I left my Pixel 8 with Android 15 for a Fairphone 5 with Android 14. I then decided to switch to E/os for several reasons.
The 3.0 update came automatically and installed without any problems. Except that it doesn’t bring anything particularly useful for me and remains stuck on Android 13.
Why? What is the reason for such a delay? And by the way, why so few new quality of life features in this 3.0 update?
What did you expect of 3.0? Just wanna feel your bar where it is.
As for your title question, the reason might be, alot of users complained why there is such a delay getting a15, now a15 on the horizon and alot of users are asking why are there no OTA upgrades. Now if I ask, what do you want some would scream MAOAM (maybe only German regions gets this). Well I guess we can’t have everything at the same time. But maybe we will get OTA OS upgrades which jump 2 version. Still waiting to see the progress for it for the avicii
Fairphone 5 is now available on AOSP 14 for fresh installation!
OTA upgrade to AOSP 14 coming soon!
Limited amount of developing resources Edit: assigned to upgrading Android versions.
Other kids are starving.
(© Old people)
So, remains stuck on an Android version perfectly within security update support. It’s an outrage. Please tell all the users with devices on Android 12 (S) perhaps.
Plus … once the retracted /e/OS 3.0 gets reintroduced with 3.0.1 you can install Android 14 manually. OTA upgrades via the updater take extra time and development resources (which are limited Edit: for reasons one could argue about).
Please define quality of life.
I would have appreciated:
In short, I’m not an experienced computer scientist, I don’t understand all the technical aspects (and I don’t understand most of the discussions on this forum 
). I’m an average user who wanted to “consume better” by upgrading from a Pixel 8 to a Fairphone 5. I also wanted to better manage my data and avoid overwhelming Google with E/OS installations (which I would never have managed to install without Easy Installer…). But I didn’t expect to find an OS so austere, so closed (with regard to imposed apps, like iOS without an app drawer, without nice little options to make the interface your own, with imposed apps that malfunction). And unfortunately, being quite computer-inexperienced, I don’t even dare try to go back and reset the original Android on my FP5 for fear of making a mistake and bricking my device.
And as for getting newer versions of Android, I obviously didn’t expect the same support as my Pixel 8. But I didn’t expect to go straight back to Android 13 and stay there after a major update. A commenter shared a link with me saying that the Android 14 update is available for download. Except that, aside from an update that automatically offers itself on my phone (OTA, right?), I’m not sure I know how to do it. And e/OS support isn’t the most accessible for a layperson (and a French one at that, who uses the translator to read and write on this forum and in this reply - sorry in advance for any mistakes, by the way 
).
Thank you all for your replies.
Not all of us are. But if you wanna know something you invest time. My mom asks me stock Android stuff I can’t help her with at first since my OS is different but if I take some time, I can figure it out. Usually on this Forum there are helpful people.
Search on the Forum for ‘Launcher’. I use Lawnchair, could be something you are interested in since Blisslauncher is very basic.
That’s exactly the nonsense that has been bothering me about E/OS for months! It’s just not true! Murena has enough developer resources to implement parental controls, voice input, find my device, corporate customer management and much more.
Instead of taking care of paying existing customers (I’ve already bought over £2,000 worth of Murena devices and paid for a useless 1 TB cloud subscription for years!) and their expensive devices, they’re working on making the USPs of e/OS worse!
You might see things differently if you regularly install free versions on your old smartphone. But not if you pay a lot of money for devices that are advertised as a real alternative!
You have a point there.
I edited accordingly that the limitation is in resources assigned to upgrading. There’s always an argument to be had about priorities.
I’m already taking my time since I’ve already tried to find solutions for this pesky, broken Mail app, and I’m also taking the time to post on the forum and exchange ideas, all while juggling the translator. I don’t think anyone can blame me for not looking.
As for launchers, I don’t really like changing launchers, regardless of the phone. I like to stick with the “stock” OS and interface. But I dare to hope that one day, Murena will develop certain aspects of its interface a little more. ^^
Once again, I’m not here to spit on e/OS. I’m simply pointing out inconsistencies and frustrations, from my humble status as a simple user, hoping that this will be read by the Murena teams and that they take note of it. Because that’s how things might change one day. Silence means consent, after all.
So far, from my short experience with this OS, I’m not really satisfied. I have the feeling of using a “tinkered” OS, of having no real support outside of this forum. In itself, nothing serious, my phone allows me to do the essentials, that’s already good. But I really hope that all this will evolve in the right direction.
Unfortunately, /e/ OS is still in it’s early days. I still think it’s mostly great, but it does require a bit more tinkering than some stock ROMs.
I for one had to switch out the launcher for reasons similar to yours. I can add a +1 vote for Lawnchair. It’s simple, but allows for things like changing the app grid and real app drawer. I also had to swap the camera app. I found a version of the Pixel camera that someone ported to my phone and have been using that. I just took away it’s ability to access the internet to prevent any potential telemetry.
With the features being added, there will always be some you don’t care about. I for one really like the idea of parental controls and find my device. They seem like genuinely useful features to me. I also get that Murena needs paying customers and wants companies to be able to use /e/ OS. That makes corporate management a must. But, I actively don’t like the way voice input was handled. (Using OpenAI was a mistake.)
Nothing will ever be perfect. /e/ OS is far from it. But I still like it better than the stock ROM, even though it required some sacrifices, like battery life and some genuinely useful tools that were only in the vendor’s stock ROM.
For mail apps, I’ve heard good things about K9 mail, though I’ve never used it myself. I’ve never really used the stock one either.
You’ll need to decide for yourself. The privacy tools are worth the sacrifices for me, but maybe they aren’t for you. Having multiple choices is a good thing. We all have different preferences and priorities.
@Jymboh, there’s a thing that you should keep in mind: Murena/eOS is a tiny company attempting to offer a product that for now was exclusively offered by major billion dollar companies such as Google and Apple: A mobile operating system. At the same time, it tries to place a product to market that aims to shake up the business model of the billion Dollar companies (big data). One could say, those guys are completely nuts. Maybe they are, but personally I am pretty happy that they attempt to be a David among all the Goliaths around them.
Maybe you can imagine that it is hard to expect the same output from a small company with maybe a few dozens of co-workers (no clue, how many they are at Murena/eOS) as from one that employs several hundreds of thousands (Google: 190.000 employees).
I have to admit, sometimes I feel the same as you do: things are moving pretty slow with /e/OS. But things are moving - especially the important ones. For myself. I decided to trust the /e/ team to decide, what is key to do next. After all, I am just happy that they do what they do.
On a regular basis people complain about Android versions. Sure, I would be nice to be up to date with A15. On the other hand side: Does this really make such a big difference to us users? When I think back, some years ago a new Android version brought major changes and huge improvements to users. But when I see the changes nowadays, they are rather tiny.
I wonder, does it really make a major difference, whether I am on Android 13, 14, 15 or 16 (yes, it was published now). There is maybe one feature that I was waiting for for a long time…
But honestly, what really counts is the fact that devices are provided with regular security updates. And yes, they are.
If always up-to-date features and most recent Android versions are that important to you, maybe it could be a good move to switch back to a googled Android - if you still have your Pixel 8, it even would be a quick move back.
In case you opt to stay with /e/OS and Murena keep in mind that those guys (and girls) are on a highly innovative path. They are not perfect and they probably won’t be - at least in a short run. Maybe it helps to not see /e/OS as a competitor to the Google’s and Apple’s (looking for feature parity) but as a player that aims to develop something off mainstream (at least for now).
The good thing about /e/ is, if you have questions or suggestions: just ask politely and you’ll always get reply (although sometimes it might take a little moment).
And if you opt to stay with /e/, just spend a moment thinking what you could contribute to make /e/ a bit better (because help is always welcome). You don’t have to be a programmer or an IT geek in order to contribute.
You could find incoherences or bugs (things that do not work properly) and report them, you could help to make the documentation better, you could help translating texts or you could simply make a small (or not so small) financial contribution to the /e/ eco-system. I guarantee you, all that helps.
I agree with you. All of these reasons are what made me want to switch from Fairphone OS to e/OS (and the presence of an easy installation system). In principle, I still agree with Murena’s vision.
But clearly, too many little things prevent me from using it without feeling a form of frustration.
Yesterday, I painfully managed, with the help of the Fairphone community, to return to Fairphone OS. The relief of finding a system that works without tinkering was instantaneous.
However, I will monitor and follow Murena’s developments on their OS, and it’s quite possible that I’ll return to it when I feel that their operating system seems truly mature, stable, and less “tinkered with.”
@Jymboh I am happy for you if you found a system environment that works for you.
Nevertheless, I’d be curious to understand what are the things that disturbed you most is /e/OS. Apart from the old Android version I had some difficulties to understand. I don’t have a Fairphone 5, but I am running /e/OS on a Pixel 6a - and in my case the system runs rock sold, no tinkering needed at all.
B.t.w. the thing with the app grid. This has nothing to do with the operating system, it is an application that organises the appearance of the home screen.
In /e/OS it is one developed by Murena called “Bliss”. But there are other ones that you could easily install on your phone.
One that you could even try out under Fairphone OS (just for the sake of trying out) is ‘Lawnchair’ (https://lawnchair.app/). You’ll find it in the Play Store as well.
You just have to look in your devices settings for “default home app” and you have to set it as default. If you don’t like it, you can delete it as any other app.
If you have tested it, and appreciate it, it might ease a possible return to /e/OS.
All the best,
ralxx
if you don’t want to wait for the “Over The Air” upgrade,
(backup your things first, in case…)
in theory, from e-2.9-t- you can :
or
adb sideload e-3.0.1-a14-20250607498722-official-FP5.zip
Apart from what the OP will answer, I would say the following (ordered by priority):
inadequate control mechanisms for the cloud synchronization which will lead in many cases very soon to exhausted cloud space (because of synchronized music and video files) and a lot of user frustration
the problem of not working banking and authentication apps because they find the OS or the app store used to install is not trustworthy - I know people having an old dumb and unprotected Android phone only for these special tasks
again and again problems with App Lounge not working as expected
outdated forks as default apps nobody needs, binding developer resources for analyzing and fixing someone else’s bugs
preinstalled apps (including Bliss) you can’t uninstall
I would also welcome a better documentation, especially a readable changelog for the releases, for each release, so that I have a hint where I must keep my eyes open. Sometimes (especially here in the forum) I ask my mind “When came … as a feature?”
Disclaimer: this is not bleating – I’m a confident /e/OS user – but it’s my answer on the question after four years of usage.
Version 3.0 made me hope for more quality-of-life features for everyday use. Instead, I found only new features that were completely useless to me (as they are to most average users).
Enhanced parental controls: why not?
Improved privacy: who really needs weekly reports except secret agents?
Murena Vault: intended for Murena account users, right?
SMS location tracking: useful.
Tablet mode: why not.
Murena Find: there are already enough search engines that protect our data.
Real-time voice dictation: “for premium subscribers.”
And that’s it for the new features. A lot of work for the development teams, but ultimately reaching relatively few users (in my opinion).
I then realized that, as it stands, I had no interest in keeping this OS because Murena doesn’t seem to have priorities that match my expectations.
Is this “local update” procedure you’re talking about possible from “3.0.1 a13 official” to “3.0.1 a14 official” ? Are there any precautions?
no, because SPL dates.
but should work from 2.9-a13 to 3.0.1-a14 even not tested…
backup …
Ok so you were talking about “2.9 a13 official” to “3.0.1 a14 official” am I correct?
So for this “local update way” to switch from a13 to a14, I can simply wait for the next update 3.x and do the local update with the a14 version if I really want to switch to a14?
I’ve already posted/commented a lot (I mean not a lot but most of my activity here is around this matters) and I still struggle completely understanding the landscape. Sorry if it looks like I’m asking multiple time the same thing.