As I publish this, the OTA-6 update for Ubuntu Touch may have just entered the Release Candidate (rc) channel. It also may not have. It's our job to decide that over the next week.

We have a set of 25 issues which were closed over the OTA-6 cycle. A summary of the changes can be found below, but for now I'd like to talk about our role in its release.

How can I test?

We want to ensure that every release we ship is better than the previous, so we're looking to our entire community to help us with QA (Quality Assurance) of OTA-6.

We've prepared a GitHub Project for OTA-6 QA which lists the issues we'd like your feedback on. The To Do column lists issues which do not have complete test results. The Accepted column lists issues which, thanks to our efforts here, are confirmed to be fixed. The Rejected column lists issues which are not fixed, or the fix introduces a severe negative side effect. The goal at the end of this is to have every issue in the Accepted column. :)

We're interested in hearing your feedback on everything in the To Do column. We want to know:

• Which device are you using?
• Is the issue fixed in your testing?
• Are there any side effects to the change as it is listed in the issue or Pull Request?

Testing any issue should be easy. On your device:

1. Head to System Settings -> Updates -> Update Settings -> Release Channel
2. Select rc
3. Go back to the Updates screen to install the downloaded update

After your phone reboots, you'll be on the OTA-6 release candidate! Of course, only step 3 is required if you are already on the rc channel, this update will come through as normal.

You will receive an image named (2018-W48) or newer. You can find your image version in System Settings -> About -> OS.

Now you can pick any issue in the To Do column in the OTA-6 QA project, then ensure that you are unable to reproduce it as listed in the issue. If you can't reproduce the issue, the fix worked! If you can still reproduce the issue (or you notice something else isn't right), we want to know about that too. Leave a comment with your device and image version, then let us know the results of your test.

We also have a OTA-6 Call for Testing forum post where we can discuss any questions you may have about anything that comes up during your testing. This is our first time trying this workflow, so please let us know what you think.

How else can I help?

If you prefer not to update early on your device, or if you don't have an Ubuntu Touch device, you can still help us make this release a success. The administration tasks for the OTA-6 release (including this blog post) are being tracked in a GitLab epic, OTA-6 Release. If you have input on the tasks listed there, please leave a comment there to let us know.

What's new?

• Users can sign in to Nextcloud accounts with special characters in their password, thanks to YugiFanGX!
• Controls in system-settings re-anchored to not be hidden by the header, thanks to Michele!
• Oneplus One users will find multiple fixes, thanks to Florian!
  • WLAN MAC Address is correctly set based on the hardware
  • Earpiece or headset volume can be changed during phone calls
  • The remote side of a phone call will no longer hear an echo of themselves
• Calendar fixes
  • New Event dialog now suggests your default calendar when you open it from a long press
• Hacktoberfest helpers came in to tackle a few lightweight but hard-hitting bugs
  • Welcome wizard automatically advances after hitting "Enter" when typing your name, thanks Miguel Gutiérrez!
  • URL input box no longer has autocorrect, thanks Rocky Singh!
• Morph-browser improvements, thanks to Chris!
  • "Restore previous session at startup" fixed
  • Dialog to warn about self-signed certificates added
  • Added option to allow webapps to access local content on device
  • Updated UserAgent to allow use of ReCaptcha
  • Media stops when a tab is closed
  • Tabs no longer get unloaded immediately after being switched away from
  • The scrollbar now matches the system theme, thanks to mateosalta!

Known issues

• The viewfinder on the Nexus 5 still freezes. Similar issues have been reported on the Oneplus One and Nexus 4
  • Workaround: Switching apps or opening the gallery and going back brings the viewfinder back. Pictures can be taken normally while the viewfinder is frozen.
• In some apps, dialog boxes will fly off the screen when the keyboard appears. A fix is proposed but can't be merged until a test harness bug is fixed.
• In the browser, selection boxes will be opened in a new window. This is expected to remain until a newer version of Mir is used, which will allow for drawing tooltips in the surface that created them.
• On larger screens (such as the BQ M10 and Nexus 7), the browser will close after opening a selection box while in landscape mode.
  • Workaround: Either move the browser to a side stage (press with three fingers and drag to the right) or hold the device in portrait mode.
• When switching between text boxes in the browser, the input type of the keyboard is not updated (for example, when going from a numbers-only text field to a URL field).
  • Workaround: dismiss the keyboard before changing text fields

What's next?

Once testing has concluded and we've determined there are no critical regressions, the current RC image will be promoted to the Stable channel to be enjoyed by all users of Ubuntu Touch. We expect this to occur at the latest on the 7th of December.