Regardless of the distribution, would it be possible to have a phone that can be simplified to include only the features you want? For example, I would only want a calendar, notes, a calculator, calls and messages. I wouldn’t want a browser, an app store or any other way to easily install them. Is this possible on a Linux mobile distro? Does it require a lot of work, like making a specific distro for it?

Linux feels like a great option for this because it can leave enough freedom to dumb down what you don’t need while also keeping a big level of customization, not everyone needs are the same regarding to dumbphones

  • utopiah@lemmy.ml
    3·
    22 hours ago

    Yes, I have a PinePhone and PinePhone Pro both with PostMarketOS so doing this is as easy as few sudo apk add packagename or sudo apk del firefox.

    Now… if you want a daily driver then as few others hinted at, it’s much harder. I would instead, if deGoogle Android is an acceptable compromise for you, get a 2nd hand Pixel 8 or above, install GrapheneOS on it, remove the browser and that’s pretty much it already since it doesn’t come with an app store or equivalent. Well, there’s the GrapheneOS equivalent but there are ~10 apps on it at most last time I checked.

    • racoon@lemmy.ml
      1·
      18 hours ago

      Can you remove the browser on GOS? When I was about to switch, the people on the fora were looking down on those who wanted to remove the browser like “self control” or “that is not GOS point”

      • paper_moon@lemmy.world
        1·
        17 hours ago

        Who knows if this is true because I don’t have the expertise to understand if it is or not, but supposedly the explanation given by the GrapheneOS team is that the pixel phones were the only phones that had the hardware security strong enough to provide the security model GrapheneOS wanted.

        • Azzu@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          1·
          15 hours ago

          I know the reasoning, it does make sense in a way, if you trust Google. But that’s kind of the point, you can’t truly look into their hardware, who knows what is within the chips, potentially not even accessible by the OS. I wouldn’t trust the firmware made by Google if getting away from Google because it is evil is literally the point.