Posts made by mattp

In trying to use things like Netflix and Spotify in the Morph browser, I recently learned about Widevine and issues playing DRM content in web browsers. Is the "widenabler" app in the Open Store which provides "experimental Widevine support" still a recommended method to try?

There are several reasons why you might want to transmit text messages and audio calls through an XMPP client. For users in the USA, one big reason is that since VoLTE is not yet implemented in UT, SMS and calling through the cellular network basically does not work at the moment. (More details here: https://forums.ubports.com/topic/8338/updated-usa-t-mobile-and-mvno-settings-for-a-fully-functional-ut-device?lang=en-US) Other reasons to use XMPP include privacy and less reliance on big telecom companies.

JMP.chat is a service that provides you with a (US or Canada) phone number, and this phone number allows you to send and receive text messages and audio calls from XMPP clients. As long as you have an internet connection, you can communicate with other phone numbers. The person on the other end sees you as identified through your JMP number, just as if it were any normal phone number.

There are a few XMPP clients that one can use on Ubuntu Touch. And with these, an Ubuntu Touch phone becomes possible to use as a phone even without VoLTE implemented in UT. Converse.js is currently in the Open Store, and it works for text messages, but that client does not have audio calling implemented. Movim is a web-based client that can be used as a web app. Movim supports messaging and audio calling. This is what I have been using to turn my Ubuntu Touch device into a working phone.

A Guide
I wanted to share the steps I took in case anyone else is interested in this approach:

1. Sign up for a phone number at https://jmp.chat (currently only available in the US and Canada)
2. Use Webber to create a web app for the Movim XMPP client at the URL https://mov.im/login; alternatively, if you only need text messages, download the Converse.js XMPP client from the Open Store.
3. Sign in to the client app with your Jabber ID provided by JMP. You can now send and receive messages to phone numbers, and on Movim, you can place and receive audio calls as well.

Issue
The only issue that I experience is receiving notifications for incoming audio calls. (And that might be a separate and deeper issue.)
When Movim is the focused application, answering incoming audio calls works fine. Then I used the UT Tweaks application to prevent Movim web app from suspending when it was open but not the focused application. However, although an incoming call does initiate a ring tone, I am unable to actually answer the call. This same behavior occurs even when the display is off: an incoming call does initiate a ringtone, but after unlocking the phone, it's not possible to actually answer the call.

If anyone has thoughts on how to improve incoming call notifications on Movim, or any other questions or thoughts, happy to hear them.