I've been doing some web crawling, trying to get an idea of the prospects for a blind-accessible, (mostly) open source OS for Android HW devices. The rest of this message is a mishmash of links and notes; if anyone can provide additions and corrections, I'd be most grateful... -r # Availability The Android application package (APK) is the Golden Path for distribution, but some Google Play apps aren't available to "rooted" Android phones: SafetyNet Explained: Why Android Pay and Other Apps Don’t Work on Rooted Devices https://www.howtogeek.com/241012 It would be nice to have a Linux-friendly tool (e.g., APT) as an alternative. Meanwhile, some packages are available via microG (https://microg.org). # Accessibility ## Android The Golden Path for a11y seems to be the Android Accessibility Suite, available on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.marvin.talkback More general information is available on the Android accessibility overview page: https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6006564?hl=en ## Celia This seems interesting, even though it (currently) only supports Chinese. However, it (and EMUI) are proprietary. > Celia is an artificially intelligent virtual assistant developed by Huawei for its latest Android-based EMUI smartphones that lack Google Services and a Google Assistant. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celia_(Virtual_assistant) ## Screen Readers, etc. TalkBack and BrailleBack (both found in the Android Accessibility Suite) seem to be the Golden Path for blind-friendly Android support. Despite this title, there doesn't appear to be any APK version of Orca: Orca Download for Linux (apk, deb, eopkg, rpm, tgz, txz, xz, zst) https://pkgs.org/download/orca More generally, I can't find any open source screen readers listed for APK: Search Results for "screen reader" https://pkgs.org/search/?q=%22screen%20reader%22 # OS Family Tree TL;DR: There are lots of (all or mostly) free OS variants, but their a11y support is extremely limited. Also, many of them are only intended to be used on a single vendor's devices. Anyway, here is an OS family tree of sorts, with informational links. It's based on Wikipedia's "List of custom Android distributions" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_custom_Android_distributions), supplemented with information gleaned from assorted web sites (YMMV). Linux - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel - AOSP - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)#AOSP - - ConquerOS - https://github.com/ConquerOS/manifest - - CopperheadOS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CopperheadOS - - CyanogenMod - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod - - - LineageOS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LineageOS - - - - CrDroid - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrDroid - - - - Project Sakura - https://sourceforge.net/projects/projectsakura/files/Mido - - - - Replicant - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicant_(operating_system) - - - - - /e/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//e/_(operating_system) - - DerpFest - https://derpfest.org - - Emteria.OS - https://emteria.com - - EMUI - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMUI - - EvolutionX - https://evolution-x.org/# - - Flyme - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meizu#Flyme - - GrapheneOS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GrapheneOS - - GSI - https://source.android.com/setup/build/gsi - - Havoc-OS - https://sourceforge.net/projects/havoc-os - - Ion OS - https://sourceforge.net/projects/i-o-n - - MoKee - https://download.mokeedev.com - - MIUI - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI - - MSM-Xtended - https://sourceforge.net/projects/xtended - - OmniROM - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OmniROM - - OxygenOS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OxygenOS - - Paranoid Android - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoid_Android_(software) - - Pixel Experience - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_Experience - - Realme - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realme - - Smartisan OS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartisan_OS - - ViperOS - https://download.viperos.org/# # Starting Points My suspicion is that the LineageOS, Replicant, and /e/ flavors are the most promising starting points, but I could certainly be wrong. If you know of something you think is better, please let me know! Speaking of which, the definition of "better" is very context-dependent. If avoiding any and all proprietary software is your goal, Replicant may be the best choice. If you want instant gratification, you might want to purchase a phone that already has /e/ installed... Also, if you're only using Wi-Fi for connectivity, you can ignore some cell phone issues (e.g., CDMA, FDMA, and TDMA signal encoding). ## Replicant - https://replicant.us/ - https://replicant.us/about.php#faq - https://replicant.us/freedom-privacy-security-issues.php - https://replicant.us/supported-devices.php - https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/DeviceStatus ## LineageOS - https://lineageos.org - https://lineageos.org/blog - https://wiki.lineageos.org - https://wiki.lineageos.org/faq.html ## /e/ - https://doc.e.foundation/devices/ - https://doc.e.foundation/what-s-e - https://e.foundation - https://e.foundation/about-e - https://e.foundation/about-e/#why-/e/ _______________________________________________ Blinux-list mailing list Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list