Ubuntu Touch OTA-17 Arrives May 12 with NFC Support, Available for Testing Now

Ubuntu Touch OTA-16

The UBports Foundation announced a call for testing for their upcoming Ubuntu Touch OTA-17 software update for supported Ubuntu phones, which is slated for release on May 12th, 2021.

Ubuntu Touch OTA-17 is the next major software update for Ubuntu Phone devices, promising support for NFC hardware on various devices, including the Google Pixel 3a and Volla Phone. Besides the obvious benefits, NFC support will also enable developers to add the ability to read or write NFC tags in their apps.

“People have already been thinking up ideas for how to use NFC features to read from passive medical monitors… This is a feature that seems to make people very excited,” said UBports.

While UBports devs continue their transition for Ubuntu Touch to the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) base, they added various enhancements to the Ubuntu Touch OTA-17 release. Among these, they improved battery life and notifications for the Google Pixel 3a phone, added a Macedonian keyboard layout, and improved automatic screen brightness on the Volla Phone.

In addition, the upcoming Ubuntu Touch software update promises improved camera flash, zoom, rotation, and focus support for many of the supported Ubuntu Phone devices, including the OnePlus One and Sony Xperia X.

Other than that, Ubuntu Touch OTA-17 will correctly load word prediction on Swiss-French and English (Dvorak) keyboard layouts, and makes the switching of the keyboard editing overlay between selection and movement mode more reliable when using a double-tap.

The software update is set to arrive next week on Wednesday, May 12th, but, until then, UBports Foundation needs your support to download, install and test the OTA-17 release candidate on your devices. More details on that are available on the call for testing announcement.

Last updated 3 years ago

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