Potential apps

From postmarketOS

These are applications which already exist for Linux and could be reused in postmarketOS with little to no adjustment.

Application License Type Package link (if available)
2048 GPL3 Sliding tile puzzle game. Touch-friendly. Alpine repo
axolotl GPL3 complete cross-platform Signal client, compatible with the Ubuntu Phone and more.
brickman ui GPL2 Simple retro-themed touch UI written in vala
Calligra Gemini[1] GPL2 Word processor and presentation application designed for touchscreen devices. Part of the KDE Calligra suite.
Dillo GPL3 Extremely lightweight web browser, using very little RAM. Not touch-optimised but can display most mobile websites well (no HTML5 support), and hence may be the only usable browser on older devices, besides Netsurf. Uses ~20MB RAM. Alpine repo
Dino GPL3 Modern Jabber/XMPP Client using GTK+/Vala https://dino.im/ PostmarketOS repo
drawing GPL3 Basic image editor for the GNOME desktop. Also designed for GNU/Linux smartphones. Flatpak
Ekiga GPL2 VoIP and video conferencing application for GNOME
Gnome web (epiphany) GPL3 The web browser for the GNOME desktop. Purism is working on making it phone-friendly for their Librem 5 phone. PostmarketOS repo
Evince (reader) GPL2 GTK3 document viewer (for PDFs and other formats). Supports highlighting and is touch-friendly. PostmarketOS repo
Gajim GPL3 An XMPP client written in Python with Gtk+3.0 manual installation
GNU Ring GPL3 Peer-to-peer messaging client and protocol. No registration required.
GNOME Weather GPL2 GTK3-based simple weather application. Touch-friendly. Alpine repo
GNOME Maps GPL2 GTK3-based simple maps application with routing. Reasonably touch-friendly. Alpine repo
GNOME Notes GPL3/LGPL Scales perfectly and is very touch-friendly. flatpak
GNOME Files LGPL GTK3-based file manager. Alpine repo
GNOME Cheese GPL2 Photobooth-style camera app. "Fullscreen mode" is touch-friendly. Alpine repo
GNOME Photos GPL3 Photo gallery application. Reasonably touch-friendly. Alpine repo
GNOME Usage GPL3 System monitor. Purism made a mobile config for the Librem 5. Alpine repo
Index FM GPL2 Touchscreen file manager for Plasma Mobile
Kaidan GPL3 Kirigami-based (QT) XMPP application Alpine repo
KCalc GPL2 Qt-based application. Made for desktop but also suitable for touchscreen use. Alpine repo
KDE Marble (maps) [2] LGPL Touch-optimised mobile application. X11 and Wayland support. Alpine repo
links2 GPL2 Simple web browser for saving on data consumption. Can be resized to a phone's aspect ratio when running in graphical mode. Alpine repo
Liri Browser GPL3 QtWebEngine-based browser built with complete touch (including smartphone) support, Material Design, and support for coloured-site windows Flatpak
Liri Calculator GPL3 Simple Qt5 calculator using Material Design, with touch support Flatpak
Liri Text GPL3 Simple Qt5 text and code editor using Material Design, with touch support Flatpak
LLs Video Player GPL2 Touch-based Qt Wayland application. Ported to Plasma Mobile.
Marker GPL3 Markdown editor. Very touch-friendly. Flatpak
Maya (calendar) GPL3 GTK3 based calendar application from Elementary OS. Supports the CalDAV sync protocol.
Resizes well to a phone's aspect ratio although a few dialog boxes may not be accessible easily.
Midori LGPL2.1 Fairly lightweight web browser, using very little RAM. Touch-capable but not touch-optimised and not hardware-accelerated. It can display websites well, with HTML5 support. Uses ~40MB RAM. Alpine repo
Modest Mail BSD and LGPL Lightweight, touch-friendly email client designed for Nokia Maemo devices. (Not updated since 2010. Their source link is broken, but the code can be found here.)
MoNav GPL3 Lightweight touchscreen Qt-based map application (using OSM). Includes routing.
Navit GPL2, LGPL Open source GTK+ and SDL based car navigation software. Uses OSM, Garmin and other map sources.
Netsurf GPL2 Extremely lightweight web browser, using very little RAM. Not touch-optimised but can display most mobile websites well (no HTML5 support). Uses ~20MB RAM. Alpine repo
Photos LGPL2.1 Photo gallery and editor for Elementary OS. Originally a fork of Shotwell.
Resizes well to a phone's aspect ratio although a few dialog boxes may not be accessible easily.
Peruse LGPL2 Comic book reader with touch support, for plasma mobile (in development) PostmarketOS repo
Public Transport GPL3 Real time information for public transportation (currently) in Germany Flatpak
QTodoTxt2 GPL3 todo.txt GUI, not mobile optimized, but scales well
QTox GPL3 Peer-to-peer (Tox) messaging client (other FOSS clients also available)
QtWebBrowser GPL3 Lightweight and touch-friendly web browser based on qt (source [3]). PostmarketOS repo
RetroArch GPL3 Frontend for emulators, game engines and media players. Can be touchscreen friendly with a few tweaks (see wiki page here). Alpine repo
Spice-up GPL3 Simple presentation program made for Elementary OS. Already very touchscreen friendly.
sphone GPL3 sphone is a GTK+ based phone application for linux. It uses ofono for telephony backend.
Thunar (file manager) GPL2 Default file manager on Xfce4 (GTK3-based). Reasonably touch friendly when menu bar and status bar are disabled. Alpine repo
Timetrack GPL3 Timetracker for GNOME. Touch-friendly. Flatpak
Transmission GPL2/GPL3 BitTorrent client. Main interface is touch friendly but settings is not. Alpine repo
Tuxemon GPL2 Monster fighting RPG. Capture and battle monsters against others! (more games)
Ubports Morph browser GPL3 Morph browser (previously known as webbrowser-app) is a lightweight touch-friendly web browser tailored for Ubuntu, based on the Oxide web engine.

Apps that only work with proprietary services

Note Using proprietary networks takes away your freedom, consider not using these altogether (e.g. by replacing Skype/WhatsApp with XMPP or Matrix).
Application License Type Package link (if available)
caprine (FB Messenger) MIT X11 application (Electron web wrapper). Touch-friendly
cchat-gtk GPL3 A Gtk frontend for cchat, a set of interfaces (currently only for Discord)
FreeTube GPL3 Electron-based YouTube client x64 tar
ghetto-skype GPL3 X11 application (Electron web wrapper). Touch-optimisation and notifications support.
IGDM MIT Electron-based Instagram direct message client AppImage
ramme (Instagram) MIT X11 application (Electron web wrapper). Touch-friendly
Signal Desktop GPL3 Electron based client for the Signal messaging protocol
Flare GPL3 An unofficial Signal GTK client Flatpak
smtube (YouTube) [4] GPL X11 application (Native Qt5) with some touch-optimisation
telegram-desktop GPL3 X11 application (Native)
Viber Desktop for Linux Closed source Official Desktop Linux Viber client (x86) AppImage
YakYak MIT Open source Google Hangouts client Flatpak (x86)

See also

Other Mobile Linux platforms

Other frameworks

  • box86 - Allows applications compiled for x86 Linux to be executed on ARM devices
  • Anbox - Under-construction Android compatibility layer
  • Darling - Darwin/macOS compatibility layer for Linux
  • oFono - Open Source Telephony Framework
  • Ginn - Allows non-multitouch-aware applications to support multitouch gestures making a lot more applications usable on a touchscreen. [5]
  • MicroEmulator - Runs J2ME MIDP feature phone applications on Linux devices. Can be used to run apps e.g. Opera Mini and Facebook, for the pmOS feature phone idea.
  • touchHLE - Only supports Windows, macOS, and Android for now, may support Linux in the future. Is a 32 bit iOS app compatibility layer made originally for games, may support other apps in the future.
  • [maemo.org/packages/view/preenv/ preenv] - A webOS compatibility layer for Meamo, may be worth investigating.