Hands-on: Ubuntu for Phones on Nexus 4


Canonical released the Ubuntu Developer Preview for phones and tablets few hours back, and we installed it on the Google Nexus 4. Ubuntu showed off the Ubuntu for phones running on the Galaxy Nexus at the International CES 2013 last month. The Ubuntu OS for phones intuitive gesture-based User Interface that offers completely new user experience, right from the lock screen. You can just swipe to from right to left to unlock the screen. The screen shows graphical representation of several things, for example the orangeness increases based on the volume of tweets.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rX6yed61dc


Once you unlock the screen, there is a Home screen that shows the frequent apps, Favorite people, People recently in Touch, Recent Music and lots more. You can customize the widgets in the home screen or swipe to right from the home screen to reveal the Apps screen. It shows currently running apps (if any), frequently used apps, Installed Apps. You can also get the recommended apps in the ‘Available for downloads’ section. Swipe from right to left to scroll through the opened apps.

There is a videos section. You can click on title to read more about the movie, buy or rent them easily. You can scroll through the title cards easily. It also shows the new releases and popular movies.

There is a similar screen for music that shows new releases, music that tops the chart and also lets you purchase them.

The People screen shows favorite contacts which you can scroll though. You can also see contacts who are recently in touch with. You can touch any of these contacts to view the details along with their Image and Facebook status since the OS also has social integration in the contacts. 

You can just touch and hold the screen and swipe it from the left to view the left dock that reveals the docked apps. You can go to home screen from the home screen button in the dock or click any of the apps to open them.

There is a drop-down bar just like Android, but you can drag through the icons to bring up the settings. The notification bar shows up several notifications. You can perform several actions to the notifications right from the screen. You can just send a quick text if there is a missed call, reply to messages right from this screen and more.

The Date and Time also shows the events. The battery bar drops down to reveal the remaining battery as a visual representation. You can also adjust the brightness or select auto brightness. You can toggle sounds and control the volume from the drop-down sound bar. The volume keys still don’t work in the first developer preview.

You can swipe from the bottom bezel to view more options when you open the app. For example, in a browser, you use this to close it, go back, view in full screen or get to browser settings. There is also text search option and voice search, but these don’t work yet.

The camera UI is pretty normal, looks like they might add new features and settings. There is a zoom toggle on the left, gallery, camera toggle, flash toggle and more. The gallery shows images based on a date. It also has editing features such as auto fix, crop and lots more. You can also share the images on social networks  or though email easily.

Still lot of apps and features don’t work since this is the first developer preview. Overall the Ubuntu OS for phones offer an intuitive experience with their gesture-based User Interface (UI). The developer preview would be much helpful for the developers to familiarize themselves with the new OS, before the devices ship later this year.


Author: Srivatsan Sridhar

Srivatsan Sridhar is a Mobile Technology Enthusiast who is passionate about Mobile phones and Mobile apps. He uses the phones he reviews as his main phone. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram