As both Apple and Google introduce unwelcome changes in their phone OSes, here's a quick reminder that you do have alternatives to the Gruesome Twosome.
The Keep Android Open campaign is gathering attention and support as the big red numbers on its page count down. The good news is that you do already have alternatives, and The Register has been reporting on them. But if you are not the sort of person who reads phone reviews, or writeups of alternative phone OSes, and just wants to buy a new handset and retain control of it and its contents, we thought it might be a good time to remind you of where to go and who to talk to.
At the time of writing, the campaign says it's 123 days until Google's new measures preventing you from side-loading your own software will kick in. The campaign frames it in intentionally alarmist language:
Your phone is about to stop being yours.
123 days until lockdown
Starting September 2026, a silent update, nonconsensually pushed by Google, will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with Google, signed their contract, paid up, and handed over government ID.
Every app and every device, worldwide, with no opt-out.
The Register has of course been covering both the looming Google changes as well as the campaign itself.
It's worth noting, too, that the Mountain View massive is also taking steps to make life harder for the organizations creating these de-Googled Android variants – such as the changes to the Android Open Source Platform that reduce how often the source code will be made available. As The Reg noted at the time, Google dropped its old "Don't Be Evil" motto when it turned 20… and commemorated it by firing staff who stuck to the motto. It has changed its position on being evil, but it's not stupid.
Even so, there are alternatives. The Reg FOSS desk has written about several of them over the last four years, and we have more to come in the near future, as well.
For now, multiple companies will sell you a brand new smartphone with a Google-free OS on it – either a de-Googled version of Android, or a Linux OS that isn't based on Android in the first place.
It's somewhat easier to start with the FOSS Android Open Source Platform, and then systematically remove all the Google integration. That still leaves a feature-complete mobile OS, and it can still install and run many Android apps.
Murena is one of the big names in this area. It sponsors the development of /e/OS, which you can run on multiple off-the-shelf handsets, but it also offers its own range of phones and tablets so you don't need to mess around trying to "root" an old phone. We looked at the Murena One phone in 2022 and then at /e/OS 3 on a Pixel Tablet last year.
One of the models that Murena sells with /e/OS is from Fairphone. We reported on the Fairphone 6's 10/10 repairability score last July.
Swiss designer-kit vendor Punkt offers a variety of sleek black gadgets including an alarm clock. It's been making phones for years, and The Reg inspected its minimalist MP02 phone back in 2018. More recently, this vulture tried out the MC02 ultra-private smartphone in 2024. That's now been replaced with a newer faster model, the MC03, and we are currently in the process of reviewing one of the handsets.
German fondleslab-flinger Volla offers three smartphones and a tablet. We have yet to get our claws on one, but all of them are available with a choice of OSes: either the company's own de-Google Android, Volla OS, or alternatively, with Ubuntu Touch, the community-led continuation of Canonical's phone OS. We've reported on the OTA-24 update and later the newer Ubuntu 20.04 release.
The German Volla is not to be confused with the Finnish Jolla. We took a look at its Sailfish 5 OS and new C2 handset in December last year. The first two batches of the phone have sold out, but the company is currently taking orders for the third batch.
If you want Debian in your pocket, then Furilabs can help. We reported on the launch of their first handset, the FLX1, from Devconf.cz in 2024, and the company provided us with a handset which we reviewed last year.
Since then, the company has launched its second model, the FLX1s. The old one was a bit of a brick, which is to be honest how this vulture likes his phones: it was 18 cm long, 9 cm wide, and 2.8 cm thick, and weighed just over a third of a kilo. (For our readers in Liberia, Myanmar and elsewhere, that's 7 × 3½ × 1.1 inches, and ¾ lb.) The new model is under a third of the thickness, and just over 200g (7 oz.)
Purism has a range of Free Software-powered phones, tablets, and laptops, but the one that's relevant here is the Librem 5. It's a low-end handset by modern standards, and it's expensive at that, but then freedom does cost.
Pine64 offers a variety of hacker-friendly gadgets which can run open-source firmware. The one that's most relevant here is the original PinePhone. Do beware, though, it's a very low-end, low-spec device. We reported last year that the higher-end PinePhone Pro was being discontinued, but the older model is still available to order. It's on the company's global store although the EU store is currently out of stock.
We have reported on both Mobian Linux and postmarketOS, and this device can run both.
FXtec also offers an intriguing handset, the Pro1. The Reg reported on its launch in 2020 and it's still listed on the company's web store, albeit out of stock – but you may be able to find one.
Well, probably, yes.
Several of these OSes, including Sailfish, FuriOS, Mobian, and postmarketOS are all pure Linux OSs. They're not derived from Android, but they can all run an Android VM or container, and so allow you to install and use Android apps.
This is not an exhaustive list. They are just ones I know of or have tried. If we missed any significant players out, please do let us know. ®
When we referred to Apple users finding themselves with unwelcome features, we were primarily thinking of the company's new Liquid Glass user interface. However, on discussion with several iDevice owners, it seems that there are more aggressive features. As the Reg mentioned in passing, the iOS 26.4 update introduces age verification measures to the OS. (That's as well as changing the passcode keypad.) For UK users, Apple's age verification wants to scan a UK passport or driver's licence. We know of a number of adult citizens who own neither of these documents. (The author does not: he has Manx ones. This lack recently cost him his Nationwide building society account.) Without official ID, they are now locked out of controlling their own phones, stuck in child mode with access controls they can't change.
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