Linux phones are still behind android and iPhone, but the gap shrank a surprising amount while I wasn’t looking. These are damn near usable day to day phones now! But there are still a few things that need done and I was wondering what everyone’s thoughts on these were:
1 - tap to pay. I don’t see how this can practically be done. Like, at all.
2 - android auto/apple CarPlay emulation. A Linux phones could theoretically emulate one of these protocols and display a separate session on the head unit of a car. But I dont see any kind of project out there that already does this in an open-source kind of way. The closest I can find are some shady dongles on amazon that give wireless CarPlay to head units that normally require USB cables. It can be done, but I don’t see it being done in our community.
3 - voice assistants. wether done on device or phoning into our home servers and having requests processed there, this should be doable and integrated with convenient shortcuts. Home assistant has some things like this, and there’s good-old Mycroft blowing around out there still. Siri is used every day by plenty of people and she sucks. If that’s the benchmark I think our community can easily meet that.
I started looking at Linux phones again because I loathe what apple is doing to this UI now and android has some interesting foldables but now that google is forcing Gemini into everything and you can’t turn it off, killing third party ROMS, and getting somehow even MORE invasive, that whole ecosystem seems like it’s about to march right off a cliff so its not an option anymore for me.
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…they still have Linux phones?
Help a non-techy out. I’ve fully switched my computers to Linux (fedora workstation, silver blue, and ubuntu). Been Linux only for several years now. Silverblue is probably my favorite. I’m willing to make the switch for my phone, too. But there are a few things I’m pretty reliant on:
My banking apps, cash app, and, embarrassing as it may be to admit, Grindr.
Any chance of getting those?
Baking apps: pin the websites Grindr: use waydroid or switch to sniffies Cash App: oof, I don’t know if waydroid will be enough for this one.
You can run Android apps on a Linux phone via Waydroid, but banking apps could be an issue if they force these Google intrgrity checks. Grindr probably does not?
Anyway, you should be able to fire up Waydroid on your Linux desktop and test this beforehand. I have never done this myself, so I might have misunderstood something.
Someone did do some work on reimplementing the Android Auto Client Server API.
Just needs time and interest.
God i wish I was smart enough to contribute to these things
It’s not too late, I have faith in you
Power consumption needs work also.
As for tap to pay, I’ve found I’ve used it a lot less after getting a mag safe wallet. It’s a good stopgap imo
Actually I don’t need any of those things you mention. It may be a mistake to assume that Linux phones should imitate Google/Apple phones.
Obviously this is subjective, but I use android auto all the time and something similar for a linux phone would be really nice for me. Don’t dismiss them just cause you wouldn’t use them
It’s not that I want an imitation, but I do want certain functionalities to be available
Same. Never use these things on Android.
My thoughts exactly reading this list. I don’t use any of those as-is and have zero interest. I do agree Linux phones seem a bit behind at the moment, but as soon as they’re on par with say GrapheneOS, then we’re golden.
Dunno. GPS and map apps seems pretty important for something more mobile than a laptop.
That’s about the connection to Car Play, not GPS
Doesn’t GPS work on Linux phones? As for map apps, OpenStreetMaps based apps are free and more acurate than google (atleast in my region), the only thing that might be lacking is realtime traffic information.
Is there an osmand app for Linux?
Not directly, here’s what we have:
https://linuxphoneapps.org/categories/maps-and-navigation/
Of these, at least PureMaps does turn-by-turn - as a no-car-person that last drove in meaningful way when paper maps where a thing, I am the wrong person to ask about car navigation stuff.
Additionally, there’s the OrganicMaps desktop flatpak (not a great experience, only good for seeing where you are) and zooming around. Fortunately, a work on a mobile-friendly Kirigami app for OrganicMaps has been funded by nlnet.
Also, runnning some web Maps in a browser (e.g., via https://linuxphoneapps.org/apps/dev.heppen.webapps/) is always an option (e.g., for browsing Google Maps for an open restaurant nearby).
Are those actually the only things you find lacking? If so that’s really good, practically the same as using LineageOS without any Google services.
I don’t use any of the stuff you mentioned and might have to consider Linux mobile as a daily driver if it’s that good. Especially if Google kills custom ROMs, it sounds like the people already running them would feel right at home switching to Linux mobile.
More importantly, how’s the app situation? Can people generally expect most of the desktop GTK or Qt apps they’re familiar with to be usable on a phone form factor? Is there a reliable way to run Android APKs on regular Linux now? At the very least F-droid apps?
Yes most native applications are responsive and adapt to mobile.
GTK has it built into it’s widgets. But some third party apps on GTK/QT may not adapt.
The capability is there though.
As someone who spent some time on the topic (result), it’s not that every new app is adaptive. Even if someone uses the nice new widgets of libadwaita (or previously libhandy (GTK3)), that app is not necessary running well on mobile if width-reqests demand a higher minimal width or content is just too wide.
The same is true for QtQuick Components or Kirigami, which are the equivalent for adaptive Qt apps.
That said, yes, many new apps developed with these technologies work fine OOTB without the developer even knowing; and if they are too wide or tall, fixing that is usually rather simple and not a full rewrite/redesign.
To answer your question about Android apps, there is an application called Waydroid that can run on Linux phones. This essentially emulates Android and you can install apps on there. Some Play Store apps require access to Google Play Services, and even though MicroG tries to emulate it without being as privacy invasive, it is not perfect and some apps won’t run well or even at all.
I only use it for a few things that do not have any way to access through a web browser.
Yes, you can even run android apps on Linux mobile using waydroid or something similar. So even if you need your stopgap android apps while waiting for Linux equivalents, waydroid has your back.
As for me, I plan on using PWAs as much as possible.
- Would require banks and such to cooperate. Good luck with that, Microsoft and Google will just pay banks to keep us out
#1 only happens if the EU gets it as a secondary part of whatever their plan is to de-americanize payment-processing
Yeah, Android Auto is definitely the thing I didn’t think I needed and now can’t live without.
I have no idea if there can be a foss alternative that would work with existing cars…
What does Android Auto do?
/e/OS works with Android Auto
So does GrapheneOS apparently, as long as we’re talking about Androids.
Why? I don’t drive and don’t have a car but I can’t imagine the car itself not already having the exact same features since modern cars already have what is essentially a tablet built in.
Also, why not just have one of those phone holders on your dashboard like people have been doing before car integration was a thing?
Not even close by the time you get the car the maps are years out of date. And POI not even close to google or apple maps.
In car nav systems are nowhere near as up to date and useful as maps or Waze. And updating them is often as clunky as a new windows install. Some can only be updated by the dealer. It feels 20 years behind to use the systems offered by a lot of car companies.
Cars have garbage software running on even more garbage hardware, Android Auto and Apple Carplay offload the processing to your phone which is orders of magnitude faster
Exactly. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto took off because car manufacturers have always sucked with tech and this gave them a super cheap way to make a quantum leap forward.
Many cars built in features are so terrible they border on useless. Some doesn’t even have things like GPS at all. My EV uses CarPlay for that and has no navigation built in at all, even though it has a GPS radio it uses for onstar services.
Reading these comments it looks like it’s not quite time to switch over for daily use.
Graphene is not a linux OS, but you could get a used Pixel 8 running Graphene and be happy through to 2028.
GrapheneOS (like any other AOSP fork) is technically a Linux based OS. They run a modified version of the Linux Kernel. What matters is the changes they have made to the kernel, as well as enforcing AVB, SELinux, etc. etc.
“Linux” phones that run modified desktop Linux distros are hugely insecure devices that lack many basic security and hardening features.
Depending on what bank they have, tap to pay won’t work with Graphene OS either.
That’s not a deal breaker for me.
That’s fair, I’m quite happy on Graphene OS.
By tap to pay, you mean things like Apple pay and Google pay? We don’t have that on degoogled androids, let alone on Linux phones…
But they are still incredibly useful. I do and will put up with a fully-googled phone just for that convenience.
do they come with a surcharge on every payment?
I’ve never seen a surcharge for tap to pay in the US. I’m not sure about elsewhere, but whether I’m tapping my car, my phone, or my watch I have never seen any surcharge from the retailer, my banks, or from Google.
Huh? Is that it for the major “issues”?
Don’t get me wrong, everyone has different needs and wants, and so this might not work for everyone. I was hesitant at first to let go of mobile tap to pay, but I’ve been going strong for a year now and just take my wallet with me everywhere anyway. I have an older car so I literally can’t even use Auto/Car Play, and I was never a voice assistant type of person ever.
My biggest needs are being able to use most of the apps I use, having easy communication with my family, and security and privacy (leaning more towards security). If I could find suitable alternatives to the apps I use, and texting isn’t an issue (especially with iPhones, my family all uses them), then I’d gladly hop on over to Linux phones. I know someone is working on “WINE” for Android, and if that was doable and integrated well on Linux phones, I’d be set.
Gonna spend time researching now 🧐
Everyone here just saying “oh I don’t use that therefore no one needs it and should just lose it and switch to a Linux distro” is not helping anyone. This person told us their requirements to switch. How hard is that to understand for anyone. They also told us the requirements of most of the population. This concept should not be so hard to understand. Everyone has features they need in certain products. Some people don’t care how headphones sound they just care that they make sound others are really picky audiophles. It’s all preference
Who said that? There is a lot of comments saying “I dont use those features maybe i should switch” but I dont see a single comment telling others to switch.
1 - tap to pay. I don’t see how this can practically be done. Like, at all.
Yeah, better go back to carrying pieces of plastic with you at all times. Bonus: you can leave your phone home and still pay for things.
I dont use my phone to pay, I use my watch and have for years. Everywhere. And it works fine the few times I’ve left my phone behind.
Better yet, cash
Yea but with cash you have to carry a fat wallet around and are limited to a finite amount of your money. I get that it has its advantages, but it has disadvantages too.
You heathen!
Actually I don’t care.
That’s fine if your bank provides tap-to-pay plastic, but not all do, so you end up more vulnerable to skimmers.
Each contactless payment generates a transaction-specific, one-time code, that is extremely effective in reducing counterfeit fraud.
https://usa.visa.com/pay-with-visa/contactless-payments/contactless-payments.html
I don’t really see any of these as deal breakers, because I think the state of Linux phones in 2025 isn’t about being “finished” or “perfect,” it’s about being part of a bigger journey. Every limitation mentioned is just a reflection of where things stand right now, not anything permanent. What kinda excites me is that Linux phones are built around openness, community, and the freedom to adapt, qualities you don’t really get with mainstream options. Sure, there are missing features, rough edges, and some compromises, but none of that outweighs the value of having a device that puts you in control…
While I appreciate that, I really want the freedom to use it that way I want to, not the way others are happy with. It’s open, which makes that theoretically possible, but I’m no Linux dev. I can’t create missing features. So I need to work with what people smarter than me came up with.
I already don’t have any of those things on my de-googled android. I’m used to it. Sure, they would be nice, but it’s not a dealbreaker that I have to tap a card instead of my phone, or use Bluetooth instead of carplay, or type on my phone instead of talking to it.
