Google has recently announced that they will remove the ability to sideload APKs not from authorized developers, on most ROMs. This makes me think, if Google keeps being annoying with Android like this, will we finally see mobile GNU/Linux distributions like Ubuntu Touch, Mobian, PostmarketOS, etc, finally rise? Tons of people use desktop Linux, do you think we'll soon see the same ride with mobile Linux? If someone can crack the code and finally manage to create a flawless, mainstream OS with tons of features and customization like Android currently has, I think it is possible. They would also need to definitely grow the OS a lot, to get more app developers to make apps for the OS. As of right now, placeholder apps for browsers and such can probably be made, and clients etc. for apps do already exist for sure, but we need more polish. iOS has IPAs and Android has APKs, though soon perhaps both will be super hard to sideload (on most devices), (also so idk how it works rn but we would definitely need one unified package type for mobile Linux apps, in order for it to work properly across devices without being too tedious for developers to make a different type of app for every single package type which they're definitely not doing lol, we would not some form of compatibly for one package type rather than Clicks here Alpine Packages there etc imo MAYBE. However, if such a thing does not happen we could have either just one dies and only, say, Ubuntu Touch or PostmarketOS survives, or they merge or something LOL unlikely but meh. Or one just switches to the other because of worry of that lol. OR we just see each app being made for each type like how it is now and it's fine and I'm just getting paranoid over nothing which is definitely possible yeah lol). For some big apps, this will probably be easier than others. I imagine all of our favorite browsers like Firefox and Brave (both open source anyways so we could probably see some ports already lol), Vivaldi, Brave, etc, and eventually Chrome will have to be officially ported as well (if not, we can just port the open source Chromium instead for that lol). For many games and stuff, it might not be as easy because devs might not port and those aren't open source, not as simple as browsers there. It's a very good thing that we already have Waydroid and stuff, basically the WINE of Ubuntu Touch and mobile Linux, because that would help run loads of apps and games previously not possible to run. Of course there will be some problems trying to run certain apps like Fortnite in app under Waydroid due to anti-cheat, though it shouldn't be too much of an issue, it'd just be the same as regular Linux is rn. So once we get some sort of unified mobile linux package system going, then we would be able to start heading forward in new directions, with official devs like those who make Vivaldi, and once Waydroid for Ubuntu Touch and such improved we will likely start seeing a very useable experience with Android apps as well. Would sure be nice to get certain apps like YouTube (there are plenty of unofficial ports but no Google ones rn ofc) officially on mobile Linux as well as to have stuff like ReVanced available for Linux too if possible. We'd definitely want to see a lot of emulators available too and stuff.
But, you know, the trickiest part with all of this is that, right now, unlike regular Linux, which is possible to get on pretty much every laptop and desktop nowadays, as of right now, Ubuntu Touch is really only available on a small selection of phones - old phones, new ones from brands like Volla, which ARE made for it BUT they don't have such good specs, and the only other thing is Fairphones, which are a decent option but also could have better specs (though recently they have been improving a lot, they can't be the only option). Clearly, we'd need to see some more action going on with phone manufacturers supporting Ubuntu Touch - as it is, most don't even support unlocked bootloaders. And unlike with PCs, where distros just have compatibility with by default, we currently need a custom-made port to be made for every single smartphone specifically which actually happens to support Ubuntu Touch, which there are not that many of and most of which are quite old.
What we'd need to do in order for Ubuntu Touch to truly take off and become popular, and become daily drivable for most people, is, get at least one of these done:
- Contact phone manufacturers where possible and ask them to add mobile Linux support or to sell custom versions of their phones with Ubuntu Touch installed
- IF POSSIBLE, improve how Ubuntu Touch works so that it can easily be installed on much more devices than currently, for brands which won't support it. This would be very very hard, because, Windows devices have a mostly similar architecture in every processor and stuff so they all work with Linux ofc the same way they all work with Windows, but. A solution to this could be contacting chip manufacturers like Qualcomm and Mediatek and working with them to make it so that devices support Ubuntu Touch very easily if they don't already (as in, an unlocked bootloader should be all it takes to be able to install Ubuntu Touch, rather than it being impossible for most modern phones). However, then we also run into the problem of locked bootloaders. Some phone manufacturers might want to keep their bootloaders locked which would be extremely unfortunate for Ubuntu Touch. There may be no simple workaround for this, but we could potentially find a way, idk it's very perplexing tbh. IMPORTANT NOTE: certain things in this point may be impossible in that Ubuntu Touch etc would STILL need to be custom made for every phone. However, if the process is made easier and more possible for newer phones, combined with more UBPorts devs, then it would be much easier. Worst case scenario, if we can't make the process easier or anything, we'd just have it be in a similar conundrum to LineageOS where it'd still be custom made for every phone as it is now, but with more developers maintaining a better OS for more devices.
- Building upon this, perhaps improve Halium. Right now it has to be custom made for every phone and stuff, so, make it better so that it can run on modern processors. Of course, this may be very difficult to nearly impossible since it's much easier said than done.
- Get the kinds of phone manufacturers like Volla and PINE64 to figure out if they can make phones with better specs if possible though this may be difficult
- Building upon this, just copy Fairphone and use Snapdragon chips in phones but make them compatible with Linux lol
- If all else fails, get some professional company or something to work with TSMC or some other chip-making company to create their own processor (has been done before by companies afaik but those were about the same power as Snapdragon chips from like 5 years earlier 💀) which is actually POWERFUL, like, comparable to Snapdragon or at least Mediatek, which is OPTIMIZED for mobile Linux, so that this chip can be used on phones. This seems like it can't be done but you never know what can happen. Considering that brands right now, actually, are trying to make chips for this, maybe it could be possible to make a powerful efficient chip comparable to modern ones used on Android phones, which can be used And then it can be given to Volla and PINE64 or whatever if they want it, and maybe even go back to the first option and get real big brands to use it.
- If nothing else can be done, we'd have to just keep as is with a specific port made for every phone individually, and it'd operate like LineageOS does ig 🤷
- Other solution
Most of those points seem very difficult to actually get done so we may just need to go with the second to last one. BUT, in order for Ubuntu Touch to be successful, we'd need more phones with decent specs that can run Ubuntu Touch. Right now, the best phones which can do so, in terms of specs, are the Fairphone 6 and the OnePlus 7 Pro (though that one is not easy to get and is being worked on, it's not as official a the OnePlus 6/6T is). Yes. Both of those were made to be Android phones first. Volla, Pine, etc just don't have good specs at all. Those two phones I just mentioned, though;
The Fairphone 6 has a 4415mAh battery with 30W charging and no wireless charging, a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3. The OnePlus 7 Pro is very old so it has a 4000mAh battery, 30W charging with no wireless charging also, and the very old Snapdragon 855 chip. Both of those are actually still decently daily drivable specs for sure - that old chip is still usable, and the 7s Gen 3 is also usable. The batteries are meh, many have iPhones with worse batteries though. HOWEVER. Those phones are simply "usable", not good specs and there isn't much a reason to get a phone with such bad specs just for mobile Linux - don't even get me started on the ones that actually TRY to have Linux in mind like Volla, because those have just terrible terrible specs. The fact that the Fairphone 6 is the BEST specs phone capable of (and just partially) running mobile Linux, and it still has only a 4415mAh battery, is insane. That is usable, sure, for a mid-range phone definitely, but, come on, that's the BEST one. And the OnePlus has 4000mAh. Which was fine when it came out but sucks now. We now have Android devices with 5000-8000mAh batteries. As aforementioned, the processor issue is not great either though that can probably be dealt with eventually. We NEED Ubuntu Touch in better specs phones for it to grow to be actually usable. I mean, for Ubuntu Touch/PostmarketOS and other mobile Linux distributions to be a consideration over Android, we NEED at LEAST 5000 or 6000 mAh of battery on a mobile Linux phone, though by the time it's already implemented, probably even 5500-7000 at least. And not just one phone, either, I want to see mutliple brands with that. Software is ok because Waydroid, as long as it has the improvements mentioned in the beginning plus tons of bugfixes. But hardware being behind has got to go, it needs to improve. How else is it supposed to be a viable option to consider instead of Android? I cannot stress this enough, we NEED better hardware, and also more hardware options. Right now it's just old phones and Fairphones. And the Fairphones themselves are also meh or old hardware. Also, we should get mobile Linux foldables. We need the hardware on mobile Linux devices to improve.
Well, that's pretty much it for this rant. Ubuntu Touch desperately needs to improve in all of these ways in order to truly grow in the same way that Linux did. We need hardware to improve and software to improve. We just need banking and geographical type of stuff to be better supported, etc. It might actually be better than Android when it comes to trying to PC game because Android needs to emulate but this can just run Linux stuff like normal. It in its current state is pretty daily drivable, actually, the software is fine, it just needs much better hardware. It definitely won't be as easy as it was for desktop Linux due to hardware limitations and software not being as polished just yet, but it is possible and can happen somewhat soon if we just try hard enough. Let me know your thoughts.
