Ubuntu Phone Preview

[user1397]

I must say I haven't felt this excited about ubuntu in a long time. I am currently typing this from my nexus 4 with ubuntu phone preview running as my OS. How cool is that? Very cool.

[jfmd]

Very cool! Pics? I want to do this to my Galaxy M.

[Dragonbite]

Pics! Pics!

[user1397]

here you go!

[jfmd]

Nice! Was the install simple, do all the phone functions work?

[kungfupete]

Would love to hear a "mini-review" sometime if you get a chance!

[user1397]

Sorry, I've been meaning to write a mini-review indeed but I was at work all day :/
Anywho here it goes:

So it was AMAZINGLY simple to get it up and running. It definitely helped that I had not messed around too much with my nexus 4 in the first place, so backing up my stuff was trivial (I had my contacts/pics/videos/apps saved with my google account).

I used this (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/02/how-to-install-ubuntu-phone-tablet-preview-on-nexus-devices) guide to install ubuntu phone on to my nexus. They made it very easy, adding a ppa and copying/pasting a command here and there and it is all very automatic.

I booted into ubuntu phone and I was quite awestruck. At first it was a bit laggy as if it was still trying to boot up or load some stuff in the background. Every side of the screen serves a purpose, which I think is very intuitive. The left side bring up your app bar with your favorite apps. For now, it includes the home button, facebook, the actual phone app, browser, and a couple other "dummy" apps that aren't yet functional. Worthy of note - the phone app does not work yet, so you can dial numbers in the key pad but you cannot actually press the call button. Anyway the bottom edge brings up whatever the options of the current app are, e.g. url address and back/forward buttons if you're on the browser (which works 100%, althought a bit laggy sometimes and it has a hard time with pictures I noticed), or for example it would have the flash, take picture, and other settings if you're on the camera app. The right edge takes you back to your previous app, making it very easy to go back to what you were doing. The top bar has your notifications, and unlike android or iOS, you can select which icon to slide down and show you it's options (e.g. you can drop down just the battery settings or just the volume controls etc). The actual touch interface felt surprisingly fluid. I noticed that if I turned the phone on it is a bit laggy for a few seconds but then it's really smooth, but then again if you leave the phone on for a long time it starts slowing to a crawl and you have to restart it or else it lags real bad.

Anyway the camera app worked, the gallery worked, the web browser worked, the facebook app worked although it was really slow. I was able to immediately detect any wifi network and connect to my wifi seamlessly. It wuold even reconnect to a previously saved wifi network automatically just like you would expect from any smartphone nowadays. I really like how everything just seems so conveniently placed. Instead of having oddly placed buttons everything feels very natural, as if it the interface is trying to get out of your way and just letting you browse content.

Well that's about it. Again, the preview is still extremely limited but it is impressive nonetheless. I am quite hopeful and excited for the future of ubuntu phone, and I will be following up on it and installing newer images as they make progress.

*Note: For people with nexus 4's that want to try this, and want to install android back after trying out ubuntu phone, this guide worked flawlessly for me: http://forums.androidcentral.com/nexus-4-rooting-roms-hacks/223923-guide-nexus-4-factory-image-restore.html

[Wenhao Li]

Can it corporate with Andrioid seamlessly?

[user1397]

Can it corporate with Andrioid seamlessly?
This i'm not sure of yet. As far as i can tell no, but then again i've seen ubuntu running microsoft office as a thin client seamlessly so anything's possible at this point.

[kungfupete]

very nice ubuntuman, while I don't have a device right now to try it on (recently purchased an LG Optimus G) I look forward to getting my hands on this!

[photonian]

Will this work on the Casio Commando?

[bashhimup]

The Ubuntu Phone Preview looks pretty good, actually.