Posted on by nic

Installing Fairphone Open on Fairphone 2 and app advices

In this article I’m going to explain how to install Fairphone Open (the Android version without the Google Mobile Services) on my Fairphone 2 using my Linux system (Mageia 6). The official Installation Guide can be found here.

  1. Install the package android-tools:
    urpmi android-tools
  2. The package above installs the command-line tool fastboot-android. But the flashing script (see below) expects the command-line tool fastboot. Because of this we need to create a link fastboot which points to fastboot-android:
    ln -s /usr/bin/fastboot-android /usr/bin/fastboot
  3. Download the switcher package and unzip it (see Official Installation Guide).
  4. Boot your phone into the fastboot mode (hold the volume down button while you power on your phone). Your phone is in fastboot mode when you see a static screen with a simple Fairphone lettering, black background and the lettering “Fairphone powered by android”.
  5. Connect your phone with your computer via USB cable.
  6. Execute the flash script which is contained in the switcher package:
    sh flash-for-unix.sh
    If you see something like:

     

    WARNING: No Fairphone 2 found in fastboot mode.
    WARNING: Make sure that a Fairphone 2 is connected.
    WARNING: To check for devices, type ‘/usr/bin/fastboot devices’.

    …then try to execute the command as root.

  7. When done you will see something like:

    Flashing successful!
    Your Fairphone 2 will now run Fairphone Open 18.02.0.

    Press Enter to reboot the device and complete the installation…

    Just hit ‘Enter’ and your device will reboot.

  8. The reboot takes a while, so be patient =)

After all, you end up in a fresh Android system without the proprietary Google Mobile Services. As the Play app store is also part of the Google Mobile Services, you might want to install an alternative app store like F-Droid. F-Droid is really awesome because it only contains open source software.

Some apps can even be installed without app store (e. g. WhatsApp, Threema) so if you rely on these apps you can just download the APK files using your browser and install them manually. Two apps I highly recommend:

  • Firefox Focus (german version: Firefox Klar): Firefox browser for android with pre-installed ad-blocker and tracking protection. It clears your browsing history automatically when you close it (really ace!).
  • Öffi: Provides information about means of public transportation (e. g. trains and busses). Works well in Germany (and other european countries) and can replace the DB Navigator app completely.