As I was working my upcoming #FOSDEM talk "The Linux Phone App Ecosystem" (https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/VH3GYN-linux-phone-app-ecosystem-2026/) I thought: Maybe I should ask my followers..
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Please (at least for the talk) keep it focused on apps - I'll have 25 minutes, minus Q&A effectively 20 minutes, so I must focus.
(Camera stuff, e.g., is so device/OS specific, that it cannot realistically be in scope.) -
@linmob as a mobile app dev, with a fresh Linux port (flutter), how do I get it published and available for use? It’s unclear and seems a bit daunting (ie. «learn a bunch about flatpak and flathub and somehow get it published there») when compared to the (relative) ease of publishing to gplay, appstore and fdroid. Speaking for myself, I’ve done the porting over 6 mo ago, but it’s not yet *available* because of this.
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@linmob I have noticed on my #flx1 that the apps with gpu accelerated UI are a lot smoother, largest difference is Gnome Web vs Firefox but it's also noticeable within Gnome apps if they use the newer accelerated UI elements already. Would be interesting to know how many apps of the ecosystem already use gpu acceleration (via the toolkit usually) and how to identify them.
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@rasumi I can try to add a tangent about that, but in general, since it also depends on what the specific device supports (GL ES 2 or 3 or 4, etc.) is maybe better as an addition to the docs on https://linuxphoneapps.org/docs/.
In general: GTK3 is not accelerated, Flutter, Qt and GTK4 are. Of course there's more https://linuxphoneapps.org/frameworks/, where I have no idea. -
@zerodogg If you need help with appstream metadata, I am happy to help with that.
Otherwise, not being a (flutter) developer, the best I can do is point you to other flutter apps published on flathub - just looking at how others do it is often helpful IMO. https://github.com/flathub/com.adilhanney.ricochlime/tree/master would be a recent one, using the latest freedesktop runtime.
cc @flathub -
Is there any mobile ready email client? I tried Geary when the PPP first came out. It seemed... almost, kinda ready, but not yet.
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@Blort I use Thunderbird with mobile-config-thunderbird since that is a thing.
I have been using Thunderbird on the desktop for a long time, I just moved my profile over, and ... not having to set up a bunch of accounts is always great.
Setup dialogs and search aren't mobile friendly with m-c-t, but the rest works well enough since.
Other than that, the email situation is still not great, Phosh/GNOME have Geary and some nascent pre-release stuff, Plasma Mobile has 'still shipped without a launcher' Merkuro Mail (IIRC, receiving mails only)... and then there's Dekko from Ubuntu Touch that (unless I am really wrong) is packaged in Debian these days. Oh, and there's DeltaChat, which some people reportedly use as a mail app, too. -
@linmob as someone who has recently become interested in mobile Linux, I'd like to know your predictions for the near future of it. Do you think it is growing quickly and may reach daily driveability similar to desktop Linux soon? Or do you air on a more cautious side and believe adoption outside of hobbyists is a long ways away? I'd also just like to know your go-to's - apps, distros, DE's.
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@wombatpandaa I've had a poor record with predictions as podcast co-host, so ... I also think I am maybe following LinuxMobile almost too closely and in it for too long to say - when you're not new to it, it's hard to get an objective idea of how hard it may be for people new to it - it's been too long since I had the opportunity to talk to people who just got into it.
What matters most to me is that the niche survives, and I am positive on that lately. Daily driveabilty has been challenged with the advent on VoLTE, and overall, projects are making that work when mobile networks allow the device to connect (and if that's not the case, e.g., solutions like XMPP calling with jmp.chat for the US exist).
There are other not as core phone use-cases where such successes are unlikely though, take stuff like wireless payments, mobile government ID apps, or, for those who need it, hearing aids or continuous glucose monitors that require apps. Accessibility is also not great.
Not accounting for these, how big the gap to the magical "ready for normies" point differs from project to project - Ubuntu Touch, SailfishOS, postmarketOS, Mobian all have different strenghts and weaknesses. And it also really depends on what users expect.
My go tos are postmarketOS and Phosh, ... regarding apps: I started drafting a "My Linux Phone Setup" post in late December, and unfortunately won't be able to realistically finish it before FOSDEM/early February, in all likelyhood. -
I use TB on desktop as well, but it's a pretty heavy app even there. Does this not chew through ram and battery at an alarming rate given the lack of advanced powermanagement on current mobile Linux?
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@Blort It may, but ... you know, you can just close Thunderbird (and a OnePlus 6 has 8GB Ram). Why bother with email notifications when you are too busy to read/answer them most of time anyway?
