Why projects like PinePhone matter – feedback and encouragement

[Gary2003]

Hello everyone,

I’d like to share my experience as a user of the PinePhone beta running Manjaro.
Despite a few imperfections – which I fully expect from a device that’s still close to a prototype – I’m actually very happy with it overall. It’s an exciting project, and I want to sincerely thank and congratulate the developers for the great work they’ve done so far.

If I may add a small remark: a slightly smaller screen might have helped improve battery life.
I understand that large screens are the trend nowadays, but some users like me mainly look for a more compact device, focused on basic daily features.
For me, the essential functions are:

• making calls,
  
• saving contacts,
  
• sending text messages.
  
  

I find it very important to have a Linux smartphone that respects user privacy. With messaging evolving (and SMS being gradually replaced by RCS), I truly hope there will be a software update or even a future model that can cover this use case as well.

I also read here on the forum that RCS may not be such a good solution, since Google and Apple have basically taken it over with their own servers and apps, which turns it into another data collection system. Honestly, I used to think RCS was a good replacement for SMS, but now I’m not so sure… Does this really mean that traditional text messaging will eventually be fully replaced by RCS, despite all these privacy concerns?

One thing I honestly don’t quite understand is why Signal doesn’t support this project. From an ethical standpoint, a private and Linux-based phone perfectly aligns with the values they promote. It would make a lot of sense if they engaged more with initiatives like this.

Once again, congratulations on this project. Please keep it going – it really answers a real need for many users.
Thank you and best of luck with the ongoing development!

[zetabeta]

Hello everyone,

I’d like to share my experience as a user of the PinePhone beta running Manjaro.
Despite a few imperfections – which I fully expect from a device that’s still close to a prototype – I’m actually very happy with it overall. It’s an exciting project, and I want to sincerely thank and congratulate the developers for the great work they’ve done so far.

If I may add a small remark: a slightly smaller screen might have helped improve battery life.
I understand that large screens are the trend nowadays, but some users like me mainly look for a more compact device, focused on basic daily features.
For me, the essential functions are:

• making calls,
  
• saving contacts,
  
• sending text messages.
  
  

I find it very important to have a Linux smartphone that respects user privacy. With messaging evolving (and SMS being gradually replaced by RCS), I truly hope there will be a software update or even a future model that can cover this use case as well.

I also read here on the forum that RCS may not be such a good solution, since Google and Apple have basically taken it over with their own servers and apps, which turns it into another data collection system. Honestly, I used to think RCS was a good replacement for SMS, but now I’m not so sure… Does this really mean that traditional text messaging will eventually be fully replaced by RCS, despite all these privacy concerns?

One thing I honestly don’t quite understand is why Signal doesn’t support this project. From an ethical standpoint, a private and Linux-based phone perfectly aligns with the values they promote. It would make a lot of sense if they engaged more with initiatives like this.

Once again, congratulations on this project. Please keep it going – it really answers a real need for many users.
Thank you and best of luck with the ongoing development!

i bought my first pinephone in 2020 july. i took a risk, but it was worth it. more or less i knew in that time that android is going down through sewage holes by alphabet inc.

thinking overall, i like to thank pine organization going for this project. i'm more confident about future of actual linux phones now. and there is a one project going on i'm looking for, and more ready to some risks.

playing alternate timeline card, not going for pinephone. i might have been felt hopeless for smartphone tech, like getting worse and worse, no alternate in sight.

alphabet inc is increasing control over android yet again. and we really need altenatives for ios and android. apple has controlled iphones totally at the first place.

One thing I honestly don’t quite understand is why Signal doesn’t support this project. From an ethical standpoint, a private and Linux-based phone perfectly aligns with the values they promote. It would make a lot of sense if they engaged more with initiatives like this.

i wonder this as well. signal is too much stuck to ios and googled android. installing signal to un-googled android is not straightforward project. i know that link is https://signal.org/android/apk/ , but not easy to find from main website. signal should support alternate devices as a primary device activation. signal-desktop is way to start.

[Kevin Kofler]

For Signal, you have to use third-party clients. There are basically 3 options worth trying:
* Flare has experimental support for running as a primary device, which can be enabled with an environment variable.
* You can use signal-cli (a third-party Java client for Signal that provides (only) a command-line interface) as the primary device (either on the PinePhone itself or on a computer) and pair Flare on the PinePhone with that.
* You can use signal-cli (see above) as the primary device and pair the official signal-desktop desktop client on the PinePhone with that. Though the user interface of that client is not optimized for mobile devices, and there are also some features it does not and will probably never support.