List of open-source mobile phones

Mobile/desktop convergence: the Librem 5 open-source mobile, when connected to a keyboard, screen, and mouse, runs as a desktop computer.

This is a list of mobile phones with open-source operating systems.

Scope of the list

Phones sold with Ubuntu Touch

Cellular modem and other firmware

4 USB ports, headphone jack, MicroHDMI

The Dragonbox Pyra contains only one proprietary blob (GPU driver), but the Mobile (phone) Edition has more

Some hardware components used in phones require drivers (or firmware) to run. For many components, only proprietary drivers are available^[1] (open source phones usually seek components with open drivers.^{[citation needed]}) If firmware is not updatable and does not have control over any other part of the phone, it might be considered equivalent to part of the hardware. However, these conditions do not hold for cellular modems.^[1]

As of 2019^[update], all available mobile phones have a proprietary baseband chip (GSM module, cellular modem),^[2][3][4] except for the Necuno, which has no such chip and communicates by peer-to-peer VOIP.^[5][6] The modem is usually integrated with the system-on-a-chip and the memory.^[4] This presents security concerns; baseband attacks can read and alter data on the phone remotely.

The Librem 5 mobile segregates the modem from the system and memory, making it a separate module, a configuration rare in modern cellphones.^[3][4] There is an open-source baseband project, OsmocomBB.

Operating system: middleware and user interface

Family tree of Maemo

Generally, the phones included on this list contain copyleft software other than the Linux kernel, and minimal closed-source component drivers (see section above).

• Android-based devices do not appear on this list because of the heavy use of proprietary components, particularly drivers and applications.^[7][1][8]
• There are numerous versions of Android which seek to replace the proprietary components, such as LineageOS (successor to the now-defunct^[9][10] Cyanogenmod) and Replicant, that can be installed on a large number of phones after-market. There are also devices using Ubuntu Touch and Droidian which are using GNU/Linux and Android hardware adaptation layer Halium.^[11] Phones natively running these are included.
• There are multiple projects to implement mainline Linux on mobile phones. Mobian is an open-source project focusing on Debian GNU/Linux on mobile devices.^[12] postmarketOS is based on the Alpine Linux.^[13] Arch Linux ARM based Manjaro is focusing on PinePhone hardware.^[14]
• WebOS (LG Electronics) was initially available only under a proprietary license but the source code was later released under a free permissive license by HP. Open WebOS will not run on all WebOS devices. LuneOS is Halium based fork of WebOS.^[15]
• Firefox OS was released under a permissive MIT license but its KaiOS successor is proprietary; the former is included.
• All Maemo, Meego and Sailfish OS devices running open Maemo Leste or Mer middleware are included. Tizen devices are not included.
• Open QTMoko/OpenMoko phones of Qt Extended are included to the list.

Note that it is often possible to install a wide variety of open-source operating systems on any open-source phone; the higher-level software is designed to be largely interchangeable and independent of the hardware.^[16]

Devices with formal support

Model	Organization	Mobile operating system	Operating system support	Date released (or cancelled)	Current state	List Price
SHIFTphone 8	Shiftphone	ShiftOS (Android 14),[17] postmarketOS	Yes	2023[18]	pre-order	€699
Fairphone 5	Fairphone	Fairphone OS (Android, not open-source), CalyxOS, /e/OS (Murena), iodéOS, postmarketOS[1]	Yes	2023[19]	Shipping	€699
Volla Phone X23	Hallo Welt Systeme UG	Volla OS (based on Android Open Source Project), Ubuntu Touch, multiboot option[20]	Yes	May 2023[20]	Shipping	€564
Mudita Pure	Mudita[21]	MuditaOS (GPLv3, based on FreeRTOS)[22]	Yes	2022	shipping used handsets[2]	$370 ($310 used from manufacturer)
uConsole (mobile option)	ClockworkPi	Debian, Ubuntu, or Raspberry Pi OS;[23] Debian-based Clockwork OS]][3], OS can be swapped by swapping an SD card[4]	Yes	2022	Shipping[5]	$139-$209 (1-6 CPU cores, 1-4GB RAM), +$50 for mobile extension[6][7][8]
Volla Phone 22	Hallo Welt Systeme UG	Volla OS (based on Android Open Source Project), Ubuntu Touch, Droidian[24]	Yes	2022[25]	Shipping	€452
PinePhone Pro[26]	Pine64	Manjaro Linux with KDE's Plasma Mobile by default;[27]	Yes. 20+ other (mostly Linux) operating systems can be swapped[28] by swapping an SD card.[29]	2021-12[30]	Shipping	$399
F(x)tec Pro^1 X[31]	FX Technology Limited.	Ubuntu Touch, Droidian, LineageOS or Android	?	2022-07[32]	shipping[32]	$899
Volla Phone X	Hallo Welt Systeme UG	Volla OS (based on Android Open Source Project), Ubuntu Touch[33]	Yes	2021[34]	Shipping
Fairphone 4	Fairphone	/e/OS, CalyxOS, DivestOS, IodéOS, LineageOS, PostmarketOS, Ubuntu Touch	[35]	2020 4Q	Shipping	€529
DragonBox Pyra Mobile Edition[36]	OpenPandora GmbH [37]	Debian[36]	Yes	2020-12 (started shipping pre-orders)	shipping pre-ordered backlog[9]	€600/€626 (2/4GB RAM)
Volla Phone[38]	Hallo Welt Systeme UG	Volla OS (based on Android Open Source Project), Ubuntu Touch, Droidian or Sailfish OS	Yes	2020-11	Shipping
Fairphone 3+	Fairphone	/e/OS, DivestOS, LineageOS, Ubuntu Touch	[35]	2020 3Q	sale discontinued, but supported
Librem 5[39]	Purism	PureOS, a Debian derivative developed by Purism for their mobiles	PureOS has a lifetime support guarantee	2019-11[40][41]	Shipping[42]
PinePhone[43]	Pine64	Beta "Braveheart" Edition had a choice of user-installed OS;[44] Later "Community Editions" sold from June 15, 2020 to February 2, 2021, each of which donated $10/phone to the developer community that wrote the OS it shipped with.[45][46][47] Subsequently, Pinephones all shipped with Manjaro and Plasma Mobile.	Yes. Twenty-odd different operating systems[46] can be user-installed as of March 2021^[update]; OS can be swapped by swapping out an SD card.	2019-11	Shipping	$199
Fairphone 3	Fairphone	/e/OS, DivestOS, LineageOS, Ubuntu Touch	[35]	2019 3Q	sale discontinued, but supported
Gemini PDA	Planet Computers	Android, Debian, Sailfish OS		2018	Discontinued
GTA04 based motherboard, fitting inside the shell of a Nokia N900.	Neo900	QtMoko, Debian, SHR (Stable Hybrid Release), Replicant		2018-03 (last updated)	Stalled[48]
Pop Mirage Cyanogen	Alcatel Mobile	CyanogenMod[49]	Discontinued	01-11-2016	Discontinued
Meizu PRO 5 Ubuntu Edition	Meizu	Ubuntu Touch	UBports, community-driven[50]	2016-02	Discontinued[51]
Zuk Z1	Lenovo	CyanogenMod[52]	Discontinued	2015	Discontinued
Andromax Q	Smartfen	CyanogenMod[53]	Discontinued	2015	Discontinued
Fairphone 2	Fairphone	Fairphone Open OS, /e/OS, LineageOS, Ubuntu Touch	[35]	2015 3Q	sale discontinued, but supported
Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition	Meizu	Ubuntu Touch	UBports, community-driven[50]	2015-07	Discontinued[51]
BQ Aquaris E5 HD Ubuntu Edition	BQ	Ubuntu Touch	UBports, community-driven[50]	2015-06	Discontinued
BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition	BQ	Ubuntu Touch	UBports, community-driven[50]	2015-02	Discontinued
BQ Aquaris X5 Cyanogen Edition	BQ	CyanogenMod,[54] PostmarketOS[55]	PostmarketOS, community driven	2015	Discontinued
Wileyfox Storm	Wileyfox	CyanogenMod[56]	Discontinued	2015	Discontinued
Wileyfox Swift	Wileyfox	CyanogenMod[57]PostmarketOS[58]	PostmarketOS, community-driven	2015	Discontinued
YU Yureka YU Yureka Plus	YU Televentures (Micromax Informatics)	CyanogenMod[59]	Discontinued	2015	Discontinued
YU Yuphoria	YU Televentures (Micromax Informatics)	CyanogenMod[60]	Discontinued	2015	Discontinued
OnePlus One	OnePlus	CyanogenMod[61]	Discontinued	2014	Discontinued
GeeksPhone Revolution	GeeksPhone	Firefox OS	Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS	2014	Discontinued
GeeksPhone Peak+	GeeksPhone	Firefox OS	Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS	2013-11 (cancellation)[62]	Cancelled[62]
Alcatel One Touch Fire	Alcatel	Firefox OS	Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS	2013-07	Discontinued
ZTE Open	ZTE	Firefox OS	Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS	2013-07	Discontinued
GeeksPhone Keon	GeeksPhone	Firefox OS	Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS	2013-04-23	Discontinued
GeeksPhone Peak	GeeksPhone	Firefox OS	Discontinued; formerly developed by the Mozilla Foundation under the Mozilla Public License, later proprietized as KaiOS	2013-04-23	Discontinued
GTA04	Golden Delicious	QtMoko, Debian, SHR (Stable Hybrid Release), Replicant		2012-04	"Currently not in stock"
Developer phone	Aava mobile	MeeGo	Discontinued	2011	Discontinued (was available to developers only)[63]
N950	Nokia	MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan	Discontinued; formerly hosted by the Linux Foundation	2011	Discontinued (available to developers only)
N9	Nokia	MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan	Discontinued; formerly hosted by the Linux Foundation	2011	Discontinued
N900	Nokia	Maemo 5 (Fremantle) (some proprietary components until Maemo Leste)	Discontinued	2009-11-11	Discontinued
Neo FreeRunner (code name GTA02)	OpenMoko	Openmoko/QTMoko Linux, Debian, SHR (Stable Hybrid Release), Gentoo (all Linux-based), Inferno^[clarification needed]^[citation needed]		2008-06-24	Discontinued
Neo 1973 (code name GTA01)	OpenMoko	Openmoko Linux (Linux-based)		2007-07-09	Discontinued
Eten G500[64]	E-TEN	GPE Palmtop Environment		2006	Discontinued, developer phone
Greenphone[65]	Trolltech	Qtopia		2006	Discontinued, developer phone

Devices with 3rd party support

Model	Organization	Mobile operating system	Operating system support	Date released (or cancelled)	Current state
SHIFT6mq	SHIFT	Shift-OS (Android), postmarketOS[66]	partial mainline Linux support	2021	shipping
XFone Mobile Pro (re-launched Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro with Ubuntu Touch)	SageTea	Ubuntu Touch	UBports, community-driven[50]	2022-01-19 (originally 2019)	Shipping
XFone Mobile (re-launched Google Pixel 3a with Ubuntu Touch)	SageTea	Ubuntu Touch	UBports, community-driven[50]	2021-06-19 (originally 2019)	Shipping
OnePlus 6, OnePlus 6T	OnePlus	multiple	partial mainline Linux support[67][68]	2018-05-21	Discontinued, used market
Pocophone F1	Xiaomi	multiple	partial mainline Linux support[69]	2018-08-22	Discontinued, used markets
Snapdragon 410/412 based phones	multiple	postmarketOS	partial mainline Linux support[70]		Discontinued

Distributions for existing phones

KDE Plasma Mobile running on postmarketOS on the Nexus 5

postmarketOS, Ubports, and KDE Neon are open-source distributions running on existing smartphones originally running Android. Maemo Leste is available for Nokia N900 and Motorola Droid 4.

There exists a database listing which older phones will run which open-source operating systems.^[71][72]

Custom-made phones

A CircuitMess Ringo phone, running a video game.

It is possible to home-build a phone from partially open hardware and software.^[73][74] The Arduinophone^[74] (touchscreen) and the MIT DIY Cellphone (segmented display)^[75][76] both use the Arduino open-hardware single-board computer, with added components. Circuitmess Ringo (previously MakerPhone) is another DIY Arduino phone with open source firmware^[77] and available schematics,^[78] focusing on education. The PiPhone,^[79] ZeroPhone^[80] and OURphone^[81] are similar, but based on the Raspberry Pi.

The main components to make an open mobile phone are:

• Back cover
• Touch screen
• Battery
• Logic board

Another notable mention would be Paxo Phone at paxo.fr

See also

• Comparison of open-source mobile phones (features)
• List of open-source hardware projects

References

1. Stallman, Richard (19 September 2011). "Is Android really free software? – Google's smartphone code is often described as 'open' or 'free' – but when examined by the Free Software Foundation, it starts to look like something different". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2012. the software of Android versions 1 and 2 was mostly developed by Google; Google released it under the Apache 2.0 license, which is a lax free software license without copyleft. ... The version of Linux included in Android is not entirely free software, since it contains non-free "binary blobs"... Android is very different from the GNU/Linux operating system because it contains very little of GNU.
2. Welte, Harald (5 February 2010). "OsmocomBB Project Rationale". Retrieved 26 September 2013. Every mobile device that is connected to a cellular network runs some kind of baseband processor with highly proprietary and closed-source firmware.
3. Amadeo, Ron (26 September 2019). "Purism's Librem 5 phone starts shipping—a fully open GNU/Linux phone". Ars Technica. Retrieved 8 October 2019. Purism actually couldn't find an open provider for the cellular modem, so the best it could do was isolate it from the rest of the system in an M.2 slot.
4. FaerberCTO, Nicole (4 September 2018). "Progress update from the Librem 5 hardware department". Purism. The cellular modem is arguably the most complex part of a mobile phone. The modem is the component that has to implement all the familiar protocols you would associate with a phone (like 2G, 3G, 4G and the upcoming 5G). It does so by running its own proprietary black box operating system. The cellular modem is also covered by thousands of patents held by hundreds of patent owners. Now imagine this… This cellular modem sits right on the same RAM bus as the SoC! Non-free software not only has access to the data flowing to and from the SoC, but also has the ability to modify it. Because this modem operating system is a propreitary black box, we have no idea what this component does or what kind of vulnerabilities it has... The situation is further complicated by the fact that during our research into cellular modems, we realized that there are only a handful of silicon vendors in the world that make these chipsets and nearly all of them integrate their model with the SoC on the same bus. In addition, you historically need to acquire a license to run the proprietary firmware to power the modem on SoCs.. This left us with only one choice: to use ready-made modem "modules" and our own layout that isolates the modem from the SoC. There are a number of these modem modules available in different form factors with various available options in speed, bands, etc. By going the module route we can both provide supplier choice in modems that meet our strict standards, and also allow modem isolation from the RAM and host CPU.(text is CC-by-SA 4.0)
5. Aufranc, Jean-Luc (30 November 2018). "Necuno Mobile Open Source Linux Smartphone is Powered by NXP i.MX 6 Processor". CNX Software - Embedded Systems News.
6. "Necunos - Redefining Mobile Security". Necuno Solutions.
7. Android (operating system)#Licensing "drivers and firmware vital for the proper functioning of Android devices are usually proprietary"
8. Stallman, Richard (5 August 2012). "Android and Users' Freedom – Support the Free Your Android campaign". gnu.org. Retrieved 9 September 2012. Even though the Android phones of today are considerably less bad than Apple or Windows smartphones, they cannot be said to respect your freedom.
9. "Yes, this is us". lineageos.org.
10. "A fork in the road | CyanogenMod". 25 December 2016. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016.
11. "Linux on Android smartphones: Project Halium wants your handset to run Ubuntu, Sailfish". ZDNet. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
12. "Mobian OS For PinePhone Aims To Bring Debian Linux To Mobile Devices". Fossbytes. 20 June 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
13. Prague, Liam Proven in. "postmarketOS 22.06 aims to revive end-of-life smartphones". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
14. "The Next PinePhone Community Edition Will Feature Manjaro Linux". Fossbytes. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
15. "Related projects — Halium documentation". docs.halium.org. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
16. Braam, Martijn (20 December 2019). "Yet Another Librem 5 and PinePhone comparison". TuxPhones.
17. CNX-Software, 8.5.2024 ,SHIFTphone 8 Preparing Mainline Linux Support Ahead Of Launch
18. SHIFT, 2023-08-31, SHIFTphone 8 status page
19. CNX-software, 2023-08-31, Fairphone 5 smartphone comes with 8-years of software updates with qualcomm qcm6490 industrial iot processor
20. "Volla Phone X23". Ubuntu Touch.
21. "Mudita". Mudita.
22. "Mudita OS". Github.
23. CNX-software, 26-10-2022, uConsole is a modular Arm or RISC-V handheld computer with optional 4G connectivity
24. "Volla Phone 22 runs Ubuntu Touch or a Google-free Android OS (Crowdfunding)". CNX-software. 20 April 2022.
25. PostmarketOS, Volla Phone 22 (volla-mimameid)
26. T., Raffaele (15 October 2021). "PinePhone Pro released: specs, pricing and very first impressions". TuxPhones - Linux phones, tablets and portable devices.
27. "Pine64 komt met PinePhone Pro-Linux-smartphone met sterkere hardware". Tweakers (in Dutch).
28. "PinePhone Pro". PINE64.
29. "October Update: Introducing the PinePhone Pro". PINE64. 15 October 2021.
30. PinePhone Pro Developer Edition
31. "Pro¹ X". F(x)tec.
32. "Pro1-X shipping has begun!". F(x)tec. 26 July 2022.
33. "The Volla Phone X". Volla Phone.
34. PostmarketOS, Volla Phone X (volla-yggdrasilx)
35. forum.fairphone.com, Operating systems for fair phones
36. "The Pyra". Official Pyra and Pandora Site. Retrieved 13 August 2020. The mobile edition adds mobile internet, and also has telephony services (making the Pyra a phone)
37. "More Information". Official Pyra and Pandora Site.
38. "The Volla Phone". Volla Phone. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
39. Librem 5 – A Security and Privacy Focused Phone. 15 November 2017.
40. "First Librem 5 Smartphones are Shipping". Purism. 24 September 2019.
41. Weaver, Todd (5 September 2019). "Librem 5 Shipping Announcement". Purism. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
42. "Librem 5 store page". 2019–2020.
43. PinePhone website. 2019-10-02.
44. "PinePhones Start Shipping - All You Need To Know". PINE64 +. 15 January 2020. As for software, the phone arrives preloaded with a factory test image rather than an end-user operating system. This preloaded factory test suite is running on Linux – postmarketOS to be precise – which allows you to test various features of the phone and run an automated test. ... I assume that everyone getting a Braveheart PinePhone understand that it's up to them to find the operating system build they are interested in, flash it and take part in the community discussion and ongoing development. Most builds are available on the PinePhone Wiki
45. Erecinski, Lukasz (15 June 2020). "June Update: postmarketOS CE PinePhone, Shipping & PINE64 Cluster". PINE64.
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47. "The end of Community Editions". PINE64. 2 February 2021.
48. "Neo900". neo900.org.
49. Phoneradara, 25-08-2015, Alcatel Pop Mirage Smartphone announced with Cyanogen 13.1 & 2500mAh Battery
50. UBPorts - UBPorts keeps Ubuntu Touch alive. 04 September 2017.
51. "Meizu Phones Sold out". Archived from the original on 21 December 2016.
52. Talk Android, 25-08-2015, Lenovo Zuk Z1 launches in India with Cyanogen OS onboard
53. Android Headlines, 09-06-2015, Smartfen Unveils Cyanogen OS-Powered Andromax Q Handset
54. Zdnet, 04-01-2016 , BQ Aquaris X5 Cyanogen Edition review: Affordable Android with extra security features
55. Postmarketos, BQ Aquaris X5 (bq-paella)
56. Android Authority, 25-08-2015, WileyFox launches Swift and Storm running Cyanogen OS
57. Android Central, Wileyfox Swift review
58. Postmarketos, Wileyfox Swift (wileyfox-crackling)
59. GSM Arena, 02-11-2015, YU Yureka and Yureka Plus start getting Cyanogen OS 12.1 update
60. "Micromax launches Yu Yuphoria with Cyanogen 12, targets Redmi 2". Android Authority. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
61. Android Authority, 25-09-2020, The evolution of OnePlus software: From Cyanogen to Oxygen, and beyond
62. "Peak+ cancellation". 28 November 2013.
63. "Aava Mobile Oy". www.aavamobile.com. 17 June 2022.
64. Linux Devices, 2006-01-08. Linux hacked onto GPS-enabled PDA/phone
65. Linux Devices, 2006-09-12, User-modifiable Linux phone ships
66. postmarketOS SHIFT SHIFT6mq (shift-axolotl)
67. postmarketos.org: OnePlus 6T (oneplus-fajita)
68. postmarketos.org: OnePlus 6 (oneplus-enchilada)
69. postmarketos.org: Xiaomi Poco F1 (xiaomi-beryllium)
70. postmarketos.org:Qualcomm Snapdragon 410/412 (MSM8916)
71. Mehta, Tushar (12 November 2019). "Here's a list of 200+ smartphones that can run Linux distributions". xda-developers.
72. Gatti, Matteo (12 November 2019). "Linux: ecco una lista di oltre 200 smartphone compatibili con il pinguino". Linux Freedom (in Italian).
73. Making your own phone is easier than you might think, Lisa Grossman, Issue 2909, New Scientist Magazine
74. Arduinophone designer's description
75. DIY Cellphone on the designer's MIT homepage
76. David A. Mellis & Leah Buechley. 2014. Do-It-Yourself Cellphones: An Investigation into the Possibilities and Limits of High-Tech DIY. In Proceedings of the 32nd annual ACM conference on Human factors in computing systems (CHI '14).
77. "Official Review: Circuitmess Ringo". GBAtemp. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
78. "CircuitMess-Ringo". GitHub. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
79. Hunt, David (25 April 2014). "PiPhone – A Raspberry Pi based Smartphone".
80. ZeroPhone – a Raspberry Pi Zero based smartphone
81. Robinson, Evan (7 May 2023). "OURphone - DIY Open-Source Linux Smartphone". GitHub.