[MyL5] Librem 5 Evergreen arrived in Austria

[Caliga]

Continuing the discussion from [MyL5] Librem 5 Evergreen: first impressions:

Full quote of new owner @l5newbie

@l5newbie

I received my Evergreen today. My first impressions:

• Shipping: Unlike the OP I never got a direct communication from DHL, only the tracking link from Purism’s shipping notification email. So I never had any information about the taxes I had to pay until the DHL person arrived and demanded 130 EUR in cash. This was not optimal.
• BUG: My home wifi doesn’t work (the L5 disconnects after a few tens of seconds and doesn’t manage to reconnect), possibly due to the same 40MHz vs. 20 MHz problem discussed at [MyL5] Received my Librem 5, WiFi doesn’t work . A different wifi network works flawlessly, so it’s not a hardware issue but something related to that specific network. There’s nothing special about its configuration, and we have lots of other devices using it without problems though, so I would rather not change its configuration to please the misbehaving L5. I haven’t tried https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/linux-next/-/merge_requests/258 yet, if that’s the fix I hope it lands in the standard repository soon.
• The keyboard settings are confusing. The “German (Austria)” keyboard has no umlaut keys at all. The “German” keyboard does, but in a way that is different from iOS, Android, Sailfish OS, and actual physical German keyboards: On German keyboards the Ö key is on the home row just to the right of L (in place of the US keyboard’s semicolon). All other software keyboards have it in the same place, on the “normal” keyboard screen. The L5’s German keyboard requires one to first enter the umlaut menu to get this key.
  I’m puzzled by the whole approach of the software keyboard. My understanding is that it requires some modifications to the source code to set up new keyboard variants. But clearly it seems to import some information from the XKB symbols database, since I can select an “English (intl, with AltGr dead keys)” keyboard, which comes from there. Needless to say, it has neither an AltGr key nor any dead keys, nor any “international” keys. If the keyboard actually imported the XKB keyboard definitions, not just some names, all the many keyboard variants would be set up correctly automatically.
• I’m confused by the UI concept. I thought the idea was to make desktop applications adapt to the L5 screen size and orientation, but not even the default applications work nicely in portrait mode. The most egregious offender might be the the email client, which in portrait mode only shows a list of mail folders without any indication that mail bodies are hidden to the right of the folder list but only visible in portrait mode.
• On the topic of email, it took me a while to figure out that “Geary” was the email client. The icon doesn’t evoke email to me. I would appreciate a more explicit name.
• I would prefer it if the L5 didn’t vibrate on keyboard key presses and certain (but far from all!) other taps on UI elements. I didn’t find any setting to turn this off.
• This is minor, but I would like to change my lock code to a 5-digit one, but at least 6 digits are required. I’ll just note that the keychain password has no problem being 5 digits.
• Small UI things, for example: The lock screen requires that I swipe the upwards arrow, tapping doesn’t work. The bottom-of-the-screen menu requires that I tap the upwards arrow, swiping doesn’t work. The notification screen only goes away by tapping into it, not outside it.

That’s a lot of complaints, I know! I hope they are understood as the constructive criticism that I am trying to give. Thanks to the Purism team for their hard work so far, and thanks for all the improvements that are sure to come!

[epinez]

@l5newbie Thanks for your summary, I think most of them are valid points! I just stumbled upon this one:

@l5newbie

All other software keyboards have it in the same place, on the “normal” keyboard screen. The L5’s German keyboard requires one to first enter the umlaut menu to get this key.

How do you mean that? On Android I get e.g. ö by long press o and thought this is normal behaviour? Is that different from the umlaut menu on the Librem 5 you mentioned?

[Caliga]

Hi @l5newbie, I made a new topic of your post top better be able to respond.
Those are good observations, e.g. with the sliding inconsistency. Only thing I could think of is that it’s on purpose that a tap is not sufficient on the lock screen. So that it doesn’t unlock to easily. But the dock could/should slide maybe?

Most of your comments seem to be related to keyboard things, so @dcz might be interested to respond.
Also, have a look at this post (or the whole topic):

Using non-latin language on Librem 5

https://developer.puri.sm/Librem5/Contact/Contributing.html Like this: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/squeekboard/merge_requests/195

I’m also interested in the German keyboard, although not the Austrian

[nimji]

@l5newbie

The lock screen requires that I swipe the upwards arrow, tapping doesn’t work.

On the PinePhone using distros that have Phosh this also drove me crazy - after getting used to tapping arrows when the device is unlocked to bring down/up menus the switch in behavior on the lockscreen took some getting used to.

I agree with a few others that it’s probably to keep things more secure when the phone is in a pocket or the like but still was something that bothered me initially.

Thanks for the writeup, enjoyed hearing your thoughts!

[l5newbie]

On Android I get e.g. ö by long press o and thought this is normal behaviour?

(Observations based on my Samsung Android phone, there are other keyboards I guess.) That’s normal behavior for, e.g. an English keyboard. It also works on a German keyboard, but the German keyboard also has a separate Ö key.

Is that different from the umlaut menu on the Librem 5 you mentioned?

Yes. The German Librem 5 keyboard has a separate button labeled “äÄ” which you must tap to open a separate “keyboard” with all kinds of special characters. There you can tap one (and this separate keyboard then closes and you get back to the main one). The Librem 5 keyboard has no “long press” behavior like Android or “pull down” behavior like iOS.

[l5newbie]

Only thing I could think of is that it’s on purpose that a tap is not sufficient on the lock screen.

I actually don’t mind the swipe. I would like to be able to swipe in the main UI as well. But most of all I would like things to be consistent.

https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/squeekboard/merge_requests/195

That’s the thing: You need to open a merge request to add keyboard definitions. The German one for example is at https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/squeekboard/-/blob/master/data/keyboards/de.yaml. BUT a superior definition (lots of them, actually) is also already present on the Librem 5, in /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/de. These files must be where all the keyboard names are taken from. But then I claim that the actual keyboard layout data should also come from these files, rather than slowly duplicating individual ones one by one and in an incompatible way.

Poking around there I also found that there is also a “wide” German keyboard definition which does have actual Ö, Ä, etc. keys: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/squeekboard/-/blob/master/data/keyboards/de_wide.yaml. I just have no idea how to select this from the Settings app.

[epinez]

@l5newbie

Yes. The German Librem 5 keyboard has a separate button labeled “äÄ” which you must tap to open a separate “keyboard” with all kinds of special characters.

Oh. I hope long press for characters is on the future roadmap.

[irvinewade]

@l5newbie

I’m confused by the UI concept. I thought the idea was to make desktop applications adapt to the L5 screen size and orientation, but not even the default applications work nicely in portrait mode.

In some cases it just reflects the fact that there is more work to be done.

I didn’t have a problem with the mail client however. It seemed to work normally and intuitively for me (and I haven’t ever used it before).

@l5newbie

On the topic of email, it took me a while to figure out that “Geary” was the email client. The icon doesn’t evoke email to me. I would appreciate a more explicit name.

A fair point. It’s not at all a helpful name. However that is the name and Purism is not the author so for a variety of reasons it might not be appropriate to change the name.

The icon is an envelope (or stack of envelopes in an in-tray). Seems fair to me??? Maybe the edges of the envelope need to be harsher?

This is the offending icon:

(converted from svg to png - seems this forum doesn’t allow svg???)

In case it helps, at least you will know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geary_(e-mail_client)#Trivia

@l5newbie

This is minor, but I would like to change my lock code to a 5-digit one, but at least 6 digits are required.

Seconded. I don’t see why the user is not free to have even a 4-digit code.

[irvinewade]

@l5newbie

I would prefer it if the L5 didn’t vibrate on keyboard key presses and certain (but far from all!) other taps on UI elements. I didn’t find any setting to turn this off.

Maybe Settings / Notifications / Notification Feedback

choices are: Silent, Vibration only, Sound and Vibration

(doesn’t seem to offer ‘Sound only’ but at least try Silent and see whether that changes what you want to change)

[irvinewade]

@l5newbie

My home wifi doesn’t work

Which band? 2.4 or 5 GHz?

[dos]

@l5newbie

I would like to be able to swipe in the main UI as well. But most of all I would like things to be consistent.

You’ll be able to - the only reason it reacts to taps instead of swipes at the moment is that swiping there isn’t implemented yet as it’s much more complicated to implement there than on the lockscreen. It was always supposed to react to swipes in the designs, tapping is just a stop gap.

[dcz]

The “German (Austria)” keyboard has no umlaut keys at all.

We don’t have an Austrian layout in Squeekboard. It will fall back to German instead of US in v1.12.

@epinez

I hope long press for characters is on the future roadmap.

Alternate character popover (#93) · Issues · Librem5 / squeekboard

it seems to import some information from the XKB symbols database, since I can select an “English (intl, with AltGr dead keys)

The keyboard imports layout names, but no layouts. What you’re setting is the global keyboard and what you’re seeing is a fallback. https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/squeekboard/-/issues/261 This will not change, xkb layouts are incompatible with phone screen sizes.

[l5newbie]

xkb layouts are incompatible with phone screen sizes

I’m not saying that the layouts should be imported 1:1, but the locations of the letter keys (including umlauts etc.) could be used for the main keyboard view. xkb layouts for typical Latin/Cyrillic/Greek have about 9-11 letters per row. Up to 11 letters per row is a common number for Android phone keyboards (e.g., the Samsung German keyboard) and absolutely usable. The Librem 5 Russian keyboard has 11 letters in one row as well. Would 12 be too much? Maybe, but (a) that’s not an argument against using the xkb layout for German (11 letters in the home row), and (b) the Sailfish OS Russian keyboard has 12 letters in a row and looks usable.

[dcz]

I see what you mean. I guess that could be a good starting point, but it would produce broken layouts: Cyrillic phonetic has letters in weird places, including the number row, and actually 13 keys in the top row:

ю1234567890-ч
явертыуиопшщэ

so that would need some dedicated work. Once we’re past that, we’d need to figure out a way to deal with dead keys. That’s a matter of more work of course. Once we have that, we only have to deal with managing levels (like AltGr). That’s nothing that can’t be done with work.
In comparison, the work needed to even parse the layouts is insignificant.

But it all adds up, and that’s a problem.

I’m going to be happy if someone writes a layout converter though, even not working for some layouts. Those could provide a starting point for layout makers.

[fsflover]

@l5newbie

I’m confused by the UI concept. I thought the idea was to make desktop applications adapt to the L5 screen size and orientation, but not even the default applications work nicely in portrait mode. The most egregious offender might be the the email client, which in portrait mode only shows a list of mail folders without any indication that mail bodies are hidden to the right of the folder list but only visible in portrait mode.

https://tracker.pureos.net/w/pureos/mobile_optimized_apps/

[l5newbie]

Which band? 2.4 or 5 GHz?

2.4 GHz. The channel width is set to “auto” in the router, I don’t know how to tell if it actually uses 20 or 40 MHz.

[l5newbie]

vibrate on keyboard key presses

Maybe Settings / Notifications / Notification Feedback

Setting that to Silent does disable they keyboard vibration. But it also disables all other sound and vibration on notifications, e.g., when I set a timer in the Clocks app.

[howil]

Which modem did you choose and does it work with A1 or Drei?

[l5newbie]

No modem, this is about wifi. Another 2.4 GHz wifi network (tethering from one of my other phones) works without any issues. I haven’t installed a SIM yet, so no experience with how mobile networks work.

[irvinewade]

@l5newbie

2.4 GHz.

OK. Honestly, I didn’t even think about this. My Librem 5 connected to the WiFi out-of-the-box. However it is using the 5 GHz band (which in turn has defaulted on the access point to 40 MHz channel width).

Is 5 GHz an option for you to try?

Otherwise I suppose you are waiting for that merge request to see whether it makes a difference.