Ubuntu for phones review

The operating system is also designed to be customisable without the OS becoming fragmented. Android, for example, is often heavily customised by phone manufacturers. This means that each time a new update to the Android operating system is released, for example, manufacturers must tweak and test their own software to suit the new Android version. Owners of Android handsets sometimes have to wait a long time for the latest version of the OS, if they receive it at all.

The phone shouldn’t slow down no matter how many apps you have open

Ubuntu for phones avoids this by being split into two sections. There is the core partition for the main Ubuntu software, and an “OEM Customisation Partition” for the phone manufacturer. This means that Canonical can make updates to the core system, to bring improvements or fix problems, straight away, without having to wait for the phone manufacturer to update their end of the deal.

CONCLUSION

Ubuntu for phones has changed significantly since we saw it last year, and it looks like a well-resolved, good-looking operating system which manages to be different from the competition without presenting too steep a learning curve for those coming from another smartphone OS. We’re certainly looking forward to seeing handsets based on Ubuntu, but we’re not convinced they’ll be in the UK any time soon.