Finally, after sorting out my issues, I’ve re-ordered this lovely little “soap bar” with the scent of peace of mind.
All this time I’ve been casually gathering information, but my goal is to bring the Kompakt to the point where I can completely give up my iPhone. I know there are plenty of posts here on the forum, but all the info is fragmented and scattered. In this post, I’d like to collect your thoughts and advice to have a ready-made “roadmap.”
Below are the things I’m curious about — but feel free to add your own questions and ideas, and let’s try to piece it together, at least from one subjective perspective.
Thanks, and let’s go!
1. Launcher.
I guess there’s no real alternative — inkOS. From what I’ve read here, the author did a great job.
2. Keyboard.
Since I need Cyrillic, which keyboard should I go for? GBoard? Or maybe something untouched by the big G?
3. Apps I need:
Banking (no problem).
Maps — Organic?
WhatsApp: but what about notifications? I think I need them, but from what I’ve understood — they don’t work, unfortunately.
YouTube client (I listen to a lot of lectures and podcasts). Should I stick with NewPipe? Or are there better options?
Music player — I’m not too familiar, since I haven’t used many Android devices, but I remember Musicolet and PowerAmp looked good.
Kindle app seems to work fine.That’s probably all.
4. System setup for max performance & efficiency.
I’d love to get at least three days of battery life. Does it make sense to disable stock apps I don’t need via ADB? Maybe there are some tweaks worth trying?
5. Wireless charging.
I was surprised to learn the phone supports it. Any tips? Can I charge it on an iPhone puck? And how does this charging method affect battery life?
6. Alarm clock.
Does it work reliably enough so I can trust it not to make me late for school runs with my daughter?
Any of your thoughts below — thanks in advance!
Anyone here using a smartwatch with the Kompakt? Thinking about bank card support — Galaxy Watch 7 vs Garmin Instinct 3.
Banking- that’s controversial, officially not advised, there are ways to get it working but you have to be aware of risk if downloading bank .apk from 3rd pty sites that are more or less trustworthy. Perhaps you could simply extract the .apk from a running googled phone for that cause (with updates to be done in a similar way).
HERE WeGo might be a decent maps app, it has quite a bit of details like venue opening hours and contact info.
WhatsApp notifications can be done with inkOS. WhatsApp might be a battery drain unless you force stop it. Before sideloading anything, I was able to get 8 days of battery life.
Wireless charging produces heat that might in theory affect battery longevity long-term.
The alarm is ok, never failed me, but some had it happened. This seems to be an easy fix for Mudita.
After my first failed attempt to get the Kompakt, my doubts didn’t last long. I browsed through other devices and quickly realized the ugly truth: today’s smartphone market is just a faceless, oversized NOTHING — stubbornly pretending it can replace your actual life.
For me, the Kompakt is more than just a phone. It’s also a nostalgic nod to one of my very first smartphones, the HTC 3400 Gene. Yep, there really was a time when phones fit in one hand. But those technologies, like the ruins of a lost civilization, are long gone.
Another text-based launcher with notifications is Minimo Launcher. I use it and like it because it’s so minimal: light, with few customizations, and a clean look. The only flaw is that notifications with the stock SMS app do not work, so I had to sideload the QUIK SMS app (which also supports group SMS).
I highly advise anyone with a small screen to give Flickboard or ThumbKey a week of testing.
I know it is weird but, on small screen, most people who tried it never looked back.
They are both available on f-droid. With Flickboard, you can easily switch between a primary and a secondary layout (and, yes, there are cyrillic layouts, I just checked)
First: Organic Maps has been forked into Comaps, which is more about community.
Second: Built-in maps is surprizingly good and simple. Give it a shot before installing Comaps
HeliBoard. Completely customizable, 100% offline, and added gesture typing support.
I use Waze (I’ll sacrifice a little tracking for the traffic information. Plus, I can completely hide the map and full screen just the updating directions.
Procast for Podcasts
Musicolet for music
If you’re using a smartwatch as you mentioned at the end of the post, count on 1.5 day battery (which means you might want to charge nightly anyway).
Can’t comment, have never used.
I’ve had 0 issues, but turned off batery optimization and put in an excepetion with DuraSpeed anyway. Lately I’ve used the built-in AOSP clock app (accessible once you have inkOS instead of the Mudita-built one.
Launcher: I actually like the Mudita launcher. I don’t know why people really want a text-based launcher. Phones have had icons for decades, since the beginning actually. inkOS has the advantage of the audio player widget that works with any audio app (which is why I use it). It supports notifications but you can use other apps for that, too. Do know that messenger apps often do not stay open in background so you won’t be receiving push notifications anyway. What I did for the longest time, was limiting the apps in the Mudita launcher app drawer to one page, and then one of the apps is an alternative launcher like inkOS as to launch all the other apps and make use of the additional settings for the Kompakt.
Maps: I just cannot bring myself to use the Mudita maps app. I don’t find the map very legible, and it flickers too much. Instead, I use GMaps WV to access Google Maps in a private way and get information on businesses and traffic. I also sometimes use HERE WeGo to get traffic info. Traffic information is a must for me, no clue why Mudita never wants to include that. My car has a GPS unit but traffic info is a paid option. For hiking and cycling I recommend Mapy.com, which has really legible maps. Osmand is a close second because it has offline maps and navigation. YouTube: I tried NouTube, but most YouTubers with talking videos often have podcasts available, e.g. on AntennaPod. Music Player: I started with Auxio, but I landed on Odyssey because it can play from folders. I can now organise my playlists in folders on the computer.
Wireless charging: it works, but you need to use a horizontal charger because the coil is rather high up and a ‘stand’ doesn’t keep the Kompakt well.
Battery life: the biggest drain is the backlight and bluetooth. Limit those and you’ll get 5-6 days.
looking for some help, as my Kindle App is crashing every time I open a book to read. It loads well, it logs into Amazon account well, but crashes immediately when clicking on a book. The warning is quite typical, saying something like that the app crashed suddenly. Has anyone solved this? So far I’ve tried different ways of installing the app. First was sideloading via Aurora store, second after OS update - installing it via Mudita Center. Anyone, anywhere?
I have the same issue. For me, the Kindle app only works if I open books directly from My Library inside the app. If I try to open them from the home screen, it crashes every time
Guys and girls, I’m getting used to my new friend and it’s amazing. In fact, the only serious issue for me right now is that Mudita aggressively closes background apps. And I need exactly one to keep running — Garmin Connect. Is there any way to stop it from going to sleep? Please help, because after 20–40 minutes my watch notifies me that it’s disconnected. And that’s the one app I rely on to get notifications.
By the way, I agree that the stock app launcher is nice — minimalistic and fast. The only thing that doesn’t work for me is the inability to rearrange icons. For example, right in the middle of the screen there’s the SMS app, which I only use once a month to check another spam message from my carrier
@victorpure See if you can follow my directions here. Let me know if you have any other questions. My Garmin watch does disconnect a couple of times throughout the day, but then automatically reconnects 5 or 10 seconds later (honestly, it would do the same with my iPhone, so I can’t blame it on the Kompakt).
Got it, I’ve already figured it out. Unfortunately, Garmin Connect and WhatsApp mean about 1.5–2 days of battery life. Now I’ve reset the settings to see how long it lasts without all that stuff. I also switched the phone to 2G, turned off mobile data, and restricted background app activity. So right now it’s JUST A PHONE + podcasts and Kindle. I want to see how long it’ll last in this mode. Might switch back later.
@victorpure Yes, Garmin is a huge battery draw (I can’t tell if its the app or the constant bluetooth) and you will only acheive 1.5 days battery with it, or 2 days (but I don’t like letting mine get that low).
On another note, be careful depending on 2G. From a safety perspective, I don’t think it’s a good idea. You can see some resources I’ve cited here.
It’s so spot on 
Got a VM ready just for pulling out those “sensitive” apps. And wow, totally forgot about WeGo — thanks for the reminder! 
