As a new year approaches (or has arrived, for much of the world), we're preparing for the release of Ubuntu Touch OTA-7! OTA-7 is slated to come out on Tuesday, the 8th of January. Until then, it needs to be tested to ensure its quality!
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-7.
We've prepared a GitHub Project for OTA-7 QA which lists the issues we'd like your feedback on. The QA column lists issues which do not have complete test results. The Done column lists issues which, thanks to our efforts here, are confirmed to be fixed. The In Progress 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 Done column. :)
We're interested in hearing your feedback on everything in the QA 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 straightforward. On your device:
- Head to System Settings -> Updates -> Update Settings -> Release Channel
- Select
rc - Go back to the Updates screen to install the downloaded update
After your phone reboots, you'll be on the OTA-7 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 (2019-W01) or newer. You can find your image version in System Settings -> About -> OS.
Note: It appears that an issue with our release script caused this release candidate to be named (2018-W01). RC releases after this will be named (2019-W02) and newer.
Now you can pick any issue in the QA column in the OTA-7 project, then ensure that you are unable to reproduce the issue, as reported in the list. 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-7 Call for Testing forum post where we can discuss any questions you may have about anything that comes up during your testing.
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-7 release (including this blog post) are being tracked in a GitLab epic, OTA-7 Release. If you have input on the tasks listed there, please leave a comment there to let us know.
What's new?
- Add themes to on-screen keyboard: ubports/keyboard-component#57 and ubports/system-settings#117
- Fix issue with mobile network dropping after a call on Pro 5: ubports/telepathy-ofono#3
- Fix a problem where low-RAM devices (Bq E4.5 and E5) would run out of memory and kill Unity8: ubports/lxc-android-config#20
- Fix issue causing Swiss-French keyboard to not load: ubports/keyboard-component#61
- Switch online accounts logins to use QtWebEngine, breaking Oxide dependency: ubports/ubuntu-system-settings-online-accounts#6
- Upgrade to upstream Libhybris: upborts/libhybris#7
- Add support in Mir for Android 7 on Qualcomm phones: ubports/mir#12
- Fix an issue where the header of "Share to..." was bordered in red: ubports/system-settings#119
- Morph-browser
- Fix problem where closing a single browser window would close the browser: ubports/morph-browser#131
- Fix problem where closed windows would be reopened in new browser sessions: ubports/morph-browser#131
- Add ability to close the current tab from the tab switcher view: ubports/morph-browser#131
- Prevent the device going to sleep while a video is playing: ubports/morph-browser#132
- Fix desktop mode not being respected in first tab: ubports/morph-browser#120
- Fix an issue where some drivers and cryptographic ciphers weren't available on the Nexus 4: ubports/ubuntu-touch#996
- Enable installation of Ubuntu Touch on those Nexus 7 2013 Wi-Fi handsets which shipped initially with Android 5.1: ubports/ubuntu-touch#300
We look foward to reaching new heights in 2019, with OTA-7 being the first of many releases this year!