What a disaster this will be. The end of any really open phones. By the time I cannot sideload apps or torrent onto my device, I might as well move to an iPhone and at least get less data tracking and better security.
Jumping from a shark to another is maybe not the solution we should aim for.
I released an app on the Ubuntu Touch store: took a minute to fill in the form and then you get people giving you feedback/help if anything doesn't work (since you can link your source code too).
If you were to pick 3 apps which you needed to have running to switch, what would they be? (if too personal, pick from your top 10)
What's the current state of hardware? Is there a phone that's decent at being a phone, with an OK camera and a battery that last through the day running Ubuntu?
What's the current state of Waydroid? Any chance to get my banking apps running, or at least standard fare like public transit apps?
UbuntuTouch as an OS is quite refreshing as it's not just a copy of Google/Samsung/Apple UIs. I like how they use the sidebars.
Definitely it still needs more work on getting more devices fully supported but that's an ever going effort, since OEM do not provide any help here (for now).
Launching a mobile OS with all that software already available was miles better than what Android can offer today: loads of things exist open source for Debian that haven't been recreated as an Android app (closed or open) because the OS doesn't allow it anyway. Let alone when the project was started in 2011!
Conversely, in the 14 years that Ubuntu Touch now exists, Android developers have been busy and you'll now find mobile software that can do things that laptops can't, e.g. because they're not normally put in a car as a navigation device and don't normally have GNSS built in. So now we're in a state where you'd think: why not take AOSP and run with it? But fourteen years ago you'd think: wouldn't it be amazing if we could just run all of our tried and true software on a phone? (Fwiw, that's exactly what I did when I got my first Android (and still do today): get root and install a Debian userspace to run tools within, such as Restic for backups. I compiled a Bitcoin miner for ARM back in the day just because that would be fun and cool. There's so much you can do when you have a Linux distribution in your pocket!)
So I see your point, but consider the history. My understanding is that this project comes from a time when it made perfect sense. By now, though, I wonder the same. But I haven't tried Ubuntu Touch yet so I can't really speak ill of it and say we should use AOSP instead of them
Yes but the most of the packages are either CLI tools (not really usable on a phone) or tools with desktop GUI (with tiny elements, not usable on a phone). And probably there is a way to port Wayland/Pipewire to Android, which seems an easier task that writing full OS.
For example, take GIMP, or Qucs (electric circuit simulator), or Kdenlive (video editor), or LMMS (audio editor), in their current form they would be unusable due to tiny UI elements. One needs completely new UI for small screens.
> There's so much you can do when you have a Linux distribution in your pocket!)
Maybe but I am not really interested in compiling anything, I have a laptop for that, I am interested in having an open source OS without restrictions, telemetry and backdoors.
This. It gives too much freedom to people.
but the same processes that put the orange man there put similar people in other places too
and similar sentiments led to voters preferring authoritarian measures
15 years ago this is exactly what we said was going to happen with the normalization of Apple's locked down ecosystems, and now here we are.
And like I said, I do not believe this move is because Apple paved the way. If they hadn't, Apple would make a similar announcement to Google now in 2025.
One could argue whether Phones with the Google android were ever really open.
As for the really really open phone with alternative OS or Linux based OS, they will continue to exist as before. Perhaps even become more popular after this?
In recent years, you can argue that android has no longer been open. In the early years of Android that argument would be much harder to make. To be clear, I am not talking hardcore FOSS libre open. But meaningfully open for the end user to do what they want on their device without much restriction. Early android didn't have sandboxing, had no permission system, was easy to root, etc.
Certainly with Nexus devices you had pretty much the freedom to what you wanted.
Could it have been more open? Sure, but I feel like it is almost disingenuous to say it was never if we are comparing it to the real world situation we find ourselves in today.
That didn't make the system less open though. The user gets to make an informed (or not) choice.
What was different is that the Play store back then was basically a free-for-all. There was no meaningful approval process. This did contribute to making the system as a whole more open, but at a cost...
* Guessing you have to search for Fennec to get a relatively respectful Browser is one thing; no banking, doctors, taxi apps rules out anyone who has ever run stock.
I had an iPhone 7 for testing I bought on eBay. I had my icloud account logged into it. One day, I couldn't log in to the account despite having a correct password - "account is locked and cannot be used". It won't let me log off from the account on the device. So now I have an icloud-locked e-waste paperweight. It was an old device so I don't care much but purely on this experience I am not buying an apple device ever again.
I hope there will be more truly open devices in the future eventually... otherwise I will just start considering smartphones being 2FA/banking bullshit proprietary tracking/spying devices and avoid use them sporadically..