Difference between revisions of "Ubuntu touch on bq Aquarius"

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Ubuntu touch revisited - on BQ Aquarius 5
''Ubuntu touch revisited - on BQ Aquarius E5 (Feb - Apr 2016)''


=== Summary ===
Even though development now is completed (Feb 2016) still do not expect this to be a fully functional operating system comparable in functionality, stability and availability of apps to current builds of IOS or Android.

Even though there now is a product on the market since mid 2015 I still do not see it as a fully working operating system comparable in functionality, stability and availability of apps to current builds of IOS or Android.
It is however a nice (nerdy) environment for playing around with. If you just need a phone to make calls, surf the internet, take pictures then it may already serves your purposes.

The main feature that is still missing imho is out of the box syncing of emails, calendars and contacts.
That is if you do not want to use google.
I have not even tried to sync with google but I think I am not the only one trying this platform to avoid presenting my personal data to any of the big data collectors.


=== References ===
=== References ===
Line 20: Line 27:
* Calendar
* Calendar
* Music app
* Music app
* WiFi hotspot
* Bluetooth works (but not completely reliable - e.g. not working with a car system - Ford 2009)
* remote access via ssh (after enabling ssh server and copying pub key across)
* remote access via ssh (after enabling ssh server and copying pub key across, works great) - see http://howto.cactus.de/index.php/Ubuntu_touch_on_bq_Aquarius#connecting_to_phone_via_ssh
* Dekko mail client (imaps/smtps)
* flight mode
* flight mode
* openvpn client (included since 20116-04-06, tested with certificate auth)
==== Existing problems ====
Still deciding whether to use Ubuntu Touch on bq Aquarius 5 as primary phone.


Very annoying is that all apps stop working after a certain period of inactivity in the background (or locked screen). This causes a delay of 3-4 seconds everytime you switch to an app that has "frozen" to restart it.
==== Existing problems - still deciding whether to use Ubuntu Touch on bq Aquarius 5 as primary phone ====
* mutlitasking deficiencies
** Various apps (e.g. CuteSpotify) stop working when screen blanks
* ActiveSync client missing (needed for sync with Exchange/zarafa)


===== Bluetooth =====
* Bluetooth basically works but only able to pair with earphone profile
* Pairing with headset - being able to use microphone and some buttons was not possible
* but not completely reliable
** e.g. not able to connect to a car system - Ford 2009
** most of the time not showing signal strength of nearby devices at all (None)
** buttons on blue tooth Headset not working with phone (Play/pause, next title) - tested with Sennheiser MM 450-X and various others

===== ActiveSync =====
* ActiveSync client missing (needed for syncing contacts, emails and calendars with Exchange/zarafa) - this is a real showstopper
===== Spotify Client =====
* CuteSpotify (https://github.com/Elleo/cutespotify)
** crashes in a very consistent manner ;-)
** stops working when screen locks or switching to other app
* just found out why this is probably not maintained from https://developer.spotify.com/technologies/libspotify/:
<pre>
Important! LibSpotify and CocoaLibSpotify are no longer under active development on any platform and are considered deprecated.
If you are building applications for iOS or Android, please use the iOS SDK or Android SDK.
We hope to be able to provide you with a new library for other platforms during 2016.

Until then, you can still download these libraries and provision new keys for your project.
However, please be aware that we cannot offer active support or guarantee future functionality on LibSpotify or CocoaLibSpotify.
</pre>
* so at the moment development / bug fixing for CuteSpotify does not seem to be worth the effort.
===== Dekko mail client =====
* can be used to access/send your mails via imaps/smtps but still in beta and very unstable - in fact almost unusable for me.
* found that if you have certain mails with pgp-encryption in your inbox, Dekko crashes when reading the inbox.


==== Not tested yet ====
==== Not tested yet ====
* owncloud synchronisation - could not find a client but there seems to be a way do sync appointments and contacts via xDAV
* owncloud syncronisation
* How to import contacts, events (calendar)
* How to import contacts, events (calendar)
* How to sync contacts, events (calendar)
* How to sync contacts, calendars, https://doc.zarafa.com/6.40/User_Manual/en-US/html/_configure_canlendar_clients.html
* Backup/restore data
* Backup/restore data
* connect keyboard, mouse, monitor to device
* downloading/installing apps from (unofficial) open app store (https://open.uappexplorer.com/)
** this store does not seem to contain any useful additional apps compared to the official store


=== Installing Ubuntu Touch ===
=== Installing Ubuntu Touch ===
Line 41: Line 77:
This step is obviously not needed since the phone comes with Ubuntu pre-installed. Just needs an update from 14.10 to 15.04 (just give it some time after the update to come up again).
This step is obviously not needed since the phone comes with Ubuntu pre-installed. Just needs an update from 14.10 to 15.04 (just give it some time after the update to come up again).


After that (status from 2016-02-13) with Ubuntu Touch 15.04.
Status from 2016-02-13 with Ubuntu Touch 15.04:
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ uname -a
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu-phablet 3.4.67 #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jan 8 11:59:19 UTC 2016 efc96d8 armv7l armv7l armv7l GNU/Linux
Linux ubuntu-phablet 3.4.67 #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jan 8 11:59:19 UTC 2016 efc96d8 armv7l armv7l armv7l GNU/Linux
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ cat /etc/ubuntu-build
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ cat /etc/ubuntu-build
9
9
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$


Status from 2016-04-06:
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu-phablet 3.4.67 #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Mar 29 14:47:28 UTC 2016 a9bacdb armv7l armv7l armv7l GNU/Linux
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ cat /etc/ubuntu-build
11
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$


=== Using Ubuntu touch ===
=== Using Ubuntu touch ===


=== connecting to phone via ssh ===
==== The big question: to write or not to write ====

Trying to figure out if remounting the root partition in rw mode is a good idea:

What I have succeeded in doing is temporarily remount root Partition in rw mode for minor change and afterwards change it back to ro mode.

This did not break the standard upgrade mechanisms - I still get regular upgrades.


Not tested yet: This enables you to use apt-get update/upgrade/install but seems to disable standard upgrade mechanisms completely.
To get back to the standard build you supposedly need to install from scratch!?

==== connecting to phone via ssh ====
This is good news - no need for usb connections - just a simple network ssh/sftp/scp session will do (taken from http://askubuntu.com/questions/348714/how-can-i-access-my-ubuntu-phone-over-ssh/601972#601972)
This is good news - no need for usb connections - just a simple network ssh/sftp/scp session will do (taken from http://askubuntu.com/questions/348714/how-can-i-access-my-ubuntu-phone-over-ssh/601972#601972)
* install the Terminal app on the phone from the App Store.
* install the Terminal app on the phone from the App Store.
Line 58: Line 114:
ip addr
ip addr
nc -l 1234 > ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
nc -l 1234 > ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
* Look for your phone's IP address in the Terminal as returned by the ip addr command above.
* Look for your phone's IP address in the Terminal as returned by the ip addr command or use the app "net-info".
* On your computer, type (replacing 192.0.2.1 with your phone's IP address from above):
* On your computer, type (replacing 192.0.2.1 with your phone's IP address from above):
nc 192.0.2.1 1234 < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
nc 192.0.2.1 1234 < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
Line 65: Line 121:
ssh phablet@192.0.2.1
ssh phablet@192.0.2.1


=== Checking installed version ===
==== Copying files to device ====
scp localfile touch:path-on-device
Sample script to copy media across to external card:
scp -r $1 phablet@ubu:/media/phablet/FD71-883A/$2


==== Syncing data with phone ====

===== syncing pictures and videos =====
Short script to sync pictures and videos taken with camera to PC (and automatically sync on to owncloud).

Here ubu is the name of the phone (may be replaced by ip).

Note: this automatically deletes the pics/videos on the phone - if you do not like this leave out the "--remove-source-files" option.

if `ssh phablet@ubu [ -e Pictures/com.ubuntu.camera/* ]`
then
rsync -avi --remove-source-files phablet@ubu:Pictures/com.ubuntu.camera/* /Users/tim/ownCloud/ubu_touch/pictures/
fi
if `ssh phablet@ubu [ -e Videos/com.ubuntu.camera/* ]`
then
rsync -avi --remove-source-files phablet@ubu:Videos/com.ubuntu.camera/* /Users/tim/ownCloud/ubu_touch/videos/
fi

===== syncing contacts, calendars =====

to be tested
* external links
** https://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/Evolution/Synchronisation/
** contacts: http://notyetthere.org/syncing-ubuntu-touch-with-owncloud-or-any-carddav-server/
** calendar: http://doc.zarafa.com/6.40/User_Manual/en-US/html/_configure_canlendar_clients.html

syncevolution --import /home/phablet/Documents/utcontacts.vcf backend=evolution-contacts database=Persönlich

===== syncing mail =====

* use imaps/smpts for mail access?!

=== Command line tools ===

==== Checking installed version ====
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ system-image-cli --info
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ system-image-cli --info
current build number: 9
current build number: 9
Line 78: Line 174:
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$


Update 2016-02-24: updated to v10:
==== Copying files to device ====
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ system-image-cli --info
Basic version (works out of the box)
current build number: 10
adb push localfile path-on-device
device name: vegetahd
channel: ubuntu-touch/stable/bq-aquaris.en
last update: 2016-02-24 12:52:17
version version: 10
version ubuntu: 20160217.1
version tag: OTA-9.1
version device: 20160108-efc96d8
version custom: 20160111-926-36--vivid
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$


no significant changes noticed so far.
As soon as you get ssh working on the device:
scp localfile touch:path-on-device


Update 2016-04-06: updated to v11:
==== Changing password ====
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ cat /etc/ubuntu-build
Remount root fs rw (for update to /etc/shadow):
11
mount -o remount,rw /
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ system-image-cli --info
Run passwd command
current build number: 11
passwd phablet
device name: vegetahd
channel: ubuntu-touch/stable/bq-aquaris.en
last update: 2016-04-06 22:19:20
version version: 11
version ubuntu: 20160401.1
version tag: OTA-10
version device: 20160329-a9bacdb
version custom: 20160324--36-54-vivid
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$


Blutooth improved, vpn client added!
Problem with this: dualboot app in touch does not work any more since the password seems to be hard-coded.


==== Getting sshd to work ====
==== Using sudo ====
mkdir /var/run/sshd
chmod 755 /var/run/sshd
service ssh start
cd /home/phablet
mkdir .ssh
chmod 700 .ssh


You may run priviledged commands using sudo, use your login pin/password as your sudo password.
Add your pub key to authorized keys:
vi .ssh/authorized_keys
Change acl:
chmod 400 .ssh/authorized_keys
chown -R phablet:phablet .ssh
ssh as phablet now works:
macantha:.ssh tim$ ssh phablet@touch
Welcome to Ubuntu Trusty Tahr (development branch) (GNU/Linux 3.4.0-3-mako armv7l)
* Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/
Last login: Sun Jan 19 11:29:41 2014 from macantha.fritz.box
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$


==== recording Sound ====
Problem - this does not seem to be boot-resistant.
The directory /var/run/sshd vanishes. So the following commands need to be added to the boot process:


record test.wav
Remount root fs rw:
Play test.wav
mount -o remount,rw /
Add the following lines to /etc/rc.local (before exit cmd)
mkdir /var/run/sshd
chmod 755 /var/run/sshd
service ssh start

==== How to become root / use sudo? ====
* as phablet user simply use "sudo su -"
* Whenever you're asked for a password, it's phablet.


==== Various useful commands on Ubuntu touch ====
==== Various useful commands on Ubuntu touch ====
Line 134: Line 221:
pkcon search name xxx - searches for package containing xxx
pkcon search name xxx - searches for package containing xxx


==== Installing Apps not listed in Touch menue ====
==== sending sms ====
choose ril_0 for SIM 1, ril_1 for SIM 2:
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ /usr/share/ofono/scripts/send-sms /ril_1 +49xxxxxxx "test 123" 0
Send message using modem /ril_1 ...
/ril_1/message_70C69448335BD170B04F1096E1DD04DE46C83176
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$

==== customizing gui ====
===== get installed apps =====
ls /home/phablet/.local/share/applications /usr/share/applications/
<pre>
<pre>
root@ubuntu-phablet:~# pkcon install thunderbird
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ ls /home/phablet/.local/share/applications /usr/share/applications/
/home/phablet/.local/share/applications:
Installing [=========================]
clickscope.desktop com.canonical.scopes.wikinear_wikinear.desktop
Waiting in queue [=========================]
---snip---
Starting [=========================]
com.canonical.scopes.twittertrending_twittertrending.desktop videoaggregator.desktop
Loading cache [=========================]
Querying [=========================]
Running [=========================]
Loading cache [=========================]
Installing packages [ ] (0%)
The following packages have to be installed:
libstartup-notification0-0.12-3ubuntu1.armhf library for program launch feedback (shared library)
thunderbird-1:24.2.0+build1-0ubuntu1.armhf Email, RSS and newsgroup client with integrated spam filter
Proceed with changes? [N/y] y


/usr/share/applications/:
[=========================]
account-polld.desktop dialer-app.desktop online-accounts-ui.desktop telephony-service-call.desktop unity8.desktop
Installing [=========================]
---snip---
Waiting in queue [ == ] The daemon crashed mid-transaction!
content-hub-send.desktop messaging-app.desktop syncmonitorhelper.desktop unity8-dash.desktop webbrowser-app.desktop
root@ubuntu-phablet:~#
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$
</pre>
</pre>


===== changing core-apps (appearing at top of apps list) =====
== Updating Ubuntu Touch ==
* set
gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.ClickScope core-apps '["messaging-app", "webbrowser-app", "dekko.dekkoproject"]'
* reset to default
gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.ClickScope core-apps '[]'
* empty list
gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.ClickScope core-apps '[""]'

===== changing Launcher icosns (appearing left hand side menu) =====
* set
<pre>
gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Launcher items "[\
'appid://ubuntu-system-settings' \
, 'appid://com.ubuntu.filemanager_filemanager' \
, 'appid://dekko.dekkoproject_dekko' \
, 'appid://webbrowser-app' \
, 'appid://com.canonical.scopes.contacts_contacts' \
, 'appid://com.ubuntu.developer.majster-pl.utorch_uTorch' \
, 'appid://com.ubuntu.music_music' \
, 'appid://dialer-app' \
, 'appid://messaging-app' \
, 'appid://com.ubuntu.camera_camera' \
]"
</pre>
* empty list
gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Launcher items "[]"

===== creating gui entry for script =====

=== Useful Apps ===

==== Utilities ====
* Terminal
* Beru (PDF and ebook Reader)
* uTorch

==== Network ====
* net-info
* Network Scanner

==== Navigation ====
not really usable yet - will keep revisiting
* OSMtouch
* OSMScout

==== Email ====
* Dekko


==== Sound/Media ====
Because Dual Boot is a special set-up the standard update method for Ubuntu currently does not work (see Feature Roadmap).
* CuteSpotify - currently (2016-02-16) very unstable
* Podbird - Podcast Portal - still trying to find a way how to download podcasts
* Recorder - voice memo recorder


=== Hardware facts ===
To update Ubuntu to a newer version, On the android Ubuntu dual boot application, select "Uninstall Ubuntu" from the menu options. Next you will be asked if you want to keep the user data from Ubuntu. If you do not select "Delete user data", the next installation of Ubuntu will preserve your contacts, installed applications, pictures, background settings, ...


* 2 x micro sim slots
Once Ubuntu has been uninstalled, follow the same installation step to download a newer version of Ubuntu.

Latest revision as of 16:02, 22 April 2016

Ubuntu touch revisited - on BQ Aquarius E5 (Feb - Apr 2016)

Summary

Even though there now is a product on the market since mid 2015 I still do not see it as a fully working operating system comparable in functionality, stability and availability of apps to current builds of IOS or Android. It is however a nice (nerdy) environment for playing around with. If you just need a phone to make calls, surf the internet, take pictures then it may already serves your purposes.

The main feature that is still missing imho is out of the box syncing of emails, calendars and contacts. That is if you do not want to use google. I have not even tried to sync with google but I think I am not the only one trying this platform to avoid presenting my personal data to any of the big data collectors.

References

State overview

Working features

Existing problems

Still deciding whether to use Ubuntu Touch on bq Aquarius 5 as primary phone.

Very annoying is that all apps stop working after a certain period of inactivity in the background (or locked screen). This causes a delay of 3-4 seconds everytime you switch to an app that has "frozen" to restart it.

Bluetooth
  • Bluetooth basically works but only able to pair with earphone profile
  • Pairing with headset - being able to use microphone and some buttons was not possible
  • but not completely reliable
    • e.g. not able to connect to a car system - Ford 2009
    • most of the time not showing signal strength of nearby devices at all (None)
    • buttons on blue tooth Headset not working with phone (Play/pause, next title) - tested with Sennheiser MM 450-X and various others
ActiveSync
  • ActiveSync client missing (needed for syncing contacts, emails and calendars with Exchange/zarafa) - this is a real showstopper
Spotify Client
Important! LibSpotify and CocoaLibSpotify are no longer under active development on any platform and are considered deprecated. 
If you are building applications for iOS or Android, please use the iOS SDK or Android SDK. 
We hope to be able to provide you with a new library for other platforms during 2016.

Until then, you can still download these libraries and provision new keys for your project. 
However, please be aware that we cannot offer active support or guarantee future functionality on LibSpotify or CocoaLibSpotify.
  • so at the moment development / bug fixing for CuteSpotify does not seem to be worth the effort.
Dekko mail client
  • can be used to access/send your mails via imaps/smtps but still in beta and very unstable - in fact almost unusable for me.
  • found that if you have certain mails with pgp-encryption in your inbox, Dekko crashes when reading the inbox.

Not tested yet

Installing Ubuntu Touch

This step is obviously not needed since the phone comes with Ubuntu pre-installed. Just needs an update from 14.10 to 15.04 (just give it some time after the update to come up again).

Status from 2016-02-13 with Ubuntu Touch 15.04: 

phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu-phablet 3.4.67 #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jan 8 11:59:19 UTC 2016 efc96d8 armv7l armv7l armv7l GNU/Linux
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ cat /etc/ubuntu-build 
9
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$


Status from 2016-04-06: 

phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu-phablet 3.4.67 #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Mar 29 14:47:28 UTC 2016 a9bacdb armv7l armv7l armv7l GNU/Linux
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ cat /etc/ubuntu-build 
11
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$

Using Ubuntu touch

The big question: to write or not to write

Trying to figure out if remounting the root partition in rw mode is a good idea:

What I have succeeded in doing is temporarily remount root Partition in rw mode for minor change and afterwards change it back to ro mode.

This did not break the standard upgrade mechanisms - I still get regular upgrades.


Not tested yet: This enables you to use apt-get update/upgrade/install but seems to disable standard upgrade mechanisms completely. To get back to the standard build you supposedly need to install from scratch!?

connecting to phone via ssh

This is good news - no need for usb connections - just a simple network ssh/sftp/scp session will do (taken from http://askubuntu.com/questions/348714/how-can-i-access-my-ubuntu-phone-over-ssh/601972#601972)

  • install the Terminal app on the phone from the App Store.
  • Open a Terminal and type (this is easier with the phone in a landscape orientation, the last command will hang; this is expected):
sudo setprop persist.service.ssh true
mkdir -pm700 ~/.ssh
ip addr
nc -l 1234 > ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
  • Look for your phone's IP address in the Terminal as returned by the ip addr command or use the app "net-info".
  • On your computer, type (replacing 192.0.2.1 with your phone's IP address from above):
nc 192.0.2.1 1234 < ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
  • If successful, the last command on your phone's Terminal will now succeed.
  • On your computer, type (again replacing 192.0.2.1 with your phone's IP address from above):
ssh phablet@192.0.2.1

Copying files to device

scp localfile touch:path-on-device

Sample script to copy media across to external card: 

scp -r $1 phablet@ubu:/media/phablet/FD71-883A/$2


Syncing data with phone

syncing pictures and videos

Short script to sync pictures and videos taken with camera to PC (and automatically sync on to owncloud).

Here ubu is the name of the phone (may be replaced by ip).

Note: this automatically deletes the pics/videos on the phone - if you do not like this leave out the "--remove-source-files" option. 

if `ssh phablet@ubu [ -e Pictures/com.ubuntu.camera/* ]`
then
   rsync -avi --remove-source-files phablet@ubu:Pictures/com.ubuntu.camera/* /Users/tim/ownCloud/ubu_touch/pictures/
fi
if `ssh phablet@ubu [ -e Videos/com.ubuntu.camera/* ]`
then
   rsync -avi --remove-source-files phablet@ubu:Videos/com.ubuntu.camera/* /Users/tim/ownCloud/ubu_touch/videos/
fi
syncing contacts, calendars

to be tested 

syncevolution --import /home/phablet/Documents/utcontacts.vcf backend=evolution-contacts database=Persönlich
syncing mail
  • use imaps/smpts for mail access?!

Command line tools

Checking installed version

phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ system-image-cli --info
current build number: 9
device name: vegetahd
channel: ubuntu-touch/stable/bq-aquaris.en
last update: 2016-01-21 16:15:55
version version: 9
version ubuntu: 20160123.1
version tag: OTA-9
version device: 20160108-efc96d8
version custom: 20160111-926-36--vivid
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$

Update 2016-02-24: updated to v10: 

phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ system-image-cli --info
current build number: 10
device name: vegetahd
channel: ubuntu-touch/stable/bq-aquaris.en
last update: 2016-02-24 12:52:17
version version: 10
version ubuntu: 20160217.1
version tag: OTA-9.1
version device: 20160108-efc96d8
version custom: 20160111-926-36--vivid
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$

no significant changes noticed so far. 

Update 2016-04-06: updated to v11:
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ cat /etc/ubuntu-build 
11
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ system-image-cli --info
current build number: 11
device name: vegetahd
channel: ubuntu-touch/stable/bq-aquaris.en
last update: 2016-04-06 22:19:20
version version: 11
version ubuntu: 20160401.1
version tag: OTA-10
version device: 20160329-a9bacdb
version custom: 20160324--36-54-vivid
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$

Blutooth improved, vpn client added!

Using sudo

You may run priviledged commands using sudo, use your login pin/password as your sudo password.

recording Sound

record test.wav Play test.wav

Various useful commands on Ubuntu touch

dpkg -l     - lists all installed packages
click list  - lists installed click packages
pkcon install xxx   - installs click package
pkcon search name xxx - searches for package containing xxx

sending sms

choose ril_0 for SIM 1, ril_1 for SIM 2: 

phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ /usr/share/ofono/scripts/send-sms /ril_1 +49xxxxxxx "test 123" 0
Send message using modem /ril_1 ...
/ril_1/message_70C69448335BD170B04F1096E1DD04DE46C83176
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$

customizing gui

get installed apps
ls /home/phablet/.local/share/applications /usr/share/applications/

phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$ ls /home/phablet/.local/share/applications /usr/share/applications/
/home/phablet/.local/share/applications:
clickscope.desktop                                              com.canonical.scopes.wikinear_wikinear.desktop
---snip---
com.canonical.scopes.twittertrending_twittertrending.desktop    videoaggregator.desktop

/usr/share/applications/:
account-polld.desktop     dialer-app.desktop       online-accounts-ui.desktop     telephony-service-call.desktop  unity8.desktop
---snip---
content-hub-send.desktop  messaging-app.desktop    syncmonitorhelper.desktop      unity8-dash.desktop             webbrowser-app.desktop
phablet@ubuntu-phablet:~$
changing core-apps (appearing at top of apps list)
  • set
gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.ClickScope core-apps '["messaging-app", "webbrowser-app", "dekko.dekkoproject"]'
  • reset to default
gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.ClickScope core-apps  '[]'
  • empty list
gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.ClickScope core-apps  '[""]'
changing Launcher icosns (appearing left hand side menu)
  • set
gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Launcher items "[\
'appid://ubuntu-system-settings' \
, 'appid://com.ubuntu.filemanager_filemanager' \
, 'appid://dekko.dekkoproject_dekko' \
, 'appid://webbrowser-app' \
, 'appid://com.canonical.scopes.contacts_contacts' \
, 'appid://com.ubuntu.developer.majster-pl.utorch_uTorch' \
, 'appid://com.ubuntu.music_music' \
, 'appid://dialer-app' \
, 'appid://messaging-app' \
, 'appid://com.ubuntu.camera_camera' \
]"
  • empty list
gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Launcher items  "[]"
creating gui entry for script

Useful Apps

Utilities

  • Terminal
  • Beru (PDF and ebook Reader)
  • uTorch

Network

  • net-info
  • Network Scanner

Navigation

not really usable yet - will keep revisiting

  • OSMtouch
  • OSMScout

Email

  • Dekko

Sound/Media

  • CuteSpotify - currently (2016-02-16) very unstable
  • Podbird - Podcast Portal - still trying to find a way how to download podcasts
  • Recorder - voice memo recorder

Hardware facts

  • 2 x micro sim slots
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