Current status of PPP usability/functionality

[tckosvic]

A year to 2 years ago, I was heavily involved in trying to get PPP usable through software tests and mods.  I provided about 150 comments to the forum in this effort.  I tried so many SD card, SIM card changes during this testing that I physically broke the SIM card holder in the PPP phone making it not functional as a cell phone.  I never received the free replacement SIM card holder that was promised by Pinephone even after providing all of their required data.  For more than a year, my PPP (and the earlier PP) has been shelved and I have dropped out of PPP efforts.

I am still a believer in linux phone technology, particularly for privacy reasons, after I see reports of the newest gimmicks by the major phone manufacturers. I am also a 20 year exclusively linux user on my PCs. 

I am trying to get an assessment of where PPP stands as to functionality currently to be a "daily driver" cell phone.  I am retired, i.e., heavyweight business needs are over; my needs are moderate. I would put money into repairing my PPP if things currently look better. 

Here is what I would need in order to justify an investment into getting my PPP repaired.
     At least 12 hour battery life w/o charger
     Functional recharging capability
     Reliable/repeatable boots
     Good capability to send and receive phone calls where one could hear and be heard by a connecting party
     Ability to reliably send SMS messages over cell network.  I use Consumer Cellular which did allow calls on PPP with it's SIM card on some OS              a while ago.
     Ability to send MMS messages (attachments)
     Some auxiliary app functions, i.e., navigation, cameras would be nice if progress has been made on that.

Would appreciate any info on your success in meeting these needs. Include OS and desktop name and versions.  Also any mods made to the phone to achieve.

thanks all.    tom kosvic

[zetabeta]

A year to 2 years ago, I was heavily involved in trying to get PPP usable through software tests and mods.  I provided about 150 comments to the forum in this effort.  I tried so many SD card, SIM card changes during this testing that I physically broke the SIM card holder in the PPP phone making it not functional as a cell phone.  I never received the free replacement SIM card holder that was promised by Pinephone even after providing all of their required data.  For more than a year, my PPP (and the earlier PP) has been shelved and I have dropped out of PPP efforts.

I am still a believer in linux phone technology, particularly for privacy reasons, after I see reports of the newest gimmicks by the major phone manufacturers. I am also a 20 year exclusively linux user on my PCs. 

I am trying to get an assessment of where PPP stands as to functionality currently to be a "daily driver" cell phone.  I am retired, i.e., heavyweight business needs are over; my needs are moderate. I would put money into repairing my PPP if things currently look better. 

Here is what I would need in order to justify an investment into getting my PPP repaired.
     At least 12 hour battery life w/o charger
     Functional recharging capability
     Reliable/repeatable boots
     Good capability to send and receive phone calls where one could hear and be heard by a connecting party
     Ability to reliably send SMS messages over cell network.  I use Consumer Cellular which did allow calls on PPP with it's SIM card on some OS              a while ago.
     Ability to send MMS messages (attachments)
     Some auxiliary app functions, i.e., navigation, cameras would be nice if progress has been made on that.

Would appreciate any info on your success in meeting these needs. Include OS and desktop name and versions.  Also any mods made to the phone to achieve.

thanks all.    tom kosvic

assuming pp pro, most will not be fulfilled. similar argument for pp regular. although i don't know all the details.

i mostly use mobian/testing/trixie.

At least 12 hour battery life w/o charger

no, with suspend maybe yes. i don't use suspend, but suspend is unreliable in some cases.

Functional recharging capability

this works for me. is the problem if battery is totally drained?! if that, then some special procedures are required.

Reliable/repeatable boots

works for me. is the problem borked updates or bad suspend ?!

Good capability to send and receive phone calls where one could hear and be heard by a connecting party

varies. updates may change the situation.

Ability to reliably send SMS messages over cell network. 

i think this works, but may have some issues.

Ability to send MMS messages (attachments)

this is something, i don't use that much.

Some auxiliary app functions, i.e., navigation, cameras would be nice if progress has been made on that.

i tested gps antenna on pp pro recently, and it seems to be better than pp regular. but how that gps info is relayed into apps is complicated. gpsd is one option.

[mikehenson]

Here is what I would need in order to justify an investment into getting my PPP repaired.

    At least 12 hour battery life w/o charger - Not yet. I would say 10% drop per hour with light use. 
    Functional recharging capability - Yes, No issues here
    Reliable/repeatable boots - Yes, always boots
    Good capability to send and receive phone calls where one could hear and be heard by a connecting party - Other person hears an echo of their voice.
    Ability to reliably send SMS messages over cell network. - Yes
    Ability to send MMS messages (attachments) - Yes for about a year now
    Some auxiliary app functions, i.e., navigation, cameras would be nice if progress has been made on that. - Use osmin, Camera app will start then crash. See my link below for more apps I use.
   

See this post for a complete install and setup.
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=18192

See this post for my experience on functionally 
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...#pid118783

Device: PinePhonePro (Daily driver)
OS: DanctNIX Arch with Phosh
Carrier: USA - Patriot Mobile (T-Mobile SIM)
EG25 Firmware: Biktorgj 0.7.2
ADSP Version: 01.003

[DaForest]

At present I am waiting for Juno phone to be released. Might be August or so. As I have Juno tablet and laptop I've got a good feeling about the phone and high quality. It will use Droidian strictly. This might be of some interest to the Mobian users.

[Kevin Kofler]

If it will use Droidian exclusively, it is not a real GNU/Linux phone. Droidian is a Halium-based distribution, unlike Mobian. That's why it has "Droid" in the name. It uses Android kernels and binary driver blobs. And software like Plasma Mobile, ModemManager, etc. does not support Halium.

[DaForest]

Programs like Libreoffice and Evolution will work. The "Droid" aspect is a good thing I think. The calls should actually work. Certainly we will see.