12-28-2020, 10:17 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-30-2020, 08:49 AM by TheLastDon.)
Update 2: Convergence does work. A user pointed out to me that I need to drag the application onto my screen. I was under the assumption that I would see the main interface on the screen. There is one small problem with it though. It doesn't handle anything outside the main browser window very well. For example, on Firefox if you click a menu button the mouse pointer does not line up with the actual menu. You may have to go a few pixels down to highlight the option you want. Another example, if you download an extension a dialog pops up asking you to give it permission to add the extension and you can't see the Add button on the dialog. You might be able to see the very top of it only.
Firefox browsing: I think this had to do with the 12/15 build, but in the 12/28 build it's much faster.
Chatty App: This has to do with the phone waking up from a deep sleep if you have WiFi turned on. It doesn't wake up properly and disables texting. If you turn off the WiFi, I have noticed it wakes up more gracefully for me and the texting works.
Update 1: Issue 1 is no longer an issue. I flashed the Pine Phone with the 12/28 nightly build and the software app now updates the packages under the "Updates" tab. However, if you go to the "Explore" tab in the software app and press any of the categories the software app crashes.
Back in the summer when I received my new Pine Phone I had high hopes that it could be a daily driver so I could break free from Samsung/Apple. Of course, this was a pipe dream as none of the Linux OS's for Pine Phone were even close to being acceptable as a daily driver. So I came back just now in December to see the progress of Mobian over the last 3 or 4 months.
Unfortunately, I think Mobian has gotten worse over the last 3 to 4 months as an overall product with the December 15th build with the exception of the battery life. I think they've done great work there as I can now go a day with normal use on one charge. That is great improvement over what it used to be 3 or 4 months ago.
Here is a list of major things I noticed without even looking.
1. The software app is a disaster. You go to updates and let it find new updates for your phone and then you try to update it and you get an error about some package that isn't installed. What makes it worse is that the package name is in black and can't be read so I don't even know which package it's talking about.
2. The chat app, which is how you send/receive texts, is a disaster.
a. I received a text that wasn't in my address book. I then tried to add the contact from the chat app, but that option did nothing.
b.I then went to the command line and updated this app to the latest version to see if they fixed functionality to add a contact and it erased all my texts and then
it wouldn't even let me create a new text!
3. The web browsing experience is beyond terrible. I'm sure everyone knows about this already, but browsing the web with either the included Gnome browser or Firefox ESR takes FOREVER. This would have to improve by 50% to even be usable on a daily basis.
4. Convergence still doesn't work for me. I have read that it works for some people, but when I plug in my monitor all I see is a blank screen with only the wall paper of my phone showing. There are no apps for me to click. This is actually an improvement from 4 months ago because 4 months ago I didn't even see anything from my phone. My monitor wouldn't even get a signal. This is very disappointing because I dream of one day using my phone for almost all day to day tasks which include some development and creating docs.
This is not a comprehensive list, as there are many smaller bugs that aren't even worth talking about yet. If the people developing Mobian can focus on items 1 thru 3 first, I think it will be in a state where people can start using it as a daily driver. Until then, the state of the OS is not very good.
I don't mean to be harsh and I really do appreciate all the work being put into this project. I know this is a very difficult project to undertake. I'll be back in 3 months to see how things are going and give another review at the end of March.
Thanks
Firefox browsing: I think this had to do with the 12/15 build, but in the 12/28 build it's much faster.
Chatty App: This has to do with the phone waking up from a deep sleep if you have WiFi turned on. It doesn't wake up properly and disables texting. If you turn off the WiFi, I have noticed it wakes up more gracefully for me and the texting works.
Update 1: Issue 1 is no longer an issue. I flashed the Pine Phone with the 12/28 nightly build and the software app now updates the packages under the "Updates" tab. However, if you go to the "Explore" tab in the software app and press any of the categories the software app crashes.
Back in the summer when I received my new Pine Phone I had high hopes that it could be a daily driver so I could break free from Samsung/Apple. Of course, this was a pipe dream as none of the Linux OS's for Pine Phone were even close to being acceptable as a daily driver. So I came back just now in December to see the progress of Mobian over the last 3 or 4 months.
Unfortunately, I think Mobian has gotten worse over the last 3 to 4 months as an overall product with the December 15th build with the exception of the battery life. I think they've done great work there as I can now go a day with normal use on one charge. That is great improvement over what it used to be 3 or 4 months ago.
Here is a list of major things I noticed without even looking.
1. The software app is a disaster. You go to updates and let it find new updates for your phone and then you try to update it and you get an error about some package that isn't installed. What makes it worse is that the package name is in black and can't be read so I don't even know which package it's talking about.
2. The chat app, which is how you send/receive texts, is a disaster.
a. I received a text that wasn't in my address book. I then tried to add the contact from the chat app, but that option did nothing.
b.I then went to the command line and updated this app to the latest version to see if they fixed functionality to add a contact and it erased all my texts and then
it wouldn't even let me create a new text!
3. The web browsing experience is beyond terrible. I'm sure everyone knows about this already, but browsing the web with either the included Gnome browser or Firefox ESR takes FOREVER. This would have to improve by 50% to even be usable on a daily basis.
4. Convergence still doesn't work for me. I have read that it works for some people, but when I plug in my monitor all I see is a blank screen with only the wall paper of my phone showing. There are no apps for me to click. This is actually an improvement from 4 months ago because 4 months ago I didn't even see anything from my phone. My monitor wouldn't even get a signal. This is very disappointing because I dream of one day using my phone for almost all day to day tasks which include some development and creating docs.
This is not a comprehensive list, as there are many smaller bugs that aren't even worth talking about yet. If the people developing Mobian can focus on items 1 thru 3 first, I think it will be in a state where people can start using it as a daily driver. Until then, the state of the OS is not very good.
I don't mean to be harsh and I really do appreciate all the work being put into this project. I know this is a very difficult project to undertake. I'll be back in 3 months to see how things are going and give another review at the end of March.
Thanks