So Far Ubuntu Phone Hasn't Tempted Me, But Would Highly Consider A Tizen Device

[FuturePilot]

I haven't been interesting in Ubuntu phone either mostly because it's only being sold in 3rd world countries as of now.

[DDF420]

It's not about ignoring the market, but about following the hardware. I explained that in a previous comment, but it got unapproved.

What hardware? It is all sold out according to ubuntu/phone/devices. Think you can still get a tablet from BQ but phones ???

[Julius]

I haven't been interesting in Ubuntu phone either mostly because it's NOT being sold in 3rd world countries as of now.

Fixed that for you, obviously they wouldn't be selling it in a 3rd world country like the USA (which in many, many social standards really is a third world country compared to Europe, where Ubuntu Phone is widely available by mail-order)

As of Ubuntu Phone (having used it quite a bit on my Nexus4), I think they seriously have their priorities wrong. Instead of ensuring that the main functions and typical apps (all available from the Maemo/Meego ecosystem) are working fine and in a performant way (main apps like the phone dialer and messaging are starting sooo slow), they keep on developing crap like Mir and Snappy packages that break compatibility with mainstream Linux and fail to achieve their target anyways.

I was really looking forward to Ubuntu Phone, but after all these years with little progress on the actual main functionality, I have more or less given up

[Cerberus]

If one wants supreme build quality on an Android phone, one does NOT buy a Shamesung. Really surprised about the claim to worry about build quality and then buying a Samsung, going from iPhone to Samsung...well people usually go the other way around, ditching Samsung for iPhone. And Tizen? Why? I dont see much point in using it, it even looks like Android as well. With Jolla struggling in bankrupcy the only two projects worthy of attention are Ubuntu Touch and Plasma Mobile though I have my fears that KDE people behind it lack the necessary manpower to do it.

[bkor]

Samsung is popular because they built a really good phone various years ago (either the initial Galaxy or the second one). Loads and loads of people have Samsung phones, build quality is perfectly fine. Obviously you'll see more issues as a phone is more popular.

Using other words for companies is pretty childish behaviour and indicates you're arguing based on assumptions, not facts.

[bug77]

Could it possibly have something to do with patent crap? I couldn't imagine why they would ignore the US market unless they have legal obstacles.

Could there be reasons you can't imagine?

[raster]

Everytime I hear something about Tizen, I think of this: https://what.thedailywtf.com/topic/15001/enlightened/2

And of course everything posted on the internet by someone with an axe to grind who couldn't be bothered reading documentation or even asking a question is so so so true. It's on the internet it must be true!

[ferry]

I got my Ubuntu phone (Meizu MX4) from Meizu (China) directly. I had a mid range Android before this one, but needed to install Cyanomod on this to get openvpn working. I really wanted to sync our owncloud calendar and address book with it, but didn't find an app that did this well.

So while Ubuntu doesn't have 1M+ apps, I find it has the stuff I need:
- openvpn built-in
- ssh server built-in
- uses syncevolution to sync owncloud calendar and address book (unfortunately for now only from the konsole/ssh)

Unlike Samsung android and Cyanomod I get regular updates and the thing just keeps getting better, including the battery life (3 day intervals between charging).

Most apps that I need are available through the browser or as web apps, which is just fine. Except of course whatsapp. But I had switched to telegram anyway because that allows installation on multiple devices, including my laptop and PC.

A little irritating thing: in initial versions I could use my phone using bluetooth PAN to provide internet for my laptop (Kubuntu), which doesn't work right now. Don't know if that's Kubuntu or the phone. And it doesn't connect to my Carminat (TomTom), so no handsfree dialing or playing MP3. But that may well be a combination of the phone and the Carminat as android phones also need multiple tries to connect.

I would say the MX4 has a good build quality for its price level. And for a linux user provides a pretty good user experience.

[GraysonPeddie]

Convergence is a great feature, but it will be about 2 to 3 years down the road for me. I cannot see myself leaving Android ecosystem as I am using Google Fi service. Plus, I don't see Google releasing Project Fi app to Ubuntu Phone or non-Android smartphones. Even after I discontinue Project Fi once my phone payment is paid in full I will stick with Google using Google Voice.

That's why I'm glad that Canonical started to let users move the dock to the bottom of the screen using Unity Tweak Tool if they don't plan on buying an Ubuntu Phone or Tablet.

[theghost]

Fixed that for you, obviously they wouldn't be selling it in a 3rd world country like the USA (which in many, many social standards really is a third world country compared to Europe, where Ubuntu Phone is widely available by mail-order)

As of Ubuntu Phone (having used it quite a bit on my Nexus4), I think they seriously have their priorities wrong. Instead of ensuring that the main functions and typical apps (all available from the Maemo/Meego ecosystem) are working fine and in a performant way (main apps like the phone dialer and messaging are starting sooo slow), they keep on developing crap like Mir and Snappy packages that break compatibility with mainstream Linux and fail to achieve their target anyways.

I was really looking forward to Ubuntu Phone, but after all these years with little progress on the actual main functionality, I have more or less given up

I am with you. Got an Ubuntu Phone for several months. I really tried to like it and get used to it flaws (slow, horrible browser, bugs in the main apps, bad ui on several applications) but one day it was enough. I moved back to Android, got a Nexus and never looked back.

Even if the whole usability concept is better than Android (which I doubt, Scopes are useless) the whole systems seems totally hacked together. Even if they offer 6 weekly updates, I doubt that they can fix enough and build new features with the actual dev team. After all this buggy software, it seems Canonical hasn't learnt it's lesson. They must have pretty solid nerves to sell such crap to customers.
They have a long long way to go to get a good system, especially if you want to catch former Apple or Android users. So good luck Canonical.

On the other hand, SailfishOS looks much better. Unfortunately their phone selection is pretty low...