Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

It's hard to believe it's been a year since I replaced my personal computer with a #Librem5 and laptop dock. In this post I talk about my impressions, the docks I've tried, and using my Librem 5 as a tablet. https://puri.sm/posts/my-first-year-of-librem-5-convergence/

I just sent and received calls between my SIP account and landline phone using my #Librem5 and the native Calls application, and it was pretty exciting.

Signal is one of the last things I use my old Android phone for. I've been trying out the latest axolotl Signal client on my #Librem5 and while it isn't feature complete and it's an Electron app, it's functional enough for the basic chatting I do that I don't need to go back.

This extensive and thoughtful post by a member of the #Librem5 community does a good job of explaining the past and present mobile Linux ecosystem and why Purism's approach with phosh makes strategic sense long-term. https://amosbbatto.wordpress.com/2020/08/05/advantages-of-phosh/

One of the most interesting things to me about NSA's document on cellphone tracking is that all their mitigations rely on software features they admit are flawed and could be hacked. This is why we rely on hardware to prevent tracking on the #Librem5: https://puri.sm/posts/how-librem-5-solves-nsas-warning-about-cellphone-location-data/

I discovered http://cardgames.io games work great on my #Librem5 as a Gnome Web local app with its own launcher icon. While I already had solitaire and other games, this adds games like cribbage that don't have a native Linux app.

We are continually disappointed by false promises of mobile convergence. My thoughts on why: real convergence means taking your desktop computer with you wherever you go. Fake convergence is the opposite: stretching a phone to fit a larger screen. #Librem5 https://puri.sm/posts/investing-in-real-convergence/

I'm digging the new boot splash screen that made it in the #Librem5 Dogwood PureOS release. I especially like the graphical feedback during system updates.

To the best of our knowledge, the #Librem5 is the only smartphone around with a OpenPGP smart card reader. In this post I talk about why that's such a big deal: https://puri.sm/posts/your-own-personal-enclave-the-smart-card-reader-on-the-librem-5/

I was able to install @micahflee 's dangerzone package on my #Librem5 and w/ some QT tweaks the main screen fits (other screens need more work). It uses an amd64 Docker image so I need an arm64 image to actually clean docs, but it was nice that I got as far as I did without much effort.

It looks like the latest #Librem5 kernel update reduced active power consumption by another 100-140mA based on my own measurements. I hear there are a lot more improvements in the pipeline once we switch from 5.3 to the 5.6 kernel.

The latest changes to hit the #Librem5 staging repo have dramatically increased my quality of life. First, Chatty now can use the haptic motor so I get vibration notifications w/ messages. Second, the top menu bar now features quick access to more settings.

A powerful thing about the #Librem5 running PureOS instead of a mobile-specific OS is that existing desktop apps run w/o porting to a new platform, some just need UI tweaks to fit on the screen. GNUcash works out of the box in landscape mode both without the toolbar at default scaling and with the toolbar scaled 1.5x.

Wireshark works great on my #Librem5 out of the box when the screen is scaled from 2x down to 1.25x the physical resolution. This could be an option for apps that need more time for developers to adapt to a phone form factor.

I was interviewed for a DW News article on how @purism is taking on tech giants with the #Librem5 #privacy-focused smartphone.

https://m.dw.com/en/smartphone-startups-take-on-google-apple-and-put-privacy-first/a-52369255

It's been fun to track the steady and rapid progress with #Librem5 development. Each week that goes by moves this phone closer to replacing my other phone entirely. Most recently, a simple one line change to a file dramatically improved cellular modem performance.

If you are looking for a decent stand for your #Librem5 and have access to a #3Dprinter then I've found this design scaled up 1.25x works well and leaves enough room at the bottom for a USB-C cable:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2056389

Since the #Librem5 runs regular PureOS it means you can often solve problems using the same steps you'd use on a desktop. In this post I use classic command-line techniques to backup and restore my phone:

https://puri.sm/posts/librem-5-backup-and-restore/

Something that has surprised me over the few weeks I've had this #Librem5 phone is the rapid progress. Each week brings at least one big improvement. Case in point, yesterday's kernel update (should hit main repos in a few days) made a noticeable change in the phone's heat and touchscreen performance.

I've really been enjoying how easy it is to write simple, useful GUI applications for the #Librem5 and I wrote two posts this week that describe how I wrote a simple screenshot and flashlight app:

https://puri.sm/posts/easy-librem-5-app-development-take-a-screenshot/
https://puri.sm/posts/easy-librem-5-app-development-flashlight/