Looking for Testers: Ubuntu Touch 26.04-1.x (Early version)

mariogrip

Hey everyone,

Looking for people willing to test an early build of Ubuntu Touch based on Ubuntu 26.04. This is a hidden channel, so you'll need to switch to it manually using system-image-cli or enable hidden channels in the installer.

Fair warning: this is an early release, bugs are expected and very much part of the deal. That said, I'm running it as my daily driver, so it's functional enough for real-world use.

What's New (some of them, there are many)

This is a proper Ubuntu 26.04 base, not just a package bump. The big changes compared to the current stable channel:

Qt6 + QtWebEngine 6.10 — The browser stack is fully upgraded to Qt6. This is a significant change that affects Morph browser and anything using the web engine. Better web compatibility, better performance. This is probably the most impactful change for daily use.

Qt5 also updated — Qt 5.15.13 → 5.15.18 across the board.

Core system updated — glibc 2.39 → 2.43, Python 3.12 → 3.14, GCC 14 → 16, LLVM 17 → 21, GStreamer 1.24 → 1.28, PulseAudio 16.1 → 17.0, Boost 1.83 → 1.90, OpenSSL 3.0 → 3.5, systemd patched for 26.04, and more.

New packages — Qt6 variants of many Lomiri components are now shipping alongside Qt5 (content-hub, download-manager, online-accounts, action-api, ui-toolkit, etc.), which is the groundwork for a full Qt6 UI transition down the road. Morph browser now ships as morph-browser-qt6 / morph-webapp-container-qt6.

Maliit now has a Qt6 inputcontext alongside Qt5.

How to Switch

Run the following on your device:

sudo system-image-cli --switch 26.04-1.x/arm64/android9plus/daily

Currently Available Devices

Codename	Device
FP5	Fairphone 5
Q25	Zinwa Q25 (BlackBerry Classic restomod)
Spacewar	Nothing Phone (1)
algiz	Volla Phone Quintus
ansuz	Volla Phone Plinius
jingpad_a1	JingLing JingPad A1/C1
mimameid_h12	Volla Phone 22 (Halium 12)
mimir	Volla Tablet
vidofnir_esim	Volla Phone X23 (eSIM)
yggdrasil	Volla Phone
yggdrasilx	Volla Phone X

If your device isn't listed, it's not on this channel yet or not gotten the image enlargement yet.

Reporting Bugs

Report them right here in this thread. Include:

Your device model
What you were doing when it happened
Any error messages or logs if you have them
Whether it's reproducible

Given the Qt6 browser switch, pay particular attention to anything web-related, sites that break (or start working ), performance issues, crashes in Morph, webapp containers not loading, that kind of thing. That's where the most interesting bugs are likely to be right now.

Also please report broken apps.

Every report helps. Even "everything works fine" is useful data.

Keneda

@mariogrip
Thanks to everyone involved in this tremendous work !

nbdynl

@mariogrip Thanks for the work done guys,

Using the Fairphone 5,
[✘] Morph browser both normal & QT6 doesnt work (cleared cache, no results)
[] Audio, Keyboard, Normal usage
[] Bluetooth audio pairing works,
[✘] Bluetooth Keyboard connects but doesnt work.
[] Teleports, uFirefox, Greenline (whatsapp), Most apps work fine.
[] Desktop mode
[✘] Installing your "update" using UBports installer results in a message that the disk is full.
[✘] Kugi's Ambot unfortionate, it will not install.

So other then maybee the biggest 'daily driver upgrade' most of it works fine xD?

alagirialagiri

@mariogrip . Most users may be using xiaomi devices ,why not include poco X3(surya,karna) , Redmi note 9(merlin),9pro(miatoll,curtana,joyuse,excalibre) for this testing.

Vlad Nirky

@mariogrip said:

sudo system-image-cli --switch 26.04-1.x/arm64/android9plus/daily

Hello Marius.
I give it a try on my spare Nothing Phone 1.
I had to go through the installer to install 26.04.
It looks fine.I know my coding isn’t great, but it seems to me that the rendering of my Gisforecast app isn’t quite the same as it was in 24.04.
It’s almost the same, but I’ll need to tweak the layout a bit to avoid overlapping areas.
No big deal, just a bit surprising.
Actually, I think the UI looks nicer this way.
The other apps seams OK. I'll let you know.

gpatel-fr

@mariogrip

very preliminary; given that according to the saying on UT radio, your device is the same as mine (Fairphone 5) it may be a total surprise that it works.
Preliminary remarks;

I launched the switch from ssh as is usual for me, when I realized that it was not merely doing a switch but really downloading the thing, I promptly aborted and restarted from the terminal
after the download was complete, I got an error message and an invitation to look at the 'log'. I have no idea where is this wonderful log, though.
I restarted the phone then restarted the system-image-cli with full logging this time, however tt has already downloaded everything and restarted the phone after a few seconds as it was probably supposed to do the first time.

From there it was the usual install phase, for my sufferings I got a magnificent intro page that I skipped immediately, and the normal UT shell appeared.

First impression: feels a bit snappier.

Don't work: the 'advanced' browsers other than Morph don't work well, Min from @pparent crahsed immediately, and uWolf started and displayed a page, but no OSK. This is not very surprising. The piano from @pparent don't start anymore, not surprising - but what will say my niece when she will ask for my phone next time I'll see her ? This is a priority

Constation: the kernel is the same as before, and (correlatively) systemd is the same version as Ubuntu 24.04 (255 while Ubuntu 26.04 as 259). This was expected as well since systemd 259 is not compatible anymore with 'old' kernels like the FP5 one.

Was not working with 24.04-1.3 and works with 26.04: Bluetooth pairing. Sadly my Bluetooth keyboard now connects, but don't seem able to actually provide any key input to the terminal.

Dekko works, wifi works, phone calls, installing a click from the store work as before.

That's all for now, I'll go out now and it will be an occasion to test GPS a bit

gpatel-fr

gpatel-fr said:

to test GPS a bi

tested now, no obvious difference.

Mind, under 24.04-1.x, FP5 GPS has been hit and miss for me; sometimes refusing to work at all, sometimes working flawlessly for some time and crashing until next phone restart, sometimes working for half a day without problem.

This time I got GPS for all the time I was on the move, about 2 hours. It don't prove that all problems are solved, but at least there don't seem to be any new ones.

mdaly001

running on FP5. changed to 26.04-1.x. Morph would not open, it just endlessly shows loading circle. Tried resetting phone, confirmed still on 26.04... Morph still won't load. Any ideas?

Vlad Nirky

@mdaly001
Maybe clean datas and cache

gpatel-fr

@mdaly001 said:

Morph would not open, it just endlessly shows loading circle

err, as I don't browse that much myself, I did not think of testing Morph.
I see the same thing as you do. Tried to clear the cache, restart the phone, same thing.
At the moment only Waydroid allows to browse the web

Attached log. morph-log.txt

readyblue

testing on Volla 22:

installed from 'UBports Installer' (hidden channels)
cannot connect to wi-fi, normal one or hidden. available wi-fi shows up, the list is there present 3 or more times, when clicked on any wi-fi from list nothing happens.
trying to scan QR-code with default app, no luck. installed 'Tagger', success.
camera works and take photos.
was able to connect to Ethernet network (via USB hub > USB-to-Ethernet)
OpenStore seems to work. Successfully installed some apps
default web-browser cannot start, still on the loading page
cannot connect Bluetooth keyboard (no other Bluetooth devices tested)

readyblue

(edit)

after restart wi-fi start to work normally (both normal wi-fi and the hidden one)
default browser still stuck in the loading

readyblue

readyblue said:

(edit)

after restart wi-fi start to work normally (both normal wi-fi and the hidden one)

default browser still stuck in the loading

after restart Bluetooth keyboard connects

alagirialagiri

@mariogrip i was able to install 26.04-1.x daily in POCO X3(surya) ,Redmi note 9 pro(curtana) through switching channel through adb shell and using installer .But now it is not-supported and unable to install.Also I have installed in Redmi note 9 (merlin) version 28,29 and updated to version 30.Now I have stopped updating through switching channel and installer. It is still running in 26.04-1.x daily.Why all this devices were disabled ?

Vlad Nirky

@mdaly001
On NP1, Morph Browser can not open too.
libxml2.so.2 No such file for QT6
(even after clearing the cache, deleting the data and resetting the settings)
Build 35

Vlad Nirky

@mariogrip
Not realy a bug, but strange behaviour.
On my Redmi Note 9 Pro, through the hidden channel, I have used installer to go in 26.04
This possibility disappears (guess it's not ready and have been removed).
So I tried to switch back to 24.04-2.x and the phone is blocked (after successful install) at the Redmi logo.
Switch to 24.04-1.x is possbible, not 24.04-2.x
With 24.04-1.x installed, install 24.04-2.x is still blocked at starting logo.

alagirialagiri

alagirialagiri said:

@mariogrip . Most users may be using xiaomi devices ,why not include poco X3(surya,karna) , Redmi note 9(merlin),9pro(miatoll,curtana,joyuse,excalibre) for this testing.

gpatel-fr

Update on 5 june, the daily version still can't start Morph, but I noticed another quirk (I don't remember if I tested this 6 days ago), I have 3 test videos that I can use and one of them is very choppy under 26.04 while under 24.04-1.3 it is playing smoothly.

The video running badly is mpeg4 high bitrate (17 Mbits/s) while the videos playing correctly under 26.04 are low bitrat (1 Mbits/s).

For the record, all 3 videos are failing under 24.04-2 so it' not so bad for 26.04

edit: thanks to @vlad-nirky for the date correction 5 may -> 5 june

Vlad Nirky

This post is deleted!

lduboeuf

@gpatel-fr
Sapot browser works on 26.04