preliminary proposal for generic mobile application platform.

by: zetabeta

created: 2026-02-10

background:
u.s. and its economy starting to be unreliable and erratic partner. major mobile platforms are from u.s. and operated under u.s. jurisdiction, it starts to be serious liability. in this case google play and apple app store. alternate plan is needed, actually open and transparent application platform, which can function almost any mobile device. non-u.s. countries also need to reduce dependecies from other technologies as well from the u.s., like cloud services. many cases alternatives already exist, users just need to use them. even if the u.s. isn't the problem, monopoly power of mobile platform is still problematic.

this proposal is not proposing alternate mobile operating system, although that one is also needed. this is planning unifying application platform for multiple operating systems.

linux universe already has flatpak and flathub, which gives strong hint how application are distributed, and is not picky about linux distribution. sideloading should be possible. still central application hub should not be operated by for-profit company.

linux universe also has appimage, which doesn't have central hub and no dependency handling.

f-droid is also one example of open platform, although for android devices and limiting software.

html5 also gives somewhat good standard for lot of features, and can function inside the browser. surprisingly many things can be done inside of browser, and no installtion of any programs.

combining these features, some kind of generic mobile application platform can be created, which may operate in android, iphones, tablets, laptops, linux mobile, windows devices, and maybe others. it has some kind of genereic api's similar to html5. app distribution could be similar to flathub. however, sideloading should be possible when needed.

this idea is for bigger minds to plan actual details, this is just a preliminary proposal.