Game in the Brain

GEMINI Summary

Based on the transcript of the Ubuntu Touch Q&A 185, here is a summary of the main topics covered in the video:

1. Unique Streaming Setup & Events

• Fairphone 5 Streaming [00:31]: The hosts start by sharing that the stream is actually being run from a Fairphone 5 docked to a NexDock using Morph Qt6, marking a significant milestone in the device’s capabilities and convergence.
• Install Fest [01:38]: They announce an upcoming Install Fest in Prague, Czech Republic, taking place on March 28th and 29th, 2026. The team will have a booth with devices for attendees to test out.

2. Development News & GitLab Updates

• Lomiri UI Improvements [02:43]: The multitasking spread view in Lomiri has been redesigned so that the active application is highlighted while inactive ones are dimmed.
• Bug Fixes [03:33]: Various fixes have landed, including corrections for Qt web engine fractional scaling, keyboard prediction engine crash fixes, and improvements to touch event handling for list items in the Lomiri UI toolkit.
• System Image Server & Storage [04:36]: Updates are being made to prepare for resizing the root file system in the 24.04 updates to free up necessary storage space.
• Media Scanner & Window Management [05:54]: The media scanner is now more resilient against permission errors and supports GNOME’s tracker ignore files. Additionally, users can now resize windows using Alt + Right-Click dragging.

3. New Hardware Announcement

• Volla Phone Rugged [09:48]: A new rugged smartphone from Volla (the rugged version of the Quintus) has been announced. It features a sleek but resistant design and is confirmed to support Ubuntu Touch.

4. Technical Experiments & Future Capabilities

• Mir 2 Integration [12:11]: They showcase an Xperia X running Lomiri with Mir 2. The strategy involves using Mir 1 to drive the display while the shell connects over Wayland using Mir 2, allowing legacy features like screen recording to still function.
• Vulkan Support [14:28]: Exciting progress on the Fairphone 5 shows libhybris Vulkan working together with Wayland. This low-level graphics API could eventually allow for desktop OpenGL support (via Mesa’s Zink driver), potentially paving the way for better application compatibility and even running Steam games on Ubuntu Touch.

5. Open Store App Updates

• New Apps [18:47]: A variety of new apps were highlighted, including “Lemon” (a French newspaper app), “Richard” (a watch collection tracker), “QR Master,” a Gmail-based chat client, “Lagrange” (a Gemini client), “Touch Piano,” and a Nextcloud “Cookbook” client.
• Updated Apps [24:37]: Several apps received updates, notably the Calendar app (which now has working synchronization again), Lichess, Monthflow, Time Tracker, and Morph Browser.

6. Community Q&A

• Migration to Ubuntu 26.04 [31:06]: There are currently no official plans to migrate to 26.04. The team is happy with the recent 24.04 release, and moving to 26.04 would require significant kernel upgrades (to 5.10 or 5.14) that could break compatibility with devices like the Fairphone 5.
• PinePhone 3 / Pro Port [33:05]: Progress is being made, but developers are waiting to release a bounty program to the community to help polish the port before doing a wider public release to avoid bricking user devices.
• On-Screen Keyboard (OSK) with Snaps [35:33]: Support is currently limited, but the upcoming transition to Mir 2 and its handling of Wayland protocols and permission dialogs is expected to resolve these issues and make the OSK work seamlessly with Snap applications.
• Device Ports [41:07]: Brief mentions of community work on the Titan 2 and the Pixel 3a, the latter of which is waiting on root storage resizing and VoLTE support from developers.