Ubuntu Touch for Digital Detox?
-
Hi everyone!
Recently I’ve been feeling pretty burned out from how digitally tethered I feel on traditional smartphones, and have been looking for a replacement that will let me keep the tools I use (e.g. email, maps/directions, light web browsing, etc.) without the hyper-connectedness and personal data harvesting of iOS and Android. I’ve seen things like Light Phone, boringphone, dumb phones, even slimmed-down Android-based “hybrids” that keep some core apps, but I’ve just recently learned about Ubuntu Touch and am wondering how well it might work for me. It seems I already have a supported device (Pixel 3), and it’s been a dream of mine for a decade or more to see a phone that could effectively double as a light personal computing machine. Would love to get a Yolla but I’m in the States.
For people that use this as a daily driver, do you think Ubuntu Touch might help me sever the digital anti-privacy tether? Has anyone made this switch looking for the same or similar thing as me?
-
@jaag said in Ubuntu Touch for Digital Detox?:
Hi everyone!
Hello and welcome! There's a lot to unpack here, let me try to help...
Recently I’ve been feeling pretty burned out from how digitally tethered I feel on traditional smartphones, and have been looking for a replacement that will let me keep the tools I use (e.g. email, maps/directions, light web browsing, etc.)
Those are things that should work on UT. Email has few options, but there is a client (Dekko2) and you can of course use webmail.
I do feel that UT gives you more of a sense of being in charge of the phone, instead of the other way around. It's a calmer experience... it's not as pushy. The OS, and thus the phone, are easier to ignore yet you still have good tools at hand if you need them.It seems I already have a supported device (Pixel 3)
Hate to bring bad news,but it's the Pixel 3A and 3AXL that are supported. Not, as far as I can see, the Pixel 3.
and it’s been a dream of mine for a decade or more to see a phone that could effectively double as a light personal computing machine.
That sounds quite possible.
For people that use this as a daily driver, do you think Ubuntu Touch might help me sever the digital anti-privacy tether? Has anyone made this switch looking for the same or similar thing as me?
Yes and yes. With a few caveats:
- as said above: Pixel 3 is not supported
- calls are currently a problem in the US, because all providers have started offering calls only through VoLTE, which UT does not yet support. But there are some options and workarounds.
-
@moem thanks very much for the reply. Somewhat saddened that VoLTE is still unsupported, which might make it a deal-breaker for now. Thanks for the callout on phone model as well; I’m more versed in iOS and only have the Pixel as a test device for work, so wasn’t aware of the model difference.
Might not be something I can jump onto right now, but definitely something I’ll be keeping an eye on.
-
@jaag said in Ubuntu Touch for Digital Detox?:
Somewhat saddened that VoLTE is still unsupported, which might make it a deal-breaker for now.
It's being worked on. For now, you could consider getting a cheap used device of a supported model, just to play around with and experience the OS.
Also there are people who are sucessfully using SIP for calls, for the time being. -
@jaag It was not planned, but UT did the detox thing for me. I don't have fb and the sorts anymore and I can only vouch for what @Moem said: it's a calmer experience indeed. Notifications are usually far and between and i consume much less videos / games / social and much more books, forums, and interactive novels, thanks mostly to @cybersheep job
