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Ubuntu Touch OTA-4 Focal
Call for Testing

Hello again, everyone!

I'm happy to announce that it is time to ask for your help in testing Ubuntu Touch OTA-4 for 20.04! This is slated for release on January 25th, 2024. Before then, we need to make sure it's ready to go!

What's new?


You can now hide notifications' content while locked

We used to always show all notification's content even when the screen is locked. This can lead to an awkward situations if the content is inappropriate. In this OTA, we've added a setting to allow you to hide the content of the notification.


You can access the settings at System Settings > Security & Privacy > Locking and unlocking > When locked: > Hide notifications content. Note that for now, other people could still read the notification content from the quick settings at the top. So, you may want to disable "Allow quick settings" in the same page as well.

Credit goes to Lionel Duboeuf (@lduboeuf)

The lock screen now shows the estimated time to charge your phone

Ever wondered how long it will take to charge your phone? We've added the charge time estimation, directly on the lock screen.


If you prefer not to see it, you can disable it in System Settings > Battery > Show charging information on lock screen.

Credit goes to Muhammad (@TheVancedGamer).

Theme switching now built-in

We have always had a system-wide dark mode in the system. However, in the past, you had to use a third-party app to access the necessary button. In this OTA, we've added a new toggle switch in the System Settings to allow you to change it without the need of an additional app.

To access it, go to System Settings > Background & Appearance. For now, it will affect applications only, and not the other system components (such as notifications). Also, you'll have to restart the applications for the change to take effect. In the fuDefault Paragraph Styleture, we plan to extend this system to also affect system components, and to have the change applied immediately, too (theme live-switching).

Credit goes to Muhammad (@TheVancedGamer).

Each contact get its own ringtone

Maybe you want a special ringtone for your significant other, or maybe you need a specific ringtone to warn you that the caller is hard to deal with. In this OTA, now you can assign a specific ringtone for a specific contact. You can access it by editing a contact or adding a new one then select Add field > Ringtone.

Credit goes to Lionel Duboeuf (@lduboeuf).

For developers: connecting your phone to new a computer now asks for confirmation

When using ADB for the first time on a computer, the following dialogue will appear when you unlock the screen.


This ensures that ADB commands will not work on a new computer unless the user unlocks the phone and acknowledges the dialogue. Selecting “Allow” will make the ADB commands work for this session, and will also remember this computer so that it won’t prompt you again in the future.

Credit goes to Ratchanan Srirattanamet (@peat_psuwit)

Other noteworthy Changes

•    The ability for apps to specify custom vibration patterns is now fixed. For example, Teleports' notification will now have 2 short pulses instead of a single long one.
•    Using a Bluetooth headset for voice call should work more reliably.
•    Double-tap-to-wake settings now will be properly persist across reboots.
•    For Waydroid users, you will less likely encounter camera problems after you exit Waydroid. However, this is not yet fully resolved, we're still working on finding a way to completely fix the issue.
•    You will no longer see "Low storage space" warning on the barcode reader app.
•    oFono has been patched against CVE-2023-4233 & CVE-2023-4234.
•    QtWebEngine, our web-browser engine, has been updated to 5.15.16 (the latest in 5.15.x line).
•    You should experience less occurrences of "have LTE, but can't access internet" in the area of low cellular coverage.
•    "Sign in with Google" and similar features on other networks are now fixed on certain websites. This also fixes websites that communicate with their pop-ups.
•    On incoming calls when mobile data is enabled, the incoming call interrupts the mobile data connectivity. With this OTA, after having finished the phone call, mobile data connectivity comes back again immediately and does not require being switched off and on again any more.

The System Settings app has seen multiple improvements:

•    The layout of a few pages (e.g. Sound) have been adjusted to be more consistent. There are more like this to come in the future, so stay tuned!
◦    https://gitlab.com/ubports/development/core/lomiri-system-settings/-/merge_requests/393
◦    https://gitlab.com/ubports/development/core/lomiri-system-settings/-/merge_requests/404
•    You can now delete your custom background image that you've added earlier, in case you don't want to have that background image any more.
•    You can now adjust the sensitivity of the edge gestures in Lomiri. If you install a case or a bumper on your device, you can now increase the width of the edge area so that swipes from the border into the screen centre become easier for you. Or maybe you find it too sensitive, now you also can reduce it. The new setting can be found in System Settings > Gestures. Currently only visible though on a device that supports double tap to wake.
•    You can now use the physical camera button to shoot the photo.
◦    https://gitlab.com/ubports/development/apps/lomiri-camera-app/-/merge_requests/162
•    When requesting a file from File Manager app over Content Hub, the app opens more smoothly.
◦    https://gitlab.com/ubports/development/apps/lomiri-filemanager-app/-/merge_requests/105

Important bug fixes:

address-book-app · Note field is not visible in suru dark theme
https://gitlab.com/ubports/development/core/address-book-app/-/issues/232

messaging-app · start in landscape: compose bar not shown
https://gitlab.com/ubports/development/core/messaging-app/-/issues/340

lomiri-sounds · Needs compatibility symlinks for share/sounds/{ubuntu,ubports}/
https://gitlab.com/ubports/development/core/messaging-app/-/issues/339

messaging-app · in landscape we don't know which thread is selected
https://gitlab.com/ubports/development/core/messaging-app/-/issues/339

messaging-app · Messaging-app stuck at splash screen sometimes
https://gitlab.com/ubports/development/core/messaging-app/-/issues/338

lomiri-system-settings-system-update · Significant slowdown of entire settings app when installing update
https://gitlab.com/ubports/development/core/lomiri-system-settings-system-update/-/issues/10

How can I test?


We want to ensure that every release we ship is better than the previous one, so we're looking to our entire community to help us with the QA (Quality Assurance) of OTA-4. 

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

* Which device are you using? 
* Does the issue appear fixed in your testing? 
* Did you notice any side effects of the change as it is listed in the issue or Pull Request? 

Testing any issue should be easy. On your device do the following: 

1. Update all of your apps using "System Settings -> Updates" or "My Apps" in the OpenStore app 
2. Head to System Settings -> Updates -> Update Settings -> Release Channel 
3. Select `rc` 
4. Go back to the Updates screen to install the downloaded update 

After your phone reboots, you'll be on the OTA-xy release candidate! Of course, **only** step 4 is required if you are already on the `rc` channel and this update will come through as usual. 

The image which loads will be named "(2024-W02)" or newer. You can find your image version in System Settings -> About -> OS. 

Now you can pick any issue from the mentioned topics above (Follow GitLab link and comment on an MR) ensure that you are not able to reproduce it. If you can't reproduce the issue, the fix worked! If you can reproduce the issue (or you notice something else that 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 an OTA-4 Call for Testing forum post  where we can discuss any questions you may have about anything that comes up during your testing. 

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Ubuntu Touch Q&A 129
Enhacement of Aethercast, Backup solutions, SIP