Totally! I’m curious too. Which “other devices” are you thinking of @kcr? In all my research for a compact e-ink phone that still has full gApps, I haven’t found these other devices you keeps implying exist. If you’ve got specific models, I’d genuinely love to see them.
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Well, tinkerers are usually type of people that went through all the possible option that are less effort to get what they need - sometimes combined with high expectations, sometimes with a precise sole requirement. Even if MK doesn’t have it all, it’s a pretty decent starting point.
At some point though, “out the box” doesn’t matter any more. For example, if you wanted a super secure smartphone, you could pay over a thousand bucks for one out of the box, but can as well get one for $250 and spend some time on tinkering. Time is money, eventually.
Back to the point, I think Minimal Phone supports what it has to, but it’s bigger and must have come with other drawbacks big enough that some individuals went in the direction of fiddling with Kompakt.
If you took an example of “a phone with Signal”, Punkt MP02 indeed sounds like it fits, but ask those who already gave it a try.
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Well, I can tell you that I got this phone with the expectation that notifications would work with 3rd party apps. I needed a phone just for calls/sms/messaging (Whatsapp, Viber). Unfortunately notifications are TERRIBLE: sometimes they work, sometimes they do not work, no visual indicator at all, even with inkOS (Whatsapp constantly reloads the notifications showing that I have a gazillion unread messages, where in fact I don’t - yes, I know it’s not inkOS fault, it’s Mudita OS…).
Generally speaking Mudita OS is very buggy and you can either fight/accept the bugs somehow or go for a full blown android version. It’s still a minimalist phone then, but it just works.
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@arcana What apps do you have sideloaded? I’m curious as to what is happening in your case because I have BOTH Signal & WhatsApp sideloaded & I do get an audible notification whenever I get a message.
Well, I hate audio notifications (except for calls/sms). I prefer simply a way to look (not hear) them when i look at the phone (it should be distraction free experience after all). But currently what I must do is open whatsapp, then open viber, then open outlook, etc. Tried the notifications drawer of inkos but for some reason the notifications get reset all the time, showing i have a million unread messages (where it’s not the case).
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I’m sorry, to be nosey, but what do you use WhatsApp for if not for calls & messages (sms)? Am I missing something?
By phone/sms i refer to the native phone capability. I use whatsapp for messaging (nothing to do with sms which is a text protocol native in phones since the 90ies). People confuse SMS with whatsapp, viber, and other messaging like services but it’s completely different. Anyway the point is that only audio notifications work for 3rd party apps. And it’s not convenient at all. You missed the sound, you lost the whatsapp message. And if your whatsapp notifications are set to silent then… nothing. No visual indicator at the OS level, like a normal Android phone.
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Even thought it’s marketed as “minimalist,” not everyone purchases it for that specific reason. In my case, I bought it because I like the small form factor and love e-ink. I hate squinting at a shiny screen in the sunlight.
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Hi did you get any further with this regarding using newer images and “further development”
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