We had a little chat with Alfred E. Neumayer, one of the presenters of the bi-weekly Ubuntu Touch Q&A sessions. He is also known as Fredl in the UBports community and recently worked on NFC support in Ubuntu Touch.

How did you become involved in the UBports community?

I wanted to see Ubuntu Touch on my then daily-driver phone, the Sony Xperia X. Nobody did it before, so I started working on a port. I fixed things in the system itself for better integration and the benefit of others. That’s how I got involved in the community and I’ve been a happy camper since.

Which of your developments on Ubuntu Touch are you most proud of and why?

I’m most proud of my ports for the Sony Xperia X and Google Pixel 3a, as well as my recent work on enabling NFC for newer, capable devices.

What are you currently working on?

Currently I’m polishing the Pixel 3a port and, occasionally, working on my Ubuntu Touch apps. With the last remaining issues fixed I think the Pixel 3a will prove to be a valuable alternative to the currently supported core devices. It’s already a good port, but it could be improved a little.

What’s the number one feature you’d like to add to Ubuntu Touch in the future?

I really would like to see some proper integration of background activity capabilities for apps without draining the battery. Something like events that allow photo backups in apps like GhostCloud to back up photos automatically to any cloud instance.

What advice would you give to community members that want to develop for the Ubuntu Touch platform?

Be persistent in what you are trying to accomplish. The community consists of nice, helpful people. Whether it being app development, porting or improving the system. You can feel right at home and finish your goals for yourself and the community.