False priorities, given by the Marketing?
Instead of creating this useless Marketing-driven âMy Fairphoneâ app (at least it can be disabled) they would better provide a bug-reporting app⌠a simple form which will send the info and include the latest logs too.
@pcm Maybe that was a little unclear, I didnât want to blame G00gle - well, not this time at least. The point is just: Although you can take all kinds of precautions with a software and test it really (and I mean reeeeally) well, it will never work completely without defects because thatâs the nature of software.
I often get the impression that nowadays most people think that developing software is somehow a trivial thing and it should be a piece of cake to release new and perfectly working stuff every other day, because hey - everyone can download a JDK and create a fancy Android app, so whereâs the problem?
I understand the frustration when things are not working as expected, but letâs be a little patient and give them the time they need to fix the problems.
Well we totally agree then! Absolutely, these kinds of issues are inevitable. That said, weâre still owed the fixes eventually!
Have you suggested the bug tracker functionality to FP? Subdomain or no, FP staff donât regularly interact with this forum. Please send them an email.
As for knowing when updates come: the problem is that Fairphone are a small company, and itâs difficult to set deadlines for these things as the dev team is small and problems pop up unexpectedly. FP are walking a fine line - when the public gets the slightest whiff of delay or error, articles and comments begin appearing about how theyâre omens of the imminent death of Fairphone. So itâs better to play these things close to the chest until a definitive release date can be set.
The unexpected problems found in numerous posts on the forum
Why not study computer science with focus on software development and then help improving things?
Good idea, already done that ^^
I would setup a GitLab instance (takes 15min using Docker), where all parts of the processes (including issue tracking, wiki, âŚ) could be covered.
Or they could use GitHub as tool which would work too.
Or directly use GitLab.
They have (had) a bugtacker for the FP2, I donât think this is a problem of the tooling, they just donât care.
Perhaps thereâs a middle ground between (perhaps rightly) frustrated forum posts and a support ticket. Could/should FP use UserVoice to collate feedback?:
At least I have no clue concerning what is going on at Fairphone, in their development and marketing departments etc.
Plus: priorities are usually a very individual thing.
Just take a look around this forum regarding Fairphone ethics.
Some prioritise privacy and getting a google-free OS, other prioritise social responsibility and environment etc. In my opinion, there is no right or wrong in such cases. Whatâs important for one simply doesnât matter for the other. And we don:t know what issues they have on their to-do list.
So âŚ
that:s just your impression.
One point, that might play a part in this could be that the FP2 was rather a device for testing modularity with lots of issues constructionwise.
It was not directed at the mass market but rather the more âgeekyâ community. So, a bugtracker possibly was rather a necessity
With the FP3/3+ being intended to attract other customers, the focus might have switched and maybe there are much less bugs with the FP3/3+ than with the FP2, so that a bugtracker is no longer essential.
Donât want to comment too much about the âhow soon to upgrade to newer android versionsâ question. Higher major version more or less automatically means 1 more year of software support (because Google provides the AOSP security fixes). So yeah, Iâm in favor of getting as many upgrades as possible. The thing is, each new Android version also brings changes that might be for the worse (having non-removable search bars and at-a-glance widgets an obvious but not dramatic example). While on the other hand new features are rarely a killer feature anymore (I guess I could still live with Android 7 or 8 feature level). I donât need the newest, shiniest etc. anymore. Personally, Fairphone can take their time with major upgrades. Ideally they would monitor user feedback about a new Android version and do things differently where it makes sense (at least make some stuff configurable instead of forcing it on its users). Should they wait an entire year after release by Google? No, I donât think so, unless there are good reasons.
But one thing bothers me more: the accusation Fairphone wouldnât listen to their users.
Before the FP3 existed or was even planned we had a poll here in the forum where people were supposed to tell which OS theyâd like to see on the next model. The winner was /e/. And who are they now partnering with? Right, /e/. And you can even buy a new Fairphone with /e/ preinstalled. That is extremely rare (or probably even unique) in the Android market.
People complained about the photo quality of the FP3. And the company released better modules a lot sooner than they did for the FP2.
People complained that support for the FP1 was dropped too soon. The FP2 now is the longest supported Android phone of 2015/2016. Longer than all of the flagship phones by multi-billion companies that were released around the same time.
Whatâs next? The FP4 will be both smaller and larger because thatâs what a lot of people ask forâŚ
Would have given you more likes, if I just could; because I already forgot about those things.
It pays to have attention to details.
Here you go:
They have (had) software development inhouse for the Fairphone 2.
They outsourced software development for the Fairphone 3 to the manufacturing partner in China.
I think the apparent deterioration of the visibility of what is happening with OS development is due to what the outsourcing deal doesnât include.
While I might not exactly like how it looks from the outside currently myself, they canât add an endless amount of people to their own payroll, and the inhouse developers are still working on Fairphone 2 software, which is a very commendable commitment.
Iâm running /e/ anyway for the time being.
True, true
Iâm just thankful such a company (and device) exists, they showed a change is possible (even for the mass market)
And I still donât know, whyâŚ
Hi,
i wonder when we will get Android 11 for Fairphone 3.
Android 12 got already a release date Q4.
Will we get Android 11 with the Android 12 release or will Fairphone 3 get it earlier. I mean there is no date for it. Will it be Q2 or Q3. We have Q2 and still no Android 11.
Would be cool when FP3 get it soon or when a date for it would be stated.
Wow! The A10 release is still be fine tuned, so not soon ~ not this year I would imagine for A11
Of course if you want a realistic answer rather than the response of flaky user 'twould be wise to ask support@faiphone.com for an official view.
Welcome to the community forum! I moved your post here, there was already a topic about it.
Android 11 is currently being worked on for FP3(+), you can expect it this year, probably third quarter (my estimation), as the end of support for the Qualcomm chip of the FP3 is in June July. Iâll look for the source.
Edit: source:
As for the companyâs current phones, the Fairphone 3 and 3+, the company says itâs planning an Android 11 update in the second half of this year. Fairphone says Qualcomm is planning to kill support for the Snapdragon 632 chip that underpins these phones in July 2021.
Cool!
Thank You for your Answer.
If Q3 really will be the A11 update then iâll think is gonna be on June or the End of July or maybe even on August.
But who knows exactly
Iâll keep waiting
Really thanks for the update!
Regarding the support of the Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm; Should project Treble from Google give longer support for updates beyond Android 11?