Shuttleworth on Ubuntu Touch: Usable in a Couple of Weeks

As you were able to see in my short review of Ubuntu for Touch devices, (Ubuntu Touch as Mark Shuttleworth calls it) it was incomplete, at best. Although, to be fair, it was only a developer preview; something to show developers what's going on and how this thing works.

The current developer preview features a few core apps like the phone, and media player, as well as some dummy data provided as an example. Though no sane person could use this on a daily basis without getting frustrated at the lack of functionality.

However, this will soon change according to Shuttleworth:

…you can’t really use [the current developer preview] as your every day driver, but in a couple of weeks you’ll be able to.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more information on the matter.

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Ubuntu Phone Developer Preview on the Galaxy Nexus

As promised, here's my experience with the Ubuntu Phone OS.

As the title says, I installed this preview on my Galaxy Nexus and boy was I surprised how simple it was. It was in fact simpler than Flashing a ROM with fastboot or ROM Manager.

However, even though you need Ubuntu to complete the installation, it is possible to do so manually using any operating system; we won't get into that however.

Note: This is only available for the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10. Also, this is a developer preview. Do not expect any bugs to be fixed in the near future, nor should you expect this to be a fully baked product. This is not a product for the average consumer. 

Installation:

The installation couldn't be any simpler. After booting into Ubuntu, you'll want to open up terminal and add this repository by entering the following command:

• sudo add-apt-repository ppa:phablet-team/tools

Then enter the following:

• sudo apt-get update 
• sudo apt-get install phablet-tools android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot 

From this point, you'll need to unlock(root) your smartphone by following these steps:

1.  Turn off your smartphone/tablet
2.  Boot it into the bootloader by holding power/sleep+volume up+volume down
3.  Plug it into the computer via the provided/compatible USB cable.
4.  In terminal, type the command sudo fastboot oem unlock, followed by Enter
5.  On the phone/tablet screen, accept the terms of unlocking.
6.  Hit the power button to boot up the device into Android.

Once you're done this, you'll begin the initial installation process.

 Firstly, you must enable USB debugging via the developer section in your Android settings:

•  on Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0) go to Settings and turn on USB Debugging (Settings > System > Developer options > USB debugging). 
• on Jelly Bean (versions 4.1 and 4.2) you need to enter Settings, About [Phone|Tablet] and tap the Build number 7 times to see the Developer Options, activate USB Debugging via Settings > Developer options > USB debugging. 
• on 4.2.2 you will need to accept a host key on the device, if you already had adb installed, do the followingOn the workstation-> adb kill-server; adb start-server

After doing this, the process becomes extremely simple:

1. If you've unplugged your device since the last time we told you to plug it in, plug it in again. If not, skip to step two. 
2. Open terminal if you don't already have it open. 
3. Type in: phablet-flash -b
4. Wait until all files, etc. are downloaded
5. Should you have ClockworkMod installed as a recovery, your phone will automatically do it's thing, skip to step six. If not, the process of actually installing will be different but will follow this general pattern:
   
   Find pushed files with the names quanal-preinstalled-phablet-armhf.zip and quantal-preinstalled-boot-armel+xxxx.img. (replacing xxxx with the codename of your device.)
   Install them.
6. Again, depending on what recovery you have installed, your device will either automatically reboot or prompt you on whether you want to or not. Should this not happen, perform a battery pull.

You now have Ubuntu Phone installed on your Nexus device.

My experience:

This article was released late due to the emotional turmoil I experienced during use. I wouldn't say that the Ubuntu Phone is bad, but I wouldn't say that it's a fully baked product yet. There are still a ton of things that need to be worked on, and I'm sure the Ubuntu Phone team knows this, but there's also a lot more they could have included in this preview. 

The Bad:

There were so many frustrations that I experienced, though a lot of it could have been avoided if I had read the release notes and through better preparation. For example, the "lock screen" was not functional. 

It was simply an image that you could not do anything with. In order to actually use the device, you had to swipe in from the left side in order to bring up the Unity bar. The most frustrating part of this problem was that you couldn't even pull down the notification/settings center. Again, you had to bring out the Unity bar.

Templates were installed and I couldn't stand this. Not only were there templates installed, there was no way to remove them from inside the device. Canonical gives instructions on how to do this in the release notes, however they had to be executed using a desktop computer running Ubuntu. Template contacts, Template media, template non-functional lock screen. 

The Good:

Thankfully, the experience wasn't all bad. I was happy at how simple the installation process was, I was also surprised. Ubuntu really is Linux for humans. The UI was generally functional and I enjoy the concept that the Ubuntu Phone OS is putting through with the use of the device's edges. Hopefully I'll be able to add to this list in the future.

Have a good afternoon and good luck in the future!

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Ubuntu Phone OS preview for Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 released tomorrow.

If you remember the feature we did on the Ubuntu Phone OS, you'll be happy to hear that Ubuntu Phone OS previews are going to be available shortly, tomorrow that is, for the LG Google Nexus 4 as well as the Samsung Google Galaxy Nexus.

At the moment, we are unsure of exactly what these previews will entail; however, do stay tuned to find out as I will be doing a full review once I've gotten used to the Ubuntu Phone OS.

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Ubuntu Mobile OS gets teased

Ubuntu for Android, released back in 2012, proposed quite a bit for Canonical's foray into the mobile platform and it looks like they were just getting started! Ubuntu Phone is now a thing; a popular one at that.

Ubuntu Phone boasts an innovative look at the mobile interface. With plenty of the well known features of Ubuntu packed into it, the new OS is said to present a whole new way to use the mobile phone where content will be the centre focus on your smartphone's display.

Running native core apps, unlike Android, java won't be in the way so it runs well on even entry level phones. Taking Java out of the equation gives apps the ability to run swift and smoothly, with a smaller memory footprint as well as a smaller battery hit.

Let's talk about the interface. Swipe in from the left and a list of icons representing all your favourite apps transitions into the left side of the screen. Tapping and holding an icon would give you the title of the application the icon selected would represent.

Swiping in from the bottom would bring up any toolbars that the running app had in it's repertoire. Any menu type buttons and extra functions would go here and be hidden until swiping up from the bottom of the display.

 Swiping in from the right would bring the last visited app into the display, essentially creating a system-wide back button. Need to go back and check a phone number to send to a friend? Swipe in from the right. Writing a quick article and quoting another? Swipe in from the right. Surely users will find a bunch more uses than I can.


Along with native apps, like Ubuntu's desktop counterpart, web apps are also a possibility. With the web app API, developers can easily and fluidly install their websites as full apps. Gmail, Facebook and Twitter are just a few examples of sites that have already adapted their code in order to support this API.

Web apps, though, are not the focus here. Native apps for the Ubuntu Phone will have a mobile SDK to take advantage of the blazing fast processors that are out there as well as give you the gorgeous and unique Ubuntu feel.


Search is now faster and simpler than ever. A search will list any type of media from any source on your phone. Not only does search tap into your phone, it also uses the power of the internet. Searching for a person? Ubuntu will hit up your Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as your local contact list. Looking for a movie? Searching Amazon and other film outlets is a snap! So is checking the local movie theaters.


Canonical puts out the Ubuntu as a phone that is all the more personal. Not only is there no lock screen, but there's also a welcome screen featuring all your latest updates, emails, notifications etc.

Keeping everything neat and organized seems to be cinch for Ubuntu Phone. Swiping left to right from home screen to home screen will change filters from apps to videos or from people to music. Everything seems to be just enough in reach to be simple, but out of your way enough to keep it unique. 

For those who love to chat it up and keep connected with others, messaging has become simpler on the Ubuntu Phone. Just like Ubuntu, notifications are pulled from all sorts of services and featured all in one simple easy to follow list. Like so: 

Not only is the Ubuntu phone good at organizing your textual information, it also does wonders with your visual data as well. With a nice photo layout, you'll be saying wow, even at the wows in the photos! 

That seems to be all for now. Hopefully we'll be able to get a first-hand review of the device and hopefully we'll be amazed then just as much as we are! We'll keep you updated.

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