Your biweekly UBports newsletter is here!

Hello community!

Welcome to the UBports Foundation email newsletter, May 28th, 2021

From your editor

And here we are again with a new edition of the news letter. I think we are turning out to be a really regular thing these days. Like bowel movements regular I could say. Anyway, this time we have again some fine UT news for you all. A review on the youtubes, something about the recent OTA-17 and an interview with none other than Alfred E. Neumayer!

And, as always, we like to keep things short and sweet. Do I have any personal pearls of wissdom to share this week? Well, actually, nope, nothing comes to mind. Sorry. Maybe next time? Greetings to you all, and don't forget, keep on hackin'!

Warm greetings,

Jeroen Baten

News, hot from the press

Well, there is a review of Ubuntu Touch on the PinePhone! You can watch it on YouTube through this link:

Review of UT on the PinePhone

Help needed

Hi, it's me again! Your nagging editor who will start talking about his efforts to create an email list of journalists and news desks to send press releases to needs your help. Sofar, the response of those who took a few minutes to help me out is simply amazing. I now have 9 countrues of the 195 countries in the world! \o/

So, I guess when I keep reminding people that it will be done in twentyonehundredsomething. Anyway, if you can spare just one minute, simply send me an email at jeroen@ubports.com with one url of one IT magazine in your country. Can you do that for me? Please? Pretty please?

Your Picture

Looking back

on OTA-17

With the release of OTA-17 two weeks ago, the newest Ubuntu Touch version has been rolled out to all users. NFC support is an exciting addition.

OTA-17 brings NFC (near-field communication) support to most devices with Android 9 hardware compatibility. This includes the Google Pixel 3a and the Volla Phone. The NFC functionality is the work of Alfred Neumayer, who also published some demo apps. We're eagerly waiting for the first NFC apps appearing in OpenStore!

OTA-17 also received some device-specific fixes. The Pixel 3a's battery life has improved significantly and the setup of Libertine containers on the OnePlus 3 is working now. Opening the trust store or online accounts no longer freezes the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7, and automatic screen brightness is now working for real on the Volla Phone.

OTA-17 is still based on Ubuntu 16.04, and OTA-18 will be too. The latter will also be a smaller release. The Ubuntu Touch developers now spend most of their time on the migration to a Ubuntu 20.04 base, which is progressing as planned.

What are your experiences with OTA-17? Let us know! Click the reply button and tell me/us!

Interview with Alfred E. Neumayer

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.

You can read the full interview on our blog:

Interview with Alfred on our blog page,

In other news

I know this has little to do with our project but, in case you hadn't noticed, there is something going on in the world of IRC (Internet Relay Chat). A network that has been well-known for a long time called "Freenode΅ ran into some internal troubles.

Thanks to Tobiyo Kuujika who mentioned this in the UBPports Telegram group.

If you want to read one side of this story, the side of the community of operators, then here is a link to a long article explaining all ins and outs:

GitHub gist with the story

And... it's a wrap! Stay tuned for our next episode in two weeks. If you want to let me know what you think, write me an email (jeroen@ubports.com)