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Ask HN: Why not use old smartphones as a "Raspberry Pi"?

5 points by nopro ↗ HN
Anyone doing it?

How hard is it to get Linux onto an iPhone?

What are some caveats - as somebody who uses a Raspberry Pi as a home server for many apps and has thought about expanding, what should I know about using a smart device for a server?

18 comments

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2Gkashmiri
termux would get you most of the way there but will it auto start on boot, will it run continuously and all that? i am not sure
al_borland
While some people have gotten Linux to boot on old iPhones, I don't think it's anywhere close to being a Raspberry Pi replacement at this point.
_akhe
Can you elaborate on why? If both devices run the same OS wouldn't it just come down to hardware needs?

I ask because I'm seriously considering trying with an iPhone 12 but wonder if something glaring will get in the way or make it not ideal.

al_borland
The hardware support isn’t there. The iPhone is not an open platform, so it will take a long time before there is anything worthwhile. Apple moving to their new chips on the desktop helps, but it will be a long road, and it’s questionable how much of that development will make its way back to old iPhones.

Unless you’re interested in joining a community trying to develop Linux on the iPhone, it’s really not worth it. There are thousands of better ways to go.

_akhe
Yeah I generally agree - kinda like the Hackintosh days. Aside from novelty, it ended up being better to just build what you need from scratch for a lot cheaper, and with better support.

Thanks!

compressedgas
Smartphones lack nearly all of the kinds of IO interfaces supported by a Raspberry Pi.
beardyw
Exactly. The big thing that seems to have been forgotten about the Pi is all those exposed pins. It was designed that way, not just as a small computer.
talldayo
FWIW, supporting 5W GPIO can be done entirely over USB power. The iPhone can do this, Apple just would really rather you not use their phone that way.
GianFabien
But you already have cameras, screen, GPS, magnetometer, WiFi, IMU. To equip a RPi with only a subset of those would add considerably to the cost.

You can even easily interface any Arduino for additional GPIOs via OTG and USB.

_akhe
Yeah, I love the Pi for this reason, most upgrades are a matter of ordering the parts, like building a PC back in the day. Sometimes I look at my web server though (rpi 4), with its small size and touch screen already looking like a smartphone, and wondering if I could have just used an iPhone to host these sites & APIs on.

  iPhone 12
  Apple A14 Bionic @ 2.99 GHz
  1 Processor, 6 Cores
  5.60 GB

  Raspberry Pi 4
  ARM BCM2711 @ 1.50 GHz
  1 Processor, 4 Cores
  1.77 GB
I think iPhone always outperforms Raspberry Pi: https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/compare/4581331?baselin...

Which makes sense since it was $1000 and the Pi was $35.

GianFabien
Old smartphones are often free, especially Android ones. I get mine from friends, family and of course my superseded units.
zer00eyz
https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io

Is your goal to "run a server at home" or "run a server on an old phone"

One is an enabler the other is a hobby in its own right...

_akhe
I run a server on a Raspberry Pi at home, but since I have an iPhone 12 with a lot better specs than the Pi I wondered why not just run it on that (with Ubuntu ofc not iOS).
GianFabien
I've used old Android smartphones with DroidScript and QPython as a music server, lighting controller, time-lapse camera. More recent smartphones I simply use WebAPI functionality.

I've tried using some old iPhones, but I find them too locked down. Perhaps I gave up too quickly, jailbreaking might have opened up more opportunities.

beardyw
In my experience phones are not built to do a lot of concurrent processing but have a really good screen! Horses for courses.
_akhe
I figured it might not make the most sense, but I can't help but wonder if the hardware is good enough for static sites & APIs.
nathants
postmarketos is a good place to start.
_akhe
This is awesome, thanks!