Hello all!
Due to the recent statements by Google (as well as their track record the last few years) I’ve decided I do not want to use Android as a phone operating system anymore. But Apple is just as bad, if not worse. So I’ve decided to build my own custom device.
I am working on building a phone using a single board computer, right now I’m using the raspberry pi 5. This is still a proof of concept, but I want to share my ideas with others, so like minded individuals can start messing around with this idea in their own homes to further this goal.
You can view more images of the device here, as well as the step by step instructions here (these are still very rough and incomplete) https://github.com/muhammadmanwar/cheaphone OR https://codeberg.org/muhammadmanwar/cheaphone
Right now it just runs raspberry pi OS, with a different desktop look and feel. Everything that normally works in a pi 5 works on this device, additionally I am experimenting with a Mobile Broadband modem, to allow the device to text and call, as well as access internet, like a normal phone off wifi
The total cost is around 200 dollars, not including the 3d printer to make the custom case.
This project is barely off the ground, and I’ve got a lot to learn before I can stop relying strictly on the raspberry pi 5, my end goal is to custom design SBCs, and release those designs for free alongside the plans for the device, so that interested parties can select their own System on a Chip to use for the device. I need to get into designing boards, I’m interested in trying Stephen Hawes’ Lumen PnP (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlkTcxh-9gA) for that phase.
But that’s for the future, for now, I’m hoping to get more people interested in the prototype so that I’m not the only one noodling around on this idea. I’d love some feedback, and if anyone was willing to put one together for testing, I would appreciate it greatly!
Ah; welp, I stand corrected.
That’s fair; most reviews I saw made it seem like it was one of the few options that actually could be daily-drivable (like, still probably infrequent crashes, slight small bugs, but all the crucial bits worked 95% of the time).
I mean, yeah; totally fair. I think I have just a smidge more flexibility. Like, I need battery (for obvious reasons) but I’m fine if I can get things working again with just a reboot. But I do have to go around far less than I used to (WfH, generally stay in most days). That said, my plan’s to keep my old phone around, just in case.
Not yet but I pre-ordered back in Sept. (maybe Aug.? A few months ago, certainly). Looks like current estimates are seemingly looking like some time in January.
Most of what I’ve read and seen have been promising but I’ve also just been ready to get rid of Android for, like, 5 years, now. I figure, even if things don’t work well enough for daily driving, I’m still supporting efforts to make it, finally, a reality but (naturally) I’m, also, really hoping.
I’ll let you know my impressions when it comes, if that’s something you’d want? Like I said, I often mention the device since it seems to go unnoticed in most Mobile Linux conversations but it’ll be good to have one so I can do more than just quote others’ experiences.