I just received my Kompakt a few days ago and I’m having some issues with the SMS app:
Notifications on lock screen are inconsistent. Sometimes if I have a missed SMS it shows up there, other times it doesn’t. This makes it so I don’t trust the phone to tell me I’ve missed a message or phone call, so I unlock it more to check, which defeats the whole purpose of trying to use my phone less.
Once the phone dinged and there was no SMS and I looked at Whatsapp & Signal, which I sideloaded, and nothing to see there either.
I tested sending and receiving photos to a friend via the SMS app with an iPhone. Worked fine with them. Then I tried sending a photo to another friend with an iPhone and they didn’t get it for some reason.
The screen resolution is so poor, photos are kind of pointless anyway. I like the black and white E ink but I can’t see what the photo even is sometimes. I’ve gotten a couple of texts with friends sending a pic and “check this out” or “is this yours?” and I have no idea what the picture is.
The notifications settings leave a lot to be desired too. I love the offline button, but there’s no control and customization around notifications. On my old phone, I had different ringtones set up for contacts vs. outside callers and settings to allow certain calls to come through, etc., which is very handy.
There’s stuff that others have mentioned that’s also annoying, which it seems Mudita will fix eventually - the lack of customization around the lock screen and app ordering, for instance.
Basically what I want is a really robust portable messaging/calling device with a good enough camera and screen resolution so I can continue to participate in the type of multimedia messaging that is so ubiquitous today. Don’t think this device cuts it, unfortunately, I’ll be going back to my dumbed down smart phone…
@salish Welcome to the Mudita Community. We are glad you’re here. Thank you for taking the time to share your honest feedback after trying out the Mudita Kompakt. We truly appreciate hearing from users like you who are giving the device a genuine chance.
We understand the frustrations around E Ink screen limitations when it comes to viewing images, and we understand that this can affect your ability to fully engage with today’s multimedia messaging habits. Mudita Kompakt was intentionally designed for people looking to step back from constant digital stimuli, but we know that doesn’t mean sacrificing reliability or essential functionality, especially with communication.
We’re sorry to hear that your experience hasn’t met your expectations so far. If you’d be open to it, we’d love to keep the conversation going and learn more about your expectations for a minimal device, especially what you’d consider a meaningful balance between essential features and simplicity.
Either way, thank you again for giving Mudita a try.
Thanks, Urzula. I’ve been using it some more over the last few days, and I might still keep it, as there are many things I like. If I keep it, I just have to accept that I won’t be able to properly see photos texted to me on this phone. But on the plus side I am finding I use my phone less than before, which I do like. I like how much less stimulating the E ink screen is. I’ve figured out the lock screen actually doesn’t show notifications, and I’ve adapted to that at this point - I find the notification sound is so loud I don’t miss texts. I’m mostly using the desktop versions of Signal and Whatsapp and actually I like this so much more. I dip into those multimedia messaging apps more intentionally on my computer and send photos off my computer instead. I’ll be testing out some other functions I need over the next few days and decide if I’ll keep it… right now I am leaning more towards yes.
I am confused though about why some of my contacts can receive a photo via the Mudita SMS app and others can’t. Can this be fixed? And some more customization over notifications, ringtones (e.g., assigning different ringtones to contacts), app ordering, lock screen look, that kind of stuff, would be most welcome.
For me, personally, this was actually a BONUS- most of the photos I got were memes or some other pix that would just be a point of distraction. Now, for regular photos, from friends & family, I ask them to email. Or send it via WhatsApp- I can download that on my Laptop via the WhatsApp Web page.
Let me make sure I understand this: You’re sending photos from your Mudita Kompakt to a person with a standard smartphone (either iPhone or Android) and they are not receiving your photos?
I also have missed out on a few SMSes and missed calls because they are not appearing on the lockscreen. I saw a few screenshots here where it displays on the lockscreen, but I’ve never actually experienced it. The lockscreen always just looks blank.
I double checked with the friend who didn’t get my photo - they have an iphone. Turns out they got just the top bit of the photo while they were in a place with bad cell reception. I sent them another photo while they were in the city and it worked fine. So the reception seemed to be the issue.
