Canonical: No new Ubuntu phones and feature updates coming for the time being

Canonical has made it clear that no new Ubuntu smartphones will appear until a Snap-based version of the OS is available. In addition, there will only be security updates to the existing version of Ubuntu for smartphones for the time being.

Canonicals Pat McGowan confirms in a statement on the Ubuntu Phone mailing list that there are no new smartphones with Ubuntu on the horizon for the time being. There will be no new smartphones until there is a Snap image of the operating system. It is unknown when it will come. According to McGowan, the transition to Snap is one of the key goals Canonical is focusing on.

For now, the Ubuntu app store will still accept Click-based apps, but eventually this will stop and developers will have to switch completely to Snaps. McGowan calls “largely correct” that there will be no OTA15 for the mobile version of Ubuntu. According to him, there will still be security updates, but there will be no more new functionality to the stable version.

According to OMGUbuntu, existing Ubuntu smartphones are unlikely to run the Snap-based version of Ubuntu, but the site points out that owners have had support for at least two years. Snaps are read-only images of applications that are easy to update and whose authenticity can be guaranteed, which improves security. Canonical also wants to implement the kernel and parts of the operating system as Snaps.