UBports is a community-developed fork of Canonical's Ubuntu Touch operating system for mobile devices. UBports works on getting the mobile operating system working on new devices, provides software updates and ports new versions of Ubuntu to mobile devices.
To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
Colour scheme:green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
Tested UBP on a FairPhone 4. Installation simple and smooth.
The interface is simple and very effective.
However, the ecosystem behind is not mature : many apps install successfully but don't work OOB.
Worse for me : the display. No HiDPI management : everything is so tiny it's barely legible (I'm wearing glasses).
It's a preview of things to come (and a fantastic one) but still immature.
I reverted to Lineage. But be warned!! UBP did something on the /persistent readonly folder and the fingerprint sensor was not working anymore.
Needed to boot a root flash and 'restorecon -FR /mnt/vendor/persist" to get it back.
Testers should be forewarned of such incongruities..
The 6 is for usability as of today. Will give it another try sometimes later : it's well beyond the proof of concept and looks sooo promising!
I would not give this 10 out of 10 as it is still not quite the polished article. However that does not stop Ubuntu Touch being exceedingly good. For a mobile device operating system that is in effect funded by a charitable foundation and developed by a volunteer community, it has its issues, but these are really outweighed by it's quirky difference to the mainstream and the number of devices it has been ported to.
It is a great challenge to port as a lot of device hardware is proprietary, so each device has to be ported to individually. Then couple that with the way some manufacturers put blocks in place for "security" reasons and of course the older hardware issues, usually declining battery life. There are now over 70 devices in the port, so if you have an old phone lying around, which I did, there is a good chance you could revive it and make it useful again.
Android an iOS are kind of the polished items, but are let down by bloatware (why?) and the constant sneaky use of your data (why?). Ubuntu Touch does not have this and you can essentially make it your own, be as open or private as you wish. There are going to be issues as there is with all software, but persevering and working through, there has generally been a solution.
Overall, this is really good to revive older hardware that has been orphaned by the manufacturers and give it an interesting new lease of life.
The single biggest downside of Ubports is, that there are Android and iOS to compare to. They run more smoothly, have more apps and run on newer devices. But the strength of Ubports is their downside. It wants not to make money on your data. So keeping that the rating is not about comparing Ubports to iOS or Android I will give it 10 out of 10.
I run Ubports since five years as a daily driver. First on a BQ, then on a Nexus 5 and after retiring my Pinephone I run it now on a SamsungGalaxy S3.
Most of the problems I had was with the hardware, not with the software. Since Ubports took other, the OS improved immensely. Ubports enables me to do with the phone, what I want: texting, talking and surfing. If your needs are larger, it is better to check, whether there are apps to fulfill those and whether they are working. For me Ubports suffices fully.
Copyright (C) 2001 - 2024 Atea Ataroa Limited. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Privacy policy. DistroWatch.com is hosted at Copenhagen.