Link: https://9to5google.com/2026/03/13/is-the-android-we-once-knew-slowly-getting-eroded/

Android is in a strange place at the moment; it's stronger than ever, but feels further away from what launched almost 20 years ago.

No.

There's nothing slow about it.

Yes. It's more and more like iOS and more vendor lockin.

I feel like it is, and I'm actually now actively working on sourcing a secondary device to put postmarketOS Linux on and begin using Linux on mobile. I am currently unaffected by Google's shenanigans because I use LineageOS with no Google Play services at all, but I fear they could bake that into AOSP directly in the future. And then Android would be a totally dead platform. Therefore, it's actively time that I start looking at the alternative and trying to use it to see where it stands and where I might be able to help smooth out some rough edges. One thing is for certain, I will not stand for an Android, where I cannot install the applications I want to install on my own device, and I will not be going to iOS ever. Fuck that. I would get rid of my phone entirely before going with either of those options, and thankfully, it doesn't look as though that will be necessary, because Linux on mobile, while rough around the edges, does exist.

I have a oneplus 6T with postmarketOS and it works pretty well.

What environment do you use? I'm thinking GNOME mobile would be my best option because it has some accessibility settings. I can't use a device without magnification at a minimum and both magnification and a screen reader are preferred when possible.

If Google proceeds with killing app installs I will be giving Linux mobile a go as well.

I'm using phosh, which I believe has some gnome components.

I can see there's a quick setting for adjusting screen scaling and options for large text. There's also an option for a screen reader in the accessibility options but it doesn't seem to do anything now that I'm trying it, maybe I have to download some TTS program to make it work.

Very neat. Are there any particular sticking points for you?

My problem is that I can't find a single Linux capable phone with a decent sized battery (10000mAh+). Hopefully when Google does this, the Chinese manufacturers pivot to Linux phones in anticipation of the coming market for them.

We need non-US technology platforms. US business leadership has proven that they cannot be trusted.

Does the accessibility settings have a "zoom" submenu? If you have the time would you screenshot the "accessibility" menu for me and the "zoom" submenu if it exists?

Oh dang, 10kAh. Ive never had a phone over like 5.1k mAh.

My old one was the unihertz tank. That one was 22kmAh.

Read this as "kilometer amp hours" and my brain broke.

tried it recently on a POCO F1 and it was unusable, maybe I should get a OP6...