Review: CalyxOS

The moment I have to engage with the world of mobile phones, I feel like flapping my arms like a flustered chicken, and shouting 'I am not a computer person'. So, despite living part-time in a terminal, believe me when I say that CalyxOS, the Android-fork for mobile phones, works well for non-technical users, or at least users who don't want to be technical.

The initial choice of CalyxOS came from a few reasons.

Easy Docs

The CalyxOS website has a massive, buttony-looking button at the top which says 'Get CalyxOS'. You click that, and you get CalyxOS.

One thing I know for certain, across all engineering spaces, is that easy-to-read, simple instructions, are not easy to write. This site has a skilled team making sure those notes work well for all the 'I am not a computer-person' people.

Security Models

LineageOS has decided, and I will misquote:

Users should select more recent models of Google's Pixel phones, so we can take Google's security patches. After that, Google does not provide security support for the older models, so neither will we, so users will then buy more stuff from Google in order to be secure.

This is wrong, partly because they never actually said that, but mostly because people will not always buy new stuff to replace still-working stuff, just because of some abstract notion of security.

Calyx, meanwhile, supports older Pixel phones until it becomes too much work and they can't be bothered, which seems like a very reasonable position.

Vibes

LineageOS has a weird presence online, with people jumping onto any space anyone mentions phones, to get weird about the OS. The main maintainer goes on podcasts to crow about how this is the most secure OS out there (it isn't).

CalyxOS has a nothing-vibe. It feels very default.

Unlike /e/OS, it has no app store - you just use FDroid, the default Android app store.

Experience So Far

After four months of using CalyxOS, I don't have anything to say about it.

• It's a phone.
• It works.
• It doesn't do anything.
• Every few weeks it tells me to reboot the phone for updates.

The official project make about one post on Mastodon every four months. Meanwhile, the actual project shows constant work, with many maintainers.