Dear all...

After skirting round the forums and doing my best to help (I am not a coder/hacker/programmer), I thought I would give some advice for people coming to Ubuntu Touch (UT) from Android based ROM's. Most of you are looking to install UT on a spare device or looking for an alternative to Android to use as your main device (daily driver), so you kind of want your device to function like and Android device which I get.

UT is open source and maintained by people in their spare time, hobbyists, enthusiasts - people from all walks in life who have interests elsewhere. This means that a device may be well maintained, may not be, may full of bugs and so on, so before jumping in to install on your device, please:

1. Make sure it is on the devices list

2. Check the maintenance state of the device

3. Read through all the issues. If you want fully functioning telephony and there is no sound in calls for your device, then don't put UT on and/or look at a better supported device.

4. Plan ahead - backup anything you want to keep, make sure you read up on the device, read @Lakotaubp Frequently asked questions, read the forum pages for the device you wish to install UT too for tips and tricks to install, that are not always clear.

5. Plan ahead - plan and think what to do if UT fails to install with the installer. Have you installed the correct version of Android? Is the bootloader unlocked? and so on...

6. Plan ahead - download and keep the version of stock Android that is required for UT and look at how to install it, in case UT is not for you and you wish to go back to Android. This should put any partitions that have been resized back to the original size.

7. To run UT, the bootloader on the device has to be unlocked. Google search (or whatever your search engine may be) for that particular devices way to unlock the bootloader. UT will NOT install or work with a locked bootloader.

8. If for whatever reason you return to Android my advice is and the consensus of opinion from other forums is DO NOT RELOCK the bootloader. This can brick the device, i.e., render it useless, unless you get a new motherboard or split it for parts.

9. If i didn't mention before plan ahead and read up on what UT is all about.

10. There are reasons why you have to install a particular version of Android in order to install UT. This is usually down to Vendor BLOBs (ie think of it as drivers for the hardware and on devices a lot of these are closed source (proprietary)).

11. Follow the installers instructions.

12. Keep it simple. Use the installer, that's what it is there for. Even if you are good with the command line, the installer can make it easier. It can also make it easier to back track if any issues arise.

I have too many PC's and devices (as my other half continually reminds me). I mainly use windows 10/11 to install UT (I need M$ stuff - being polite - for work) which works the majority of the time so I install Android Studio and update it -

13. Have the latest version of Fastboot and ADB drivers installed on your PC. This resolves a multitude of issues. I install Android Studio to get the latest versions. You don't need to, but my advice is that it does help.

My go to Linux is Ubuntu as it works for me, so I have a low powered Ubuntu machine to install to certain devices if Windows fails, but that is me.

14. Your PC (inc laptop) which you use to install UT to your device, make sure the operating system is up to date, nothing worse than in the middle of pushing UT to a device the PC reboots after an update (thanks windows).

@UBportsNews Please don't apologise for this issue. it happens. This is done by volunteers in their own time and is way above what myself and others can do, for which myself personally am very grateful for. Please keep up the good work it's greatly appreciated.

Just found Tweak Tool for Focal and the parts I use are working, yeah....
Many Thanks to Imran Iqbal for this most useful of apps!

I have held off on this thread, but I thought I would put my bit in now!

Bought 2 x BQ Aquaris e4.5 when Canonical and BQ put them on the market that day. One was mine and the other was mine too, but I handed it out for people to play with.

As a phone, text, MMS, camera and web browsing, most used and thought it was adequate. For social media, it was no and a resounding no at that.

Ok so come to 2022/2023. Canonical has devolved Ubuntu Touch to the community when the phones and tablets did not take off as planned - you have to try these things! So now Ubuntu Touch is run as a charitable foundation (UBports) by volunteers. There is some commercial working from what I can see, but most is run by enthusiasts and volunteers. This means your data is not going to be scraped and sold to the online bidders so you can get spammed with ads (thanks Amazon, Google, Apple, Xiaomi......). It also means that some things work, some things don't and it is not for everyone as they want a device that just well works for what they they want.
Some things won't work as UT is open source, i.e. Internet banking apps (encryption), Social Media, such as SnapChat and Whatsapp and so on. (BTW this is my opinion from what I have observed and read).

The Browser issues has been strongly covered with reasons why Morph is used and not Chromium or Firefox, but I find Morph overall very usable and suitable for me.

The Apps issues has also been extensively covered and again a lot are coded by volunteers and enthusiasts who spend their own free time and money running and maintaining them (kudos given for that). If you want an app that is not in the store, create it yourself, or use the browser, or heaven forbid, use your Android or Apple phone. It is that simple. What I cannot use on UT, I will use on my computers, or Android phone (my Iphone is out of Action, but was needed for one app).

I don't use Waydroid as I don't see the point personally (using UT is to avoid some Android apps), as I said if I need to use an app that is not in the store, I will use it on another device. But for some Waydroid is convergence with Android apps and I see why people are enthusiastic about it and again Kudos to the people setting it up and running with it.

Options, options and options, there are so many to do what you want. There is always a way and work around.

Thank you all for your hard work on UT and also the criticism as criticism makes things better in most cases.

Kind regards to all,
Mr T10001 (I pity the fool).

Volla Tablet is launching tomorrow - 17/4/2024 on Kickstarter.

Link

@UTdroid Hi. I have tried e/OS and also Sailfish OS. Sailfish is similar in the way the touch screen works to UT and has a reasonably good app store. It is also known as Jolla. I have also tried Plasma Mobile, which is very rough around the edges and looks a lot more like a Linux system.
e/OS is based on Lineage, so is Android stripped out and more privacy oriented.
e/OS is my fallback. UT is by far the better for me for a community driven phone os.
They all have their quirks and issues.
Hacking is another issue. I have never had an issue with it.

Got hold of a Oneplus 6. Running Android 11, so downgraded using OB25 build from here.
Unlock the device (open developer options by tapping build in about device until it states "you are now a developer", back to System, Developer options, enable OEM unlock and USB debugging). In a command prompt use ADB to reboot to bootloader and then use the fastboot command "fastboot oem unlock", then when done reboot the device and set Android up again. Set up developer options and USB debugging, set it file transfer and copy the OB25 file to the root of the device (i.e. not in a folder). Go to system update and check local update and tap the zip file. Allow it to do its thing and tap reboot when done. The set android up again and hey you are on Android 9!
Then just follow the UT installer.
Installed so easily, I thought it was a Nexus 4 (apart from the Halium splash). Less than an hour and it is up and running. Good device so far!

@daemonicvs It is more than that, it is about Lineage support and getting hold of Vendor Blobs ( a lot of vendor blobs are proprietary so they have to be reverse engineered - think of a blob as a driver in PC terms). It is the ability to unlock the boot loader so vendors like Huawei are out. It is also the ability to get the right Android on the device, some devices the Android version needs rolling back and it cannot be done without bricking the device.

And one of the main restrictions is having an enthusiastic person who has the ability and time to a) create the UT port and b) to maintain it.

@Peter-Gamma There are other Android based privacy phone ROM's such as /e/OS and Calyxos. You will never be fully private on a mobile device as you will always ping against a phone mast, but avoiding giving Google, Apple, Xiaomi and so on your data ia a good thing....

@Appointed said in Usable phone display:

And worse, the paragraph "Smartphones should be a tool box" which explains, without wanting to, why UT has not evolved in functionality for years and is still not the Linux smartphone that so many people hope.

A smartphone is a communication device first and foremost, so telephony and messaging are going to be its main functionality. To get these two functions working with UT on Android devices with a limited amount of developers - people who can actually understand and do this in their own time with no financial reimbursement - is a massive undertaking. It is not easy at all and will always be behind what Google, Apple and the major players in the mobile market can do due to the amount of money that these big companies can throw at their operating environment.

Then there are the other features such as the camera, GPS, WiFi/Internet and so on, again taking a lot of time and effort to get to a usable state.

Then there are other things that are nice to have that nice to have, but again take a lot of time and effort to develop.

There are some things that I cannot do on my UT device that I use Android for, such as mobile banking, video calls. This is much like the desktop environment with Windows, MacOS and Linux. I know lots of people who use Windows, few that use MacOS and very, very few that use Linux desktop whatever flavour.

For my devices running UT, things that I want are Telephony, messaging, Internet, anything else is a bonus and anything I can get working is a bonus.

After trying various other mobile operating systems that are not mainstream, UT is one of the most advanced, with a lot of devices and a lot of interest. It could be better, but so could iOS and Android. We all use our smartphones in different ways, what works for some, doesn't always work for others.

Thank you for your thoughts.

@Ad As @domubpkm stated, only fastboot is needed. Fastboot is also the boot loader, so boot to fastboot, open the UT installer and manually select your device from the drop down list on the installer front page. Connect your device and set the installer going, following the instructions and NOT leaving the wipe data bo unticked.

@Ad If the device is low on charge it may hang on the OP logo. Before you run it through installer again, boot into recovery and wipe the cache. You may have an app or background process causing the boot hang.

@jam1388 If you are in the USA, you need 4G VolTe which is coming to some devices on UT, but has been a challenge to do so has taken a long time. You may also find that using a ROM not stipulated by the porter may cause issues like no wifi, data and the like so it is always wise to use the ROM the porter has used. Likewise if the device is SIM locked, you will have to revert to Android to get it unlocked if the carrier allows. It rarely works SIM unlocking on UT or even a custom Android ROM.

@jam1388 It requires the Android version stipulated in the devices page in order for it to work. It will not work otherwise and may end up with a boot looping Device.

@stefancito70 That means your Android installation is on the other slot, but hasn't installed correctly. You may have to try again.

@stefancito70 If slot B is active, change it to slot A.

If booting after changing the Slot, boot into recovery and wipe the cache and reboot.

@stefancito70 Usually you open up a terminal in your folder were fastboot and ADB is situated. I use Windows ,and I have Android Studio installed, so open a terminal in the platform-tools folder.

@stefancito70 Power off the device than boot into Fastboot mode.

In fastboot, attach the device to your PC.

In the fastboot terminal of your PC run the command:

./fastboot getvar current-slot

This should show you which slot is active - there are two slots A and B

If Slot A is active, change it to Slot B:

./fastboot --set-active=b

Reboot and see if your phone boots.

@stefancito70 no, it should start straight away. Is your device being picked up in fastboot mode, i.e. run the command:
fastboot devices

@stefancito70 Do not press start, leave it at the screen that says fastboot.

Then run flash all command.