The latest version of Ubuntu Touch for smartphones adds stable releases for six more smartphones, an updated browser engine that improves performance by 25-percent, and a bunch of new features.
The UBports team says Ubuntu Touch OTA-13 will roll out to supported devices within the next week.
Here are some of the changes in the thirteenth stable update since the UBports team took over development of Ubuntu Touch:
- QtWebEngine has been updated from version 5.11 to 5.14.2, bringing faster performance in web app benchmarks.
- Selecting text in a browser to copy and paste is no longer limited to single words or lines or paragraphs. You can now set the start and end points of the section you want to select.
- The browser now lets you open downloaded PDF, MP3, image, and text files.
- The Settings app will show an icon-based UI on small screens or windows to save space.
- You can save birthdays in the Contacts app, and they’ll be loaded in the Calendar as “contact birthdays.”
- The contact editor UI has been improved to make it easier to enter details.
- Contacts supports swipe actions for deleting, calling, or texting a contact.
- You can import contacts from VCR files more quickly.
There are also a number of bug fixes, support for automatic sleeping when using magnetic cases/covers for certain devices (including the Google Nexus 7 tablet and Sony Xperia X and OnePlus One smartphones), and support for using your phone’s LED flash bulb as a flashlight from the power indicator on more devices (including the Google Nexus P).
The UBports website has a list of phones that support Ubuntu Touch, where you’ll also find instructions for installing Ubuntu Touch. Existing users should be able to update soon through the Updates section of the System Settings app.
You can find more details about Ubuntu Touch OTA-13 in the official announcement at the UBports website.