Focal/20.04 is out for quite a while now. You still use Xenial/16.04? I would like to know what stops you from upgrading?

danfro

So to sum up what has been written here so far (what got stuck in my head), the main reasons for not moving to focal are is order of seriousness (and lack of workarounds):

stability of focal and
too many troubles when migrating from xenial to focal. Either taken from own experience with another device or from discussions.
A clean install is the best way to do that, BUT we don't have a good backup solution.
This is followed with devices not supporting focal, sure no workaround for that.
Apps missing is an issue, but that is sorted easiest and also is due to developers not having moved to focal yet with their devices.

[edit, I forgot one big reason:]

people are just happy on xenial, no need to move on

With 24.04 knocking at the door (middle of this year planned currently) this is valuable information. I will pass that on to the core dev team.

Of course this doesn't close this post. Its more a summary for others joining new and for myself .

MrT10001

@danfro Also a lot of people have experience in the past of updates for a certain operating system that vastly reduced their user experience due to instability and developers thinking that their way is the best way. That's why people clung onto them for as long as possible......

Not so much with UT, but you cannot account all the time for the human condition...

danfro

@MrT10001 I guess you are right. Although I personally see the advantages of new releases or updates.

To name some reasons to go for focal (OTA4):

theme switch in system settings
battery percentage indicator in system settings
home screen shows "time to fully charged" time
wallpapers can be deleted
double tap to wake setting
edge barrier sensitivuty in system settings
a newer morph (altjough still considered outdated by websites )

Blog posts hold more news.

MrT10001

@danfro Individuals always want something different out of their device, i.e. it is personal to them.

For me, a phone is a phone, so i want basic functionality of:

a phone, so
Sound is a must
SMS is a must
Mobile internet is a must

Other things that are not so important:
Camera
Maps
GPS
Reading PDF's

And other things would be:
Mobile Banking
and Video Calls

UT covers most of this for me, but it's not quite all and again this will vary for others..

wally

Great question, great responses.
For me, lack of time, lack of technical skill, and fear of loss of functionality / creating a new time-sink project that I can't afford right now kept me using what was working.
But just last weekend I got around to trying out Focal on my backup OP5 (with a half-melted screen) and it's largely going quite smoothly. I flashed without wiping data, and that process was pretty pain free. A little bit of messing around with settings, but all my messages and apps persisted, some apps just needed to be deleted and reinstalled (the appstore option to Install Stable Version didn't work, but delete then install is fine).

I really miss the Scaling of UT Tweak tool. The default 21 is way too big for me. It'd be amazing if/when that app comes along, for scaling and app suspension. Meanwhile, great to see some of those features entering System Settings!

Jitsi video calls are the other big thing that went from working to not working. On my Oneplus 5T 16.04, they work in both Morph and Jitsi Web App. On my broken Oneplus 5, 20.04 it crashes in both. Very similar phones. I presume it's a Focal thing, but can't say for sure. It does manage to get a hint of video out to the other caller before crashing. It's not essential for me, but a pretty nice option to have. Causes me hesitation in switching my working phone over just yet.

@Moem On my Oneplus 5, flashing through the installer without clicking the Wipe Data button didn't result in any lost files. But a GUI backup option would sure be great in any case. Hope your install goes smoothly

@MrT10001 Fantastic list of devices, and very useful comments about functionality. Thanks!

All those developers making apps work in Focal, thank you so, so much. I never stop appreciating how much this community does. Bravo!

Moem

@wally said in Focal/20.04 is out for quite a while now. You still use Xenial/16.04? I would like to know what stops you from upgrading?:

@Moem On my Oneplus 5, flashing through the installer without clicking the Wipe Data button didn't result in any lost files.

Thanks, I'm aware of that. But it seems that it will also not solve the problems. Because they live somewhere in the user settings and files, I've been told.

In any case, I tried that and the installer got stuck halfway through.

ToxyPoxy

I downgraded from 20.04 to 16.04 because I could not play Futify with the screen turned off because of app suspension. 20.04 missing UT Tweak Tool.

uxes

@ToxyPoxy there is this manual to follow that helped me https://gitlab.com/frenchutouch/futify/-/issues/64

TakoR

@danfro I am most probably going to revert back to Xenial after trialling Focal on my Xperia X just because of the wireless hotspot. I know I don't use the hotspot that much but there are times when I really need it.

I am still having second thoughts, though, because Focal is just so smooth. I can keep Focal on the XX as I have acquired another capable phone with UT and Waydroid and I can just use that for wireless hotspot. The smoothness of Focal is just hard to beat.

arubislander

@TakoR Is there an issue opened about the hotspot issue? Is it device specific? I just tried.it.on my Pixel 3a on Focal and it worked without problems.

ToxyPoxy

@uxes Thank you!

wally

@Moem Darn. Clearly you're way ahead of me on this.
Does that mean that we're all supposed to wipe data in installing Focal? Or is that being recommended specifically as a result of the issues on your device?

When moving from a broken OP5 to an OP5T, I tried to import my SMS history by copying a couple SQL files, I think including history.sqlite, along with the obvious folders like Pictures, Music, and importing contacts. Since then I've been unable to open a message window from the main screen of Messaging, which lists SMS conversations. I can open an SMS conversation through Notifications if somebody sent a new text, or by opening a new SMS, then typing the name of the contact into the "To:" bar.
So I understand not wanting to wipe data.

Sorry to hear of the troubles, and hope you're able to resolve them.

Moem

@wally said in Focal/20.04 is out for quite a while now. You still use Xenial/16.04? I would like to know what stops you from upgrading?:

@Moem Darn. Clearly you're way ahead of me on this.
Does that mean that we're all supposed to wipe data in installing Focal? Or is that being recommended specifically as a result of the issues on your device?

The latter. I would always start with the smallest possible actions first, you can always get a bigger hammer later! But if the smaller one does the trick, you're good.

Thanks for your kind words, it'll be okay. I'm just too busy to deal with it right now. Tinkering will be for after the weekend.

uxes

@danfro
this really helped me after migration to focal, but i would not fiund it by myself without asking, that is not best

i would love to see this in documentation,
away from telegram group since search engines does not index telegram groups and also having documentation in chat is not best practise for product

RedXXIII

@danfro To back up and restore my data, I use this scripts that work pretty well : https://github.com/Intrinsically-Sublime/UT-Backup-Restore-Scripts

But yes, a GUI would be so useful! Maybe that script could be a basis to it?

Bolly

Hello everyone.

2015-Now (Daily use) : BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu edition -> Not compatible
2016-Now (Daily use) : BQ Aquaris M10 FHD Betatester -> Not compatible
2023-Now: (Gift) Bq Aquaris E5 HD -> Not compatible
2020-Now : PinePhone Braveheart & CE UBports -> In Focal but for now there are no advantages and many disadvantages compared to my daily driver (BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu edition).
2020-Now (Family/Daily use): Vollaphone Xenial -> I don't have the possibility to make the interface bigger (UTTwekTool), I'm afraid this will continue to happen in Focal [1] and also lack of interesting new features for that person.
2022-Now (family/common use): Vollaphone 22 Focal -> Happy Focal user (Never been in Xenial). The notification LEDs are missing, but they don't work in Xenial either.

[1] https://github.com/ubports/ubuntu-touch/issues/2022 (Xenial solution -> https://github.com/ubports/ubuntu-touch/issues/2022#issuecomment-1246324505)

Luksus

@Bolly

@Bolly said in Focal/20.04 is out for quite a while now. You still use Xenial/16.04? I would like to know what stops you from upgrading?:

I don't have the possibility to make the interface bigger (UTTwekTool), I'm afraid this will continue to happen in Focal [1]

UTTweakTool should now work for Focal too.
Yes, there is still the microphone issue, but there is a Focal-solution too.

krang

Hey,

Cannot upgrade to Focal as the device is not supported as much any more.
Unfortunately I decided for the shift 6mq which seems to be rather rare.

TakoR

@arubislander Apologies for the delayed reply. We've been overwhelmed by work tasks.

I mentioned it in one of my posts but haven't managed to create a thread regarding it. The issue is with the Xperia X only. I believe it's related to wireless security as I remember having the same issue after connecting to my router after using my P3a after upgrading to Focal, but then I just tweaked some settings in my router and was able to login again.

UT treats the hotspot as another wireless connection but this time, it acts as a router. I still haven't found a solution through the terminal in tweaking wireless security. Cheers.

aimar

I am happily still using a BQ E4.5 so there is no other option.