[Q] Why choose Ubuntu Touch over Android - Ubuntu Touch Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I am wondering why people would want to use Ubuntu Touch over android. I don't see many (if any) benefits of using it over Android.
I see that the section isn't very popular, but I hope someone can answer my question.
Thank you

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I want a change. I'm tired of Android in a way. I'm the kind of guy that used to install a new Linux distribution every week. Not anymore though, no distro is compatible with my wireless adapter.
The prospect of a swipe based OS excites me. Plus, it's Ubuntu. I actually don't need a reason more than that.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

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Alucai Vivorvel said:
I want a change. I'm tired of Android in a way. I'm the kind of guy that used to install a new Linux distribution every week. Not anymore though, no distro is compatible with my wireless adapter.
The prospect of a swipe based OS excites me. Plus, it's Ubuntu. I actually don't need a reason more than that.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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These are exactly the reasons why I am using Ubuntu Touch as well (except that I've never installed another Linux distribution than Ubuntu).
And I like the community. There's one on Google Plus and for bugs, you've got Launchpad. That way you can contribute to the project and discuss bugs very easily. Moreover, Canonical is very open towards ideas from the community. They do weekly Q&A sessions and they give you many information about what they actually do. And there are these daily updates which you can install if you want to (I do ).
Additionally, I like how simple app development is for Ubuntu Touch (at least what I've seen so far, working on my first real app).
You should, however, keep in mind that it's still in a very early stage. There's no native email app yet, you need to use webapps (there's one for Google Mail for example). Nevertheless, there are new apps every day.
If you're lucky there's a dual-boot solution for your phone. For a lot of Nexus devices there's MultiROM by @Tasssadar. This is what I currently use. I rarely reboot to Android though.

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I'm looking for a more open alternative to google/android. Google is building a walled garden as they move their apps to close source and more tightly integrate google with the device. Try using stock aosp without a google account. I like being able to customize and mod my phone, but lately, I can feel uncle google getting a little too pushy about what I can and can not do on my phone. I can understand google's business model and the individual users who choose, knowingly or unknowingly, to subscribe to it, although it is not to my taste, so I am looking for alternatives that are truly open where my data and privacy are under my control.
Putting aside my issues with google, other advantages of ubuntu touch would be a linux based OS that integrates with my desktop (also linux). I think Canonical/Ubuntu/Shuttleworth has hit the nail on the head with device convergence. To me, the phone and the desktop are just hardware that I happen to use in different places. The content, the data, and the connectivity are the things that are important to my user experience. The hardware is merely the finger pointing to the moon.

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gee one said:
I'm looking for a more open alternative to google/android. Google is building a walled garden as they move their apps to close source and more tightly integrate google with the device. Try using stock aosp without a google account. I like being able to customize and mod my phone, but lately, I can feel uncle google getting a little too pushy about what I can and can not do on my phone. I can understand google's business model and the individual users who choose, knowingly or unknowingly, to subscribe to it, although it is not to my taste, so I am looking for alternatives that are truly open where my data and privacy are under my control.
Putting aside my issues with google, other advantages of ubuntu touch would be a linux based OS that integrates with my desktop (also linux). I think Canonical/Ubuntu/Shuttleworth has hit the nail on the head with device convergence. To me, the phone and the desktop are just hardware that I happen to use in different places. The content, the data, and the connectivity are the things that are important to my user experience. The hardware is merely the finger pointing to the moon.
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Completely true. We definitely need more privacy and the convergence idea is great. :good:

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can't wait one minute more
Androids Google+ integration gets more and more annoying. Don't wanna deal with that social media crap.
...and I will never forgive Google for ditching Talk which was a huge opportunity to establish an open format.

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Alucai Vivorvel said:
I want a change. I'm tired of Android in a way. I'm the kind of guy that used to install a new Linux distribution every week. Not anymore though, no distro is compatible with my wireless adapter.
The prospect of a swipe based OS excites me. Plus, it's Ubuntu. I actually don't need a reason more than that.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Broadcom got you too eh? Haha, and I agree. The first Ubuntu distro I installed on a PC was 8.04 LTS. After having to mess around with the terminal to get ANY wireless adapter to work back then, really set me up for the era of Android smart phones. I love Ubuntu, I love the philosophy of Ubuntu. And when Ubuntu touch takes off, I'll definitely be excited to flash it onto a phone. Like you said, I don't need any more of a reason other than it's Ubuntu.

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A new OS, it's Ubuntu!!!, awesome gestures, and when ACL is setup you'll be able to have all your favourite android apps on Ubuntu Touch.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

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blmvxer said:
A new OS, it's Ubuntu!!!, awesome gestures, and when ACL is setup you'll be able to have all your favourite android apps on Ubuntu Touch.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Sure about that? I heard that Ubuntu will never support Android apps. Sailfish and Tizen do, but not Ubuntu. Correct me if I'm wrong (sources?).
I agree with you though. The gestures are much more fun than Android's soft buttons.

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blmvxer said:
A new OS, it's Ubuntu!!!, awesome gestures, and when ACL is setup you'll be able to have all your favourite android apps on Ubuntu Touch.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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I can't see why they wouldn't be easily ported to Ubuntu. Both are Linux based
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

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I thought the same thing with webOS. It's Linux, why not port? But even though the core is the same the code on top is not. Difference between c++, qml, java, and JavaScript. For ACL, There is a sense of moving towards other Mobile Linux OS's. Money is the factor.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

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atmu5fear said:
I can't see why they wouldn't be easily ported to Ubuntu. Both are Linux based
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Well, they removed Dalvik and ART from that part of Android which they are using in Ubuntu for phones. So there won't be Android apps. (The Android design wouldn't fit into Ubuntu as well.)
Quote from an Engadget interview:
Since Android is also Linux-based, is there any plan for Ubuntu to run Android apps?
Many Android developers already use Ubuntu as their desktop OS and we have a very close affinity with them. We intend to encourage them to make their Android applications run on Ubuntu, but we won't engineer any middleware for running Android apps. Developers are intelligent and capable enough to make their apps run on our devices. We have an active initiative right now to directly help them achieve this.
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EDIT: Have a look at this as well: http://askubuntu.com/questions/247973/will-android-apps-be-compatible-with-the-ubuntu-phone-os

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I want to switch because I want all my devices to be uniform and work with each other in a way Apple and Microsoft are failing to do. Having Ubuntu on my laptops, tablets, phones, desktops and televisions, and them working flawlessly together is going to be killer. Too bad this won't happen for another couple of years or so.
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'Murica said:
I want to switch because I want all my devices to be uniform and work with each other in a way Apple and Microsoft are failing to do. Having Ubuntu on my laptops, tablets, phones, desktops and televisions, and them working flawlessly together is going to be killer. Too bad this won't happen for another couple of years or so.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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You could technically already do this with android and chromium no?
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atmu5fear said:
You could technically already do this with android and chromium no?
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Not completely. You can't have all your devices (TV, Mobile devices, computers, etc.) Running one unified platform. What Canonical wants to do is use one OS across all devices with changes to the UI so it fits with whatever you are using. So you will (in the future) be running Ubuntu desktop across all your devices with changes to the UI.
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'Murica said:
Not completely. You can't have all your devices (TV, Mobile devices, computers, etc.) Running one unified platform. What Canonical wants to do is use one OS across all devices with changes to the UI so it fits with whatever you are using. So you will (in the future) be running Ubuntu desktop across all your devices with changes to the UI.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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You already do, except those 5 % which Unity makes up.
The Unity version is the only thing that's still different.

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Nothing yet?
No news about this? D: i need Ubuntu on my phone xDDDD

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nikwen said:
You already do, except those 5 % which Unity makes up.
The Unity version is the only thing that's still different.
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I want complete uniformity. And that's what Canonical is doing.
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Blakebn2012 said:
I am wondering why people would want to use Ubuntu Touch over android. I don't see many (if any) benefits of using it over Android.
I see that the section isn't very popular, but I hope someone can answer my question.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want the Ubuntu Touch for my Samsung Galaxy S3 do to the fact it's able to sync to the desktop, this would all be work-friendly as I use Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and have this setup as my OS.
Still looks underdeveloped and I don't want to flash as I think my bootloader is jammed. I'm happy with the android but would like to venture into this.
Hope that answers your question for you.
Kent C.

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I want to see Ubuntu on my phone and tablet because then once the real initial hurdle happens it will be fork season. If there are only small changes needed underneath to make Ubuntu run on any android device that can already run cyanogen mod it will be trivial to modifty each new version quickly to run on compatible devices. When forking the distro takes off we will probably see an automated system to build the needed underparts for each device pop up.