Simple UI documentation, need some help.

magdesign · 21 Dec 2019, 18:39

Hi All

I just installed UB ports on my Nexus 5 and I am very impressed.

However, I could not find anywhere infos or documentation about actually how to handle the UI of this OS.

When I login to my phone, I'd like to see some kind of Desktop, but I always see the Apps screen.
I figured out that long swipe from right shows all the open apps and I can close them with swiping up, but the scopes app always stays open.

Any links and information/documentation on this would be amazing.

Second question, I installed via the super userfriendly ubports installer from my ubuntu desktop, I thought I can dualboot into my android, but how/where can I select to start into android?

BTW.
Camera seems to work good
Testing Bluetooth in my car soon....

poVoq · 21 Dec 2019, 19:04

@magdesign
The upcoming version will not have the app scope anymore, but rather and app drawer and a desktop. However so far the desktop serves only the purpose of displaying a nice background picture.

Since this functionality is currently changing any documentation would be quickly outdated.

Dualbooting isn't really possible. There used to be an obscure hack to do it, and some people still use it, but it is not recommended. This seems to be more of an issue on the Android side and I think non-android Phones like the PinePhone do support booting different OS.

Sadly the Nexus5 camera (and video playback) has some issues in the current development version. I hope it will be fixed before OTA12 release.
Audio bluetooth connections can also be a bit spotty according to what I have heard. Its actively being worked on to fix this though.

magdesign · 21 Dec 2019, 23:04

Thanks for the quick response, so its currently by design that there is no desktop.
Sad is nowhere written that dualboot does not work, would have saved me some trouble (locked out of all my online banking now

I will stay on UBtouch now, cause I like it !

normandc · 22 Dec 2019, 17:01

@magdesign
Hello, and welcome. I too find the UT user documentation sorely lacking, and I struggled at first to find out how to perform the simplest tasks. I get the feeling that what documention there is was written by developers, not end users.

I have experience writing documentation for open source projects, but as mentioned by @poVoq, a big change is due in the next big update (OTA-12), and to be honest I'm kind of taking a break after years of involvement in another (unrelated) project.

One tip I'd like to provide: I didn't like the white background for the Apps scope. You can change it in System settings/Background, enable the "Dashboard background" toggle. (Not sure of the exact name of the settings, as my system is in French)

normandc · 22 Dec 2019, 17:05

Forgot to add, you'll find useful links in this topic:

https://forums.ubports.com/topic/2008/the-ubports-tutorial-links-collection

Lakotaubp · 22 Dec 2019, 17:44

There is an app in the OpenStore UBports Docs that opens the docs for you.

arubislander · 22 Dec 2019, 17:44

@magdesign Dual boot is a feature. It is not mentioned anywhere that this feature is supported, so why would you assume it was?

It isn't usual for projects to produce lists of unsupported features, unless these were announced previously or there are concrete plans for future support.

magdesign · 22 Dec 2019, 18:00

@normandc : thanks for the hints, the black background is indeed nicer and I guess it also sucks less power.

After 24hours usage there is nearly all I need on the UBports phone.
Experimented a bit with anbox to get Brave browser running, but it somehow hangs and does not display any websites. After years surfing the web without ads (especially youtube) its weird to have sooo many ads everywhere. Storing passwords in Browser would also be a killer feature.

Tested uAdblock, but it only blocks Twitter access...
Also missing a user friendly keyboard: https://suggestions.typewise.app/suggestions/70919/linux-support opened a suggestion there for linux support.

But all in all great experience without Google&Apple!

Giiba · 23 Dec 2019, 00:34

@magdesign Lookup uAdBlock on the Open Store to block ads system wide. No need for a browser specific feature.

magdesign · 23 Dec 2019, 00:45

This post is deleted!

A Former User · 23 Dec 2019, 05:56

@magdesign said in Simple UI documentation, need some help.:

Storing passwords in Browser would also be a killer feature.

Yes, I opend a request for that: https://github.com/ubports/morph-browser/issues/181

MarkG_108 · 24 Dec 2019, 11:43

@arubislander It's right on the Ubuntu site, actually (though it was specifically for developers, and the script now seems to be gone). https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/DualBootInstallation

arubislander · 24 Dec 2019, 12:18

@MarkG_108
I was not aware of the link nor the tool.
In any case, since Canonical discontinued the project, any leftover documentation on their site should not be considered current or necessarily relevant.
Furthermore, the linked article describes a totally different tool than the UBPorts installer, so assuming the latter supports dual booting still is unwarranted.

doniks · 24 Dec 2019, 12:41

@normandc said in Simple UI documentation, need some help.:

I get the feeling that what documention there is was written by developers, not end users.

Pretty much. Yes.

I have experience writing documentation for open source projects, but as mentioned by @poVoq, a big change is due in the next big update (OTA-12), and to be honest I'm kind of taking a break after years of involvement in another (unrelated) project.

If you change your mind - we could really do with a nice and simple documentation for regular, every day usage.

Of course the design goal for the OS is to be so intuitive that everybody gets it without reading a handbook. But I think it would still be nice to have it all summarized concisely in one place. Not all the swipes are as obvious as they should be. And also, having this documentation of the obvious, would provide an indication that everything else is not (easily) possible