Linux@lemmy.mlbydontblink@feddit.it
6 hours

Would it be possible to dumb down a linux phone?

English

Regardless of the distribution, would it be possible to have a phone that can be simplified to include only the features you want? For example, I would only want a calendar, notes, a calculator, calls and messages. I wouldn’t want a browser, an app store or any other way to easily install them. Is this possible on a Linux mobile distro? Does it require a lot of work, like making a specific distro for it?

Linux feels like a great option for this because it can leave enough freedom to dumb down what you don’t need while also keeping a big level of customization, not everyone needs are the same regarding to dumbphones

15
    • utopiah@lemmy.ml
      1 hour

      Yes, I have a PinePhone and PinePhone Pro both with PostMarketOS so doing this is as easy as few sudo apk add packagename or sudo apk del firefox.

      Now… if you want a daily driver then as few others hinted at, it’s much harder. I would instead, if deGoogle Android is an acceptable compromise for you, get a 2nd hand Pixel 8 or above, install GrapheneOS on it, remove the browser and that’s pretty much it already since it doesn’t come with an app store or equivalent. Well, there’s the GrapheneOS equivalent but there are ~10 apps on it at most last time I checked.

    • uuj8za@piefed.socialEnglish
      3 hours

      I just started experimenting with SailfishOS, a Linux (non-Android) OS for phones. It’s got an app store, but since it’s not Android the app selection is pretty limited. I was actually wondering if this could be a compromise between full smartphone and full dumbphone.

      I am able to run some Android apps, by installing them through F-Droid, like Bitwarden, but it seems like I wouldn’t be able to install Facebook I think? Idk. Literally just got this SailfishOS phone from Jolla Devices yesterday.

    • tomalley8342@lemmy.world
      6 hours

      The fact that you don’t want an easy way to install apps outside of the initial deployment but (presumably) want an easy way to update your pre-existing apps would probably give you some trouble because they usually come from the same source. There are ways to blocklist or whitelist packages on some package managers but the specific details depends on the package manager.

      • MrSoup@lemmy.zip
        5 hours

        Remove the store app and replace it with a daemon which does the updates in background.

        • HouseWolf@pawb.socialEnglish
          5 hours

          If it’s a pure Linux phone then apps would be installed through the command line and could be easily auto updated via a script.

          So if you don’t install a terminal emulator on the phone itself and only access the command line through something like SSH. You wouldn’t have to worry about an app store at all ideally?

    • Zak@lemmy.world
      5 hours

      Yes, it’s possible. Some things might be challenging, like keeping the system up to date without the user having access to an app repository, but it’s possible e.g. by running a script as a cron job.

      Whether it’s a good idea is harder to say. Linux distributions for phones are not especially mature and polished compared to desktop Linux. You might get better advice if you explain why you want to do this and who the intended user is.

    • chgxvjh [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      5 hours

      Does it require a lot of work, like making a specific distro for it?

      With phones you are basically making specific distributions for each device anyway.

    • Peer@discuss.tchncs.de
      6 hours

      It will be hard to find a Linux phone that does those things well as a daily driver.

      • 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘬@lemmy.ml
        2 hours

        It’s already hard to find an actually fully working Linux phone that is even close to being a daily driver.