With OTA-24, the developers at UBports have released the last feature update for the mobile operating system Ubuntu Touch based on the now extremely outdated Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (“Xenial Xerus”). The switch to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (“Focal Fossa”) is then planned for 2023. Before that, a bugfix release should appear.
Xenias Xerus has to give way to the Focal Fossa
While the free developer community is working on a new framework for Ubuntu Touch based on the LTS version released in April 2020, the current offshoot and its now outdated foundation from 2016 are once again experiencing minor improvements.
The official release notes list the following new features, optimizations and bug fixes for Ubuntu Touch OTA-24.
- Fingerprint unlock: More backoff time between read retries
- Initial gesture support with double-tap to wake for selected devices
- Handle sms://URL scheme to open messaging app properly
- Messaging app and sms/mms middleware: Various fixes
- Media buttons on headsets work for most devices
- Aethercast: 1080p support, various other fixes
- Mir-Android-Platform performance tweaks
Ubuntu Touch OTA-24 – Release Notes
For the upcoming OTA-25, the developers are providing error corrections as well as LTS support in prospect before the long-awaited change to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is supposed to be in the house.
This is the last OTA for Ubuntu 16.04 (xenial) with major features. The next OTA-25 will be mainly security fixes and long-term support updates for xenial.
Ubuntu 20.04 (focal) base has progressed quite far and so we are preparing everything for the switch. This also means that we will prepare OTA support for 20.04!
UBports
The rollout of the latest version on compatible devices has already begun and can now be triggered manually via sudo system-image-cli -v -p 0 –progress dots.
Support for Pixel and Fairphone
Meanwhile, 87 smartphones and tablets are supported by Ubuntu Touch, including the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL as well as the Fairphone 1, 2, 3 and 4. Numerous smartphones from Xiaomi, OnePlus and Sony are also represented.
Ubuntu Touch in the community test
Users who would like to have a more comprehensive about Ubuntu Touch, you can do so directly in the ComputerBase forum. The community member “merlin123” already had the PinePhone with Allwinner SoC in hands-on with Manjaro Linux and Ubuntu Touch at the end of 2020.
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