Ubuntu Phone review: years in the making, still not ready

Aside from the app void and the questionable value of Scopes, Ubuntu Phone is a bit of a nightmare to use the majority of the time. Something’s often refreshing in the background, causing the phone to slow down. Apps take longer to load than they should, and even then you’re probably waiting on a web app. The gesture-based navigation is unrefined; there are bugs and glitches all over the place; and in general, many core experiences are severely lacking in polish. Despite years of development, Ubuntu Phone still feels like an early beta, and I think Canonical needs to think long and hard about the implementation of Scopes and bump native apps up the agenda. There’s nothing wrong with trying to be different, but there’s a reason Android/iOS are so popular. Ignoring the headway they’ve made in refining the mobile experience is, in my mind, setting yourself up for failure.

It’s taking Canonical way, way too long. If the much further along Sailfish and Jolla can’t really make a serious dent into anything, it’s easy to imagine this won’t go anywhere either.

11 Comments

  1. 2015-07-24 10:41 pm
    • 2015-07-24 11:26 pm
  2. 2015-07-25 6:03 am
  3. 2015-07-25 10:48 am
    • 2015-07-26 2:18 am
    • 2015-07-26 4:41 am
      • 2015-07-28 6:14 am
  4. 2015-07-25 10:49 am
    • 2015-07-28 12:18 pm
  5. 2015-07-25 2:50 pm
  6. 2015-07-28 10:36 am