Re-visiting the Kompakt

Mudita Products
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About 6 months ago I sold my Kompakt to a friend and switched back to my Cat S22. Well the S22 broke, so I bought another Kompakt again. This time around the software seems to be in a better place, and the community software is much improved now! Here is a list of the issues I had and how I’ve fixed them.

  • Kompakt does not have Do Not Disturb mode. I want my phone to be quiet at night. To add it back to the Kompakt, I use ruhezeiten (forum) which works well.

  • There’s no way to tell what app made the Kompakt make noise. SMS? Signal? Calendar event? inkOS has a really neat notification shade now - previously it just had the “letters” panel which was not quite enough for me. It also shows home screen badges and notification previews. I’m eyeing Katapult as well.

  • The Mudita calendar app is e-ink optimized but can’t see synced calendars. The stock AOSP calendar is not e-ink optimized but it can see synced calendars. KompaktCalendar (backup link) can do both!

  • The keyboard was slow and lacked autocorrect so I had been using Heliboard. The most recent software update brougt the built in keyboard out of “semi-usable” to “perfectly acceptable” so I have no third party keyboard installed anymore!

  • The maps app doesn’t support bookmarks, so I might load in CoMaps or Waze. I used Waze last time and it’s okay, just not Free, so that’s sad.

Not fixed yet:

  • Signal doesn’t have a usable high-contrast e-ink-friendly color scheme. All messages sent by the user have a dark background with light text and it’s hard to read. Luckily I don’t really have to read my own messages after I send them (since I wrote them!)

Things that never bothered me:

  • Some people reported the alarm doesn’t work reliably. It rings on time for me every time.
  • The stock SMS app is fine.

All in all I really appreciate the size, screen, battery life, and how the community software has really grown. While the default software experience is good, for me, these additions help make it shine without making it too distracting.

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You could try Molly (an alternative Signal client) to fix the text contrast issue, worked for me

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I’ve used it before but didn’t realize it had a better high contrast theme! Could you show me a screenshot perhaps? Switching is kind of tough and I don’t want to do it unless there’s a good reason.

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It’s a little better IMO, you can adjust the color of text bubbles too - you can also link it to your existing signal account if you don’t want to switch

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@solv Welcome back to Mudita Kompakt, and thank you for taking the time to share such a detailed update!

It’s especially helpful to hear how your experience compares with the one you had six months ago. We are glad that the improvements to MuditaOS K, along with the growing selection of community-created apps, have made Kompakt a better fit for you this time around.

You’ve also raised several points that are worth addressing:

Mudita Kompakt doesn’t currently include a native Do Not Disturb mode. This feature is on our radar, although we cannot confirm a release date at this stage. Custom ringtones and notification sounds are already included in our 2026 roadmap, which will allow users to personalize the audio used for calls and notifications.

Calendar synchronization is also something we are considering. We know that being able to access synchronized calendars through an interface designed specifically for E Ink would be useful, but we don’t yet have a specific timeline for its implementation.

You asked about sounds & not knowing where they are coming from. Please check out this post I made regarding the subject. It may be helpful to recognize which sound is what. Since you said you use the app Signal, it may just be a network connection sound from that app (not necessarily a message). It happens to me, since I also use Signal.

Regarding the keyboard, could you let us know which version of MuditaOS K you currently have installed? The keyboard was significantly revamped in a recent update, so we would like to make sure you are using the newest available version. It sounds like you may already be, especially since you mentioned that the built-in keyboard has become much more usable for you.

As for Signal, since it is a third-party application, we unfortunately don’t have control over its interface, color scheme, or the way sent messages are displayed. We understand why the dark message bubbles can be difficult to read on an E Ink screen, but any changes to that design would need to be introduced by Signal’s developers.

We also appreciate the feedback about notification identification and bookmarks in Maps. Community tools can be a useful way to expand Kompakt according to individual needs, and it is great to see people developing solutions that remain compatible with the device’s more intentional approach.

Thank you again for revisiting Mudita Kompakt and sharing both what has improved and what could still be better. We are very happy to hear that you continue to appreciate its size, display, battery life, and flexibility.

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this is possible in the normal signal app too - I was hoping for the messages I send to be black-on-white, but they only offer white-on-colors.

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