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This person doesn't need the core features of a modern smartphone: consistent alarms and reliable connectivity. As such, it is no wonder they love the pinephone

This person doesn't need the core features of a modern smartphone: consistent alarms and reliable connectivity. As such, it is no wonder they love the pinephone: it is essentially a tiny laptop! That said, I don't find this very compelling: I am in fact called by people and I don't think having to implement a hack around the system's sleep state is acceptable (especially given that it may still not be reliable, what with the dependability profile of the connectivity chipset). It may be more accurate to call this a Pine: Not much of a phone to be found.

chriswarbo 4y ago
I've not had OP's connectivity issues, so it works pretty well as a phone. Certainly better than my OpenMoko, which kept having audio issues requiring fiddling in /etc/alsa.conf I agree about alarms; but like OP, I only use them when the phone's plugged in overnight, and hence not suspended. For ad-hoc alarms on the move, I just use my digital watch.
- aa-jv 4y ago
  Same here, no problems with connectivity on my PinePhones' (first edition and pro). Perfectly functional phones with the added advantage of hardly any spyware or other garbage, plus - if I wanna - I can leave it anywhere for an instant reverse tunnel. Handy for many, many things ..
nousermane 4y ago
> core features of a modern smartphone: consistent alarms For me personally, this is one thing missing from a modern smartphone. Many old-school GSM phones, when completely turned off (but battery still inside), if there is an alarm programmed, will turn on automatically few seconds before the programmed alarm, just in time to sound on the dot. Very useful, and exactly what I want, when I go to sleep. You can sort of approximate that with "do not disturb" mode, but that drains a bit of battery (and traffic in cell data plan) uselessly.
- bestouff 4y ago
  Did you know that this works on some modern smartphones ? At least my OnePlus 7TPro does wake up from an alarm when it's totally powered down.
  - victornomad 4y ago
    In my experience, this feature is common on Chinese android phones, but not on Pixel, Samsung, Sony...
    - Grazester 4y ago
      I dont want my phone waking up no matter what when I power it down. I powered it down because I want it down.
- phh 4y ago
  Most smartphones do that, it's part of all SoC vendors' base code. However Google Pixels don't do that (which leads to no standard Android API available for that...)
- nequo 4y ago
  > You can sort of approximate that with "do not disturb" mode, but that drains a bit of battery (and traffic in cell data plan) uselessly. Airplane mode helps too I find.
  - samuell 4y ago
    Yep. Is what I always do now.
- megous 4y ago
  This works on pinephone and pinephone pro, too. On Pinephone, the RTC(has alarm support) is in the SoC and is always powered by PMIC even when the phone is off. PMIC can be configured to power up on interrupt signal, and SoC can be configured to pulldown the interrupt line on RTC alarm. On Pro RTC is inside PMIC directly. HW can do it. Alarm app just has to use the HW correctly.
Inhibit 4y ago
Agreed. In addition my Pine phone needed a heatsink to handle 95+ degree weather. That's in the open air... when sitting in the pocket it radiated a scary amount of heat. They are a neat gadget. But I don't think they're more or less of a neat gadget than any other Quectel 25(?) based iot device. The phone form factor, for me, was rendered useless.
- Arnavion 4y ago
  If you don't use WiFi, try turning the dip switch off. In my case it makes the phone 7-10 deg C cooler (~39 -> ~31). It'll also make your screen brighter; I can lower brightness from 25% to 0% for indoor lighting. (This is regardless of whether you're connected to a WiFi network or not. ie just disconnecting from a network isn't enough; you have to turn the dip switch off.)
megous 4y ago
> That said, I don't find this very compelling: I am in fact called by people and I don't think having to implement a hack around the system's sleep state is acceptable Nobody has to implement hacks. There's a proper solution on Pinephone that can wake/power it on alarm. OP just doesn't know how to do it.
- simonh 4y ago
  A proper solution would be that it just works.
  - wartijn_ 4y ago
    That's an unrealistic expectation of this phone. If you want thinks to just work you shouldn't buy a PinePhone and they make that really clear on their website. The sale page of the PinePhone says this in red letters[0]: "Beta Limited Edition PinePhones are aimed solely at early adopters. More specifically, only intend for these units to find their way into the hands of users with extensive Linux experience." And their wiki has this to say[1]: "Bear in mind that the software for these smartphones is very early, with most of the software being in alpha or beta state. That's especially also the case for scalability of applications, their availability and practicability, any hardware function implementations and the firmware. The software is provided as is. There is no warranty for the software, not even for merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose." [0] https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-beta-edition-linux-smartphone/ https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-beta-edition-linux-smar... [1] https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PinePhone https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PinePhone
  - megous 4y ago
    It just works for me. It may not just work for you if you load your phone with some software that doesn't use the available features fully. But that's not really the problem of the HW itself.
immibis 4y ago
You could describe it as a Phone-shaped Pine. Which is pretty cool all on its own. If I'd bought a PinePhone expecting a working phone, I'd be pissed. But as a hackable phone-shaped Linux platform, it's totally cool.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
ge96 4y ago
Yeah I like it for this too. What Samsung Dex was except not a $2K phone. The reliability on HDMI out is flaky though in my experience. I have both versions of Pinephone eg. Pro.
lostgame 4y ago
I’ve found a watch to be way more effective than any phone or other device I’ve ever tried at keeping a reliable alarm. And no; not a smartwatch that needs charging every day - or ever…just a timex that might need it’s battery replaced every year or two. As far as reliable connectivity, dumbphones are way more rock solid than any smartphone could pretty much ever hope to be.
0xedd 4y ago
Disable sleep state. Problem solved. I daily it as a simple phone and telegram.

chriswarbo 4y ago

I've not had OP's connectivity issues, so it works pretty well as a phone. Certainly better than my OpenMoko, which kept having audio issues requiring fiddling in /etc/alsa.conf I agree about alarms; but like OP, I only use them when the phone's plugged in overnight, and hence not suspended. For ad-hoc alarms on the move, I just use my digital watch.

aa-jv 4y ago
Same here, no problems with connectivity on my PinePhones' (first edition and pro). Perfectly functional phones with the added advantage of hardly any spyware or other garbage, plus - if I wanna - I can leave it anywhere for an instant reverse tunnel. Handy for many, many things ..

nousermane 4y ago

> core features of a modern smartphone: consistent alarms For me personally, this is one thing missing from a modern smartphone. Many old-school GSM phones, when completely turned off (but battery still inside), if there is an alarm programmed, will turn on automatically few seconds before the programmed alarm, just in time to sound on the dot. Very useful, and exactly what I want, when I go to sleep. You can sort of approximate that with "do not disturb" mode, but that drains a bit of battery (and traffic in cell data plan) uselessly.

bestouff 4y ago
Did you know that this works on some modern smartphones ? At least my OnePlus 7TPro does wake up from an alarm when it's totally powered down.
- victornomad 4y ago
  In my experience, this feature is common on Chinese android phones, but not on Pixel, Samsung, Sony...
  - Grazester 4y ago
    I dont want my phone waking up no matter what when I power it down. I powered it down because I want it down.
phh 4y ago
Most smartphones do that, it's part of all SoC vendors' base code. However Google Pixels don't do that (which leads to no standard Android API available for that...)
nequo 4y ago
> You can sort of approximate that with "do not disturb" mode, but that drains a bit of battery (and traffic in cell data plan) uselessly. Airplane mode helps too I find.
- samuell 4y ago
  Yep. Is what I always do now.
megous 4y ago
This works on pinephone and pinephone pro, too. On Pinephone, the RTC(has alarm support) is in the SoC and is always powered by PMIC even when the phone is off. PMIC can be configured to power up on interrupt signal, and SoC can be configured to pulldown the interrupt line on RTC alarm. On Pro RTC is inside PMIC directly. HW can do it. Alarm app just has to use the HW correctly.

Inhibit 4y ago

Agreed. In addition my Pine phone needed a heatsink to handle 95+ degree weather. That's in the open air... when sitting in the pocket it radiated a scary amount of heat. They are a neat gadget. But I don't think they're more or less of a neat gadget than any other Quectel 25(?) based iot device. The phone form factor, for me, was rendered useless.

Arnavion 4y ago
If you don't use WiFi, try turning the dip switch off. In my case it makes the phone 7-10 deg C cooler (~39 -> ~31). It'll also make your screen brighter; I can lower brightness from 25% to 0% for indoor lighting. (This is regardless of whether you're connected to a WiFi network or not. ie just disconnecting from a network isn't enough; you have to turn the dip switch off.)

megous 4y ago

> That said, I don't find this very compelling: I am in fact called by people and I don't think having to implement a hack around the system's sleep state is acceptable Nobody has to implement hacks. There's a proper solution on Pinephone that can wake/power it on alarm. OP just doesn't know how to do it.

simonh 4y ago
A proper solution would be that it just works.
- wartijn_ 4y ago
  That's an unrealistic expectation of this phone. If you want thinks to just work you shouldn't buy a PinePhone and they make that really clear on their website. The sale page of the PinePhone says this in red letters[0]: "Beta Limited Edition PinePhones are aimed solely at early adopters. More specifically, only intend for these units to find their way into the hands of users with extensive Linux experience." And their wiki has this to say[1]: "Bear in mind that the software for these smartphones is very early, with most of the software being in alpha or beta state. That's especially also the case for scalability of applications, their availability and practicability, any hardware function implementations and the firmware. The software is provided as is. There is no warranty for the software, not even for merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose." [0] https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-beta-edition-linux-smartphone/ https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-beta-edition-linux-smar... [1] https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PinePhone https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PinePhone
- megous 4y ago
  It just works for me. It may not just work for you if you load your phone with some software that doesn't use the available features fully. But that's not really the problem of the HW itself.

immibis 4y ago

You could describe it as a Phone-shaped Pine. Which is pretty cool all on its own. If I'd bought a PinePhone expecting a working phone, I'd be pissed. But as a hackable phone-shaped Linux platform, it's totally cool.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

ge96 4y ago

Yeah I like it for this too. What Samsung Dex was except not a $2K phone. The reliability on HDMI out is flaky though in my experience. I have both versions of Pinephone eg. Pro.

lostgame 4y ago

I’ve found a watch to be way more effective than any phone or other device I’ve ever tried at keeping a reliable alarm. And no; not a smartwatch that needs charging every day - or ever…just a timex that might need it’s battery replaced every year or two. As far as reliable connectivity, dumbphones are way more rock solid than any smartphone could pretty much ever hope to be.

0xedd 4y ago

Disable sleep state. Problem solved. I daily it as a simple phone and telegram.