I don't think the Librem 5 is overpriced. First of all they advertise their product as a privacy phone and for that they don't have any real competition there isn't a phone as private as the Librem 5(at least not that I know of) and on top of that they are also the main developers of pureOS which right now is the best mobile linux distro.
Its honestly about who you ask, if you ask someone who loves linux and is passionate about linux "is a linux phone worth it" then they'd most likely say yes! it is but to the vast majority of people they'd probably say no as you dont have apps, its not as polished and because it looks dated. Like always its all about perspective
They're hardware switches: they cut power and/or data lines. Whether the device is powered on is irrelevant. They are hard to access though, being inside the case.
@@jozosaravanja1626 By who? You? Every platform is garbage in its own way. No use complaining about them like and old fart. Deleted them all off my phone because _I_ didn't like them. I'm not gonna pretend like my opinion is important enough to objectively dismiss everyone else's who thinks its good.
@@edwardhoffenheim3249 I didn't realized I was talking for everyone you dipshit. You tried to dismiss his comment and opinion by writing ok boomer. And I replied "im young and I also think it's POS app too". And I'm not alone. Many people I know hate it. So age doesn't play any role in liking or disliking technology. I also think rest of social media apps are flaming garbage not just snap. So yea I'm not deffo majority in the world. That doesn't mean I can't comment and dislike anything because I'm in minority. Also old farts made technology so of you don't like what they made go to stone age. Because you'll be old fart yourself one day. (Hopefully)
Yep. At the end of the day though... I just want my Galaxy S5 back. That was the height of smartphone design. Thankfully, the Librem 5 is mostly bringing that back now.
You're not alone! And I'm old and have been researching this for about 2 weeks now. Too much power and info in too few hands. Corporations and Governments do not have your best interests at heart. It's blatantly obvious now. I'm finding my way out on ALL of it! Best of luck.
Yes. I’m an Apple user but won’t be when they need replacing. Facebook/WhatsApp deleted. Looking at ways to move forward without Amazon , TH-cam and Google. A bit of a learning curve to be sure.
No android apps is too much of a deal breaker. I can't live without these apps anymore, so I'll probably never buy any of these linux phones which is quite sad. If these ran x86 linux then that would sweet, as I could run steam games on it. Would be great for a secondary phone.
@@yousafkhan6921 Purism is working on offering android apps through emulation or though the cloud. That's a genius way to solve the need for android apps :)
@@GeoTechLand They are just going to use anbox. Anbox is already working on the Pinephone, and was created and is maintained by developers from ubports.
I understood less than half of what you just said, I'm one of those tech illiterate people you spoke of, but I do know I'm not cool with being tracked or censored. I need a de-google for dummies, or a Linux switch for dummies resource.
If you didn't understand much of what he said and care only about the privacy aspect then something like the /e/ phone would probably be a better pick, which is like any other smartphone but it runs a modified version of android without google's spyware.
@@prostagma3132 yeah I was looking at that yesterday. It seemed like alot of people have put some great effort into making it so that someone who isn't an expert can de-google a phone. However, I still had tons of questions that make me pretty nervous about potentially turning my only phone into a paperweight if I run into a scenario blind, without knowing how to get out if I get list or mess up. Have you used /e/? Can you tell me about your experience? I have a Samsung S9, which is on their list of phones, but I've also heard that US versions won't de-google. Thanks for any thoughts or feedback.
@@c.bro.572 No sorry, I haven't used the system as my phone it's not supported, but I plan to get one of their phones as soon as I can to test it out, that's why I purposefully phrased it like "something like the /e/ phone", because maybe any similar alternatives could work too. Regarding the flashing thing, last time I checked samsung releases their stock roms and has an official tool (ODIN) for flashing them, so I assume it's probably easy to get your phone back in case you soft-brick it when flashing the new system, though I'm not sure about that second thing you mention, haven't heard about it before.
@@daandelombaert4647 SSH is more than just the ability to log into a shell. It's a full file system. I have my computer setup so that when my pinep phone is in range, it mounts the file system automatically. It's seemless, but I'm also running linux as a desktop. You really have to be a developer to appreciate it. In time the functionality and power will trickle down to users.
Remember to document the journey of transitioning from not being broke to financial abundance, for course creation and a book or two, and possibly stage time...there is a demand for this, and money in abundance to pay for it.
This is literally a computer with phone functionality as its second primary this is what smart phones should’ve been all along and now they are thank you linux
@@clocked0 Well currently pine 64 is selling out every single time for nearly everything, so that has yet to be seen and I hope not regardless because this seems very strong. They ship like 4000 units per every couple of months.
@@micaiahflores1592 I hope one day I could run a Linux distro on a traditional Android phone similar to how you can run custom ROMs/How Ubuntu touch and sailfish were available on some. That would increase interest I'm sure
Me too. Sadly i am so much of a normie that i think i will try to get a desktop experience first before going into the mobile ecosystem. Like her mentioned the app availability and all is a pretty no no scenario for a normie like me
I know it's a computer, but what I would like to know (and why I watched this video) is: Is it really a phone? * Can you make and receive phone calls? * Can you make and receive SMS messages? * Can you make and receive MMS messages? * Can you receive voice mail? And although it may not be absolutely essential, does it provide at least some of the functionality of a traditional Smart phone, on which most of now depend, such as: * Making and receiving calls over Wi-Fi? * Receiving GPS and navigating? * Communicate with other devices over bluetooth? * Reading bar codes and QR codes? * Taking pictures with front and rear cameras? (I could live without this for a while.) * Taking videos? (I could live without this, also.) And what about other niceties of some modern smart phones. such as: * Fingerprint reader? * NFC? * Water resistance? Unfortunately the reviews I have seen rarely even touch upon most of these questions and instead discuss its functionality as a pocket computer. Perhaps that is what they ought to be calling them, "Pocket Computers". I think at least the first question, "Can you make and receive phone calls?", should be answered affirmatively before it can even be called a "phone", smart or otherwise.
Hopefully in the future :) thankfully there's always something to work towards. Currently a power efficient fully free risc-v phone is kind of the holy grail.
Pine64 is starting to push into using Risc-V processors in some of their products. So maybe some day there will be a Risc-V pinephone. That said it's more likely the next pinephone will be using a rockchip RK3566
Sounds great! But you do realize that 99% of us will never have time to learn what all that means. I even have a 30 y/o minor in Computer Science, and have worked a little with Linux and learned to program a little all the way down to assembly, but realistically speaking, I will never have time to learn to manage that Linux phone. It needs to be as easy as Android.
I ordered a Librem 5 last month. Not sure when I will receive it. Being as I am tech illiterate, I decided to load a Linux distro(elementary) on an old MacBook Pro in preparation. Learning Linux has been fun and not as difficult as I thought. I wish I had done this years ago, before Apple really went downhill.
It will get better as there's still a ton of optimizations that can be done... For example the new Arch Linux Arm builds with phosh now use F2FS, which makes a world of difference in app launch times.
@@izaicslinux6961 That's exactly what I'm running right now. It's amazing how this guy's image is way snappier than the default Manjaro one, isn't it? I'm not even complaining about the Pinephone being slow. It's meant to be an affordable platform for these mobile OS's to be developed on and my god do they need some time in the oven. They can do a lot but they can't really do anything well: Most apps only work partially because they don't scale correctly, cutting off some of the UI. Autorotate is currently missing in Phosh. Some apps don't bring up the keyboard. In Phosh, QT apps don't bring up the keyboard and in Plasma Mobile, GTK apps don't bring up the keyboard. And Plasma has no button to force the keyboard up which makes it unusable. Some apps are way blurrier than others. Sometimes the lockscreen doesn't respond, forcing me to hold the power button down and hard resetting the phone. I wish there was a way to disable it completely. Scrolling in some apps is broken. Often lists start jerking around and flinging themselves to the top or bottom, no matter how careful I'm trying to scroll. Using desktop browsers like Firefox is actually a pain in the butt. The UI takes up way too much screen space, especially in landscape, and it's generally super slow and unresponsive. Chromium is a much better experience even though it's one of those blurry apps that don't bring up the keyboard. It STILL takes too long to ring when it recieves a call in deep sleep. It also stops playing music and disconnects my bluetooth headphones when the screen has been off for a couple of minutes. I've just disabled deep sleep completely even though the battery drain is now insane. There NEEDS to be an app store which has only mobile optimized apps. Sifting through all those desktop apps just to find one that kinda works is not fun, especially since the GNOME software store has the scrolling problem I mentioned earlier. But yeah I'm still excited about the idea of mainline linux on mobile and hope someday it won't be a complete dumpster fire :D
@@JeFi2 Unfortunately that's par for the course with community developed software with basically no paid developers working behind the scenes. It will take quite some time before things even out. Thankfully once the groundwork is done things should go a lot smoother into the future, even once we get a new pinephone upgrade with a better SOC such as the likely RK3566 candidate.
*Retropie It uses emulationstation And looks very nice With all the retroarch system, you can say that retro arch is like arch where as retropie is like debian
You changed my mind about linux phones, no kidding. I always compared them to Android devices but now I see beyond that. Your phone is a computer and you have to have total control of it and things will get much better as far as the performance and UI. It's just got started.
7:49 is exactly why these won't take off. People like me, Linux-illiterate, seek an alternative but this isn't it, because Linux is for 'real Linux users' and always will be. Most of us, the masses, aren't.
I understand the comparison of Android to Linux phones being like comparing Apple to PC. But doesn't that really only apply to phones running regular versions of Android? What about phones running ROMs with google services and all that stripped out? What way would you compare a phone running a bare install of Lineage OS (without GAPPs) to a Linux phone? Wouldn't it be better for the free and open source community to support projects like Replicant which aims to replace every piece of proprietary software in Android with open source alternatives? If that project was brought to a greater level of development it could essentially wrestle away control of Android from google and give that control back to the open source community? And it would also be easier for people in the regular Android ecosystem to migrate to Replicant, rather than move to a Linux phone.
Agreed. But even in today's world I bet even BES servers would be subject to the Canadian gov. Smartphone privacy from big brands is a thing of the past.
Finally... Someone who promotes an understanding of what is actually going on... And yet, there are those, who truly lacking an understanding of software and hardware interactions will seek to compress all thinking in to: "is the Linux phone faster than Android - Speed test!!!!"
Do I need to know how to code in order to “properly” use these devices? They sound so appealing from the privacy standpoint but also sound like you have to be 100% commited to tech knowledge.
The reverse, I would say. I ditched Windows for Linux on my PC years ago (as a user, not a programmer), and never looked back. You can try-b4-u-buy: get an old $50 laptop, install MX Linux on it & discover what it's like to use something built by users, for users, to do whatever you want, how you want - rather than just whatever you're sold / 'allowed' to do. Find & install decent programs rather than apps that spam & limit you. IMHO 😸👍
I use linux everyday and despite wanting to be a programmer i only know very basic stuff for linux like sudo pacman -Syu. I barely touch the command line other tham that or maybe htop
I'm a Linux user for two years now and I haven't coded a single program. Not a semblance of C or Python at ALL, and I'm already on Source distros. I'll say you're fine :). you do have to spend some time to learn all the jargon, but it isn't that bad. You don't have to memorize all the commands, what with Tab autocompletion and the matter. I don't even know HALF of the core utilities.
If you want true linux on your phone without missing all those Android apps, get Linux Deploy. That app allows you to run a full linux distro of your choice on Android. You can just tab between Android Apps and Linux without loosing anything.
The Pinephone also has many more officially supported distros than just Manjaro and also a "convergence edition" that has more ram and comes with USB-C dock.
Probably a noob question: how do I let my Pinephonee with Manjaro to NOT turn-off WiFi after 5 minutes but without draining the battery in like 3 hours? Are we really still not at that point?
That's one way to put it. Maybe a bit more like a Surface-style tablet (in a phone size) in that you can use it without the extra bits attached, but if you dock it you can get a bit more comfort.
@@SoundToxin Well the Surface Duo runs android so that's the closest you are going to get using a traditional operating system on a phone. Someone will put Linux on the Duo cos Microsoft ❤️ Linux 😁
Oh man I'm even ready to ditch the Android apps and switch my family to using open source alternatives. But there has to be an actual good phone with like good battery and camera and headphone Jack. If that happens, I'll buy it the day I watch it's review
@@developerpranav kind of similar situation here. Id buy one as soon as i can if hear that the hardware has been improved with these linux pocket-devices. I see my phone as something that does a few simple tasks fast and occasionally few many heavy tasks which are power hungry. having a phone that is reliable can help a lot, especially if its one of these devices
This is like watching someone saying that government cheese tastes better than artisan...(initial reaction) Three minutes later... “This is the future” Six minutes later... ❤️❤️❤️ Nine minutes later... GIVE ME LINUX OR GIVE ME DEATH!!!
About the 3 GB thing: my Jolla 1 runs with 1 Gb of RAM, my Intex Aquafish with 2GB. The systems are so optimised that even android apps on top of an emulation run smooth. Ok, the Jolla 1 is a bit slow nowadays, but 3 GB should be really enough for a good programmed OS. Hopefully soon Android will a containerthingie, not more, that we only use when we really have to, for example when companies release their software only in android and apple store. We need an app ecosystem where we can use the same Linux apps on every Linux phone, that would beat the crap out of the 2 big players. Imagine a phone that can handle Android, Sailfish AND Librem/pure Linux apps.
Back in the late 70's and early 80's I told a buddy that a computer is just a fancy phone- a communication device. He laughed at me. Who's laughing now? I love my Pine phone but it has a long way to go. Mostly it is the price that got me. If either the Librem or Pine comes out with an upgraded phone I may get it.
The greatest victories of this time shall be achieved with the most deadly weapon of all....kindness, fueled by love, delivered with precision, relentlessly.
Banking apps and WhatsApp is the only thing stopping me from completely switching over. Cawbird, Giara and a webapp for instagram are sufficient for my social media needs
the Banking apps issue is easily solved by using the Bank's website in the phone browser, yes it usually clunky and not very touch friendly, but if mobile banking is not something you need to do multiple times every day, then this should not hold you back from switching over.
@@eMorphized we're not running a 12-16GB monster to virtualise and be constantly running parallel processes and still not see any lags. Not to mention the battery drain. On top it, we don't have a hardware keyboard handy all the time to troubleshoot. Architecturally, a smartphone is just a weaker computer with different dimensions but it cannot treated as such if you're serious about daily driving it. It should be 100% noob friendly for every feature advertised. Restart / recover gracefully in case of errors and have monetary incentive to ensure dev support and an app ecosystem.
@@KSPAtlas there are many banks that nowadays do not have a website with all the functionalities of the Android/iOS apps or that even require the app as authenticator for the website.
"Why we have settle using Android?" Because most of the public are not tec savvy even if they wants to be. Many people freak out when a icon get misplaced and they think they broke the phone 😂 I personally had tons of cases of people coming to me to Fix their phone when no fixing was needed, they can't even find simple Setting even if you teach them multiple time. This is also true for PC's also, most people know only to use certain software like Word and Photoshop and nothing else, they can't even uninstall them. This may seem unrealistic to you but it's true.
That's the power of USB-C, if it's a proper implementation, you can split out to a USB-C dock and have a full-sized HDMI port. Gardiner has a video of that mostly working.
@JoJo Rumbies, did u not know that it can already be used as a desktop computer, i mean, he even said in video 3:32 that u can dock it to monitor. and common, everyone know how multipurpose usb-c is with all those phones lacking the headphone jack in 2019. seems to me u were just roasting.
Basically "Google services" ruin everything. Yes, there are plenty of good android alternatives, but many, if not most, essential apps depend om Google services, and that's really the end of it. If I want a more or less flawless experience, away from android, the only option is Apple, and I ain't doing that. However, I'm not doing android either, so what am I to do? Well, I just have to live with the frustrations.
If you're willing to really re-think how you use Android, you can get away from Google services entirely. I run LineageOS without any gapps or microg or any of that stuff. I get all my apps from F-Droid. It actually works extremely well. I've been doing it for years now. (I also have a PinePhone, but I don't use it much at this stage)
can you use microsoft authenticator, teams, outlook, etc.? i need that for work. then of course i happens often enough, that i have isdues with various web logins, and so on. im not saying it cant work for some, even many, but for me, i just dont see how, and the main issue is google services.
@@FelixNielsen Microsoft Authenticator (as well as Google Authenticator) is really just an app implementing TOTP. You can use any TOTP app for this. F-Droid has "andOTP" if you want something dedicated to this, but my favorite for this use-case is keepassdx on my phone or keepassxc on my computer, since I also use them as my password manager. It's especially nice to have on a PC so you don't have to whip out your phone all the time. Outlook is email, this should be pretty simple as well. Grab K-9 Mail from F-Droid, sign in. Anything that uses IMAP will work. Microsoft Teams here is the most tricky, because that's the most proprietary and unique thing. I understand if you're already stuck using it, but I have to say that I would recommend avoiding Teams and other proprietary chat solutions if at all possible. There are some good free software alternatives. Jitsi Meet for video chat, Matrix or XMPP for more traditional chat, and even IRC can work very well these days if you just need text (and believe it or not, often you *do* just need text).
@@truboxl I think the hoops he meant was the process of rooting your phone. In Termux I couldn't get "sudo" to work and can't see nor enter directories outside of one session directory so it's not the full experience.
This is definitely a specialized channel... Haha, I found this by accident and deeply agree with disgust with other mobile and desktop os. But man is this complex. I need separate software, to install and manage software, and trick(?) said software into running on Linux? I'm not even sure if I understood that correctly. I'd love to go Linux and start selling all my refurbished laptops with Linux os. But I feel I can safely assume this is a passion project not a consumer one.
I remember when people laughed at Android phones. Who's laughing now? People like you will help the Hand-held Linux computer (that happens to make calls) market grow.
I just bought my last android. I'm buying one of these linux phones and I'm going to start learning and switching. I give it 1 year until I complately switch. I need to get rid of the google environment dependency.
My biggest issue with switching is the various 2fa apps I have to use for work. I actually got the Brave heart pinephone last year, and I'd like to eventually switch to it, but I need the token apps for work.
Yeah that's exactly the original thought when smatphones came out. We came a looong way from there... This makes me think perhaps MS had the right idea of converging when they made windows PC version run on mobile devices... but now we experience reverse convergence, in which pc software is getting more like mobile, which may not be good.
I’ve been considering ditching my iPhone and I was excited about the Linux option. I clicked on this to hear why I shouldn’t switch but after this I feel you gave even more reasons to give the Pine and try. I run a majority of my business through my phone. I’m new to the Linux world but it sounds like a great place to transition into.
Well , Linux phone is like libram 5 is still far away from mainstream . And without the mainstream support, the app ecosystem will not devolop . It's not the geeks who makes a platform it's the noobs who makes the platform . Right now Linux phones need a cheap option so that it can go in the hands of as many people as possible. Otherwise it will be limited to a very small percentage of people .
How bout making something like this for old people. We really like our privacy, but no one takes the time to show us how. They just assume that you have been doing this all your life. We would really like to learn. Show some of us how.
Not that I would consider myself "old" per se, I do share your frustration with being ignorant of alternative forms of tech. However, I think part of the point of privacy is being able to commit yourself to learning this stuff without relying on others exclusively. I have been slowly preparing to make a move towards Linux and un-shackle myself from Google and the like, my best guess is to start with something like a cheapo raspberry pi and learn the basics from there. I guess what I'm saying is, although it can be confusing, the best way to learn is to just dive in and mess around. No tech angel is going to descend from the heavens to show you how. We on our own, which is kind of the point (privacy). Cheers!
it ain't the hardest. this guy makes it look hard cause he throws jargon. for instance, SSH is a remote desktop client (you can access your computer remotely, but only through the terminal, and only if SSH is set up on the other computer).
I do love both the pinephone as well as the librem 5. Sadly I'm likely never going to be able to use any of these devices because WhatsApp and Audible's app are likely never going to run on either of these phones as long as purism does not create some kind of compatibility layer for Android Apps. On top of that this compatibility layer would have to be able to fake a passed safety net check, since my banking app will not run otherwise. I somehow doubt that whatever methods microg and Magisk are using in order to pass the test are quite legal.
Hahahaha....hahahahahaha! Hahahahaha, hahahaha! Hahahahahahahaha...hahahahaha! Really enjoyed this! Thank you! Somehow your video title doesn't do it justice... I'd even say re-upload with a new title (I don't know what)!
@@izaicslinux6961 interesting. none of the compatible distributions listed on their site use a mainline kernel by default. I just assumed that there's some patching needed
1) This was a wicked cool video great points!! 2) You can virtualise Android in a VM to run most of the same apps your smartphone can, but with the convenience of virtual-machine security. Games may lag, but Maps works fine, and having the ability to deny the OS access to the GPS, the modem, network devices, etc - really makes up for that imho. Maybe VM-over-the-network would be possible? Never tried it. Then you wouldn't be tied to ARM.
I'm one of those so-called "tech illiterate" people who actually cares about my privacy and my phone's performance. Would I even be able to operate one of these devices? I know nothing about Linux. Every time I try, I break everything.
Phones run ARM processors which needs applications compiled under x86 are not compatible. on the other hand, all applications running under JVM are obviously compatible because JVM runs on ARM
@@dengan699 So that means the team from Manjaro needs to compile them and provide those binaries in the distributions repository? Can I check on my desktop pc (Ubuntu currently) which of the applications from the software center/repository are compatible with ARM processors?
@@gardiner_bryant But that does not guarantee the apps could be ported to or run properly. I know that some Distros run under Raspberry Pi too. But where can I inspect the repository for these devices (RPi and smartphone ARM versions)?
@@thingsiplay 1. Go to repo.manjaro.org/ 2. Choose one of the mirrors 3. Explore the "arm-stable", "arm-testing" and/or "arm-unstable" directories (4.) There should be a subdirectory in each of them called "mobile", I believe it's the repo they use for this phone OS
Used Sailfish OS for a few years, great experience overall. Especially the adblocker. It is a pain being back on Android seeing ads everywhere from the browser to the TH-cam app.
There are a huge number of GTK and Qt desktop apps that can be adapted to run on the Librem 5 and PinePhone with libhandy and Kirigami classes, plus you can run web pages as "web apps" in Phosh and people have already gotten Android apps to run inside Anbox in Phosh, Ubuntu Touch, postmarketOS, Mobian, etc. It will take time, but I see a clear path for mobile Linux to be a viable alternative to Android.
@@amosbatto3051 ok, let me try to explain: Imagine you buy some device for your home, maybe a solar system or something. The manufacturer gives you an app to configure it, but the app is only available in the apple and android store. How do you think will you ever bring manufacturers to the point where they build their apps for 1000trillion shops? That wont happen. So to get around this the open source community has to build its own shop- and appsystem like "harbour / open repos" on Mer, Meego, Sailfish OS or just use the android stuff with an emulation layer like on Sailfish OS. There is no way around that, except you don't want to configure your new bought gadget. There might be a day in the future when all the manufacturers just build web apps, that would be okay too, but right now, we all need the android appsystem when we want a real linux smartphone that can handle everything.
This post talked about having Signal working on the Librem 5, but there was a lot of steps involved : www.reddit.com/r/Purism/comments/k0c8jd/signal_on_the_librem_5_via_axolotl_server_mode/
Because I know that WhatsApp works using Anbox and Signal is very similar to it, I would assume it works using Anbox. But I would also prefer running the native desktop client.
This is why im disappointed that LG didn't do more with webOS. We literally had an OS that could overlay over ANY OS by connecting to a source connection. All they had to do was put multiple display input interfaces on the small motherboards they use for the smart phone device and boom any OS from the onboard storage that boots up would display through the switch of the source with webOS running on top of it all managing the display source and even providing app support through webOS if you did not have app support in the OS you're running. Such a missed opportunity.
I've only recently heard of the existence of non-Android Linux phones. My current phone is and Android phone that I've had for several years now. I've mainly only used it for 3 purposes: 1) as a phone, 2) Text messaging, 3) Calendar app. I had downloaded a few other apps only recently. This has my interest and curiosity. I'll have to look into this, and this is good timing because I've been thinking about getting something newer, but it's still working just fine for my purposes, so I'm in no rush.
I hope that anbox works more reliable in the future. I think getting Android apps (even just those from fdroid) to work on a Linux computer/phone is really important. This would allow a kind of reverse situation to chrome os which now implements support for Ubuntu packages. Also the touch support in desktop Firefox is terrible. Using the Touchscreen of my laptop to control Firefox is basically not possible which is why I use chromium to watch videos.
The problem is that many banks and governments force us to have Android or iOS if we want to use their digital services sometimes, and there's no way around it, which is something quite annoying, considering we should be able to handle all that stuff from our computers, for example. 😟
Sounds good but there needs to be really good documentation about what each and every module does and how it interacts with the wired / wireless communications busses to understand the traffic and whether that traffic is user authorized. Some modules may be their own super-user in the code and have no options for filtering and disabling information exchange and this is where the nefarious code lies.
I think missing out on apps is a big problem. More and more things are only offered as apps (not even as website), and while I just installed an Android Virtualbox on my Ubuntu notebook, even that doesn't work with all apps. I fear it would be even worse trying this on a phone-sized device. By the way: You should change your password on the Pine phone, 123456 is not the most secure one.
Thank you, you've put words into my frustration. What I want is some kind of miniature computer that can do the job of a phone plus running application (curse that they only work on Android; the same way some games only work on Windows), and which can be taken down to upgrade specific components without having to dump an entire phone. To put it simply: I want a miniature computer that can phone. Now, if I could actually decide what I put on it (I don't need a camera).
Gardiner, could you capture and publish some samples of raw video and photos these phones can register? I'm wondering if they'd be good enough as a secondary camera for making videos.
They are definitely not good phones for taking photos/video. The PinePhone is limited to 5MP photos and currently 1080p@15 video. The cameras currently don't have kernel support on the Librem 5. For more info, see: source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Frequently-Asked-Questions#27-how-good-will-the-librem-5-cameras-be
@@amosbatto3051 Thank you for sharing this infromation. I expect they'll slowly bring the software support for the hardware up and enable at least 30 FPS 1080p video capture. As a videomaker who doesn't own a dedicated portable camera, and doesn't have a budget for one I consider my phone an important part of the studio. I'll wait and see. Some people told me a Raspberry Pi with a camera shield can be a better idea for now :D
Great video! Nice to see a comparison of these two phones while I am still waiting for my 2017 Librem 5 preorder to join my two PinePhones (that have been featured on my channel frequently).
While I am excited for Linux phones (pocket computers), my only worry is related to using banking apps, all of which currently only get development for android, and in some cases the banking apps have far greater functionality than the online banking platforms for the sake of security so it's not just a case of 'just use the bank website'. Another issue is with whatsapp, the main instant messenger where I live, the desktop version requires that the mobile app is running and connected at all times, if these linux based phones will be running a convergent desktop app, then it probably won't be possible to use them for whatsapp without carrying around an android phone too. edit: according to another related video about linux phones, there doesn't seem to be gps capability, which I benefit greatly from having just moved to a new city. It would probably be necessary for them to develop a wine-like compatibility layer or kernel level application support for android apps purely for the banking apps and other applications which have only been commercially developed for android. The only way I see linux phones taking a foothold in the market and convincing people they are better is to have greater functionality than they're used to, if they have to give up on some of their favourite apps and convenient banking to make the switch then they will probably stick to android or iphone to maintain the functionality they are used to.
I don't think the Librem 5 is overpriced. First of all they advertise their product as a privacy phone and for that they don't have any real competition there isn't a phone as private as the Librem 5(at least not that I know of) and on top of that they are also the main developers of pureOS which right now is the best mobile linux distro.
I couldn't agree more. Plus, the cost of the device is subsidizing the development of PureOS and Phosh
the pinephone is as private as the librem 5, it has the same hardware switches iirc
Its honestly about who you ask, if you ask someone who loves linux and is passionate about linux "is a linux phone worth it" then they'd most likely say yes! it is but to the vast majority of people they'd probably say no as you dont have apps, its not as polished and because it looks dated. Like always its all about perspective
@@fuseteam If I remember correctly you need to restart the pinePhone for the hardware switches to take effect
They're hardware switches: they cut power and/or data lines. Whether the device is powered on is irrelevant. They are hard to access though, being inside the case.
"Things like Snapchat just don't exist..."
Yet another advantage of these phones then
That's what I thought, if you're using Snapchat, why even bother with a privacy conscious phone?
Ok boomer
@@edwardhoffenheim3249 I'm young af and snap is overhyped flaming POS app.
@@jozosaravanja1626 By who? You? Every platform is garbage in its own way. No use complaining about them like and old fart. Deleted them all off my phone because _I_ didn't like them. I'm not gonna pretend like my opinion is important enough to objectively dismiss everyone else's who thinks its good.
@@edwardhoffenheim3249 I didn't realized I was talking for everyone you dipshit. You tried to dismiss his comment and opinion by writing ok boomer. And I replied "im young and I also think it's POS app too". And I'm not alone. Many people I know hate it. So age doesn't play any role in liking or disliking technology. I also think rest of social media apps are flaming garbage not just snap. So yea I'm not deffo majority in the world. That doesn't mean I can't comment and dislike anything because I'm in minority.
Also old farts made technology so of you don't like what they made go to stone age. Because you'll be old fart yourself one day. (Hopefully)
"I like thick phones and i cannot lie..."
Came for this
all the other brothas can't deny
when a phone walks in with an itty bitty linux
and a wide thing in your face
you get sprung
Yep. At the end of the day though... I just want my Galaxy S5 back. That was the height of smartphone design. Thankfully, the Librem 5 is mostly bringing that back now.
I came here to say this (OP)
Babygotback =P
The idea of getting rid of big tech is amazing. I'm going through the learning curve now. Learning the tech jargon is a challenge alone.
You're not alone! And I'm old and have been researching this for about 2 weeks now. Too much power and info in too few hands. Corporations and Governments do not have your best interests at heart. It's blatantly obvious now. I'm finding my way out on ALL of it! Best of luck.
Yes. I’m an Apple user but won’t be when they need replacing. Facebook/WhatsApp deleted. Looking at ways to move forward without Amazon , TH-cam and Google. A bit of a learning curve to be sure.
Same here.
The problem is unless you're willing to fund it yourself, it will never be as good as big tech.
@@MrGamelover23 that isn’t true there are many foss projects that surpass big tech projects
A full computer in my pocket is something I've been dreaming of for the past 20 or so years!
Yeah and remember how Android was supposed to replace computers for some people? Too naive Google haha
@@developerpranav nah google had/wanted to go faster then linux kernel development could go
The Raspberry Pi has been around for a while now and that can fit in your pocket 😂😋
@@GeoTechLand it can but please don't without an enclosure haha
@@GeoTechLand 😂😂😂
Next phone will probably be a Linux phone after my current one dies
No android apps is too much of a deal breaker. I can't live without these apps anymore, so I'll probably never buy any of these linux phones which is quite sad. If these ran x86 linux then that would sweet, as I could run steam games on it. Would be great for a secondary phone.
@@yousafkhan6921 Purism is working on offering android apps through emulation or though the cloud. That's a genius way to solve the need for android apps :)
@@GeoTechLand They are just going to use anbox. Anbox is already working on the Pinephone, and was created and is maintained by developers from ubports.
Same here
Mee too, rn I'm using a xiaomi, but definitively the next one will be one of these beauties
"What smartphone is that?"
"Do you mean this? Sorry, that's a general-purpose computer you dummy"
haha
And then you don't get invited to the party lmao
PDA
Lmao, not too far stretched. At Walmart the android devices are called touch computers
"I'd like to interject for a moment. what you're refering as smartphone..." hehehe
I understood less than half of what you just said, I'm one of those tech illiterate people you spoke of, but I do know I'm not cool with being tracked or censored. I need a de-google for dummies, or a Linux switch for dummies resource.
Saaaame
If you didn't understand much of what he said and care only about the privacy aspect then something like the /e/ phone would probably be a better pick, which is like any other smartphone but it runs a modified version of android without google's spyware.
@@prostagma3132 yeah I was looking at that yesterday. It seemed like alot of people have put some great effort into making it so that someone who isn't an expert can de-google a phone. However, I still had tons of questions that make me pretty nervous about potentially turning my only phone into a paperweight if I run into a scenario blind, without knowing how to get out if I get list or mess up. Have you used /e/? Can you tell me about your experience? I have a Samsung S9, which is on their list of phones, but I've also heard that US versions won't de-google. Thanks for any thoughts or feedback.
@@c.bro.572 No sorry, I haven't used the system as my phone it's not supported, but I plan to get one of their phones as soon as I can to test it out, that's why I purposefully phrased it like "something like the /e/ phone", because maybe any similar alternatives could work too. Regarding the flashing thing, last time I checked samsung releases their stock roms and has an official tool (ODIN) for flashing them, so I assume it's probably easy to get your phone back in case you soft-brick it when flashing the new system, though I'm not sure about that second thing you mention, haven't heard about it before.
@@prostagma3132 thanks for the reply, we'll get it figured out.
The fact you can ssh into your phone makes me happy.
Secure it well!
SSHFS works very well on it. Cron works. GCC works..
To do what?
@@daandelombaert4647 SSH is more than just the ability to log into a shell. It's a full file system. I have my computer setup so that when my pinep phone is in range, it mounts the file system automatically. It's seemless, but I'm also running linux as a desktop. You really have to be a developer to appreciate it. In time the functionality and power will trickle down to users.
@@richardwicks4190 how? :O
Having a linux computer in my pocket would be so badass. I will get this when I am not broke.
Remember to document the journey of transitioning from not being broke to financial abundance, for course creation and a book or two, and possibly stage time...there is a demand for this, and money in abundance to pay for it.
Yeah they're like $800.
Ya. 2020 wasn’t a banner year. Hope for some business before Biden completely tanks the dollar.
You can get a Pinephone for a quarter of the price
This is literally a computer with phone functionality as its second primary this is what smart phones should’ve been all along and now they are thank you linux
Have you ever heard of a Windows phone, it has been done before.
@@STONE69_ Of course I have but that failed
@@micaiahflores1592 I can't help but think this will have the same fate
@@clocked0 Well currently pine 64 is selling out every single time for nearly everything, so that has yet to be seen and I hope not regardless because this seems very strong. They ship like 4000 units per every couple of months.
@@micaiahflores1592 I hope one day I could run a Linux distro on a traditional Android phone similar to how you can run custom ROMs/How Ubuntu touch and sailfish were available on some. That would increase interest I'm sure
Any other members of the tech illiterate masses looking for info on Linux phones?
Yep. There's DOZENS of us!
yes
Absolutely
Me too. Sadly i am so much of a normie that i think i will try to get a desktop experience first before going into the mobile ecosystem. Like her mentioned the app availability and all is a pretty no no scenario for a normie like me
@Infinite Possibilities ...said who?
I know it's a computer, but what I would like to know (and why I watched this video) is: Is it really a phone?
* Can you make and receive phone calls?
* Can you make and receive SMS messages?
* Can you make and receive MMS messages?
* Can you receive voice mail?
And although it may not be absolutely essential, does it provide at least some of the functionality of a traditional Smart phone, on which most of now depend, such as:
* Making and receiving calls over Wi-Fi?
* Receiving GPS and navigating?
* Communicate with other devices over bluetooth?
* Reading bar codes and QR codes?
* Taking pictures with front and rear cameras? (I could live without this for a while.)
* Taking videos? (I could live without this, also.)
And what about other niceties of some modern smart phones. such as:
* Fingerprint reader?
* NFC?
* Water resistance?
Unfortunately the reviews I have seen rarely even touch upon most of these questions and instead discuss its functionality as a pocket computer. Perhaps that is what they ought to be calling them, "Pocket Computers". I think at least the first question, "Can you make and receive phone calls?", should be answered affirmatively before it can even be called a "phone", smart or otherwise.
switches that hard cut power to cameras and microphones... it's about damned time. :3
They need to make one of these with RISC-V processor.
Hopefully in the future :) thankfully there's always something to work towards. Currently a power efficient fully free risc-v phone is kind of the holy grail.
That would be sweet!
It’s not feasible to make a high performance risc v mobile processor atm
It’s been rumored that the pine phone to use the pine book pro set up
Pine64 is starting to push into using Risc-V processors in some of their products. So maybe some day there will be a Risc-V pinephone. That said it's more likely the next pinephone will be using a rockchip RK3566
Sounds great! But you do realize that 99% of us will never have time to learn what all that means. I even have a 30 y/o minor in Computer Science, and have worked a little with Linux and learned to program a little all the way down to assembly, but realistically speaking, I will never have time to learn to manage that Linux phone. It needs to be as easy as Android.
We're the illiterate masses, not really welcome here.
get a 30 dollar Nexus 5 and use the super easy installer from the Ubports site...it really is that easy
dude, I haven't been here that long compared to other Linux users here, and I'm comfortable. besides, Posh is pretty easy...
It actually is pretty easy in everyday use; it's just that if you want to change things and do power-user things, you can.
"Objectively terrible, in my opinion"
I laughed too long at this :-P
timestamp?
@@yash1152 5:28
I ordered a Librem 5 last month. Not sure when I will receive it. Being as I am tech illiterate, I decided to load a Linux distro(elementary) on an old MacBook Pro in preparation. Learning Linux has been fun and not as difficult as I thought. I wish I had done this years ago, before Apple really went downhill.
Well I'm happy with my Pinephone, the world's slowest, jankiest linux computer in my pocket :D
You got a 2gb or a 3gb? the 3gb is fast enough. isn't as fast as something like a 888 but for basic tasks it does the job.
It will get better as there's still a ton of optimizations that can be done... For example the new Arch Linux Arm builds with phosh now use F2FS, which makes a world of difference in app launch times.
@@izaicslinux6961 That's exactly what I'm running right now. It's amazing how this guy's image is way snappier than the default Manjaro one, isn't it?
I'm not even complaining about the Pinephone being slow. It's meant to be an affordable platform for these mobile OS's to be developed on and my god do they need some time in the oven. They can do a lot but they can't really do anything well:
Most apps only work partially because they don't scale correctly, cutting off some of the UI.
Autorotate is currently missing in Phosh.
Some apps don't bring up the keyboard. In Phosh, QT apps don't bring up the keyboard and in Plasma Mobile, GTK apps don't bring up the keyboard. And Plasma has no button to force the keyboard up which makes it unusable.
Some apps are way blurrier than others.
Sometimes the lockscreen doesn't respond, forcing me to hold the power button down and hard resetting the phone. I wish there was a way to disable it completely.
Scrolling in some apps is broken. Often lists start jerking around and flinging themselves to the top or bottom, no matter how careful I'm trying to scroll.
Using desktop browsers like Firefox is actually a pain in the butt. The UI takes up way too much screen space, especially in landscape, and it's generally super slow and unresponsive. Chromium is a much better experience even though it's one of those blurry apps that don't bring up the keyboard.
It STILL takes too long to ring when it recieves a call in deep sleep. It also stops playing music and disconnects my bluetooth headphones when the screen has been off for a couple of minutes. I've just disabled deep sleep completely even though the battery drain is now insane.
There NEEDS to be an app store which has only mobile optimized apps. Sifting through all those desktop apps just to find one that kinda works is not fun, especially since the GNOME software store has the scrolling problem I mentioned earlier.
But yeah I'm still excited about the idea of mainline linux on mobile and hope someday it won't be a complete dumpster fire :D
@@JeFi2 Unfortunately that's par for the course with community developed software with basically no paid developers working behind the scenes. It will take quite some time before things even out. Thankfully once the groundwork is done things should go a lot smoother into the future, even once we get a new pinephone upgrade with a better SOC such as the likely RK3566 candidate.
@@izaicslinux6961 unfortunately danctnix won't increase ram clocks so incoming call reception is terrible
Sooo "Linux Phone" is a layman's term for Modern Pocket PC with Linux on it? 🤔
Phone goes vroom
LPDA for short.
these phones are too late , a decade late
Sailfish OS was ready a decade ago, but he is not really talking about it, which is sad...
If I can run RetroArch on them, they're good enough for me.
*Retropie
It uses emulationstation
And looks very nice
With all the retroarch system, you can say that retro arch is like arch where as retropie is like debian
I ran retro arch on mypinephone so yes it works
You changed my mind about linux phones, no kidding. I always compared them to Android devices but now I see beyond that. Your phone is a computer and you have to have total control of it and things will get much better as far as the performance and UI. It's just got started.
A huge plus with on/off BT and WiFi switches and a massive plus with a removable battery.
When I go to the forest, I collect pine-phones.
I like what you did there
7:49 is exactly why these won't take off. People like me, Linux-illiterate, seek an alternative but this isn't it, because Linux is for 'real Linux users' and always will be. Most of us, the masses, aren't.
Gardiner your passion for these devices is contagious and inspiring. Thanks for your passionate videos. Stay well!!
I understand the comparison of Android to Linux phones being like comparing Apple to PC. But doesn't that really only apply to phones running regular versions of Android? What about phones running ROMs with google services and all that stripped out?
What way would you compare a phone running a bare install of Lineage OS (without GAPPs) to a Linux phone?
Wouldn't it be better for the free and open source community to support projects like Replicant which aims to replace every piece of proprietary software in Android with open source alternatives? If that project was brought to a greater level of development it could essentially wrestle away control of Android from google and give that control back to the open source community? And it would also be easier for people in the regular Android ecosystem to migrate to Replicant, rather than move to a Linux phone.
This makes me miss Blackberry :'(
I use the key2 which is a great phone build, but runs Android so not the same as good ole BB
Agreed. But even in today's world I bet even BES servers would be subject to the Canadian gov. Smartphone privacy from big brands is a thing of the past.
Finally... Someone who promotes an understanding of what is actually going on...
And yet, there are those, who truly lacking an understanding of software and hardware interactions will seek to compress all thinking in to: "is the Linux phone faster than Android - Speed test!!!!"
Do I need to know how to code in order to “properly” use these devices? They sound so appealing from the privacy standpoint but also sound like you have to be 100% commited to tech knowledge.
The reverse, I would say. I ditched Windows for Linux on my PC years ago (as a user, not a programmer), and never looked back. You can try-b4-u-buy: get an old $50 laptop, install MX Linux on it & discover what it's like to use something built by users, for users, to do whatever you want, how you want - rather than just whatever you're sold / 'allowed' to do. Find & install decent programs rather than apps that spam & limit you. IMHO 😸👍
@@jezzamobile there's also the dual boot option. That's how I started using Linux and slowly made the switch to it being my primary OS
@@Suicidekings_ Yup! Good point 👍
I use linux everyday and despite wanting to be a programmer i only know very basic stuff for linux like sudo pacman -Syu. I barely touch the command line other tham that or maybe htop
I'm a Linux user for two years now and I haven't coded a single program. Not a semblance of C or Python at ALL, and I'm already on Source distros. I'll say you're fine :).
you do have to spend some time to learn all the jargon, but it isn't that bad. You don't have to memorize all the commands, what with Tab autocompletion and the matter. I don't even know HALF of the core utilities.
If you want true linux on your phone without missing all those Android apps, get Linux Deploy. That app allows you to run a full linux distro of your choice on Android. You can just tab between Android Apps and Linux without loosing anything.
I like calling it a Desktop-phone instead of a smartphone. I love my pinephone, and it gets better everyday! This is all so exciting!!
The Pinephone also has many more officially supported distros than just Manjaro and also a "convergence edition" that has more ram and comes with USB-C dock.
Probably a noob question: how do I let my Pinephonee with Manjaro to NOT turn-off WiFi after 5 minutes but without draining the battery in like 3 hours? Are we really still not at that point?
I've had WiFi issues with the PinePhone so idk.
Came before watching the video. So, are Linux phones smartphone-sized keyboardless laptops?
"smartphone-sized keyboardless laptops" that uses ARM CPUs (efficiency).
That's one way to put it. Maybe a bit more like a Surface-style tablet (in a phone size) in that you can use it without the extra bits attached, but if you dock it you can get a bit more comfort.
@@SoundToxin So, a pocket-sized 2-in-1? lol
@@SoundToxin Well the Surface Duo runs android so that's the closest you are going to get using a traditional operating system on a phone. Someone will put Linux on the Duo cos Microsoft ❤️ Linux 😁
If I can use my phone like a laptop, that means I don't have to sync data between phone and computer, it's all sitting in the same place.
A larger screen can help with productivity just say it
Don't forget they copy it when "syncing".
A true "Smart-phone"
I pre-ordered the pro1 x and I am thinking of run pure Linux on it. the only problem is one application on android...
Oh man I'm even ready to ditch the Android apps and switch my family to using open source alternatives. But there has to be an actual good phone with like good battery and camera and headphone Jack. If that happens, I'll buy it the day I watch it's review
@@developerpranav kind of similar situation here. Id buy one as soon as i can if hear that the hardware has been improved with these linux pocket-devices. I see my phone as something that does a few simple tasks fast and occasionally few many heavy tasks which are power hungry. having a phone that is reliable can help a lot, especially if its one of these devices
@@necrobynerton7384 yeah and I think the camera quality will be the biggest hurdle
This is like watching someone saying that government cheese tastes better than artisan...(initial reaction)
Three minutes later... “This is the future”
Six minutes later... ❤️❤️❤️
Nine minutes later... GIVE ME LINUX OR GIVE ME DEATH!!!
About the 3 GB thing: my Jolla 1 runs with 1 Gb of RAM, my Intex Aquafish with 2GB. The systems are so optimised that even android apps on top of an emulation run smooth. Ok, the Jolla 1 is a bit slow nowadays, but 3 GB should be really enough for a good programmed OS. Hopefully soon Android will a containerthingie, not more, that we only use when we really have to, for example when companies release their software only in android and apple store. We need an app ecosystem where we can use the same Linux apps on every Linux phone, that would beat the crap out of the 2 big players. Imagine a phone that can handle Android, Sailfish AND Librem/pure Linux apps.
You are the reason I will end up buying one of these "phones".
Yes, they are smartphones. Deal with it and get over it and deal with it again.
How did it go? Did you buy one?
Back in the late 70's and early 80's I told a buddy that a computer is just a fancy phone- a communication device. He laughed at me. Who's laughing now? I love my Pine phone but it has a long way to go. Mostly it is the price that got me. If either the Librem or Pine comes out with an upgraded phone I may get it.
The greatest victories of this time shall be achieved with the most deadly weapon of all....kindness, fueled by love, delivered with precision, relentlessly.
Amen to that.
Yes I will kill them with my machete I named kindness
Banking apps and WhatsApp is the only thing stopping me from completely switching over.
Cawbird, Giara and a webapp for instagram are sufficient for my social media needs
the Banking apps issue is easily solved by using the Bank's website in the phone browser, yes it usually clunky and not very touch friendly, but if mobile banking is not something you need to do multiple times every day, then this should not hold you back from switching over.
FB owns WhatsApp now, so that would defeat the purpose.
WhatsApp has a web client now, and Anbox exists.
@@eMorphized we're not running a 12-16GB monster to virtualise and be constantly running parallel processes and still not see any lags. Not to mention the battery drain.
On top it, we don't have a hardware keyboard handy all the time to troubleshoot.
Architecturally, a smartphone is just a weaker computer with different dimensions but it cannot treated as such if you're serious about daily driving it. It should be 100% noob friendly for every feature advertised. Restart / recover gracefully in case of errors and have monetary incentive to ensure dev support and an app ecosystem.
While I used (and loved) Ubuntu Touch back in the day, my main problem with Linux smartphone-sized-general-computing-devices: banking apps.
What about the website equivalent
@@KSPAtlas there are many banks that nowadays do not have a website with all the functionalities of the Android/iOS apps or that even require the app as authenticator for the website.
The solution: Anbox.
"Why we have settle using Android?"
Because most of the public are not tec savvy even if they wants to be. Many people freak out when a icon get misplaced and they think they broke the phone 😂 I personally had tons of cases of people coming to me to Fix their phone when no fixing was needed, they can't even find simple Setting even if you teach them multiple time. This is also true for PC's also, most people know only to use certain software like Word and Photoshop and nothing else, they can't even uninstall them. This may seem unrealistic to you but it's true.
Smart phones, dumb people.
If they're going to make a linux phone, they should go all the way. Add an HDMI mini port so that this phone could also be used as a desktop computer.
That's the power of USB-C, if it's a proper implementation, you can split out to a USB-C dock and have a full-sized HDMI port. Gardiner has a video of that mostly working.
if you buy a dock (usb-c), in one plug you connect your phone to a dual monitor, charger, mouse&keyboard and all external stuff you have.
Two USB-C ports does everything
@JoJo Rumbies, did u not know that it can already be used as a desktop computer, i mean, he even said in video 3:32 that u can dock it to monitor. and common, everyone know how multipurpose usb-c is with all those phones lacking the headphone jack in 2019. seems to me u were just roasting.
USB-C like what the pinephone uses would be far better
Basically "Google services" ruin everything. Yes, there are plenty of good android alternatives, but many, if not most, essential apps depend om Google services, and that's really the end of it. If I want a more or less flawless experience, away from android, the only option is Apple, and I ain't doing that. However, I'm not doing android either, so what am I to do? Well, I just have to live with the frustrations.
If you're willing to really re-think how you use Android, you can get away from Google services entirely. I run LineageOS without any gapps or microg or any of that stuff. I get all my apps from F-Droid. It actually works extremely well. I've been doing it for years now. (I also have a PinePhone, but I don't use it much at this stage)
can you use microsoft authenticator, teams, outlook, etc.? i need that for work.
then of course i happens often enough, that i have isdues with various web logins, and so on. im not saying it cant work for some, even many, but for me, i just dont see how, and the main issue is google services.
@@FelixNielsen Microsoft Authenticator (as well as Google Authenticator) is really just an app implementing TOTP. You can use any TOTP app for this. F-Droid has "andOTP" if you want something dedicated to this, but my favorite for this use-case is keepassdx on my phone or keepassxc on my computer, since I also use them as my password manager. It's especially nice to have on a PC so you don't have to whip out your phone all the time.
Outlook is email, this should be pretty simple as well. Grab K-9 Mail from F-Droid, sign in. Anything that uses IMAP will work.
Microsoft Teams here is the most tricky, because that's the most proprietary and unique thing. I understand if you're already stuck using it, but I have to say that I would recommend avoiding Teams and other proprietary chat solutions if at all possible. There are some good free software alternatives. Jitsi Meet for video chat, Matrix or XMPP for more traditional chat, and even IRC can work very well these days if you just need text (and believe it or not, often you *do* just need text).
@Cesar Valle Currently a OnePlus 5. I have also used it on a OnePlus 3 and 2.
That is why I installed Termux on my phone to at least have some portion of that on my handheld computer.
That's how easy it is
5:47 Not like GB said "jump through a lot of hoops to get it working on Android"
@@truboxl I think the hoops he meant was the process of rooting your phone. In Termux I couldn't get "sudo" to work and can't see nor enter directories outside of one session directory so it's not the full experience.
get ready, the Linux elitists won't be happy...
This is definitely a specialized channel... Haha, I found this by accident and deeply agree with disgust with other mobile and desktop os. But man is this complex. I need separate software, to install and manage software, and trick(?) said software into running on Linux? I'm not even sure if I understood that correctly. I'd love to go Linux and start selling all my refurbished laptops with Linux os. But I feel I can safely assume this is a passion project not a consumer one.
We are too addicted to our apps to switch now. Might work as a secondary device, but not as a primary device.
You can have apps too.
@@FloydBunsen yes. But not as polished as ios or Android. best we'll get is some emulated android apps or some web apps.
@@hasanbanoon5091 maybe we could get something to get it to play android apps like wine android edition or something
I remember when people laughed at Android phones. Who's laughing now? People like you will help the Hand-held Linux computer (that happens to make calls) market grow.
What provider do you use, or would recommend for the Librem 5?
I just bought my last android. I'm buying one of these linux phones and I'm going to start learning and switching. I give it 1 year until I complately switch. I need to get rid of the google environment dependency.
How about a compare review of the phones?
My biggest issue with switching is the various 2fa apps I have to use for work. I actually got the Brave heart pinephone last year, and I'd like to eventually switch to it, but I need the token apps for work.
5:28 i feel like it isn't the first time you said "objectively terrible in my opinion" lmao
Yeah that's exactly the original thought when smatphones came out. We came a looong way from there... This makes me think perhaps MS had the right idea of converging when they made windows PC version run on mobile devices... but now we experience reverse convergence, in which pc software is getting more like mobile, which may not be good.
Yes yes yes hes one of my kind he likes thicc phones too.Btw can u do a pine phone vs librem ? Its gona be a cool one.
Still not thick as Nokia.
But good enough, at least it has Linux on it. ;-)
I want to see that vs too
As soon as my phone rings when somebody tries to call me... soon.
I would love to see demo of using “phone” as a Desktop with screen
th-cam.com/video/QNls0t4Go68/w-d-xo.html
I’ve been considering ditching my iPhone and I was excited about the Linux option. I clicked on this to hear why I shouldn’t switch but after this I feel you gave even more reasons to give the Pine and try. I run a majority of my business through my phone. I’m new to the Linux world but it sounds like a great place to transition into.
How did it go, conrade?
Well , Linux phone is like libram 5 is still far away from mainstream . And without the mainstream support, the app ecosystem will not devolop .
It's not the geeks who makes a platform it's the noobs who makes the platform .
Right now Linux phones need a cheap option so that it can go in the hands of as many people as possible. Otherwise it will be limited to a very small percentage of people .
Flash a nexus five with UBports, it's pretty easy.
SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS
There's already an ecosystem. It inherits the one from Linux on PC.
I m definitely excited about this device. Ordered one a while ago. Can't wait to explore the world of Linux on a mobile device that fits in my pocket.
That battery life tho.. That battery life :(
Yeah, but that's improving.
"laptop battery low"
it's been years, and they still haven't changed that on phosh...
Are there any open source alternatives to Google maps?
yeah. GNOME has one built-in, I hope they port it soon
How bout making something like this for old people. We really like our privacy, but no one takes the time to show us how. They just assume that you have been doing this all your life. We would really like to learn. Show some of us how.
Not that I would consider myself "old" per se, I do share your frustration with being ignorant of alternative forms of tech. However, I think part of the point of privacy is being able to commit yourself to learning this stuff without relying on others exclusively. I have been slowly preparing to make a move towards Linux and un-shackle myself from Google and the like, my best guess is to start with something like a cheapo raspberry pi and learn the basics from there. I guess what I'm saying is, although it can be confusing, the best way to learn is to just dive in and mess around. No tech angel is going to descend from the heavens to show you how. We on our own, which is kind of the point (privacy). Cheers!
it ain't the hardest. this guy makes it look hard cause he throws jargon. for instance, SSH is a remote desktop client (you can access your computer remotely, but only through the terminal, and only if SSH is set up on the other computer).
I do love both the pinephone as well as the librem 5. Sadly I'm likely never going to be able to use any of these devices because WhatsApp and Audible's app are likely never going to run on either of these phones as long as purism does not create some kind of compatibility layer for Android Apps. On top of that this compatibility layer would have to be able to fake a passed safety net check, since my banking app will not run otherwise. I somehow doubt that whatever methods microg and Magisk are using in order to pass the test are quite legal.
Hahahaha....hahahahahaha! Hahahahaha, hahahaha! Hahahahahahahaha...hahahahaha!
Really enjoyed this! Thank you!
Somehow your video title doesn't do it justice... I'd even say re-upload with a new title (I don't know what)!
P.S.: Why did we settle? Because there were no Linux (cheap) alternative? And most of users already have problems with most simple iOS/android stuff?
Thanks for promoting alternative platforms and helping save speech! LBRY rocks
Well guess I'm getting into Linux.
The term Linux phone is confusing. Any Android phone is a Linux phone by that logic.
The general consensus is that Linux phone means a phone running mainline linux
@@izaicslinux6961 by that definition linux phones don't exist yet
@@atzedanjo3829 Yes they do. The pinephone can boot from mainline Linux.
@@izaicslinux6961 interesting. none of the compatible distributions listed on their site use a mainline kernel by default. I just assumed that there's some patching needed
GLPDA
GNU/Linux Personal Digital Assistant.
1) This was a wicked cool video great points!!
2) You can virtualise Android in a VM to run most of the same apps your smartphone can, but with the convenience of virtual-machine security. Games may lag, but Maps works fine, and having the ability to deny the OS access to the GPS, the modem, network devices, etc - really makes up for that imho. Maybe VM-over-the-network would be possible? Never tried it. Then you wouldn't be tied to ARM.
waiting for the next release. seems promising, I wish risc v succeeds too, to get rid of arm
I'm one of those so-called "tech illiterate" people who actually cares about my privacy and my phone's performance. Would I even be able to operate one of these devices? I know nothing about Linux. Every time I try, I break everything.
"Objectively terrible in my opinion"
Thats what we call an "oxymoron" i believe?
Does regular desktop x86 applications work on the "phones"? And if so, how is the compatibility and performance?
Phones run ARM processors which needs applications compiled under x86 are not compatible.
on the other hand, all applications running under JVM are obviously compatible because JVM runs on ARM
@@dengan699 So that means the team from Manjaro needs to compile them and provide those binaries in the distributions repository? Can I check on my desktop pc (Ubuntu currently) which of the applications from the software center/repository are compatible with ARM processors?
If they're open source apps they're probably available.
@@gardiner_bryant But that does not guarantee the apps could be ported to or run properly. I know that some Distros run under Raspberry Pi too. But where can I inspect the repository for these devices (RPi and smartphone ARM versions)?
@@thingsiplay 1. Go to repo.manjaro.org/
2. Choose one of the mirrors
3. Explore the "arm-stable", "arm-testing" and/or "arm-unstable" directories
(4.) There should be a subdirectory in each of them called "mobile", I believe it's the repo they use for this phone OS
“Friend” 🥺
Used Sailfish OS for a few years, great experience overall. Especially the adblocker. It is a pain being back on Android seeing ads everywhere from the browser to the TH-cam app.
The only issue is the apps ecosystem.... No one wants to reinvent the wheel anymore....
That is why an android layer, like in Sailfish OS, is a pretty good solution. So you can use two ecosystems as long the own ecosystem lacks apps.
It's got literally all the apps you have on desktop PureOS... But done just need a little tweaking
There are a huge number of GTK and Qt desktop apps that can be adapted to run on the Librem 5 and PinePhone with libhandy and Kirigami classes, plus you can run web pages as "web apps" in Phosh and people have already gotten Android apps to run inside Anbox in Phosh, Ubuntu Touch, postmarketOS, Mobian, etc. It will take time, but I see a clear path for mobile Linux to be a viable alternative to Android.
@@amosbatto3051 ok, let me try to explain: Imagine you buy some device for your home, maybe a solar system or something. The manufacturer gives you an app to configure it, but the app is only available in the apple and android store. How do you think will you ever bring manufacturers to the point where they build their apps for 1000trillion shops? That wont happen. So to get around this the open source community has to build its own shop- and appsystem like "harbour / open repos" on Mer, Meego, Sailfish OS or just use the android stuff with an emulation layer like on Sailfish OS. There is no way around that, except you don't want to configure your new bought gadget. There might be a day in the future when all the manufacturers just build web apps, that would be okay too, but right now, we all need the android appsystem when we want a real linux smartphone that can handle everything.
You could just use the regular PC apps.
Oh wow these are way cooler than i thought :) thanks for making me see them in different light :)
When the librem5 has signal im gonna switch
This post talked about having Signal working on the Librem 5, but there was a lot of steps involved : www.reddit.com/r/Purism/comments/k0c8jd/signal_on_the_librem_5_via_axolotl_server_mode/
Because I know that WhatsApp works using Anbox and Signal is very similar to it, I would assume it works using Anbox. But I would also prefer running the native desktop client.
I know nothing about computers, I just want privacy. Is this phone good for people like me? I
i'd argue, the linux phones are the true form of smartphones xD
Does the Pine phone run on Tmobile?
It can
This is why im disappointed that LG didn't do more with webOS. We literally had an OS that could overlay over ANY OS by connecting to a source connection. All they had to do was put multiple display input interfaces on the small motherboards they use for the smart phone device and boom any OS from the onboard storage that boots up would display through the switch of the source with webOS running on top of it all managing the display source and even providing app support through webOS if you did not have app support in the OS you're running. Such a missed opportunity.
I've only recently heard of the existence of non-Android Linux phones. My current phone is and Android phone that I've had for several years now. I've mainly only used it for 3 purposes: 1) as a phone, 2) Text messaging, 3) Calendar app. I had downloaded a few other apps only recently. This has my interest and curiosity. I'll have to look into this, and this is good timing because I've been thinking about getting something newer, but it's still working just fine for my purposes, so I'm in no rush.
I hope that anbox works more reliable in the future. I think getting Android apps (even just those from fdroid) to work on a Linux computer/phone is really important. This would allow a kind of reverse situation to chrome os which now implements support for Ubuntu packages.
Also the touch support in desktop Firefox is terrible. Using the Touchscreen of my laptop to control Firefox is basically not possible which is why I use chromium to watch videos.
Waydroid is getting better hopefully
The problem is that many banks and governments force us to have Android or iOS if we want to use their digital services sometimes, and there's no way around it, which is something quite annoying, considering we should be able to handle all that stuff from our computers, for example. 😟
Sounds good but there needs to be really good documentation about what each and every module does and how it interacts with the wired / wireless communications busses to understand the traffic and whether that traffic is user authorized. Some modules may be their own super-user in the code and have no options for filtering and disabling information exchange and this is where the nefarious code lies.
I think missing out on apps is a big problem. More and more things are only offered as apps (not even as website), and while I just installed an Android Virtualbox on my Ubuntu notebook, even that doesn't work with all apps. I fear it would be even worse trying this on a phone-sized device.
By the way: You should change your password on the Pine phone, 123456 is not the most secure one.
Thank you, you've put words into my frustration. What I want is some kind of miniature computer that can do the job of a phone plus running application (curse that they only work on Android; the same way some games only work on Windows), and which can be taken down to upgrade specific components without having to dump an entire phone.
To put it simply: I want a miniature computer that can phone.
Now, if I could actually decide what I put on it (I don't need a camera).
Gardiner, could you capture and publish some samples of raw video and photos these phones can register?
I'm wondering if they'd be good enough as a secondary camera for making videos.
They are definitely not good phones for taking photos/video. The PinePhone is limited to 5MP photos and currently 1080p@15 video. The cameras currently don't have kernel support on the Librem 5. For more info, see:
source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Frequently-Asked-Questions#27-how-good-will-the-librem-5-cameras-be
@@amosbatto3051 Thank you for sharing this infromation. I expect they'll slowly bring the software support for the hardware up and enable at least 30 FPS 1080p video capture.
As a videomaker who doesn't own a dedicated portable camera, and doesn't have a budget for one I consider my phone an important part of the studio. I'll wait and see. Some people told me a Raspberry Pi with a camera shield can be a better idea for now :D
Pine is out of stock😟 Librem is so expensive! Also what phone company service these?
Great video! Nice to see a comparison of these two phones while I am still waiting for my 2017 Librem 5 preorder to join my two PinePhones (that have been featured on my channel frequently).
wait, LINMOB? How'd you get here? you make FABULOUS content!
@@mecrumbly429___4 Thanks! How I got here? Well, I sort of I must be here for my blog's weekly update on all things Linux Phone ;-)
While I am excited for Linux phones (pocket computers), my only worry is related to using banking apps, all of which currently only get development for android, and in some cases the banking apps have far greater functionality than the online banking platforms for the sake of security so it's not just a case of 'just use the bank website'. Another issue is with whatsapp, the main instant messenger where I live, the desktop version requires that the mobile app is running and connected at all times, if these linux based phones will be running a convergent desktop app, then it probably won't be possible to use them for whatsapp without carrying around an android phone too.
edit: according to another related video about linux phones, there doesn't seem to be gps capability, which I benefit greatly from having just moved to a new city.
It would probably be necessary for them to develop a wine-like compatibility layer or kernel level application support for android apps purely for the banking apps and other applications which have only been commercially developed for android.
The only way I see linux phones taking a foothold in the market and convincing people they are better is to have greater functionality than they're used to, if they have to give up on some of their favourite apps and convenient banking to make the switch then they will probably stick to android or iphone to maintain the functionality they are used to.
I will be trying the Pine Phone, I'm used to the shape and size. Awsome video!!!
Is it possible to install KVM? If so, if there's an android app that you REALLY want, you could just run android in a virtual machine!
Is there a possibility for the devs to make SPENs compatible with the screens? If so, I'm going to start investing in this.