Fairfone 3: Which Android version?

Hello,

My girlfriend has the fairfone 3 and got a new update yesterday, v 0.18.
On the website of the e foundation in the device overview it says that the Android version is Q, so Android 10.
However, in the system settings of her device it says: Android 9.
How can this be?

Thanks for hell!

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The /e/ version number does not directly relate to a major Android version.
/e/ versions are available using several Android versions as their base, see here … https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/os/releases/-/releases.
/e/ 0.18 is available using Android 7, 8, 9 or 10 depending on what’s available as a base on the device it’s running on.

On the Fairphone 3/3+ /e/ currently support Android 9 and Android 10 as their base.
Support started with Android 9, and the OTA updater which installs the regular OS updates as of now can’t upgrade the OS to a new major Android version, this is still in the works.
As long as that’s the case, /e/ are rolling out their OS updates for bases Android 9 and Android 10, and upgrading to Android 10 is a manual process, here’s how … https://doc.e.foundation/q-upgrade-fp3. If this isn’t done, the device will stay on Android 9 for now.

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In addition to what @AnotherElk has explained so well: Should she want to upgrade her FP3 to a higher Android version now, it might make sense to wait a few more weeks until /e/ is on Android 11. The point is that both the upgrade to Android 10 as well as the pending upgrade to Android 11 will require a “clean install” on the FP3 – a factory reset. So if you want to avoid to the hassle of setting up the phone anew from scratch twice in a row, just wait until /e/OS is lifted on Android 11 in order to just skip Android 10 and go directly to 11 (I don’t know if you will be able to directly go from 9 to 11 then, but even if you need to go in two steps you still avoid to re-setup the device twice).

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Thank you for the detailed explanation. Then she will stay at 9 for now until 11 appears.
I also asked this because I am thinking of switching to /e/ on my Oneplus5. I also have questions about this, but I’ll probably better open a new thread in the Oneplus forum.

there’s work on allowing to go from Q to R with an intact userdata (hinges on resolving one bug currently). The reason a “refresh” is advised was for users to get updated firmware from the stocks… what in the case of the FP3 is now obsolete.

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That’s great to hear! I’ll adapt my recommendations from now on. :slight_smile:

And regarding Fairphone OS Android 11 … this has just been delayed to 2022 anyway.

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Is there a tutorial on how we update the fairfone 3, which is currently still running Android 9, to Android 11, with clean install? We would also like to root the device with magisk (to use Advanced Charging Controller (ACC) and Adaway).
There is only a beta for Fairfone 3, (IMG-e-0.18-r-20210831132813-dev-FP3.zip), is it already recommended or should we wait?

Thanks :slight_smile:

There should be at https://doc.e.foundation/devices/FP3/upgrade, but just briefly browsing through it, it seems automatically generated and not right for the Fairphone 3 to me, so better follow the normal install instructions at https://doc.e.foundation/devices/FP3/install, the Android R builds are available there, too.
I haven’t done this myself yet, though.

I don’t use Magisk, so I would start with the official documentation … https://topjohnwu.github.io/Magisk/install.html … else forum searches here and in the Fairphone forum might bring up something.

It’s beta, it’s in testing, so a healthy dose of caution can’t hurt. Resources to follow proceedings …

OK, thank you.
I should mention that it is a FP3 from the e foundation, so it is already e OS on it, just still with Android 9.

That may well be, but upgrading to a new major Android version is a manual installation including wiping your data for now.
They are working on making the OTA updater do major version upgrades in-place without the data wipe, too, but this is not here on the Fairphone 3/3+ yet, and it has no timeline for the Fairphone 3/3+ yet. Progress updates on this are being given in the Development Updates I linked to above.

I am aware that deleting the data is necessary when switching from 9 to 11. I was just wondering if I need to update the firmware somehow beforehand, or if I can just install 11.

Another question: do I have to make a fullwipe again after the beta phase? Or can I, if I now install the 11 (beta), later also install upcoming stable builds?

The communication on this seems a bit confusing because the different phones /e/ is running on can be very different in how stuff works with them.

For the Fairphone 3/3+ it is my understanding (careful with that :slight_smile: ) that the install files should have the firmware bits included.
https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/os/releases/-/releases mentioned such an import once into 0.17-q, for what it’s worth.

Anyway, the two posts here and here seem to indicate that you can just install.

It might be labelled “beta”, but the Android R build you can install now is in the dev release channel already, the following builds will just be dev updates which should install OTA then, labelled “beta” or not.

If you install a dev release channel build now and later want to install a stable release channel build, this will need a new install of the OS as far as I read here. Whether you can keep your data when doing that … I can’t seem to find a reference.

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hello,

This conversation is already 18 months old. I would like to ask which version of e/Os is currently installed on the refurbished fairphon3+, please?
Actually, Android 11 is a bit tedious for connecting to some wifi, asking for a field “domain” that nobody knows… Does the e/OS as such a security too?
best,
Thomas

@Manoj : https://murena.com/shop/smartphones/brand-new/murena-fairphone-3-refurbished-2/#tech-spec says Android 10, is this still correct?