I appreciate the creativity behind this concept, but as someone who actually used Mobian (Debian/Linux) on smartphones, a lot of what’s shown here doesn’t really match how Linux-based mobile OSes actually work today.
For example:
- Lockscreen music player:
This just isn’t a thing on any major Linux mobile environment right now. There are only a handful of actively maintained music players on Linux phones, and none of them have the kind of polished lockscreen integration you’re showing. Mobian definitely doesn’t support anything like that.
- The lockscreen design overall:
What you’re showing looks very Android/iOS-inspired. Real Linux mobile shells like Phosh, Plasma Mobile, or Lomiri (Ubuntu Touch) are way more limited. They don’t have this level of animation, system integration, or UI polish.
- Fingerprint support:
On Mobian (and Phosh), fingerprint sensors aren’t supported on most phones. My OnePlus 6 running Mobian had zero fingerprint support. Ubuntu Touch only supports it on a small number of devices and it took years to get there.
- Google News:
This wouldn’t be available at all. There’s no Google Play Services layer on Linux mobile, and anything depending on Google APIs simply won’t run.
Another thing worth mentioning:
You can’t build an OS “from scratch” without building on top of something else.
- Android is built on the Linux kernel.
- iOS is built on BSD.
- Even Windows originally grew out of DOS.
If Nothing actually wanted to make a brand-new OS, they’d either have to:
- build on Linux (like Android, Mobian, Ubuntu Touch), or
- build an entire kernel, drivers, and ecosystem from scratch — which is basically impossible without a massive engineering team and many years of work.
Even if they made a Linux-based Nothing OS, it would take years to get it optimized and build enough app support for normal users. And developers wouldn’t start porting apps unless there’s a large user base.
Honestly, I’d love to see Nothing partner with Mobian or Ubuntu Touch and create a polished, Linux-first OS. That would be amazing… and actually realistic. (Please make it happen nothing 🤞)
But right now, what you’ve shown looks more like a stylish Android skin concept than a feasible standalone OS. The ideas are cool, but they’re just not grounded in what’s possible with current Linux mobile ecosystems.
