The UBPorts community is in the final stages of preparing its next release and it's calling for testers.

OTA-23 is getting close – the project's Github [1]kanban looks quite good to us – and if you're lucky enough to have one of the project's supported devices lying around, then you can [2]help .

Many of them are a few years old now, so there's a good chance that you've already replaced them and they sit unloved and neglected in a drawer. The starred entries in the list of [3]devices are the best supported and should have no show-stopping problems. In order of seniority, that means: the LG-made Google Nexus 5 (2013); the original Oneplus One (2014); two models of Sony Xperia X, the F5121 and F5122 (2016); and Google's Pixel 3a and 3a XL (2019).

[4]

( The Reg FOSS desk suspects that if you have one of those lying around somewhere and aren't tempted, you can probably sell it to some open-sourcy enthusiast who would love to give it a go.)

[5]

[6]

Not starred but still high on the list are several devices which are listed as "functioning well." This means that they get green ticks across almost all of the feature-list apart from one or two items, such as lacking support for wireless external monitors. To us, this doesn't sound like a deal-breaker. These models include the Xiaomi Mi A2 (2018) and Poco X3 NFC (2020), and the Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 (2018).

There are a few models for which it's a manufacturer-supported option. The [7]Fairphone 2 is quite old now but it's still fully [8]supported . So are the [9]original PinePhone and PineTab tablet

[10]

The other way to help, of course, is simply to buy a new phone with the OS preinstalled: German privacy-oriented phone vendor [11]Volla will sort you out.

[12]Google Nexus 5: So easy to fix, it's practically a DIY kit - except for ONE thing

[13]12-year-old revives Unity desktop, develops software repo client, builds gaming environment for Ubuntu...

[14]Ubuntu-on-a-phone crowd fix Google account issues in new Touch update

[15]As System76 starts work on its own Linux desktop world, GNOME guy opens blog, engages flame mode

[16]UBPorts is the community that is continuing work on Ubuntu's mobile distribution. The Reg [17]thought Ubuntu Touch was very promising back in 2013, and we still do… but sadly that didn't prevent [18]Canonical killing it off four years later.

We've been reporting on the volunteer group's efforts since then, most recently on the [19]OTA-21 release. For now, work is continuing on the existing Ubuntu 16.04 base OS, although the project is [20]looking at a future Ubuntu 20.04 version, and there is even some [21]discussion about 22.04. ®

Get our [22]Tech Resources



[1] https://github.com/orgs/ubports/projects/34

[2] https://ubports.com/blog/ubports-news-1/post/ubuntu-touch-ota-23-call-for-testing-3852

[3] https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YrTigdOGAK@59Il-NlQlvQAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YrTigdOGAK@59Il-NlQlvQAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YrTigdOGAK@59Il-NlQlvQAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/26/fairphone_android_9/

[8] https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/device/fp2/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/08/pinephone_ships_developers/

[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YrTigdOGAK@59Il-NlQlvQAAAA8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[11] https://volla.online/en/

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2013/11/05/nexus_5_teardown_shows_a_light_touch_thats_easy_to_fix/

[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/04/rudra_sarsawat_ubuntu_projects/

[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/07/ut_ota_21/

[15] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/10/system76_gnome_desktop_fight/

[16] https://ubports.com/

[17] https://www.theregister.com/2013/12/25/ubuntu_year_review/

[18] https://www.theregister.com/2017/04/05/ubuntu_euthanizes_unity/

[19] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/07/ut_ota_21/

[20] https://gitlab.com/groups/ubports/-/epics/10

[21] https://ubports.com/blog/ubports-news-1/post/ubuntu-touch-q-a-113-3792

[22] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/