Hi. I know the most privacy-oriented (and best-working) phone OS is GrapheneOS, but I was wondering about other, less well-known ones, such as VollaOS (modified Android), Sailfish OS or Ubuntu Touch. Are they private? Do they work? Can I run Android applications on them (VollaOS and SailfishOS) without too much effort? I like using Linux, but I rely on many Android apps, such as navigation, mobile banking, the Garmin app, and many others. Do you have any experience with these operating systems?
Check /e/OS by Murena. It’s closer to Volla IMHO because they sell the phone with the deGoogled Android. In fact I was initially going to buy from Volla because I wanted something deGoogled and European but I wasn’t sure it would be a good fit for me. I thought for 800€ it was too risky for me. Consequently I tried the way cheaper option (~360€) from France rather than Germany. To be fair it’s also a lower-end phone but like I said, less risky for me if it was not to work out.
If you already have a phone though that is compatible with GrapheneOS and want to tinker, it’s probably not for you. If you want to “just” buy a working phone with an OS that isn’t tied to Google services then it might be a good option.
I bought one few months ago (cf my post history, you can see what worked, what didn’t, and the countless arguments I had with people criticizing Murena and /e/OS) and basically I’m happy with it. It’s not perfect but for my use case, it’s a good compromise. The phone I picked does come with limitations (e.g. no eSIM) but I found work around (e.g. JMP adapter) and one of my biggest concern, namely mobile banking due to not using a Google Android, is no problem for now, it just worked.
Finally (as you can again see from my post history) I do have the PinePhone and PinePhone Pro. I ordered them since they were out because I’m quite eager about Linux phones. I use Linux every day, from my desktop, including for gaming in VR, to my handled (SteamDeck) to eInk to home servers … so why not on mobile yet? Unfortunately it’s still quite experimental (camera support, battery management, BT for music or podcast, etc) so it’s not up to my expectations yet.