Ubuntu Touch Newbie
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Hello Good People,
I switched to Linux a couple of years ago because the political dissident community recommended it as more private and a way of getting away from big tech. I haven't looked back since.
I became tired of my wife's iphone eavesdropping on us in our home even after I chose to shut off mic access in the privacy settings.
So I bought the pine phone beta recently and installed ubuntu touch on it. Very happy with it but it is for my wife and the fact that the battery only lasts a few hours and the fact that the camera isn't very good won't be great for her. I wonder if anyone could recommend a smartphone with an ok camera (doesn't have to be super mega brilliant but the photos should be halfway decent) with a battery that will last the day. I quite like the look of the Sony Xperia.
Anyway, any advice appreciated
Best Wishes
Matt Hammond
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Look at the list of supported devices and see what is available to get hold of at a decent price. All have their issues in some form or other from poor battery life to struggles unlocking the bootloader. Easiest newer phones to get hold of and install UT with few issues are the Google Pixel 3a/3a XL or the OnePlus 5/ 5T.
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@mrt10001 Ok, thanks. I'll check out those newer phones
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@matt73
Sadly PinePhone isn't suitable for daily use at the moment, for issues you talk about, and some others.One day it will for sure (fingers crossed).
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@keneda Yes, the short battery life is a dealbreaker for my wife. I didn't think about battery life when I bought it. I am now thinking of getting the Google Pixel 3a XL and trying to stick Ubuntu touch on that. All my wife wants to do is use a messenger (I was thinking telegram), watch videos online, login to her banking (not through an app though), and take halfway ok pictures of the kids with the phone at least making it through to bedtime. Does anyone know if the Google Pixel 3a XL can handle that while running Ubuntu touch or should I ask that question in a different section of the forum?
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@matt73 said in Ubuntu Touch Newbie:
@keneda Yes, the short battery life is a dealbreaker for my wife. I didn't think about battery life when I bought it. I am now thinking of getting the Google Pixel 3a XL and trying to stick Ubuntu touch on that. All my wife wants to do is use a messenger (I was thinking telegram), watch videos online, login to her banking (not through an app though), and take halfway ok pictures of the kids with the phone at least making it through to bedtime. Does anyone know if the Google Pixel 3a XL can handle that while running Ubuntu touch or should I ask that question in a different section of the forum?
Yes it can. She will be fine with Pixel 3a XL for that, if the battery is ok. My 3a XL has great battery life, but its a brand new Pixel.
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@matt73 If battery life is important to you how about the Volla Phone X? I can get a day out of mine with fairly intensive usage. Downside is the big battery makes it a bit big and heavy. Major plus for me it is very rugged and so far has survived being in my overall pocket on site.
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@ian
Price is not the same here... -
@keneda They are expensive. I have had a BQ Aquaris E5 until the usb port died and a Nexus5 until the screen cracked. Both of these were less expensive but the battery life was nowhere near as good as VPX.
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@ian
I hope so with a battery almost twice the capacity compared to otherd ^^ -
@keneda Just imagine how good it will be as battery life tweaks are improved in UT in general! As it is I can go two days between charges if I just use it as a phone.
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Very interesting. I'm pretty exited about these Linux phones. I don't use the phone much and it is still going after 24 hours. I'll get the Google Pixel 3a for my wife and have some fun/frustration trying to get ubuntu touch onto it. Just wanted to get you guys' opinion before shelling out. I wanted her to get off facebook and use Telegram. I see that there is a teleports app which I tried but it didn't seem to work. Can you run telegram on ubuntu touch? If not, is there some other similar kind of messenger that works?
Thanks for all the contributions. I can't offer much in return but I try to generally be nice to people and to persuade them to try alt-tech.
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@dizzy Hello. Ok, so you run ubuntu touch on your Pixel 3a and it all works good does it? I ask because when I try the camera on the pine phone it's a bit hit and miss. Crashes sometimes and I can't make videos at all.
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@matt73 said in Ubuntu Touch Newbie:
I see that there is a teleports app which I tried but it didn't seem to work.
How did it not seem to work? I use it every day, and it works for me. It can also be used in tandem with TG for desktop.
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@matt73
Again, PP is far from being daily usable with UT, so do not take it as a basis for Ubuntu Touch general behaviors.On my MX4, cameras work great, front and back, photos and videos.
Only when HDR active on photos some issue can occur. -
@moem It just all looked a bit blank but I didn't spend too much time on it. So the 'Teleports' app is 'Telegram' for UT right? I mean my wife will be able to use to it to communicate with other telegram users right? I will try again with it. Thanks.
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@matt73 said in Ubuntu Touch Newbie:
the 'Teleports' app is 'Telegram' for UT right? I mean my wife will be able to use to it to communicate with other telegram users right?
Yes, and yes. If you want to try it out, you can join the UT main group on Telegram: https://t.me/ubports
(Of course you can always leave the group again.) -
@matt73
Yes, texting, attachment, audio records and stickers work well.
Group messages I don't often but seems OK
Audio and video calls don't work and I switch to the desktop app when I need to make a call to a foreign country... -
Yeah, it looked a bit blank but it works fine. Really enjoying having UT on my pinephone now. Waiting for the google pixel to arrive and then will figure out how to get UT on that. Thanks guys for your kind help.
