Latest news [11-07-2017] and FAQ - Fairphone 1 KitKat 4.4.4 update

:notes: Baby, all I want for Christmas… is youuuuuuuuR Update! :christmas_tree:

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Still interested to know if there is an ETA for 4.4?? I’ve just joined YouNeedABudget (maybe to save up for my FP3 when it comes out?!) but it’s not compatible with 4.2…

Pleeeeaaaase release the FP1 update soon!! My phone can barely support the apps I have on it and is slowing down like craaaaayzy. I really wanted my FP1 to last me at least until 2018 :slight_smile:

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Kitkat most probably won’t speed up your phone! :wink:

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Dear Software-Development,

This update-issue really starts to make me angry and here’s a few reasons why:
First of all, it just takes too long to get this update ready. It is one thing not to be able to play Pokemon Go. That was a bit annoying, but then again, who cares. But now I just bought a measurment-device I need for work but the app to operate it doesn’t run on Androit 4.2… So what am I supposed to do in order to be able to work properly? Buy a another phone? Not actually the concept of FP, isn’t it?
Seriously, the Kitkat-OS is around since 2014!!
If takes more than TWO YEARS for an OS-update, that’s just poor customer service. Not beeing able to keep up with the development pace is a serious issue - it simply makes your product useless.
I thought that the FP was supposed to last and that’s why it has my full support.
Now I’m reading that it “is unlikely that we will be able to offer a full update beyond Android 4.4 for the Fairphone 1”. In other words, I will have to throw away my FP since its OS is outdated… Not what I expect from long lasting design.
Also, you guys talk a lot about transparency. But the transparency about your update-progress equals zero. It is not my job to come here to look for reasons why the update fails, it is your job to keep me informed and explain it to me.
Seriously, you are about to put a lot of goodwill at stake.

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If you need KitKat now you can try this ROM. I’ve been doing this for a bit more than half a year. (It’s entirely unofficial, though. And you are doing this at your own risk.)

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Thanks, I appreciate your eagerness to experiment, but what I need is a functional, stable build of an OS that allows me to use my phone properly.
I’m just an end-user who depends on a reliable phone for my daily business, that’s all.

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I have also used @chrmhoffmann’s unofficial Kitkat build for half a year and can confirm that it is stable (although not advertised this way). It’s probably more stable and secure than Fairphone OS 1.8.7.

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I bought the FP 1 based on the idea of a fairly manufactured phone with replacement parts within reach and a steady stream of OS updates so I didn’t have to be incompatible. I wanted to use this phone for as long as I can. Util it wouldn’t run the latest updates anymore - until the usability is compromised because its too slow. The first thing I did was to extend the storage and install my two SIMs. I had to replace the phone entirely once and recently bought a new battery (the old became bloated). Fortunately the apps I use are still running. The phone is not snappy but works with measures taken. Still i look forward to that OS update curious about what that will do to the speed - will the phone be snappier? Will it deal better with those high energy consuming services and asve my battery?
To be honest i expected to be beyond android 4 but what do i know about what the versions is all about. Maybe its worth being on v4? v5 might be crap and 6 or 7 wouldn’t run because they don’t support such old or slow hardware?
I just want the phone to be secure, run the needed apps to a degree that they are usable, be compatible with google and have excellent phone capabilities while saving my battery.

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Hm. So what can I do to speed up my phone? I have SD Maid already and clean it regularly. I also purge my apps once in a while and have 9 GB of free space in my storage. Any other tips/tricks I can do?

Dear Stefan, does this unofficial build, unlock the BT LE on fp1u?

Please continue to work on the new release. There is one app I need which requires Android 4.4. I don’t care about Bluetooth so much.
I love my Fairphone and I want to use it some more years, pleae.
Best regards and have a wonderful Christmas time!
Wolfgang
from Germany

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Yes, it does. Unfortunately there can always be instabilities (in terms of the connection), but it’s worth a try.

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So … will it be before Christmas?

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That probably depends what you mean by “speed up”… I don’t expect my FP1 to work like in the very beginning after the update. But right now each app I’m using crashes several times a day, and the screen regularly stops responding for several seconds. That’s what I’m expecting the update to fix, and this, in a way, speeds up the phone…

Lee, do you still have both the “internal storage” and the “phone storage”? If so, I strongly recommend to upgrade to a unified partition (“storage upgrade”). You might need to do a hard reset if your FP1 is too crammed for the storage upgrade. Find the appropriate instructions for the storage upgrade here. Before everything else, you should backup your data.

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Christmas has come, but no update for my beloveds FP1. This means to say goodbeye, because my new gadgets come with apps that need a newer Android version. I used it 3 years now and only bought a new battery after two years. I really would love to continue using it, but if newer apps I have to use don’t even run I have no choice. :cry:

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As I’ve already written there’s another option.

Yes, I’m not happy with Fairphone missing almost all their deadlines. But that’s no reason to throw a working phone away.

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The choice to buy a Fairphone cannot only be based on owning a phone for a short while and then getting rid of it when my “new gadgets” and “apps” don’t work anymore. While, we could wish that the Fairphone is updated beyond its original OS so that it is truly long lasting, the real position should be to not “need” new gadgets and new apps.

If I believe in ending child labour, conflicts in places that are caught up in the supply chain, and better labour conditions, then the choice would be to insist that gadget makers and app makers support devises such as Fairphone. That is true sustainability, and true support for a better world.

We can’t have and eat the cake at the same time.

Having said that, Fairphone should come clean with the current product (Fairphne 2), and prominently state on their front page that the devise may not be upgradable beyond Android 5.1. Otherwise it is misleading to buyers.

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Hi there,

first I want to appreciate the efforts the FP-team makes, to bring up a software update for the FP1.
But isn’t there any awareness of the battery drops seems to be an older issue, since me and other users experience this problem since the update to 1.8 (e.g. here: https://forum.fairphone.com/t/battery-lifetime-decreased-since-update-v1-8/).
So I wonder, how the internal communications works and I also wonder, why the communication to customers is also not the greatest (i.e. I found this forum entry by chance while the official information was announcing an software update in the last quarter of 2016 only one week before this one started - already very unrealistic, right?).
Already in June 2015 I reported such behaviour to the support and also that charging was a problem from time to time (like here: https://forum.fairphone.com/t/charging-does-not-work-properly/) and unfortunately the support did not learn from the users experiences: otherwise they have shipped me a new battery - because my one bloated finally a month ago. Might it be that one of the first signs for a faulty battery might be the charging issue (which I would express more abstractly that charging with 1 A was not possible, whereas a lower current, i.e. 800 mA, was still accepted by the battery). It’s a pity, that I had to pay the price (at least that of a battery) that the support did not put such information together and I did not have the time to find the right forum entries…
So it seems to me that intransparency seems to be growing with the growing size of the community/corporation - would be worth to investigate this from the standpoint of sociology, psychology and economy… :wink:
Anyway: Merry Christmas!

Tobias :slight_smile:

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