After updating it from A13 to A15 using FP4.QREL.15.16.1 (Orange user), my FP4 ceased to display the carrier names on the status bar line on top (they still appear in the lock screen). And the very switch to enable this feature has totally disappeared from the Display settings menu. Like in 2023.
And yes, I do know not everybody is affected, apparently I’m the only one so far. -facepalm-
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Note most FP4 veterans will get a déjà vu feeling, and indeed, an identical thread (now locked) was created in October 2023, when the FP4 went from A12 to A13… Apparently it’s the same bug, at least it has the exact same symptoms. I know, I was already hit back then… Back then (after claiming it’s a A13 feature and they can’t do anything about it) Fairphone eventually fixed the bug with an update in March 2024.
I’m creating a new thread to draw the attention of any others who might be affected by this in 2026, so we can tally how many are affected this time. My guess is that it must be a FP4.QREL.15.16.1 issue, which means only Orange users will be affected since all the others were already on A15. Time will tell.
Where do I find this? I’ve been looking for it, but I can’t find it. It’s definitely not in “Settings/Display” anyway, which seems to be the place in your screenshot.
I have dim memories of people having had this issue in the past, specifically the menu item having disappeared.
__
Edited to add: I made a quick search and found the thread. 3 years ago several people (and myself) had been hit by this after upgrading from A12 to A13. Fairphone fixed it 4-5 months later… Fairphone, like history, repeats itself.
I guess they do, since it’s (as usual) not a general bug but a case of “tough luck buddy”.
You tell me to avoid negativity (and I actually agree), but you have to admit Fairphone doesn’t make it easy, do they. I waited almost 6 months for A15 and now my phone is borked, with little chance it might ever be fixed… Jeez.
Yes, I’m not surprised. Actually I found the old thread I was remembering: 3 years ago, when upgrading from A12 to A13, people were struck by the exact same network name problem (you too). Fairphone eventually fixed it some 4 months later.
So, it’s just the usual and well-known “Fairphone Android upgrades removing network names” bug. And I get hit every time… I can only hope they will eventually fix it this time too. (Although apparently I’m the only one so far so I’m not very optimistic.)
I’m more concerned about the two internal storages I now see. I sure hope the update hasn’t somehow damaged my phone’s system disk.
Just to give you some technical info about this topic. Operator name in status bar is carrier dependent and is guarded by a carrier config flag as you can see here. The fact that this is enabled globally and not per operator states that it’s not carrier specific but since it’s a carrier config, this gets enabled only when a valid carrier/SIM card is available on device.
Now regarding your Setting inconsistency, the only reason could be caching issue probably in the Settings app or in system because this option was moved to carrier config in A13 and the way how it’s enabled in A13 vs A15 is different on FP4.
So, it’s not a well-known bug as you’ve mentioned.
Isn’t that contradictory with what you said just before?
Besides, firstly in my case there is at least one valid SIM/carrier, since I can still make calls… Secondly, Android is first and foremost a phone OS, and phones have carriers, so making the existence of this feature conditional is nonsense: Just display any carrier you’re connected to, period. Last but not least, this has little to nothing to do with my issue, which is that part of the system just disappeared. My 2 carriers are still there.
So?
Sorry, I feel you’re trying to tell me something, but I fail to grasp your point (besides that this is “not a well-known bug”).
Well-known or not, it’s definitely a bug, and I’m unhappy about it.
I had that settings option recently, post android 15 upgrade I believe. It didn’t do anything. Now I look again I can’t even find it. Maybe they hid it rather than fix it.
Although judging by melzrob’s post it must also depend on the network in some way.
So, are you saying that you now lack the “Display network name in status bar” option too?
Okay, so that makes at least two of us. Probably a lot of others who haven’t noticed because they aren’t concerned.
???
If you mean the 2023 occurrence, they did indeed fix it, it worked after that. If you mean the 2026 occurrence, I doubt Fairphone even knows there is a problem. BTW, if somebody else has the time and courage to wrangle an idiot chatbot and fight his way through the Zendesk labyrinth, by all means do it. I’ll file a bug report when I have some more information than “it worked, now it don’t work” (not that this will avoid me the month-long “please reboot your appliance” checklist).
Just on that, the suggested by the FP representatives way to submit tickets is via the Self-Repair Portal (they mentioned it helps them track them better). If all else fails however, you may submit a ticket using the form, https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/requests/new.
I would personally recommend using a chat option mainly during the Human hours:)
Because you can’t see the name of your provider, you already know, because he sends you the bill every month? Come on, you are really digging deep to find something to complain.
But for the records, my FP4 behaves exactly the same, and I updated to Android 15 in the very first wave.
Aaand here comes the resident troll… Did you jump upon what you thought was a good opportunity to ridicule me?
I know you’re just trolling but I’ll bite: For people roaming or living near borders knowing which carrier their phone has decided to use is a question of money, potentially a lot of money.
In the old thread there was an example of a french person who drove each day to Monaco (a minuscule country in the south of France) for work, and who had to avoid his phone “roaming” to some eye-wateringly expensive Monaco network despite still having a good connection to his French provider just a couple km away.
To avoid roaming, I disable roaming in the phone settings, quite easy. That’s a very weak explanation. If I see a foreign provider on the screen it’s to late anyway.
Which version are you on? I’m still on 15.14.4 and for me the highlighted line is simply missing. It goes straight from “Auto-rotate” to “Screen saver” with nothing in between. All other options seem to be present. When I search for the setting name, it’s not found.
(I don’t particularly care about having this setting myself, but the inconsistency is weird…)
I must agree with @KurtF : I have no idea at all what that statement is trying to tell me. It suggests that it might be a caching issue, but at the very least it does not get fixed by clearing the settings app cache (and rebooting).
Aaand here comes the resident troll… Did you jump upon what you thought was a good opportunity to ridicule me?