I’ve noticed some folks like to do a review after using the Kompakt for 6 months, I thought I’d join in!
My use case
I was previously an iphone user who found myself addicted to video content - not tiktok thank god, but I did watch way too much youtube. I’m also a bookworm and realized my read count had massively gone down throughout the years since I got out of college, thanks to my phone. Finally, I’ve also been getting more into tech privacy lately, and I found myself wanting a phone I could keep from tracking my every move without having to carry a faraday bag on me at all times. After months of research, I settled on trying the Kompakt. I have no qualms with tinkering with the phone, I actually quite enjoy the ability to sideload and mess around with it.
Apps I’ve added for quality of life improvements
Katapult - Out of the box I found the Kompakt’s automated icons for side-loaded apps to be quite ugly and it was distracting from my overall experience. At first I tried InkOS, which worked fine, but I missed the icons that did look good. Thankfully the creator of InkOS put out Katapult not long after, and I’ve been greatly enjoying it ever since. Adds various features that the Kompakt doesn’t come with, and has much nicer looking icons for third party apps.
KompaktX - I use this mainly for notification management and custom ringtones.
InkMessage - A smoother SMS experience, plus some additional features like voice messaging.
OpenCamera - I don’t actually use this as my main camera app, but the native camera app lacks video capabilities, so I added OpenCamera just in case I need to take a video of something.
Waze and Organic Maps - Still feeling out which of these I prefer. I would love to use the native maps app but sadly it’s just not functional enough for my needs yet.
Proton VPN - Honestly not even sure if this is necessary since I don’t have a browser on the phone, but I like having the extra layer of protection. Sometimes disconnects on its own but I don’t mind turning it back on.
Proton Authenticator - Just for the rare occasions where I need 2FA. Works great.
KillApps - One of my few frustrations with the Kompakt is that it has no “close all apps” button, this app solves that. I would really like for Mudita to include this function in a future update, though.
LocalSend - Makes it easy to send files to/from the Kompakt to my computer without needing to plug it in and pull up the Mudita Center, or to my partner’s phone.
Aurora Store - Mostly added this one so I wouldn’t have to manually download updates for my sideloaded apps.
Apps I’ve added for communication
Signal - Works great, keeps my communications encrypted, and solves any RCS issues I have texting with friends. I acknowledge not everyone can encourage their friends to add an extra messaging app to their phone, but I managed it, so it works nicely for me.
Discord - I manage a fairly large server and I was finding it difficult to keep up without having it on my phone. Works a little clunky but it’s serviceable, enough that I can read along and respond to messages. Anything more technical gets saved for when I’m home at my desktop.
FluffyChat - I haven’t seen anyone else talk about using the Matrix protocol on the Kompakt, so let me be possibly the first to say it works just fine! I tested both FluffyChat and Element X, I found FluffyChat to be more manageable.
Protonmail - I hesitated to put an email service on the Kompakt, but found it was necessary since verification codes are more reliable through email than on SMS. I ended up not regretting it, the Kompakt’s screen works just fine for reading email but makes replying somewhat of a chore, so it lets me check my inbox without compelling me to reply to anything fast.
Apps I added for fun and entertainment
AstroWatch - This nifty little thing keeps track of the sunrises/sunsets and moon phases for me, which is something I like to keep track of for spiritual reasons.
Bandcamp - Added this one to have access to my playlists and so I can buy music on the fly if I feel the need.
Bookshop.org - I usually try to only buy DRM-free ebooks, but if I have to buy something with DRM, Bookshop.org is my preferred platform to do it on. The reader function works great.
CalmCast - I’m a big podcast person and this app was made especially for the Kompakt, so it was a must.
CalmMusic - Adds a few more features that the native music app lacks.
Language Transfer - I can’t think of many language learning apps that would work on the Kompakt, given how the screen looks, but Language Transfer is entirely audio-based, so it works just fine. And it’s free!
Libby - Gotta have my library books. Works a little slow and clunky when checking things out but displays ebooks and plays audiobooks just fine.
Libro.fm - My preferred audiobook purchasing platform. Works like Audible with a $15 monthly subscription but isn’t part of the Amazon ecosystem, gives your money to local bookstores, and lets you download the files to your computer DRM-free to keep forever. Buying books through the app using credits and playing them works great.
Obsidian - My preferred note-taking app. Runs a little clumsy and can’t use many of the fancier plugin features, but on the Kompakt I mostly only use it for quick notes or reading older notes I access through Obsidian Sync.
Wikipedia - Runs beautifully and scratches my occasional “learn something new” itch without needing a browser.
Additional gadgets
I found the rubbery case from Mudita to be nice to hold but ultimately unusable, as it made it difficult to slide the phone into my pocket and the rubber started to wear down in an ugly way within a month of use. I tried both the card case and the Magsafe case from Nakedcellphone and ended up settling on the last one. It does remind me a bit of a truck tire in terms of design, which I don’t love, but it’s not too bulky and the Magsafe aspect has been fun to use. I now have a Magsafe dashboard mount in my car for when I’m using the Kompakt to navigate, and a Magsafe stand to stand it up on my desk and type on it with a bluetooth keyboard. Sadly my bluetooth keyboard has been having some trouble since the 1.5.0 update, but I figure that’s probably an issue with the keyboard itself, I’ll be trying a different brand soon.
My Thoughts
I love this phone. I’ve used it as my daily driver since I got it in January and have had very few hiccups. I acknowledge that I’ve added quite a few apps and that may seem like it goes against the philosophy of the phone, but for my use case I consider it to be a success. I didn’t buy the Kompakt because I never wanted to use an app again, I bought the Kompakt because I wanted to be unable to use the apps that were making my life worse, and because I wanted more control over my personal data. Without social media on my phone, all I can use it for is communication, reading, listening to audio, or navigating the world around me. It makes my phone feel like a tool I’m using to improve my day, instead of a mandatory tracking chip that sucks away my attention from the things I’d rather be doing.
There are some improvements I’d like to see, of course. I would like 5G support for obvious reasons. I think the Mudita team could take a lot of notes from Katapult, KompaktX, and KOreader (which I don’t use but I did toy around with) for features that many users want. I would like a “close all apps” function and a designated voicemail app so I don’t have to call my carrier to check my voicemail. I would like an easier faster way to turn on the flashlight than having to unlock the phone and open the control panel. On the hardware side, I would like a warm backlight option, and I’m honestly really confused why there’s warm/cold options for the flashlight but not the backlight. But these are features I’m either willing to wait for in a system update or a future version of the phone. In the meantime the Kompakt does suit my needs pretty nicely, and I’ve noticed a huge improvement in my attention span since switching to it.