i currently run the above mentioned calyxos version and I have the bug which is extremely irritating. I first thought it might be a calyxos bug and asked on the calyx matrix channel and the devs confirmed that it’s a fairphone firmware bug and that they can do nothing to fix it.
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Very sad that there is no urgency to solve this issue. @anon64862762 I’ve been a FP supporter since day one and I am about to start my annual holiday. I had to replace my Fairphone with a different phone as I work outside and need to take my photos as part of my data collection. While FP may think this is a small aesthetic issue it actually has major consequences for me and the lack of both urgency and understanding from FP has been disappointing. I am always proselytizing about why FP is such a great brand and since the FP4 it can really compete with most other brands without an average user noticing a drop in performance…so now everyone will ask why I don’t have a FP anymore and I have to tell them it’s a stupid dimming issue that has caused it?
It speaks more about the support and response from FP than the actual problem. A real shame because I voiced this concern from the first day I updated to Android 12 and it was belittled and ignored, and here we are months later.
It’s not about the money for RMA but being really disappointed in how this has been managed. Long time Fairphone User and ambassador now with a Google Pixel 
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I can 100% confirm you view…it seems that at least i have to sell both of our FP4´s and switch back to a Pixel 
…it is really a shame, as i promoted several phones within our company also and now all users are complaining…
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To improve this, one idea that comes to mind, is to open source the software/firmware.
So that users can try to contribute and in the issue tracker or on gitlab we can send our pull requests to be reviewed.
On the philosophy side it will be like being able to access the software and hardware both.
Since we can already disassemble the phone, I think the concept is in line.
I know that Android it’s not fully open source, but could be a little step further.
But it’s just “pour parler” here.
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In connection with /e/ it could be done 
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This was almost entirely true once upon a time. As demonstrated by https://code.fairphone.com/projects/fairphone-2/issuetracker.html, the Fairphone 2 had issuetracker.fairphone.com (a GitLab instance). However, issuetracker.fairphone.com has been deprecated in favour of Fairphone’s internal gitlab.fairphone.com.
Additionally, Fairphone 2 - Fairphone Open — FAIRPHONE open source documentation, a degoogled and open-source version of the OS (to my knowledge). However, Fairphone 2 - Download Releases — FAIRPHONE open source documentation has been deprecated since #A9.
However, at the very least, alternative ROMs are supported by Fairphone 4 - Kernel Source Code — FAIRPHONE open source documentation and https://code.fairphone.com/projects/fairphone-4/gpl.html, although this is probably because the GPL license forces them to provide modified kernel code upstream.
@kristijan_tkalec, I don’t know why anyone would partner with e/OS/ to make source code available, since /e/OS isn’t bastions of OSS themselves. It doesn’t require any partnering anyway.
These were deliberate decisions on their part. However, because neither are provided for the Fairphone 4, the result is fairly obvious (this thread).
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@rokejulianlockhart
Thanks for the explanation about some history of Fairphone.
Didn’t know that, since I joined some months ago with the FP4.
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Likewise. I bought the phone not realizing that what I described wasn’t available for the Fairphone 4, so when I experienced issues, I was forced to research exactly why my newer phone didn’t have the same support the old one did.
yea in the last years they killed all their open source projects like open fpos and their open trackers. Clearly, that was a bad call. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if custom rom devs stopped supporting fairphone since they are becoming increasingly difficult to work with and their bad bugs and extremely slow security fixes affect rom development negatively. Their community work degregated to finding evangelists who provide free p2p marketing. It really is a shame.
Fairness and sustainablility is more than just certified fair gold and support promises. Promising long term support means you have to also fix bugs and security issues in a timely manner and deliver a working product.
Considering they got a substantial investment it is even more baffling that they seem to not put any of these new ressources into their software development and only into marketing, advertising and brand recognition.
Let’s hope that the new leadership realizes that working software and software support is just as important for sustainability than replacable batteries and fairtrade certificates. But at this point I have little faith left.
It is our responsibility as consumers and those who believe in actual fair devices to hold fairphone responsible for their empty promises and failure to deliver. Personally, I’ll give them july to fix this issue and if they don’t I’ll return my phone and demand a refund. After all, they give a 5 year warranty. This clearly is a warranty issue.
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Your use of the word ‘fair’ whereas common is merely down to a consumer choice.
Not being happy with the choice directed at Fairphone and hence their fairness,
yet my understanding was the targets for acting fair are the people who mine the gold and make the phone.
Sure I may be upset but that no one else’s ‘fault’ than mine.
Even fair isn’t really fair, it’s just the ‘fairer’ and that is 99% for the aforementioned.
Thee and me are way down on the list of concerns, that’s just business, and painful
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I mean
- Fair is a relative term
- The term was first used by Fairphone to note their creation of Fairtrade gold
- Secondly in their heightened pay for factory workers
The only material advantage, which has nothing to do with being fair, is the phone(s) are more DIY friendly, but at a cost.
- The cost is modules may come loose
- More chance of water ingress
- Larger and heavier phone to allow for modularity
- Small company - higher costs for unique design
So I see no way that the consumer can expect to be treated fairly considering the above.
Software in this topic is the issue and whereas it is lamentable that this screen dimming happens, it wasn’t a design idea, though clearly a design overlook.
Is it fair that this happens and has taken so long to fix?
Upsetting no doubt, but as there was no intention, then it is not a matter of being fair.
Has Fairphone failed to deliver on people’s expectation, no doubt ~ crap happens~ but not down the mines for us.
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What are you trying to defend here? That we shouldn’t expect them to be fair because although the word is the cornerstone of their tagline and marketing, due to your brand of non sensical pedantry, their poor customer service is excused?
Even if somehow so, why state it? I can’t comprehend your rationale.
Perhaps we should just remain on-topic? If you desire discussion of the ethical implications of not bothering to support firmware properly during an OS update for whetever reason, do that in another top-level post. You’ll get us muted by speaking off-topic here.
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agree with @rokejulianlockhart .
i gave up understanding such posts in which people forget that organizations like fairphone are profit oriented companies as well and not social wellfare, which is totally fine. In that function however they have to deliver satisfying products, otherwise they will die. Do I we want FP to die? no, because we like their philosophy. The conclusion is that we have to remind them on their primary task (delivering satisfying products) in case necessary.
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@all maybe getting back on-topic would be a good idea
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It happened to me for the first time since I got the FP4 a few days ago: I was on the bus and the screen suddenly went a little dimmer. Not a lot, but enough to be annoying. When I tried to adjust the brightness manually, the slider seemed to max out at 90% (meaning I could slide it all the way to 100% but the maximum brightness was around the 90% mark).
It wasn’t bright and it certainly wasn’t hot in the bus, and I wasn’t running anything particularly CPU intensive (just watching some video in NewPipe for a minute or two). And if that matters, the bus wasn’t even moving.
I put the phone back in my pocket and pulled it out again some 5 minutes later and the screen was back to full brightness.
Kind of annoying, but for my use pattern, it’s not a deal breaker - unlike for those who need to use it outdoors a lot. And it never gets hot here where I live Hopefully the good folks at Fairphone will come up with a patch at some point.
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It happened to me again today. But maybe I found a workaround: when the screen went dim, I covered the front-facing camera for 5 seconds: the screen went a bit brighter (weirdly enough, it should go dimmer when it detects darkness) and when I removed my thumb, it went back to full brightness.
I’ll try to confirm whether this trick works next time it happens.
I’m also trying to see if setting the brightness slider a bit lower all the time helps: I have a feeling the bug might be caused by some sort of overflow in some variable. So perhaps if the overflow occurs in the variable that controls brightness, setting its base value lower might give it more room to get brighter before it hits the overflow.
This is all speculation of course. I’m just playing around to see if I can find a workaround, and perhaps find clues as to why this happens
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Just to avoid confusion, the camera does not contain such sensor still its close and you might have well triggered it. Thats the current situation
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Yes, usually the proximity or ambient light detector sensor isn’t far. That’s what I meant to hit when I covered that area with my thumb. I didn’t describe it well, sorry.
Thanks for the update!
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It doesn’t. I guess the first time was a fluke.
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