The mobile Linux space is more active than most people realize. Projects like postmarketOS, Ubuntu Touch, and KDE Plasma Mobile have been chipping away at the idea that your phone or tablet has to run something made by Google or Apple.
And while none of them are household names yet, they are picking up real interest from power users who want more control over their hardware. Of course, most people stick with Android or iOS, and that is fine.
Both platforms are mature, well-supported, and not going anywhere. But for the ones who want something genuinely open and free of platform lock-in, things are getting better.
Feel like we should be able to install these OS on whatever device we want, same as PCs. Why lock a phone so much?
Because corporations would struggle to siphon an immense amount of personal data if they didnt control the software.
If nothing has changed since the time I looked into it, because every device (camera, display, SIM) basically needs its own driver wrote for it and it’s the decision of the one ordering the designing of the phone to release it or not