Category:Interface: Difference between revisions
Add Lomiri as an interface with a screenshot |
Fix formatting issues and make UI descriptions more concise |
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|name=Phosh | |name=Phosh | ||
|image=File:Phosh homescreen.png | |image=File:Phosh homescreen.png | ||
|description= | |description=A mobile interface developed by Purism. It is based on the GNOME stack.}} | ||
{{Interface box | {{Interface box | ||
|name=Plasma Mobile | |name=Plasma Mobile | ||
|image=File:Plasma Mobile homescreen.png | |image=File:Plasma Mobile homescreen.png | ||
|description= | |description=The mobile version of KDE Plasma. It is based on the KDE stack.}} | ||
{{Interface box | {{Interface box | ||
|name=Sxmo | |name=Sxmo | ||
|image=File:Sxmo homescreen.png | |image=File:Sxmo homescreen.png | ||
|description= | |description=Based on a tiling WM and uses hardware buttons as controls. For advanced users.}} | ||
== Other interfaces == | == Other interfaces == | ||
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|name=Xfce4 | |name=Xfce4 | ||
|image=File:Xfce4-phone_0.6.0_on_samsung-serranove.png | |image=File:Xfce4-phone_0.6.0_on_samsung-serranove.png | ||
|description= | |description=A lightweight desktop environment. One of the best choices for new ports (non-DRM). | ||
|small=yes}} | |small=yes}} | ||
{{Interface box | {{Interface box | ||
|name=MATE | |name=MATE | ||
|image=File:Pmos_mate_samsung-serranove_2024-12-29.png | |image=File:Pmos_mate_samsung-serranove_2024-12-29.png | ||
|description= | |description=A fork of GNOME 2. Not as configurable as Xfce4, thus the setup is less touch-friendly. | ||
|small=yes}} | |small=yes}} | ||
{{Interface box | {{Interface box | ||
|name=fbkeyboard | |name=fbkeyboard | ||
|image=File:Fbkeyboard.png | |image=File:Fbkeyboard.png | ||
|description= | |description=A keyboard that runs in the framebuffer. Useful when regular graphical interfaces don't work. | ||
|nowiki=yes | |nowiki=yes | ||
|small=yes}} | |small=yes}} | ||
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|name=none/console | |name=none/console | ||
|image=File:Samsung-j3.png | |image=File:Samsung-j3.png | ||
|description= | |description=A minimal environment with none of the UIs. console has some extra packages included. | ||
|nowiki=yes | |nowiki=yes | ||
|small=yes}} | |small=yes}} | ||
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|name=Weston | |name=Weston | ||
|image=File:Weston default.png | |image=File:Weston default.png | ||
|description= | |description=The reference Wayland compositor. Can be used as a demo for DRM support. | ||
|small=yes}} | |small=yes}} | ||
{{Interface box | {{Interface box | ||
|name=GNOME | |name=GNOME | ||
|image=File:Gnome-mobile-postmarketos-23.06.png | |image=File:Gnome-mobile-postmarketos-23.06.png | ||
|description= | |description=The GNOME stack for desktop or mobile. | ||
|small=yes}} | |small=yes}} | ||
{{Interface box | {{Interface box | ||
|name=Bananui | |name=Bananui | ||
|image=File:Bananui.png | |image=File:Bananui.png | ||
|description= | |description=A UI for feature phones based on parts of [[Phosh]] and a custom UI toolkit. | ||
|small=yes}} | |small=yes}} | ||
{{Interface box | {{Interface box | ||
|name=Lomiri | |name=Lomiri | ||
|image=File:Lomiri-example-desktop-2.png | |image=File:Lomiri-example-desktop-2.png | ||
|description= | |description=An elegant and convergent shell for both desktop and mobile. | ||
|small=yes}} | |small=yes}} | ||
Revision as of 18:15, 2 February 2025

An interface is the graphical shell that runs on a device. Traditionally, these are called "desktop environments"; however, we prefer to use the name "interfaces" as we ship multiple mobile-first user interfaces as well.
As of writing, there are 24 user interfaces readily available in postmarketOS. These range from regular desktop environments to mobile-centric interfaces.
Commonly used interfaces
Clicking on the images in the interface info boxes will take you to the wiki page for the respective interface. |
These are recommended for devices running a (close to) mainline kernel.
Other interfaces
MATE
A fork of GNOME 2. Not as configurable as Xfce4, thus the setup is less touch-friendly.
Wiki page
fbkeyboard
A keyboard that runs in the framebuffer. Useful when regular graphical interfaces don't work.
Other than these few, we package other user interfaces, ranging from various desktop environments to 10-foot UIs like Kodi or Plasma Bigscreen, as well as experimental UIs like Shelli. If you'd like to learn more, you can find more links to wiki pages of various interfaces at the bottom of this page.
Which interfaces work where (and which interface should I use?)
For devices running a (close to) mainline kernel (they typically have working GPU acceleration), Phosh, Plasma Mobile and Sxmo are recommended.
For new ports, using a simple, light-weight X11 interface such as Xfce4, MATE, LXQt may provide a better experience. Sxmo and i3wm could also be used as options.
Phosh and Weston currently don't work on devices running downstream kernels due to lack of DRM support (only supported in mainline kernel). It also does not work on mainline devices without working hardware acceleration; however, some progress towards fixing this was made - see pmaports#948. Plasma Mobile can be launched in software rendering mode, but performs poorly.
Additionally, Phosh, Plasma Mobile and other 'modern' UIs may be too heavy for resource constrained devices (e.g. those with little RAM or less powerful CPU/GPU)
For minimal usage like an SBC or a Raspberry Pi, use console or none.
Installing interfaces
For devices in the main or community category, you can download official postmarketOS images with pre-installed interfaces.
If you'd like to install a different interface, you have multiple options:
- Install postmarketOS with pmbootstrap. During
pmbootstrap init
you will be asked to select an user interface. - If you'd like to install a different UI on a device running postmarketOS, install the UI package for it with
apk add postmarketos-ui-<UI name>
. You can get a list of available UIs by using the commandapk search postmarketos-ui-
.
For none/console UI, you can run these commands according to your demand:
# rc-service tinydm stop # Stop current DM. Replace tinydm with the DM that you are using
# rc-update del tinydm # Don't start DM by default
# apk del postmarketos-ui-* # Delete UI metapackages if you don't need them anymore
# apk add postmarketos-ui-console # Install console UI metapackage
Subcategories
This category has only the following subcategory.
Pages in category "Interface"
The following 21 pages are in this category, out of 21 total.