So, as nobody jumped in, I did it and wrote them this email:

Hello FSF!

First of all, thank you very much for what you are doing, the world deeply need free and respectful software.

I read your call for suggestions for the HPP list and I saw the "Free phone operating system" category.

I'm a user of Ubuntu Touch for 2 years now as my primary device and I'm very happy with it, that's why I want to suggest to support that project.

I don't know what are the requierments to be accepted in the HPP list. I know (and agree with) the FSF philosophy of rejecting proprietary software. Ubuntu Touch is of course a free software project, distributed under the GPLv3. It is using Halium to be able to run on phones which requires proprietary firmwares, but is also able to run on plain GNU/Linux phones like the PinePhone, so without proprietary bits involved.

Do you think it is a good idea to include it in the list?

Freely,

Fla

We'll see what goes out of this.

Thank you very much @mariogrip for taking the time to write this. I am one of those users who are still fighting with daily bugs years after the official support of the Fairphone 2, and I tend to be critical about why aren't them getting fixed (god damn it! ).

But I fully agree with everything you say here, and to see it written black on white help me to be more patient. Thanks again.

/me go back improving Axolotl, as the whole UT ecosystem needs to be pushed forward.

@mrlen we don't need to implement a new service to do video chat. We just need to support the existing ones, which are already working well on other platforms and are widely used, for example Signal and Telegram. So, to add the videochat feature in Axolotl and Teleports, the unofficial UT clients for the two services. I am a contributor to Axolotl, and to be able to do video chat, this issue in Morph need to be solved first: https://github.com/ubports/morph-browser/issues/399

A better Signal client. Axolotl is nice but not good enough at the moment.
Also, redshift, to save my eyes.

FYI the kernel source code of the FP3 just has been released, see https://code.fairphone.com/projects/fairphone-3-gpl.html

It has also been added to a git repo to be easily browsable: https://github.com/FairphoneMirrors/android_kernel_fairphone_sdm632

Okay so I found a proof (if needed) that I'm indeed running with the new Halium 7.1 base: the famous bug of toggling data after flight mode is gone! And that is great.

However, I found some regressions:

• The auto-brightness option isn't available anymore. Is the proximity sensor available?
• The phone can't be updated anymore (no release channel available). I guess that is expected as far as this build isn't available on the official servers?

I will continue to test and wrote my findings here.

@manland I just flashed my Fairphone 2 back on the Halium 5.1 port instead of the beta 7.1 port and can't reproduce the bug anymore, I'm now able to log in successfully. As the port I was using was beta, let's say this bug isn't an issue anymore at the moment, I'll bring it back if it is still there when the 7.1 port will become official. Thank you for your time.

We are happy to announce that we have publicly released complete and updated GPL sources for the Fairphone 3.

https://forum.fairphone.com/t/fairphone-3-updated-gpl-source-packages/

Continuing my report, I installed GStream-droid (see that topic) and indeed, the camera app is now quicker to boot and the flashlight is working when taking a picture! Not alone though but that means it can be done and that is awesome.

It looks like there is an orientation problem however, the pictures aren't in the good orientation. I don't know if that's because of halium or GStream-droid.

@stanwood @Moem @nogoogle OTA-13 comes with a bluez update which improves the situation, see https://forums.ubports.com/topic/4840/bluetooth-findings-with-ota-13-rc/7

Once you get the new UT version (hopefully released that week-end), start by unpairing the car and the phone, then try again.

Does that mean the UT images will be daily-driver ready soon? I own a braveheart edition and a few weeks ago, it was still far from usable as a primary device. I guess the factory has to have the image to be flashed at least a week before shipping the phones so... That would mean one month and a half to have the image ready? That feels pretty short.

Hi. To answer your questions, a new port for the Fairphone 2 is currently worked on. It is based on Android 7.1 (the current port is based on 5.1) and will allow to have the flashlight working. Unfortunately, the Fairphone developers aren't helping the UBPorts community, and there is no release date planed at the moment.

@peat_psuwit I would really love to be able to have OTA update on my FP2 running that port. Is there anything I can do to help you make it official?

Ubuntu Touch is an awesome OS, especially because it has an awesome UX. For example, edge gestures allows it to be way more efficient than Android. However, one downside is that many of those features are hardly discoverable, even if there is some nice tuto at the beginning telling the user how to navigate by swiping. For example:

• the long press on the space bar to make the cut / paste / etc actions available
• pressing both volume up and down at the same time to take a screenshots (although now a button to do it has been added to the power menu)
• plenty of others I'm not even aware of because it's hard to discover

What do you think about adding a tip about those kind of "secret" features on the lock screen, tip which would change daily?

@doniks we're already all using it but all other development channels are on Telegram so Axolotl one is there too. And it's especially useful when you have trouble with Signal and need help

@Fla said in Fairphone 2 (FP2):

@peat_psuwit I would really love to be able to have OTA update on my FP2 running that port. Is there anything I can do to help you make it official?

@peat_psuwit you didn't answer to that, but as all work deserves a salary as we say in french, I precise I'm willing to pay you $100 to see 7.1 based port released as the official port for the FP2.

Please stop getting out of topic
The question here is, does someone want to do the work of submitting UT to the HPP list?

6.3 inch screen? Dammit when will this stop, 5 is already too big for me...

Hi @Moem. Many points:

1. I also reproduce that "one message per member of the group" bug, sometime it is also true when receiving... I don't know if an issue already exists, please fill one on github
2. It looks like if the group is updated (for example its title change) from an official Signal client, it works better
3. If you want to discuss about Axolotl, there is a Telegram group https://t.me/axolotl_dev

@peat_psuwit said in Fairphone 2 (FP2):

@Fla We're working towards that goal, but the base system requires more changes to support Halium 7.1 ports better before we can release any Halium 7.1 port as an official port.

So, I asked in the last Q&A what was the status of the core changes still needed for Halium 7.1 ports and the answer was:

Actually it has progressed very well and is effectively now ‘done’. The issues remaining are likely to be device specific. On Xperia X for example there are Bluetooth problems. We suggest you try it out with a Fairphone 2 and send in some test reports. Rachanan has a pretty good overview on it.

So... Here I am again ^^ What's the next step to see that port an official one, and how can I help you reach that state?