Week 24, 2023: Development and Testing Updates

Release Information

v1.12

Status : :green_circle: Testing

Fixes coming as part of this release

ETA : This week :crossed_fingers:

 

Upcoming releases

Status : :green_circle: Pending release

  • /e/OS T or Android 13
    • Expect to release /e/OS T along with v1.12 :crossed_fingers:
  • New and improved version of the Bliss Launcher
  • A tablet with /e/OS T. Tablet name will be shared once we have the go ahead from build team.
    • ETA to be announced

:nerd_face: ETA: Estimated time of arrival - term used in software development to denote the estimated time when a product can be expected to be released.

Check out the first list of devices which will be upgraded to /e/OS T

 

Previous 5 releases & user feedback

 

:warning: Posting information on test builds

  • Please do not post information or links to /e/OS test builds on the forum.
  • These builds are as yet untested and under development and may cause user devices to soft brick.
  • Such information can confuse other users who do not see these builds in the updater.
  • Remember not all users who come to this forum are experts in installing and formatting custom ROMs and can end up seriously damaging their devices by trying out these test builds
  • If you are genuinely interested in helping with the testing activities and also understand how to fix and do some minor level of testing on custom ROMS, you are welcome to join the testing team
  • As part of the testing team you can share your comments on the dedicated testing telegram channel.

 

Murena cloud updated to NC 25.0.6.4

  • Release notes available here

 

Check the NextCloud version 🤓 Some users were checking how they could verify the current NextCloud version?
  • You can check the complete documentation and current NC version under https://murena.io/settings/help >> NextCloud xx user documentation. The xx should show 25 now
  • Another way to check the current version is to check the NextCloud scan link and input https://murena.io this should display the current version number as well as the security level.

Please note if MurenaCloud patch number is not the same as the NC patch number, the rating would show up as bad :neutral_face: This is not exactly a problem. We do not immediately jump to the next NC patch as soon as it is released. We first test it and then set out with the deployment.

 

:information_source: If some users are seeing notes disappearing or Murena Cloud services not accessible anymore, we request them to connect to Murena Cloud and accept the TOS (Terms of Service) popup. The team is working on a fix for this issue

GSI

v1.11

Status: :green_circle: Released

  • Download here
    • Sources available here
    • version is /e/OS Q (A10)
    • S (A12) and R (A11) version of GSI yet to be planned. Awaiting developer availability

 

Roadmap for 2023 and beyond

Read this post where Gaël shares his vision on the Murena and /e/OS roadmap into 2023 and beyond

 

Self-hosted eCloud upgrade

OS OTA upgrades

What OS OTA upgrade means

Usually for /e/OS ROMs to upgrade the OS you have to do the following

  • If available download the correct OS build from the supported device list
  • For some devices you also need to download the stock ROM from the vendor site.
  • Take a back up of your data
  • First install the Stock ROM
  • Next install the /e/OS ROM. Here you can take help of the install guides available on our documentation site.
  • If required apply the backups you downloaded before starting the whole process

An alternate to this tedious process is where we offer the user the option to upgrade the OS OTA. This option is available for stable device builds only.
This process is easy for the user but requires a lot of development and testing effort.

Different /e/OS build types

Completed - GS290 >> Q (A10)→ Android 11 (R) :new: - Oneplus nord aviccii >> A12(stable) - FP4 >> R ( A11) to S (A12)stable - FP3 >> R (A11) to S (A12) stable - FP3 >> Q (A10) to R (A11) stable - OnePlus Nord >> Q ( A10) to R (A11) (stable build) - Samsung s7 / s7+ >> Nougat (A7) to Q (A10) - Samsung s9 / s9+ >> Oreo (A8) to Q (A10) - Samsung s8 /s8+ >> Pie (A9) to R (A11) OTA upgrade
Under development - Galaxy S9/S9+ Q (A10)→ Android 11 (R) - No ETA as yet

 

Support dropped ### Only one OS version per device
  • Support of multiple OS versions on the same device has been stopped
  • Upgrade your device to the latest OS version available.
    • For example, if /e/OS R (Android 11) builds are available for your /e/OS Q (Android 10) build, upgrade to the latest version which in this case would be A11.

Nokia devices

  • All Nokia devices

    • It is not possible to officially unlock Nokia bootloaders + lack of dedicated maintainer
  • Google

    • Google Nexus 7 2013 flox
    • Device has partition size issues. Not able to build /e/OS ROMs for this device even with minimal build

    :nerd_face: Minimal build is a setting in /e/OS build which removes the following default applications (LibreOffice viewer, PDFViewer, Maps and Weather)from the source code and builds a smaller version of the ROM.

 

Check real time availability of /e/OS and related services websites

eCloud related websites

/e/OS related

OS upgrade info specific to the FP3 The FP3 OTA OS update from Pie to Q/R is not possible as encryption method changed on FP3 between Pie and Q/R. It is not possible to change the method while updating. The team spent a great deal of time on this, but has not been able to resolve this problem. For now, the manual process is the only way to upgrade the FP3 from pie to other OS versions.
End of official support for Nougat, Oreo and Pie 😞 For Pie, Oreo and Nougat the official /e/OS support draws to a close.

Reasons for dropping official support are:

  • newly released applications like App Lounge, Advanced privacy code has not been customized for these OS versions.
  • lack of dedicated ROM Maintainers
  • no support upstream (Lineage dropped support for Pie sometime back)
  • device trees will continue to exist in the Gitlab and users with build skills can create custom ROMs on these builds
  • Security patches and vendor patches for the Pie, Oreo and Nougat code will be updated based on availability.

:nerd_face: Google stops security patches for OS after some time. Similarly, Vendors drop support for older models when they release newer models in the market. Then it depends on developers from various communities to backport the patches.

Device and Vendor specific Announcements

:loudspeaker: Gigaset GS290

  • We have stopped the sales of the Gigaset GS290 on the eSolutionsShop as the vendor has stopped production of the device. We will continue support for existing users.

:loudspeaker: Message being shared on the request of our vendor partners

  • Vendors whose phones we sell on our eSolutions Store do not directly sell /e/OS flashed devices.
  • The vendors only sell their devices with their own stock ROM.
  • To get pre flashed /e/OS phones, you have to purchase them from the eSolutions Shop.

:loudspeaker: /e/OS Pre flashed device sales

  • We sell directly in EU, US, Canada.
  • Find details of what devices are available in which countries here eSolutions Shop.
  • In Australia we do not sell directly. You can purchase preflashed /e/OS devices from this site

:loudspeaker: Murena One released
A phone from Murena with /e/OS installed has been launched and is available for purchase. Check the device specs here

Expect more device releases from Murena in future :grinning:

:nerd_face: Murena is the brand name and /e/OS is the operating system.

/e/OS Links

Support

  • Facing issues with devices you purchased from us ? Send a mail with details to helpdesk@e.email

Websites

Telegram Channel

Social Media

Newsletters

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online servicesphone

17 Likes

As mentioned in this article https://www.xda-developers.com/lineageos-20-android-13/ Lineage OS 20 has a new camera app called Aperture that is said to be really good. Will e OS T include this camera app? I ask because the e OS camera app on my hotdogb takes pictures that are not too clear.

4 Likes

2 days before the end of the week :heart_eyes:

v1.12.x will not be released this week. We had some issues with the builds in the initial stages…which is why I specifically added a section to request users not to share information of test builds on the forum. We will target to release v1.12.x early this coming week.

7 Likes

You do the right choice :ok_hand:

So next week for /e/OS T too ?

First it will be v1.2.x and then /e/OS T releases… not on same day but with v1.12.x :crossed_fingers:

2 Likes

Will the /e/OS T releases get both builds, ‘dev’ and ‘stable’?

Yes eventually. We always start with dev builds. Then, once the testing shows a build good enough to be called stable, we roll the stable builds out.

8 Likes

I’m very satisfied with /e/OS GSI Q (A10) and have been able to get many devices, especially tablets, up and running with it.

@Manoj, how much €uro is needed as start-up funding for the development of the /e/GSI versions of S (A12) and R (A11) and further on for each month for the constant maintenance of the GSI images?

The GSI’s are built by a developer from the team. He has not been able to take up new tasks as he had multiple others already assigned. So far we do not have any user sponsored project in /e/OS. Also, we do not have any immediate plans to start such initiatives. That would require dedicated allocation of developers, which we cannot spare at the moment.
As an open source project, this is a good opportunity for users with development skills to take up the challenge and contribute.

3 Likes