Best OS for FP3+?

A friend just gave me their FP3+ because they claim it’s super slow and crashes frequently (they called it “a potato”).

I’m hoping that I’ll have a better experience with it, and I’m wondering if I can improve the odds of that by installing a different OS - either Lineage, /e/, or something else.

Anyone able to explain the pros and cons to me of sticking with the stock OS vs switching, or provide a recommendation of which one to switch to?

While I’m hesitating to judge any of these OS as faster or slower (for my part, I’m fine with /e/OS for around two years now), I just want to recommend that you keep an eye on storage usage on your FP3+. In the past we have often had users here whose phone slowed down considerably at one point simply because the phone storage was way too full. While there is no generally recommended percentage, I would try to not exceed 80% permanently. If you find that hard, an SD card provides relief – just make sure you format it as portable storage and not as phone storage.

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I have an FP3 that is nearly 3 years old and it’s no different that it was then, still on stock FOS

Once you do a factory reset check the version etc of the stock OS and try it out for a week with no custom apps. And as pointed out, if you use an SD card DO NOT format it as internal.

All the best

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I’m using /e/ on my FP3, too and it works pretty well for me for almost 3 years. It has it’s own share of quirks and bugs but overall it works.

I’d suggest to only (or mostly) install apps from

then you shouldn’t have much problems with your phone.

You can try some analyzing tools or add/tracker-firewalls, too to find problems in case the phone slows down. They can also be found in F-Droid. But there are other threads regarding this.

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I have test SparkOS with unofficiala build [ROM][13][UNOFFICIAL] Spark OS 13.4 [FP3][AOSP][ANDROID 13] | XDA Forums
It was good but not enought smooth and i can’t solve a problem with wifi hostspot.
I run Voltage OS for some weeks and it is pretty good i have not publish my build on XDA but if you are interested i can do it.
Voltage is very smooth i don’t have spotted any bugs.
I was on LineageOs on version 18.1 and it was pretty good too.
I will try to build ArrowOS for a very minimalist experience and if i succeed i will post it on XDA.
If you want the smoothest experience go on LineageOS there is an Android 13 release with there version 20. It is not the best choice for UI customization but it is very stable and updated frequently.

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Avid LineageOS user here.
However, for all of the family’s FP3s, the smartphones are a bit sluggish.
I solved this by increasing the zram to about 2 GB, and they’ve been running quite smoothly.

Is this also possible for stock ROM?

Hi da5nsy and feel welcome

besides the very good comment by @urs right on top, just my few cents here:

I’m on the FP3 stock OS for a longer time now and I don’t perceive any “slow down” of the device over all those years.

My partner had in that time (and before) several other mobile phones and she often complains about her device(s) becoming slow or crashing unexpectedly.

In 99,9% of such cases the true reason for that was: Crappy apps full of bloatware and tracking or tons (!) of conversations in her messaging apps which she never archived (including loads of pictures and videos)
That’s what really slows down ANY device.

Get rid of such waste and your FP3 will be an agile little toy (Ok, it’s no gaming device nor a supercomputer but its usually faster than its human owner :wink: )

About your question: What’s the best OS (for FP3)?
Answer: This solely depends on your usecase!

If you want to travel to a far away destination, is it better to ride a Ferrari or a Jeep? If there’s a good highway for sure the Ferrari would be your first choice but if it’s through the highlands you better might pick the Jeep.
If there’s an ocean inbetween then consider taking a boat or else :wink:

That being said: There is no “best OS” for any device but you can try out different OS’es to find out which is the best one fitting to your needs.

I know it’s not the answer you desired at first but your initial question can’t be answered by anyone else than you.
Take some time to read through the pros and cons about the different OS’es here in the forum (and else anywhere in the web), trial and error … and you surely will find the best OS that suits your needs …

… but don’t believe anybody who might tell you that “this or that” device is slow or became slower over time. Such comments usually come from people that are not very familiar with how a device/mobile/computer works.
Hardware doesn’t become slower over time. Never!
If a device becomes slower it’s in 100% the software/apps/etc that runs on it

Best
DonFnord

Just in some cases (Apple) the smartphone manufakturer deliberately sends you an update, which puts some programmed limiters on battery capacity or computing power. :zipper_mouth_face:

But Fairphone and the other free OS suppliers surely don’t have any interest in doing such things, so we don’t need to worry here. :wink:

Hi Freigeist

yep, I’ve read about this case too, but this “update” is still some change in software. I’ve never read anything about Apple techs breaking into a house and physically manipulating the hardware like soldering a slower CPU on the mainboard :wink:

Best
DonFnord

:rofl:

That’s true.

Regardless:
I didn’t point it out before, but there is a little difference between e.g. Apple and Fairphone:

With a Fairphone you are pretty much free to install whatever OS you want, but on an iPhone you only have iOS (if you install anything else you get punished by loss of warranty).
So, if Apple decides to send an update (You can’t block it without blocking all other security updates, too.) to your iPhone, which purposefully slows it down, then that’s pretty much the situation you have described.

→ Apple is “breaking into” your private life and private property to reduce it’s value for you. And that’s the reason the charge against Apple in France was successful.

Same with Fairphone to benefit from warranty you have to re-install Fairphone’s default Android

Reinstalling the old OS is still much better than losing warranty by just doing ‘something’ Apple doesn’t like.

Understandable for some but clearly Apple have more than a few customers who are happy not even think about fiddling, they just want a phone that is reliable, not malleable…

This topic is about the Best OS for the FP3 and pulling in Apple doesn’t help at all.

But this does refer to lineage and there I have no experience. I’m using stock FOS still.

There may some tinkerers that have tried multiple alternate OSes but then what one person finds the best is surely very subjective.

So it’s a demanding and maybe risky adventure for those who have to ask and apart from reading up on the many choices people have made then it’s down to the user to try one.

So @da5nsy what news have you for us? Did you clean up the stock OS or try something ‘new’

Probably. Maybe (probably, in fact) you need to root it.

Thanks everyone for the tips and opinions!
So far I’m sticking with the stock OS and haven’t encountered any major issues (:crossed_fingers:)

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Very wise, take your time and don’t make changes without knowing why.

Just as a post script to this well-rounded thread, remember that adaptability, smoothness and performance aren’t the only deciding factors.
A frequent reason for leaving the stock OS is simply a quest to avoid Google and other data consumers. Of course, alternative software solutions will depend upon other forms of support than your data, if they are to survive.

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Have you updated it to Android 13?

Yep! On 6.A.020.0 and most things seem to be working relatively well!

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