The phone will have 5.5″ or 5.7″ screen with an 18:9 ratio

May 11, 2018 01:20 GMT  ·  By

As we're approaching the January 2019 deadline for the first shipments of Purism's Librem 5 privacy-focused Linux smartphone, the development team gives us more insight into what we can expect from the device.

Director of Creative at Purism, François Téchené, talks is a recent report about the first real design attempts of the user interface of Librem 5, which will be using a UI shell based on the GNOME desktop environment. The first version of this GNOME-based mobile UI shell for Librem 5 is called internally as “phosh” and will focus on efficiency and robustness, and Purism even wants to push it upstream as the "GNOME mobile shell."

"Our goal with the Librem 5 is to improve the visual identity of the Librem line while staying close to the minimalist and humble look that characterize the existing Librem line," said François Téchené, Director of Creative at Purism. "The main challenge of case design is the need to balance aesthetics, ergonomics, convenience, and technical limitations."

Here's the mobile UI shell of the Librem 5 Linux phone

We already knew that Librem 5 would be shipping by default with the Debian-based PureOS operating system and a mobile UI based on GNOME, but never actually saw it in action. As you can see from the screenshot attached below, the UI features a lock screen, a PIN-based unlock screen, and a home screen similar to GNOME Shell's on the desktop.

The home screen will show users a paginated list of installed apps, as Librem 5 will include a few default apps to get you started. The GNOME mobile UI shell will also feature a top bar similar to that on Android phones so you can view useful information like battery and audio levels, Wi-Fi and GSM statuses, current time, notifications from various apps, etc.

There will also be a bottom bar to simulate a home button on the screen, which will be visible only when opening an application. A virtual keyboard is present as well, and there's also a screen for incoming call notifications. It's not much, but Purism believes it's a great starting point for early adopters of its Librem 5 smartphone.

The minimalist GNOME mobile UI shell should be ready for the initial launch of the Librem 5 phone in early January 2019. After that, the design team will focus their efforts on enhancing it with more attractive new features like multitasking support, built-in search, as well as more notification improvements.

Meanwhile, Purism will be working on a sleek Contacts app that's shipping by default with the GNOME mobile UI shell and will be a core component for the device's communication features as it handles the management of contacts and apps like Messages and Calls will rely on it as well. You can see it below in action.

Librem 5's GNOME mobile UI shell
Librem 5's GNOME mobile UI shell
Librem 5's default Contacts app
Librem 5's default Contacts app

Librem 5 (3 Images)

Librem 5 smartphone mockup
Librem 5's GNOME mobile UI shellLibrem 5's default Contacts app
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