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The UBports Foundation announced today a call for testing for the upcoming OTA-14 software update for their Ubuntu Touch mobile operating system for Linux smartphones and tablets.
Coming hot on the heels of the Ubuntu Touch OTA-13 update, which arrived last month with support for the Sony Xperia X family and the OnePlus 3 and 3T devices, the upcoming Ubuntu Touch OTA-14 software update is currently scheduled for November 4th, 2020.
In this release, the UBports development team focused their efforts on improving support for Android 9 devices, most specifically for the forthcoming Volla Phone, which will start shipping to backers next month and will also offer a variant powered by Ubuntu Touch.
Among the improvements shipping in OTA-14 for the Volla Phone and other Android 9 devices, there’s better camera support, flashlight support, proper loading of hardware media codecs, functional external display support using HardwareComposer2, as well as the ability to close apps using swipe gestures.
In addition, the Ubuntu Touch OTA-14 update will feature various improvements to the Contacts and Messaging apps, better support for compiling Ubuntu Touch software on newer distributions, as well as an updated UBports Installer with support for the Nexus 6P phone and Sony Xperia Z4 tablet.
Other changes include a new “Screenshot” button in the Power menu, full-screen support for the Morph web browser on Wayland devices, a new splash image to the External Drives app, improved SMS/MMS message handling, as well as numerous other bug fixes for a more stable and reliable experience.
While Bluetooth calls are still not functional on most devices, the OTA-14 release will also come with ability for Ubuntu Touch to reroute media to your Bluetooth headset or car kit on disconnection and re-connection.
If you have a supported device and you want Ubuntu Touch OTA-14 to arrive on time, you should go ahead and test drive the Release Candidate using the instructions provided by the UBports devs here. If you have any questions or for reporting bugs, check out this forum thread.
Last updated 3 years ago
