OTA-22 finally adds video calls to Ubuntu Touch

Ubuntu Touch, the privacy-friendly and freedom-respecting mobile operating system by UBports, has released OTA-22. The most important feature of this release is the support of video calls in the web browser. Other additions are an FM radio daemon, autocomplete in the dialer app and a lot of device-specific improvements.

Video calls is a long-awaited feature of Ubuntu Touch users, and OTA-22 now finally has it. A lot of people have been begging us to make video calling an option, because on other smartphone platforms this has been possible for a while. For many users video calls were one of the last hurdles to make their Ubuntu Touch phone their daily driver.

If you want to try this out, just open a video calling web app such as Jitsi Meet, Whereby or Element (for Matrix) in Morph Browser. When the permissions dialog pops up, give the browser access to your device’s microphone and camera.

For now this feature only works in Morph Browser, but this is already a great experience and will make a lot of Ubuntu Touch users happy. This is also the door opener to video calling in apps in the future.

Device-specific improvements

OTA-22 has a lot of improvements for specific devices. On the Volla Phone X, this release is switching from a Halium 9 to Halium 10 system image. This enables the fingerprint reader and fixes a few other problems.

The Pixel 3a and 3a XL have received a lot of improvements to their sound quality and volume control. These devices also have a “booster mode” now to limit the number of CPUs and save energy when the screen is turned off.

The port of Ubuntu Touch to the Oneplus 5 and 5T is now complete, with some final fixes and a working fingerprint reader in the latter. This makes these devices another good option if you need an Ubuntu Touch phone that “just works (tm)”

This release also adds an FM radio daemon. On devices with the required FM radio hardware, such as the Redmi Note 7 Pro (violet), this will make it possible to listen to analog radio stations in the future. A companion app is being tested now.

Other improvements

Some other improvements introduced in OTA-22 are:

• The dialer app now has autocomplete functionality. While typing numbers, you’ll see contacts appearing that fit the number you are typing. Just press the contact to dial.

• WebGL is finally turned on for most devices. This makes it possible to show 3D graphics in Morph Browser.

• QQC2 apps will now follow the system theme. If this is set to dark, those apps will also show the dark theme.

• The greeter (lock screen) has some improvements, and the emergency bar at the bottom is now prettier.

Bugs fixed

Some of the more notable bugs that have been fixed:

• The Messaging app does no longer crop MMS images.

• If you are trying out ringtones or notification sounds and close the system settings, playback will now stop properly.

• On devices that already received a required kernel patch, camera permissions are enforced again. It might take one or two OTA releases before this fix lands on all devices.

• The shader cache for QML is now working correctly and will hopefully speed up a few milliseconds when apps need a shader.

How to get OTA-22 on your device

OTA-22 will become available for supported Ubuntu Touch devices over the next week. Have a look at the release notes for the full list of devices that receive this update and for the known issues of this release on some devices.

Devices will be randomly allocated the update. If your devices is on the Stable channel (which is the default), you’ll receive the OTA-22 update by using the Updates screen of the System Settings app.

If you would like to receive the update immediately, turn on ADB access and issue the following command over adb shell:

sudo system-image-cli -v -p 0 --progress dots

Your device should then download and install the update.

If you’re a new Ubuntu Touch user and want to try the newest OTA-22 release on your own device, you’ll find installation instructions on devices.ubuntu-touch.io