Ubuntu Touch OTA-12 Is Coming May 13th with a Revamped Home Screen

Ubuntu Touch OTA-12

The UBports Foundation announced over the weekend the availability for public testing of the forthcoming Ubuntu Touch OTA-12 software update for Ubuntu Phone devices.

Many months in development, Ubuntu Touch OTA-12 promises major changes to the mobile operating system for Ubuntu Phone devices. Of course, the biggest new feature will be the new Lomiri interface.

Well, it’s not really new to the Ubuntu Touch developers as, in fact, it’s the old Unity 8 interface initially developed by Canonical for their version of Ubuntu Touch.

While Unity 8 never saw the light of day, UBports Foundation’s endless efforts made it possible to finally bring it to users’ devices, powered, of course, by the latest Mir release, Mir 1.2.

Back to Lomiri, the new interface comes with some major changes compared to what you’re using now on your Ubuntu Phone mobile device.

For example, it introduces new interaction modes, including the Application Drawer, and removes the Scopes and the Dash. As such, your old home screen will be no more after updating to OTA-12.

“We expect the removal of scopes will be the most talked-about change in this update, as it will change the home screen for everyone. This topic was heavily discussed in I wanna go home on the UBports Forum, and we expect this discussion will continue with this update,” said an UBports developer.

Of course, Ubuntu Touch OTA-12 will pack lots of other improvements to make your Ubuntu Phone experience better, but all will be revealed when the update hits the streets on May 6th, 2020.

Until then, the UBports Foundation would need community’s help to test it to ensure a very stable release. So if you’re willing to help them, go check out the instructions on the call for testing announcement.

Update on May 6th: UBports Foundation announced that due to a critical issue they were forced to delay the release of the OTA-12 update with a week. Therefore, they’ve extended the call for testing until May 13th.

Last updated 4 years ago

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