I truly like this device. The in-hand feeling is surprisingly great, particularly the rubbery back. I love the e-ink screen, though I wish we had the ability to manually refresh the screen because ghosting is a bit of an issue. So, here are some thoughts:
The good
I love the OS and the Mudita UI. The UI language isn’t being praised enough, IMO. I own quite a bit of e-ink, including the Supernote, and Mudita is the only company that I feel has put a lot of thought into the UI language. It’s beautiful while maintaining minimalism and practicality. I wish I had coding knowledge so I could create my own apps in the Mudita language.
The GPS on my phone has yet to work. I first thought it was broken, but after research, I now know that you need to be outside for several minutes for the GPS to kick-in (it has yet to do so for me, which could be a device issue at this point). Mudita needs to include this information when a user first opens the Maps apps or Weather app. Otherwise, many are going to think they have a faulty device.
I wish we had an option to have the lock screen be an always-on-display. I’m spending too much time unlocking the phone to see what notification mysteriously beeped. It would be nice to see that without constantly reaching for the phone. It would also be nice to to always see the time and date and control the media without having to press the unlock button every time. At least give users that option.
I wish we could have a notifications center. There are a few apps that I have that I really need to see notifications for; my only option thus far is to use InkOS for that functionality. Again, at least offer users that option. I feel like sometimes dumb phone companies refuse to provide users the basics (such as notification center) without acknowledging how impractical that is for many users, especially in 2026.
It would be great if the media widget would be work for other apps, such as CalmCast. It would make the experience more seamless.
It would be helpful if North American users could have the date in U.S. format (e.g., “Tuesday, April 7,” and not “Tuesday, 07 April” as it is now) throughout the OS, such as on the lock screen, widgets, calendar, and etc.
I wish the calendar app would be more robust, such as being able to sync it with iCloud mail or at least Google. I also wish we could have more granular control of the time selection when adding an event; only having 15-minute increments don’t work for all situations, particularly for certain appointments. Additionally, having just a 5-minute reminder option doesn’t help at all; other options such as an hour or two before the event or the day before or morning of the event would be nice.
I’m using the InkOS launcher right now because the Mudita launcher is a bit too restrictive. I wish we could customize the two apps on the home screen rather than being forced to have just the Phone and SMS apps as our only two options. Folders would be nice to have in the apps section.
One glaring app that I’m missing is a checklist app as I use one often. I’m sure Mudita could make a nice one. Folders and a reminders option would be great in the app as well. A notification option (like in the Calendar app) would be helpful as well for items with a due date.
I’m using KOReader, but I would use the provided reader app instead if we had the option to (1) left-align the text instead of just having text justification, (2) have bold text, (3) have a folder option on the home page, and (4) having a “Currently reading” status in the filter. I read quite a bit of books, and the current app implementation provides no organization.
A sudoku app in the Mudita UI language would be nice!
Also, I’ve already addressed this with Urszula, but it would be nice to have an easy, seamless way to create icons for sideloaded apps that match Mudita’s app icon language.
On the topic of Android version and security, this has been addressed by our Managing Director in a previous thread. I will link them below, so others can read through, if they have not had a chance to familiarize themselves with our plans.
The current approach focuses on delivering selected security patches and maintaining a controlled, privacy-first environment, rather than following a traditional upgrade path. We understand that this may not fully align with everyone’s expectations, especially when it comes to version numbers, but the intention is to balance security with system stability and the overall experience.
Regarding WebView, yes our team is aware & an update is planned, however, I don’t have a confirmed timeline to share just yet. As soon as we have more concrete information, we’ll make sure to communicate it clearly with the community.
That said, your feedback is valid and important. If this doesn’t fully address your concerns, I’m more than happy to pass your comments along to the team so they can take another look.
I’ve already quoted those posts in my Android 12 security concern post, which has not been addressed by an Mudita team member. I (and others) would simply like a straightforward answer if Mudita plans to upgrade the phone to Android 13 or higher. It is not a difficult question to answer yes or no to.
If Mudita plans to keep the Kompakt on Android 12, which is would be a grave security concern, I will be returning the Kompakt.
I have read the posts. That particular one you are referring to is almost a year old. It would be great to have an updated reply regarding Android 12 security concerns.
@lightsaber Unfortunately, nothing has changed on that front. I also replied to another thread where I linked posts from our Managing Director @michalstasiuk. He clearly outlines where we stand and as far as I know his position has not changed.
I don’t think that answers his question. Mudita is not offering any transparency about their security updates other than really vague hand-wavy statements like “we’ll do stuff.”
I have found the OS to be satisfactory out of the box, and after applying the updates, and some settings changes.
I got it as a knock around phone. I wasn’t looking for an internet dependent phone. The notepad app is what I use for several things you asked for above. I don’t get many calls or texts and don’t need a camera. I use the speaker phone and it seems to have good audio at both ends. I turned off the backlight because I am mostly in full sun or well lit areas. I like the chess game. The GPS works fine outdoors for local weather forecasts.
Mudita has already stated the backport security patches to their AOSP 12 base. As a small company they don’t have the resources of Google to maintain an EOL android version, but it’s possible they could plausibly backport severe and critical patches applicable to the hardware and software. You can check the current security patch level with snoopsnitch, last I checked it was something 2025.If you’re looking for a secure phone in the e ink space good luck, none of the current options even come with a secure element., and the kompakt doesn’t even have disk encryption.
Yeah, that’s precisely the problem. They are using an EOL system as their base and they don’t have the resources to maintain it. They keep saying it’ll be fine because they’ll backport stuff selectively, but we don’t know what that is going to look like. We don’t know what will get patched and what will be ignored. It seems if we care at all about device security we’re going to have to flash Lineage or something like that instead of MuditaOS.
I’m glad someone else is seeing how much of an issue this is. Currently, the Kompakt is an unsafe device security-wise. I don’t care about what security patches Mudita does on their end, because it is not anywhere near as robust and secure as it would be if the device would be on Android 13 or greater.
I hate that this is something that Mudita is unwilling to compromise on because it makes the phone unusable (for me) as a sole device. For this reason, my Kompakt is pretty barebones, and I will not be logging into anything on this device nor having anything highly personal on it.
Also, Mudita needs to be a lot more transparent about why they refuse to update the device to Android 13 or greater. Even just one more OS bump would largely fix this issue. Frustrating. Very frustrating.
Saying not to use a software-driven networked device in today’s world is like saying “It’s best some people just don’t use any money due to their concern over being robbed.” It’s just too impractical to serve as a solution to the problem. Plus, why should we have to jump through hoops when there is an obvious solution right there that the dev team refuses to implement?
Here’s my thoughts after a 12 days with the Kompakt phone, and I can say participation with this very nice user community was of great value in my decision to return this product to Mudita. This product, the Kompakt phone, as it was delivered to me, does not minimally align with my very low expectations in ways that I find difficult to express in words, it’s a feeling of disappointment and sadness, a feeling that I was sold a concept, a concept that I already live by, it’s a device that I hoped would bring me great happiness and joy to use.
My flip phone can send SMS message and notify me reliably about received messages, it has an address book, plays music files, has a customizable menu, calculator, alarm, dual cameras, some games and things I never use, but all they do work out of the box, with a headphone jack and a charger, and it does do bluetooth and wifi as well. I don’t need to sideload apps that may or may not work on the Kompakt for all the functional expectations as a mobile phone.
The Kompakt, for me, added a cumbersome burden, the phone settings are inadequate, and it’s battery charge duration is nowhere near my expectations. To answer calls on the flip home I open it, to hang up I close it. There is a little display on the outside that tells me the day and time and battery level, and if someone calls it lights up and displays their info. Very simple menu on the inside and a phone keypad.
Presently, I requested approval for me to return this cute little thing for a satisfactory refund - otherwise I have a place to display it on the shelf next to my OLPC XO Laptop.
New edit: I looked into what it takes to return the phone to Mudita and decided it’s going to have a place on the shelf here in my dusty trailer in the desert. I am sure the package won’t make it from California back to Poland unless I pay a courier more than the cost of the phone to hand deliver it.
I personally don’t see the MK as unsafe, as I use it as as minimal device, just like Mudita advertised it. I don’t have banking apps or anything else sensitive or with personal data attached
If someone were to gain access to my Kompakt there’s nothing on it of any value to them
The problem is that that’s not how the device is advertised. Sideloading is a big feature of the phone and why many people choose the MK over, say, the LP3. Customizing it to the experience you want out of a phone is a huge selling point. They even make sideloading very easy through the Mudita Center.
If there were even some transparency over what security patches they’re making, or if they opened their OS so people could independently audit it, we could properly assess whether a certain app is safe to sideload onto the phone. But as it is now, we have no idea. As we’ve seen with the webview issue, even things natively supported on the base device with no sideloading at all have huge security vulnerabilities, which does not bring me a lot of faith that their method of piecemealing security patches together is viable medium or long-term.
Part of me would like to see the OS made open source, part of me would like it to stay under the control of Mudita.
I am far more concerned about the privacy of the MK being compromised, every day there seems to be a user requesting changes to the os and often they affect the privacy of the device.
I am confident Mudita will roll out patches to address security risks related to the device as it was shipped. I dont expect them to predict security risk for apps I have sideloaded. The take away is if you choose to sideload anything, it it your responsibility to assess the risks involved in doing so.
Everyone has a vision of what the MK should be and it’s great that Mudita easily allow the ability to make changes to our device, but to expect a small team to maintain risks added by users due to installing apps that weren’t intended to be there is not practical. The Kompakt is meant to be a minimal device not a smartphone, people need to accept they should change their use case not the Kompakt
@smuch Sorry to hear the experience ultimately wasn’t the right fit for your needs. Different people approach Kompakt with very different expectations and use cases. We still appreciate you sharing your perspective and experiences with the community.
Then Mudita should not allow sideloading at all if there is no minimum standard of security and we are not allowed the information we need to properly assess the security risk of any given app ourselves.
This is not about “predicting security risks” for a particular app. Security holes are general issues regarding parts of the OS that apps can use, not issues with individual apps themselves, and these are issues that are currently being patched in versions of AOSP that are still receiving patches. Of course if you have a solid metal cube that you store no information on and never turn on, the security risk is zero. But as we’ve seen with the webview issue, even services provided as part of the device as shipped have security holes, and that’s just one we know about because someone from the community flagged it. I don’t have confidence that such a small team can effectively keep up with these patches, and who knows how many others are out there affecting all facets of the device.
The entire OS does not need to be open sourced for this to be better. Even just some level of transparency on what security holes have been identified and fixed would go a long way to making people more comfortable with the phone. Right now the attitude of “trust us” is just not good enough. “Minimal device” does not mean we should have to accept compromises to security. We can have both.
