My (mostly FOSS) Mudita Kompakt Setup

[kohjakob]

Hi everyone!
I recently bought a Mudita Kompakt and wanted to share my mostly FOSS setup and some tips that helped me get the most out of the device. Maybe this helps others looking for a privacy-friendly, minimal smartphone experience!

Launcher:

• Minimo Launcher — Minimal launcher that lets you rename and hide apps for a clean, customizable home screen.

Apps:

• Organic Maps — OSM-based navigation and mapping which works offline.
• DuckDuckGo — Web browser with basic privacy protections and tracker blocking.
• VLC — Media player for audio and video with library management.
• Book’s Story — E-book reader with library management and great customization options.
• Thunderbird — Secure email client which allows multiple account support.
• Bitwarden — Password manager with device sync.
• Bitwarden Authenticator — Two-factor authentication app for generating 2FA codes.
• OSS Document Scanner — Document scanner with minimal device permissions.
• QR Scanner (PFA) — QR code scanner with minimal device permissions.
• FUTO Keyboard — Keyboard focused on privacy, integrating features like autocorrect and text-to-speech.
• AntennaPod — Podcast player with offline listening.
• F-Droid — App store for open-source Android apps.
• Aurora Store — Anonymous client for Google Play Store without need for a Google account.

Stock apps I don’t use and hide:

• E-reader: Missing customization options; meditation card ebooks clutter the library and can’t be deleted.
• Maps: Lack of advanced features and unreliable indoors because of view-of-sky requirement and not using Network Location Provider (NLP).
• Music: Missing search, cover art and library management. Not suitable for big libraries.
• Calendar: No sync with online calendars.

Tools & Resources:

• OpenMTP — Tool for transferring files between Mac and Android devices.
• adb (Android Debug Bridge) — Command-line tool for sideloading and managing apps:
  • adb devices
  • adb install apk_placeholder.apk
  • adb shell pm list packages | grep package_placeholder
  • adb uninstall package_placeholder
  • adb shell pm disable launcher_package_placeholder
• Anna’s Archive — Search engine to find free EPUBs.

[kohjakob]

Refs:

- Minimo Launcher: https://github.com/VaibhavLakhera/minimo
- Organic Maps: https://github.com/organicmaps/organicmaps
- DuckDuckGo: https://github.com/duckduckgo/Android
- VLC: https://github.com/videolan/vlc-android
- Book's Story: https://github.com/Acclorite/book-story
- Thunderbird: https://github.com/thunderbird/thunderbird-android
- Bitwarden: https://github.com/bitwarden/android
- Bitwarden Authenticator: https://github.com/bitwarden/android
- OSS Document Scanner: https://github.com/Akylas/OSS-DocumentScanner
- QR Scanner (PFA): https://github.com/SecUSo/privacy-friendly-qr-scanner
- FUTO Keyboard: https://github.com/futo-org/android-keyboard
- AntennaPod: https://github.com/AntennaPod/AntennaPod
- F-Droid: https://github.com/f-droid/fdroidclient
- Aurora Store: https://github.com/whyorean/AuroraStore
- OpenMTP: https://github.com/ganeshrvel/openmtp
- adb: https://developer.android.com/tools/adb
- Anna’s Archive: https://annas-archive.org/

[denguefeber]

@kohjakob

Minimo Launcher — Minimal launcher that lets you rename and hide apps for a clean, customizable home screen.

This launcher looks really nice, IMO! How did you set it up, and did you have any issues during the setup? I’ve read that other people have had problems setting up the Niagara launcher involving external Bluetooth keyboards and yada yada.

EDIT: Someone skilled in development should create a minimal launcher that provides simple notifications! Just like Light Phone OS does with an asterisk (*) when you receive an SMS, message, or whatever.

[j-uancha]

@kohjakob, how does Bitwarden works for you? I’m worried about downloading Bitwarden in my Mudita due to the old AOSP issue mentioned before in the forum

[kohjakob]

How did you set it up, and did you have any issues during the setup?

I had no issues so far. A detail worth mentioning is disabling the default Mudita launcher after you are satisfied with the Minimo launcher setup using adb: adb shell pm disable com.mudita.launcher - without this, the Home-button redirects back to the default launcher.

Someone (…) should create a minimal launcher that provides simple notifications. (…) with an asterisk (*) when you receive an SMS, message, or whatever.

Yes, that would be great! If anybody picks up the idea: Another great feature would be an option to disable/minimize animations (e.g. when opening the app drawer) and adding up/down arrow-keys to paginate the app drawer instead of animated scrolling.

[jevans]

I use bitwarden as well and, aside from the animations in the app that you can’t disable chugging on this phone, it works fine. I also could not authenticate through web authentication and my Solo key for two-factor to log in, so I needed to authenticate with an email, but that was really the only hangup.

[kohjakob]

There’s are these topic in the forum:

• Security Updates
• Call for Transparency - Critical Security and Bug Tracker

The answers by the developers to security requests are a little vague, e.g.:

@urszula

As for the OS: while the phone is based on AOSP 12, it’s not a standard Android smartphone. It doesn’t have a web browser, an email app, or access to app stores, unless you start sideloading there’s really no internet-facing software at all, other than the weather. This dramatically reduces the attack surface and makes common exploits via compromised ads, rogue emails, or browser-based vulnerabilities impossible, simply because those functionalities don’t exist on the device.

@michalstasiuk

I think it is fair to say we started with AOSP 12, but it is not AOSP anymore. It is a separate entity at this point. So we’re not planning to upgrade it to AOSP 13 or 14, but rather to Mudita OS K 2.0, 3.0, and so on.

The list of attack vectors is different for our OS than for the baseline AOSP because of a different set of functions.

To me these rather vague answers sadly point towards the team planning to prioritize their own Mudita OS K security updates (Mudita OS K 2.0, Mudita OS K 3.0, …), only providing security for default device configuration. For now i am waiting for any updates in Security Updates topic.

---

I removed credit-card, banking and PayPal info from the Bitwarden vault for now. In my country cash payment still works almost anywhere. Losing other credentials would be painful but not detrimental. For now I use 2FA authenticaton on my old secure device and keep it in my drawer. > I uninstalled Bitwarden for now.

[denguefeber]

Thank you for the reply!

Does disabling MuditaOS also remove the notifications seen on the lock screen that say “x unread SMS” or “x missed calls”, if there are any?
EDIT: Does the Control Panel Button work with the Minimo Launcher as well?

And just to ease my worries: if I want to enable MuditaOS again, do I use this command adb shell pm enable com.mudita.launcher? And can I uninstall Minimolauncher like any other app via ADB after that?

[jevans]

“MuditaOS K” is the custom operating system that Mudita has built for the Kompakt. “Mudita Launcher” is just an app installed on that operating system. In the case of this phone, the “control panel” is a separate app, and so is the lock screen. Both function normally when the Mudita Launcher is disabled.

[denguefeber]

Thank you!

[kohjakob]

Does disabling MuditaOS also remove the notifications seen on the lock screen (…)?

No, the launcher only affects the unlocked screen.

Does the Control Panel Button work with the Minimo Launcher as well?

Yes, and you can still use it to access the MuditaOS settings etc.

(…) if I want to enable MuditaOS again, do I use this command adb shell pm enable com.mudita.launcher? And can I uninstall Minimolauncher like any other app via ADB after that?

Yes (or adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.mudita.launcher, when referring to my original post). Yes Minimo Launcher is just an app like every other.

[denguefeber]

Thank you @kohjakob!

I now have Minimo Launcher installed and I’m already satisfied! I only encountered one problem that might be good to know if someone else wants to install a different launcher. When I tried to disable Mudita Launcher with the command adb shell pm disable com.mudita.launcher, I received a SecurityException error in my Terminal (using a MacBook), and I don’t know why. However, the following command worked: adb shell pm disable-user --user 0 com.mudita.launcher

Thanks again!

[gracecatt]

I’m pretty useless with tech–do you mind helping me? I would like to use Minimo launcher but I’m not sure where/how to input the command you have here.

[denguefeber]

Sure! Are you using a mac or windows computer? I’m using the Terminal on my Mac and find it quite easy that way. But you can also install apps via your Browser. This thread shows you how: Instructions on how to sideload apps on Mudita Kompakt