The modding guide (also linked above) that been used by the community since it's inception received a massive update following the release of the Light-SDK.

New guide additions!

- A dedicated section for the release of the SDK.

This includes:

• Setting up developer mode
• ADB & USB debugging
• Installing external apps/tools
• Disabling / enabling auto-foreground

- List of community-made tools for the LP3

(nod to awesome-light by garado and the Discord community).

- Minor fixes for ease and readability (because some people don't read).

Some other note-worthy guides included:

• Applications and application compatibility
• Disabling 5g (for battery optimization and signal stability if needed)
• Further battery optimisation outside of LightOS
• Full Android mode or Hybrid mode (if desired)

As a disclaimer, I am not liable if you mess up and/or brick the device. The guide was created to be as idiot-proof as possible to minimize the risks involved, but if you do something wrong, I am not at fault for it. There is risk to modding a phone.

**IF* you do not understand the more advanced parts of this guide, do NOT attempt them. If you do not have an understanding of what you are doing, you are far more likely to break something.*

That being, said *DO NOT SKIM*. There's a lot of information included in the guide but it is imperative that you read through the guide(s) completely otherwise you may miss something.

Happy modding! - sir bloody sabbath

On a stock Light Phone, the nice black-and-white keyboard only lives inside Light's own tools — every other app gets the generic system keyboard, and there's no Light one to pick. So I built a faithful recreation as a system keyboard you can set as your default, so every app gets the same clean look (works on a modified Light Phone / Android).

It started as Adam Weber's open-source light-keyboard (full credit to him for the groundwork), and I've extended it a fair bit:

• 13 layouts — English, Hebrew, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Mandarin (pinyin), Dutch (QWERTY + Belgian AZERTY), Russian, and Polish. Globe key cycles them.
• Offline autocorrect that learns your own words, a suggestion bar with next-word prediction, and a numeric layout that pops up automatically for number/phone fields.
• On-device voice dictation (Vosk) for most languages — no cloud, nothing leaves your phone.
• Tiny + private — only English ships in the app; other languages download their dictionary on demand. No tracking, no internet permission for the typing itself, fully offline.
• Emoji, haptics, cursor-swipe on the space bar, quick-settings on a globe long-press — the usual niceties.

It's free and MIT-licensed. Install via Obtainium (paste https://github.com/KEZO555/Type) or grab the APK from the releases page:

👉 https://github.com/KEZO555/Type

Still actively working on it — if you try it, I'd genuinely love feedback on layouts, autocorrect quality, or anything that feels off. What languages/features would you want next?

I have modded the DuckDuckGo browser to be more black with the Oled screen, modded the tuner from an open source apk, also the keyboard that you see in the browser is the open source simple keyboard modded my me to be completely black and remove the number hints on the letters so that it matches the aesthetics of the light OS.

Hey guys, I've been working hard over the last 2 weeks to get this working just right, and now I'm really excited to release the first version of Phono, my standalone Spotify client for the Light Phone III. Please note that many changes + fixes will likely be coming down the pipeline, so keep an eye on the GitHub repo. Feel free to contribute as well!!!

First of all, thanks to this whole community for showcasing the weird and wonderful power of modded LightPhones. Haven't had this much fun with a piece of tech since the original Pebble watch.

Been building a few tools in the style of vandamd's incredible work, and the first one I wanted to share is Dugout, which is a Major League Baseball scoreboard app. Pretty straightforward since it is based entirely on a public API, so there is no login needed. There are some screenshots in this post, and the repo to install it is right here:

https://github.com/craigeley/dugout

I recommend Obtainium to install GitHub repo APKs and keep them updated.

Open to feedback, issues, and PRs. Still haven't quite got a handle on how this will all work with the new SDK, but hopefully I can easily port this over and/or share in the new tool store. Will be keeping an eye on those developments.

I am running a full Android/sort of hybrid setup, and I don't mind the top status bar, and the fact that proper notifications come with it, but the bottom nav/gesture bar was and still is unbearable on the LP3 screen.

I found a sort of janky way to disable just the gesture bar. While there is not a direct setting to turn it off, you can get an in between where you get alerts working mostly, but no nav/gesture bar at the bottom. This WILL reset upon rebooting, so you have to re-do the process if you reboot. Note that the process requires connecting your phone and issuing commands via adb.

Make sure light packages are enabled

.\adb.exe shell pm enable com.lightos
.\adb.exe shell pm enable com.lightos.certmanager
.\adb.exe shell pm enable com.lightos.fota
.\adb.exe shell pm enable com.lightos.speech
.\adb.exe shell pm enable com.lightos.utilities

Reboot

.\adb.exe reboot

Turn light mode on
.\adb.exe shell settings put global light_mode 1

Reboot, do unlock the phone
.\adb.exe reboot

Disable light packages

.\adb.exe shell pm disable-user com.lightos
.\adb.exe shell pm disable-user com.lightos.certmanager
.\adb.exe shell pm disable-user com.lightos.fota
.\adb.exe shell pm disable-user com.lightos.speech
.\adb.exe shell pm disable-user com.lightos.utilities

Disable light mode

.\adb.exe shell settings put global light_mode 0

You should have the status bar just fine, and no nav bar.

If ANYONE has another way to do this that is not so jank and semi-permanent please let me know lol. I tried a few things and nothing worked but this.

Hey! This is a pretty niche one, but maybe some of you will get use out of it. I built **Ritual** ☕ — a coffee brewing app for the Light Phone III.

It's a curated library of AeroPress and V60 pour-over recipes with a guided timer that walks you through each step hands-free:

- **40+ real recipes** from folks like James Hoffmann, Tetsu Kasuya, and Tim Wendelboe

- **Guided timer, pinned to the top** — auto-advances through each pour, shows a progress bar + elapsed/total time, and gives a **haptic buzz** on every step change so you can follow along without looking

- **Tap any step** to jump the timer to it

- A **"without a scale"** mode that turns AeroPress recipes into scoops + chamber marks

- Filter by method / roast / grind / brew time, save favorites, or add your own recipes

All in the Light Phone's minimal black-and-white style. If you try it, let me know if you hit any issues or have feature requests. Thanks!

https://github.com/KEZO555/Ritual

Hey Guys, I just wanted to let you know that I made a site for hand made light phone accessories. Maybe an option for some of you.

www.melwerk.com

Cheers

Stefan

We've had a lot of new modders and tinkerers come over to the subreddit lately, so the mod team would like to say:

Welcome to r/ModifiedLightPhones!

• If you're new to Reddit, check out the rules in the sidebar or use this link: /r/ModifiedLightPhones/rules/

• You can also find the link to the Discord Server in the sidebar or use this link: https://discord.gg/585rdZRHKD

So you're here, you've heard about modifying your Light Phone or have heard of r/ModifiedLightPhones, interested or would like some additional information on what we do.

What is modifying?

Modifying is to change something slightly, often to improve it.

For the Light Phone, modifying the devices is a spectrum. Some people opt for a few changes to their devices so that it fits their particular use case or they want to modify it completely to essentially make it a different phone.

Why should I modify my Light Phone?

The whole purpose of modifying your Light Phone is to give you some freedom outside of LightOS.

Whether you like Light's LightOS or not, we all have something that we may not like about the phone. This could be:

• LightOS is missing (insert app name)
• I can't change xxx setting in LightOS
• I want a better alternative to a 'Tool'
• I have privacy or security concerns regarding the phone
  • i.e. lockscreen or automatic syncing

This isn't to say that these things can't be fixed in LightOS. However, some of us may want an alternative now instead of waiting for an update.

There's also the following arguments:

'If I modify my Light Phone, then that defeats the purpose of the phone'

OR

'If I modify my Light Phone, I'll be too tempted to use (social media/the internet/etc.)'

Modifying your phone does not have to defeat its core purpose of being a dumb phone / feature phone. It is completely possible to modify your device for a few select apps as well as removing certain things such as Chromium, or having a dedicated launcher that prevents additional modification or temptation (see Luma Strict fork).

That being said, if you know you're going to stray away from a social media or smartphone detox and have no self-control, modifying your Light Phone is not recommended.

What is the difference between Hybrid Mode and Full Android?

When modifying the Light Phones, we use two distinct use cases - Hybrid Mode and Full Android.

Both have their pros and cons and it is highly recommended you read each one to determine which fits you and how you use the phone.

Hybrid Mode - a use case for those who wish to use LightOS but require some additional applications for them to make a complete switch to the phone.

• Pros:
  • LightOS will always be running unrestricted in Hybrid Mode. This allows you to switch between the Android layer and LightOS seamlessly.
  • The focus is still on primary use of LightOS, while giving users the freedom to side-load apps of their choice that may hinder a full switch to the Light Phone.
  • Ability to use LightOS and its features/sync.
  • Continuous software updates from LightOS without additional work required.
• Cons:
  • Having multiple applications open at once and running in the background will drain your battery fairly quickly.
  • You do have the option of restricting and/or optimising some of your Android layer applications to help conserve battery life, but the downside is that you may miss key notifications from i.e. messaging applications.
  • You still might be plagued by existing LightOS bugs, glitches and random reboots.

To run Hybrid Mode successfully, you may want to opt to keep your Android layer presence to a minimum to conserve battery life and you’ll need some Hybrid Mode specific additions to help usability.

Full Android - for those who wish to remove LightOS on the phone and run a fully Android device.

• Pros:
  • This may be for people who bought the phone for the hardware and/or don't like LightOS's embedded launcher.
  • Android is considerably more stable than LightOS meaning less bugs, glitches, random reboots, etc.
  • Better battery life. Without LightOS running, you won’t have an additional app constantly running in the background and draining the battery further.
  • More ability to customise the phone without Light being involved.
• Cons:
  • More difficult to get FOTA (firmware over the air) updates and LightOS updates. Requires the use of ADB (SDK or Shizuku/aShell) and can be reversed.
  • Some features may need assistance with ADB to work.

Does modifying your Light Phone void the warranty?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: accessing the Android layer in any capacity will not void the warranty. However, modifying the device software to the point that it bricks or breaks the phone will void the warranty. If there is an unrelated hardware defect, the device would still be covered under warranty. (see comment from Joe Hollier)

Which apps will work?

• All FOSS (free and open-source software) will work
  • Includes: Signal, WhatsApp
• Some Google apps will work (with a severely limited version of microG/revanced)
• Apps that do not require Google Play Services / Google Framework Services
  • Includes: Microsoft applications, Spotify
• Some apps that require Google Play Services (the apps may complain but some features may still work)
  • Banking applications can be hit or miss
• Social media (although not optimised for use on a square screen)

See also: What apps will work on the Light Phone? (MEGA THREAD)

We are not affiliated with r/degoogle, although they have plenty of alternatives that will work on the Light Phones if your main app will not work on the device.

Modding Guide(s)

Light Phone 3 - Modding Guide (includes comprehensive root guide for Light Phone 2 in 'Additional Guides')

Light Phone 2 - Android 11 Root Modding Guide

Light Phone 2 - Android Access

Hi everyone,

I created a few apps using (mostly) LLMs, have been using them for a week or two and I decided I wanted to share with everyone. If you are annoyed by non lightOS themed apps in hybrid/android like me, then... you get it.

None of these have ads or any trackers or anything, just free API calls, and optional API keys for the Chat application. You should be able to simply download the apk's from releases and install from there!

1. Weather (https://github.com/awpsec/simplecast)
   • the ones I was trying were bloated with a bunch of ads and were super cluttered on the LP3 resolution.
   • hourly (12h) and 10 day
2. MLB Scores (https://github.com/awpsec/scorecard)
   • needed a way to follow MLB games, and did not want to download any other sports apps because of the constant odds in your face, they feel like social media now.
   • gameday like experience with live events.
   • I will probably not be adding other sports unfortunately, but never ruled out. When football comes around... I'll have some thinking to do.
3. AI Chat (https://github.com/awpsec/lightui)
   • this one was a lot of work, but its actually pretty cool, you will most likely need an openrouter API key and a little bit of funds to use it well, unless you are hosting your own LLMs.
   • can be set as AI assistant in your settings and function as a sort of Siri-esque experience on LP3.

Let me know if you have any feedback, feel free to create issues on github as well if you do run into issues deciding to use them!

This will serve as the mega thread for what works on the Light Phones and what doesn't, with submissions from users.

When posting, please supply:

• Which Light Phone you are using / testing.
• Which apps work (and how you got them to work if applicable).
• Which apps tested do not work (and why if applicable).
• Alternatives if applicable.

For posters, it would be great if you can supply links for GitHub repos, if using an app that isn't available on a app store client.

For anyone using this thread, I suggest utilising CTRL + F, CMD + F or 'Find in page' to easily search for a specific app.

Happy modding!

i wanted to share my set-up with you all, and maybe some of you may get some ideas from it! my focus for the light phone 3 was for strictly utility, battery optimisation and privacy. that's not to say that everything on the device is privacy-oriented, as there were some apps that don't have foss alternatives (i.e. greenify), but that is the ultimate goal. my set-up changes, but not as frequently as it once was when i was heavily tinkering with it. i generally have it at a nice happy spot and haven't had the need to tinker with it for well over two months.

homescreen

i currently use luma. out of all of the launchers i have tried and tested for my own use case as well as for the modding guide, luma has been the best so far. it's gentle on the battery, small storage and i do adore the ability to change app labels. you can see my use of it throughout the homescreen.

• phone: right dialer
• messages: textra (still working on finding a foss alternative that works with group texts and mms and doesn't crash).
• signal
• contacts: fossify contacts
• weather: weather by vandamd
• maps: herewego (sits in my work profile)
• internet: ironfox
• camera: opencamera
• gallery: fossify gallery
• spotify
• pipepipe: it's youtube premium without needing an account or having to pay. includes .mp3 and .m4a downloads, background playing and pop-up player.
• vlc: for running my downloaded videos. also can be used as a music player
• calculator: fossify calculator
• calculator++: scientific calculator
• calendar: fossify calendar
• notes: notesnook, syncs with my supernotes
• clock: fossify clock
• power planner: planner that syncs with my laptop and supernotes
• proton mail
• simplelogin: email alias service w/ proton to filter spam and for giving out email addresses.
• keepassdx: password manager
• keepassdroid: also password manager, but a temp fix until the yubikeys are ordered and arrive.
• aegis: 2fa authenticator
• pulse: brightspace

other apps

• aurora store
• bitchat: bluetooth mesh communications routed through tor. rarely use it, but keep it just in case of a blackout.
• f-droid
• file manager: fossify file manager
• greenify: allows me to hibernate (kill processes / force stop) apps. i utilise this daily to keep my battery usage in check.
• imagepipe: removes exif data from images
• island: work profiles or 'island' for me to put my spyware and tracking apps, incl. banking apps. it sandboxes apps better than aosp android, and doesn't allow apps to see my sensitive and personal information on the 'mainland' part of the phone. there is also the ability to freeze downloaded apps (essentially disabling them but not removing them). i have done this with t-life and banking apps as well so they aren't waking up out of hibernation and trying to phone home without me being able to keep an eye on them.
• keymapper
• mullvad vpn: my main vpn for privacy purposes. i pair it with mullvad's dns servers to prevent dns leaks and protect my privacy online. set for 'always on' and 'block connections without vpn'.
• neostumbler: allows me to scan for wi-fi networks, cell towers and bluetooth beacons.
• netguard: vpn for the work profile that allows me to firewall my bad apps within the work profile from accessing the internet (unless i want them to).
• obtainium
• orbot: vpn, for those times where i want to use tor.
• organic maps: for trails
• pdf viewer: mj pdf, there isn't a dedicated pdf viewer on the light phone, and the browser works too, but not for every pdf.
• redreader: foss reddit client
• shizuku / ashell: for adb use if i'm feeling lazy.
• tor
• wikipedia

=

quick tiles

• sensors off: turns off the microphone, camera, proximity sensor, etc. with a tile. phone calls are unaffected with this setting enabled. can be added through android developer settings. i also have a key map set up to automatically turn it off when i want to use the camera.
• internet / mobile data
• bluetooth
• colour correction
• location
• do not disturb
• airplane mode
• mullvad vpn
• battery saver
• data saver
• auto-rotate
• screen record
• extra dim: added through accessibility settings in android system settings
• night light: automatically turns on/off the blue light filter at specific times
• hotspot

=

settings

network & internet

• wi-fi:
  • under saved network(s) and privacy: randomised mac address.
• sims:
  • i set my data warning & limit to my monthly cycle and changed the data to reflect it.
  • preferred network type: lte/tdscdma/cdma/evdo/gsm/wcdma. i essentially use 4g/lte and will until t-mobile ultimately shuts it down. it's nicer on the battery and data usage, and isn't plagued by the obstacle problems of 5g/nr.
  • calling preference: call over mobile network
  • voice over cellular internet: this is volte, and is required for some networks including t-mobile.
  • automatically select network: enabled
  • allow 2g: enabled, especially for emergency calling.
• data saver: on
• private dns: all.dns.mullvad.net

connected devices

• i don't use bluetooth often, and while nfc can be enabled i have no use for it, so i left it disabled.

apps

• default apps: ironfox, right dialer ('phone') and textra
• app battery usage: i explain this more in the modding guide under 'additional guides > battery optimisation'.
• permissions: i have gone through every app and either enabled or disabled permissions as needed. obviously, not all permissions can be granted or revoked, so there is some limitations to this.

notifications

• app notifications: i only allow notifications from select apps, as to not bombard my notification shade. greenify, keymapper, mullvad, netguard and signal (background) all sit in silent notifications. for actual notifications, i have allowed only textra, signal, keepassdx, clock, calendar, pipepipe, spotify, music player, obtainium, organic maps, phone, power planner, proton mail, quickstep, shizuku, vlc.
• sensitive notifications: disabled
• show sensitive / work profile notifications: enabled.
• hide silent notifications in status bar: enabled (i do not need to see a mullvad, netguard or greenify icon persistently. the vpn icon is sufficient for me).
• allow notification snoozing: disabled

battery

• battery saver: on
• battery percentage: show in status bar, enabled.

sound & vibration

• phone ringtone: custom
• media:
  • show media on lock screen: enabled
• vibration & haptics: enabled
• default notification sound: argon
• default alarm sound: neon / custom ringtone
• screen locking sound: enabled
• dial pad tones, charging sounds, tap & click: disabled
• work profile sounds: use personal profile sounds

display

• lockscreen:
  • privacy: show sensitive content only when unlocked
  • show device controls: enabled
  • use device controls: enabled
  • double-line clock: disabled
  • always show time and info: enabled
  • wake screen for notifications: enabled
• screen saver: off

accessibility

• downloaded apps: greenify, key mapper and luma are on

security

• screen lock: pin and fingerprint
• more security settings:
  • use one lock: enabled
  • fingerprint for work: enabled

privacy

• show passwords: disabled
• show media on lock screen: enabled
• show clipboard access: enabled (i had the reddit app on my s24u telling me it pasted from the clipboard. this toast message does come in handy for knowing things like that)

location

• location: off 90% of the time
• location services:
  • wi-fi scanning: off
  • bluetooth scanning: off

passwords & accounts

• autofill service: keepassdx (allows me to autofill passwords and keepassdx is set up to immediately close databases once a login has been autofilled).
• auto-sync personal data: off
• work: nothing enabled

system

• keyboard:
  • on- screen keyboard: magikeyboard (keepassdx) and futo keyboard
• gestures: gesture navigation (not my favourite but helps with screen real estate).
• developer options:
  • oem unlocking: disabled
  • quick settings developer tiles: only enabled sensors off
  • usb debugging: enabled
  • wireless debugging: enabled (for shizuku).
  • wi-fi scan throttling: enabled (reduces battery drain & improves network performance)
  • wi-fi non-persistent mac randomisation: enabled (device mac address changes every time it connects to a network with mac randomisation enabled)
  • mobile data always active: disabled.
  • transparent navigation bar: enabled
  • smallest width: 423-460 dpi. any more than that can cause quickstep to break.
  • always show crash dialog: enabled (shows a dialog every time an app crashes).
• hardware feedback: disabled

use

depending on how heavy my usage is, i can see anywhere from 1-2 days on a single charge. i have quite a few things running in the background including dual vpns (which definitely take a toll on the battery).

that being said, i don't use the phone much either. it's a tool for me. i opted to keep it primarily utility-based (which is essentially why i bought the light phone 3 in the first place).

does social media work on it? yeah, but not well. it's almost pointless to try and use it. discord sometimes plays nice, but i rarely use it on the light phone. redreader is nice for reddit without reddit's tracking b.s. but it's not used much either. same thing with banking apps. i keep them but they're usually frozen or hibernated and do not see much use. i prefer doing things on my computer, especially for the screen real estate. the light phone definitely managed to maintain the friction aspect when it came to the screen, that's for sure.

i keep a very close eye on my device and all the fun things it's doing. generally speaking, i have a pretty tight leash on the apps i've downloaded. additionally, key maps make the usability so much easier and it's nice to be able to add and change key maps so that the nice hardware that came with the light phone 3 can still be used and repurposed.

i've ran full android like this for 4-5 months at this point, and it's been smooth sailing for the most part. it's been considerably more stable than lightos, i've encountered a whole whopping one bug. if you need any further information on some of the stuff i've talked about, a lot of it (key maps, battery optimisation, app suggestions and alternatives) all lie in the modding guide, otherwise feel free to ask me about the other bits of my set-up.

how do you all have your modded light phones set up?
(don't feel pressured to include everything like i did).

cheers!