Hi, my name is Martine, and my Fairphone arrived yesterday!!! It is my first smartphone ever and I’m totally happy with it. However, there are some things still a bit unclear and hope to find some answers here.
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Hi @Maryamu and welcome to the Fairphone-family!
The forum is an ideal place to search for ànd find answers. Use the little magnifying glass in the top right corner, next to the speech balloon and your profile-settings button, and search away! If you can’t find a specific item, you might want to start your own topic here on this forum.
That being said, you might want to watch these instruction videos made for you, by the Fairphone team.
You can also visit the support page, where you can find FAQ and general information about using your phone.
Good luck and have fun using your Fairphone 
Kind regards,
Robin
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Hi,
I’m Martin from Germany. First batch Fairphoner, it took the place of my trusty old Dell Streak. Loving it. Keep going, Fairphone team! You’ve done a great job so far.
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Hello everyone, it’s great to see such and engaged and varied community 
I’m Rob and I’m a medical student from Glasgow. This year I’m president of the local Amnesty International group, and for the past 18-24 months we’ve been campaigning for a Conflict-Free Campus. We’ve made some great strides in the last few months with the university court agreeing to hear our petition.Through the wider CFCI campaign I heard about Fairphone and I just couldn’t not buy one!
The values that surround the entire lifecycle - not limited to mineral used - are extremely important and will hopefully server as an inspiration and model for others to follow. As a believer in Free Software I’m hoping the ‘soft’ side is supported as well and as openly as the ‘hard’ side!
I’m waiting on delivery of my second-batch Fairphone, but that hasn’t stopped me extolling the virtues of it to friends and family who are looking for a new phone. I’m hoping the other values that Fairphone promotes go as mainstream as the conflict mineral-free push has.
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Hey all,
you’re welcome to call me Kris, full name’s Kristina. I’m from Germany and currently studying Business Informatics with the prospect of continuing to get my masters degree in Computer Science.
I’m currently eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Fairphone! Saw the update from Friday and if I did the math right I just might be getting my phone with the coming shipment! 
See you around!
Hi!
I am Stefan, I live near to Vienna and I am following the Fairphone movement since about spring 2013. Since then there were a lot of ups and downs and when there were further delays before the first shipments I asked myself why I bought the FP.
I love being part of the FP community and it is great to meet other Fairphone-owners or talk to people which have heard from the FP. So far I have met 3 people which own a FP and every one of the encounters (although I have only seen them once) sticks in my memory. Recently I even convinced my best friend to buy a second batch FP and he was under the first 1000 phones or so which were shipped in July '14.
I would be nice to have a local Austrian FP community and get to know people who think likewisely.
My biggest concern about the FP is the yet unsolved Mediatek issue…
Well thank’s for taking the time to read this!
Stefan
Edit: I think it didn’t come out, but I also don’t want to miss the cool FP First Edition Badge: I also own a First Edition FP. 
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Hi all, another Jerry from the Netherlands, happy Fairphone user since I received my order from the second batch last week. Love to contribute to a more honest and fair world this way.
Decided not to install the google services, see how far I’d come without limitations. I guess there is or will soon be a forum section dedicated to that…
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Hi
@remco - it’s so good to see so many of the first 5000 Fairphoners joining the forum
@Casmi - another from the first 5000, excellent, and of course the UK like me ;-). Excellent that you’re using the full capability of the 2nd sim for travelling
@robin - I think it’s great that you tell the Fairphone story. So many people do ask what phone you have, and I think the Fairphone makes people think.
@Maryamu - Don’t be shy to ask newbie questions in the forum, there are quite a few members who are new to smartphones on the forum and we’re all here to help
@martinv2 - isn’t the dell streak a ‘phablet’? I guess the Fairphone sits better in your pocket. Good to hear from you
@bertieb - Excellent to hear about your campaigning work and I’m sure you’ll love your new phone when it’s delievered
@Kris_S - Oh it will be arriving soon. Maybe you’ll post up your experiences when you receive it, exciting times
@Stefan - Thanks for sharing, and it’s fantastic that you’ve met other Fairphone owners 
The mediatek issue is a big concern for some, let’s hope it can be resolved
@jerry1970 - There are quite a few people living a ‘google free’ life on here and will no doubt be around to help if you need it.
Mammoth post, but Welcome all and happy posting!
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Hey guys :] I’m Emma, another proud Fairphone owner (first edition). I had been posting at the old forum as well, I think this new version looks great and seems to be easier to use. I’m currently studying International Development at the university of Wageningen, the Netherlands. With everything I buy, I try to ask: where was this made? By whom? How? - but most of the time, it’s almost impossible to get answers to these questions. I find Fairphone really refreshing in that regard.
Unfortunately, I just had to part with my phone temporarily after eight months… I accidentally dropped it and now part of the touch screen doesn’t work anymore (aww). But I’m sure that will be fixed soon. In the meanwhile, I’m really excited for everyone who is just getting to know their Fairphone for the first time! I haven’t met another Fairphone user yet, but since the movement is growing, I’m sure it’s bound to happen in the future…
Hi everyone.
Though I might as well leave a post here. I own a 1st gen FP and tried to be helpful (and get help) in the old forum under a different nick (@OudeHeis), but I thought I might as well come back as @humorkritik. I’m no developer, and totally new to android, but I also try to read and help at the xda-dev forum, as @boondiorna.
I am not keen to completely waive anonymity on teh interwebz, and therefore interested in all kinds of privacy issues with the fairphone. I tried to use the FP1 without any Google Apps, but as described elsewhere, it cripples the phone to an extent I did not previously imagine. Fiddelin’ with the internals of the software is quite some fun, and I can highly recommend XPrivacy to regain some control about what data you spill. Every now and then I start pulling my hair because I realise that I know nothing
Just BTW, I would be delighted if more helpful solutions would end up at the XDA dev wiki, because even though the new forum is quite cool, searching for help is still a pain in the small of the back.
Hi everyone !
I’m Benjamin, from Belgium. I’m a PhD student in agricultural sciences and have always been interested in the whole “fair” initiative. I am a proud owner of a second batch Fairphone for nearly a month now.
I followed the project since its start but didn’t need a smartphone at the time, as I was using entry-level phones (you know, the 20€ Samsung kind) for quite some time. Advancing in my PhD, it’s mainly the need to have a good calendar that made me consider buying a smartphone, and so I looked more and more into the Fairphone project. Unfortunately I didn’t decide soon enough to be part of the first batch, but I could order one of the first phones of the second one :).
I really like the project and the idea, both for the mining concerns/social values and for the repairability/lifecycle of the phone.
I must say I was, and still am, pleasantly surprised at how good this phone looks and performs. Plus the communication and the community makes all this a great experience so far ! And as someone already pointed out, it’s nice to have a story to tell everytime someone takes an intrigued glance at the Fairphone ;).
See you around !
Hello
I am from Thessaloniki Greece.
I use Open OS in my computer [Linux].
I am a member of the Zeitgeist Movement which advocates a transition from a global money-based economic system to a resource-based economy.
I am a proud Fairphone 1st Edition owner for two major reasons… 1. It hasn’t planned obsolescence and 2. It is [Android] rooted from factory and we still have 2 years warranty!
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Thanks for drawing my attention to this movement. Haven’t heard about it yet but will look into it.
Greetings
Tom
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Hi
@Emma - glad to have another 1st edition fairphoner on the forum. Sorry to hear you’ve had an accident with your phone - hope you get it back soon!
@humorkritik - another 1st edition fairphoner, and totally understand the privacy issues. Thanks for the XDA wiki link
@Benjamin - glad you’re enjoying the experience. Shame you couldn’t get a 1st edition, but of course happy days now you have a 2nd edition phone
@toyotis - Welcome to the forums. The Zeitgeist Movement seems interesting indeed!
Welcome everyone!
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Hi My name is Ralf and I’m a Fairphone owner and user since February 2014.
I’ve been involved in hardware and software development and testing since decades, starting with 6809 and PDP11 systems in the eighties & covering linux from the very beginning.
I already owned and used a bunch of android devices before and suffered a lot from:
- limited support by the manufacturers and therefore limited time of useability of the devices
- difficulties and time-loss for getting back control over my owned devices (rooting, xprivacy, adblock…)
- more and more closed technologies (no sd-card slots, none removable batteries, locked bootloaders…)
- producing electronic waste, even though the hardware could still be of some use. (thanx to CyanogenMod most of the devices have been in use at my family for some more time than intended by the ill-thinking business-freaks at HTC, motorola, samsung and co)
So most of the aspects of the fairphone are in line with what I expect from the industry and the nomadic devices since years.
I’m trying to share experiences and knowledge here as I’m already doing so on xda-developers and android-hilfe.de.
Let’s have a fine time, constructive dialogues and a bright future for the “fair” idea.
best regards,
Ralf
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Cathal in Dublin, Ireland, owner of a FP1 with the special case because I was in the first 10,185 to pre-order, making production possible!
Just checked. Invoice INV04146 on 2 June last year. (possible I was not in the first 5000 if – mental arithmetic moment – circa 400 customers before me ordered two phones; 'but what about those who ordered three?" I hear you cry… hmph, If I wasn’t in the forst 5k, I was close enough.)
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Hi, I’ve only just come across the idea of Fairphone, but I’m really excited by the ethics and freedoms of the project! Hoping this continues with the success it deserves.
Dear Fairphonies!
Two days ago I received my first Smartphone - MY FAIRPHONE!!!
The postman thought I was some kind of crazy, I think, jumping up and down
Thank good I’ve got three kids which know “everything” about smartphones
so my own helpers are constantly around in the afternoon (“Oh no, Mum is coming, what
is it now with her Fairphone?” But I will learn…
I’m now looking in the forum about your experiences with google apps or free apps,
to who can I ask for these questions?
Great to have it! Greatings from Bielefeld, Germany! Hiphiphurray
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Hey @Stucki_17, welcome to the world of smartphones!
In a couple of weeks I’ll be in the exact same position as your kids, my dad will also have the Fairphone as his first Smartphone. So I think I can relate (kind of?)
Anyway, if you got any specific questions just open up a new topic!
Edit: Before opening a new topic, use the search function to see if something similar already came up. In case you got any questions in german feel free to send me a message.
I got a couple topics collected that might or might not be interesting for you to start with:
Toughts about my new fairphone
Software tools for dealing with your Android device
Ideas for fair or eco apps?
And some video tutorials on YouTube:
Getting you started with your Fairphone
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