Yeah chat is a big problem for me still. Between my wife and I we use nextcloud chat which works okay (I like that it comes with nextcloud for free so for self hosting I don't need to do anymore). Downsides are it doesn't use unified push for notifications and the fdroid version doesn't support a persistent connection for notifications. So I use another app nextcloudservices to get chat notifications on my phone. For anyone else I try to use sms or email. I've been interested in trying signal but one annoying thing is it doesn't support notifications without google services at all afaik. The alternative client Molly apparently does and you can install a socket proxy thing to get push notifications without a persistent connection. I haven't tested it but It'll probably be the next thing I test. I tested matrix with the family and that was a mess. Lots of problems with "failed to decrypt" message errors and by default the client heavily compresses sent images which is annoying when you're trying to share family photos. I heard good things about xmpp e2ee being better than matrix and easy to self host so I was tempted to look into that. But if I don't have to self host (with something like signal) that would be better. I also tried Jami (cool p2p chat app developed in Montréal). I really liked it but it works terribly on IOS due to IOs aggressively killing background apps. Which meant it was a no go for my family members that use apple devices. There was a recent lwn article about pmos recommending devices like the pixel 3a, fair phone 5, and OnePlus 6 if you want a decent Linux phone experience. https://lwn.net/Articles/1055391 Regards, Lucas On January 28, 2026 3:55:18 p.m. EST, David Nikkel via linux <linux [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org> wrote: >Hi Lucas, > >You don't mention needing/wanting a chat app but that's the app I've >recently moved away from Google. My family and I were big users of Google >Chat, really our main way of communicating. We've moved to Signal and it's >been working great so far. The native app for Linux makes it very handy >for Linux users. > >For Linux focused phones, you might want to review this article ><https://itsfoss.com/linux-phones/> from itsfoss.com. > >Dave > >On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 1:14 PM Lucas Fryzek via linux < >linux [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org> wrote: > >> Hello All, >> >> I'm curious if anyone in the OCLUG has tried using de-googled android >> or linux based phone OS like PMOS? How has your experience been? >> >> I'm interested in switching especially with the current political >> climate to try and use tech that doesn't depend on US companies. >> >> I've been doing a test to try and use f-droid for most of my apps on my >> pixel (haven't fully migrated to a fully de-googled ROM), but my >> experience trying to use FOSS apps that don't depend on google servers: >> >> * E-mail >> - K9 mail works great for anything I need >> * Web >> - I've been using firefox on android forever and fennec in fdroid >> works great, you can use unified push for notifications as well so >> you don't even depend on google's notification serers >> * Files, notes, and pictures >> - I've setup nextcloud on my personal server and it works okay for >> file storage. >> - Image sync is not as great. All my images get auto uploaded but >> viewing them on the server can be quite laggy. I've heard better >> things about immich for images but I really like the nextcloud >> ecosystem besides these problems >> - Quilpad is a really great notes app, and can use nextcloud/webdav >> for sync. Supports things like markdown formatting as well >> * Contacts & Calendar >> - With nextcloud I have caldav and carddav for calendar in contacts >> and I can use them on Android using DAVx5. I'm still using the >> default calendar and contacts app on my pixel phone but the data is >> coming from my server >> * Passwords >> - I have a Keepass password DB I keep synced between devices using >> nextcloud and then I use KeepassDX on android to access it. Works >> great for me >> * Authenticator >> - I use Aegis for TOTP, and it works great >> * Notifications >> - I have unified push setup with Nextpush which can use a nextcloud >> server as a Webpush endpoint. This works great for any apps that >> support unified push, and allows you to have push notifications >> without depending on google's Firebase cloud messaging platform. >> - There are other unified push distributors that I tried like ntfy.sh >> & sunup that also work, but like I mentioned before I'm a bit sucked >> into the nextcloud ecosystem. >> * Maps >> - This is the biggest pain point. OSMAnd I've found really annoying to >> use. Co-maps/Organic maps are nice to use but don't support public >> transit. I recently found out about the e-foundation Cardinal map >> app which works alright. Navigation for driving isn't as good as co- >> maps/organic maps but it does support public transit through >> transitous which has OC transpo data. >> - There is also Bimba, a dedicated public transit app that can use >> transitous for public transit routing. It works okay, but I find the >> UI a bit off putting. >> >> I'm curious about other people's experience, have you been able to use >> a de-googled phone? I'm especially interested if anyone is running post >> market os or some other linux phone. What device do you use, how's the >> experience for receiving calls, get notifications, battery life, etc. >> >> I'm interested in buying a device that has decent linux support to try >> out a dedicated linux phone device. So if others have experience I'm >> keen to here it. >> >> Thanks & Regards, >> Lucas >>
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