Is there an update about the update to 6.0?
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It’s currently in beta testing. There are some bugs though which Fairphone are working on. However it’s probably not going to be that long before there is a stable version for release. Can’t make any promises though, just depends on the speed of bug fixes etc etc
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Good to know. Is the process of beta-testing transparent in any way? Though, which bugs, how many testers etc.? This knowledge would increase the “visibilty” about what FP is working at the moment…
And is it already for sure, that first it will be provided Android 6.0 for FP2 (and is not discarded for a double version jump to 7.0)?
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Good to know. Is the process of beta-testing transparent in any way?
You can find more information about the beta program here. When you join the beta program, an additional section “FP2 Beta Testing” will apear in the forum. You can then download the latest Android 6 beta and discuss it with other beta testers and the developers.
And is it already for sure, that first it will be provided Android 6.0 for FP2 (and is not discarded for a double version jump to 7.0)?
I’m pretty certain that they will release Android 6 and won’t skip it in favour of Android 7.
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Old platform, the snapdragon 801 is 3 years old, and can’t support android 7, a this point…buying a new phone with this chip isn’t a really smart move 
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In 2015, the Snapdragon 801 was a smart decision. Because it was a widespread platform with many phones and there were no signs of obsolescence at this time.
The turnaround happened in August 2016 when Android 7 was released and the Snapdragon 801 was excluded. At that time, Fairphone should have started to develop a Fairphone 2 with a new chipset (Fairphone 2.1) instead of hoping to get Android 7 anyways on it with Google’s sake. Because when Android 7 is really not possible on Fairphone 2, we have a big sustainability problem which could have been avoided for the newer portion. Other way round (two Fairphone 2 versions, both with Android 7 possible) would only be a little problem (little more developing work because of two different chipsets).
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Hi, this place is better for this discussion (I moved the two posts above mine). 
They don’t need Gxxgle’s sake for an Android 7 FP Open OS, so that would be our hope for an officially supported Android 7 version. There are plenty of ways to make FP Open OS behave like the GMS version (pretty similar to all FP1s), for example OpenGAPPS, Yalp Store, etc. I don’t see a pressing need for a different chipset.
PS.: That would also contradict Fairphone’s idea in a philosophical way. They are fighting obsolescence and are trying to prove that a different relationship between a company any its products is possible → namely providing updates as long as feasible and not ditching an old product just because Gxxgle doesn’t deem it worth it to support it anymore.
PPS.: Social scientist would probably say that FP2’s “oldness” is a social construct, constructed by Gxxgle and the other shiny OEMs. Even in comparison with the average lifetime of a smartphone (about 18-24 months) FP2 is relatively young! 
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That would also be possible with a Fairphone 2.1. A Fairphone 2.1 does not mean that the Fairphone 2(.0) would not get (security) updates in this case anymore. See the Fairphone 1.
Also, a “Fairphone 2.1” means that there is no significant change, but only slight changes between the Fairphone versions, and the modules are backwards-compatible. Like the new cases or the new camera module. That could also be done with the chipset.
Advantage is that most Fairphone users do not instantly feel the need to buy a new phone when there is only a slight change and the old parts are still working. Another advantage is that the hardware in new devices will still be up-to-date after many years.
With a significant change (“Fairphone 3”), there will be many users which feel a need to buy that.
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That’s simply not true. Official Google support may not happen, because of (for Qualcomm) obsolete chipsets… But there are way older devices performing great on, e.g., los 14, btw even better than on MM.
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Unfortunately not so good news for all who have hoped that the “within weeks” tweet from 19. of January would come true.
Fairphone just responded to the question again: now its "Maybe May 2017. Hopefully earlier."
But at least we have a confirmation it will be definitely before 2019 
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Well, I’d rather have a solid, polished release later than expected than an unfinished one right away.
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Thanks for your post - though I don’t like the content of it. 
So then let’s wait and hope for the best.
The Beta version is getting better. A couple of small bugs are present, and hopefully the release won’t take much longer to polish up 
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Is there a public repo or bugtracker so we can follow FPs progress with Marshmallow ;)?
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You can join the beta if you wanted to. Else you will need to wait a little longer.
The Bugtracker is due to be up and running soon I believe…
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I just claim that people should get more technical information on the whole progress of working on the update :).
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“After upgrading, longtime Fairphone owners might notice that Android 6.0 looks and works a bit more like the “regular” Android interface, and for a good reason. A few of the custom features that we developed in the past, like the Edge Swipe Menu and Privacy Impact, were made to improve clunky or missing functionality from previous versions of Android. But because very similar features are now standard in Android 6.0, it didn’t make sense for us to continue maintaining these features.”
Getting near a vanilla Android raises the chance to easily switch to LineageOS I guess!
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What makes you think that? Why should a FP-custom launcher with extra features in the pre-installed OS make community porting efforts of #software:alternative-oses more difficult?
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