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KaiOS?
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➔ KaiOS website
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54 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
Kai OS initially released in March 2017 (Wikipedia). So, It's been 1 year since their firat release and they're STILL working on to make source code available publicly... Seriously?... WTF!
If you want to learn more about what's new in KaiOS 3.0, here's the Key updates on KaiOS 3.0 page: https://www.kaiostech.com/help-center/key-updates-on-kaios-3-0/
Also an official explanation on why there hasn't been many apps on 3.0's KaiStore: https://www.kaiostech.com/help-center/apps-on-kaios-3-0/
This is not supposed to make sense when compared to entry level smartphones. I know it's easy to say "just pay extra 30-50$ and get Redmi 5A" but this is for markets and people who don't want to/can't and will most likely compete with KaiOS phones.
- Yes, in general. But KaiOS v3 device available on their device list. https://www.kaiostech.com/explore/devices/
- The API documentation available on their website & they provide full support for developer. I have submit multiple app to KaiStore & their staff are friendly and helpful
- OEMs dealing with consumer, while KaiOS dealing with developers & OEMs. Don't ask KaiOS for device updates. They fix bugs, but the OEMs are responsible for delivering the patch/update.
Have you sent this also to someone from KaiOS Tech? If not, please do (for example here https://www.kaiostech.com/company/contact-us/).
Great post, thank you!
May I introduce you to the phoenix coming out of the ashes of Firefox OS, KaiOS? This way, you can escape those two ecosystems and help build the next, big hit.
Just kidding; I would recommend to think about why exactly you want to switch at this point ("what's missing, what would I miss") and decide based on that whether iOs or Android fulfills your desires. There is no reason to rush the change.
>KaiOS supports powerful features like 4G/LTE, Wi-Fi, NFC, and QWERTY keyboards. It is based on open-standard HTML5 and allows CSS and Javascript. In fact, our OS is so light that it can even run on phones with just 256MB of memory.
I think I'll pass.
I'm not certain, but to me, it looks like the uppermost left button (you have the picture upside down) of a typical "dumbphone" which is typically a line symbol. The curve would be a cut-out to accommodate the directional pad in the middle.
Do you have a picture of the reverse?
Nokia just brought out new kaios phones: Nokia 8000 4G and Nokia 6300 4G. I have the 6300 4G and I am very happy with it. Of the other two kaios phones 8110 4G (banana phone) and the 2720 flip I only tried the banana phone, and 6300 4G is much better in my opinion. The 2720 flip is the oldest kaios phone I think. If you want to go for kaios I would think that the new ones are probably better
>KaiOS News app redesign
This KaiOS News redesign from last year?
>I use Adobe XD
Hmm, looks quite interesting since I'm pretty familiar with Photoshop, Illustrator, and a few other Adobe products. Sadly I'm on ChromeOS now, maybe one more reason to switch back to Mac
I think Ivan's referring to the somewhat recent news that Mozilla will be partnering with KaiOS to port a newer Gecko engine to KaiOS.
As far as I can tell, they are both the same OS (KaiOS), and, maybe, and I say maybe because I don't know, Nokia/HMD just adds their own "flavor" or customization on top (like vendors like LG, Samsung, etc, do to stock Android).
You can read this on KaiOS' official site:
> "The new Nokia 8110 is still just a feature phone, running a forked version of the dead Firefox OS created by KaiOS that HMD is calling ‘Smart Feature OS,’ but it has a few things you might not expect from a phone with a real numeric keypad and polycarbonate slider. It’s got 4G, for one. Facebook will also be available through an app store at some point and there will be some form of access to Google’s Assistant, Maps and search, as well as email, texts, Twitter and even Snake.”"
https://www.kaiostech.com/feature-phone-revival-mwc-powered-kaios
So they just gave it their own name (I guess if/once KaiOS is better known they'll just call that) and, like I said, maybe, just maybe, they also added a little customization.
WhatsApp developers haven't been working on a version for KaiOS 3.x yet, and there's no hurry to make one. That's understandable, since currently there are only 2 device models available in stores known to have KaiOS 3.x: the TCL Flip Pro and Alcatel Go Flip 4. Both are in the US where WhatsApp isn't so well-known. We'll see once the Nokia 2760 Flip 4G released.
Currently there are over hundreds of apps available in the KaiStore, but they're mostly games. You can browse the catalogs here: https://www.kaiostech.com/store/
A small OTA update containing bug fixes and new features is constantly being released every year. A major upgrade happens when the KaiOS team decides to upgrade the underlying Gecko version, and there's currently no patterns to expect when that'll come. Only internal staffs will know.
KaiOS team doesn't release any changelogs on those small OTA updates. We'll have to explore the UI by ourselves. But for big releases, they may do a changelog, like this one for 3.0: https://www.kaiostech.com/help-center/key-updates-on-kaios-3-0/ and for developers: https://developer.kaiostech.com/docs/sfp-3.0/introduction/overview
For now, the Gecko-B2G developer team is working on version 3.2 (mostly the Gecko version is also the KaiOS version). You can keep track of source code and commits here: https://github.com/kaiostech/gecko-b2g. Note that it isn't the full source code of KaiOS, as I've explained in some earlier post:
> KaiOS and Firefox OS in general are basically consist of two part: Gecko and Gonk; the Gecko one is what Mozilla and KaiOS team are mainly working on and it's open-sourced, while the Gonk part... is actually Android for some driver reasons.
[20:21:39] <tomman> and now you can have a horrendously broken flip phone (way worse than early ZTE/LG dumbphones!) running obsolete Firefox for only $35!
[20:22:39] <tomman> there is hope, though
[20:23:07] <tomman> KaiOS 3.0 is based off FF84
[20:23:20] <tomman> and was released in December 2021
[20:23:24] <tomman> --September
[20:23:36] <tomman> oh wait, none of the current devices will ever get it :/
[20:23:58] <robobox> how did they update it to modern ff?
[20:24:41] <tomman> dunno
[20:25:11] <tomman> "In March 2020, KaiOS Technologies partnered with Mozilla to bring the modern version of Gecko browser engine to future KaiOS builds.[21][43]"
[20:25:15] <robobox> like even if you had the largest dev team ever the latest they could ever do would be like ff60
[20:25:52] <tomman> https://www.kaiostech.com/press/kaios-technologies-and-mozilla-partner-to-enable-a-healthy-mobile-internet-for-everyone/
[20:25:53] <robobox> thanks to xul removals
So you need a dumb phone with modern apps and a good camera? Not sure about the camera but try KaiOS phones. And if you want a good camera and a dumb phone, there is Sony Ericsson Elm. It is still available on Aliexpress and similar sites. 5Mpx camera.
I am using application Activity (https://www.kaiostech.com/store/apps/?bundle_id=com.kaiostech.activity). It's using GPS to track your exercise and you can upload the result to your Strava account. When in use, you can close the app and it continues to track your position, when you start the app again, it will resume the screen where you left (it works like minimizing the app). The same works for the Music app, you can close the app when playing music and the playback continues. Only drawback is when you minimize the playing music and you start some CPU demanding app (like web browser), the music playback could be affected by the high CPU usage (the playback won't be smooth).
with localization it helps if you switch to 2G / 3G, I wrote an openstreetmap you can try it out, with this you can also integrate your own map layer.
https://www.kaiostech.com/store/apps/?bundle_id=kaios.app.omap
As of writing this, there are 2 known devices that have KaiOS 3.0 preinstalled, and both are in the United States.
- Alcatel GoFlip 4 with T-Mobile, Metro (T-Mobile);
- TCL Flip Pro with Verizon, US Cellular.
Source: Get a device with KaiOS 3.0, KaiOS Help Center - https://www.kaiostech.com/help-center/get-a-device-with-kaios-3-0/ | Edit: formatting
If you like to be outdoors, I wrote an openstreetmap app. https://www.kaiostech.com/store/apps/?bundle_id=kaios.app.omap
There is also an alternative app store where you have to sideload the apps. https://store.bananahackers.net/#
If you get a newer KaiOS phone, (https://www.kaiostech.com/explore/devices/) there's a pretty decent app called PodLP that you can download. It streams podcasts so you don't take up tons of your limited storage to be able to listen to podcasts. I don't know if all the major podcasts are on there, but I was able to find the podcast that I listen to, so it worked for me. :) KaiOS wouldn't support Audible, though.
Some apps does not appear in the app drawer. As example https://www.kaiostech.com/store/apps/?bundle_id=com.kaiostech.otpparser
I have the same phone (KaiOS version 2.5.1.1) and my experience is this:
- GPS takes some time to get signal. I use GPS only in the Activity app (https://www.kaiostech.com/store/apps/?bundle_id=com.kaiostech.activity). To get the location, I need to be still for a minute or so with good view to the sky (nearby buildings are blocking the signal). When I get the location, I need to stay put few more seconds to get the location more accurately, then start the activity (walk, run, cycling). Apart from this initial waiting, I am fairly satisfied with the GPS - the route which is then synchronized to my Strava account is pretty accurate.
- My phone language is set to Czech and the input method is also set to Czech. I don't have any problems you described.
- I don't have any problems with notifications, they work just fine.
I'm afraid there's nooo KaiOS phone with Spotify. Trust me I checked, and it's a dealbreaker for me at least. The website for it can load but it gets stuck on one of the prompts, iirc.
You can however buy a spotify compatible smartwatch, which can download spotify songs offline, or a WearOS watch that can connect to your smartphone as long as they're both connected to WiFi, using a KaiOS mobile hotspot. You could also buy one of those small music streaming touch devices that aren't phones.
Here's the KaiOS Appstore btw: https://www.kaiostech.com/store/
Hello
I want to apologize for being so rude in the comment. It was a very silly way of not seeing others use this device, in needs out of my context. I was wrong about how these features can help and are used in many ways.
I have never used youtube on banana phone, but I am curious about these points : D
"here is a huge lack of ads " and "I was shocked at how well YouTube works on it tbh"
the problem that when closing the keyboard many applications stop working. must be reported
I invite you to write to them, I usually report problems on this page https://www.kaiostech.com/company/contact-us/
edit 2: its posible to port someting like newpipe(newpipe.net) to the banna phone ?
Sorry, you are absolutely right. Reading comprehension just failed to keep that consideration in mind.... :-\
Some (I’d actually be a majority) of the 0.6% are probably old Windows phones running on that Windows Mobile OS.
There’s also KaiOS, which is on a number of smartphones you can get in the US: https://www.kaiostech.com/explore/devices/
There a bunch of other third-party smartphone OSes out there, too, but I imagine their market share is so tiny that they’re more-or-less irrelevant in the US
Have you had a look at the work in this space by Fairphone? If you think you can pull it off, then I think you absolutely should try it. There's a huge amount of work being done to provide alternative phone operating systems to android. Pinephone is probably worth a look too. KaiOS is also worth looking at.
The big issues with mobile phones I've found in work I've done are to do with closed basebands and binary blobs at the software end and some of the processes and materials used in making circuits that fit into phones. There are ton of arduino-type phone projects as well as Arsenij Pichugin's Zerophone, which seems to have dropped off the face of the earth.
Definitely worth looking into, there would definitely be a market for a sustainable, modular phone. Just not as big as the main smartphone market.
KaiOS phones should do the trick, which is the operating system used by the Alcatel Smart Flip. These look like feature phones at first glance, but - apart from touchscreens - they have roughly the same capabilities as a smartphone, albeit at a much lower cost and which considerably less processing power, smaller screens and only basic cameras. Think cheap Android phone from roughly a decade ago. They have their own app store with the most important apps (which means you can still use messengers your friends are using, for example), they can access the Internet, there's Bluetooth, a voice assistant, GPS etc. Bonus: These are incredibly cheap, starting at around 20 bucks.
KaiOS is mainly intended for developing markets, but depending on where you are living, some of these devices should be available to you:
https://www.kaiostech.com/explore/devices/
Nokia devices in particular are sold in most markets and are generally the most high quality phones based on this operating system.
What is your point? We are talking about KaiOS. Feature phones. The cheapest one is available for 11 USD. Even the cheapest Android phone is more expensive than that. https://www.kaiostech.com/introducing-the-worlds-most-affordable-smart-feature-phone-the-digit-4g/
There's are also KaiOS (/r/KaiOS) which is a continuation of FirefoxOS, and has quite a few phones in production at low prices.
Some, but not all KaiOS phones have replaceable ROMs. They can use "apps" based on web technologies, but developing apps isn't terribly straightforward yet, especially for U.S. developers where there aren't many good hardware choices.
in any case, Mozilla has worked with them in the past so I doubt there will be license issues
The Alcatel Go Flip 3 is not debug enabled or unlocked so you cannot side-load or uninstall pre-installed apps. The only group text app available on the KaiStore that I'm aware of is WhatsApp. The GoFlip 3 is a solid phone and one of the nicest KaiOS devices I've used, but it's fairly limited in capability because it's locked.
KaiOS also exists, but this is a OS based on an older version of firefox and intended for Smart feature phones that need low memory requirements. There is an update with Mozilla's support on the roadmap.
Np, excited to see what you develop.
FYI, take a look at the KaiAds Agreement. You're required to use KaiAds, but if you want to make any money, I strongly suggest finding alternative monetization paths. They take 70% of net revenue, and I see average eCPMs of ~$0.12.
- How old were you when you got your first phone?
- What do use you to take pictures? Do you a digital camera around or do just not really take pictures?
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Not really a question but if you get older if you want a few apps. you should consider KaiOs flip phones. Look them up. It is a flip but they have google maps, whatsapp, YouTube and few other basic apps. But you can disable the ones you don't need (like YouTube and internet) and add a few new ones. Still nowhere near a smartphone there are so many apps it doesn't do. And isn't andriod or apple so its not like there is many apps. And it has google assistant (kind of like siri) built in so you can talk to text instead of using t-9. Plus even, with the features it is still a flip phone so its not like you can do much. I'm thinking of getting one myself.
https://www.kaiostech.com/explore/devices/
Just something to think about if you don't want a smartphone ever, but still might want limited functionally.
The email does not have any links to a developer console. I didn't contact anyone.
One of my apps is gaining traction so they contacted me asking to port the app to the Jio store.
I saw this on the dev portal,
>Please contact us via our contact form under “Partnership opportunities” if you’d like to partner with us. We will review your proposal and send over our standard business terms.
So for now, I read this FAQ and submitted this form. Waiting for a reply.
I also replied to the email and asked if there's any other resource to get me started other than the dev portal. No response yet.
I don't think the order in which you learn the languages will make a big difference, but I think you're right that learning JavaScript is necessary. My bf is currently in a program called LaunchCode that trains absolute beginners over the course of 6 months. They learn HTML, CSS, Java, and Javascript.
If you're really interested in Wordpress you might consider seeking out jobs that have both developer/programmer work as well as customer service. Since you don't have professional experience, you might be able to start in the customer service department but let the company know you'd like to work your way into the programming/development department.
This is a nice roundup of free HTML and Javascript resources that might be useful: https://www.kaiostech.com/learn-to-develop-for-the-kaios-operating-system-with-these-resources/
If I'm not wrong, the old devices running symbian runs games written in j2me (so yea, java). However, the device here is actually a Nokia 8810 4G - pretty new! It's a budget phone running kaiOS that can run HTML5 games pretty easily. Check it out here: https://www.kaiostech.com/
I scrolled through their devices page and didn't see any.
Also, there's a surprisingly long list of phones. Did a search for "touch" and found nothing. The demo vid I saw earlier was keypad-only driven, so I don't know that any of the phones have touch at all.
In the press release, it is stated that:
> Devices running on the platform require limited memory, while still offering a rich user experience through access to apps like Google Assistant, WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, and Google Maps.
As long as we have the option to strip any proprietary apps and firmware blobs (to a certain extent), or be able to build a custom ROM like GerdaOS, whilst still keeping the functionality and benefits of Firefox and Gecko, I will welcome this with open arms.
> I kind of miss the days of simple flip phones. I know I could still get one today, but I feel like I'd be sacrificing a lot. Specifically I'd really miss having a quality maps app. Not sure I'd want to go back to T9 either.
> I honestly wish that us youngsters could use them, it's not really an option for us.
It's easily an option, you just have to adjust your expectations.
Good question, nothing here about it. What kind of device were you thinking about? I had ideas myself but I don't have any technical know-how, more business know-how.
Nokia will also be releasing the '800 Tough'
https://www.kaiostech.com/introducing-the-nokia-2720-flip-and-800-tough-powered-by-kaios/
You can buy feature phones that run the bare essentials. They have WhatsApp and internet, and the battery lasts a week. They even have email and can be used as a hotspot.
https://www.kaiostech.com/meet-the-devices-that-are-powered-by-kaios/
Yes, this is exactly right. Google is by far the largest commercial intelligence agency on the planet. They even have their code on flipphones.
Apple collect about the same as Microsoft give or take, with the top three offender bring Google, Facebook and Amazon. Their are also some smaller CDN network that collect quite a bit but they don't compete with the big five (FAMGA).
I believe phones that run KaiOS as an OS have a maps app. You can find a list of KaiOS apps here: https://www.kaiostech.com/meet-the-apps-available-on-kaios/
Not sure if this list is exhaustive or if these are only the ones available through the official store.
It's getting a lot harder. I wrecked my Open-C with water but still have my LG but then that's it. It works on 3G with one carrier on exactly one band and that's due to be turned off within a year them I'm back to 1G/GPRS or else tethering to another device.
I've been teasing Firefox on Twitter to bring back FirefoxOS. All of the talk about protecting users from tracking really digs up the fate of FirefoxOS.
KDE is working on an open phone, and so is Pine (of Pinebook etc fame). There may be others. But there was OpenMoko and several others too. The life of a open mobile OS is too short to make much headway and it takes time. Moko and FirefoxOS both made fantastic inroads for the limited amount of time they were available.
https://www.kaiostech.com/ forked FirefoxOS and is the 2nd most popular and growing mobile OS in India and making headway in other markets. They did open source their code. That puts it kind of in the Android/LineageOS arena where you could build and run a baseline open distribution but the usual distribution is managed by a for-profit company and that's the reference point for compatibility. But if you just really like FirefoxOS, that's an option. They did make a few smartphone form factor things but most are featurephone style (bar, flip, etc). Or rather a few makers licensed KaiOS for smartphone form factor phones. I'm toying with doing that at least to try it. But the popularity of that may encourage Firefox to try again. At the very least, they could swap fixes between codebases and have help with probably the most annoying part of development -- hardware support for individual devices -- and just focus on the mobile browser.
In the mean time, maybe do an international search on eBay for firefoxos and set an alert and just wait. Good luck.
I am sitting on a nokia 8110 with KaiOS and I love it. I dont think you will be able to have whatsapp on it since I cant find it in its limited "store". Otherwise KaiOs have all the basic stuff and I got positively supprised over it.
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Found a list of the apps: https://www.kaiostech.com/meet-the-apps-available-on-kaios/
I see, interesting mindset!
I just checked the list of the app's editors on the official store and almost all of them are medium to big companies, weird to see that there's no indie dev.
Would be great to have feedback about the app submission process
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FYI the list is here: https://www.kaiostech.com/meet-the-apps-available-on-kaios/
I'm pretty sure the US version is the Doro 7050. The European version is the 7060.
Not a huge difference except the 7060 has an app store that the 7050 doesn't. Either way, they look like nice phones.
Doro website: https://www.dorousa.us/doro-7050.html KaiOS website (the phone's operating system): https://www.kaiostech.com/meet-the-devices-that-are-powered-by-kaios/#doro70507060 And Consumer Cellular's website (the Alcatel Go Flip would be another good option. If you read around, I've written a lot about it on this subreddit): https://www.consumercellular.com/Products?flip
Do you even need a smartphone? Feature phones handled our communication needs fine just a decade earlier. Too bad symbian is dead and Google already set its aims on datamining users of FirefoxOS successor KaiOS.
Since it will be in javascript and doesn’t seem to require much touch input, consider making your app available for KaiOS . Googles invested 22M into it and it seems to have a lot going for it