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From F-Droid to emulators, here's who's hit hardest by Android's new verification rules
(www.androidauthority.com)
this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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Linux phones have already been around for many years. Right now we're very close to Linux phones that are usable on a daily basis. Not as close to decent Linux phones, of course, but with the right (not at all unrealistic) resources it could be completely within reach in a year or two.
Also, Flatpaks exist and work pretty much just like Android apps.
I made a full comment in this thread. The bottomline is
It all takes years.
Linux phones are around for enthusiasts since Nokia N900 (which was/is a masterpiece) — yet nothing is remotely close to a mainstream phone.
When I hear 'mainstream phone', in my mind I picture an iPhone or a Samsung. So yeah, Linux phones are definitely not achieving that this decade. Though personally I don't think they necessarily need to, at all.
Point 4 is probably not happening any time soon, if ever, either. Rest is slowly being done and progressing, so I'm not seeing any major problems there.
I don't think anyone realistically expects a Linux phone to compete with an iPhone in terms of ease of use, quality of life features or UI/UX. As far as I've seen, people just want a decent phone with basic functionalities like long battery life, good camera, easy to use and smooth UI, maps and navigation. All while being more private and secure, of course.
Mainstream phone as in "I don't need to debug it via terminal"
The issue I'm pointing at: safe, long battery life, snappy maps while driving is what took AOSP more than 5 years.
It would be very unfortunate to discard all that work and start from scratch.