Smooth Edges (name pending) - Let's Fix the Bugs That Drive You Mad
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@CiberSheep Waydroid runs .apk files, not .exe files. So: Android apps.
That said, it's as true now as ever that the happiest UT users are those who aren't interested in running Android applications.
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@gpatel-fr
@gpatel-fr said in Smooth Edges (name pending) - Let's Fix the Bugs That Drive You Mad:Are you saying that there is integrated into Android and IOS a way to get at your history from the other operating system and get back all your SMS threads and telephony calls ?
Yes, kind of.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/118670
https://support.google.com/android/answer/13626960?hl=en&sjid=12124687779136252823-EUAnd regarding save and restore only (not transferring), Ubuntu Touch targets all user types, not only powerusers, so rsync or things like that is not relevant for the "normal" user.
I know work has been done for integrating a save and restore tool to the UBports installer, did see some image even I remember. -
@CiberSheep the dream of Waydroid-less UT died with every bank under the sun choosing to implement PSD2 with custom apps
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@Keneda said in Smooth Edges (name pending) - Let's Fix the Bugs That Drive You Mad:
Yes, kind of.
Thanks, interesting. It's worthy of note that - as could be expected - these corporations only provide a way to migrate to their own platform, not from their things to competing services. If you want to go away of me, take care of yourself, they say. Note sure it would be realist to expect otherwise of anyone.
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I’d like to add my vote regarding the camera—it’s the main limitation for me. From what I understand, this isn’t something that can be fixed simply by creating a new camera app, as the issue seems to run through multiple levels of the system. As far as I recall, the core limitation is already present in Halium: shots take too long, not all features are exposed, higher resolutions can easily overexpose, and overall the photos look far worse compared to what Android delivers.
Of course, this is likely a per-device issue, making a universal fix difficult. Still, there are numerous GCam tweaks available for different devices, and I wonder if a similar approach could be explored for Ubuntu Touch. Even the native AOSP camera tends to work more reliably, despite its own limitations.
Running Waydroid alongside UT isn’t a viable solution either, as it consumes a lot of battery and the two environments don’t integrate well.
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But the way I would like to mention few things that are currently priority 5 to me, but that could very fast become priority 2 if alternatives are no longer are available:
- VoLTE ( should work on my vollaPhone 22 with next release I will test next week )
- e-SIM
- RCS
Also there are 2 things that could make Ubuntu Touch unusable if we don't pay attention:
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Identity checking: that currently in France very few people is doing through the smartphone, but the gouvernement is currently developing a solution for Google/Apple only. I've contacted them about that. I known in some countries it is already far worse, like bankid sweeden.
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Banking an Payment apps. Again for now I don't care because I can pay with my credit card (and prefer to do so anyway), and banks offer alternatives to authentication with app if you really ask to (with SMS or Yubikey ).
Again now those two points are not a problem for me right now, but it could change fast, so we should all make sure to be as loud as possible, and not quietly accept to use their Google play store app (even if it's more or less possible for now with compatibility layer, it would be quite easy for google to cut that away in the future), to make sure alternatives remain available, and we are not locked away. Especially because European law officially gives us the right to ask for interoperable alternatives. Because Ubuntu Touch can be as good as we want, if we get excluded from official/compulsory services for using it, it will prevent us all from using it as a daily driver.
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Sorry if I upset someone, but in my opinion use of Waydroid should be anecdotic, not a goal. The development team is small, and I think they should concentrate is making UT the best they can.
Additionally I think a user that doesn't install UT because of the lack of Waydroid, as a user that hopes to run .exe files in a Linux repo, is a user that will not swap to UT when Waydroid works better because they will lack some other random Android thing. This has happened before, this will happen again.So let's repeat again all together: UT is not Android.
Extra ball, you don't have to use other OS's app for bank if you complain to the bank. Advantages to be old I guess.
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@zubozrout said in Smooth Edges (name pending) - Let's Fix the Bugs That Drive You Mad:
the camera—it’s the main limitation for me. From what I understand, this isn’t something that can be fixed simply by creating a new camera app, as the issue seems to run through multiple levels of the system. As far as I recall, the core limitation is already present in Halium: shots take too long, not all features are exposed, higher resolutions can easily overexpose, and overall the photos look far worse compared to what Android delivers.
Not sure exactly what is the problem as there too many you cite; maybe the main problem is that you have high expectations and are an elite user about photo. That's a bit like judging of a computer system by a music expert, these guys can detect one tenth of second of delay, a fourth of a tone, minute details that beotians like me can't even perceive whatever effort they do. And I'm not so atypical from what I gather of the judgement of these music experts on the efforts of spontaneous singers in public events (they are utterly awful - however I never noticed it before being said so).
So what's wrong with photo app of UT for someone like me? the focus for near objects. When taking a photo and the subject is half a meter (let's say one foot for our US friends) away, the focus is terrible, like, the keys on a keyboard can hardly be deciphered, and waiting does not provide much relief. In contrast, a Waydroid photo on the same device in exactly the same setup looks correct.
This does not look like an unfixable problem, since switching to film, the focus at the same distance is correct. I just tried it and it seems that after taking a short film, the focus is then correct for taking a photo. While this is hardly a workaround, it make me think that for the photo app being usable for ignoramuses like myself (and I'd say 99% of users), it is probably not necessary to rebuild the whole system including Halium.
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I'm going to throw in a "nice to have" feature. I wouldn't say it is a bug.
Having a filter to only show my native Ubuntu Touch Apps, Desktop Apps, and Waydroid apps would be very helpful. Putting them all together can cause some user accidents. Oops...I just accidentally opened a desktop app, but I don't have a proper screen near by to see what I am doing. Oops...I just accidentally opened Waydroid and I can expect some loading times and more battery usage, etc. I can see how that can be potentially frustrating.
Sometimes I want my phone to only be an Ubuntu Phone phone with native Ubuntu Touch phone apps. Sometimes I want to run Waydroid when I know I have enough battery, and other times, I want it to be a "Pocket PC" when I have a proper screen, keyboard, and mouse.
Being able to select what I want to show would be helpful, and if I want to show all, I could do that too.
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@atarilinux Maybe adding an icon in a corner for indicating desktop app or waydroid app or snap might be a first step to reduce such mistakes. But I agree, having a filter might be good in the long run if we have more apps of those types (thinking also of crackle or nix).
