 | This article's factual accuracy is disputed .(February 2019) |
This is a list of mobile phones with open-source operating systems.
| This article's factual accuracy is disputed .(February 2019) |
This is a list of mobile phones with open-source operating systems.
Some hardware components used in phones require drivers (or firmware) to run. For many components, only proprietary drivers are available [1] (open source phones usually seek components with open drivers.[ citation needed ]) If firmware is not updatable and does not have control over any other part of the phone, it might be considered equivalent to part of the hardware. However, these conditions do not hold for cellular modems. [1]
As of 2019 [update] , all available mobile phones have a proprietary baseband chip (GSM module, cellular modem), [2] [3] [4] except for the Necuno, which has no such chip and communicates by peer-to-peer VOIP. [5] [6] The modem is usually integrated with the system-on-a-chip and the memory. [4] This presents security concerns; baseband attacks can read and alter data on the phone remotely.
The Librem 5 mobile segregates the modem from the system and memory, making it a separate module, a configuration rare in modern cellphones. [3] [4] There is an open-source baseband project, OsmocomBB.
Generally, the phones included on this list contain copyleft software other than the Linux kernel, and minimal closed-source component drivers (see section above).
Note that it is often possible to install a wide variety of open-source operating systems on any open-source phone; the higher-level software is designed to be largely interchangeable and independent of the hardware. [16]
| Model | Organization | Mobile operating system | Operating system support | Date released (or cancelled) | Current state | List Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairphone 5 | Fairphone | Fairphone OS (Android) | Yes | 2023 [17] | Shipping | €699 |
| Volla Phone X23 | Hallo Welt Systeme UG | Volla OS (based on Android Open Source Project), Ubuntu Touch [18] | Yes | May 2023 [18] | Shipping | €564 |
| Mudita Pure | Mudita [19] | MuditaOS [20] | Yes | 2022 | "Out of stock" | $370 |
| uConsole | ClockworkPi | Debian, Ubuntu, or Raspberry Pi OS [21] | Yes | 2022 | pre-order | $139 |
| Volla Phone 22 | Hallo Welt Systeme UG | Volla OS (based on Android Open Source Project), Ubuntu Touch, Droidian [22] | Yes | 2022 [23] | Shipping | €452 |
| PinePhone Pro [24] | Pine64 | Manjaro Linux with KDE's Plasma Mobile by default; [25] | Yes. 20+ other (mostly Linux) operating systems can be swapped [26] by swapping an SD card. [27] | 2021-12 [28] | Shipping | $399 |
| F(x)tec Pro1 X [29] | FX Technology Limited. | Ubuntu Touch, Droidian, LineageOS or Android | ? | 2022-07 [30] | shipping [30] | $899 |
| Volla Phone X | Hallo Welt Systeme UG | Volla OS (based on Android Open Source Project), Ubuntu Touch [31] | Yes | 2021 [32] | Shipping | |
| Fairphone 4 | Fairphone | /e/OS, CalyxOS, DivestOS, IodéOS, LineageOS, PostmarketOS, Ubuntu Touch | [33] | 2020 4Q | Shipping | €529 |
| DragonBox Pyra Mobile Edition [34] | OpenPandora GmbH [35] | Debian [34] | Yes | 2020-12 / 2021-01? | pre-order | |
| Volla Phone [36] | Hallo Welt Systeme UG | Volla OS (based on Android Open Source Project), Ubuntu Touch, Droidian or Sailfish OS | Yes | 2020-11 | Shipping | |
| Fairphone 3+ | Fairphone | /e/OS, DivestOS, LineageOS, Ubuntu Touch | [33] | 2020 3Q | Shipping | |
| Librem 5 [37] | Purism | PureOS, a Debian derivative developed by Purism for their mobiles | PureOS has a lifetime support guarantee | 2019-11 [38] [39] | Shipping [40] | |
| PinePhone [41] | Pine64 | Beta "Braveheart" Edition had a choice of user-installed OS; [42] Later "Community Editions" sold from June 15, 2020 to February 2, 2021, each of which donated $10/phone to the developer community that wrote the OS it shipped with. [43] [44] [45] Subsequently, Pinephones all shipped with Manjaro and Plasma Mobile. | Yes. Twenty-odd different operating systems [44] can be user-installed as of March 2021 [update] ; OS can be swapped by swapping out an SD card. | 2019-11 | Shipping | $199 |
| Fairphone 3 | Fairphone | /e/OS, DivestOS, LineageOS, Ubuntu Touch | [33] | 2019 3Q | sale discontinued, but supported | |
| Gemini PDA | Planet Computers | Android, Debian, Sailfish OS | 2018 | Discontinued | ||
| GTA04 based motherboard, fitting inside the shell of a Nokia N900. | Neo900 | QtMoko, Debian, SHR (Stable Hybrid Release), Replicant | 2018-03 (last updated) | Stalled [46] | ||
| Pop Mirage Cyanogen | Alcatel Mobile | CyanogenMod [47] | Discontinued | 01-11-2016 | Discontinued | |
| Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition | Meizu | Ubuntu Touch | UBports, community-driven [48] | 2016-02 | Discontinued [49] | |
| Zuk Z1 | Lenovo | CyanogenMod [50] | Discontinued | 2015 | Discontinued | |
| Andromax Q | Smartfen | CyanogenMod [51] | Discontinued | 2015 | Discontinued | |
| Fairphone 2 | Fairphone | Fairphone Open OS, /e/OS, LineageOS, Ubuntu Touch | [33] | 2015 3Q | sale discontinued, but supported | |
| Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition | Meizu | Ubuntu Touch | UBports, community-driven [48] | 2015-07 | Discontinued [49] | |
| BQ Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition | BQ | Ubuntu Touch | UBports, community-driven [48] | 2015-06 | Discontinued | |
| BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition | BQ | Ubuntu Touch | UBports, community-driven [48] | 2015-02 | Discontinued | |
| BQ Aquaris X5 Cyanogen Edition | BQ | CyanogenMod, [52] PostmarketOS [53] | PostmarketOS, community driven | 2015 | Discontinued | |
| Wileyfox Storm | Wileyfox | CyanogenMod [54] | Discontinued | 2015 | Discontinued | |
| Wileyfox Swift | Wileyfox | CyanogenMod [55] PostmarketOS [56] | PostmarketOS, community-driven | 2015 | Discontinued | |
| YU Yureka YU Yureka Plus | YU Televentures (Micromax Informatics) | CyanogenMod [57] | Discontinued | 2015 | Discontinued | |
| YU Yuphoria | YU Televentures (Micromax Informatics) | CyanogenMod [58] | Discontinued | 2015 | Discontinued | |
| OnePlus One | OnePlus | CyanogenMod [59] | Discontinued | 2014 | Discontinued | |
| GeeksPhone Revolution | GeeksPhone | Firefox OS | Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS | 2014 | Discontinued | |
| GeeksPhone Peak+ | GeeksPhone | Firefox OS | Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS | 2013-11 (cancellation) [60] | Cancelled [60] | |
| Alcatel One Touch Fire | Alcatel | Firefox OS | Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS | 2013-07 | Discontinued | |
| ZTE Open | ZTE | Firefox OS | Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS | 2013-07 | Discontinued | |
| GeeksPhone Keon | GeeksPhone | Firefox OS | Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS | 2013-04-23 | Discontinued | |
| GeeksPhone Peak | GeeksPhone | Firefox OS | Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS | 2013-04-23 | Discontinued | |
| GTA04 | Golden Delicious | QtMoko, Debian, SHR (Stable Hybrid Release), Replicant | 2012-04 | "Currently not in stock" | ||
| Developer phone | Aava mobile | MeeGo | Discontinued | 2011 | Discontinued (was available to developers only) [61] | |
| N950 | Nokia | MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan | Discontinued; formerly hosted by the Linux Foundation | 2011 | Discontinued (available to developers only) | |
| N9 | Nokia | MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan | Discontinued; formerly hosted by the Linux Foundation | 2011 | Discontinued | |
| N900 | Nokia | Maemo 5 (Fremantle) (some proprietary components until Maemo Leste) | Discontinued | 2009-11-11 | Discontinued | |
| Neo FreeRunner (code name GTA02) | OpenMoko | Openmoko/QTMoko Linux, Debian, SHR (Stable Hybrid Release), Gentoo (all Linux-based), Inferno[ clarification needed ][ citation needed ] | 2008-06-24 | Discontinued | ||
| Neo 1973 (code name GTA01) | OpenMoko | Openmoko Linux (Linux-based) | 2007-07-09 | Discontinued | ||
| Eten G500 [62] | E-TEN | GPE Palmtop Environment | 2006 | Discontinued, developer phone | ||
| Greenphone [63] | Trolltech | Qtopia | 2006 | Discontinued, developer phone |
| Model | Organization | Mobile operating system | Operating system support | Date released (or cancelled) | Current state |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SHIFT6mq | SHIFT | Shift-OS (Android), postmarketOS [64] | partial mainline Linux support | 2021 | shipping |
| XFone Mobile Pro (re-launched Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro with Ubuntu Touch) | SageTea | Ubuntu Touch | UBports, community-driven [48] | 2022-01-19 (originally 2019) | Shipping |
| XFone Mobile (re-launched Google Pixel 3a with Ubuntu Touch) | SageTea | Ubuntu Touch | UBports, community-driven [48] | 2021-06-19 (originally 2019) | Shipping |
| OnePlus 6, OnePlus 6T | OnePlus | multiple | partial mainline Linux support [65] [66] | 2018-05-21 | Discontinued, used market |
| Pocophone F1 | Xiaomi | multiple | partial mainline Linux support [67] | 2018-08-22 | Discontinued, used markets |
| Snapdragon 410/412 based phones | multiple | postmarketOS | partial mainline Linux support [68] | Discontinued |
postmarketOS, Ubports, and KDE Neon are open-source distributions running on existing smartphones originally running Android. Maemo Leste is available for Nokia N900 and Motorola Droid 4.
There exists a database listing which older phones will run which open-source operating systems. [69] [70]
It is possible to home-build a phone from partially open hardware and software. [71] [72] The Arduinophone [72] (touchscreen) and the MIT DIY Cellphone (segmented display) [73] [74] both use the Arduino open-hardware single-board computer, with added components. Circuitmess Ringo (previously MakerPhone) is another DIY Arduino phone with open source firmware [75] and available schematics, [76] focusing on education. The PiPhone, [77] ZeroPhone [78] and OURphone [79] are similar, but based on the Raspberry Pi.
The main components to make an open mobile phone are:
Another notable mention would be Paxo Phone at paxo.fr
A mobile operating system is an operating system used for smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical/mobile laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on them are generally not considered mobile, as they were originally designed for desktop computers that historically did not have or need specific mobile features. This line distinguishing mobile and other forms has become blurred in recent years, due to the fact that newer devices have become smaller and more mobile unlike hardware of the past. Key notabilities blurring this line are the introduction of tablet computers, light-weight laptops, and the hybridization of the two in 2-in-1 PCs.
CyanogenMod is a discontinued open-source operating system for mobile devices, based on the Android mobile platform. Developed between 2009 and 2016, it was free and open-source software based on the official releases of Android by Google, with added original and third-party code, and based on a rolling release development model. Although only a subset of total CyanogenMod users elected to report their use of the firmware, on 23 March 2015, some reports indicated that over 50 million people ran CyanogenMod on their phones. It was also frequently used as a starting point by developers of other ROMs.
The hacking of consumer electronics is an common practice that users perform to customize and modify their devices beyond what is typically possible. This activity has a long history, dating from the days of early computer, programming, and electronics hobbyists.
Replicant is a free operating system (OS) based on the Android mobile platform that intends to replace all proprietary Android components with free-software counterparts. It is available for several smartphones and tablet computers. It is written in the same programming languages as Android. The modifications are mostly in the C language; the changes are mostly to the lower-level parts of the OS, such as the Linux kernel and drivers that use it.
Ubuntu Touch is a mobile version of the Ubuntu operating system, being developed by the UBports community. Its user interface is written in Qt, and is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, but the original goal of convergence was intended to bring Ubuntu Touch to laptops, desktops, IOT devices and TVs for a complete unified user experience.
Besides the Linux distributions designed for general-purpose use on desktops and servers, distributions may be specialized for different purposes including computer architecture support, embedded systems, stability, security, localization to a specific region or language, targeting of specific user groups, support for real-time applications, or commitment to a given desktop environment. Furthermore, some distributions deliberately include only free software. As of 2015, over four hundred Linux distributions are actively developed, with about a dozen distributions being most popular for general-purpose use.
Linux for mobile devices, sometimes referred to as mobile Linux, is the usage of Linux-based operating systems on portable devices, whose primary or only Human interface device (HID) is a touchscreen. It mainly comprises smartphones and tablet computers, but also some mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) portable media players that come with a touchscreen separately.
Librem is a line of computers manufactured by Purism, SPC featuring free (libre) software. The laptop line is designed to protect privacy and freedom by providing no non-free (proprietary) software in the operating system or kernel, avoiding the Intel Active Management Technology, and gradually freeing and securing firmware. Librem laptops feature hardware kill switches for the microphone, webcam, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Pine Store Limited, known by its trade name Pine64, is a Hong Kong-based organization that designs, manufactures, and sells single-board computers, notebook computers, as well as smartwatch/smartphones. Its name was inspired by the mathematical constants pi and e with a reference to 64-bit computing power.
Purism, SPC is an American computer technology corporation based in San Francisco, California and registered in the state of Washington.
postmarketOS is an operating system primarily for smartphones, based on the Alpine Linux distribution.
/e/ is a fork of LineageOS, an Android-based mobile operating system, and associated online services. /e/ is presented as privacy software that does not contain proprietary Google apps or services, and challenges the public to "find any parts of the system or default applications that are still leaking data to Google."
Halium is a collaborative project to unify the Hardware Abstraction Layer for projects which run Linux on mobile devices with pre-installed Android. The project aims to standardize the middleware software used by various projects to talk with android daemons and make use of hardware on installed devices. It is distributed as free and open-source software under a mix of software licenses.
Phosh is a graphical user interface designed for mobile and touch-based devices and developed by Purism. It is the default shell used on several mobile Linux operating systems including PureOS, Mobian, and Fedora Phosh. It is also an option on postmarketOS, Manjaro, and openSUSE.
The Librem 5 is a smartphone manufactured by Purism that is part of their Librem line of products. The phone is designed with the goal of using free software whenever possible, and includes PureOS, a Linux operating system, by default. As of 2021, it is the only smartphone recommended by the Free Software Foundation. Like other Librem products, the Librem 5 focuses on privacy and freedom, and includes features like hardware kill switches, and easily-replaceable components. Its name, with a numerical "5", refers to its screen size, and not a release version. After an announcement on 24 August 2017, the distribution of developer kits and limited pre-release models occurred throughout 2019 and most of 2020. The first mass-production version of the Librem 5 was shipped on 18 November 2020.
The PinePhone is a smartphone developed by Hong Kong-based computer manufacturer Pine64, intended to allow the user to have full control over the device. Measures to ensure this are: running mainline Linux-based mobile operating systems, assembling the phone with screws, and simplifying the disassembly for repairs and upgrades. LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and both cameras can be physically switched off. The PinePhone ships with the Manjaro Linux operating system using the Plasma Mobile graphic interface, although other distributions can be installed by users.
The PineTab is a low-cost tablet developed by Hong Kong-based computer manufacturer Pine64. The PineTab was announced in May 2020, with shipping beginning in September 2020. It is based on the platform of the existing Pine A64 single board computer, with the platform being used in related devices, such as the Pinebook and PinePhone.
The scope for this page is that used for list of open-source mobile phones.
The PinePhone Pro is a smartphone developed by Hong Kong-based computer manufacturer Pine64. The phone is the successor to the PinePhone released in 2019. The default operating system is Sailfish OS. The device is a developer platform with open hardware specifications but with unfinished software. The target group of the device is free and open-source software developers who will develop the software. The device was first shipped to developers in December 2021, and in February 2022 devices were made available to consumers.
Mobian is a project to port the Debian GNU/Linux distribution running the mainline Linux kernel to smartphones and tablets. The project was announced in 2020. It is available for the PinePhone, PineTab, Librem 5, OnePlus 6/6T and Pocophone F1. Droidian is a version of Mobian which runs top of Android's variant of the Linux kernel and the Libhybris and Halium adaptation layer, and works with devices which are supported by Ubuntu Touch. It can be installed using UBports installer.
the software of Android versions 1 and 2 was mostly developed by Google; Google released it under the Apache 2.0 license, which is a lax free software license without copyleft. ... The version of Linux included in Android is not entirely free software, since it contains non-free "binary blobs"... Android is very different from the GNU/Linux operating system because it contains very little of GNU.
Every mobile device that is connected to a cellular network runs some kind of baseband processor with highly proprietary and closed-source firmware.
Purism actually couldn't find an open provider for the cellular modem, so the best it could do was isolate it from the rest of the system in an M.2 slot.
The cellular modem is arguably the most complex part of a mobile phone. The modem is the component that has to implement all the familiar protocols you would associate with a phone (like 2G, 3G, 4G and the upcoming 5G). It does so by running its own proprietary black box operating system. The cellular modem is also covered by thousands of patents held by hundreds of patent owners. Now imagine this… This cellular modem sits right on the same RAM bus as the SoC! Non-free software not only has access to the data flowing to and from the SoC, but also has the ability to modify it. Because this modem operating system is a propreitary black box, we have no idea what this component does or what kind of vulnerabilities it has... The situation is further complicated by the fact that during our research into cellular modems, we realized that there are only a handful of silicon vendors in the world that make these chipsets and nearly all of them integrate their model with the SoC on the same bus. In addition, you historically need to acquire a license to run the proprietary firmware to power the modem on SoCs.. This left us with only one choice: to use ready-made modem "modules" and our own layout that isolates the modem from the SoC. There are a number of these modem modules available in different form factors with various available options in speed, bands, etc. By going the module route we can both provide supplier choice in modems that meet our strict standards, and also allow modem isolation from the RAM and host CPU.(text is CC-by-SA 4.0)
Even though the Android phones of today are considerably less bad than Apple or Windows smartphones, they cannot be said to respect your freedom.
The mobile edition adds mobile internet, and also has telephony services (making the Pyra a phone)
As for software, the phone arrives preloaded with a factory test image rather than an end-user operating system. This preloaded factory test suite is running on Linux – postmarketOS to be precise – which allows you to test various features of the phone and run an automated test. ... I assume that everyone getting a Braveheart PinePhone understand that it's up to them to find the operating system build they are interested in, flash it and take part in the community discussion and ongoing development. Most builds are available on the PinePhone Wiki
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✝ Excluding Android devices. | ||||||||||||||
