CalyxOS
Ranked 12 of 14 mobile operating systems by recommenders
People recommend it as a free Android alternative that stays close to stock Android. The most common caveat is slow security patches and maintenance gaps.
People recommend it as a free Android alternative that stays close to stock Android. The most common caveat is slow security patches and maintenance gaps.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 50%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Updates smoother than some distributions
“update latency is much better with other third party distributions like iodéOS or CalyxOS”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “I tried the new Fairphone, a phone designed to be repaired” “update went smooth, i guess?”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “CalyxOS is back”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Security patches often delayed or missing
“CalyxOS consistently goes many months without shipping standard Android privacy and security patches.”
Comment from 21 Oct 2026 in “MicroG: Free-libre re-implementation of Google's proprietary Android user space” “The problem with lagging is that only some of the security patches are backported to older androids”
Comment from 14 May 2026 in “GrapheneOS fixes Android VPN leak Google refused to patch” “It recently went a whole year without privacy and security patches.”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Fairphone is now officially available in the United States” Development stalled or lacking maintenance
“Previously any Android phone compatible with CalyxOS would also be advisable but not any longer due to the lack of maintenance”
Comment from 23 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's the most open/hacker friendly Android phone for 2026?” “right now im on calyxos but development has been paused for like a year”
Comment from 28 Mar 2026 in “Google just gave Android power users a sideloading win” Feud with GrapheneOS and developer departures
“Key developers quit CalyxOS after harassment from GrapheneOS/McCay.”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Original GrapheneOS responses to WIRED fact checker” “CalyxOS/Techlore are blamed for being complicit in escalating the animosity and furore”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Original GrapheneOS responses to WIRED fact checker” “Calyx has been attacking GrapheneOS since CalyxOS was created”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Original GrapheneOS responses to WIRED fact checker”
Other mobile operating systems people recommend
The four most recommended other mobile operating systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GrapheneOS | 895 | 312 | 74% | 13 | 1 yr87 owners | Approved |
| Android | 372 | 694 | 35% | 13 | 10 yrs26 owners | — |
| Apple iOS | 308 | 841 | 27% | 12 | 3 yrs40 owners | — |
| LineageOS | 186 | 66 | 74% | 13 | 10 yrs8 owners | Approved |
| CalyxOSThis page | 10 | 10 | 50% | 8 | — | — |
What people said
19 of the 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“CalyxOS consistently goes many months without shipping standard Android privacy and security patches.”
“update latency is much better with other third party distributions like iodéOS or CalyxOS”
“beats /e/, Lineage, Calyx, and stock”
“It recently went a whole year without privacy and security patches.”
“a small number of concessions for usability that are reasonable”
“update went smooth, i guess?”
“The problem with lagging is that only some of the security patches are backported to older androids”
“CalyxOS is not a private or secure operating system.”
“CalyxOS bundles a whole bunch of useless third party apps which connect to third party services.”
“there are a lot of things that Calyx seems to do in a simpler, more vanilla Android manner”
“I had zero qualms after that pulling all support from Calyx”
“Calyx has been attacking GrapheneOS since CalyxOS was created”
“Calyx Institute and GrapheneOS are both really great projects.”
“Key developers quit CalyxOS after harassment from GrapheneOS/McCay.”
“CalyxOS/Techlore are blamed for being complicit in escalating the animosity and furore”
“right now im on calyxos but development has been paused for like a year”
“some roms that allow you to relock the bootloader after the install (iodéOS, CalyxOS)”
“I've had less issues than I had with CalyxOS for example, where more apps broke.”
“Previously any Android phone compatible with CalyxOS would also be advisable but not any longer due to the lack of maintenance”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.