3 Week Daily Driver Report
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Hi,
Thought my experience might help some users considering pixel3a/UT use.
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My Daily Drive week after 3 weeks (Pre- March 2 Update for ofono issues) on Bell Canada network:
- Battery: Solid, a little less than my Pixel3 on android but usage probably not same right now
- GPS - working, but not "Rush Usable" due to delay to lock satellites (I understand that other OS's get rough location data from Cell tower triangulation and WIFI info)
- Used uNav and OpenMaps ... pretty good
- FingerPrint Unlock
- Works well - Sometimes UI requires password again without a reboot (This request seems linked with WIFI dropping ... )
- UI fast and responsive - although only reference is Pinephone
- Had 4-5 lockups requiring reboot - probably would have resolved if I had been more patient
- Webapps / Morph sometimes get laggy - need to be patient for a minute
- Occasionally experience unlock delays - screen shows last app, need to wait 4 secs for it to be responsive to any inputs
- WebApps are awesome and work to replace many android news apps
- Screen
- auto brightness works but seems to still consider manual slider position - need to manually adjust at night and in bright sun
- Power
- Power Off rarely works - restarts GUI on first try, then reboots on second. Haven't really tried too hard beyond this. Once or twice it powered down completely
- Boot loader unlocked warning is still shown (apparently necessary)
- Google Image still shown on boot
- WIFI: On certain networks, frequently drops and prompts for password ... not needed to get back on, just re-click AP and it reconnects.
- Happens frequently at office (Ubiquity multiple APs meshed), but not on a netgear DDWRT
- Phone
- Has been reliable
- Switches down to 3G gracefully.
- No volume control in call - very loud (uVolMan app?)
- Echo for person on other end - need to investigate more: Had one person with issues, but may have been their side. Have had many calls with no complaints - could be simply the volume issue - too loud? (should test with headset...)
- 3.5 trrs headset works
- Hotspot
- works well
- Bluetooth:
- Phone Audio working in car - no controls for futify (doesn't stop playing when car shuts off - switches to phone audio)
- Mic and speaker working in car
- Headset (earbuds) working
- Mobile Data
- 3G Stable but slow
- 4G
- Initially thought not working - but issue is repeatable in 1 part of house (weak signal issue, ofono bugs??). When 4G started in area with good signal, seems pretty stable
- APN settings: buggy: can edit but can't add (Maybe carrier specific)
- SMS / MMS
- SMS is stable and working
- MMS Haven't tested - mostly using signal
- Signal on Axotl - buggy (see bleow)
- unlike android, doesn't converge all texts - so SMS are in one app, signal messages in another
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Background
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Canada / Bell network
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Daily Drive Needs:
Telegram (Teleports Good but missing some features)
Signal (Buggy due to recent Signal changes)
Email (Dekko2 not working with our email server, using webapp but no push)
Calendar (no - webapp workaround)
Contacts (imported, but no sync)
Matrix (fluffychat works well)
Phone (stable)
SMS (works - but not merged with Signal)
MMS - (not tested)
KeePassXC (Keepweb)
NextCloud (using webapp)
Notes Synced (using Carnet app inside NextCloud)
Camera (working but slower and Quality/features not as good)
Pictures autoupload - (need to investigate options)
Spotify ( Futify - usable but qute far from feature parity, no spotify connect)
Navigation / Maps (working but very slow due to GPS lock need)
HomeAssistant (Webapp working great)
Jitsi (using webclient: can see and hear, but no camera or mic input through Morph)
News ((webapps working well)
- NYT
- CBC
- Globe and MailNice to Have
- Reddit (Quickddit OK)
- Netflix casting (No)
- Mastadon (Working: Umastonauts)
- ...
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Thanks for this write up! I just purchased a 3a for myself the other day since I need to upgrade my phone for T Mobile in the US. I picked the 3a primarily for the backup alternative OS choices, like Lineage, just in case UT is not going to be a good option for me. I've been nervous about functionality regarding VoLTE (specifically, does T Mobile at this time still support 3g calls? I understand they're not activating non-VoLTE phones already, which is why I can't get a sim for my Xperia XZ). It also seems to me that the 3a will receive a lot of development attention.
A few questions I have:
I haven't gotten to try UT with a sim card in it yet. Are there options for forcing the use of 3g or 4g?
In the case UT is not a good OS for me at this time, how easy is it to get the phone back to default with Android? Similarly, would anybody happen to know this answer regarding reverting from Lineage as well? -
Yes, you can choose limt to 2G, 3G or 4G in the cellular settings.
Not sure about how easy it is to revert back. I would think that you can flash back to stock android image using adb/fastboot ... or lineage using same tools with twrp or equivalent.
My only experience is a failed install of UT on OP2 ... that left it in an unbootable state. I was able to get lineage back on it without too much hassle.
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@manchee1017 Google has a browser tool for flashing android to pixel phones here: https://developers.google.com/android/images This tool requires a chromium based browser but is very easy to use
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My experience was basically the same, although GPS worked good, Puremaps for me shows no search results, so i wasn't able to actually navigate with it. I logged an issue with puremaps but was told its on ubports side
I went back to android for now, the only deal breaker issue for me was no MMS, the rest I could live with.
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@dieharddan There are fixes queued up for receiving MMS. Not sure if it's going to fix your particular issue though.
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@fredldotme Cool, when this potential fix gets pushed out i will test
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@dieharddan you can try to install
sudo ubports-qa install xenial_-_android9which will apply this fix. -
@oliv thanks, I will reinstall UT soon and give it a try
