Android 14 is here. Here's what's changed - FP5.UT20.B.041.20240624

I updated my FP5 to Android 14. LED Blinker still is working fine. This might be a workaround for people missing the AOD Feature. Disadvantage: Like AOD it consumes more battery power. In my opinion battery consumption of LED Blinker is lower than on Android 13.

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I don’t think removing AoD benefits anyone:

People who DON’T use the feature: No change, no extra battery life for them.

People who DO use it: -1 feature, + battery life.
However, these people are very aware of the cost of this feature and still decided to have it on! Now their phones can do less for longer, might as well turn it off and only turn it on for 5 minutes in the morning and evening, gonna last a week! - Better yet, force them to do that, just to make sure everyone gets a full week of battery life…

Fairphone: Fewer support requests; but also fewer customers… not exactly business savvy decision imho.

… yeah I don’t get it.

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Reply from support below, we are children and taking away a feature is business as usual. Everyone can take away from this what they want, for me this was the last nail.

With the release of Android 14 we have removed the always-on display feature from the Fairphone 5.

Since launch, we have been receiving reports where battery performance on the Fairphone 5 was significantly lagging. For some of these cases, the always-on display was enabled and was causing this decreased performance.

We’ve been working diligently in the meantime, internally and with our partners, to turn this around with several tweaks to the (lower level) software. In addition to this, we adjusted the labelling on the device and communication via our support articles.

Unfortunately, neither of those managed to improve this to a satisfactory level, and after much consideration, we decided to remove this feature so that your Fairphone will last even longer on a single charge.

While we continuously work on improving the performance of the device now and in the future, we currently do not see it feasible to re-introduce the feature without compromising on battery performance.

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Thanks for sharing.

I really wonder who this “we” is exactly. Who exactly at Fairphone gets to such a decision after a thought process, and perhaps after a discussion in a team?
This is so obviously bad and unnecessary as well as so predictably inviting deserved backlash … just wow. Unbelievable.

I hope they reconsider, but a lot of damage is done.

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Indeed. It has no dependency upon the hardware. This is solely a feature of the shell (if using AOSP; otherwise, if using something like PMOS, the DE).

They better react to this ASAP or the company is done soon.

Telling your users what to do and deleting features then claiming to be for enthusiasts is the fastest way to bankruptcy.

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Hi, folks;
My case is an outlier, as I am in Seattle, but since applying the upgrade, I have only been able to make calls using WiFi. I am disabled, and haven’t made the effort yet to go wander around the neighborhood or city to determine whether it is a local connection issue, so I don’t know yet which problem it is that I’m trying to solve.
Would it make any sense for the update to have affected something as basic as connecting a call, given that I am out here in the N American network, and possibly running on somewhat different protocols?

I’ve seen a number of people here that are very grouchy about losing AoD. While I didn’t understand that choice either, the fact that you can find apps to provide similar functionality makes it seem a little silly to talk about walking away from FairPhone entirely.
As far as I know, any efforts to produce repairable phones in the core market brands are so far just empty gestures. Accountability in the supply chain still doesn’t seem to be a primary concern either, and I’m not aware of any companies doing more to advance either of those issues than FP is. They are, however, a comparatively small fish in a very large pond. It seems like some level of patience and understanding would be appropriate.
My first instinct is to say that if you feel so strongly over something that can be worked out with an app temporarily, and will likely be fixed based on feedback, then you might have been a bit too impulsive in getting this phone in the first place.
However, I don’t want to push anyone away from it. Maybe consider a little self-examination and impulse control. I’ve found that it’s much easier for me to figure out how to accept something than it is to try and change the world to meet my expectations.

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consider checking in the US Fairphoners thread, Fairphone owners in the USA (FP2 FP3 FP4 FP5) - #388 by redbob16

Thank you; I had skimmed that and not seen much that seemed specifically helpful, but at a second glance, the latest little exchange there about changing the preferred network type seemed worth trying.

A first test does calls working again after limiting to 3g, finding no network, trying 4g with the same result, and then seeing back to 5g with the toggle for 4g services also on.

To me, this still feels more, on-topic here than in the N. America section, but obviously a moderator is welcome to make that call. I can also repost there if there would be any point.

Thanks!

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That was just an idea based on a thought that it might be more likely to find some users with similar experience there.

I am not a mod, just a simple humble user :slight_smile: so apologies if i sounded like telling you what to do

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And it led to a solution! Thanks again for the extra nudge in that direction; it feels like a direct example of how discussions like this help solve problems.
My last comment was just acknowledging that I don’t actually know where my posts fit best sometimes: in the local section, or not. Just because I am having a problem while out here in the wilderness doesn’t mean that other people over in the civilized world aren’t seeing the same thing. :laughing:

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I would be glad if any of the AoD app would work. Tried the top five of them in store, including the suggested one CryptoWake, all of them produce the same bug. Phone is unable to go to sleep and the screen turning black then back on. Whatever they did to disable it really disabled it. (if it works for anyone with any app pls write a post about it) So unfortunately it can’t be solved with an app.

Off topic a bit (if it’s too much, mods please delete just below):
I get that Fairphone is a small company and the Fairphone 5 itself is a niche product, even if it’s the 5th.

Firstly the problem is this type of behavior is not he first from this company. For example:
FP3+ got an Android update that overall removed the usability of the fingerprint sensor. It was badly communicated, and after a lengthy forum post, and stopping rollout of the update multiple times. The solution was “They can’t re enable fingerprint sensor, Google lowered the security rating of it” and “sorry we failed to mention it in the first update notes”.
Failing to mention it was NEVER the problem. Although communication is key in this situation, and beta tester knew of of the problem long before. It was a whole debacle you can read more about in these forums.

Secondly, you can absolutely be salty and should be angry about something that they remove with a software update from a (any)device you purchased. You payed for a phone with a featureset. Now because they think so it is unable to do something. This is not even about security like FP3, it’s just “we don’t think you need it”. That is unacceptable, and doubling down on it is just sad. Completely undermines the whole software support for a phone for X year. Because now the question is, in what state? Technically if you can call somebody with your phone, but every other nice feature is disabled, does it still count as “supported” phone?

I don’t even like to start with the state of the FairPhone4 when it first was sold, calling it pre-alfa is generous. It got better, but to me it seems it got lost between the cracks, overall forgotten.

After this it’s normal to choose not give your money to the company. That’s the whole point of voting with you wallet. What’s happening with this AoD is just bad karma that the company piled on itself over the years.

I’m really disappointed and hope they change their mind. But as you said I can’t do anything about it… except not buying anymore of their stuff and raising my voice not to trust everything they say.

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You’re right, perhaps I misjudged where Fairphone would target FP5 to land on the “mainstream - ethical consumer” spectrum vs where I am. Maybe it’s just not for me.

This is not only about the AOD itself (though for me it really is a very essential functionality, now that they got rid of LEDs) but also a lot about how Fairphone communicates and how they treat their customers. To me they very much pretend to not only be fair to the people who produce the phones but also to people who own their phones. And they are just… not. They barely communicate, they still don’t have a public bug tracker, they leave out major changes in release notes…
I was very annoyed about the whole disaster with the finger print sensor on the FP3, but decided to give them another chance an bought a FP5. And it didn’t even take a month for them to do something super grating again. And this time they don’t even have the excuse of “Google did it”.

As for “you can simply find apps to do this”… I really haven’t found one that works well. LED Blinker will just send me right to the playstore instead of starting (I suppose because I didn’t install it from there?), NotifyBuddy (?) just literally doesn’t do anything. CryptoWake (?) mostly works, but most times when I unlock the phone with it, the CryptoWake app will be open and I have to quit it before doing anything else. I also had to turn off Face Unlock because otherwise it never shut off the camera when locking the phone. Using any of these also forces me to trust a third party with all my notifications…

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Wait, where do you get the “will likely be fixed” from? Did I miss something?

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You did not, and this was just a general assumption on my part. The level of frustration I’m seeing feels like something a company would feel obligated to respond to, eventually, and in some format.
I have only had a FP5 for around six months, and have not had any significant interactions with the company in that time.

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I would have agreed with you about 2.5 phone iterations ago. But in my experience (I had a FP 1, 2, 3 and now a 5) the company has changed a lot. And very much not for the better in how they react to their customers grievances. They went from “oops, yeah, sorry, we are working on it. Might take a while though” to “haha, nope, not doing that. better luck with the next phone, busy writing marketing blabla (or just silence)”
I will very much not recommend this phone company to anyone anymore.

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At least the hardware is solid. Matter of time I get fed up and try Lineage, with the assumption that it’s just a more polished, better cared for, objectively better OS.

When you do eventually get fed up, @Nabalazs, consider CalyxOS as well. We’ve had A14 since January on the FP4 and it combines some Lineage stuff (like limiting battery charging to a fixed %) with thoughtful security features.

I have read about a few issues on the forum that I didn’t even know existed, because I never used the stock OS. Switching OS will allow you to actually talk to developers, have a constructive dialogue, and get your feedback incorporated… as opposed to getting a canned “we will pass this on” response. The fact that the experience on volunteer/non-profit driven OSes is equal or better than the stock OS is proof that Fairphone is setting the wrong focus.

If you look at Fairphone’s newest financial report, you’ll see that they’re very unhappy about their (lack of) brand awareness. Ironically, their way of making up to investors for the unbalanced R&D/Profits ratio is to spend more money – but on marketing.

I feel like they’re undercutting the best form of “generating brand awareness” that way: making sure their software teams have every resource they ask for so they can create a good user experience (I’m 100% sure they’re understaffed and overworked). Let word of mouth do the rest.

This sounds harsh, but at the same time, as you said, the hardware is still good. The half-baked software doesn’t change the fact that we got schematics and source code (which we can’t actually build but it’s better than nothing).

Rant over :P

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I didn´t find anything when I had a quick glance, so if you happen to know: Does CalyxOS support AOD on Android 14 (for the FP 5)?
I am think about changing OS instead of updating to FP stock 14