Phosh

Phosh (Phone Shell) is a mobile user interface for Linux smartphones built on the GNOME platform. It provides a Wayland-based shell that allows GNOME components to run on touch devices. It is designed to be used with the Phoc Wayland compositor, and is optimized to run on mobile hardware.

Phosh is developed by Purism in collaboration with the GNOME project and the broader Linux mobile community. It is used on Purism's Librem 5 and is also available for other devices such as the PinePhone, among others. The project aims to deliver a coherent, GNOME-inspired experience for telephony, messaging, and apps on small touchscreen devices.

The user interface relies on GTK-based applications adapted for touch with the libhandy library, and increasingly libadwaita. It provides core mobile features such as a home screen and app launcher, a notifications view, quick settings, and built-in telephony with a dialer, call management, and messaging integration. The shell integrates with standard GNOME components, including the GNOME Settings panel, notification system, and various system services (e.g., NetworkManager) to handle connectivity and device state.

As an open-source project, Phosh is released under free software licenses and welcomes community contributions. It is one of several Linux mobile shells competing in the space, alongside alternative environments like Plasma Mobile and Android-based distributions with different shells. The project emphasizes security, accessibility, and openness, in line with GNOME's broader goals.