{"slug": "aosp", "name": "AOSP", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 5, "warners": 1, "score": 2.288, "rising": 1.67, "first": "2026-01-08", "latest": "2026-10-12", "why": "AOSP is far more private, secure, usable and compatible with a far broader amount of apps.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "AOSP is far more private, secure, usable and compatible with a far broader amount of apps.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://source.android.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["AOSP"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 793505488, "item_id": 49594093, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49594093", "by": "grapheneos", "date": "2026-09-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "AOSP is far more private, secure, usable and compatible with a far broader amount of apps.", "excerpt": "Android is an open source Linux distribution for smartphones. It doesn't have to be used with Google Mobile Services. AOSP is far more private, secure, usable and compatible with a far broader amount of apps. Why wouldn't we use that as the starting point even if the goal was to diverge?", "context": "", "use_case": "smartphone OS base", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS Overhauled Default Apps and Secure Clipboard"}, {"id": 786904928, "item_id": 49181558, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49181558", "by": "palata", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the best open source mobile OS is AOSP-based", "excerpt": "Dude, I build Linux distros from scratch. I know what the kernel is. I also know that natural languages are ambiguous, and that when people say \"I use Linux\" they mean \"I use a Linux distribution\". When it gets ambiguous, I know to ask \"are you talking about Linux the kernel or Linux the family of OSes?\", but I don't remember it happening in a constructive discussion. My experience with people derailing the discussio", "context": "builds Linux distros from scratch", "use_case": "open source mobile OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why the future is local app"}, {"id": 773776464, "item_id": 48361029, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48361029", "by": "joelres", "date": "2026-06-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have recently fully switched to a flip phone running AOSP.", "excerpt": "I have recently fully switched to a flip phone running AOSP. After years of fiddling with OneSec and others this really has been the only solution that has worked for kicking my screen addition. Best thing - with AI I can quickly build APKs for whatever I actually need! I build an app to give me turn by turn directions and (ironically) an app to talk to Claude w/ web search. I feel like I'm living in a world of truly", "context": "", "use_case": "flip phone to curb screen addiction", "switched_from": "OneSec", "story": "I made my phone slow on purpose"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 744672320, "item_id": 46542020, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46542020", "by": "ktg0215", "date": "2026-01-08", "stance": "warn", "quote": "This feels like another step in Google's slow retreat from the \"open\" in AOSP.", "excerpt": "This feels like another step in Google's slow retreat from the \"open\" in AOSP. Combined with the developer registration requirements that threaten F-Droid, it's becoming clear that Android's openness is more of a legacy brand than a current reality. As someone who's been using custom ROMs for years, this is disappointing but not surprising. The question is whether alternatives like FuriOS can mature fast enough to be", "context": "custom ROM user for years", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "AOSP on a diet plan as Google halves Android code drops"}]}], "who": [{"by": "amosbatto", "context": "Linux user since 1999", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50064563", "date": "2026-10-12"}, {"by": "palata", "context": "builds Linux distros from scratch", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49181558", "date": "2026-08-05"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["mobile os", "smartphone os base", "open source mobile os", "flip phone to curb screen addiction"], "compared": [{"slug": "grapheneos", "name": "GrapheneOS", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "one-sec", "name": "one sec", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "vanadium", "name": "Vanadium", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50051530", "title": "Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49590512", "title": "GrapheneOS Overhauled Default Apps and Secure Clipboard", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49105924", "title": "Why the future is local app", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48312443", "title": "I made my phone slow on purpose", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46541908", "title": "AOSP on a diet plan as Google halves Android code drops", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"warn": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 801033008, "item_id": 50064563, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50064563", "by": "amosbatto", "date": "2026-10-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use my two AOSP phones more than my two Linux phones.", "excerpt": "I didn't go into that in this article, but given the number of comments here and on Reddit, I think I should write a second article that explains my thoughts on why I think Linux phones are better strategically than AOSP phones. I'm not opposed to AOSP phones--I use my two AOSP phones more than my two Linux phones. Most people aren't going to use the current Linux phones. Even I as someone who has using Linux since 1", "context": "Linux user since 1999", "use_case": "mobile OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly?"}, {"id": 793505488, "item_id": 49594093, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49594093", "by": "grapheneos", "date": "2026-09-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "AOSP is far more private, secure, usable and compatible with a far broader amount of apps.", "excerpt": "Android is an open source Linux distribution for smartphones. It doesn't have to be used with Google Mobile Services. AOSP is far more private, secure, usable and compatible with a far broader amount of apps. Why wouldn't we use that as the starting point even if the goal was to diverge?", "context": "", "use_case": "smartphone OS base", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS Overhauled Default Apps and Secure Clipboard"}, {"id": 786904928, "item_id": 49181558, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49181558", "by": "palata", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the best open source mobile OS is AOSP-based", "excerpt": "Dude, I build Linux distros from scratch. I know what the kernel is. I also know that natural languages are ambiguous, and that when people say \"I use Linux\" they mean \"I use a Linux distribution\". When it gets ambiguous, I know to ask \"are you talking about Linux the kernel or Linux the family of OSes?\", but I don't remember it happening in a constructive discussion. My experience with people derailing the discussio", "context": "builds Linux distros from scratch", "use_case": "open source mobile OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why the future is local app"}, {"id": 773776464, "item_id": 48361029, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48361029", "by": "joelres", "date": "2026-06-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have recently fully switched to a flip phone running AOSP.", "excerpt": "I have recently fully switched to a flip phone running AOSP. After years of fiddling with OneSec and others this really has been the only solution that has worked for kicking my screen addition. Best thing - with AI I can quickly build APKs for whatever I actually need! I build an app to give me turn by turn directions and (ironically) an app to talk to Claude w/ web search. I feel like I'm living in a world of truly", "context": "", "use_case": "flip phone to curb screen addiction", "switched_from": "OneSec", "story": "I made my phone slow on purpose"}, {"id": 744672320, "item_id": 46542020, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46542020", "by": "ktg0215", "date": "2026-01-08", "stance": "warn", "quote": "This feels like another step in Google's slow retreat from the \"open\" in AOSP.", "excerpt": "This feels like another step in Google's slow retreat from the \"open\" in AOSP. Combined with the developer registration requirements that threaten F-Droid, it's becoming clear that Android's openness is more of a legacy brand than a current reality. As someone who's been using custom ROMs for years, this is disappointing but not surprising. The question is whether alternatives like FuriOS can mature fast enough to be", "context": "custom ROM user for years", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "AOSP on a diet plan as Google halves Android code drops"}]}