Hi just wanted to see if there is and UK users in here can tell me about there expressions with the Mudita as a every day phone in the UK
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Hi Josh! Welcome to the Mudita Community and congrats on your first post. I’m not from the UK, but I’m sure there will be fellow UK users to share they’re experiences. Have you already bought a Mudita Kompakt or are you in the orientation phase?
Kind regards,
Marco
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Hi I own a Kompakt and live in the UK
The MK works fine on UK networks for calls and texts, I can confirm this.
What is it you would like to know specifically? I have had it for around 8 months. On the whole I like it, but it does have a lot of frustrations, and some of the things that drew me to it have not met my expectations.
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Thank you for getting back to me that is all high was really using its bar calls and text could you expand on what you mean I’ve just ordered one
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The main reasons I purchased the Mudita Kompakt
1 to break away from big tech tracking from the iPhone
2 e ink display and extended battery life
3 removing social media from my mobile phone
Breaking the tracking of big tech has definitely worked, the Kompakt has no Google apps or play store or browser. If you choose to side load a browser, then as long as you dont log into sites using a google ID this remains the case. The lack of excessive number of sensors (like IPhone)
Eink display and extended battery life. This is something that has disappointed me a little. If I stick with the stock apps and keep wifi & Bluetooth off, I can get 4/5 days from one charge, but the phone is not really practical to use this way. However if I load a messenger app like signal, that can better handle messaging pictures, battery life goes down the toilet. 1/2 days, which kind of makes me think I could have kept the smart phone and dumbed it down and achieved the same battery life, with less compromise, like a camera that is capable of taking pictures in anything less than full daylight, reliable notifications, etc etc.
Removing social media from my mobile phone - this something that the MK does very well IF you can be restrained and NOT sideload things like WhatsApp, as many people have, the fact that there is no native browser on MK helps with the temptation to log into Facebook for a quick check of likes etc also
In summary there are a lot of mainly small but some not so small niggles with the Kompakt. That I could live with, but for my main gripe, which is the battery life nose dive, when I add the one app that makes it useful to me.
I have the MK pared right back to basic, and dont use most of the stock apps, aimed at softening the transition from smartphone to MK, I dont use maps, e-reader, calendar etc. I literally just use, phone, text and signal messenger. The only way I can use signal without killing my battery is to manually close the service, every time I use it which means I dont get notifications, and defeats the purpose of a messenger app.
On a positive note, I like the size and feel of MK in the hand, I like the fact that the Kompakt pictures are not great to view on eink, and need to be downloaded to a pc, daylight pictures are fairly decent. The fact that apps can be side loaded easily and Mudita do not block users from doing so is a huge positive. The eink screen means you dont spend more than a few min using it and can be viewed a bright sunlight. The offline switch means you can be confident all radios are turned off just like pulling the battery in an old school Nokia. There is a very active user group, with many helpful active members.
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thank you for a deep dive on it from a first hand user I am not looking to use a side loader just calls and text really so do you reckon it will work well for this ? if I need to check email and banking stuff like that I have a laptop for that and I don’t use paying on my phone try and uses cash as much as I can
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It will work absolutely well for that purpose. Remember that to not miss texts, you’ll have to disable Google’s RCS messages and Apples iMessage.
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I would say I will work well for text and calls yes. I use My Kompakt in much the same way that you do. But many of my friends and family like to send pictures and video, and internet links. this means I had to load a more advanced messenger app than plain SMS, which is not something the MK can deal with very well. I wont load anything Meta (like whatsapp) onto the Kompakt, and I dont like to use SMS due to the extremly poor privicy, I have convinved everyone who contacts me to use signal, but as mentioned, battery drain is an issue, due to needing to run in the background, to ping message alerts in real time.
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Every other messenger will drain your battery and makes you lose the advantage of low power consumption due to the use of an E Ink screen, so that’s really something to consider.
The default message app is more than sufficient for me, I know SMS is not encrypted so I’m not using it for sensitive info anyway.
One thing I do recommend is to try another keyboard if you have issues with the default Mudita keyboard. FUTO keyboard (and voice input!) can be easily sideloaded and after trying several, this appears to be my personal favorite. It’s fast and highly customizable, where ever you want it to be.
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UK user. Had no issues with call quality or signal on Ecotalk network. No voicemail notification annoying, but apparently will be sorted out in an update. I have WhatsApp and signal side loaded which function but are not great, but I don’t care. Would rather not have them at all but some needs must.
It’s doing exactly what I wanted it to do, and my screen time is down 90% with obvious benefits.
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thank you everyone it has really helped me out how long did it take to get to you in the uk ? and did it take long to to set up I can do some tech but a bit boomer with others
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I am not referring to an incremental reduction in battery in line with the number of messages sent or received. I have seen battery drop over 50 percent in a couple of hours with no messages sent or received, just having the app running in the background. The worst use case is having it run with wifi enabled
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That wasn’t what I meant, sorry if I was unclear. The thing is that third party messengers will always keep polling (unless you prevent them to) which takes it’s toll on battery life. An SMS text messages is a push message and has none to minimal impact (notification, vibration) on battery life.
Personally, I’m so glad I don’t have any other means of communicating than calling and old texting on my Mudita. That’s one of the major reason it gives me ao much peace of mind.
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Took about a week I think to arrive. Sideloading was a bit fiddly for me but instructions are available on the forum how to do it, and it can be done via the Mudita Centre now which is a bit easier, but does not allow you to uninstall them, which again is a bit annoying.
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For sideloading, the easiest way is to sideload the Aurora Store app - essentially a mirror of Google Play store that works on degoogled devices. That way you can install and uninstall apps easily. I do set it to not show in the apps lists, so I have to go into app settings to access it, just to make a bit more friction.
Also, sideload the Calm Apps app for the brilliant community Mudita apps.
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And don’t forget the F-Droid App Store for more FOSS apps, as not everything is available in the Aurora Store. Together they will offer you nearly everything you need. See https://f-droid.org/
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i use an app manager installed on the MK for app removal, it is the easiest method
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If you are able to do that my hats off to you. I spent quite a long time with the Kompakt as it is, out of the box. but I found I ended up carrying two devices, as many people on here do. Id use my iphone for sat nav, reading whatsapp messages, that many of my friends and family insist on sending, despite being asked to use SMS. Occasional web browsing and email.
I sat down and thought about the difference the MK was actually making and it hadnt really changed anything for me at all, I was doing the same things but spread over two decices instead of one. I had decided that I was going to only use the basic apps that the MK is shipped with, but I wasnt working for me at all. So I decided to change tack, I have sideloaded some apps that enable me to use one device, and still kurb my smartphone use down to basic, this is what I have installed
- molly messenger, a fork of signal with added privacy & security - instead of whatsapp 2) killapps which enables me to easily close background apps draining battery, such as Molly messenger 3) fdroid foss app store 4) Aurora store app store 5) EinkBro a browser optimised for eink devices 6) localsend a cross platform file transfer app for moving files locally on the same wifi network 6) InkOs a menu driven eink launcher
with these apps installed I can use the MK as my only device, the browser is an emergency use app, internet browsing on the MK is aweful, you will not be tempted to doom scroll on it, but having the browser there if I need to find a postcode or a number is useful, and stops me reaching for the iphone. Molly messenger is a secure messenger without any links to Meta, I informed anyone wanting to message me to switch to it or SMS as whatsapp is no longer on my phone.
The InkOs launcher is very minimal and helps remove the “phone fiddle” syndrome. I have removed most of the pre installed apps from the launcher and only have the phone, SMS, & camera app and the sideloaded apps above available to me. I use the built in sat nav in the car now, and have a paper diary for my calendar requirements, all the other things I do on the PC, I have dropped social media completely. the iphone stays at home, its more like an ipad now & only runs on wifi.
The stand out feature of the Kompakt is that it provides the basis of a minimalist phone, and then allows the user to personalise / customise it to meet their needs, this is the one thing that makes me persevere with it despite the quirks and niggles.
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I’ve ordered several items from Mudita over the past 3 years and orders typically take a calendar week to the UK, but note most of my orders have been at busy times (eg launch or promotion). My most recent order (for a second Kompakt) arrived in 2 days 
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Me. Ordered a used device. Hopefully arriving soon. Aom to use it with Sky Mobile
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