Comment by xandrius

15 days ago

Consider trying Ubuntu Touch, very active community and fun if you're interested to be a developer.

Jumping from a shark to another is maybe not the solution we should aim for.

I released an app on the Ubuntu Touch store: took a minute to fill in the form and then you get people giving you feedback/help if anything doesn't work (since you can link your source code too).

18 comments

xandrius

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pbmonster  15 days ago

Nice that's still moving forward!

What's the current state of hardware? Is there a phone that's decent at being a phone, with an OK camera and a battery that last through the day running Ubuntu?

What's the current state of Waydroid? Any chance to get my banking apps running, or at least standard fare like public transit apps?

  • xandrius  15 days ago

    I recently got a FairPhone 5 and it is working pretty well, especially for the price.

    UbuntuTouch as an OS is quite refreshing as it's not just a copy of Google/Samsung/Apple UIs. I like how they use the sidebars.

    Definitely it still needs more work on getting more devices fully supported but that's an ever going effort, since OEM do not provide any help here (for now).

    • pbmonster  14 days ago

      Did you try using waydroid with it? I assume banking apps are still a problem, but can I just take the apk of a map app like OSMand and it will give me offline maps, including my GPS position and compass heading? Because I think openstreetmaps is still lacking a native Linux app, but the Android apks are decent.

      1 reply →

codedokode  15 days ago

I don't understand, what's the point of reinventing UI and apps from scratch when there is Android Open Source, with GUI and millions of apps? Wouldn't it be better to cut away all the telemetry from AOSP, add a custom wallpaper and call it a day?

  • Aachen  15 days ago

    Look at it from both sides. Ubuntu has a vibrant ecosystem of software (commonly known as the Debian repositories, with some attempts at launching their on on top like PPA and Snap)

    Launching a mobile OS with all that software already available was miles better than what Android can offer today: loads of things exist open source for Debian that haven't been recreated as an Android app (closed or open) because the OS doesn't allow it anyway. Let alone when the project was started in 2011!

    Conversely, in the 14 years that Ubuntu Touch now exists, Android developers have been busy and you'll now find mobile software that can do things that laptops can't, e.g. because they're not normally put in a car as a navigation device and don't normally have GNSS built in. So now we're in a state where you'd think: why not take AOSP and run with it? But fourteen years ago you'd think: wouldn't it be amazing if we could just run all of our tried and true software on a phone? (Fwiw, that's exactly what I did when I got my first Android (and still do today): get root and install a Debian userspace to run tools within, such as Restic for backups. I compiled a Bitcoin miner for ARM back in the day just because that would be fun and cool. There's so much you can do when you have a Linux distribution in your pocket!)

    So I see your point, but consider the history. My understanding is that this project comes from a time when it made perfect sense. By now, though, I wonder the same. But I haven't tried Ubuntu Touch yet so I can't really speak ill of it and say we should use AOSP instead of them

    • codedokode  15 days ago

      > Ubuntu has a vibrant ecosystem of software (commonly known as the Debian repositories, with some attempts at launching their on on top like PPA and Snap)

      Yes but the most of the packages are either CLI tools (not really usable on a phone) or tools with desktop GUI (with tiny elements, not usable on a phone). And probably there is a way to port Wayland/Pipewire to Android, which seems an easier task that writing full OS.

      For example, take GIMP, or Qucs (electric circuit simulator), or Kdenlive (video editor), or LMMS (audio editor), in their current form they would be unusable due to tiny UI elements. One needs completely new UI for small screens.

      > There's so much you can do when you have a Linux distribution in your pocket!)

      Maybe but I am not really interested in compiling anything, I have a laptop for that, I am interested in having an open source OS without restrictions, telemetry and backdoors.

  • reddalo  15 days ago

    Good luck running AOSP without Google Play Services.

    • mzajc  15 days ago

      I do that. F-Droid also requires that applications do not depend on any GMS component, but if you need anything from GMS, you can install https://microg.org/ and selectively enable the features you need.

    • codedokode  15 days ago

      Google Play Services are mainly ads and telemetry, why would anyone need them? Do you have not enough ads and want more? Also I install apps mostly from F-Droid, and as I am aware, there are Play Services emulators.

4ggr0  15 days ago

i guess it would be 'trying' indeed, as per usual it would mean that i'd need multiple devices. 2FA, e-Banking, messaging, instant payment apps and more would probably be missing, right?

  • xandrius  15 days ago

    Anything that is not native and Android-based can be run with Waydroid. Of course it depends on how intertwined with the OS but it would be interesting to try.

    If you were to pick 3 apps which you needed to have running to switch, what would they be? (if too personal, pick from your top 10)

    • 4ggr0  14 days ago

      all the apps related to e-Banking and 2FA, including government apps. and signal non-desktop. can live without the rest. _could_ live without e-Banking and 2FA etc., but don't really feel like it's worth the pain of not having those.

  • array_key_first  14 days ago

    Its not that these things are missing, it's that it's physically impossible to implement them. That's done on purpose, so you're forced onto your current phone for the foreseeable future.