I am excited about the thought of a privacy phone, but concerned that some of my apps wont work as I rely extensively on my phone.
The apps are
-Xero
-Starling bank
-Outlook
-Authenicator
There are other minor ones such as Ryanair but the main ones are above. Can anyone adive is they will work?
The potential exists that a random app will run under Anbox i.e. you would use the Android app.
Whether that works for any particular app is a question of testing it.
Thanks Kieran, unfortunately buying a phone and then finding that it wont do the job is a luxury I dont have.
Is there a list of approved apps anywhere I can check?
For a list of apps for the Librem 5, see: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Frequently-Asked-Questions#31-what-apps-will-be-available-for-the-librem-5
For the specific apps that you want to test, you can run the Librem 5 image inside Qemu on your PC and then install Anbox and see if those apps run.
Also, see if any of those apps are available as web pages. If so, then you can access them as āweb appsā in the Librem 5.
I donāt know your dependency on WhatsApp, but if youāre about to install that App on a phone you give your privacy away to Facebook.
If youād like to try to run it in a confined environment (thereby further supporting the WhatsApp ecosystem with the work you invest and the communication partners you indirectly tell that you understand their use of WhatsApp) e.g. in Anbox (android simulator) you could try on your computer.
If successful you could try it in a qemu image of PureOS Librem5.
Same applies to the other apps - though I do not know them.
I do not know the application well, but probably it can be replaces by gnome-authenticator which is available at least for mobian (also a debian based phone distribution).
Outlook could maybe be replaced by evolution which is readily available for desktop. Votes to adopt it to the mobile ui are collected by Purism in Fund Your App.
Thanks very much for the links - it isnt something Iāve come across before.
The ability to add web apps would work, but I do have strong pwds on my banking apps (which I couldnt possibly remember) and it seems that as theyāre effectively sandboxed all details will need to be manually entered everytime?
Meantime Iāll look into Qemu and Anbox.
Thanks ChriChri.
WhatsApp is how I stay in touch with home and friends whilst out and about - I also use it to stay in touch with colleagues (Iām a contractor) and ship images of networks etc for opinions.
hmm youāve set me thinking about sandboxing or installing an emulator app on the phone - Iāll look into that, it may be another option.
I think Gnome authenticator should work (assuming it can translate QR codes) as its a common funtion with MFA.
The fund you app page is quite interesting too 
Yes, it should. It is one of the tools Iām using productive on my Pinephone running Mobian to login to github and the like.
For containing your WhatsApp (even though Iād recommend stop using it and propose alternatives to your contacts) in kind of sandboxes you could have a look at:
Information is taken from the excellent german blog written by Mr. Kuketz.
Anyway, I didnāt try them. I do not want to use WhatsApp and I do not want to support Android anymore by working around its defects.
Whatsapp uses a variety of XMPP to communicate, and people have figured out how to do XMPP<->Whatsapp bridges. See:
You can probably find a XMPP server that has yowsup2 and transWhat installed so you can use the Librem 5ās Chatty (which is a XMPP client) to communicate with Whatsapp, or you can install these programs yourself in the Librem 5. I havenāt tried it myself, so maybe Iām overlooking something, but some people have gotten it to work.
By the way, you can also replace Outlook with the Geary email app.
If you use your phone for work purposes I wouldnāt rely on a librem 5 or pinephone. Check out rob braxman on YouTube, he sells degoogled phones and has many videos about privacy. In all honesty this phone isnāt for most people, itās not there yet and if you rely on your phone to make money you will be losing lots of it buying this phone.
As its Gnome I would expect it wouldā¦
Iām not a fan of any of the āworld leadersā who seek to exploit and claim they donāt! My main issue is that I do need some things to work as I would struggle without them.
How do you find your Pinephone? I looked into a while ago when they hit the trade press but felt they were too immature with few apps for normal use at that time.
oooh that looks doable! Iām no techno wizard but I am reasonably competant
Iāve not looked into open source apps for some time (I have a version of mint dual booted) so I can give that one a try as I would prefer to use linux in most cases but the open source office apps destroy the formatting so I cant use them - unless there is a way around it Iāve not found?
Thanks admsjas, I dont use it make money so I guess I could use an old phone to remain contactable.
Is there something Iām missing with the phone? At first glance it does seem to do the jobā¦
Iāll be honest (as always): Forget about it as daily driver at the time being. But get one. Get used to the look and feel. Play with it. Support the community by giving feedback, support Pine64 by buying one.
Really, it is fun .
Even more important: Get your Librem5. Iām waiting happily for it. I paid for the app crowdfounding idea by Purism and I would pay for Librem.one if theyād charge me with the optional payment for the basic account.
They pay people to make the Librem5 into your daily driver and this work also goes down to the Pinephone (the same way all the work on Mobian for the Pinephone supports the PureOS Librem5 development).
To start an ecosystem for Linux phones there need to be customers - even though if the early ones to get toys and probably pay more then the ones buying from an established market.
If it is within your financial possibilities and if you do not like to use the products of google and apple be a patient customer willing to invest into a new and evolving market.
I dont know which apps you use but vendor specific apps arenāt going to work, theyāre not designed for arm. For instance the chase app i use will not work on a pinephone or a librem. Right now Iām employed full time by an employer but in a few years I will probably go back to 1099 work and when I do I want to know I can rely on my phone to do business. Neither pinephone nor librem can provide that level of comfort. If youāve got the money to buy one and test things out thats one thing, if you donāt youāll be sorry and have many moments of regret
I used to tinker quite a bit a few years ago (before moving into prog mgmnt I was a hands on techie) but these days I dont have the time play - sadly. That being said I absolutely agree with your point about customers!
TBH Iām down to either this or the fairphone and Iām exploring which is the closest fit. Some things will need to go - no doubt about it, but some I do need to keep and find a way to run them on the new device.
Iāll have a better look over the weekend and think a little more, but on reflection I think the banking apps are going to make or break what happens next.
TBH I dont care about vendor specific apps & would ahppily give them up - all I care about is the functionality offered and the ability to stay in touch when Iām travelling.
On an unrelated note, the Librem seems to be set up for the US market - Iām in the UK so will need to check compatibilityā¦
You state you donāt care about vendor specific apps yet in the previous comment state the importance of banking apps making or breaking a decision???
I have heard for those in the EU banking apps have become critical, in the US theyāre not AS critical but I still use mine and would not like to have to do without it. I think a degoogled phone is your best option.
I assumed that this was a reference to the Microsoft Authenticator app. Things from Microsoft donāt generally play well with anything else - and you would likely be better off running the actual app under Anbox, if it works.
You state you donāt care about vendor specific apps yet in the previous comment state the importance of banking apps making or breaking a decision???
I care about the services they offer, not vendor specific apps (who produces them).
I dont care how I reach the service, its about reaching the online service.
Over here banks are closing at frightening rate and cash is deemed to be ādirtyā and Iāve had some places try to refuse it - until I told them I would leave their shop! Thats how stupid it is here!