Ubuntu Touch is the privacy and freedom-respecting mobile operating system by UBports. Today we are happy to announce the release of Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0, a feature update based on Ubuntu 24.04.
Unfortunately, because of increased system storage space requirement, we're unable to provide Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0 to all of currently supported devices. At the moment, Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0 is available on the following devices:
- Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1
- F(x)tec Pro1X
- Fairphone 4
- Fairphone 5
- JingPad A1
- Lenovo Tab M10 HD 2nd Gen WiFi / LTE
- OnePlus Nord N10 5G
- OnePlus Nord N100
- Rabbit R1
- Sony Xperia X
- Volla Phone
- Volla Phone X
- Volla Phone 22
- Volla Phone X23
- Volla Phone Quintus
- Volla Phone Plinius
- Xiaomi Poco X3 / X3 NFC
- Xiaomi Redmi 9 and 9 Prime
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 9
- Zinwa Q25 (new in this release)
We're still working to make Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0 available to as many devices as possible. More devices could become supported in subsequent 24.04-2.x minor updates.
What's new?
Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0 is a feature update under the same Ubuntu 24.04 base as the previous release. Nonetheless, this release contains exciting updates and features. The most notable ones are:
Updated browser engine for Morph Browser
In Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0, Morph Browser receives a major upgrade in underlying browser engine from Chromium 87 to Chromium 134 which, while not the latest yet, improves compatibility with today's websites and web applications significantly.
This upgrade lays the foundation for future Chromium upgrade; we hope to be able to deliver more browser engine upgrade in the subsequent 24.04-2.x minor updates.
As a bonus, we've included an installer for Widevine, a DRM implementation used by many service providers. Users who are dependent on DRM-protected contents can now use Morph Browser to consume such content. Widevine will be extracted from a legal distribution containing Widevine (such as ChromeOS recovery image). Then, Morph Browser will be configured to use Widevine. This can be accessed at Settings > Plugins > Widevine.
Disclaimer: Widevine installer is not endorsed by Google. UBports, Ubuntu Touch, or Morph Browser is not a licensed Widevine implementation. Extracting Widevine from another source is considered by some to be in legally grey area. You are responsible for your usage of Widevine installer.
Ubuntu Touch can now avoid notches and rounded corners
Modern smartphones nowadays usually have a "notch", a small cutout on the screen which houses the front camera and/or other sensors. Some devices also have a display with rounded corners, masking some of the available display area.
Ubuntu Touch has been oblivious to this area and has been displaying under those areas for a long time. In this release, Ubuntu Touch can now avoid such area and can adapt those properly.
This requires a per-device configuration. At the moment, this has been configured on Fairphone 4 and 5, all Volla devices, and a number of community devices. Device porters are encouraged to visit our documentation to take advantage of this.
Screenshot editor
A screenshot editor has been added to Lomiri shell, so you can edit the screenshot right after you take it. The editor allows you to crop, rotates, and adjust color. Afterwards, the screenshot can be saved or shared to another application.
If you don't like this, it can be disabled by going to System Settings -> Gestures, and then disable "Screenshot editor".
Printing support
Ubuntu Touch now support printing documents directly from the device. This allows you to print documents you receive without getting to another device.
Printing support in Ubuntu Touch is not installed by default. To enable, go to System Settings > Printing. You'll be prompted to install an optional component. Press "Download & Install", then enter your PIN or passcode when prompted. Once configured, printing can be done by opening or sharing the document with the "Print" app.
Note: to automatically discover Wi-Fi connected printers, you need to enable "Automatically discover network services" at System Settings > Wi-Fi > Advanced settings (the cog wheel at the top right). We intend to improve the experience in the future.
Other notable changes
- Support for legacy (X11-based) applications from Open-Store is improved.
- Network indicator is improved to handle wired connection connected via e.g. a dock.
- Improved mobile data connection reliability.
- User data encryption leaving experimental for newer devices supporting fscrypt v2.
- Keyboard now support Georgian language.
- ~2,000 new emojis are added to the emoji keyboard. It also allows you to select Emoji variants (e.g. skin color).
- General bugfixes and security updates.
Known issues
As with any software, there are some known issues that we're unable to solve in time for the release of Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0. We include some of the them here so you don't need to spend time reporting these bugs again.
- Hardware video decoding in the updated Morph Browser is not working. Video playback still work, but will be done in software, increasing power usage qt6-webengine#1
- Morph Browser's new tab page is not fully functional. In particular, it doesn't show bookmarked sites correctly morph-browser#624
- While Widevine could be installed in Morph Browser, some sites (e.g. Netflix) might impose further restrictions on what browser it supports. Setting custom user-agent might be able to circumvent such restrictions.
- If networking-related indicator items get pushed over the notch area, they currently can't be split up. This is the limitation of the current notch avoidance implementation. We'll work on this in the future.
- Notch avoidance does not work yet on landscape mode.
- On-screen keyboard is broken for X11 applications installed through Libertine ubuntu-touch#2343
- We're still working on issue with mouse position on built-in screen affecting the trackpad on Volla Tablet's keyboard cover. As such, Volla Tablet will not receive 24.04-2.0 at this time.
Also released: Ubuntu Touch 24.04-1.4
At the same time, we're happy to announce the release of Ubuntu Touch 24.04-1.4. Ubuntu Touch 24.04-1.4 is a maintenance release of the 24.04-1.x series. This release contains mostly bug fixes and small improvements. Most notably, this release contains necessary changes for upgrading to Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0 for a number of devices.
Ubuntu Touch 24.04-1.4 has been in phased release for the past 4 days. However, due to some communication error, the release was not announced on the blog.
Unlike Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0, Ubuntu Touch 24.04-1.4 is available for all existing devices running Ubuntu Touch 24.04-1.3.
How to get Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0
Existing Ubuntu Touch users
Existing Ubuntu Touch users will have to upgrade in 2 steps; first to 24.04-1.4, then to 24.04-2.0. This is because Ubuntu Touch 24.04-1.4 contains necessary changes for some devices to receive Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0.
To upgrade your phone to Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0, do the following steps:
- Go to System Settings > Update.
- Install any available update for applications and Ubuntu Touch.
- Once your phone is up-to-date, go to System Settings > Update again. This time, you'll be prompted to upgrade to Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0.
- Press "Upgrade". Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0 will start downloading.
- Once downloaded, press "Install" to start installation. The phone will reboot to install the update, and will reboot again to boot into newly-installed Ubuntu Touch 24.04-2.0.
New Ubuntu Touch users
You will find instructions for installing Ubuntu Touch on your device at https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io.
"I found an issue!"
Have you found a bug? We want to know! Quickly!
You can follow our Bug Reporting document to learn how to present the information we'll need to confirm and fix your issue. Every bit helps. The best way to improve Ubuntu Touch is to use it and then tell us about the experience.
You should always check to see whether your bug has already been reported, from now on at ubuntu-touch issue inbox on Gitlab. Browsing open bugs is worth doing, even if you have nothing to report. This ensures that you can watch for any of the open issues and help fix them by providing more information.