6 ms·

I'd love to get FFOS updates in my ZTE Open because 1.0.1 feels more like a dev preview than an end user product, to the point that it is almost useless as a sm

by reidrac 13y ago

I'd love to get FFOS updates in my ZTE Open because 1.0.1 feels more like a dev preview than an end user product, to the point that it is almost useless as a smartphone. I can see the potential, but I'm not buying a new device just for that.

kurt_ 13y ago
I second you, mine is buggy (some times I cannot respond to a call) and missing needed feature for me (like a notification when new email arrive)
- daleharvey 13y ago
  I just noticed today the email app has periodic sync on a current build, so hopefully it is on 1.2 (or 1.3)
untog 13y ago
Yeah, I'm really surprised they started selling devices as consumer-ready so early. They're great as dev test devices, but I wouldn't want to use one day-to-day.
- JohnTHaller 13y ago
  If you bought the original G1 with Android on it (mine is still hiding in the back of my desk), it's not much different. You have to start somewhere.
- zobzu 13y ago
  they mainly sold it as a replacement to feature phones, not to high-end smartphones. in that regard, it makes sense. that people try to replace their high-end smartphones with it, looks pretty promising if anything (and even if it falls a bit short for now) whats great is that anyone can improve it and they'll take the fixes. Unlike Android/Google, which refuse any external code [except some from samsung apparently] (yay openbullshit..)
BrianEatWorld 13y ago
I have been using it as my main phone every other week since release. TBH, I haven't run into bugs so much as curious features (or lack of features). Are there particular bugs you keep hitting? If anything, it seems a bit more stable than my Cyanogen-running Nexus. The worst "feature" offender I have found is that when talking on the phone, if a call comes in, the screen activates. If the phone is close touching my ear, it has a habit of picking up the incoming call without any notification.
- conception 13y ago
  The Keyboard is pretty terrible. Several of my apps just don't launch, (Here, Notes off the top of my head), apps crash pretty regularly (reddit pretty often). Reception isn't the best and it drops calls pretty regularly on me.
  - zobzu 13y ago
    its a lot better in 1.3 nightly, if you feel adventurous. no swype but it feels about as good as on my iphone.
- reidrac 13y ago
  It feels half-cooked both because of missing features and bugs. I can understand some of the missing features (such as can't upload files, no clipboard, the keyboard is small and irresponsible or only en_US available), but some bugs are really painful, being the biggest one when you're browsing a website and the the browser hangs leaving your mobile completely dead for way too long (I had to remove the battery a couple of times). For an OS that is basically a browser, this is really bad. Also I've found both the wireless and the data connection to be unreliable. Sometimes it refuses to work and only a reboot will fix it. I'm not an advanced Android user, but I can't do the few things I used to do before using the ZTE Open as daily smartphone. As I said the ZTE Open needs an OS update, really.
- onosendai 13y ago
  I also got an Open, planning on using it as my everyday phone, at least for a while. My requirements for this role weren't too stringent, since it's a new platform. So the only two things it needed to do was perform and receive calls, and allow me to manage contacts. It fails miserably on the second one. The only options to import contacts are through Facebook, which I don't use, and from a SIM card, which is what I ended up using. Pretty limited, to say the least, but the real kicker is that it has no option to actually export contacts. So if you use it for a while and decide either to wipe the device, or to stop using it, you have no option to retrieve contacts you've since added. I've investigated if it was possible to at least back them up using an ADB shell (it is, supposedly it's an sqlite DB), but apparently you need root on the device to do this, which isn't possible on the default install. I didn't investigate any further when I realized I was actually using Android debug tools at 3 am to get my contacts out of a supposedly consumer ready device. Needless to say any software updates probably aren't forthcoming from ZTE, since even the upgrade routine fails with an error on these devices (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/967817 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/967817). Another thing that bugs me is that while Mozilla are distancing themselves, and their branding, from the likes of the Geeksphone Peak+ (http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/25/peak-plus http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/25/peak-plus), which as far as I can tell receives timely updates and has a vibrant community, saying it's not a Firefox OS phone, they're also busy directing people to the manufacturers (ZTE in this case) whenever there is a problem with the officially blessed Firefox OS version running on the first consumer grade FFOS phone. Next time I waste more time trying to get basic functionality working, I'll just build my own updated images of FFOS (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Firefox_OS/Developer_phone_guide/ZTE_OPEN https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Firefox_OS/...) and see if things have improved by then.

by reidrac 13y ago

kurt_ 13y ago

I second you, mine is buggy (some times I cannot respond to a call) and missing needed feature for me (like a notification when new email arrive)

daleharvey 13y ago
I just noticed today the email app has periodic sync on a current build, so hopefully it is on 1.2 (or 1.3)

untog 13y ago

Yeah, I'm really surprised they started selling devices as consumer-ready so early. They're great as dev test devices, but I wouldn't want to use one day-to-day.

JohnTHaller 13y ago
If you bought the original G1 with Android on it (mine is still hiding in the back of my desk), it's not much different. You have to start somewhere.
zobzu 13y ago
they mainly sold it as a replacement to feature phones, not to high-end smartphones. in that regard, it makes sense. that people try to replace their high-end smartphones with it, looks pretty promising if anything (and even if it falls a bit short for now) whats great is that anyone can improve it and they'll take the fixes. Unlike Android/Google, which refuse any external code [except some from samsung apparently] (yay openbullshit..)

BrianEatWorld 13y ago

I have been using it as my main phone every other week since release. TBH, I haven't run into bugs so much as curious features (or lack of features). Are there particular bugs you keep hitting? If anything, it seems a bit more stable than my Cyanogen-running Nexus. The worst "feature" offender I have found is that when talking on the phone, if a call comes in, the screen activates. If the phone is close touching my ear, it has a habit of picking up the incoming call without any notification.

conception 13y ago
The Keyboard is pretty terrible. Several of my apps just don't launch, (Here, Notes off the top of my head), apps crash pretty regularly (reddit pretty often). Reception isn't the best and it drops calls pretty regularly on me.
- zobzu 13y ago
  its a lot better in 1.3 nightly, if you feel adventurous. no swype but it feels about as good as on my iphone.
reidrac 13y ago
It feels half-cooked both because of missing features and bugs. I can understand some of the missing features (such as can't upload files, no clipboard, the keyboard is small and irresponsible or only en_US available), but some bugs are really painful, being the biggest one when you're browsing a website and the the browser hangs leaving your mobile completely dead for way too long (I had to remove the battery a couple of times). For an OS that is basically a browser, this is really bad. Also I've found both the wireless and the data connection to be unreliable. Sometimes it refuses to work and only a reboot will fix it. I'm not an advanced Android user, but I can't do the few things I used to do before using the ZTE Open as daily smartphone. As I said the ZTE Open needs an OS update, really.
onosendai 13y ago
I also got an Open, planning on using it as my everyday phone, at least for a while. My requirements for this role weren't too stringent, since it's a new platform. So the only two things it needed to do was perform and receive calls, and allow me to manage contacts. It fails miserably on the second one. The only options to import contacts are through Facebook, which I don't use, and from a SIM card, which is what I ended up using. Pretty limited, to say the least, but the real kicker is that it has no option to actually export contacts. So if you use it for a while and decide either to wipe the device, or to stop using it, you have no option to retrieve contacts you've since added. I've investigated if it was possible to at least back them up using an ADB shell (it is, supposedly it's an sqlite DB), but apparently you need root on the device to do this, which isn't possible on the default install. I didn't investigate any further when I realized I was actually using Android debug tools at 3 am to get my contacts out of a supposedly consumer ready device. Needless to say any software updates probably aren't forthcoming from ZTE, since even the upgrade routine fails with an error on these devices (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/967817 https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/967817). Another thing that bugs me is that while Mozilla are distancing themselves, and their branding, from the likes of the Geeksphone Peak+ (http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/25/peak-plus http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/25/peak-plus), which as far as I can tell receives timely updates and has a vibrant community, saying it's not a Firefox OS phone, they're also busy directing people to the manufacturers (ZTE in this case) whenever there is a problem with the officially blessed Firefox OS version running on the first consumer grade FFOS phone. Next time I waste more time trying to get basic functionality working, I'll just build my own updated images of FFOS (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Firefox_OS/Developer_phone_guide/ZTE_OPEN https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Firefox_OS/...) and see if things have improved by then.