Apple and Google won’t like this...

Fireship covers the FSF’s Librephone project, an attempt to replace all proprietary firmware and drivers on Android phones with fully free software.

• The Free Software Foundation announced the Librephone project on October 16, 2025, led by Rob Savoye (OpenStreetMap, Flash-on-Linux).
• Goal: replace every proprietary binary blob on a smartphone — modem firmware, camera drivers, Google Play Services — with free software.
• Android is technically open-source but most of what makes a phone functional (modem firmware, drivers) is closed proprietary code.
• LineageOS, the popular Google-free Android fork, still links significant proprietary code per FSF board member John Gilmore.
• A prior FSF-backed attempt, Replicant, achieved near-zero adoption because it sacrificed Wi-Fi, camera, and GPS functionality.
• Average daily screen time: 6.66 hours globally, up to 9 hours for Gen Z and South African users.
• Apple and Google control hardware, OS, app stores, payment rails, and government lobbying — making the duopoly structurally difficult to break.

2025-10-16 · Watch on YouTube