Recommended apps for Linux mobile OS.
This mainly focuses on ARM devices. Some of these apps can be used on both desktops and phones.
Applicable systems: postmarketOS, Mobian, Manjaro ARM, Arch Linux ARM, PureOS, and other systems designed specifically for Linux phones.
Looking for a mobile Linux distribution? See: Mobile Linux distro
This is my app list after using Linux phone systems, compiled from the Wikis of various distributions and updated from time to time. If your distribution has not packaged an app, install it with Flatpak .
For the apps below, search for the installation method in your distribution yourself, or check whether Flathub has them. A little scavenger hunt builds character.
Main references:
Desktop environments
#
Unlike on desktop computers, you should not casually swap the desktop environment on a phone. Choose carefully when installing the system.
Name
Description
Purism Phosh Based on GNOME and uses Wayland. A simple and stable desktop with a scale-to-fit command that can force an app’s layout to adjust. The system interface keeps a button available for bringing up the virtual keyboard. After connecting an external display, it switches to windowed mode.
KDE Plasma Mobile Based on KDE Plasma and uses Wayland. Pick this if you like KDE apps. App and system integration is the best here, and the interface feels a lot like an Android phone.
SXMO Controls the system with buttons and gestures. Its logic is very different from a normal phone.
XFCE A lightweight desktop environment using the X11 protocol. You need to adjust the UI yourself before it is suitable for phone use.
GNOME Uses Wayland and X11. Suitable for devices with larger screens and supports gestures.
KDE Plasma Uses Wayland and X11. Suitable for devices with larger screens and supports touch gestures.
Fonts
#
This section mainly lists system packages such as fonts. Some distributions do not include Chinese fonts by default.
Name
Description
Google Noto
Google’s pan-Unicode font family, including Emoji. For Chinese, install the CJK variant.
Adobe Source Han Sans
Source Han Sans.
Wen Quan Yi Zhenhei
WenQuanYi Zen Hei.
Kaiti
Kai typeface.
Adobe FangSong
FangSong typeface.
Ming
Ming typeface.
Browsers
#
Name
Description
Gnome Web
Formerly Epiphany. A bit laggy, but usable. You can add webpages to the desktop and install them as web apps.
Plasma Chromium
Chromium adjusted by KDE.
Chromium for postmarketOS Basically the desktop version. postmarketOS makes extra adjustments so the interface fits phone-sized screens.
Plasma Angelfish
Automatically changes its layout according to screen size. It is currently the most balanced browser.
Firefox ESR Firefox preinstalled by Mobian.
Firefox for postmarketOS A version adjusted by postmarketOS for mobile interfaces. The default search engine is Duckduckgo, and uBlock Origin is built in.
Email
#
Name
Description
Gnome Geary
Image viewers
#
Name
Description
Plasma Koko
Scans all images on the device, then displays them in a masonry layout.
Nomacs
A cross-platform image viewer.
Gnome Shotwell
An image viewer designed for photographers.
Eye of GNOME Image Viewer
The image viewer built into Phosh.
Video players
#
Name
Description
MPV
Supports hardware-accelerated decoding and must be launched from the terminal. It is not convenient for touch, but you can use Phosh’s keyboard to fast-forward.
Gnome Videos
Formerly Totem.
Plasma Mobile LLS Video Player
The video player built into Plasma Mobile.
VLC
A common video player. The interface is not optimized for phones.
Music players
#
Name
Description
Purism Lollypop
The music player built into Phosh. By default, it scans music files under ~/Music, and it can automatically download artwork, look up lyrics online, and so on.
Audacious
Primarily plays music by directory and uses few system resources.
Gnome Music
Plasma Vvave
Text editors
#
Name
Description
Marker
A Markdown text editor with preview support.
Gnome Gedit
A lightweight text editor that supports many programming languages.
Visual Studio Code
A text editor with lightweight IDE features.
Touch input methods
#
If you do not like any of the virtual keyboards, I recommend opening an online input method in a browser, typing there, then copying the text. Or install Google Input Tools in Chromium. Glamorous? No. Effective? Unfortunately, yes.
Name
Description
Maliit Keybaord Supports Traditional Chinese Zhuyin and Simplified Chinese Pinyin, but can only be used in Plasma Mobile and Ubuntu Touch environments.
Squeekboard Phosh’s default input method. It includes some keyboard shortcuts.
onboard - On-screen Keyboard
A floating touch keyboard on the screen, suitable for X11 desktops.
File managers
#
Name
Description
Portfolio
Basic functionality, but it cannot configure which app should open a specific file type.
Plasma Dolphin
Similar to the desktop version, and it also works as a media browser.
Plasma Index
Nemo for Cinnamon
Office software/PDF viewers
#
Name
Description
Gnome Evince
Plasma Okular
Calibre
A cross-platform ebook management app. Reading on a phone also automatically adjusts the book and layout.
Camera
#
Name
Description
Megapixels
A simple camera app written in GTK4. It supports scanning QR Codes.
Gnome Cheese
Gnome Pinhole
Plasma Camera
Screenshots/screen recording
#
Name
Description
Gnome Screenshot
A graphical screenshot tool. Its layout may break on Phosh.
Grim
A Wayland screenshot tool. It must be used with terminal commands, for example: sleep 10 && grim takes a screenshot after 10 seconds.
wf-recorder
For Wayland screen recording. It must be used with terminal commands. See Mobian Wiki .
Software store frontends
#
These frontends are for browsing and managing apps, similar to the Play Store. For example, after installing Flatpak, Flatpak apps will appear in the software store.
Name
Description
Gnome Software
KDE Discover
Terminal emulators
#
Name
Description
King’s Cross
The terminal built into Phosh.
QMLKonsole
The terminal built into Plasma Mobile.
Messaging/social media clients
#
Name
Description
Headlines
A third-party Reddit app.
Giara
A third-party Reddit app.
FreeTube
A third-party Youtube app that can download videos.
Cawbird
A third-party Twitter app.
Plasma NeoChat
A Matrix client.
Games
#
Name
Description
Bedrock Launcher
A Minecraft Bedrock Edition launcher, effectively the Android version. You need to log in with a Google account that has purchased the game.
Minetest
An open-source sandbox game. It has now ported the Android version’s touch controls back to the Linux version.
Phone
#
Name
Description
Plasma Dialer
Purism Calls
SMS
#
Name
Description
Plasma Spacebar
Voice recorders
#
Name
Description
Gnome Sound Recorder
Plasma KRecorder
Calendar/clocks
#
Name
Description
Gnome Clocks
Plasma KClock
Calculator
#
Name
Description
Gnome Caculator
Maps/navigation
#
Name
Description
Gnome Maps
Map data comes from OpenStreetMap.
PureMaps
Supports GeoCube positioning. If the device GPS works properly, it can navigate. Map data comes from OpenStreetMap.
Weather
#
Name
Description
Gnome Weather
Remote desktop
#
Name
Description
TigerVNC
For X11 desktop environments only.
WayVNC
For Wayland desktop environments only.
