(obviously flip out phones have a lot of moving parts to get damaged)
With Android 15 you even get a full blown Linux VM running on KVM.
I was actually tempted to switch when AAA games like AC got ported to iOS, but then I remembered I love programming more than gaming.
> This is like rsync for your phone. In fact I would not be surprised if this is implemented using rsync. Once you configure an offline folder, it will two-way sync that folder while you use the app. The kicker is: on your phone you can now open that folder in another app (like an editor) and make changes. When you switch back to the shellfish app, the changes are uploaded almost instantly.
One can get this killer feature for free with Android and Syncthing. It’s definitely pretty nice!
And of course one can also run Emacs and other free (as in speech or beer) text editors on Android.
IIRC there are a couple of ways to get a full Linux command line environment as well.
I ended up moving away from it just because ‘typing’ with my thumb is painful.
hnlmorg•45m ago
I actually preferred those devices for development work because the stylus is a much better input device than fat fingers when it comes to precision input. However you then lose the one-handed feature that the author is keen on.
These days, MacBook Pros have such long battery lives that I couldn’t imagine wanting to use a phone-form-factor for any serious work. But maybe the new style phones bendable screens that flip open like a book, might tempt me back to using a phone for development work again. Unfortunately such devices are currently Android-only at present.
teekert•35m ago
That does not rule out having your phone as your primary development device of course. I was already pleasantly surprised that when I tried to charge my iPad with the USB-C dangling of my ultrawide, the screen came to life! Sadly with the iPad's own screen ratio. My screen-attached wireless keyboard and mouse did work though!
I still dream of having normal Linux (or GrapheneOS, or PostMarketOS) on something like a Fairphone and being able to plug it in USB-C and just work (I just need a terminal, perhaps an editor, and a browser of course). Ubuntu Phone came so close :'( Maybe it becomes workable on the FairPhone 6... (actually, it seems like it is working? Can it do the desktop thing? It does say "Wired External monitor :check:")
Or you know, at least a Padfone [0] (just kidding, I'm just always looking for an excuse to share this masterpiece of a video).
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2ANnpHnUrc
nehal3m•28m ago
In principle however, it worked.
hnlmorg•23m ago
I was pleasantly surprised with my Son relatively budget Samsung phones, when I plugged it into an external monitor. Instead of showing a the phone screen on the monitor (like an iPhone would), it loaded up a different desktop that looked more like Ubuntu than it did like Android.
I can’t remember the specifics but it was definitely designed to be used with a keyboard and mouse.
wisenull•13m ago
You can run the browser without any issues, use ssh with JuiceSSH and have the terminal. Running vim on there might be an option but another editor that is not a TUI might be more troublesome.
teekert•13m ago
I will keep dreaming and in the mean time keep my Linux Laptop close.
danieldk•10m ago
Google Pixel is supposed to ship a more complete desktop in Android 16 QPR1. Also has a Linux VM.
Of course, Samsung has had a pretty complete desktop on phones that support DeX for a while now.
pjmlp•26m ago
On Apple devices it is kind of ok, Android outside Samsung is still pretty much hit-and-miss.
Likewise I don't want AI chat boxes, I want to speak with my computer, in my native language, again still not there yet.