Prospects for an accessible and open version of Android?

[Linux for blind general discussion]

I've been doing some web crawling, trying to get an idea of the prospects
for a blind-accessible, (mostly) open source OS for Android HW devices.

The rest of this message is a mishmash of links and notes; if anyone can
provide additions and corrections, I'd be most grateful...

-r

# Availability

The Android application package (APK) is the Golden Path for distribution,
but some Google Play apps aren't available to "rooted" Android phones:

SafetyNet Explained: Why Android Pay and Other Apps Don’t Work on Rooted Devices
  https://www.howtogeek.com/241012

It would be nice to have a Linux-friendly tool (e.g., APT) as an alternative.
Meanwhile, some packages are available via microG (https://microg.org).

# Accessibility

## Android

The Golden Path for a11y seems to be the Android Accessibility Suite, available
on the Google Play Store:

  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.marvin.talkback

More general information is available on the Android accessibility overview page:

  https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6006564?hl=en

## Celia

This seems interesting, even though it (currently) only supports Chinese.
However, it (and EMUI) are proprietary.

> Celia is an artificially intelligent virtual assistant developed by Huawei
for its latest Android-based EMUI smartphones that lack Google Services
and a Google Assistant.

-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celia_(Virtual_assistant)

## Screen Readers, etc.

TalkBack and BrailleBack (both found in the Android Accessibility Suite)
seem to be the Golden Path for blind-friendly Android support.

Despite this title, there doesn't appear to be any APK version of Orca:

  Orca Download for Linux (apk, deb, eopkg, rpm, tgz, txz, xz, zst)
  https://pkgs.org/download/orca

More generally, I can't find any open source screen readers listed for APK:

  Search Results for "screen reader"
  https://pkgs.org/search/?q=%22screen%20reader%22

# OS Family Tree

TL;DR: There are lots of (all or mostly) free OS variants, but their a11y
support is extremely limited.  Also, many of them are only intended to be
used on a single vendor's devices.

Anyway, here is an OS family tree of sorts, with informational links.
It's based on Wikipedia's "List of custom Android distributions"
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_custom_Android_distributions),
supplemented with information gleaned from assorted web sites (YMMV).

Linux                   - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel
- AOSP                  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)#AOSP
- - ConquerOS           - https://github.com/ConquerOS/manifest
- - CopperheadOS        - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CopperheadOS
- - CyanogenMod         - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod
- - - LineageOS         - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LineageOS
- - - - CrDroid         - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrDroid
- - - - Project Sakura  - https://sourceforge.net/projects/projectsakura/files/Mido
- - - - Replicant       - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicant_(operating_system)
- - - - - /e/           - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//e/_(operating_system)
- - DerpFest            - https://derpfest.org
- - Emteria.OS          - https://emteria.com
- - EMUI                - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMUI
- - EvolutionX          - https://evolution-x.org/#
- - Flyme               - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meizu#Flyme
- - GrapheneOS          - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GrapheneOS
- - GSI                 - https://source.android.com/setup/build/gsi
- - Havoc-OS            - https://sourceforge.net/projects/havoc-os
- - Ion OS              - https://sourceforge.net/projects/i-o-n
- - MoKee               - https://download.mokeedev.com
- - MIUI                - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI
- - MSM-Xtended         - https://sourceforge.net/projects/xtended  
- - OmniROM             - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OmniROM
- - OxygenOS            - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OxygenOS
- - Paranoid Android    - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoid_Android_(software)
- - Pixel Experience    - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_Experience
- - Realme              - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realme
- - Smartisan OS        - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartisan_OS
- - ViperOS             - https://download.viperos.org/#

# Starting Points

My suspicion is that the LineageOS, Replicant, and /e/ flavors are the
most promising starting points, but I could certainly be wrong.  If you
know of something you think is better, please let me know!

Speaking of which, the definition of "better" is very context-dependent.
If avoiding any and all proprietary software is your goal, Replicant may
be the best choice.  If you want instant gratification, you might want
to purchase a phone that already has /e/ installed...

Also, if you're only using Wi-Fi for connectivity, you can ignore some
cell phone issues (e.g., CDMA, FDMA, and TDMA signal encoding).

## Replicant

- https://replicant.us/
- https://replicant.us/about.php#faq
- https://replicant.us/freedom-privacy-security-issues.php
- https://replicant.us/supported-devices.php

- https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/DeviceStatus

## LineageOS

- https://lineageos.org
- https://lineageos.org/blog
- https://wiki.lineageos.org
- https://wiki.lineageos.org/faq.html

## /e/

- https://doc.e.foundation/devices/
- https://doc.e.foundation/what-s-e

- https://e.foundation
- https://e.foundation/about-e
- https://e.foundation/about-e/#why-/e/