I wouldn't use a META product if there were alternatives. But there are a lot of people who are very resistant to change. There are groups for their kids' school activities: soccer, tennis, music, and so on.

If you use Ubuntu Touch every day, a lightweight QML app like Greenline is perfect. You can check WhatsApp messages when needed. In an emergency, you can send a message like, “I'll be 10 minutes late.”

Personally, I prefer a WhatsApp alternative that is fast and stable, uses few resources, and adapts well to changes in WhatsApp’s data structure—such as the Go library, whatsmeow, protobuf structures, and WebSocket conditions on the servers.

I don’t need features like video or forms.
If someone wants all of WhatsApp’s features (including META AI) on Ubuntu Touch, then they have the wrong device.

Keep Greenline lean, efficient, and adaptable to changes at Meta for a long life on Ubuntu Touch. Many people and groups still need some time before they’re ready to switch to alternatives.

@gpatel-fr That´s perfect!
Thank you very much for solving this stubborn problem.

Now I can put the Pixel 3a into ‘Nokia 3210 mode’ with a single click. Calls and text messages work, and the battery lasts at least three days in this mode.

#!/bin/bash
# ====================================================================
# NOKIA 3210 MODUS: CPU throttling + All offline services (Pixel 3a)
# ====================================================================

if [ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "ERROR: Please run the script using: sudo $0"
    exit 1
fi

echo "Enable Nokia 3210 mode..."

# 1. Force CPU cores into power-saving mode
for governor in /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor; do
    if [ -f "$governor" ]; then
        echo "powersave" > "$governor"
    fi
done
echo "[✓] CPU throttling enabled."

# 2. Turn off Wi-Fi
nmcli radio wifi off
echo "[✓] Wi-Fi disabled."

# 3. Turn off location tracking (GPS)
sudo dbus-send --system --type=method_call --print-reply --dest=com.lomiri.location.Service /com/lomiri/location/Service org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set string:com.lomiri.location.Service string:IsOnline variant:boolean:false
echo "[✓] Location tracking disabled."

# 4. Turn off Bluetooth
rfkill block bluetooth
echo "[✓] Bluetooth disabled."

# 5. Turn off mobile data
sudo -u phablet DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS="unix:path=/run/user/32011/bus" dbus-send --session --type=method_call --print-reply --dest=com.lomiri.connectivity1 /com/lomiri/connectivity1/Private org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set string:com.lomiri.connectivity1.Private string:MobileDataEnabled variant:boolean:false
echo "[✓] Mobile data disabled."

# 6. Greenline-Service stop at user level
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/32011 sudo -u phablet systemctl --user stop greenline.service 2>/dev/null
echo "[✓] greenline.service stopped."

echo "------------------------------------------------"
echo "Success! CPU, wireless modules and GPS are in sleep mode."
sleep 3

@gpatel-fr
Unfortunately, disabling location tracking doesn't work quite as well as it should. It turns off location tracking, but it also disables the toggle switch.

## Turn off location services
sudo -u phablet DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS="unix:path=/run/user/32011/bus" dbus-send --session --type=method_call --print-reply --dest=com.lomiri.location.Service /com/lomiri/location/Service com.lomiri.location.Service.SetEnabled boolean:false 2>/dev/null
sudo -u phablet DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS="unix:path=/run/user/32011/bus" dbus-send --session --type=method_call --print-reply --dest=com.ubuntu.location.Service /com/ubuntu/location/Service com.ubuntu.location.Service.SetEnabled boolean:false 2>/dev/null

@gpatel-fr Thank you so much for the crucial tip! With just a few tweaks, it now works on my device. I was also able to successfully determine my location this way.
The one-click “NOKIA 3210 mode” is now complete!
Battery life is 3 days, but I can always be reached by phone or text message.

Is there a simple command to disable mobile data in a script?

nmcli radio wwan off
nmcli connection down

gsettings set com.lomiri.touch.connectivity.cellular data-enabled false
gsettings set com.lomiri.touch.connectivity.cellular data-active false

dbus-send ... com.canonical.Unity.Connectivity.SetCellularDataEnabled boolean:false

/usr/share/ofono/scripts/deactivate-context /ril_0 1 (APN-Kontext entladen)
/usr/share/ofono/scripts/set-gprs-powered /ril_0 false (GPRS-Modul abschalten)
/usr/share/ofono/scripts/set-tech-preference /ril_0 gsm (Drosselung auf 2G/GSM)

Nothing disables mobile data

@Moem
After clearing the saved Wi-Fi connections, power consumption is minimal.

I've found the cause of the increased battery drain on Wi-Fi.

Clear the list of saved Wi-Fi connections:
Go to Wi-Fi -> Wi-Fi Settings -> Saved Networks and tap “Forget” next to all the networks. Then reconnect to your home Wi-Fi network. After that, battery drain in standby mode will return to a minimum of < 2% per hour.

@Moem If you're still experiencing increased battery drain when using Wi-Fi,
go to Wi-Fi -> Network Settings -> Saved Networks and tap “Forget” to remove all saved networks. Then reconnect to your home Wi-Fi network.

I also had a few stale connections here—sometimes even two Wi-Fi icons in the status bar.

@Vlad-Nirky I use the latest version from yesterday and test it over last night.
I haven't noticed any increased battery drain. The Pixel 3a switches to deep sleep mode without any issues. < 2% battery drain per hour. Tested last night with notifications enabled.

@Moem
As @uxes wrote

Run the following commands in the Terminal.

systemctl --user stop ubconnect-daemon.service
systemctl --user disable ubconnect-daemon.service
rm -f ~/.config/systemd/user/ubconnect-daemon.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user status ubconnect-daemon.service

result:

Unit ubconnect-daemon.service could not be found.

@Moem

I was monitoring the journal with “sudo journalctl -f” while I turned the Wi-Fi on and off. I noticed that when turning on the Wi-Fi, a connection attempt by the daemon fails.

sudo journalctl -f
Mai 20 19:14:25 ubuntu-phablet systemd[2850]: ubconnect-daemon.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILUREMai 20 19:14:25 ubuntu-phablet systemd[2850]: ubconnect-daemon.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.Mai 20 19:14:30 ubuntu-phablet systemd[2850]: ubconnect-daemon.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 89.Mai 20 19:14:30 ubuntu-phablet systemd[2850]: Started ubconnect-daemon.service - UB Connect Daemon.Mai 20 19:14:30 ubuntu-phablet aa-exec[5041]: [5041] aa-exec: ERROR: Failed to execute "/opt/click.ubuntu.com/ubconnect/current/usr/bin/ubconnect-daemon": No such file or directoryMai 20 19:14:30 ubuntu-phablet systemd[2850]: ubconnect-daemon.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILUREMai 20

I found the reason for my increased battery drain when using Wi-Fi.
On January 26, 2026, I installed an app called "UB Connect" from the OpenStore. ubconnect
I uninstalled it shortly after. The app wasn't uninstalled cleanly, and a ubconnect.daemon.service remained in the system.
Whenever Wi-Fi was turned on, this daemon would automatically start, but it failed because the app was missing. This prevented Ubuntu Touch from going into power-saving mode after the screen was turned off.

After uninstalling and deleting all leftover files from the ubconnect app, Ubuntu Touch goes back into power-saving mode with Wi-Fi on, and the battery consumption is minimal like with mobile data.

I found the reason for my increased battery drain when using Wi-Fi.
On January 26, 2026, I installed an app called "UB Connect" from the OpenStore. ubconnect
I uninstalled it shortly after. The app wasn't uninstalled cleanly, and a ubconnect.daemon.service remained in the system.
Whenever Wi-Fi was turned on, this daemon would automatically start, but it failed because the app was missing. This prevented Ubuntu Touch from going into power-saving mode after the screen was turned off.

After uninstalling and deleting all leftover files from the ubconnect app, Ubuntu Touch goes back into power-saving mode with Wi-Fi on, and the battery consumption is minimal like with mobile data.

Two days ago, I charged a Pixel 3a (24.04-1.3 rc) to 90%. It is now still at 37%. The scaling governor is active. This reduces power consumption to 22mA. When the scaling governor is not active, power consumption drops to only ~240mA

The device can receive calls and text messages. The alarm clock works too. (Nokia 3210 mode

The same behavior on my daily-use Pixel 3a. Without using Wi-Fi, the battery lasts at least 2 days.

I’ve tried to build a script that turns off Wi-Fi when the screen is turned off and keeps the scaling governor always on for all cores. Unfortunately, without success so far. It should be a solution that still works even after an update. I currently don’t see any loss of functionality.

Sorry for bringing up a 4-year-old post.
I tested three Pixel 3a devices (RC 1.3). I noticed exactly the same battery drain issues described here.

Have any solutions been found for this yet?

@ralf
I tested on three Pixel 3a devices for one week. No active use. All background services turned off. Location services and Bluetooth also turned off.

The same behavior occurred on every device. When I turn on Wi-Fi, power consumption increases dramatically.

Without Wi-Fi: 1 to 2% per hour
With Wi-Fi: 4 to 6% per hour

I've been using it on three Pixel 3a devices running 24.04-1.3 for over a week.
Test conducted without using any apps and with all background processes disabled.

On all devices, I'm seeing significantly higher battery consumption when Wi-Fi is turned on.

I don't know if this is a general issue with the Pixel 3a or if it has to do with the current RC 1.3.

@brenno.almeida
The installation went smoothly and without any issues.

One thing that would be really useful:

When there are lots of new messages for a contact or in a group, I can see the correct number (e.g. 20). Perfect!
When I go into the chat and want to read the messages, I can’t tell which 20 are the new ones.
When the contact or group chat is opened, you should be able to see which messages haven’t been read yet.
When you leave the chat, all messages should be marked as read.
Now I have to spend time reading the messages to figure out if I’ve already read them.

Many thanks for your work on this exciting implementation of a third-party WhatsApp solution in QML for Ubuntu Touch!

@Moem
Yes, I thought so too, and it matches the description in the wiki. https://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/Ubuntu_Touch/UT_Tweak_Tool/

In my tests, however, the opposite was true. There might be another reason for this. I’ll repeat the test with different scenarios and log the power consumption in sleep mode.

-10 hours of standby (all apps with background suspension)
-10 hours of standby (all apps without background suspension)

In any case, battery consumption in standby mode (accessible only via phone calls and text messages + alarm clock function) can be reduced to a minimum. It feels like a Nokia 3210 with up to 260 hours of battery life, with the difference that modern smartphone features are available at all times.