Hello @tin, I acknowledge the update was not well received but calling all users beta testers is bridge to far. We made changes people do and don’t like and we have some problems with the gapps install but so far very few actual bugs flowing in.
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Are there numbers available as to how many people have upgraded to 1.8? I’m interested in knowing what percentage of users upgrades and does not go to the forum or send an email to Fairphone because they encounter issues.
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Launcher change is more than only a “problem” - IMHO. The decision to change it was wrong as you see in all the comments here and it’s exactly the problem of a missing beta test - you didn’t have reactions from users before launching this version. Its in opposition to “fair”, sorry.
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After this update
- all my google apps are deleted, and I can not find ‘playstore’ to reinstall everything. Playstore is totally gone
- all agenda information is gone, I hope my google account saved the information…
Anybody an idea how to get ‘Playstore’ again?
Luckily my ‘notes’ were not deleted, the last big update required an backup and that didn’t saved my ‘notes’ which made me upset.
I really question these kind of updates. Does FP test the updates enough before releasing? Just wondering after seeing all those update problems here…
I was happy to see that in random places somewhere in Antwerp or Ghent people were using the FP. The fair trade message is getting spread!! It would be a pity if unprofessional updates like this one, would make FP unpopular. IMHO
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At about the 3rd attempt I succeeded in downloading Kola nut. When it first started it only had 3 home screens and now one of them has disappeared so I have only 2. How do I get the third one back?
almost EVERYTHING is broken: launcher is gone, content gone, the inactivity sense (which turns off my data of wifi after certain amount of time) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sk.pcm2&hl=en - I’m now busy for over 3 HOURS to get everything back in order.
1 ) upgrade
2 ) re-install the google play services (direct download, otherwise it’s not working)
3 ) re-install the google play store
4) re-do all customisations
Still trying to find my folders and custom screens again (I had 5, now there are 3 EMPTY ones)
If this was tested, then it’s one of the most amateuristic test-cycles ever…
This can’t be serious right?
Where is the documentation about this new launcher? Can’t get in or do anything with it. The icons are very big now, the 2 screens I really use are GONE, while the 3 I hardly use are still there…
Hi all,
Thank you for your questions and feedback.
We’ve read them all carefully and I would like to take a minute to explain a few things, why we made certain decisions and followups.
First I want to say that we are truly sorry for the issues the update is causing for some of you. The update will erase the icon shortcuts on your homescreen and reinstallation of the app store is necessary. Although we try to communicate this as much as possible, we understand it’s still cumbersome and definitely not ideal. The reinstallation of the app store is intrinsic to the way we’ve implemented the Google Services into the phone, and can’t be changed for this current generation. In short; every time a new Fairphone update is installed reinstallation of the app store is needed. We try to make the instructions as clear as possible through our support page, and now also through our new interactive self help tool (as mentioned in this topic opening post).
The Kola Nut 1.8 update includes several important (security) fixes and improvements “under-the-hood”. Apart from these necessary fixes that users will benefit from, we also included some visual changes.
The first visual change is the Fairphone Updater app. This app was build from the ground up and is more user friendly. It also gives you a preview on how the “look and feel” will be on future Fairphone devices. Through this app we will make new software updates available in the future and keep supporting your FP1(U) for as long as possible.
The second visual change is the new launcher, which is causing the majority of the issues. The new launcher has the same look and feel as the KitKat launcher. We’ve read some comments that we are pretending to give users a KitKat upgrade this way. It was never our intention to give you this feeling. We want to communicate openly about this, and therefore we mentioned this change in the release notes together with the fact the FP is still using Jelly Bean 4.2.2. Apart from this, in our latest software blog (recommended read!) we explain openly about the software on the Fairphone and why certain things are the way they currently are. But we can’t hide the fact some of you feel misled by this new launcher, and we are sorry.
So why did we change the launcher? As mentioned before, our intention is to support the Fairphone as long as possible. We want to give you the feeling we keep on supporting the phone, and not just by releasing small security fixes once in a while, but also invest in the overall user experience. The launcher included in the 1.8 update is used by more than 20% of all Android devices in the world and is more advanced than the old launcher. We hear many positive comments, but unfortunately also negative ones.
The main downside of implementing the new launcher is that it will erase the icon shortcuts on your home screen. Although it’s easy to place them back, it’s cumbersome and can take some time if you sorted it out nice and tidy before the update. We communicated this through our communication channels, but we understand it can come as a surprise if you update “out of the blue”. Unfortunately due technical difficulties in relation to installing a new launcher on a phone, it’s not possible to change this home screen behaviour after the update. So in short, manually placing the icons back is necessary.
The launcher also comes with a different icon size. The icons are now displayed with the correct size for HDPI which Google advises for this resolution. So in short; we are following Android’s guidelines on this and we changed it intentionally. Many of you are not fond of this new change due the fact it gives you less space on a single home screen and some icons look blurry/stretched out.
Apart from all the things mentioned above, there are some other technical issues some users are experiencing with the update (i.e. problems reinstalling the app store, etc.)
So where do we go from here? We are listening to your feedback and together with our software partner Kwamecorp we’re collecting the issues you are having, evaluating the impact of the update and working on a solution.
We will keep you informed!
Rick,
The Fairphone Team
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Your ‘solution’ for the 3 home screens is no solution at all: when I drag an icon to the far right then it adds a 4th EMPTY screen. My old custom screens (which I use 99% of the time!) are all lost???
This cannot be true, you realeased an upgrade, basically turning the phone back to factory defaults so to speak?
I’m disgusted, really disgusted, not only by the arrogance for using me as a tester, but also because you have no real solutions and try to talk your way out of it on this forum.
Please admit that this upgrade is a failure, and help the users!
So to make a summarisation of your post: we have no solution right now, even if the Google play service still is not usable. I can’t even place the icons back at this moment, …
this is a disaster.
Going to buy a normal phone tomorrow. Cheers and thanks for nothing
Did you try reinstalling GoogleApps with the widget? That is needed before you can use all the Play Store apps (including the Play Store itself).
Yes, it’s silly that we need to install the GoogleApps first. This is because FairPhone did not have full Android licenses/agreement/whatever. They explained this during an earlier update.
After I reinstalled GoogleApps, let the phone reboot (via the pop-up or via the Updater app), and restored my apps from the backup I made on my SD card (with the native back up app), everything worked fine.
Yes, all shortcuts disappeared from my home screens, which sucked, but that was to be expected with a new launcher (home screen interface). I took screenshots of my home screens before the update and setting up the home screens on the new launcher took about 10 minutes.
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I have the same problem and its not showing up in my widget nor my apps. I tried to download it manually but doesn’t appear on my phone.
Any idea what I can do?
OK, having regained balance after yesterday’s shock I think the FP developers do deserve credit, too. The 1.8 update does not seem to contain any bugs worth mentioning (maybe apart from the storage issue reported in another thread by an owner who updated a FP with the old partition structure). Even with an empty screen the phone was fully functionable.
What has caused irritation and bad temper is that we were not efficiently informed of the most noticable immediate consequence of the update: the new launcher. I therefore find it a bit problematic if there persists an impression that information actually did go out to the users in advance. As in the following (my bold/italics):
NO. YOU. DID. NOT.
At least not through any communication channels to which I am connected.) Today the information is available, both on the ‘software undate v1.8 log’ website and in the new update tutorial, but yesterday afternoon, when the update was available and announced, it was not. Please don’t forget this. It’s impossible to read the fing manual if there is no f*ing manual.
*) EDIT: I must admit that I was a bit too categorical here. As has been pointed out by @Reid_Sommerville in another thread, it was mentioned in the e-mail sent to announce that the update was available. Didnät read that one carefully to the very end.
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Dear @Manuel_V I’m sorry that you see us as arrogant and that this update caused you so much frustration.
We are currently operating on two tracks:
- Helping the Fairphone owners that updated or are currently updating solving the issues they encounter
- We stopped the over the air push of update 1.8 after the feedback we received from you as a community. In the next hours we will be sending out a newsletter and posting more information on the situation and this decision. For now we advise users that did not yet update to wait till we publish more information. We are taking everything we have learned and are looking into our options how to apply this.
We never meant to use you all as testers, and I am really sorry that it is perceived this way. If you homescreen got wiped unfortunately there is only the option to manually rebuild it.
Giving some more info might make it easier for people to help you.
- What exactly did you try
- How did it fail? (crash, error message, no effect, …)
- If you got an error, what did it say
- …
Here, the reinstall of the google apps went perfect. What I did after the update is documented in the steps found here:
I hope it works for you too.
@kgha I agree with you that the information was not clear enough and the fact that I did not catch the impact of the wiping of the homescreens is very frustrating for me as I was part of the internal testing. I will work on a pinned post explaining the current situation - thank you for the continued feedback.
Weird. The GoogleApps-installer-widget was on my homescreen inmediately after the first reboot (when the new software was installed).
In the upgrade to 1.6 I experienced the same issue (not being able to find the GoogleApps installer widget), but after waiting a while and trying to find it again (and posting on this forum) it suddenly appeared. I hope it will for you, too.
I don’t know, but some people seem to overreact a bit. It doesn’t take “hours” to get all widgets and app links back on your homescreens, and having to re-install Google Apps has been a thing ever since the first FairPhone updates. I’m actually surprised that there are still so many people who are caught off guard by this (or are there 2nd batch people for who this is the first ever update?)
One thing I’ve learned from software development though, is that change is always creepy for users, even when that change actually is a measurable, non-subjective improvement. Perhaps that is something FairPhone underestimated. I also think that most of the angry responses here come from people who aren’t fully informed on how functionality that has changed works now.
I’m happy with the update in general (not too fond of the larger icons though!).
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Can an improvement ever be non-subjective? Isn’t an improvement always an improvement for someone?
‘non-subjective improvement’ reminds me of stalwart Marxists in the '70s speaking of the ‘objective interests’ of the working class.
Thanks, hope not to wait too long. Spend already a couple hours trying different things, rebooting my FP. When I try to download manually it says GoogleApps is installed on the webpage, yet nowhere to be found. No Google application is installed. It shows only the icon of Maps but when I open it, it says install it with Playstore, then nothing happens (because I don’t have Playstore)
I seem to be stuck in this!!
Any idea?
@Marco
@anon12454812