14 DAY TRIAL // UBports released today the third OTA (Over-the-Air) software update for supported Ubuntu Phone devices, bringing several new features and a bunch of improvements since the OTA-2 release.
OTA-3's major new feature is the implementation of UBports' own push notification server. Previous OTAs still used Canonical's Ubuntu Touch push notification system for apps, but with OTA-3 users will be automatically switched to the UBports push server, which will take a few hours to roll out to everyone.
Other enhancements include a new Swiss-French keyboard layout, support for the Nextcloud file sharing and storage service, the addition of various small packages requested by the Ubuntu Phone community, integration of OpenStore into System Settings, and removal of the Ubuntu Store from the App Scope.
Moreover, autocompletion has been enabled by default in the terminal, davfs2 tool now comes pre-installed with the OTA-3 image to allow mounting of WebDAV shares, the LED on Fairphone 2 now works as expected, and Duck Duck Go is now used as default start page and search engine for the integrated web browser.
Various issues have been addressed in OTA-3 as well, including longer boot times, Fairphone 2 blue screen, keyboard issues when working with multiple windows, storing of Bluetooth paired and trusted devices, endless DNS requests for dash.ubuntu.com, and a bug with the Fairphone 2 Camera Module upgrade.
Several other Fairphone 2 bugs related to audio, date and time, front camera, and power button were fixed in OTA-3, which also patches the infamous KRACK (Key Reinstallation Attack) WPA2 Wi-Fi security vulnerability, and adds support for X forwarding over SSH (Secure Shell).
OTA-3 is now available for supported devices
Those who have the OTA-2 software version installed on their Ubuntu Phone devices can now update to OTA-3 by opening the System Settings and tapping on the Updates section. The update will be automatically downloaded and installed on your device if you're using UBports' stable channel.
If you're still using Canonical's Ubuntu Touch or Google's Android operating systems on your smartphone, you can still install the UBports OTA-3 by using the official UBports installer, but make sure that you have one of the supported devices, so check here for the complete list.