Call for testing: Ubuntu Touch OTA-7

As a new year approaches (or has arrived, for much of the world), we're preparing for the release of Ubuntu Touch OTA-7! OTA-7 is slated to come out on Tuesday, the 8th of January. Until then, it needs to be tested to ensure its quality!

How can I test?

We want to ensure that every release we ship is better than the previous, so we're looking to our entire community to help us with QA (Quality Assurance) of OTA-7.

We've prepared a GitHub Project for OTA-7 QA which lists the issues we'd like your feedback on. The QA column lists issues which do not have complete test results. The Done column lists issues which, thanks to our efforts here, are confirmed to be fixed. The In Progress column lists issues which are not fixed, or the fix introduces a severe negative side effect. The goal at the end of this is to have every issue in the Done column. :)

We're interested in hearing your feedback on everything in the QA column. We want to know:

  • Which device are you using?
  • Is the issue fixed in your testing?
  • Are there any side effects to the change as it is listed in the issue or Pull Request?

Testing any issue should be straightforward. On your device:

  1. Head to System Settings -> Updates -> Update Settings -> Release Channel
  2. Select rc
  3. Go back to the Updates screen to install the downloaded update

After your phone reboots, you'll be on the OTA-7 release candidate! Of course, only step 3 is required if you are already on the rc channel, this update will come through as normal.

You will receive an image named (2019-W01) or newer. You can find your image version in System Settings -> About -> OS.

Note: It appears that an issue with our release script caused this release candidate to be named (2018-W01). RC releases after this will be named (2019-W02) and newer.

Now you can pick any issue in the QA column in the OTA-7 project, then ensure that you are unable to reproduce the issue, as reported in the list. If you can't reproduce the issue, the fix worked! If you can still reproduce the issue (or you notice something else isn't right), we want to know about that too. Leave a comment with your device and image version, then let us know the results of your test.

We also have a OTA-7 Call for Testing forum post where we can discuss any questions you may have about anything that comes up during your testing.

How else can I help?

If you prefer not to update early on your device, or if you don't have an Ubuntu Touch device, you can still help us make this release a success. The administration tasks for the OTA-7 release (including this blog post) are being tracked in a GitLab epic, OTA-7 Release. If you have input on the tasks listed there, please leave a comment there to let us know.

What's new?

We look foward to reaching new heights in 2019, with OTA-7 being the first of many releases this year!

Ubuntu Touch Q&A 42
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