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Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions (/showthread.php?tid=17660)

Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions - jilek - 11-27-2022

Hello! I have an interest in the Pinephone Pro but I'm still curious about a few things.
  1. Is the battery life really so bad that it can't last a whole day? There's no battery upgrade that allows it to last?
  2. I imagine some may frown on the idea, but what is the possibility I can get Android 10 on it? I would idealistically like to use Android 10 as my daily driver, while...
  3. How can I multi-boot the phone? I wish to be able to test out Linux phones and possibly learn to develop on that platform. Idealistically I'd love to have a phone with easy repairability, battery/SD card replacement, a battery that lasts ~a full day, runs Android 10 until Linux phones are comprable, and to test/mess with Linux OS's. My Pixel 3a is very good but I can't upgrade storage, film plus and I don't know how to repair it bee tv.


RE: Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions - fxc - 11-27-2022

(11-27-2022, 11:01 AM)jilek Wrote: Hello! I have an interest in the Pinephone Pro but I'm still curious about a few things.
  1. Is the battery life really so bad that it can't last a whole day? There's no battery upgrade that allows it to last?
  2. I imagine some may frown on the idea, but what is the possibility I can get Android 10 on it? I would idealistically like to use Android 10 as my daily driver, while...
  3. How can I multi-boot the phone? I wish to be able to test out Linux phones and possibly learn to develop on that platform. Idealistically I'd love to have a phone with easy repairability, battery/SD card replacement, a battery that lasts ~a full day, runs Android 10 until Linux phones are comprable, and to test/mess with Linux OS's. My Pixel 3a is very good but I can't upgrade storage, and I don't know how to repair it.

The PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition is intended for developers only:

"Presently the PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition is aimed at Linux developers with an extensive knowledge of embedded systems and/or experience with mobile Linux. It will take time for all the PinePhone Pro’s functionality to reach software parity with the original PinePhone and for mobile operating systems, in more general, to reach a higher degree of maturity." https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Pro#State_of_the_software

It wouldn't make sense to buy the Pro to run Android on it. There is GloDroid for it, which however lacks contributors and is lacking further behind any other Linux distribution. Battery theoretically can theoretically last a day but that is with suspend and low usage. Multi-booting can be done for example using Tow-Boot, where you can hold a volume key at boot to boot from microSD card.

RE: Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions - Cangiante - 12-10-2022

(11-27-2022, 01:37 PM)fxc Wrote:
(11-27-2022, 11:01 AM)jilek Wrote: Hello! I have an interest in the Pinephone Pro but I'm still curious about a few things.
  1. Is the battery life really so bad that it can't last a whole day? There's no battery upgrade that allows it to last?
  2. I imagine some may frown on the idea, but what is the possibility I can get Android 10 on it? I would idealistically like to use Android 10 as my daily driver, while...
  3. How can I multi-boot the phone? I wish to be able to test out Linux phones and possibly learn to develop on that platform. Idealistically I'd love to have a phone with easy repairability, battery/SD card replacement, a battery that lasts ~a full day, runs Android 10 until Linux phones are comprable, and to test/mess with Linux OS's. My Pixel 3a is very good but I can't upgrade storage, and I don't know how to repair it.

The PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition is intended for developers only:

"Presently the PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition is aimed at Linux developers with an extensive knowledge of embedded systems and/or experience with mobile Linux. It will take time for all the PinePhone Pro’s functionality to reach software parity with the original PinePhone and for mobile operating systems, in more general, to reach a higher degree of maturity." https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Pro#State_of_the_software

It wouldn't make sense to buy the Pro to run Android on it. There is GloDroid for it, which however lacks contributors and is lacking further behind any other Linux distribution. Battery theoretically can theoretically last a day but that is with suspend and low usage. Multi-booting can be done for example using Tow-Boot, where you can hold a volume key at boot to boot from microSD card.

Dear Fxc,

I am currently looking for a smartphone with linux instead of android.

All I need is making phone calls as well as sms, using whatsapp and telegram, together with browsing (Vivaldi would be my first choice, but firefox may be ok as well)

a long lasting battery as well as a physical keyboard would be well appreciated too.

However I am *not* a developer.

Can I buy the Pinephone pro as well?

thanks for your kind reply.

best regards

RE: Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions - fxc - 12-11-2022

(12-10-2022, 05:08 PM)Cangiante Wrote:
(11-27-2022, 01:37 PM)fxc Wrote:
(11-27-2022, 11:01 AM)jilek Wrote: Hello! I have an interest in the Pinephone Pro but I'm still curious about a few things.
  1. Is the battery life really so bad that it can't last a whole day? There's no battery upgrade that allows it to last?
  2. I imagine some may frown on the idea, but what is the possibility I can get Android 10 on it? I would idealistically like to use Android 10 as my daily driver, while...
  3. How can I multi-boot the phone? I wish to be able to test out Linux phones and possibly learn to develop on that platform. Idealistically I'd love to have a phone with easy repairability, battery/SD card replacement, a battery that lasts ~a full day, runs Android 10 until Linux phones are comprable, and to test/mess with Linux OS's. My Pixel 3a is very good but I can't upgrade storage, and I don't know how to repair it.

The PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition is intended for developers only:

"Presently the PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition is aimed at Linux developers with an extensive knowledge of embedded systems and/or experience with mobile Linux. It will take time for all the PinePhone Pro’s functionality to reach software parity with the original PinePhone and for mobile operating systems, in more general, to reach a higher degree of maturity." https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Pro#State_of_the_software

It wouldn't make sense to buy the Pro to run Android on it. There is GloDroid for it, which however lacks contributors and is lacking further behind any other Linux distribution. Battery theoretically can theoretically last a day but that is with suspend and low usage. Multi-booting can be done for example using Tow-Boot, where you can hold a volume key at boot to boot from microSD card.

Dear Fxc,

I am currently looking for a smartphone with linux instead of android.

All I need is making phone calls as well as sms, using whatsapp and telegram, together with browsing (Vivaldi would be my first choice, but firefox may be ok as well)

a long lasting battery as well as a physical keyboard would be well appreciated too.

However I am *not* a developer.

Can I buy the Pinephone pro as well?

thanks for your kind reply.

best regards

In that case I wouldn't recommend to do so. WhatsApp would be only usable by Waydroid (or by bridging it) and it is a huge pain because you can't receive messages while the phone is suspended. The Pro's battery isn't lasting long depending on the usage - the keyboard case would prolong it but has its own fair share of flaws however. The Pro's software state is currently also not very stable (see https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Pro#State_of_the_software), we're speaking about alpha state software here.

If you're concerned about privacy I would recommend having a look at the Pixel 6(a) running GrapheneOS, which won't communicate with any Google service., in combination with the F-Droid store.

RE: Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions - Cangiante - 12-12-2022

Thanks, I will be following your developments, then.

RE: Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions - fxc - 12-12-2022

(12-12-2022, 12:31 AM)Cangiante Wrote: Thanks, I will be following your developments, then.

Mind that the software is created by the community (which this forum is also part of), you can join the bridged community channel here: https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Main_Page#Chat_Platforms

RE: Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions - anonymous - 12-13-2022

(12-10-2022, 05:08 PM)Cangiante Wrote:
(11-27-2022, 01:37 PM)fxc Wrote:
(11-27-2022, 11:01 AM)jilek Wrote: Hello! I have an interest in the Pinephone Pro but I'm still curious about a few things.
  1. Is the battery life really so bad that it can't last a whole day? There's no battery upgrade that allows it to last?
  2. I imagine some may frown on the idea, but what is the possibility I can get Android 10 on it? I would idealistically like to use Android 10 as my daily driver, while...
  3. How can I multi-boot the phone? I wish to be able to test out Linux phones and possibly learn to develop on that platform. Idealistically I'd love to have a phone with easy repairability, battery/SD card replacement, a battery that lasts ~a full day, runs Android 10 until Linux phones are comprable, and to test/mess with Linux OS's. My Pixel 3a is very good but I can't upgrade storage, and I don't know how to repair it.

The PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition is intended for developers only:

"Presently the PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition is aimed at Linux developers with an extensive knowledge of embedded systems and/or experience with mobile Linux. It will take time for all the PinePhone Pro’s functionality to reach software parity with the original PinePhone and for mobile operating systems, in more general, to reach a higher degree of maturity." https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_Pro#State_of_the_software

It wouldn't make sense to buy the Pro to run Android on it. There is GloDroid for it, which however lacks contributors and is lacking further behind any other Linux distribution. Battery theoretically can theoretically last a day but that is with suspend and low usage. Multi-booting can be done for example using Tow-Boot, where you can hold a volume key at boot to boot from microSD card.

Dear Fxc,

I am currently looking for a smartphone with linux instead of android.

All I need is making phone calls as well as sms, using whatsapp and telegram, together with browsing (Vivaldi would be my first choice, but firefox may be ok as well)

a long lasting battery as well as a physical keyboard would be well appreciated too.

However I am *not* a developer.

Can I buy the Pinephone pro as well?

thanks for your kind reply.

best regards

In my humble opinion, if you're not ready to abandon WhatsApp (I'd say that for Android too), forget the Pinephone. The software is mostly built by the community, some essential parts are even one-person shows (you see what I mean) with some occasional contributors. Personally, I'm an engineer in research and development in computer science, I agree with helping the community (as long as it's compatible with my principles), I agree with working for free for GNU Linux users on my spare time but I strongly disagree with working for free for the Meta group for political reasons and helping potential newcomers to keep using proprietary software is none of my concerns.

I'm totally aware that some people disagree with me but I find this kind of expectations frustrating and discouraging. I'm a daily user of my Pinephone, there's almost one regression per week those last months, I couldn't receive MMS during 2 weeks, I had to play with screen rotation to be able to enter my PIN code from Sunday to yesterday, I had to press the send button at most 7 times to send an SMS Sunday, I have to recreate contacts from scratch when I want to edit some of them, etc. Being a daily user of a Pinephone requires both some technical skills and a huge motivation, mine comes from my deep love for free software. I'm an occasional contributor, I speak only for myself, I would be very unhappy if the Pinephone was promoted as a smartphone compatible with WhatsApp. The fact that WhatsApp doesn't work on it (or very badly with limitations) is actually a very good piece of news for me, it helps me to refuse using it, some people don't insist when I say that WhatsApp is incompatible with my phone (which is mostly true), it's my only argument when I'm with people who don't care about my ideas, it's another argument with others. Moreover, do you really think that having a good support of WhatsApp is a priority for the community? Just prove me wrong, make a poll but I'm sure it's not. The most motivated Pinephone users seem to be wise GNU Linux users as far as I know and as we don't have enough contributors to do everything, choices must be made and I'm sure that there are much more frequent Pinephone users who give much more importance to full MMS support (i.e receiving and sending, with or without multiple APNs) than to WhatsApp. Anyway, imagine that some people refuse to buy a Pinephone because the lack of WhatsApp fully working on it, most of them would refuse to buy one because another proprietary "app" doesn't fully work on it. Use Android or iOS if WhatsApp is important for you. By the way, Vivaldi is freeware but not free software, it's my point, either keep using Android if you don't want to embrace free software or ask for help to switch to alternatives.

RE: Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions - Cangiante - 12-13-2022

Dear Anonymous,

thanks for your considerations.

BTW, I am using whatsapp only via browser and not from the native platform. I have to use whatsapp for my job, unfortunately.

If the Pinephone would be usable in that way I would certainly consider it, although I have just understood that the software is more into an alpha stage rather than a beta stage.

thanks again
(12-12-2022, 10:15 AM)fxc Wrote:
(12-12-2022, 12:31 AM)Cangiante Wrote: Thanks, I will be following your developments, then.

Mind that the software is created by the community (which this forum is also part of), you can join the bridged community channel here: https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Main_Page#Chat_Platforms

thanks Fxc !

RE: Interested in a Pinephone, but have some questions - Piotr - 02-10-2023

Pine phone Pro advantage is ability to use it as Desktop , one can buy Usb -C port extension with HDMI and USB,
then can use it with PC Monitor , external Keyboard and Mouse , BT speaker.