
Librem 5 App Design Tutorial - kgwxd
https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-app-design-tutorial-part-i/
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awinter-py
I want a linux phone so bad I can taste it

The only reason I'm on android is because of f-droid -- the android experience
still degrades every few months (we can process all your SMS through our
website! slower animations!). So tired of carrying G's hot garbage around in
my pocket.

~~~
elorant
So why not an iPhone? I'm not trolling, I try to understand why so many IT
guys choose Android when it's obvious that Google sucks as much data as they
can out of the platform.

~~~
Yetanfou
For the same reason that I do not use Windows or MacOS - I like my software to
listen to me, not to some remote dictator no matter how 'benevolent' he might
portray himself to be. My phones run Android but do not run anything Google -
no play store, no Google Services Framework, no Google apps. Seen from
foundation to screen they run a - generally closed source - bootloader, the
Linux kernel, some derivative of AOSP with F-Droid to feed the thing with
software. Somewhere on the side they also run the closed-source, closed-
everything 4G (or 3G on some older devices) modem. The bootloader and the
closed radio software are thus far unavoidable but for the other parts there
is no excuse not to use open, 'free' software. Just like my servers and user-
facing machines run Linux or one of the BSD's.

An iPhone would not be a step up but a jump down.

~~~
rchaud
Can I ask the make and model of the phone you're using? I assume it's on a
custom ROM and rooted since you said there aren't any Google Play Services
related stuff running.

I have a Galaxy Tab S5e on the way that runs Android + Samsung DeX Linux. I'm
hoping to use the Linux aspect heavily, so less of my info flows to Google.
But I'll need to dig into it a bit to understand how they keep the data
separate (if they do).

~~~
Yetanfou
A Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, a bunch of Motorola Defy/Defy+ devices, a RK3066
'Cherry' tablet and some other random devices. The Redmi Note 5 runs LineageOS
(nougat), the Defy(+) Cyanogenmod (kitkat), the tablet also Cyanogenmod. I use
the Redmi Note 5 and a Defy+ as my main devices, the Defy when I'm doing
'dangerous' stuff as it is less vulnerable and smaller than the Redmi. The
tablet is hardly used at all.

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bhauer
I am looking forward to the Librem 5. I am concerned about the philosophy of
"avoiding preferences" since deep control and customization of phone and
application behavior is one of the draws of something like the Librem 5.

I would be comfortable with that philosophy as long as it's coupled with
something along the lines of the Windows Registry, where it is common to find
many preferences and configuration options that were simply not exposed in an
application's user interface. But reducing the ability of users to adapt
software to their needs without some countermeasure is chilling my interest a
bit.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
I do feel like there's a certain risk to pushing that point, given that most
of the people who want to jump on something like a Linux phone are probably
nerds who want to dive deep into pools of settings. But I also think they've
got to be careful to avoid having apps that literally require you go in and
manage a conf file on a phone.

I am generally pretty fond of having a lot of settings, but I think you have
to sort out why you have them. Is it for personal preference (dark mode/light
mode) or is it something you should be able to detect and automate and not ask
for?

~~~
swiley
>But I also think they've got to be careful to avoid having apps that
literally require you go in and manage a conf file on a phone.

Then they should go get an iphone!

100% of the appeal for this phone is that you'll be able to run GNU/X11 on it.
(there's privacy stuff too but that's a result of the openness)

I already have conf files for most of the apps and use them on handhelds too.

~~~
rchaud
> 100% of the appeal for this phone is that you'll be able to run GNU/X11 on
> it.

That's 100% of the appeal to you, and there aren't enough of you to make
Librem sustainable. I say this as someone who was a big fan of what the Nokia
N900 and Moko Phone were trying to achieve.

Me, I'm looking for a phone that lets me live outside the Google/Apple
ecosystem without reducing my choices to 720p screens and 1GB RAM. I installed
Ubuntu on my laptop a few years ago out of curiosity and it was absurd how
much configuration everything needed. Needing to open up a package manager to
get something as simple as an MP3 Player app is not the UX you want your
customers to have.

~~~
kowbell
Definitely agree that configuration should be optional, not practically
required. That's not just an annoyance to most people, it's a reason to avoid
using something altogether.

> Needing to open up a package manager to get something as simple as an MP3
> Player app is not the UX you want your customers to have.

This doesn't sound like a config issue though, that's more that the choices of
preloaded packages could be better. A package manager isn't much different
from an app store (assuming you meant one of the GUIs.)

Just curious because it's been a while, what were some things you had to
configure? And were you configuring to get it feeling more like OS X/Windows,
or to have software that's usable at all?

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hcal
"Design" was in the title but I was hoping for a development tutorial. I know
its just gtk, but I'm hoping someone with the project can put together a very
simple python or js tutorial for making simple apps.

~~~
craftyguy
This is a start, though it's not complete:
[https://developer.puri.sm/Librem5/Apps/Gnome.html](https://developer.puri.sm/Librem5/Apps/Gnome.html)

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vgoh1
I really want Librem to succeed. I am willing to pay quite a bit more, for a
less capable device, if it respects me as a user. So much performance that we
have these days is just fluff, anyway.

I really hope that they bake enough into the price to be sustainable on low
volume. I don't see this phone being anything more than niche in the near and
intermediate future, and if priced right, maybe it can survive on that.

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ocdtrekkie
As soon as I get some sort of confirmation on if I will be able to get one of
these running on Verizon, I would like to dive in and build some stuff. But
right now I still don't even know if this phone will work for me.

~~~
fghtr
[https://puri.sm/faq/supported-networks/](https://puri.sm/faq/supported-
networks/)

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ncmncm
There does not seem to be anything here specific to the Librem 5 (or any other
number) or even to phones. It mentions Gnome in passing, but that mainly runs
on other things that bring much larger pools of potential users.

Maybe it should suggest developing for the desktop and tablet first, and then
adapting the successful project to the phone afterward. Or, just adapting an
existing project.

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darrmit
I really love the idea of a Linux phone but my big concern is that of
stability. I spent many years running Android/F-Droid trying to find a balance
between usability/stability and privacy and ultimately just ended up on iOS. I
depend on my phone for critical things: GPS, photo taking/backup, etc. so the
margin for experimentation (and error) is pretty thin.

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Ericson2314
I will contribute to NixOS on the Librem 5 once it is out. Highly recommend it
as the interface bandwidth of phones vs laptops means dealing with shitty
state would be even more annoying.

