{"slug": "show-hn-openphone-new-open-source-customized-ai-native-android-os", "title": "Show HN: OpenPhone – new open source, customized AI-native Android OS", "summary": "OpenPhone, a new open-source AI-native Android OS, was released as a developer preview for the Google Pixel 9a. The OS integrates a system-level AI agent that can see the screen, operate apps, and perform proactive background tasks with user review and auditability. It aims to transform smartphones into agentic devices by mediating actions through OS framework services rather than app-layer automation.", "body_md": "OpenPhone is an AI-native Android OS that turns the phone into an agentic device: a system-level AI agent that can see the screen, operate apps, remember commitments, monitor phone events, and continue work in the background with user review and auditability built into the OS.\n\nThis repository is the canonical OpenPhone entry point. It contains the OpenPhone-owned Android overlay, privileged assistant app, framework patches, model/tool policy configuration, build scripts, device notes, contracts, and release tooling. It intentionally does not vendor the full Android source tree.\n\nOpenPhone is built around a system-level agent, not a chatbot app. The agent is installed as a privileged OS component with an always-available system surface for conversation, realtime voice, approvals, active runs, and proactive state. Actions are mediated through OpenPhone framework services instead of brittle app-layer automation.\n\nThe agent can read structured phone context and use model-visible tools to work across apps. Context includes the foreground app, visible UI hierarchy, screen text and controls, notifications, calls, messages, calendar state, location, battery, connectivity, active watchers, background runs, and commitments the user made in conversation. Sensitive actions are reviewable, and behavior can be inspected through audit logs, trajectories, screenshots, policy decisions, and release validators.\n\nOpenPhone is also built for proactive work. Heartbeats quietly check whether anything needs attention. Scheduled jobs run exact workflows. Watchers monitor phone context such as missed calls, messages, notifications, foreground app state, visible screen state, calendar changes, location, battery, connectivity, and commitments the user made in conversation. Background runs keep working after the current chat turn, while the system surface shows what is running, why it started, what it last said, and what needs review.\n\nThe current developer preview is based on LineageOS 23.2 / Android 16 and\ntargets Google Pixel 9a (`tegu`\n\n) first.\n\n- \"Catch me up on everything important from overnight\" - consume missed calls, messages, notifications, calendar changes, and reminders, then return a short morning gist.\n- \"Order me an Uber to the office\" - open the right app, set the destination, select a ride, and stop for review before booking.\n- \"Play something random on Spotify\" - open Spotify, choose music, and continue until playback actually starts.\n- \"If I miss a call from this number, send them 'I'll call you back soon'\" - create a watcher tied to future call context and message policy.\n- \"Watch for delivery updates and only bother me if something changes\" - turn notification noise into a targeted background monitor.\n- \"Help me finish this screen\" - inspect the visible app state, identify the next control, and act through OS-mediated taps or text input.\n- \"Remind me when this conversation becomes relevant\" - turn a commitment into durable state that can resurface later based on time, app, or phone context.\n- \"Keep working on this after I leave\" - continue a multi-step task as a visible background run with approval where needed.\n\n```\n.github/       CI, release, eval, contribution, security, issue, and PR files.\ndocs/          Product docs, device notes, legal docs, releases, and testing.\nmanifests/     Android repo local manifests.\noverlay/       OpenPhone-owned files copied into the Android tree.\npatches/       Patch stacks applied on top of upstream LineageOS repos.\nschemas/       Machine-readable runtime contracts and release/eval schemas.\nscripts/       Sync, patch, build, flash, validation, and release helpers.\nservices/      Reference services, including the development model broker.\n```\n\nStart with [docs/README.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/README.md) if you are looking for a specific\ndocument.\n\n```\nflowchart TB\n  User[\"User<br/>voice, touch, text, volume chord\"]\n  Surface[\"OpenPhone system surface<br/>chat, realtime voice, approvals, runs\"]\n  Assistant[\"Privileged OpenPhoneAssistant<br/>orchestrator, model adapters, tool loop\"]\n  Runtime[\"Proactive runtime<br/>heartbeats, scheduled jobs, watchers, background runs\"]\n  Context[\"Phone context<br/>visible UI, foreground app, notifications, calls, messages,<br/>calendar, location, battery, commitments\"]\n  Services[\"OpenPhone OS services<br/>openphone_agent, openphone_context, openphone_assistant_data\"]\n  Policy[\"Policy, approval, and evidence<br/>capabilities, confirmations, audit logs, trajectories\"]\n  Android[\"Android framework<br/>ActivityTaskManager, WindowManager, InputManager, NotificationManager\"]\n  Apps[\"Apps and device<br/>Settings, Messages, Spotify, Uber, Pixel 9a\"]\n\n  User --> Surface\n  Surface --> Assistant\n  Assistant --> Runtime\n  Assistant --> Services\n  Runtime --> Services\n  Services --> Context\n  Services --> Policy\n  Services --> Android\n  Android --> Apps\n  Apps --> Context\n  Policy --> Surface\n```\n\nThe high-level architecture is documented in\n[docs/ARCHITECTURE.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md). The capability model is in\n[docs/CAPABILITIES.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/CAPABILITIES.md), and machine-readable contracts\nlive under [schemas](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/schemas).\n\nValidate the repository:\n\n```\n./scripts/check.sh\ngit diff --check\n```\n\nInstall `repo`\n\nif needed:\n\n```\n./scripts/install-repo.sh\n```\n\nSync and patch the Android tree:\n\n```\n./scripts/sync.sh\n./scripts/apply-patches.sh\n```\n\nBuild the generic OpenPhone ARM64 product for validation:\n\n```\n./scripts/build.sh openphone_arm64\n```\n\nBuild the Pixel 9a target on a Linux Android build host:\n\n```\nOPENPHONE_BUILD_GOAL=\"droid target-files-package otapackage\" \\\n  ./scripts/build.sh openphone_tegu\n```\n\nFor assistant-only iteration on an already flashed development device:\n\n```\nOPENPHONE_BUILD_GOAL=OpenPhoneAssistant ./scripts/build.sh openphone_tegu\nscripts/push-assistant-apk.sh /path/to/OpenPhoneAssistant.apk\n```\n\nFull build instructions are in [docs/BUILD.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/BUILD.md). Testing and\nphysical eval guidance is in [docs/TESTING.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/TESTING.md).\n\nOpenPhone builds on LineageOS device infrastructure, so the broader universe of\npotential ports starts with the official LineageOS supported-device list:\n[wiki.lineageos.org/devices](https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/). OpenPhone\nsupport is narrower: a device is only supported after it has an OpenPhone\nproduct target, flash/recovery notes, hardware validation, agent validation, and\nrelease coverage.\n\nThe first OpenPhone physical target is Google Pixel 9a (`tegu`\n\n). Generic ARM64\nbuilds are useful for product graph validation, but they are not a supported\nphone target.\n\nOpenPhone does not redistribute Google apps, Google Mobile Services, vendor\nblobs, signing keys, private firmware, or restricted device material. Local\ndeveloper GMS sideload notes are in [docs/GMS.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/GMS.md).\n\nSee [docs/devices/MATRIX.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/devices/MATRIX.md) and\n[docs/devices/tegu.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/devices/tegu.md).\n\nContributions, issues, and device validation reports are welcome under the\nterms in [.github/CONTRIBUTING.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md).\n\nOpenPhone-owned materials are source-available for non-commercial use under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. Commercial use requires a separate written license from Dafdef, inc.\n\nContributions are accepted only under terms that allow Dafdef, inc. to own,\nmodify, sublicense, redistribute, and commercialize the submitted work. See\n[.github/CONTRIBUTING.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md),\n[docs/legal/COMMERCIAL.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/legal/COMMERCIAL.md), [LICENSE](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/LICENSE),\n[docs/legal/LICENSE.noncommercial](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/legal/LICENSE.noncommercial), and\n[docs/legal/THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md](/secondly-com/OpenPhone/blob/main/docs/legal/THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-openphone-new-open-source-customized-ai-native-android-os", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/secondly-com/openphone", "published_at": "2026-06-25 19:33:23+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-25 19:44:06.248799+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "ai-products", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["OpenPhone", "Google Pixel 9a", "LineageOS", "Android 16", "Spotify", "Uber"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-openphone-new-open-source-customized-ai-native-android-os", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-openphone-new-open-source-customized-ai-native-android-os.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-openphone-new-open-source-customized-ai-native-android-os.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-openphone-new-open-source-customized-ai-native-android-os.jsonld"}}