List Of Open-source Mobile Phones
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This is a list of mobile phones with
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
operating systems An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also inc ...
.


Scope of the list


Cellular modem and other firmware

Some hardware components used in phones require drivers (or
firmware In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...
) to run. For many components, only proprietary drivers are available (open source phones usually seek components with open drivers.) 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. , all available mobile phones have a proprietary baseband chip (GSM module, cellular modem), except for the
Necuno The Necuno is a phone-like mobile device from Finland, where it is exclusively manufactured. It seeks to provide a high level security and user privacy by omitting the cellular modem. For this reason, it cannot be used on a regular mobile phone n ...
, which has no such chip and communicates by peer-to-peer
VOIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
. The modem is usually integrated with the system-on-a-chip and the memory. 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. There is an open-source baseband project,
OsmocomBB Osmocom (open source mobile communications) is an open-source software project that implements multiple mobile communication standards, including GSM, DECT, TETRA and others. History and usage In 2008 Harald Welte and Dieter Spaar experiment ...
.


Operating system: middleware and user interface

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 Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
-based devices do not appear on this list because of the heavy use of proprietary components, particularly drivers and applications. *There are numerous versions of Android which seek to replace the proprietary components, such as
LineageOS LineageOS is an Android-based operating system for smartphones, tablet computers, and set-top boxes, with mostly free and open-source software. It is the successor to CyanogenMod, from which it was forked in December 2016, when Cyanogen Inc. a ...
(successor to the now-defunct Cyanogenmod) and
Replicant A replicant is a fictional bioengineered humanoid featured in the 1982 film ''Blade Runner'' and the 2017 sequel '' Blade Runner 2049'' which is physically indistinguishable from an adult human and often possesses superhuman strength and intel ...
, 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 Halium is a collaborative project to unify the Hardware Abstraction Layer for projects which run Linux on mobile devices with pre-installed Android. The project aims to standardize the middleware software used by various projects to talk with a ...
. 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 Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...
GNU/Linux is mobile devices.
postmarketOS postmarketOS (abbreviated as pmOS) is an operating system primarily for smartphones, based on the Alpine Linux distribution. postmarketOS was launched on 26 May 2017 with the source code available on GitHub before migrating to GitLab in 2018. I ...
is based on the Alpine Linux. Arch Linux ARM based Manjaro is focusing on PinePhone hardware. * WebOS was initially available only under a proprietary license but the source code was later released under a free
permissive license A permissive software license, sometimes also called BSD-like or BSD-style license, is a free-software license which instead of copyleft protections, carries only minimal restrictions on how the software can be used, modified, and redistributed, ...
by HP. Open WebOS will not run on all WebOS devices.
LuneOS LuneOS is a mobile operating system (OS) based on the Linux kernel and currently developed by WebOS Ports community. With a user interface based on direct manipulation, LuneOS is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphon ...
is Halium based fork of WebOS. * 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 Sailfish OS is a Linux-based operating system based on free software, and open source projects such as Mer as well as including a closed source UI. The project is being developed by the Finnish company Jolla. The OS first shipped with the o ...
devices running open
Maemo Leste Maemo is a software platform originally developed by Nokia, now developed by the community, for smartphones and Internet tablets. The platform comprises both the Maemo operating system and SDK. Maemo played a key role in Nokia's strategy to com ...
or Mer middleware are included. Tizen devices are not included. *Open QTMoko/ OpenMoko phones of
Qt Extended Qt Extended (named Qtopia before September 30, 2008) is an application platform for embedded Linux-based mobile computing devices such as personal digital assistants, video projectors and mobile phones. It was initially developed by Qt Software, ...
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.


Devices with formal support


Devices with 3rd party support


Distributions for existing phones

postmarketOS postmarketOS (abbreviated as pmOS) is an operating system primarily for smartphones, based on the Alpine Linux distribution. postmarketOS was launched on 26 May 2017 with the source code available on GitHub before migrating to GitLab in 2018. I ...
,
Ubports Ubuntu Touch is a mobile version of the Ubuntu operating system, being developed by the UBports community. Its user interface is written in Qt, and is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, ...
, and
KDE Neon KDE neon is a Linux distribution developed by KDE based on Ubuntu long-term support (LTS) releases, bundled with a set of additional software repositories containing the latest versions of the KDE Plasma 5, Plasma 5 desktop environment/framework, ...
are open-source distributions running on existing smartphones originally running Android.
Maemo Leste Maemo is a software platform originally developed by Nokia, now developed by the community, for smartphones and Internet tablets. The platform comprises both the Maemo operating system and SDK. Maemo played a key role in Nokia's strategy to com ...
is available for Nokia N900 and Motorola Droid 4. There exists a database listing which older phones will run which open-source operating systems.


Custom-made phones

It is possible to home-build a phone from partially open hardware and software.Arduinophone
designer's description
The Arduinophone (touchscreen) and the MIT DIY Cellphone (segmented display) both use the Arduino
open-hardware Open-source hardware (OSH) consists of physical artifacts of technology designed and offered by the open-design movement. Both free and open-source software (FOSS) and open-source hardware are created by this open-source culture movement and a ...
single-board computer A single-board computer (SBC) is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor(s), memory, input/output (I/O) and other features required of a functional computer. Single-board computers are commonly made as demonstrati ...
, with added components. Circuitmess Ringo (previously MakerPhone) is another DIY Arduino phone with open source firmware and available schematics, focusing on education. The PiPhone and ZeroPhoneZeroPhone
– a Raspberry Pi Zero based smartphone
are similar, but based on the Raspberry Pi. The main components to make an open mobile phone are: * Back cover *
Touch screen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
* Battery *
Logic board A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expan ...


See also

*
List of open-source hardware projects This is a list of open-source hardware projects, including computer systems and components, cameras, radio, telephony, science education, machines and tools, robotics, renewable energy, home automation, medical and biotech, automotive, prototy ...
*
Comparison of open-source mobile phones The scope for this page is that used for list of open-source mobile phones. Mobiles currently in production Mobiles expected to be in production Mobiles no longer in production See also * Comparison of mobile operating systems This is a ...
(features) *
Mobile operating system A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on ...
(categorized by license) *
Mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...
(mobile platform) *
OsmocomBB Osmocom (open source mobile communications) is an open-source software project that implements multiple mobile communication standards, including GSM, DECT, TETRA and others. History and usage In 2008 Harald Welte and Dieter Spaar experiment ...
*
Blackphone The Blackphone is a smartphone built to ensure privacy, developed by SGP Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Silent Circle. Originally, SGP Technologies was a joint venture between the makers of GeeksPhone and Silent Circle. Marketing i ...
* Fairphone *
Tor Phone Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor River, Western New Guinea, Indonesia Sci ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Open source mobile phones Mobile Linux Mobile phone standards Lists of computer hardware
Open-source mobile phones Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
Open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...