5 ms·

I still love my FirefoxOS Geeks Phone Keon 2013, it still is my go-to backpacking phone. ongoing long battery runtime, a decent browser for the https://mbasic.f

by franze 10y ago

I still love my FirefoxOS Geeks Phone Keon 2013, it still is my go-to backpacking phone. ongoing long battery runtime, a decent browser for the https://mbasic.facebook.com/ https://mbasic.facebook.com/, gmail HTML, hacker news. necessary apps are there and work fine: For me that's HERE maps & alarm function. I love it, because it's un-addicting. android and ios are designed to get your attention, all the time. FirefoxOS ist a tool that is there for you when you need it. I wish they had succeeded, I even ran an FirefoxOS meetup in Vienna, I will miss it. Now back to my Android Phone, I think it beeped, vibrated or needs me in some other way.

creshal 10y ago
Yes, thanks Mozilla for making a timer app that by default neither beeps nor vibrates. Thankfully I only lost one oven load of food before I noticed. And thanks Mozilla for making an OS that glitches out if you use the power button in the wrong moment, nothing wakes you up better than having to reboot your phone to stop the damn alarm clock. FirefoxOS is such an unfinished shitfest. I have no idea how 1.3 passed QA. (Nor why Alcatel still isn't releasing any update, even though they're still selling the phone in question.)
- zbraniecki 10y ago
  And for that reason, it's worth recognizing how much work ahead there is for the web platform to be capable of delivering full OS experience. Only now, pieces of the HTML/DOM/JS spec that have been kickstarted out of need when FxOS was being developed start landing in the spec. Whoever will try next, will have an easier job because of the FxOS experience. source: I'm an engineer who worked on FxOS in 2014-2016
  - wmf 10y ago
    Or it's worth recognizing that trying to deliver full OS experience with Web technology is a waste of time.
    - zbraniecki 10y ago
      "It always seems impossible until it's done."
detaro 10y ago
Where is your Android doing notifications that your Firefox Phone wouldn't have? You can use Android with just a browser and selected apps just the same.
Aissen 10y ago
> I love it, because it's un-addicting. To me this is synonymous with "has less features" or "unusable". I think Microsoft actually did an ad campaign on this "un-addicting" thingy. If you're actually optimizing for time well spent, re-read https://medium.com/swlh/distracted-in-2016-reboot-your-phone-with-mindfulness-9f4c8ad46538 https://medium.com/swlh/distracted-in-2016-reboot-your-phone... (you can apply most of this to Android).
- freehunter 10y ago
  As a former long-time user of Windows Phone, it's not "unaddicting" in a way that's boring. There are plenty of apps to waste your time with. It's just that you don't need to. When I used Windows Phone, I didn't need to open an app to see the weather, or to see my text message, or to see my email. The live tiles made sure I could see all of that from the home screen. One glance across the screen and I knew everything I needed to know. Time, weather, headlines, new emails, new text messages, new Facebook posts, new tweets, next calendar appointment, and at the bottom, rotating pictures of my family. All without swiping, scrolling, tapping, or opening any apps. Ten seconds and I could lock the screen and get on with my day. There's no other OS on the market that lets you do this.
  - truth_sentinell 10y ago
    So why did you leave it and what do you use now?
    - freehunter 10y ago
      I left Windows Phone because of the hardware. I couldn't stand the capacitive buttons anymore, so I switched to an iPhone since it was the only flagship phone without capacitive system buttons. There is nothing that replaces Windows Phone live tiles though. The closest you can get is widgets but it's not even close to the same. There's no Twitter widget on iOS, for example. And the widget section is a completely different UI. I took a major step back in UX because of poor hardware designs. I shouldn't be forced out of an app just because my finger slid a little bit off the screen and hit the home button.
aikah 10y ago
> I love it, because it's un-addicting You mean you love it because you hate using it? > un-addicting. Interesting marketing formula. "Un-addicting". Might be useful in the future to justify the uselessness of a product. "but it's a feature! it's un-addicting". It was so un-addicting Mozilla killed the project dead.
- khedoros 10y ago
  I understand the feeling. Mobile phones are great for what they give you, but also great because they're just crappy enough to push you to use a more comfortable solution when one's available. It's great to have a Swiss army knife, but you'll still wish for your toolbox at home.

by franze 10y ago

creshal 10y ago

Yes, thanks Mozilla for making a timer app that by default neither beeps nor vibrates. Thankfully I only lost one oven load of food before I noticed. And thanks Mozilla for making an OS that glitches out if you use the power button in the wrong moment, nothing wakes you up better than having to reboot your phone to stop the damn alarm clock. FirefoxOS is such an unfinished shitfest. I have no idea how 1.3 passed QA. (Nor why Alcatel still isn't releasing any update, even though they're still selling the phone in question.)

zbraniecki 10y ago
And for that reason, it's worth recognizing how much work ahead there is for the web platform to be capable of delivering full OS experience. Only now, pieces of the HTML/DOM/JS spec that have been kickstarted out of need when FxOS was being developed start landing in the spec. Whoever will try next, will have an easier job because of the FxOS experience. source: I'm an engineer who worked on FxOS in 2014-2016
- wmf 10y ago
  Or it's worth recognizing that trying to deliver full OS experience with Web technology is a waste of time.
  - zbraniecki 10y ago
    "It always seems impossible until it's done."

detaro 10y ago

Where is your Android doing notifications that your Firefox Phone wouldn't have? You can use Android with just a browser and selected apps just the same.

Aissen 10y ago

> I love it, because it's un-addicting. To me this is synonymous with "has less features" or "unusable". I think Microsoft actually did an ad campaign on this "un-addicting" thingy. If you're actually optimizing for time well spent, re-read https://medium.com/swlh/distracted-in-2016-reboot-your-phone-with-mindfulness-9f4c8ad46538 https://medium.com/swlh/distracted-in-2016-reboot-your-phone... (you can apply most of this to Android).

freehunter 10y ago
As a former long-time user of Windows Phone, it's not "unaddicting" in a way that's boring. There are plenty of apps to waste your time with. It's just that you don't need to. When I used Windows Phone, I didn't need to open an app to see the weather, or to see my text message, or to see my email. The live tiles made sure I could see all of that from the home screen. One glance across the screen and I knew everything I needed to know. Time, weather, headlines, new emails, new text messages, new Facebook posts, new tweets, next calendar appointment, and at the bottom, rotating pictures of my family. All without swiping, scrolling, tapping, or opening any apps. Ten seconds and I could lock the screen and get on with my day. There's no other OS on the market that lets you do this.
- truth_sentinell 10y ago
  So why did you leave it and what do you use now?
  - freehunter 10y ago
    I left Windows Phone because of the hardware. I couldn't stand the capacitive buttons anymore, so I switched to an iPhone since it was the only flagship phone without capacitive system buttons. There is nothing that replaces Windows Phone live tiles though. The closest you can get is widgets but it's not even close to the same. There's no Twitter widget on iOS, for example. And the widget section is a completely different UI. I took a major step back in UX because of poor hardware designs. I shouldn't be forced out of an app just because my finger slid a little bit off the screen and hit the home button.

aikah 10y ago

> I love it, because it's un-addicting You mean you love it because you hate using it? > un-addicting. Interesting marketing formula. "Un-addicting". Might be useful in the future to justify the uselessness of a product. "but it's a feature! it's un-addicting". It was so un-addicting Mozilla killed the project dead.

khedoros 10y ago
I understand the feeling. Mobile phones are great for what they give you, but also great because they're just crappy enough to push you to use a more comfortable solution when one's available. It's great to have a Swiss army knife, but you'll still wish for your toolbox at home.