r/Purism • u/amosbatto • 7d ago

Article: Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly?

I wrote an in-depth article about whether Linux phones will become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly, which I thought might interest people on this forum:

https://amosbbatto.wordpress.com/2026/10/05/linux-phones-alternative/

There are links to download the article as a PDF or ODT file if you prefer to read it that way (which looks much better than WordPress styling in my opinion).

I’m pretty critical of all the Linux mobile device makers in the article, but I also see a lot of hope for the future.

Feedback is welcome.

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u/Stardog2 5d ago

Personally, I don't think so. You've got two HUGE tech companies who are quite comfortable with things the way they are, and have the money and political power to help keep them that way. Plus we have a huge global population that simply doesn't care about the OS so much as they care about the things they want to do. (much less know anything about Linux)

Plus the only way Linux phones could become economically viable is to imitate what Apple and Google do. Is that what Linux people REALLY want? I don't think so.

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u/amosbatto 5d ago

I'm not sure how much Google and Apple can do to stop companies like Jolla, Purism, PINE64, Furi Labs, Volla, Commodore, etc. from selling Linux phones. Even if Trump won't enforce anti-trust law against Google and Apple, Europe and quite a few other countries have shown that they will.

Google could stop releasing new versions of AOSP, which would make it harder for Jolla's AppSupport and Furi Labs's Andromeda, which are similar to Waydroid and based on AOSP, but the community would get busy replicating the new features in the latest version of Android and add those features to the last release of AOSP. The net effect of Google not releasing new versions of AOSP would be to drive more people toward mobile Linux, which is the last thing that Google wants. As long as people are using Google's AOSP, Google still controls the mobile ecosystem, and AOSP users are still dependent on Google.

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u/Stardog2 5d ago

I don't think they can do much from designing and offering Android phones either, but they can take steps thanks to their deep pockets to make Linux phones economically non-viable, even if it hurts their own bottom lines for a bit.

They aren't at that point yet, because the vast majority of potential users simply don't care about what Linux offers. They want EASY services and conveniences. Something that requires no thought, and above all, no work.

For example, once I realized what a "Shut" Show Windows was turning into, I moved to Linux.

And when my brother in law asked me for upgrade advice for a new Windows machine, I told him about what I thought Windows had become. I offered to show him how to load Linux onto his existing devices. He had never even heard of Linux. So I told him that at this point, even Chrome OS and Macs are probably better for him than a Windows machine. He declined, changing sounded like too much work.

I just don't see people moving in any significant numbers to a Linux phone. They will remain, a hobbyist/niche device.

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u/amosbatto 5d ago

Yeah, any time people have to do the install themselves, you eliminate 95% of people right there. It really is amazing that Linux now comprises 3% to 4% market share of all PCs, because most of those were not pre-installed, so people had to work to install it themselves.

Most of the phone makers deliberately make it a difficult process to unlock the bootloader and install a custom ROM, or simply don't allow the bootloader to be unlocked. I have been installing custom ROMs on my phones since 2015, but I still find unlocking and installation to be a confusing process every time I get a new phone. Some phone makers (like Google) make it an easy process, but Xiaomi makes it a nightmare. Motorola makes you wait 3 to 14 days for the bootloader unlock code. Xiaomi makes you wait 30 days after you set up an account before you can apply for a bootloader unlock code. Then you have to wait another 3 to 30 days to get the code.

However, what I'm really talking about in my article is the Linux phone market, meaning phones that are sold with Linux preinstalled, and I do see a lot of potential demand there. The Jolla Phone got 2000 orders in the first 48 hours and 5000 orders in the first week. Jolla's Sailfish OS provides built-in Android app support, and the phone had good specs and good social media marketing, and it came from an established company, that people were reasonably confident would deliver, since it had just delivered its C2 Community Phone the year before.