We’re currently in the process of designing the first phone user interfaces for KDE applications, applying the KDE Mobile Human Interface Guidelines (a set of soft rules and recommendations for designing user interfaces for mobile applications by KDE). Therefore, the third part of my blog series about the HIG creation still has to wait a bit.

In the meantime, I’d like to talk a bit about another foundation on which Plasma Mobile is built: Its vision. As I’ve already laid out in my blog post about creating a vision for the KDE PIM Framework, a vision is very important to align the work in a project towards a common goal, and to inspire those contributing it. Inspired by the talk Andrew Lake and I had just given at Akademy about product/ project visions, it did not take much convincing to get the Plasma Mobile team to start working on a vision.

Shortly after Akademy, I met online with Sebastian Kügler, Ivan Čukić and Jens Reuterberg to draft a first proposal for the vision, along with potential target personas. The result was then presented to the Plasma mailing list, where it was well received, and consequently adopted with only with minor revisions.

And here it is, our vision for the future which guides the design and development of Plasma Mobile (this does not say when Plasma Mobile will meet these goals):

Plasma Mobile aims to become a complete software system for mobile devices. It is designed to give privacy-aware users back the full control over their information and communication. Plasma Mobile takes a pragmatic approach and is inclusive to 3rd party software, allowing the user to choose which applications and services to use. It provides a seamless experience across multiple devices. Plasma Mobile implements open standards and it is developed in a transparent process that is open for the community to participate in.

These are the four key elements:

1. Control over your data and communication

With most current mobile operating systems and applications, users can only trust those who create them that they will not abuse the detailed and sensitive information that is stored on their devices, and the communication that happens through them.

When installing an app, we can see the – vaguely defined – permissions that the app requires, and – depending on the operating system and version – we can either decide whether to take it as it is or to leave it, or we can block certain permissions. But beyond that, we can never tell what exactly happens with their information and communication. Which files or records are accessed? Where is information stored, and who or what may access it in the future? Where is information sent? Is the communication secure and private? We simply cannot tell. We can only trust others that they do what they say they’re doing.

In Plasma Mobile, we want to change that. We want users to be able to see what happens to their information and communication, to the degree of detail that they prefer. They should be able to allow an application to access some files, but not others, and they should be able to control when and where their information is sent.

We do not want to overburden users with feedback and choices they cannot handle, though. Our aim is to present the information and choices as clearly as possible, and give users a choice only when they want to have one.

2. Pragmatic and inclusive

We are realists. We know that a mobile operating system is nothing without apps. And we know that we, as a community, cannot provide applications for everything that users may want an app for. We aim to provide our own apps for the most common tasks (e.g. browsing the web, viewing common file types, email, calendaring, instant messaging, …) in order to create the most seamless experience possible across them, but the more specialized a task or service, the less likely we’ll be able to provide an app for it ourselves.

For that reason (and because we believe that choice is a good thing), Plasma Mobile won’t exclude any application as long as it’s technically possible to run it (and it’s not malware), whether it was written for Plasma Mobile, Android, Ubuntu Touch, desktop Linux, Sailfish or whatever. If it can be made to run on Plasma Mobile, it’s welcome there!

Pragmatism also means that we won’t keep users from giving up part of the control the system offers them again, by running proprietary applications or accessing services on it which invade their privacy. We will strive to keep those applications as sand-boxed as possible, but we won’t keep users from doing something with their device which we wouldn’t do.

3. Seamless cross-device experience

When using Plasma on multiple devices, we want those devices to feel really integrated. KDE Connect already offers impressive integration between a Linux desktop and an Android mobile device, but with a platform that we fully control, we can still go beyond that (users could fully control their phone from their desktop, for example, or tethering could be made a one-click experience). Your selection of applications or certain settings could be synchronized between your desktop or tablet and phone (yes, that one is not new, other mobile OSes can do that already), or a desktop application can suggest to automatically install the corresponding mobile application on your Plasma Mobile devices (for example when an office suite offers a mobile “companion” for controlling presentations).

“Seamless experience across multiple devices” also refers to the same application binary offering an optimized experience on different form factors through interaction-shifting components (user interface elements which change their look and behavior depending on the type of device) and adapted QML files. For example, while contextual actions are offered using a side-drawer or “slide to reveal” controls on a touch device, the good ol’ right mouse button is much more convenient when using a mouse. Another example is scrolling: On a touch-based device flicking is the best way to scroll, whereas with a mouse, the combination of scroll wheel and a traditional scroll bar still works best. The general layout of content or the navigation structure, on the other hand, can often be kept the same across devices, allowing the user to transfer their knowledge from one type of device to the next.

4. Openness

Yes, we do realize that Plasma Mobile is not the only open source mobile shell. The Android Open Source Project is, as the name implies, open source. Yet, most of its development happens behind closed doors at Google. That means that even though anybody can do anything they want with the end result, people outside Google cannot freely contribute to it or influence any decisions. Sailfish OS has a fully open base, but the user interface layer is still proprietary. Tizen or Ubuntu Touch are perhaps more open, but still mostly in the hands of commercial entities.

Plasma Mobile wants to be different. Even though Blue Systems initiated the development, it is explicitly not a Blue Systems product (otherwise it would probably be called Netrunner Mobile). Blue Systems of course will only contribute their resources to efforts that are in line with their goals for Plasma Mobile, but they will not keep anyone from working towards their personal goals for Plasma Mobile in their own time.

Plasma Mobile was, is and always will be a community project. All of its development happens in KDE repositories where everyone with a KDE developer account has write access, and all commits can be reviewed by the community. All of its components are Free Software.

An equally important aspect of Plasma Mobile is that it uses open standards. Android is Linux, but one only realizes how important the “GNU” part of “GNU/Linux” is to the actual experience of a regular GNU/Linux distribution once that isn’t there. Other mobile operating systems are closer to the stack we’re used to, but still diverge from standards that are or will be well established in the desktop world, like Wayland Display Servers. Plasma Mobile aims to make it as easy as possible for developers who have previously worked in the desktop area to transfer their knowledge (and code).

Concluding remarks

So this is what Plasma Mobile aims for. Whenever we make important decisions, we will check whether they are in line with the vision. People are of course free to spend their time on things which do not necessarily get us closer to these goals, but we would not allow things which work against them.

Now, I’d love to hear whether these goals are in line with what you’d expect from Plasma Mobile or what we might have missed.