UBports' Ubuntu Touch Porting Now Easier To Newer Devices

The UBports community developers maintaining Ubuntu Touch have landed the 64-bit ARM (ARM64/AArch64) version of libhybris into their "Edge" development branch. This in turn opens up Ubuntu Touch to more easier porting to newer Android devices.

Libhybris is the software project that makes it easier for conventional Linux distributions relying upon Glibc or Musl to access drivers/software built for Android (Bionic C library) software. Ubuntu Touch had been using libhybris for years going back to Canonical's original Ubuntu Touch efforts, but was focused on 32-bit ARM until now and thus not working with 64-bit Android drivers. Landing of the 64-bit ARM version of libhybris should help in being able to run newer 64-bit bits on modern Android devices.

Also exciting is that UBports has advanced their work on upgrading the Mir support with Wayland protocol handling. Additionally, Ubuntu Touch is progressing with modern Raspberry Pi support. The PinePhone support for Ubuntu Touch also will not require libhybris.

More details on UBports' latest Ubuntu Touch progress via this Q+A update.