postmarketOS 25.12 brings Alpine 3.23 base, GNOME 49, Plasma Mobile 6.5 & kernel updates

postmarketOS 25.12 has been released, delivering the latest upgrade for mobile and other supported devices. This update adopts Alpine Linux 3.23 as its foundation. With it comes Alpine Package Keeper version 3, which now downloads all packages before installation, offering a more reliable update experience even when internet connectivity is unstable.

Building on system enhancements, the package manager also now logs all changes to /var/log/apk.log, aiding system maintenance and troubleshooting. User interface packages see several updates: GNOME 49 arrives, KDE Plasma Mobile is now at 6.5.3 with improved Waydroid integration, and Phosh 0.51.0 introduces automatic brightness improvements. Sxmo has also been updated to version 1.18.1.

Following these user experience updates, mobile-config-firefox 5.1.0 introduces a new about:mobile configuration page that lets users toggle options, including whether the address bar appears at the top or bottom of the screen. The release includes many kernel upgrades, improvements, and fixes affecting all supported devices.

In light of stricter community category guidelines, the generic MSM8916 kernel and associated devices are now classified under the testing category, although their images remain available. MSM8226 devices now adopt generic packaging, while devices using the APQ8064 kernel have switched to MSM8960 generic device packaging.