I Installed Native Linux on my Phone — KDE Plasma Mobile (Android Apps, Docker, VS Code)

53,145 views Feb 8, 2026
I installed native Linux on my phone and ran KDE Plasma Mobile on postmarketOS.
In this video, I test calling, Waydroid (WhatsApp + Angry Birds), GPU acceleration, Docker, VS Code with a real Python PPG workload, thermals, battery behavior, and the current limitations.

This is not a surface-level review.
This is a real-world technical evaluation.

What’s Covered
• Native Linux on phone (postmarketOS)
• KDE Plasma Mobile usability
• Idle RAM usage (~30%)
• Flathub & Flatpak ecosystem
• LocalSend file sharing
• Docking mode (desktop-style multitasking)
• Docker installation via apk
• VS Code on musl using Flatpak runtime
• Running full Python PPG analysis locally
• Waydroid (vanilla) setup with WhatsApp
• GPU acceleration test (Angry Birds)
• Thermals after ~35 minutes of load
• Camera status (currently broken — workaround testing)
• Overnight battery comparison (Linux vs Android)

Timestamps
0:00 – Intro
0:44 – Calling test
1:00 – Usability & gestures
1:44 – RAM usage
2:02 – Flathub & Flatpak
2:48 – File Sharing
3:12 – Docking mode
3:47 – Docker install
4:03 – VS Code + Python PPG project
5:06 – Waydroid + WhatsApp setup
5:52 – GPU acceleration test
6:28 – Battery comparison
7:08 – Camera status
7:40 – Final verdict

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Notes
Waydroid (vanilla version) does not support Firebase push notifications.
Banking apps requiring Play Integrity will not work.
Camera support is currently unstable on this device. I am testing a workaround and will update the description if it becomes usable.
This device is 5 years old, so battery comparison reflects aged battery health.

url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9DR7KLuDhs