The most popular Linux distribution for phones and tablets is (probably) postmarketOS, and there’s a new release to get excited about. postmarketOS v25.06 comes with new versions of KDE Plasma Mobile and GNOME, and it supports more devices like the Pixel 3A XL.
postmarketOS is an Alpine Linux-based distribution built primarily for phones and tablets, including devices that were originally released with Android. It supports mobile GNOME, KDE Plasma Mobile,Phosh,Sxmo, and other graphical environments, with most of the functionality you would expect from desktop Linux. However, it’s still an experimental project—some ports don’t have perfect support for calling, cameras, texting, and other core features.
The latest v25.06 release upgrades GNOME 47 to GNOME 48, and replaces KDE Plasma Mobile 6.2.4 with 6.3.5. The former change introduces “massive performance improvements with dynamic triple buffering” and several usability improvements, while the latter upgrade has interface improvements and “major bug fixes.” It also updates Phosh to 0.47, while Sxmo stays on the same 1.17.1 release.
This update also replaces the OpenRC init system in postmarketOS with systemd, which is already used by most desktop Linux distributions. The teamsaid last yearthat OpenRC requires many modifications to work with GNOME and KDE Plasma, and “we would quite simply rather be working on making postmarketOS better.” The switch also requires fully reinstalling postmarketOS—if you upgrade from a previous release, you stay on OpenRC.
The list of supported devices is also still expanding, with new ports for the Google Pixel 3a XL, Moto G5, Plus, Xiaomi Redmi 7, Xiaomi Mi 9T/Redmi K20, Poco N3 NFC, and Mi Pad 5 Pro. The camera also now works on the OnePlus 6, Moto E5 Plus, and a few other phones. The list of supported phones and tablets is still primarily old Android phones, but there is also a generic 64-bit x86 version for installation on regular PCs.
postmarketOS is also about to get “a shiny new name,” but it hasn’t been fully decided yet. The name change was first revealedearlier this year, as postmarketOS isn’t exclusive to devices that have reached the end of their official lifespan, and the current name isn’t easy to pronounce.
You can install postmarketOS with theofficial instructions. It’s generally not as stable or feature-complete as Android or iOS, but it’s an impressive effort to bring the open platform of desktop Linux to phones and tablets.
