Dear @Michal_Kicinski - I suggest you read:
Three months with the Mudita Kompakt
Hi Michal,
thanks for finally chiming in.
My question: why didn’t you post all this one year ago ? It would have saved a lot of people a lot of frustrations, and many wouldn’t have sold their Kompakt. Did it really take that long for Mudita to notice that A LOT is going wrong with the Kompakt ? So many unresolved issues.
As a comparison (without mentioning any brand names): other “minimalist” phones receive MONTHLY updates plus hotfixes if anything isn’t working as planned. These monthly updates fix A TON of issues, and also include critical security updates (related to Android). Some of these companies rely on a SINGLE developer for these updates. How is it possible that a whole team needs half a year to come up with a functional keyboard, when it should have worked from the start ?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s clear that maintaining an OS is not as easy as baking a cake. But given the competition on the “minimalist” market, the Kompakt is falling WAY behind. And trust me when I say: I wouldn’t write like this if I didn’t care about the Kompakt’s success (Urszula knows). Like you said, words don’t mean much if there is no visible success. So I hope (and I’m definitely not the only one) that the quality and speed of the updates improve dramatically from now on.
Maybe you (and other team members) could post on the forum more often. It’s not fair to Urszula to let her take the heat from frustrated customers all the time.
Anyways, I’m not selling my Kompakt yet. I’ll wait and see what you will come up with, and it better be good 
YYZ
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I think it would be best to ask someone from the engineering team to answer this in more detail.
But generally, there is one thing I can mention. We are now selling a meaningful number of units every day, and with more than 10,000 devices already in use globally, every update has to be tested very carefully.
With this number of devices, configurations, languages, and different use cases, it is very easy to introduce a change that works well for most users, but breaks something for a smaller group of people with a specific setup or usage pattern. Even if it affects “only” a few users, it is still our responsibility to make the product work reliably for everyone.
This takes a lot of work, and mistakes can still happen, as you can see here on the forum. Some smaller changes made outside of our company, sometimes by individual users or independent developers, do not always need to go through the same level of testing, simply because expectations are different for non-commercial or community-made software. For us, the standard has to be higher.
That said, I do not want to use this as an excuse. We know we need to improve the speed of our work, and I hope the scope of the changes coming in the second half of the year will show some progress in that direction.
Looking back at the past year, I think the software has improved quite significantly between versions 1.0 and 1.5. Of course, it is still not perfect, but I also do not think it would be fair to say that very little has been done. For example, the new keyboard feature was built from scratch, and making it work properly across all supported languages was quite a substantial effort.
So yes — we need to move faster and improve our execution. But at the same time, we also need to be careful, because at this scale even small changes can have unexpected consequences.
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I know this thread already. We do analyze most of this kind of feedback and try to distill what is practical, useful, and actionable.
At the same time, please remember that some comments in this type of feedback are naturally subjective. For example, one person may dislike “acoustic ringtones” and not be happy with them, while I personally really like them and use them both for my alarm clock and as my phone ringtone.
Of course, we will try to make the experience as universal and flexible as possible, but this is not always simple. For now, we have started working on new ringtones — again, acoustic ones ;-). We may also add simpler tones in the future.
That said, we simply cannot do everything for everyone, especially within a short timeframe and with the limited team we have. So we need to prioritize the changes that will bring the most value to the largest number of users, while still staying true to the character of the product.
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Does this explain why MuditaOS K still does not have the voicemail features that are standard in the USA?
For background, I sold my Kompakt at v1.2.0 because of these missing features. I planned not to buy again until U.S. users confirm on this Forum that these features are present and working properly.
Meanwhile, with…
- Light Phone launching its SDK last week,
- Light Phone III (LP3) supporting USA-standard voicemail features,
- LP3 supporting 5G as well as 4G/LTE, and
- LP3 not making me choose between a Global version and a North American version,
…I must admit that LP3 is for me now a top-of-mind competitor to the Mudita Kompakt.
Given that…
- MuditaOS K 1.6.0 is supposed to have the missing voicemail features but is now on the roadmap not to launch until as late as 30 September 2026, and
- Light Phone is taking pre-orders for LP3 that will not get shipped until September,
…Mudita and Light Phone are now “September competitors” for my next cellphone purchase.
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That phone takes like 11 months to ship. There is no way they’re taking only 2 months this time. Design wise, I think it’s lovely.
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Can’t wait to see what 2.0 has in store!
also, I’m super happy with my Kompakt. Your OS is maturing nicely and when compared to the competition, I think you are actually quite ahead in the software department.
I do hope you use existing OS to continue building on existing strength.
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All in all I have to say the Kompakt is an interesting device but it’s definitely for enthusiasts. With the stock apps, it barely offers more functionality than any other dumbphone one third the price. For this reason alone I cannot recommend it to people looking for a minimalist or dumber device and who are not tinkerers.
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Thank you for putting it so clearly. I think this is a very fair point.
And to answer directly: no, I would not put U.S. voicemail support in the same category as something subjective, like ringtone preferences. For users in the U.S., this is much closer to a core expected phone feature. So if it is missing or not working properly, I fully understand why this can be a deal-breaker.
The prioritization comment was meant more generally. Some requests are matters of taste, product philosophy, or individual workflow. But some things are simply basic expectations in a given market. Voicemail support in the U.S. is one of those.
So yes, we should have addressed this better and earlier.
As you mentioned, voicemail-related improvements are planned for MuditaOS K 1.6.0. I know that “planned” is not the same as “already working on my device”, and I also understand that for someone deciding between Kompakt and Light Phone III in September, timing matters a lot.
I do not want to overpromise before the release is tested and ready, but I can say that we understand the importance of this issue. It is not being ignored, and it is not being treated as a minor cosmetic feature.
Regarding Light Phone III, I think they are doing many interesting things, and I personally see the growing competition in this space as a positive sign. It means the category is becoming more mature and more relevant. At the same time, I understand that from a customer’s perspective this is not just “good for the category” - it is a real purchase decision.
We really appreciate what the Light team is doing. I see it as friendly competition, and I genuinely keep my fingers crossed for their success as well — we are “Mudita” people after all ;-). At the same time, I think there are also some facts that are fair to mention in our defense. If I remember correctly, sometime around the end of last year Light communicated that they were proud to have reduced a serious device “bricking” issue from a few percent to around 1% — please forgive me if I do not remember the exact numbers. I remember being quite surprised by that, because Kompakt from version 1.0 was already much more stable in that particular sense. So while having a device that is stable, does not suffer from critical failures, and does not unexpectedly become unusable may not be the flashiest feature, I do think it shows that some of our efforts have paid off.
The point about not having to choose between a Global and a North American version is also fair. There are technical, certification, carrier, and band-related reasons why companies sometimes make these choices, especially smaller manufacturers. But I agree that from the user’s perspective, this adds friction and uncertainty.
So I can only say this honestly: we know we have to earn back trust through working features, not through explanations. If U.S. voicemail support is essential for you, I completely understand waiting until users confirm that it works properly in practice.
I hope that when 1.6.0 is released, it will make the decision easier. But I also understand that by then you will be comparing us not to promises, but to what other devices can actually do.
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Two things I’d like to point out about the Kompakt—and the display in particular:
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The E-Ink display is great; it is incredibly easy to read outdoors in daylight—and especially in direct sunlight. In this regard, it puts high-end smartphones in the shade.
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I take more photos with it than I did with my previous phone. In fact, I prefer taking pictures with this device over models that have far superior cameras. This is due to the black-and-white display, the lack of app settings, and the resulting unpredictable outcome—which can only truly be judged after transferring the images to a computer. Aside from differences in image quality and shutter lag, the experience is reminiscent of shooting with an analog compact camera or—in a way—very early digital cameras. It’s just more fun, somehow.
PS: The negatives have already been discussed at length anyway.
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Thank you, Michał, for your thoughtful reply to my “September competitors” post.
Based on your recent posts to the Mudita Forum, I am optimistic about the future of Mudita and of the Kompakt in particular.
E Ink may be what pulls me back to getting another Kompakt.
Short story: I run in many races, and I wanted to take some snapshots after a foot race last Saturday so as to memorialize the event. The sun was shining, and I had forgotten my digital camera with a viewfinder (which makes it easy to see the subjects of my photos). I tried to use my current, deGoogled smartphone but could not see what I was photographing. I gave up, doubting whether the Light Phone III’s display would have been bright enough to be useful and knowing that a Kompakt with its E Ink display would have solved my problem.
Light Phone’s SDK approach may push me away from getting the Light Phone III.
It seems to me now (I could be wrong!) that Light Phone requires all 3rd-party-added apps be developed with their SDK. In contrast, MuditaOS K lets users install existing APKs found on Aurora, F-Droid, and GitHub, for example. Although not all of these APKs are E Ink-friendly, many (such as HERE WeGo) are usable enough on the Kompakt without needing to wait for APKs (such as CalmMaps) to appear from developers using the Mudita Mindful Design framework.
Meanwhile, I will wait a few more months to choose between the LP3 and another Kompakt.
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Are you ever going to fix the calendar all repeating events and allow it to sync with google calendar?
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Hopefully, programming the ability to recognize a new-voicemail notification from any of the three major American cellular carriers is somewhat as simple as recognizing the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes that they send in ‘hidden’ SMS messages to their customers’ cellphones!
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Not to mention lightphone 3 is 700$ which is madness for a lightweight phone.
I think the Kompakt price point is fair with how many units you are shipping and a smaller scale business. I can’t imagine spending £580+ on a hybrid secondary device.
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It costs that much because of the build quality, I know that team and they are no price goungers, that device is more premium than the kompakt that is just a fact so yet its going to cost more. But I do feel like the Kompakt feels better in the hand, had I been light I would have used the same material in building the kompakt to make the lp3 I don’t know why they went with an industrial feel to it.
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I imagine it’s to try and sell it as a premium flagship to try and garner the attention of those who only buy the brightest colour iPhone etc to show off.
Tbf I think there is something to making these less intentional phones feel more premium, I just don’t think they’ll sell that many for double the price that’s all.
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LP3 has been out for 1.5 yrs and it’s still under pre-order and they can’t make enough of them. They definitely sell quite a bit despite the current 699 price. There’s a market for premium niche phones.
Not to forget that the original pre-order price was 399. Which I had and I cancelled it because the tariff wars had started, in addition to their questionable warranty/return policy at the time.
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Fixes and improvements to the built-in apps are generally on our roadmap, but in this case we would need a bit more detail about the specific repeating-events issue you are seeing.
Regarding Google Calendar sync: we do not currently have it planned for the near-term roadmap. It is a topic we are aware of and have been analyzing, but it is also a bigger and more complex subject than it may seem at first glance.
That said, there are community-confirmed workarounds using third-party apps. For example, some users have reported success with DAVx5 together with 3rd party calendar apps. These are not official native-sync solutions, and they may require sideloading and some setup, but they could be worth checking out on the forum if Google Calendar sync is important for your use case.
If you can share more details about the repeating-events bug, the team can take a closer look.
Just being able to set an event to repeat again and again vs having to put in said event again and again. Regardless, appreciate the efforts but at this point I have to leave the Kompakt behind again, I just find the progress too slow and to be honest Michal people should not have to find workarounds for the device, especially for simple things like silencing text notifications on a device that is suppose to be minimalist and non-distractive. I have just found from the Pure and now onto the Kompakt there are just things that need to be executed better we are now a year , over a year into this device and in my opinion the progress is not good enough. Appreciate the efforts though and I am a huge fan of the harmony and will continue to use it
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Hi everyone,
We’ve created a new Issues & Requests regarding Mudita Products category on the Mudita Forum.
The goal is to make it easier to collect feedback, product issues, and feature requests in one dedicated space, and, most importantly, to make the progress around them more transparent for the community.
The category is now live and ready for your feedback. If you’d like to report an issue, suggest an improvement, or follow discussions around product-related requests, please use this section going forward.
Thank you for helping us make Mudita products better.
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