user interface

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Plasma Mobile updates make the user interface more customizable (and a bit more Android-like)

by Brad Linder Comments Off on Plasma Mobile updates make the user interface more customizable (and a bit more Android-like)

There are several different user interfaces available for Linux smartphones, but the one that will probably feel the most familiar to Android users is KDE’s Plasma Mobile. Like Android, it has a home screen, an app drawer, navigation buttons on the bottom, status notifications at the top, and a quick settings panel that appears when […]

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Sxmo 1.2.0 adds support for gesture controls

by Brad Linder Comments Off on Sxmo 1.2.0 adds support for gesture controls

Most popular user interface projects for Linux phones are designed to be finger-friendly in the same way that Android and iOS are. So while phosh, Plasma Mobile, Lomiri, and other user interfaces are all distinctive, most feature things like big app icons, status bars, and other navigation elements. And then there’s Sxmo. Described as a […]

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Video: KDE Neon with Plasma Mobile on the PinePhone

by Brad Linder 5 Comments on Video: KDE Neon with Plasma Mobile on the PinePhone

One of the things that makes Linux smartphones different from Android or iOS devices is the same thing that makes desktop Linux different from Windows or macOS – support for completely switching the user interface by changing the desktop environment or user interface. So far there are at least three major user interfaces for Linux […]

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Google moves Chrome for Android navigation to the bottom (Dev Channel)

by Brad Linder 3 Comments on Google moves Chrome for Android navigation to the bottom (Dev Channel)

Smartphone screens seem to be getting bigger and bigger. Your hands probably aren’t. So if developers want you to be able to interact with their apps using a single hand, they’re going to need to adjust. And that’s what Google is doing: the latest Chrome Dev browser for Android has moved the navigation from the […]

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F-Droid gets a makeover (app store for free and open source Android apps)

by Brad Linder 1 Comment on F-Droid gets a makeover (app store for free and open source Android apps)

F-Droid is a third-party app store for Android apps. What makes it different from the Google Play Store is that while there are some free and open source apps available in Google’s store, the only apps you’ll find in F-Droid are FOSS. If you don’t care about those things, you’ll find a much wider selection of […]

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LG explains why its G6 phone has an 18:9 display

by Brad Linder Comments Off on LG explains why its G6 phone has an 18:9 display

LG’s next flagship phone is coming later this month. But while the LG G6 hasn’t been officially unveiled yet, LG is starting to talk up some of its features… and one thing the company has just confirmed is that it’ll have that 2,880 x 1,440 pixel display with an 18:9 aspect ratio we’d heard about. […]

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Lenovo SimpleTap makes a PC more iOS-like for some reason

by Brad Linder 2 Comments on Lenovo SimpleTap makes a PC more iOS-like for some reason

Apple changed the way we think about operating systems with the introduction of iOS a few years back. Instead of a taskbar and desktop, the touch-based iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad feature a home screen with nice big icons for launching applications and not much else. Google Android and webOS took things a bit further […]