most wanted core apps to run ubuntu as daily phone OS

flohack

@cheniek So to summarize this quickly, sind those things are unchanged for some time:

Yes, WhatsApp will probably never come to UT, unless they write it themselves. Anbox might help there, but we dont know if WhatsApp will run flawlessly in Anbox.
With Signal we are still in discussion in which way we could have a kind of cooperation, after that is finished we might have some options here.
Telegram: We are making a completly new App that will more closely follow the official ones. Here are the biggest possibilities since its now based on their official open sourced lib - tdlib.
Linphone: Is being worked on, but we do not have massive resources here. Any help is welcome.
Matriks: The same, but we are doing progress here. Expect some updates and then at least push notifications will be coming here.

But keep in mind, currently telephony makes little sense, since Apps dont execute in the background due to the design of the OS. Some Apps might get exceptions for the lifecycle, but it creates some potential issues if too many Apps run with that.

I dont think that many UT users do not use Telegram anymore, since its still the best working messenger we got.

BR Florian

A Former User

I have to say it: a core app for me is a simple note-taking app. I personally really like the functionality of get-notes on my desktop:
It keeps all notes on the computer, but can sync to a cloud
It has a kick-ass search function
The notes are saved automatically.

I would absolutely LOVE to see a mobile version of it on UT.

advocatux

@3arn0wl have you tried turtl-ut (https://open-store.io/app/turtl-ut.cibersheep)?

A Former User

I have, @advocatux - it's just not the same. Thanks though.

Pulsar33

Hello,

Strange how people don't share the same feeling about core apps ...
Here's my point of vue :

My phone is a phone so :

Phone app
Contacts app (at least with local database)
Messages app (SMS, MMS)
Clock app (with alarms)

My phone is built over Linux so :

Terminal app
Filemanager app
Preferences app
System update app
Apparmor management app <= missing

My phone has I/O interfaces so :

Camera app (photo, video)
Galery app (photo, video)
Play and Record sounds apps <= partially
Display GPS coordinates app (textual, no map) <= missing

My phone is smart and connected so :

Calendar app (at least with local database)
Calculator app
Notes app
Web browser app
Mail client app
Openstore app
Anbox app <= necessary for UT survival

IMHO, Telegram (or similar apps) is too specific and restricting to be a core app.

Have a nice day
Pulsar33

flohack

@pulsar33 You can use SensorsStatus BTW to fetch GPS coordinates in text form xD

BR

Pulsar33

@flohack : Yes I have it, thanks
But ...

It's not a core app,
Accelerometer is useless
Altimeter, Compass, Gyroscope, Pressure are said unavailable (BQ E5 OTA15)
GPS data : only LAT/LON are relevant but badly filtered and presented.

A correct app would display correctly filtered LAT, LON, ALT, DIRECTION, TIME & SPEED with units and formats relevant choices, IMHO.
Best regards. Pulsar33

PS : I would be happy to code this but I didn't succeed installing sdk as said here

UniSuperBox

@3arn0wl

notes-app is a core app. It only hooks up to Evernote, though.

A Former User

Hi @unisuperbox.
I remember the notes app - I downloaded it when I first flashed my phone. It didn't seem to save the notes though. Now I can't seem to find notes-app in the open-store...

Lakotaubp

@3arn0wl Just looked in uappexplorer and says its no longer available. Unless you can persuade the developer. Might be worth a try really not sure.

A Former User

Thanks @lakotaubp

Lakotaubp

@3arn0wl Ment to add it just states email support no direct name or developer. Pressed post button to early. Its getting late for me

A Former User

@lakotaubp - I've just e-mailed the developer...

hummlbach

@3arn0wl @Lakotaubp Since the code is here https://github.com/ubports/notes-app/ theres actually no need to ask the maintainer. But it would be great if she/he would maintain it for sure... It was preinstalled when I flashed ubports ubuntu touch in december i think and I'm using it a lot and it's basically okay (not using synchronization stuff). There was a user at the munich gettogether who asked to put it back to the openstore. We actually promised him to do so... so we really should do it... most propably we just have to build the click package... I'll try it in the train tomorrow.

hummlbach

I would find it nice to have a clear picture about "app importance" btw... How about a poll for that? For example that one: https://answergarden.ch/709715

Lakotaubp

@hummlbach Thanks for that. I have it synced to an evernote account. Works well for me, just the "allow access for" part seems to vary.

stefwe

@hummlbach it's funny with this https://answergarden.ch/709715 to get the priority more visual

cheniek

@flohack and others thank You for the clarification of this matter. Regarding "But keep in mind, currently telephony makes little sense, since Apps dont execute in the background due to the design of the OS" and this is not optimistic conclusion :(. The internet telephony/messaging without notifications in background makes its usefulness very limited. I hope it will be possible to "fix" it somehow in the future. I wish it all of us!

cheniek

@stefano do You know what is the chance that android apps working in Anbox will be sending notifications from the background (I'm about the telephony/messaging apps)? Flohack has wrote that the structure of the OS doesn't currently give the possibility of notifications from background working apps...

flohack

@cheniek This is a complex question. To receive notifications you will need Google Play services installed, and then, they need to be able to run in the background. We cannot say yet if this will ever work.