devices/), I recommend giving the free trial a spin. Although pretty much the only big thing you get with the paid license is better Android emulation and integration.

I currently use an aging Xperia 10 III with a Sailfish OS license, for what that's worth. And so does my wife. Previously used a the original Xperia 10, and should probably have upgraded to a 10 V before they went out of stock just to get a couple more years of use out of it. OS support won't end any time soon, but the batteries won't last forever.

User experience is better than on any Android device I've ever used. Subjective, I know. And there are sometimes drawbacks as well on these non-Jolla phones. A bit like using Linux back when hardware support was a bit more spotty. Like the camera on the Xperia 10 III is better on Android due to inferior blobs in Sony's AOSP release for the device. It works okay on Sailfish, but apparently the quality isn't as good. I don't care, but my wife does.

Official Jolla phones get perfect hardware support obviously, but the price tag on the upcoming one is way too high for me. And there's a notch, which you don't like, but apparently the OS handles is pretty well according to early reviews and the notch is pretty much unnoticeable.

PS. Thanks for bringing up KDE Itinerary. Might be nice for planning our next summer vacation.

I have tried several Linux phones, and Linux on phone project on de-Androided phones, always to come back to Android. The problem, for me, is not only that some of the former aren't ready yet to for daily driving, but some of the apps either me or my connections use.

My issues:

Photos - When using a Linux phone, I need to have a dedicated camera for them. I'm not a professional photographer, so I need something small and convenient... and the ones I've found use Android anyway.

Banking - Unfortunately my main bank does not have a web version, and I can't install it with Waydroid. The bank is Monzo.

Messaging - It doesn't matter how many times I try to convince my family and friends, they refuse to stop using WhatsApp, and I don't want to isolate myself to the point of not being in touch with them.

Occasionally, dating apps - (Un)fortunately I'm single, and in London is difficult, or I don't know how to meet people anymore without them. The above above WhatsApp also applies here, explaining why I don't want to use WhatsApp to prospect dates is tedious, and receives a lot of negative sentiment unless the other person works/knows about tech too.

All the other things, some with greater or lesser success/pain, I can do with/without.

Currently, I'm trying to use less my phone as well, but still use it way more than I would like. The habit of pressing the on button to see if there are messages is annoying as fuck.

Quoting: ArehandoroMy issues:

Banking - Unfortunately my main bank does not have a web version, and I can't install it with Waydroid. The bank is Monzo.

For what it's worth, Monzo's app should work with the Android AppSupport on Sailfish [according to user reports](https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/banking-apps-on-sailfish-os/18438). My banking apps for two different Finnish banks work just fine, but I would never have an account in a bank without a good web frontend. I'd rather switch banks. I hear WhatsApp works okay. I'm stuck with Signal, personally, which I suppose is a lesser evil.

Now that I think about it, Sailfish would probably work for all of your use cases, dating apps and all, as long as you choose a device with a well-supported camera and official Android AppSupport.

After going a while without a smartphone, I recently bought one because a few of my clients require multifactor authentication via platforms that offer no option besides biometry, SMS or authenticator apps. I wanted something free of GAFAM’s bullshit, but I knew I was going to need access to Android apps for compatibility, so I went with e/os/ on a degoogled Teracube phone.

So far so good. It lets me install apps from the Play Store without an account and provides decent options to prevent tracking and spying. The UI is nice and fully featured. Doesn’t feel amateurish like many open source alternatives do.

What remains to be seen is whether it will work on Canadian cellular networks… t’s not easy getting open source devices outside Europe :(