| /e/ | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Gaël Duval, /e/ Foundation |
| OS family | Android (Linux) |
| Latest release | 3.2[1] / 26 October 2025; 33 days ago (26 October 2025) |
| Repository | gitlab |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Package manager | APK-based "App Lounge"[2][3] |
| Supported platforms | ARM, ARM64 |
| Kernel type | Monolithic (Linux) |
| License | Apache 2,MIT and other licenses |
| Official website | e |
/e/ (also known as/e/ OS and/e/OS, formerlyEelo) is afork ofLineageOS,[4][5] anAndroid-basedmobileoperating system, and associatedonline services.[6] /e/ is presented asprivacy software that does not containproprietaryGoogle apps or services,[7] and challenges the public to "find any parts of the system or default applications that are still leaking data to Google."[8]
/e/ is afork ofLineageOS,[4][5] which is afork of theCyanogenMod andAndroid operating systems. /e/ usesMicroG, "an open source project that hijacks Google API calls" according to Ron Amadeo ofArs Technica, as an alternative forGoogle Play Services andgeolocation.[5]
Some /e/ applications and sources areproprietary.[9] As of June 2022, /e/ includes a proprietary maps app (Magic Earth).[10] A privacy app was proprietary when first developed, then open source after release.[11]
In 2017,Mandrake Linux creatorGaël Duval proposed the concept of an operating system withoutprivacy-invasive software as a "non-profit project 'in thepublic interest'". Duval wrote, "Apple,Google,Facebook etc.,business models are harmful for our economical and social environments".[12] The operating system was initially called Eelo; the name was inspired bymoray eels, which Duval saw as "fish that can hide in the sea".[13][14] Duval launched aKickstartercrowdfunding campaign with an initial goal of €25,000, and received at least €71,000 from contributors.[12][13][15]
Eelo was renamed to /e/ in July 2018 due to a conflict with the "eelloo"trademark, which was owned by a human resources company. In a March 2020 interview, Duval stated the /e/ name would be abandoned "for something else quite soon".[8][16]
Beta versions of /e/ were released for 20 to 30 smartphone models in September 2018.[8][17] As of November 2023 /e/ supported 246 smartphone models.[18] As of April 2020, /e/ was teaming withFairphone to sell phones.[19]
ECORP SAS, a privately held corporation founded in 2018 with Gaël Duval President and Alexis Noetinger General Director, operates the online store selling phones with /e/ operating system pre-installed, and the included online services.[20][21]
ESolutions SAS, a privately held corporation, was formed in January 2020 with Ecorp SAS listed as President[clarification needed] and Alexis Noetinger as General Director. ESolutions operates the online store for sales of phones and cloud storage subscriptions.[22][23]
As of May 2022, it was announced a "Murena One" phone would be sold by Murena company with /e/ included.[24][25][26] The Murena company was established as a different entity for selling these phones,[27] and ESolutions SAS was re-named Murena Retail.[28]
TheFree Software Foundation declined to endorse /e/ because it "containsnonfreelibraries".[9] Ross Rubin ofFast Company described /e/'s strategy as a "Google-like approach" of maximizing user adoption, in contrast to hardware manufacturer and software developerPurism's "Apple-like approach" ofvertical integration.[29] Jack Wallen ofTechRepublic believed that /e/ will "prove Android can exist without Google", but predicted that the operating system would not appeal to ordinary smartphone users.[30] Sascha Segan ofPC Magazine was "encouraged by /e/, and by its determination to create an easy-to-use (and, hopefully, easy to install) alternative," but was "queasy about the sources of third-party apps on /e/." He also defended /e/ against InfoSec Handbook's criticisms, which /e/ "took to heart and has been working on it in public bug threads anyone can read online."[31]
In November 2020, Tim Anderson of The Register said installation of /e/ is "not for the fainthearted" but the operating system "feels lightweight and responsive" because of "fewer background services than on a typical Android device."[32]
In a review in March 2021, Ron Amadeo ofArs Technica said, "Actually getting regular Android apps to run on a forked version of Android is a challenge", and "there's a good chance that functionality won't work on /e/ OS." He also described "/e/'s communication problems".[5]
In May 2022, according to Liam Proven writing forThe Register, /e/ Foundation announced sales of "privacy-centric" phones branded as Murena phones including Murena One, a budget hardware device running Android 10, and priced "noticeably more expensive than the rock-bottom budget end of the market". Proven also said /e/ OS feels "clunky in places", functionality is restricted compared with full Google Android, but it works, is fast and stable.[24] David Pierce ofThe Verge said App Lounge required accepting Terms of Service, and you download Play apps from Google in a "different-looking store". The connection to Google made "a lot of Murena's early testers mad" according to Pierce. Pierce concluded Murena and /e/OS show "how ingrained Google is in our digital lives" and how much control Google has.[25] Michael Allison ofDigital Trends said "Murena will all but certainly fail" and "A de-Googled smartphone can never hit mass appeal".[26]
In August 2022 forTomsGuide.com, Jordan Palmer wrote about experimenting with installing /e/OS version 1 on anASUS Zenphone 8,Pixel 4a, andPixel 5, and summarized by saying, "I don't want to be mean, but I also can't sugarcoat it: the documentation and recovery aren't good experiences." Palmer was unable to get the "Easy Installer" for Pixel 4a to run on Fedora or Manjaro. Of the "iOS influence" and "Apple-like design", Palmer "had hoped for more originality" and criticized using the two years oldAndroid 11 version. Palmer said "The system apps all seem to work OK, even on the Pixel 4a's hardware" but was baffled because theGoogle Fi app was preinstalled, and concluded "If I can get the ROM installed properly on the Zenfone 8 I have in my office, I might just give /e/OS another shot as my daily driver".[33]
In November 2022, Ferdinand Thommes, after testing a pre-production Murena One, wrote for linux-community.de, "The range of basic applications on the Murena One covers the usual applications well" and has a "uniform look". Thommes said all included apps were open-source exceptMagic Earth navigation. Apart from short-term, unidentified problems with Wi-Fi, which were fixed after several reboots, and anNFC failure, "the software and hardware worked without any problems". Thommes stated /e/OS "is not hardened in any way", and recommendedGrapheneOS orCalyxOS if you need a hardened smartphone. He also said the supplied version of /e/OS was "based onAndroid 10, which is no longer supported by Google". About the includedMicroG, Thommes wrote "many communities likeLineageOS are critical of it because it uses signature spoofing" which, if handled carelessly, can "increase the attack surface of your system". Thommes said the hardware was "solid-looking and well-held", from the "lower mid-range", with a four-year-oldMediatek Helio P60, describing it as "in the lower third of performance", with camera quality that is "acceptable at best." He said Murena One is aimed at people who do not want to leave their data to Google, and do not want to install and maintain an operating system. Thommes stated respect is due to Gaël Duval, who has been working on the operating system since 2017, and concluded "For German users, the Volla Phone 22 offers a possible alternative to the Murena One."[34]
/e/ (formerly eelo) is a modified version of Android, which contains nonfree libraries.
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