I started to daily drive Ubuntu Touch a few days ago, after some months developing software for it and owning a tablet with the system, the one from Volla.
Device and installation
I bought a Poco X3 NFC, the best device available in Brazil. My idea is to try this device before committing to import a more powerful device.
Installation went well, I had to wait 1 week to unlock the bootloader and downgrade Android to install UT. Not easiest for the average user, but I don’t think the system is ready for this user yet.
Challenges
To me there is two main ongoing challenges:
- Lack of app support, specially proprietary
- My device is not powerful
I used to daily drive an S24 Ultra from Samsung. The downgrade is noticeable. To fully compare with top tier Android/Apple experiences, we need top tier devices, which we don’t have ports yet.
For app support, most of the basic flows I can do without any problems. Mainly missing:
- Photos: the Poco X3 NFC port has problems with its camera, quality is not good
- Maps/Driving: Lack of AGPS makes navigation apps unreliable
- Banking: Impossible to run apps with security checks, even with Android Layer installed
- Automatic Brightness: the algorithm is not good for my taste, often the screen is too dark
As you can see, “basic” features are not available, for which I keep my Android phone around.
I plan to run this as my main system for a few more days, let’s see how it goes.