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Hi human! Your Biweekly UBports news is here!

        From your editor

        Hi people, Here is another edition of the bi-weekly UBports news letter. This time with a lot of news and sweet stuff.

        You know, we currently have 2960 subscribers? That's 24 more since last edition. Let's get this to 3K! If we keep up this speed it will only take a few more weeks. We're almost there! Wow!

        Look below for amazing news! We have an official UBuntu Touch application development training book. Of course the content is also published online with a CC license, but if you like to learn sitting in a comfy chair, then this is your chance! And right after the release of OTA-23 we are doing an app development training at the MCH2022 event.

        In this edition a small recap of the recently held Volla days, we will shine some light on a few nice apps, and do a small write-up of the latest Q&A.

        Anyway, sit back, grab hold of your favourite beverage and enjoy another episode of the UBports Newsletter (while I write this edition this time with my personalised "Flow" playlist on Deezerplaying.)

        News, hot from the press!


        Big news is of course the recent release of OTA-23 june 28th, 2022. Full details can be found in out OTA-23 Blog https://ubports.com/blog/ubports-news-1/post/ubuntu-touch-ota-23-release-3855

        I don't know if this is of interest to you, but Unity 7.6 Released as the First Major Update to Ubuntu’s Unity7 Desktop in 6 Years.

        But there's more, waaay more! Look at these next images!

        Welcome to Ubuntu Touch app development, Training Part 1

        App dev training book published!
        The UBports Foundation has published the Ubuntu Touch app dev training in print! You can order it directly from lulu.com.

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        App dev workshop at MCH2022

        The UBports Foundation has organised an Ubuntu Touch app development workshop during the upcoming MCH2022 event!

        If you like to join in on the fun, look at their scheduled program for the latest information.

        Currently we are scheduled for Friday July 23rd at 2 PM. And there is a free training book for the first 30 people!

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        Apps in the spotlight

        Here are some Ubuntu Touch apps to try out

        • Plants (https://open-store.io/app/plants.s710) by Patrick Jane enables the user to identify the species of a plant by submitting photos for identification. It uses the Pl@ntNet service with a personal API key. 

        • Samsung TV Remote (https://open-store.io/app/samsungtvremote.vtik) by Yassine Nasri is a remote control for Samsung TVs using WebSocket communication. Just enter your TV's IP address in the app's settings page and allow the connection on the TV when requested.


        Please remember that OpenStore has a built-in option to donate to app creators. We urge you to use that button, so that we'll get more great apps on Ubuntu Touch.

        Help needed


        If you have some spare time, we could use some help in the following domains:   

        • The Google Pixel 3a has now Aethercast support on Ubuntu Touch, but the option is not on by default within the Ubuntu Touch build. For each device, the porter needs to finetune the implementation before it can be used. Are you a device porter? Contact the porting group on Telegram (https://t.me/ubports_porting) to find out what you need to do in order to enable Aethercast on the device.

        Ubuntu Touch Q&A 118

        Alfred and Florian were the hosts of the Ubuntu Touch Q&A 118 session. They talked about the Google Pixel 3a port and about progress towards 20.04.

        Alfred was very pleased to announce the first port of Halium for a device with 100% feature coverage: the Google Pixel 3a. [ Sony ExperiaX is also in that stage] You can now even keep listening to music in the background when the device goes into sleep mode. It also implements Aethercast, the Miracast-compatible system that supports wireless external displays. At present it only operates at 720p.

        On the 20.04 front, there was also some news. ADB and SSH work now, so porters and application developers are able to deploy and debug on a real phone. Overall, there are now more hooks which enable developers who are not in the core Focal team to start engaging in a practical way with debugging and testing. As access is improved, more hands can get to work and that should start to speed things up. Florian also explained that there will not be a ‘big bang’ delivery of 20.04. It will roll out gradually, first on some [core developers] devices and then on others. Building 20.04 for one device will teach us lessons for the others.

        You can watch the whole session and read our notes here: https://ubports.com/blog/ubports-news-1/post/ubuntu-touch-q-a-118-3853

        Summary of the Volla Community Days 2022

        Over the hills in Germany, somewhere between Dusseldorf and Koln, lies a charming town called Remscheid. It’s the hometown of the proud Volla Phone founder Dr. Wurzer. Soon, Remscheid will be the place with the one-and-only Volla Coffee Bar. While it might be worth considering a (holiday) trip there, we’d like to give you a short summary of the Volla Community Days that took place last June.
         
        As a hybrid event, you can still watch the livestream on YouTube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVaykbD_K68. In the first day of the event, the launch of the new Volla Phone 22 was central. In one of the breaks, it was great to get our hands on one of the new Volla Phones 22 which feels robust and has a sleek black or white look with a red button on the right side. More info about the phone, you can get on the Kickstarter campaign page https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/volla/volla-phone-22-the-beauty-of-freedom/. On day 2, there was much to learn about the operating systems on the Volla Phone (you can watch Day 2 via this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIflikY3Ds).
         
        We were glad to hear from Dr. Wurzer that he sees a market for Ubuntu Touch. In fact, of all the 5500+ devices, 30% of the customers choose a Volla Phone with Ubuntu Touch pre-installed. This sounds very promising! Later in the morning, our own Florian Leeber gave a talk in which he reassured that the community is still very much alive and kicking. He mentioned that most of the efforts are now put on the 20.04 release, and that together with the Volla team, we are working to release the 20.04 update on the Volla Phone 22 asap. 
         
        So, for all those very patient users, Florian ended his talk with saying: “I have to ask our already, very patient users, to wait until the next 20.04 release arrives. Things will be much more awesome!” 
         
        >>> We promise to update you on the 20.04 release on Volla Phone 22 in the following newsletters. <<<

        Aaand.... It's a wrap! See you at the next edition and remember, keep on hacking!

        Jeroen Baten
        UBports

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        Ubuntu Touch OTA-23 Release