First off, I really appreciate that Mudita is willing to share a transparent roadmap - it helps us see where things are headed. That said, I do feel that the pacing and priorities could be better aligned with what users actually need day to day. Many of the planned features, like EInk refresh controls, voicemail notifications, or even something as simple as clearing call history, seem more like core functions than future upgrades.
If there aren’t many larger updates in the pipeline, I think most of us would still prefer these essentials delivered much sooner, rather than stretched out over a long roadmap. It would make the phone feel far more complete right now. Other eink device makers, like Bigme, manage to release multiple fixes and improvements regularly and I would have expected Mudita to be at least close to that.
One thought: perhaps consider open sourcing Komapkt Mudita OS. That way, those of us who want to get involved could help fix and improve things faster for our devices. It would give the community a way to contribute while Mudita continues to guide the overall vision.
My biggest gripe is making us wait until 2026 for something as fundamental as EInk controls. I’ve seen users enable similar controls on other e-ink phones running GSIs such as LineageOS on the Minimal Phone, and it didn’t take them long at all. Seeing this feature placed so far out on the timeline makes the roadmap feel unnecessarily drawn out.
Open source or at least some kind of NDA-based volunteering if they were anxious about letting too much out. I’d be glad to help but I’m personally not too proficient in mobile devices development.
Also support the open-source direction. As I see it, Mudita made an incredible piece of hardware, which is the hard part, but the software has been lackluster and missing some core features. When I get into the developer options and side-loading, I can improve it quite a bit. I think if the MuditaOS could be made open source, you’d find a community ready to take this device much further, much faster (ie @gezimos ). It seems like it would further differentiate the company from other competitors and improve the overall longevity and applicability of the device. And it would allow the Mudita devs to focus on the basic OS shipped with the device for those folks who would be using the phone “as is”. Lots of pros – what are Mudita’s thoughts on it?
I’m a bit wary of this open source route in this instance.
This is not because there’s anything wrong with open source development; I use apps so developed, and have occasionally contributed to them.
In buying the Mudita Kompakt, I specifically wanted a simple, secure, reliable device that performs its core functions well, and nothing more. If Mudita is going to rely on external developers to develop for them, then there is less pressure on them to do it. They can also, then, wash their hands of testing these externally developed apps, and not bother about issues of integration or upgrade pathways.
If you are interested in tech-level problems and customisations of your Mudita Kompakt, and want to deal with the consequences, that’s fine. The Android ecosystem (upon which Mudita OS is based, I understand) works this way by default. I have several devices of my own I play with in this manner, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But that’s not what I want from the Mudita Kompakt. I want it to work reliably, predictably and boringly using Mudita developed and support software as a semi-dumb mobile phone, without resorting to unsupported customisations. I want a state where if I think I need such customisations (open source or otherwise) to spice up my Mudita Kompakt, that means I don’t need a Mudita Kompakt, but a proper smart phone.
I just found this thread after making my own today. In regards to your point about the phone already doing what you wanted to do, I wanted to agree while at the same time disagree. It’s deflective if we ignore the population that requires a certain level of freedom and functionality (options, customization, binding buttons to different functions) for a tool to be worth the time and money given to it.
In my own thread, I bring up the fact that I don’t know how many people are developing the OS and how their software works, but I’ve seen hundreds of young adults manually make their own OS and modded software at such a blazing pace with long-term support that I’m also disappointed in the way the roadmap is planned and presented on their YouTube channel– like waiting 6 months to a year for a simple feature is something to celebrate and doesn’t require explanation from the team.
Well, we’ll see if the staff responds to my thread or not but it seems that Mudita is not truly working on software for whatever reason, yet. (When I first got my phone, I had to update it slowly one version at a time and the screen sleeping meant it would pause the entire process!)
wander, I more recently got a Kompakt and was wondering if you still were using a Mudita phone and what you thought of it. Thanks for reading.
I’m used to researching and finding the best mods for other devices like the Miyoo Mini, XTeink, Kindle, or Nintendo Wii, but I can’t seem to figure out what the best route is for its OS/its launcher yet… I don’t know why! I feel bad and unintelligent on this topic specifically, for some reason. Maybe it’s harder to find like minded people using such a niche device on the English speaking internet, for me.
Fun flashback!
Yeah I still use the Mudita Kompakt. It’s my daily driver. My wife and kid use it too now. And I make a buncha apps for it (although I’m not one of these “young adults” you’re referencing ).
There is already an open source option, fore all those who aren’t happy with Mudita os, feel free to install Lineage OS ported by Gezimos available, through forum and github
Personally I bought the Kompakt as I believed in the philosophy Mudita were espousing, so I’m happy to let the device develop at the pace they are going with, and hopefully not diverge from this by rushing to fulfill people’s expected pace compared to to other manufacturers
).