If you are interested in Linux on mobile devices, especially phones, then @linmob produces the most excellent weekly round-up of news (which is available via RSS).
A joy to read each week.
# Mobian brings Debian 13 'Trixie' to phones and tablets
@lproven takes a detailed look at not just Mobian, but other Linux first OSs for phones and other devices.
Well worth reading.
(I run Mobian on my PinePhone Pro; sadly, the hardware lets it down.)
jbz
boosted
📱 Mobian Trixie Officially Released with Broader Device Support / @linuxiac
｢ Over two years in development, this release brings an updated base aligned with Debian 13, Phosh 46.0 (a mobile user interface for Linux phones), and Plasma Mobile 6.3 desktop environments, as well as a Linux kernel 6.12 for most supported devices. The Librem 5 remains on kernel 6.6 for now ｣
https://linuxiac.com/mobian-trixie-officially-released-with-broader-device-support/
📱 Mobian Trixie Officially Released with Broader Device Support / @linuxiac
｢ Over two years in development, this release brings an updated base aligned with Debian 13, Phosh 46.0 (a mobile user interface for Linux phones), and Plasma Mobile 6.3 desktop environments, as well as a Linux kernel 6.12 for most supported devices. The Librem 5 remains on kernel 6.6 for now ｣
https://linuxiac.com/mobian-trixie-officially-released-with-broader-device-support/
Le Alternative
boosted
Dear @Mer__edith and the the amazing @signalapp team,
After the last update, the Signal "desktop app" is requiring us to launch the mobile app - however, many of us do not have the Android or any other "mobile" version of the Signal app any more.
We are a large (by our standards) group of #Linux phone users, and your "desktop" app is our "mobile" app : )
Our previous phones on which #SignalApp was initially activated was an Android or Apple device and we have since then completely migrated to #Linuxphones. Some of us may have registered Signal on #signalcli, Flare, #Molly, Signal Android in #WayDroid, etc.
The #mobileLinux community is growing - we have members spanning a good number of projects and devices, e.g.
- @purism #Librem5 and #LibertyPhone running #Debian-based #PureOS #GnuLinux, #Alpine-based #PostmarketOS or #Mobian,
- @PINE64 #Pinephone and PP Pro running #ManjaroARM, #SailfishOS, etc.
- @furilabs #FLX1 running #Droidian-based #FuriOS,
- a wide variety of Android phones (including OnePlus 6, Google Pixel 3, #Fairphone 4 & 5) running #Alpine-based @postmarketOS ,
- @volla , #Fxtec and #Brax3 devices running #UbuntuTouch by @ubports,
- devices running @mobian which is part of #Debian project, etc.
[Apologies to any project I may have failed to include - you are all appreciated]
(1/n)
Brad Linder
boosted
Weekly GNU-like #MobileLinux Update (41/2025): More than just Librephone
https://linmob.net/weekly-update-41-2025/
#LinuxMobile #FSF #LibrePhone #SPIRITsmartphone #postmarketOS #Mobian #UbuntuTouch #SailfishOS #Phosh #Jolla #FuriLabsFLX1 #PinePhone #PinePhonePro #Librem5
Weekly GNU-like #MobileLinux Update (41/2025): More than just Librephone
https://linmob.net/weekly-update-41-2025/
#LinuxMobile #FSF #LibrePhone #SPIRITsmartphone #postmarketOS #Mobian #UbuntuTouch #SailfishOS #Phosh #Jolla #FuriLabsFLX1 #PinePhone #PinePhonePro #Librem5
@Tutanota Hey, by the way ... 😁 How is Tuta experimental Linux app working on #linuxonmobile ? Say on #phosh or #plasmamobile running on #postmarketos or #mobian ? Is it customised for small screens / touch interface? I haven't tried it yet but can't see Tuta mail on any list of tested linux on mobile apps... If it's not done yet, are there chances you could put some effort into it in near future? Google actions regarding AOSP and FOSS apps are more and more concerning so we need that working ✌️
If you work on a Mobile GNU OS, like @postmarketOS or @mobian, I strongly encourage you to make it as easy as humanly possible for app developers to make one app version for Mobile GNU OS. Which works on any variant, rather than having to play whack-a-mole with distro-specific bugs.
Bonus points for coming together to create a dev environment that can spit out versions for many different mobile OS. As many as possible.
(3/?)
@span strypey Regarding #postmarketOS and #Mobian, the "one app version […] works on any variant" thing has an answer you may or may not like: Flatpak, and ship that on https://flathub.org, using the GNOME or KDE runtimes. If MetaInfo/AppData is set correctly, it will show up in flathub's Mobile Collection even: https://docs.flathub.org/docs/for-app-authors/metainfo-guidelines/#mobile-collection
Unfortunately, that would leave out #SailfishOS or #UbuntuTouch, although that's possible, too - look, e.g., at Pure Maps and Amazfish, which are available "everywhere". Unfortunately, with the drive to migrate things to Qt6 (distributions would like to stop shipping Qt5 eventually), Sailfish OS and Ubuntu Touch may be left behind until they catch up. Going web based or using Flutter are other ways to get some cross platform support, unfortunately always leaving out one of the #MobileLinux contenders.
I (Peter) did a talk about that very problem at #FOSDEM 2024 (https://archive.fosdem.org/2024/schedule/event/fosdem-2024-3303-the-linux-phone-app-ecosystem/ and later updated it for FrOSCon (no recording, slides https://programm.froscon.org/2024/system/event_attachments/attachments/000/000/849/original/the-linux-phone-app-ecosystem-reloaded.pdf)
@span postmarketOS @span mobian @span linmob @span linmob
Unfortunately, that would leave out #SailfishOS or #UbuntuTouch, although that's possible, too - look, e.g., at Pure Maps and Amazfish, which are available "everywhere". Unfortunately, with the drive to migrate things to Qt6 (distributions would like to stop shipping Qt5 eventually), Sailfish OS and Ubuntu Touch may be left behind until they catch up. Going web based or using Flutter are other ways to get some cross platform support, unfortunately always leaving out one of the #MobileLinux contenders.
I (Peter) did a talk about that very problem at #FOSDEM 2024 (https://archive.fosdem.org/2024/schedule/event/fosdem-2024-3303-the-linux-phone-app-ecosystem/ and later updated it for FrOSCon (no recording, slides https://programm.froscon.org/2024/system/event_attachments/attachments/000/000/849/original/the-linux-phone-app-ecosystem-reloaded.pdf)
@span postmarketOS @span mobian @span linmob @span linmob
Some people on activitypub seemed a bit interested in mobile linux, so I decided to share a bit more of my experience on here. I will break it up into different posts covering different aspects.
I have been using a PinePhone 1.2b (3GB of RAM, 32GB eMMC storage) as my daily driver for roughly four years now. That may sound impressive, but I only really use a phone so people can reach me, for music on the go, and for a browser in a pinch. I'm not on my phone all that often.
PinePhone: https://pine64.org/devices/pinephone/
Currently, I have Mobian (based on Debian) Trixie installed on the internal eMMC storage and a 512GB microSD card mounted at /home, both utilizing full-disk encryption, for plenty of storage for my use-case. I'm using the Phosh interface, since it is more stable in my experience than plasma mobile currently. I also mostly use GTK software since they tend to integrate better with Phosh. I do not have cellular service on it, I even have the entire cellular modem disabled via the hardware dipswitch on the back currently.
Mobian: https://mobian-project.org/
Phosh: https://phosh.mobi/
#mobian#debian#linux#mobilelinux#pinephone#linuxphone#phosh
A while ago I got a refurbished surface tablet and stuck debian on it and then installed #mobian phosh packages, and everything almost worked except I'd managed to encrypt the swap partition and I couldn't enter the password without a keyboard.
I'd gotten unl0kr (the touchscreen password entry utility) installed but it didn't seem like it was getting run.
I searched around the mobian repository and found the place where the mobian installer tells cryptsetup what script to run to prompt for the password.
I needed to add keyscript=/usr/share/initramfs-tools/scripts/unl0kr-keyscript to entries in /etc/crypttab
Looks like next issue is power management. Currently the screen lights up with a notification saying "suspending soon" every so often.
BS -Chefin hält digitale Souveränität für vorerst unerreichbar
Deutschland will unabhängiger von den US-Digitalkonzernen werden. Doch nach dem aktuellen Stand der Technik sei eine komplette Abkehr undenkbar, sagt BSI-Präsidentin Claudia Plattner.
Niemand erwartet das man über Nacht einen Hebel umlegt und am nächsten morgen aufwacht und 100% unabhängig ist. Man könnte sich aber einfach mal auf den Weg machen, es gibt viel Bereiche wo das garnicht so schwer ist. Für mich liest sich das alles nach einer Ausrede um nicht aus seiner Komfortzone raus zu müssen... oder ist "die im ersten Quartal dieses Jahres geschlossene Kooperation des BSI mit Google" vielleicht auch ein Grund für diese Position?
@bjoern Soso...
"Jede Applikation, jedes Smartphone und jedes Betriebssystem sende eine Menge von Daten, etwa Diagnosedaten, sagt Plattner. " (Zitat aus dem Artikel)
Einige von uns müssten demnach aber ganz seltsame Apps, Smartphones und Betriebssysteme nutzen!
call me a hater but the ideal number of phones to always carry with you is two
@ErikUden
Same for me. I.e. I have two mobile phones, but I typically do not carry them around 🙂
One is my #Mobian#PinePhone, which I don't use that much, because it eats battery for breakfast.
The other one is a dumb phone, which I only carry with me when really needed. But battery life is ≈ fortnight!
Brad Linder
boosted
Weekly GNU-like #MobileLinux Update (28/2025): Automatically Focussed
https://linmob.net/weekly-update-28-2025/
#LinuxMobile #libcamera #postmarketOS #UbuntuTouch #Lomiri #SailfishOS #PineTab2 #DanctNIX #Mobian #LinuxOnMobile #NixOS
Weekly GNU-like #MobileLinux Update (28/2025): Automatically Focussed
https://linmob.net/weekly-update-28-2025/
#LinuxMobile #libcamera #postmarketOS #UbuntuTouch #Lomiri #SailfishOS #PineTab2 #DanctNIX #Mobian #LinuxOnMobile #NixOS
Weekly GNU-like #MobileLinux Update (27/2025): Releases, Reports and Setbacks
https://linmob.net/weekly-update-27-2025/
#LinuxMobile #LiberuxNexx #Phosh #PlasmaMobile #SailfishOS #Jolla #PinePhone #Librem5 #postmarketOS #UbuntuTouch #Mobian #Linux
Dear @Mer__edith and the the amazing @signalapp team,
After the last update, the Signal "desktop app" is requiring us to launch the mobile app - however, many of us do not have the Android or any other "mobile" version of the Signal app any more.
We are a large (by our standards) group of #Linux phone users, and your "desktop" app is our "mobile" app : )
Our previous phones on which #SignalApp was initially activated was an Android or Apple device and we have since then completely migrated to #Linuxphones. Some of us may have registered Signal on #signalcli, Flare, #Molly, Signal Android in #WayDroid, etc.
The #mobileLinux community is growing - we have members spanning a good number of projects and devices, e.g.
- @purism #Librem5 and #LibertyPhone running #Debian-based #PureOS #GnuLinux, #Alpine-based #PostmarketOS or #Mobian,
- @PINE64 #Pinephone and PP Pro running #ManjaroARM, #SailfishOS, etc.
- @furilabs #FLX1 running #Droidian-based #FuriOS,
- a wide variety of Android phones (including OnePlus 6, Google Pixel 3, #Fairphone 4 & 5) running #Alpine-based @postmarketOS ,
- @volla , #Fxtec and #Brax3 devices running #UbuntuTouch by @ubports,
- devices running @mobian which is part of #Debian project, etc.
[Apologies to any project I may have failed to include - you are all appreciated]
(1/n)