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Alternative phone operating systems compared with stock Android

Checked against the makers' own pages · Last reviewed October 15, 2026

Comparison table

Each row says how the system handles the things people miss most when they leave stock Android. "Stock Android" here means Android as sold on most phones, with Google Mobile Services (GMS): Google Play Services, the Play Store and Google's apps. Push notifications are the alerts apps get from their servers while closed; on stock Android most apps deliver them through Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM).

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]

Hardened Android with optional Google: GrapheneOS

GrapheneOS is a non-profit, open-source project that adds privacy and security hardening to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), the free part of Android. It says it "will never include either Google Play services or another implementation of Google services like microG."

Instead, you can install Google's own Play Services and Play Store as ordinary apps through what the project calls "sandboxed Google Play." There they get "absolutely no special access or privileges," unlike stock Android, where Play Services has deep system access. GrapheneOS says this gives "near complete compatibility with the app ecosystem depending on Google Play," with a small set of privileged features unavailable. Android Auto works through an extension of this layer, installed from the GrapheneOS App Store.

Banking apps are the main exception. GrapheneOS says most depend on Play Services, and many work once sandboxed Google Play is set up, but apps that insist on a Google-certified operating system fail because GrapheneOS "isn't certified by Google." [1][14]

Android with microG: CalyxOS, /e/OS, iodéOS, Volla OS

These systems leave out Google Play Services and ship microG, which CalyxOS describes as "a open source replacement for Google Play Services" that "only includes the useful parts." microG answers the requests apps make to Google Play Services, such as push notifications, location and sign-in. See our microG guide.

- CalyxOS lets you pick one of four microG modes, from fully off ("Many apps refuse to run") to on with a Google account, which "will allow some additional apps and services to work, such as Google Fi." It calls microG "not yet a mature replacement for Play Services." - /e/OS "ships microG pre-installed and pre-configured." Its App Lounge store pulls apps from the Google Play Store catalog, F-Droid and a list of web apps, without an account. - iodéOS is built on LineageOS and preinstalls microG, Aurora Store and F-Droid, plus a built-in ad and tracker blocker. - Volla OS is based on AOSP without Google apps or Play Services; microG is off until you activate it, and Aurora Store and F-Droid come preinstalled.

The practical difference from stock Android is the Play Store: you get Play apps through Aurora Store or App Lounge instead, and apps that check Google's Play Integrity at its stricter levels can refuse to run (see banking apps on a de-Googled phone). [2][11][12][13][16][18][21]

Plain AOSP-based: LineageOS

LineageOS is a free, open-source Android distribution for a long list of phones. It ships without Google's apps: "Due to licensing restrictions, these apps cannot come pre-installed with LineageOS and must be installed separately," and the project doesn't support the Google Apps packages others make. You can flash one of those packages right after installing, add microG, or use neither.

That choice decides how close it feels to stock Android. LineageOS says push notifications "require GApps or MicroG." It also says it doesn't hide a phone's unlocked bootloader from Google's Play Integrity check, "as it isn't our place to lie about security features," so apps that demand a fully certified phone can fail. It promises monthly security updates for every supported device. [4][23][24][44]

Linux phones: Sailfish OS, Ubuntu Touch, postmarketOS (Nura)

These are Linux systems, not Android. Their own apps come from their own stores, and Android apps need a separate compatibility layer.

- Sailfish OS from Jolla runs native apps built with the Qt framework and can run Android apps in Android AppSupport, an isolated layer Jolla says has "reached Android 13 level." AppSupport requires the Sailfish OS licence. The Google Play Store app isn't supported, but Jolla points to Aurora Store and F-Droid. Jolla's release notes for Sailfish OS 5.2.0.20 (Oct. 13, 2026) list a microG update inside AppSupport. - Ubuntu Touch, maintained by the volunteer UBports community, uses Waydroid, "a minimal Android container," to run Android apps, set up from the command line. UBports warns that Waydroid can raise battery use and that apps relying on Play Integrity or SafetyNet, "such as banking apps, are unlikely to run." Its FAQ says plainly that Ubuntu Touch "is not a drop-in Android or iOS replacement." - postmarketOS renamed itself Nura on Sept. 27, 2026. It is a Linux distribution based on Alpine Linux that aims to keep older phones useful. Its wiki describes Waydroid as available but "still kind of experimental," and the project says Nura "is definitely not yet ready for everyone."

Linux phones sold with these systems are listed on our Linux phones page. [5][6][7][8][25][26][28][30][45]

Separate ecosystems: HarmonyOS 5 and later, Aurora OS

HarmonyOS. Huawei released HarmonyOS NEXT, which it calls native HarmonyOS, in October 2024 and says it built its own kernel, file system, programming language and compiler. On HarmonyOS 5 and later, apps come from Huawei's AppGallery. Huawei's support pages route Android packages (APKs) through "Zhuoyitong," which Huawei calls a third-party app, and whether one installs depends on what Zhuoyitong supports. Huawei presented HarmonyOS 7 at a launch event that ended Sept. 7, 2026, and says it is so far only being rolled out in mainland China. Huawei's global models, such as the Mate 80 Pro, run EMUI 15.0 instead; Huawei says EMUI's HMS Core services run on Android but some Android apps need Google's GMS and may not run. Huawei phones from the Mate 30 series on have no Google apps or services. See phones without Google.

Aurora OS. Developed since 2016 by Russia's Open Mobile Platform, Aurora OS is a GNU/Linux system. Its developer guide says native apps are written with Qt or Flutter, and Android apps written in Kotlin or other frameworks "must be rewritten." The release notes for 5.1.A, a commercial release, say it lets OMP's partners install and run containers with AOSP so their customers can avoid porting Android apps. RuStore is its official public app store. Open Mobile Platform says most Aurora devices are supplied only to organizations. [9][10][32][33][35][36][37][38][40][42][43][46][47][48]

Google's developer verification and these systems

From Sept. 30, 2026, Google requires apps installed from participating stores in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand to come from identity-verified developers on "certified devices running Android 7+," and plans to expand this worldwide in 2027. Google says it applies to certified Android devices, with the checks delivered through Google Play services.

LineageOS says this "will not affect LineageOS directly" because it doesn't ship Google Mobile Services and isn't subject to Google's certification. Details for each system are in our developer verification guide. [49][50][51]

Questions people ask