Week 6. 2023: Development and Testing Updates

Releases

v1.8

Status : :green_circle: Released :new:

  • Release Notes

  • Release will be rolling out for a few devices at a time. The complete release process will take a couple of days.

  • Release shows up as v1.8.1

Share your feedback and vote on v1.8

Previous releases & user feedback

SafetyNet - Keep it or Remove it

Gaël created a post on the forum seeking users comments and votes on how to proceed with SafetyNet

Self-hosted eCloud upgrade

Upcoming Releases

  • Milestones
    • The list may have multiple entries for a build
    • Check for the RC (release candidate) build for that version
    • The tentative ETA for the public release of a build would be usually a week after the final rc build

GSI

v1.8.1

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

OS OTA upgrades

Status: :green_circle: Ongoing

Completed

  • FP4 >> R ( A11) to S (A12)
  • 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 ::new:

Upcoming / under development

  • FP3 → Android 12(S)
  • OnePlus Nord → Android 12 (S)
  • Galaxy S9/S9+ Q (A10)→ Android 11 (R)

Important information : Plans to drop support for multiple OS versions on the same device

:warning: Users are informed that we plan to drop support for multiple operating systems on the same device. To explain further, let us take an example. If a device has Pie or Android 9, Q ( A10) and R (A11) /e/OS versions showing up for download, we will be building and supporting the latest version only - in this case R (A11).

:point_right: Users are advised to upgrade to the latest version of the OS for their device to avoid being stuck on unmaintained OS versions. In most cases, this would be a manual upgrade which would require you to take a backup.

:nerd_face: Supporting multiple OS versions can causes issues of compatibility with applications as most only work correctly on the latest OS. Multiple OS builds also require storage space and consumes time and resources for maintenance.

:calendar: As yet we do not have a date for this activity and will update once we have a plan in place.


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.
What we mean by OS OTA upgrade - Click to expand or close

:nerd_face: OTA OS upgrade means the upgrade to a higher OS level. Updates will be delivered Over the Air (OTA). The OTA upgrades are available on official builds only. Users who have unofficial or custom-builds will not get the notification to install the upgrade build. They will have to manually download and flash the Q builds once they are released, which may result in data loss.

  • Difference between /e/OS build types
  • Unofficial ROM build refer the section ROM Builders - Unofficial and Custom
Recent Documentation updates
ROM Builders - Unofficial and Custom
  • Pleas update your Docker image to tne latest image we released
  • Those building using traditional repo sync method refer android_prebuilts_prebuiltapks_lfs
  • You will have to install git-lfs (sudo apt-get install git-lfs)
  • After completing a repo sync, you will have to run repo forall -c ‘git lfs pull’

:nerd_face: Reason behind these changes:

Due to the large size of the android_prebuilts_prebuiltapks we have switched to using LFS, and now you will need to refer to android_prebuilts_prebuiltapks_lfs

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

11 Likes

Selfhosted Murena Cloud get upgrade to Nextcloud 24 :smiley_cat:
Releases notes: Releases · e / infra / ecloud-selfhosting · GitLab

1 Like

Thanks, @smu44 updated in the main post.

1 Like

It might be a good idea to add a facility into /e/'s OS update check so users will receive a notification when their system no longer gets update support and, if applicable, what to do in order to fix the problem. Same when there is an update that can only be flashed manually.

To my knowledge, commercial phones manufacturers don’t commonly do this (not even Apple, who would have a welcome opportunity to generate more device sales and e-waste that way).

Regular users who don’t read forums or tech news won’t be aware that their devices are vulnerable unless they are told explicitly by their device.

7 Likes

Not sure how much of an effort that would require, all the same, have passed on the feedback to the team.

4 Likes

Is test release released on all devices (if at testing repo), ot only some selected ones?

If you mean 1.8.1, Manoj edited his original post in the meantime, the release has been made available to regular users by now. See Feedback for v1.8 for some first feedback and devices which got it.

A question about the Notes app: The version is still 1.0.1. As you know, it is a fork of Nextcloud Notes by Stefan Niedermann. The original app gets regular updates and is already at 3.7.1.
Can I see which version the fork is based on?

I meant test release in general. I have enabled test channel on my device developer settings, but no updates. I’m still in 1.7 dev. Might turn test channel off, if not all devices will get those.

Reason I enabled test channel was to be able to check translations and fix if needed if those changes would even be used in final release…
But I can continue without being at test channel.

1 Like

It’s funny: even if the 1.8.1 is available here :
https://images.ecloud.global/dev/xz2c/
The updater on my phone can’t find the new release…

It is a staggered release. It will take a couple of days for the complete device roll out to complete. Also, at times the 4 refresh trick works.

3 Likes

Ah yes ! I did 5 refreshes and it comes up! Thanks for the trick :slight_smile:

1 Like

If that does not work, you can still sideload since not stable and locked bootloader :wink:

GSI v1.8

Many thanks for continuous GSI development, /e/Team :+1:

Can someone answer my question please?

The /e/ fork of Notes is here:

You could check the revision history there to find out when changes from upstream were last merged into the master branch. I couldn’t see anything obvious, but you may have better luck

Looking at Close issues with the /e/ Notes app, I see this

which is about Update Notes to Nextcloud Notes v2.12.1

1 Like

Quote:
Current upstream version

v1.0.1

Targetted upstream version

v2.12.1

My version is still on 1.0.1!

Easiest workaround is just to install the upstream NextCloud Notes and Sync client apps (from F-Droid or App Lounge) and use them instead of /e/'s out-of-date forks. No need to uninstall or disable the /e/ versions (though i would turn of file / photo sync in /e/'s account manager). The upstream apps an /e/'s forks co-exist with few problems

Show 1.5.1s for me. Should be 1.8.1 I guess

Any plans for more up-to-date security fixes in the coming updates?