Silicon Valley has long preached that technology, not truth, will set you free. The jury is still out on that, but there's no question that smartphones, while they have dramatically changed our world, come with some serious drawbacks. Centralized app stores mean that useful apps can vanish in a heartbeat, while apps themselves use the sensors on these devices to monitor much of our lives. Perhaps worst of all, most of these machines cost plenty, yet they aren't expected to function for more than a few years.
Why Make the Switch to an Alternative Mobile OS?
If you're looking to dramatically improve your privacy, take control of your personal information, or just want to keep using your perfectly good Nexus 5 for a few more years, the answer may be replacing your phone's operating system with a free, open-source alternative. It's easy to think of the world in terms of Android and iOS, but there are many alternatives out there, with varying degrees of usability.
What You'll Lose in the Process
Some words of warning here at the outset: none of these OSes will be like what Android and iOS users are accustomed to. Some have wildly different navigation schemes. Most won't have access to all (or any of) the apps you're accustomed to—those live nearly exclusively on the Google Play store and the Apple App Store. At least for Android-based devices, there are some alternative app stores and repositories such as Amazon's AppStore, APKMirror, and F-Droid. You do need to be careful when installing apps not specifically vetted by Google or Apple, however, so proceed at your own risk.
You also won't enjoy the kind of customer support you get with a mainstream device. You're likely to get some strange looks if you show up at the Verizon store asking if they can help with Ubuntu Touch. Even getting these OSes onto your phone may be more of a DIY task than most people are willing to undertake.
Getting Started With an Open Source Mobile OS
Our goal isn't to rigorously test all of these OSes to the same extent we do Android and iOS, but rather introduce you to the world of alternative mobile experiences. We didn't test every one of these systems for ourselves, but we highly recommend looking up videos that show the latest builds of these OSes running on various hardware to get a better idea of what to expect. You'll see that we've presented these OSes in descending order of convenience; the ones at the top are widely supported and feature complete, and the ones at the bottom are more experimental. At the very end, we've included a hardware platform that supports numerous OSes, including many of the ones we mention here.
One more caveat: a few of the options listed below ship on their own hardware, most of the others will require you to own or buy specific devices. And none of them will work with an iPhone.
But if you put in the elbow grease (and make frequent backups of all your important information) there's a whole world of mobile experiences waiting to be explored. And if you find you enjoy this journey, you may even be able to contribute to the creation of these platforms.
Not every older or (new) device may be getting Android 11, but LineageOS, which is based on that latest version of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), offers a nontraditional upgrade path. For those who may not be aware, LineageOS began as a forked version of the now-defunct CyanogenMod, but it has since taken over the helm of the open-source mobile OS movement.
How does LineageOS differ from the version of Android you find on a typical out-of-the-box smartphone? For one thing, it doesn’t come with any Google Apps or services installed (including the Google Play Store). You can still install these Google services on LineageOS while you install the operating system, but you can stick with the preinstalled open-source alternatives, too.
Another difference stems from the fact that Google’s (and every other manufacturer’s) version of Android is very different from the AOSP version. LineageOS has added modern conveniences and security features to its OS to differentiate it and close the gaps between the AOSP and highly tuned versions of Android. In use, LineageOS just looks like another version of Android. That's a high compliment, given that some of the other entries in this list struggle in the UI and UX departments. It’s clean and sleek, and it appears to be one of the most stable alternative mobile OSes.
Another major advantage of LineageOS over many of these other alternatives is the sheer number of devices it supports. If you head to LineageOS’s downloads page, you will find a list of devices from roughly two dozen manufacturers. For each device, there is a nightly build, a recovery build, and a link to recent changes. There’s also documentation for installing LineageOS on your hardware.
For some people, LineageOS isn’t even far enough away from the grasp of Google. Enter ReplicantOS, a Free Software Foundation (FSF)-backed OS based on the LineageOS source code. Per its site, Replicant “does not include any of LineageOS's proprietary components (programs, libraries, or firmware) and instead provides free software replacements for some of these.” It aims to rebuild Android completely with free software. However, at the time of writing, it supports only a handful of devices, most of which are older Samsung handsets
/e/ is based on LineageOS and so shares that operating system's roots with open-source Android, so it's just a small adjustment for long-time Android users. What's missing are the built-in apps and services from Google, which are convenient, but are always after your personal data. Notably, /e/ cloud apps seek to duplicate much of the Google suite, including file storage, email, contacts, notes, photo storage, and more besides. /e/ also includes an app store, primarily powered by the open-source FDroid app store. You won't find every app from Android on here, but it's a useful and privacy-centric start.
The foundation behind /e/ provides extensive documentation on how to install the OS onto your device. A handy chart details all of the 112 devices it officially supports. The list is mostly made up of older devices, but if you really love your Galaxy Note 2, /e/ might be perfect.
Back in 2019, our colleague Sascha Segan gave /e/ a spin and was impressed with what he found. But even for a seasoned professional, loading /e/ onto his device was a headache. Once that hurdle was cleared, it was mostly smooth sailing. Of note, Segan pointed out that his /e/ powered phone was receiving the latest Android security patches via over-the-air updates. He did, however, lament that truly removing Google was difficult, especially if you plan on using popular third-party apps.
Alternatively, you can purchase a phone from /e/ preloaded with its operating system. The store offers refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8, S9, and S9+ models, as well as new GS290 devices. Especially notable are the Fairphone 3 and 3+ devices with /e/. These phones are built with a focus on ethics and repairability. Fairphone sells a variety of replacement components and works to pay fair wages for all the components in its devices. Unfortunately, US support for the Fairphone remains iffy.
Ubuntu Touch
There was a beautiful, brief period in the mid 2000s where every organization was developing its own mobile platforms. Mozilla rolled out Firefox OS in 2012 and Canonical, the organization behind Ubuntu, announced Ubuntu Touch in late 2011. Like so many others, these projects would eventually be abandoned, but Ubuntu Touch lives on as a project under the guidance of the community-powered UBPorts.
Compared to mainstream mobile operating systems, Ubuntu Touch has a wholly unique navigation scheme and design language that is similar to modern smartphones, but very different. This may be because Ubuntu Touch is rooted in desktop Linux, not Android. Once you've learned its quirks, it's a powerful system that's surprisingly polished.
It's also more than just a phone; plug an Ubuntu Touch device into an external monitor and it will function as a desktop computer. The OS includes some essential preloaded apps and an extensive app store. As with most alternate OSes, finding popular apps, or at the very least approximations, is a challenge. Because this is Linux, you will find a fully functional Terminal command-line application.
Perhaps the best thing about Ubuntu Touch is that it's ridiculously easy to install on your device. Unlike Lineage or /e/, there's no mucking around with arcane tools. Download the installer, plug in your phone, and that's it. You'll have it installed so fast you won't know what to do with the rest of your day. About 52 devices are currently supported at varying levels of completeness. We used a Nexus 5 in our dabbling with Ubuntu Touch.
PureOS is a privacy-focused distro developed by a company called Purism. It has the distinction of being listed by the FSF as a free Linux distribution because it only uses free/libre (FOSS/FLOSS) software. PureOS (which is based on Debian and uses the GNOME desktop environment) was initially built for Purism’s laptops and mini desktops, but the company eventually configured PureOS to work on mobile devices. Convergence is a major theme of PureOS, and a privacy-first, interoperable OS complete with adaptive GNOME apps and web experiences is certainly a goal worth supporting. In simpler terms, Purism wants to create an OS and a set of apps that run flawlessly on any of Librem's devices, regardless of screen size.
PureOS supports most basic smartphone functions, including phone calls, messaging, web browsing (Firefox-based PureBrowser), and clock functions. There’s also the PureOS Store for downloading apps that are built to work for the smartphone screen. However, the camera does not appear to be completely functional and the device is not rated for water resistance, two basic features consumers expect from smartphones in 2021. That said, in recent videos of the software, it looks like a much smoother, mature, and more consistent OS than the other non-Android-based OSes on this list.
Librem sells two mobile devices with PureOS: the Librem 5 and the Librem 5 USA. The only difference between them is that the Librem 5 USA's parts are manufactured in Purism’s USA facilities. The Librem 5’s major selling points, aside from PureOS, are swappable internal components; an ethical supply chain of parts; a MicroSD card slot; and hardware-based kill switches for Bluetooth, cellular signal, the microphone and camera, and Wi-Fi. There’s one major caveat: The Librem 5 and Librem 5 USA devices are several times more expensive than the PinePhone (which we discuss elsewhere) at $799 and $1,999, respectively. The Librem 5, however, is intended to be a consumer-ready product, whereas the PinePhone is more of a hobbyist device.
Plasma Mobile
The first thing to know about Plasma Mobile is that it is a user interface, not an OS. Plasma Mobile is the mobile counterpart to KDE’s Plasma desktop interface. KDE is also responsible for Neon, which the the company does not officially consider to be a true GNU/Linux distro, but rather a collection of software that runs on top of Ubuntu. KDE's Plasma desktop version and one of the Plasma mobile builds run on top of Neon.
All the current Plasma Mobile variants are made for PinePhone devices, but you can choose between builds based on KDE’s Neon repository, the Alpine Linux-based postmarketOS, or the Arch Linux-based Manjaro ARM. The installation process is pretty simple. Just download the image, uncompress it, flash it onto a MicroSD card (yes, the PinePhone has a removable storage slot), and then insert the card into your PinePhone. The PinePhone will then boot from the card. Alternatively, you can install a Plasma Mobile build directly to your device’s embedded eMMc memory.
Plasma Mobile looks pretty similar to any other mobile OS. There’s a PIN-based lock screen (don’t expect a fancy fingerprint-reader or something like Face ID), an app drawer, a task-switcher, and a pull-down notification drawer. Plasma Mobile is still in active development, so not everything works well (or at all) based on recent videos of builds. That said, the iconography looks clean and the interface at least has a sophisticated look. Since Plasma is a Linux-based experience, you probably won’t be able to install Android apps (projects such as AnBox, which integrates Android components into Linux-based systems via a container, have shifted focus to desktop devices). That means you won’t likely find many popular apps to download. KDE’s Discover app provides access to apps you can download on the device, though not all of them are optimized for a phone.
Manjaro ARM
Manjaro is a usability-focused GNU/Linux distro based on Arch Linux. In addition to supporting the regular slate of Linux-compatible desktop devices, the Manjaro organization maintains a version of their distro (based on Arch Linux ARM) for ARM-based hardware. Of those supported ARM-based devices, the PinePhone is the only mobile device on the list.
Currently, there are three variants of Manjaro ARM for the PinePhone: Lomiri (a desktop version of Ubuntu touch), Phosh (based on GNOME and developed by Purism), and Plasma Mobile (which uses KDE’s Plasma interface). All these builds are listed at early alpha stages, so they are not at all intended to be daily drivers. However, they are all downloadable from OSDN, so you can test them out for yourself.
The main difference between these three variants will be in their appearance, so we recommend you look up screenshots or videos of these systems in use to determine which one best suits your preferences. The installation steps are similar to that of Plasma Mobile: download the image, flash it to a MicroSD card, and let your PinePhone boot into whichever variant you chose.
postmarketOS
If you sit back and think about it for a second, it's a bit ridiculous that companies roll out totally new mobile devices every year. Worse yet, those devices are expected to last about two years. Some companies like Fairphone are working to cut into that wasteful cycle with repairable hardware, but postmarketOS comes at the problem from a software perspective. Its goal is to create a free, open-source, privacy-respecting OS that will make your hardware usable for a decade.
This is a relatively new project, so while postmarketOS can boot on over 250 devices you won't find every feature supported on all the handsets. Of the 11 primarily supported devices, calls only work on six, and the camera only on one. Notably, postmarketOS runs on several Pine64 devices, as well as the Purism Librem 5 smartphone.
Despite those limitations, the idea of putting old devices back into pockets instead of landfills is a compelling and worthy one.
PinePhone: A Hardware Alternative
While Librem is working to bring an Apple-level experience to open-source mobile hardware and software, Pine64 is taking a decidedly different path. The company's main business is single board computers (think Raspberry Pi), but it dabbles in producing open-source phones, tablets, laptops, and other consumer electronics at very, very low prices. The company's smartwatch, PineTime, is just $25, and the PinePhone has gone for as little as $149. Pine64 also takes privacy seriously and, like the Librem 5, sports hardware switches for the PinePhones' radios, microphone, and cameras. It also includes a MicroSD card slot.
Instead of controlling every aspect of development, Pine64 is letting the community take the lead in crafting software for these devices. The result is an extremely earnest, if sometimes overwhelming and incomplete, experience. Our time with an early version of the company's $99 Pinebook was equal parts fascinating and frustrating. PinepPhone alone supports 16 different operating systems, from Arch Linux ARM to Sxmo. This list includes a few of the OSes listed here, like Ubuntu Touch and Manjaro ARM. Pine64 occasionally produces special editions of phones preloaded with certain OSes.
While Pine64 is committed to producing a phone ready for daily use, it's still a work in progress. The upside is that new and exciting things are always happening, and the cost of these devices is low enough to be in impulse purchase territory for some tech hobbyists. The downside is that the software experience may not be as polished as you're used to, and device availability is limited. One further issue is that, as of this writing, all PinePhone devices are sold out.
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