[Ubuntu Touch General] snowboarder74:
Greetings from Germany!

I received my Aquaris Ubuntu phone yesterday, 19.03.2015. Needless to say I was excited but also wasn't expecting much since it's the new kid on the block.

I want to be clear that the cons that I point out only reflect my opinion and in no way should they be construed as an attack on Canonical or a diminishment on their attempts to break into the mobile space.

I've been a linux user since 2006 and an ubuntu user since version 8.04 and while I wasn't expecting much I still wanted to support Canonical's efforts by purchasing their first unit that they offered to us end users.

I was a power Android user for 4 years before I switched to the Nokia N9 for a year and then to the Blackberry Z30 for the past year. I'm partial to gesture based OSs hence why I use and enjoy BB10OS so I was stoked to learn that Ubuntu Touch is a gesture based OS.

First the pros:

1. Love the UI and the simplicity of it. Reading the Help app and swiping N,S,E,W pretty much gets you up and running.

2. Idea of Scopes and how they're implemented. When I first read about it I wasn't impressed...after seeing it in person I really like it.

3. There's just under a 1000 apps/scopes in the store and I've found quite a bit of good stuff already....travel, public transport, translate, online shopping, social, etc

Granted, alot of the "apps" open mobile versions of websites but I've also installed genuine, native apps. The mobile websites don't bother me but that is a subjective thing.

Now the cons:

1. Contacts and calendar sync is Google only...no option to set up a Carddav or Caldav servers.

2. No built in email client

In regards to #1, this is in my view a huge mistake. I made a conscious decision a year ago to completely move away from Google services. I use Memotoo for contacts and calendar. Why in god's name Canonical would make everything Google centric relegates the phone to a "neat toy". They're essentially dictating what services I have to have in order to use their product. Bewildering to say the least since this is linux. We're not talking about proprietary standards here either...Carddav and Caldav are free to use and implement. No work even needs to be done on their end as syncevolution is a finished and complete product.

Point #2, WTF are they thinking? Remember how much flak Blackberry took for not including a native client in the Playbook? Canonical should be hammered in the same way for releasing a mobile phone without email capabilities. The only options in the store are webapps for once again, Google, Yahoo and an email client, Dekko, that just offers the same thing as the webapps but is a genuine native app...however, no IMAP or POP capabilities. You can also forget about Exchange support. I think that is a pipe dream at this stage. In regards to Exchange support, I have no problem paying for this as I don't expect that to come for free.

While I wasn't expecting much and was already prepared to not have many things that I do with Blackberry I was left scratching my head with what was left out as these are very big things to leave out...these are open, non proprietary standards (Caldav, Carddav, IMAP, POP).

If you rely on google services then you'll enjoy the full experience of Ubuntu Touch and I highly recommend you take the plunge...if not, then you're left out in the cold for now. Hopefully in the next 6-12 months Canonical or the community will have these things ironed out.

For now my Ubuntu phone is going in the drawer and I'm going back to my Z30. I'm a service rep and I have to be able to call and email clients when I'm in the field and be able to email and communicate with the home office hence why I need contact sync, email and calendar support via my employer and Memotoo. Without these basic necessities the phone is useless for me.

Best Regards,

sb74