LINux on MOBile

This past week: Divine D Rev 1.1 gains attention and other new devices, someone resurrects a Nokia N900 with supercapacitor "battery" and USB-C port, Jolla announces "The Other Half" extensible backcovers return at 10,000 pre-orders, mobile-config-firefox 5.0.0 launches with new about:mobile page, postmarketOS hardware CI and pre-release 25.12 call for testing, and more! Enjoy!

Commentary in italics.

Worth Reading

• Federico Izzo: Automatic phone call testing
• Liliputing: Divine D. open source smartphone inches closer to launch, gains microSD Express, micro HDMI, and LoRa support
• Yaky: Nokia N900 Necromancy
• Purism: Purism Liberty Phone Exists vs. Delayed T1 Phone

Worth Listening

• postmarketOS Podcast: #46 Summer Events Special (DEFCON 33, WHY 2025, FrOSCon 2025)
  • postmarketOS: "🎙️ In our very timely new podcast episode 46 "Summer Events Special" that we are totally releasing just a few days after it was recorded, @RannyBergamotte, @ollieparanoid, @z3ntu and @linmob talk about Linux Mobile action at #defcon33, #why2025 and #froscon2025, all which took place between August 7 and 17 this year.We get into how DEF CON in Las Vegas compares to the European events, what it's like to be at a hacker camp, plenty of Linux Mobile talks at FrOSCon, and a lot more!Special thanks to @timegearmonkey for editing (first time editing a postmarketOS podcast episode)! ❤️https://cast.postmarketos.org/episode/46-Summer-events-special/#linuxmobile #podcast #mobilelinux #phosh"

Worth Watching

• Continuum Gaming: Microsoft Continuum Gaming: Let's Play 499! (Aquarium Island, Happy Summer, Mr. Jumper)
• CHANNEL RAMBLE: Installing postmarketOS on the Pixel 3a (Linux)
• Mental Outlaw: This European Linux Phone Is a BEAST (Jolla Phone)
• 128bytes: Is This the Ultimate Privacy Phone? (Jolla Phone First Look)
• BITZYID: Nokia N900 Resurrected: A Modern Revival for the Maemo Cl... #shorts
• Autistic Stoner: "Hacking Device Holder (Packet Squirrel, Bash Bunny & Librem 5)"
• UBports: Ubuntu Touch Q&A 180
• Man in the Mayhem and Valleytech Custom Solutions: Building the Clockwork Pi UConsole CM5 CyberDeck – Full Guide & First Impressions 2025
• SomeOrdinaryGamers: I Don’t Get The Linux Phone Hype…
• The Linux Experiment: New Linux smartphone & Other Linux News

Worth Noting

• Luigi311: Looks like 2026 is gonna be the year of the #linuxmobile DE. Seems like theres a lot of mobile first DE that are in the works and making some progress.Marathon-Shell by #MarathonOS is Blackberry inspired built in C++ and QML QT6Mechanix-GUI by #MechaComet launcher developed in rust using GPUi and companion apps in Rust and/or FlutterFlick which is developed in Rust using #SlintIf you know of anymore feel free to post them here that way we can keep an eye on them in the coming DE year! "Repos for the respective projects,Marathon-shellhttps://github.com/patrickjquinn/Marathon-ShellMechanix-GUIhttps://github.com/mecha-org/mechanix-guiFlickhttps://github.com/ruapotato/FlickFrom the looks of it Marathon-shell and Flick are both more universally designed while the Mechanix-GUI seems to be designed with the mecha comet usage first but hopefully it works well on a more normal aspect ratio display."
• NekoCWD: 📱Yet another #libcamera hacking 🐱📷Now it's #autofocus with Sobel operator and wippy MSV-like ring-buffer based model#mainlining #linuxonmobile #linuxonmobile #shotonmainline
• liliputing: "Diptyx is an open source, dual-screen eReader (crowdfunding)There’s no shortage of eReaders featuring E Ink displays. But the Diptyx eReader stands out in a few ways: it has two E Ink displays and a hinge in the middle that lets you open and close the device like a book. And it’s designed…https://liliputing.com/diptyx-is-an-open-source-dual-screen-ereader-crowdfunding/"

Hardware

• mntmn: little teaser from yesterday's prototyping with @theawesomerandomness
• Ahmad "amarullz" Amarullah: [piBrick Pocket-CM5 OSHWA UID ID000014] (https://certification.oshwa.org/id000014.html)
• Ahmad "amarullz" Amarullah: [piBrick Pocket-CM5 OSHWLab] (https://oshwlab.com/amarullz/pibrick-pocketcm5)

Hardware (enablement)

• pabloyoyoista: "Still a lot work to do, but for the first time, we got completely integrated CI testing of kernels running... on a phone! …" carlosgonz: dumping the blob Initial effort to a libre firmware for Librem 5 TouchController Libre as GNU FRYF

More Software News

Gnome Ecosystem

• This Week in GNOME: #228 Midnight Edition
• Sebastian Wick: Flatpak Pre-Installation Approaches
• Asman Malika: My Outreachy Journey: From curiosity to contribution
• Michael Catanzaro: Significant Drag and Drop Vulnerability in WebKitGTK
• Laura Kramolis: Rewriting Cartridges
• Jakub Steiner: Dithering
• 3v1n0: "After years of beautiful native #GTK apps written using bindings for python, rust, JS and many other...The GObject introspection system is proving again how great it is, welcoming a new member to the family: #GTKX !Bindings for writing native apps with #React and #TypeScriptHopefully even more web developers will be able to write #GTK applications with the tools they know the best!Read more at: https://eugeniodepalo.github.io/gtkx/Also check it out the (source) reddit thread https://reddit.com/comments/1pkzd6f"
• jwh: "I've finally have a working "Java-GI application template" with working localization, settings, desktop file, manifest, icons, etc, that can be distributed as a Flatpak. It's available here:https://github.com/jwharm/java-gi-app-templateThe application uses Gradle to build the source code, and Meson to install settings, resources, translations etc. Currently, both build systems are triggered separately from the Flatpak manifest. I will try to improve this, so that meson triggers the gradle build (or vice versa).The screenshot shows the dutch (nl) translation that demonstrates the gettext integration.#gnome #java #javagi #flatpak"
• Phoronix: New Rule Forbids GNOME Shell Extensions Made Using AI Generated Code

Phosh

• phosh: A often requested feature was the ability to change brightness on the lockscreen without having to pull down the settings menu. This can be useful in changing ambient conditions when not using automatic brightness. #Phosh 0.52 will have a two finger swipe gesture for that:#LinuxMobile
• Phosh Releases: Release Calendar
• Phosh: While you can configure the alarm clock sound in #Phosh the default isn't great atm (it's the fallback from the freedesktop.org sound theme). If your into 🎵 music / sound design and want to provide us with a good morning wake up sound 😴 please join us on Matrix at https://matrix.to/#/#phosh:phosh.mobi.
• phosh: As there's ever so often the question how to configure keyboard shortcuts in #Phosh OSK's terminal layout we've added a video to our peertube channel explaining just that: https://peertube.debian.social/w/ozE132SWwvhkoiH2sWaEnX #peertube #LinuxMobile
• manut: "Just donated a bit for @ev to support their first Phosh Contributors Meeting (https://ev.phosh.mobi/blog/pcm-funding-25-11/)I use #phosh from #debian #trixie on a OnePlus6 that is running #mobian as my daily driver. Even phonecalls work now :) And #postmarketos just managed to get the speakers working on the #fairphone 5! It's so amazing to see what happens @ #mobilelinux each day!And of course it feels great to support this work! So between buying presents for your loved ones, don't forget to consider the projects you love."
• #phosh: @rperezrosario #Debian GNU/Linux with #Phosh on Phone, Tablet and Laptop
• #phosh: Here's the same thing without #phosh, so just the #Wayland compositor and the app in light mode so it's a bit easier to see. I hope to add support in #wlroots and #gtk for that once the protocol land.
• #phosh: Some progress on #Cutout handling in #phoc (using our xdg-cutout-v1 protocol propsal) . The mobile settings app starts app normally (for demo purposes) but when maximized it uses the received cutout information to shift its UI element downward enough to not overlap with the display notches (rendered in transparent purple by the compositor).#phosh's panel becomes transparent so things look more uniform (which is mostly a hack atm and there to make the demo look more interesting 🤓 )#LinuxMobile

Plasma Ecosystem

• Nate Graham: This Week in Plasma: Wayland screen mirroring and custom modes
• Carl Schwan et al.: This Week in KDE Apps
• KDE Announcements: KDE Ships Frameworks 6.21.0
• KDE Announcements: KDE 🎄 Gear 25.12
• KDE Announcements: KDE Plasma 6.5.4, Bugfix Release for December
• Planet KDE: 30 Reasons I ❤️ KDE Plasma
• Bhushan Shah: Akademy 2025 in Berlin
• #plasmamobile: #Pumoku will now autosave and load a current sudoku, and prompt you to save a game when appropriate.Along with various small fixes and improvements, the current version is a good step forwards.Available from https://origin.cdn.kde.org/flatpak/pumoku-nightly/org.kde.pumoku.flatpakref, freshly updated to test, and closer to being ready for #linux_on_mobile#sudoku #kde #plasmamobile

Sxmo

• #sxmo: People running totally locked-down systems (android and ios) and complaining #meshcore official app is freemium make me laugh !They should explore really free alternatives to their pile of shitI run mccli daily on my #linuxmobile #postmarketos #sxmo phone and have a wonderfull experience !

Sailfish OS

• Community News - Sailfish OS Forum: Sailfish Community News, 11th December 2025 - Mimetype handlers
• Jolla: Batch #1 is officially sold out! 🎉Thank you to everyone who pre-ordered and helped bring the new Jolla Phone one step closer to reality.Because of the incredible demand, Batch #2 is now open.⚓ Batch #1 — Sold out (499 € final price)⚓ Batch #2 — Now available (549 € final price)⚓ Limited run of 2000 units⚓ 99 € refundable down paymentBe part of the next wave shaping the independent European Linux phone.Pre-order Batch #2 → https://jolla.com/phone #JollaPhone #SailfishOS #DIT #LinuxMobile #DeGoogle #european #DigitalSovereignty
• Jolla: "The Other Half Returns We are bringing back the iconic The Other Half open innovation platform and smart covers! If we reach 10,000 pre-orders, we promise to unlock The Other Half. Batch #3 now open for pre-orders. Help us design the first modules, and vote on features. Join the innovation program today. Read more: https://commerce.jolla.com/products/jolla-phone-preorder#Jolla #SailfishOS #DeGoogle #european #DigitalSovereignty #CommunityPowered"
  • Lemmy.ca - linuxphones: Jolla announces "the other half" extensible backcovers as strech-goal to phone pre-order campain
  • soulsource: I have changed my mind about the new #SailfishOS smartphone by #Jolla.While I still think that the lack of a built-in headphone jack is a severe drawback, the announcement of the return of #TheOtherHalf, with the teaser of an Other Half with a headphone jack, convinced me to buy it.My current phone is 9 years old (and still gets updates - thanks Jolla!), and its battery is dying.So, I think, I can justify replacing it.
• chrastecky: Another day, another #SailfishOS app published! This time it's the ProtonBridge CLI so you can enjoy your email inside the native email app (or any other).Next step: adding a native GUI to control the bridge.https://openrepos.net/content/rikudousennin/proton-bridge-cli #Proton #ProtonMail #LinuxPhone
• aegg: Trying to create a #sailfishos app again. To make it easy on my self I am sticking to what I know, the entur api and javascript. So a public transport travel app for all of Norway building on an old outdated abandoned app.

Ubuntu Touch

• Ubuntu Touch Forums News: Ubuntu Touch Q&A 180 Call For Questions
• #UbuntuTouch: If you missed my livestream about #dailydriving #ubuntutouch, here is the vod of it!https://video.hardlimit.com/w/h3mCZxnFPhkpvaCjrdArvothis is my 1 week experience runnin my fairphone5 without touching #android ever again.Let's try to keep boosting #mobile #linux and make it a viable alternative!
• #UbuntuTouch: Aus #LinuxUser 01/2026Teil 2 der Serie Ältere Mobilgeräte mit freier Software weiternutzen. Diesmal mit Ubuntu Touch https://www.linux-community.de/ausgaben/linuxuser/2026/01/aeltere-mobilgeraete-mit-freier-software-weiternutzen-teil-2/ #Smartphone #Linux #UbuntuTouch
• UBports - Development - Issues: migration script can lead to duplicate entries and/or lowercase properties
• UBports - Development - Issues: [Qt 6 UT only] have a Qt 6 build for libs, then build plugins in qt6-sensor
• UBports - Development - Issues: [Qt6] Morph Browser does not trigger mobile view on websites
• UBports - Development - Issues: [Qt5+Qt6] Detect portal for hotspot (hotels, airports, etc.)
• UBports - Development - Issues: 1.3.5901 fails to build
• UBports - Development - Issues: libqofonoext: Port from qmake to cmake
• UBports - Development - Issues: lomiri-account-polld: Migrate to Qt6
• UBports - Development - Issues: lomiri-account-polld: Migrate from qmake to cmake
• UBports - Development - Issues: Can't import or export event from UT to UT
• UBports - Development - Issues: LUITK / Qt 6: Fix the unit tests (components)

Distributions

• Breaking updates in pmOS edge: System upgrades may be blocked by broken dependency resolution, workaround available
• 3.7.0 · Tags · postmarketOS / pmbootstrap · GitLab
• Testing v25.12 (#4169) · Issue · postmarketOS/pmaports
• 5.0.0 · Tags · postmarketOS / mobile-config-firefox · GitLab
  • ollieparanoid: mobile-config-firefox 5.0.0_rc1 is out! :firefoxnew:This is the release with @dannycolin's new about:mobile page among other cool things as shown here: https://floss.social/@dannycolin/115028736709485997Release notes:https://gitlab.postmarketos.org/postmarketOS/mobile-config-firefox/-/tags/5.0.0_rc1#linuxmobile
• Mobian mobian-recipes Issues: Uses forky even if setting suite variable
• Mobian mobian-recipes Issues: qcom: Enabling Encryption leads to build failure
• Phoronix: LoongArch32 Support Begins Taking Shape In Linux 6.19, GCC 16

Kernel

• Phoronix: Exciting Laptop & Gaming Handheld Device Improvements Merged For Linux 6.19
• Phoronix: Linux Patches Fix eMMC Secure Erase Of 1GB Taking ~10 Minutes To Now Just 2 Seconds
• phone-devel: [PATCH 2/2] arm64: dts: qcom: sdm845-db845c: Use introduced platform wide cam_mclk0_default
• phone-devel: [PATCH 1/2] arm64: qcom: sdm845: Introduce camera master clock pinctrl
• phone-devel: [PATCH 0/2] Commonize pinctrl for camera master clock on Qualcomm SDM845
• phone-devel: [PATCH v2] media: dt-bindings: Correct camss VDDA PLL supply description
• phone-devel: [PATCH 1/2] drm/msm/dpu: Add NULL pointer check in dpu_crtc_duplicate_state()

Matrix

• Matrix.org: This Week in Matrix 2025-12-12

Thanks

Huge thanks to Plata for the nifty set of Python scripts that speed up collecting links from feeds by a lot.

Something missing? Want to contribute?

If your project's cool story (or your awesome video or nifty blog post or ...) is missing and you don't want that to happen again, please just put it into this pad for the next one! Since I am collecting many things there, this get's you early access if you will ;-) If you just stumble on a thing, please put it in there too - all help is appreciated!