Wish list : which apps do you need?

dobey

@Yuri Android apps (including ones on F-Droid) tend to be written in Java (or Kotlin/Dart/etc…) and so not really something that can be "ported" to UT. Rather, one would have to write a completely new app to work on UT, as UT is not Android and does not provide anything like the APIs needed by those apps, nor does Java support the display systems used by UT.

mnjrupp

@arubislander I wonder if the creator of Quick Bible would be willing?
It might be open source. But I agree with you. We need a better bible app.

DaveNotHere

@Rebecca58 For me I would want everything removable and installable. Like for me the Phone and Messaging Applications are useless to me and would like them uninstalled. Since I don't use my Nexus 5 as a cellphone. I use it as a computer/Remote Control to my big desktop computer.

I want my Ubuntu Touch to be bare to bones. All I want preinstalled is open store. The rest I want to pick and choose. I don't need 99% of the junk thats preinstalled

For what I want to see available for UT is some Ham Radio Apps, a app for Wine, some remote Admin tools(to make linking computers and cellphone/tablets easier to link together)

Dave

AppLee

@DaveNotHere
Hi, I understand that for your use case most apps are dispensable. But "junk" is a bit strong.

Regarding your use case, I'm not sure Ubuntu Touch is the best OS for you. If there are ports available for your device, I think maybe a more "conventional" Linux distro might be better.
You won't have to deal with confinement and the read-only image to fully customize your remote terminal...

Your use case is not the one intended, so I think that little will be made to match your requirements.
The main focus is towards a better smartphone, not a SBC with a touch screen.

(Just to be clear I'm not chasing you out I'm just concern about the issues you might encounter. And secretly I hope you'll be seduced by what UT has to offer )

Keneda

@mnjrupp @arubislander What's the problem with this app https://open-store.io/app/theeternalword.adam ?

Bramble

@AppLee
With respect... Ubuntu Touch was touted as the OS suitable for all use-cases: that was the whole point of convergence.

I wonder if, slowly, measure by measure, we're losing parts of the original vision.

AppLee

@Bramble
Convergence is work in progress, so slowly, measure by measure we're getting closer to it.

And also convergence is not a single simple thing.
It's not magically transforming your phone into a desktop computer.
You have to build an ecosystem with convergence apps, devices, community, developers around an OS able to achieve this goal.

Constraints from the mobile world apply to convergence as much as constraints from the desktop world.
So you can't imagine you'll get only the best that would be foolish.

So again for a particular use case choosing the more suitable solution is best.
If you require convergence then UT is my choice, but that is not what Dave is willing to achieve because he doesn't care about the phone aspect...

Bramble

@AppLee
Nevertheless, he's right: some apps are only relevent for the phone. All unnecessary apps ought to be removable*. My bug-bear is the external storage app on the N5.

This isn't just a phone os.

And Go away and use Android ought never to be the response of someone who takes a moderator role on this board.

I know that the real reason is that the apps were baked in.

dobey

@Bramble said in Wish list : which apps do you need?:

And Go away and use Android ought never to be the response of someone who takes a moderator role on this board.

And who said that? Nobody. What @AppLee said was that it seems like that person wants a traditional PC Linux distro, which UT is not, and therefore UT is not the best option on their phone if that's their goal. There are things like postmarketOS or Mobian which provide a more traditional system that runs on phone hardware.

canadien666

I'm interested in some sort of Audiobook player. That saves your spot even after you close the app, reboot. Along the lines of Talefish in SFOS or Lollypop.

AppLee

@canadien666
Have you read this thread ?
Maybe Podbird can fit your need: https://forums.ubports.com/topic/4299/podbird-reignited

AppLee

@Bramble
Yes, I'm acting as a moderator to help keep things polite and respectful.

But I'm also trying to help as much as I can.
Android won't be a better solution than UT for this particular case.

And if someone wants to hack UT, I'll try to help them out and yes it could be using another friendly Linux based distribution.

About being able to remove all unused apps, I'm personally all for it.
This way people can truly have the experience they build. And I hope it will be possible in a not so far future. But priorities...
Hopefully one day we'll be able to choose an OS base for our device, on top of it we'll be able to have multiple DE and then multiple convergent apps depending on the use case.

mnjrupp

@Keneda I use the Eternal Word app for listening but it looks to be a wrapper for inline app. the Android Quick bible app has many features like search, and commentaries; just to name a few. It doesn't require Internet connection .

canadien666

@AppLee Hi, thanks for the suggestion. I love Podbird, it's a great, well made app. I'm looking for something to use my own mp3/audio files ripped from my Audible and Overdrive folders.

I'll have to see if Podbird is able to handle the use I'm looking for. Lollypop and Talefish do a good job of this, but not on UT.

Yuri

@Bramble The tablet I'm typing on has far lower specs than the Pinetab. There are only a few apps I use on on the spyware named Android.

A Former User

@DaveNotHere Somewhere in November should be released the Popcorn Computer with LoRa capabilities. It will run Linux, but is not clear which distro. As for UT, many people want many things..., maybe too many considering the numbers of developers involved in this project.

poVoq

Stiched panorama images from within the camera app would be cool.

I guess one could do it manually, but the common "turn the camera" UI from Android is very convenient.

3T_Ed

Jitsi video conference app

With an increasing number of video calls and not willing to use Zoom or Skype for the obvious reasons. I don't want to do video conferences at all, however recent developments seem to force me into video conferences. Jitsi packages for Ubuntu are available. Besides the fact that not everyone is skilled enough to make this work, as I understand using packages with Libertine also can break OTA/stability. A 'secure' Jitsi open source app for video conferencing would be great and might even attract more people to open source mobile distros like UT.

AppLee

@3T_Ed
The video chat request is one long lasting problem that requires a huge amount of work.

You have to understand that just because something exists as an open source app, it doesn't mean that it can be easily ported to Ubuntu Touch.

You can name Jitsi, Telegram, Snapthing, Faceboo, Zoo, Whatsarrg or any other solution, the problem is the same (well you add troubles with closed source softwares of course).

The major challenge is how an app accesses the camera, the network, the mic and the speakers.
Right now, there is no proper way to make it happen.

The problem is not in the frontend nor in the hardware, it's how to route the various data, encode it before streaming to the network.

But it will come some day because it's on everybody's mind...

3T_Ed

@AppLee
Thanks, I understand completely. As the thread says it's part of a wishlist and this particular one is on mine. Well, not really as I try to avoid video's, as said I feel I have no other choice to use those kind if communications whilst trying to maintain myself in the real world ;). It was definitely not meant as a push factor towards devs.