Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Plasma Mobile

Plasma Mobile turns your phone into a fully open hacking device, just like a PC.

Plasma Mobile

Plasma Mobile Reviews and Details

This page is designed to help you find out whether Plasma Mobile is good and if it is the right choice for you.

Screenshots and images

  • Plasma Mobile Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-15

Features & Specs

  1. Open Source

    Plasma Mobile is open source, which encourages transparency, security, and community-driven development. Users can review the code and contribute to its development.

  2. Customizability

    Since it is built on open standards and KDE technologies, users can extensively customize their devices to fit their personal preferences and needs.

  3. User Privacy

    Plasma Mobile places a strong emphasis on user privacy, avoiding the data collection practices that many proprietary systems employ.

  4. Integration with Linux Ecosystem

    It integrates well with the broader Linux ecosystem, providing compatibility and seamless interaction with other KDE and free/libre software projects.

  5. Active Community Support

    The active community around KDE ensures that there is ongoing support, frequent updates, and a plethora of available resources for troubleshooting and development.

Badges

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Videos

Plasma Mobile (KDE Neon) on the PinePhone "Brave Heart"

Plasma Mobile Neon on Brave heart review.

KDE Plasma Mobile Review (Early Look) | The Future of Linux Phones? Geekoutdoors.com EP621

Social recommendations and mentions

We have tracked the following product recommendations or mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you see what people think about Plasma Mobile and what they use it for.
  • Android: Balancing Openness and Choice with Safety
    Welp, I guess my current Android phone will be my last one. At least half of the apps I use on a daily basis come from f-droid. This enforced 24-hour wait is simply not acceptable. Android has always been a far inferior overall user experience compared to iPhone. Android's _only_ saving grace was that I could put my own third-party open-source apps on it. There is nothing left keeping me on Android now. I hope... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Jolla on track to ship new phone with Sailfish OS, user-replaceable battery
    You should instead check out Plasma Mobile devices. They're _very_ close to releasing something for daily use and the whole KDE stack on mobile has come a long way. I have no idea about the state of ModemManager though, because that has been historically always painful to use. [1] https://plasma-mobile.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Google's "Desktop View" Turns Android Phones into Pocket PCs
    Https://plasma-mobile.org Does seem decent but the problem no major phone maker support it or make phones for it, in fact even linux desktop doesn't have may laptops/desktops "official" support,. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Google will develop Android OS behind closed doors starting next week
    That's what https://plasma-mobile.org is supposed to be. But the problem is there is yet to be a single device that has every hardware feature working %100...see https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Devices#Main. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Fairphone 5
    I had a dream that I own a FP5 running Plasma Mobile [1]. Then I woke up and realized this is the real world and in the real world we can't have Good Things. [1] https://plasma-mobile.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Trans liberation must be protected at all costs. Protect trans kids. Under no pretext shall arms and ammunition be taken from the working class.
    I know it's not as common and not as good as android forks, but more secure and better privacy Linux operating systems exist for mobile phones as well like Plasma Mobile and Ubuntu Touch. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • What is the distro with the best touch ui
    Now, for the backend, the distro you might want to use is KDE plasma, which has its own mobile platform Https://plasma-mobile.org/. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • ASUS ROG Ally gaming console to feature AMD Ryzen 7 7840U Zen4/RDNA3 APU - VideoCardz.com
    Also, if you do get something like the Ally, a better option is actually probably something like KUbuntu with Plasma Mobile. It provides a touch-friendly interface that should play well with Steam. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Linux distro with good touchscreen support.
    There is also Plasma Mobile that is not stable yet but at least it is fairly light weight and was built with touchscreen support in mind. You can do Fedora + plasma-mobile or debian + plasma-mobile but I don't know of any .iso file you can download with everything already configured. Source: about 3 years ago
  • More Developers Use Linux than Mac, Report Shows
    Https://www.pine64.org/pinephonepro/ is about the closest to a successful Linux phone running https://plasma-mobile.org/ but it's still very niche and just as unlikely to capture any significant market segment. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Valve is Paying 100+ Open-Source Developers to work on Linux Technologies
    This is how it was years ago, but since 2009 KDE does not expand into anything anymore. KDE is the name of the community and umbrella brand. The actual "desktop" environment is since then called Plasma. Desktop is in quotes since Plasma is also available on other form factors, e.g. Mobile devices. Source: over 3 years ago
  • US carriers want to bring โ€œscreen zeroโ€ lock screen ads to smartphones
    This BS was not brought to you by KDE Plasma Mobile or UBPorts. https://plasma-mobile.org/. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Canonical is Recruiting Devs for โ€˜Ubuntu Gamingโ€™ Team
    Plasma Mobile is still very actively developed. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Xperia Need OWN OS ?
    Personally, one of my favorite things about Sony to date is how they have this "Open Devices" initiative; contributing to the Android Open Source Community and making it easy to root & ROM their phones. But What I'm suggesting here is taking things one step further; contributing to Linux on mobile so that we can have hardware drivers available for something like PostMarket OS or Manjaro ARM (With Plasma Mobile)... Source: about 4 years ago
  • Qt for mobile apps development ?
    Yeah, QML is great. See also https://plasma-mobile.org and https://ubuntu-touch.io for example. Source: about 4 years ago
  • The SteamOS Desktop, 'KDE Plasma', A Constructive Feedback Thread
    There is KDE Plasma version for phones and tables, so hopefully that will get added in some way eventually - https://plasma-mobile.org. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Microsoft is testing ads in the Windows 11 File Explorer
    Why not go with something like Graphene or Plasma? Source: about 4 years ago
  • My PinePhone Setup
    SXMO users like OP are a minority of PinePhone users. The two more popular alternatives are Plasma Mobile and Phosh. https://plasma-mobile.org/ https://developer.puri.sm/Librem5/Software_Reference/Environments/Phosh.html. - Source: Hacker News / about 4 years ago
  • Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam Deck: 18% faster on SteamOS than Windows 10
    KDE has other shells other than the Desktop shell, there is Plasma Mobile optimized for touch screen device rather than desktop. But yes if you have a Keyboard and Mouse setup the spreadsheet UI that Xerox developed initially works for getting work done. That being said if only using the Deck without a Dock plasma mobile would be interesting to test out on the Deck. You can try to boot into steam big picture... Source: about 4 years ago
  • New documentation for Plasma Mobile
    I also did some work on the website to improve the homepage and cleanup the set of pages (some of them are unchanged from 2015!): https://plasma-mobile.org. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Apart from games, what apps would you like to see built for the Deck?
    Don't worry about that. There's a lot of effort currently around Plasma Mobile for mobile Linux devices making applications usable via touch screen. I think you can just use their file manager instead of Dolphin. Source: about 4 years ago

Summary of the public mentions of Plasma Mobile

Plasma Mobile, a burgeoning mobile operating system developed by the KDE community, is gaining traction as a compelling alternative to mainstream mobile operating systems like Android. Designed to run atop a Linux distribution, Plasma Mobile leverages the Qt multi-platform toolkit and the KDE framework. This combination provides a polished, customizable, and fluid user experience, despite the fact that it stands apart from Android-based systems by not supporting Android applications. Instead, it uses the Kirigami UI framework for application development, fostering a unique ecosystem of apps tailored to its environment.

Public opinion on Plasma Mobile, as reflected in various articles and community discussions, indicates a mix of optimism and apprehension. Commentators appreciate Plasma Mobile for its open-source nature and its lineage from the widely respected KDE desktop environment. It promises a degree of convergence that is attractive to users familiar with KDE offerings. Many see it as a niche but promising player in the landscape of mobile operating systems, similar in spirit to Ubuntu Touch and postmarketOS.

However, there are significant challenges Plasma Mobile faces in gaining widespread adoption. Chief among these is the lack of support from major phone manufacturers, which limits its reach and user base. This results in a perception of it being a project for enthusiasts and developers rather than mainstream users. Additionally, community conversations reveal concerns about hardware compatibility. Currently, no device supports Plasma Mobile entirely, with all hardware features functioning perfectly. This is seen as a notable barrier to entry for everyday users who expect their devices to work flawlessly out of the box.

Despite these hurdles, there is appreciation for the project's potential in the realms of security and privacy. Many commentators consider Plasma Mobile to be a more secure and privacy-conscious option compared to Android forks, appealing to users with particular priorities in these areas. Furthermore, its lightweight nature and integration with existing Linux distributions make it an attractive option for tech-savvy users seeking a streamlined, customizable, and touch-friendly interface.

In conclusion, while Plasma Mobile is not yet ready to challenge the dominance of Android on a large scale, it holds promise for a subset of users within the open-source community and Linux ecosystem. Continued development and improving hardware support could further enhance its appeal, positioning it as a viable open-source mobile OS competitor in the future. However, achieving this would require overcoming the daunting challenges of driving broader adoption and securing the support of phone manufacturers.

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Is Plasma Mobile good? This is an informative page that will help you find out. Moreover, you can review and discuss Plasma Mobile here. The primary details have not been verified within the last quarter, and they might be outdated. If you think we are missing something, please use the means on this page to comment or suggest changes. All reviews and comments are highly encouranged and appreciated as they help everyone in the community to make an informed choice. Please always be kind and objective when evaluating a product and sharing your opinion.