Any thoughts on building your own phone?
Recently I had the idea of building my own phone with a Raspberry Pi. I started searching and I found this article where someone had already done this. Unfortunately this article is from 2014 and I can’t find a newer article with a functional phone with SIM card. At some point this guy says he’s running Raspbian. Are there mobile desktops for Debian? Mobian doesn’t look very real.I don’t want Android although Lineage/etc might be acceptable… (Although now I’m thinking of putting Droidian on an old phone…)
Anyway does anybody have any info, thoughts, or advice on this? Am I a total idiot for wanting to attempt this?
In the days of 3G, this was possible. However, LTE and 5G networks will not allow uncertified modems to connect. If you’ve ever been through getting a Mikrotik LTE router on a North American network, you’ll recognize that pain.
Using Mobian (very real, BTW), or PostmarketOS are your best bets at the moment. Easier to reverse-engineer drivers than to go through the hoops of certification.
The best cell phones use WiFi.
aren’t those called tablets? lol
Where do I get one thats the size if a phone?
Is mobian still maintained? I had a quick look a couple days ago and their last blog post was 3+ years ago.
I have a pine phone that I haven’t touched in years. I’d love to daily drive it.
October 2025 by my reckoning.
https://blog.mobian.org/posts/2025/10/new-stable-rotating-keys/
You know what… I think I was thinking of Armbian.