DeltaTouch

Messaging app for Ubuntu Touch, powered by deltachat-core.

Important notice to xenial (16.04) users

This is the main branch which now contains the focal version. Please checkout the xenial branch if you want to build for xenial.

Important notice to focal (20.04) users

To build for focal, make sure you are on the main branch.

Building

General

The standard tool to build Ubuntu Touch apps is clickable. For this, either docker or podman need to be installed. Then the python package clickable-ut (not 'clickable') can be installed via pip. For more instructions regarding the installation of clickable, see https://clickable-ut.dev and https://ubports.gitlab.io/marketing/education/ub-clickable-1/trainingpart1module1.html.

Clone this repo:

git clone https://codeberg.org/lk108/deltatouch

Building libdeltachat.so

Activate/update the deltachat-core-rust submodule:

cd deltatouch
git submodule update --init --recursive

CMakeLists.txt of deltachat-core-rust needs to be patched in order to work with clickable:

patch libs/deltachat-core-rust/CMakeLists.txt < libs/patches/dc_core_rust-CMakeLists.patch

Build libdeltachat.so for your architecture (arm64 in this example, could also be armhf or amd64 if you want to use clickable desktop). This will take some time:

clickable build --libs deltachat-core-rust --arch arm64

After building libdeltachat.so, undo the patch:

cd libs/deltachat-core-rust
git restore CMakeLists.txt
cd ../..

Of course, the patch needs to be applied again before you start a new build of libdeltachat.so.

Buidling libquirc.so.1.2

Activating/updating the quirc submodule should have already been done by running git submodule update --init --recursive for libdeltachat.so above.

Build libquirc.so.1.2 for your architecture (arm64 in this example, could also be armhf or amd64 if you want to use clickable desktop):

clickable build --libs quirc --arch arm64

Build the app

Preqrequisite: libdeltachat.so and libquirc.so.1.2 have been built for your architecture as described above. Then build the app for your architecture (arm64 in this example, could also be armhf):

clickable build --arch arm64

This will give you a .click file in build/aarch64-linux-gnu/app or build/arm-linux-gnueabihf/app that you can send to your phone and install it via OpenStore (just click on it in the file manager).

Test it on your PC

With some restrictions, it's possible to run the app on a standard desktop computer. Prerequisite is that libdeltachat.so and libquirc.so.1.2 have been built for the architecture amd64. Then enter:

clickable desktop

For some options like dark mode or using a different language, see https://clickable-ut.dev/en/latest/commands.html#desktop.

Limitations to clickable desktop are:

• The resolution is quite low, so don't be surprised if it looks blurred. This will not the case on the phone.
• Anything requiring a service that's running in Ubuntu Touch will not work. As a consequence, file exchange will not be possible as it needs the so-called content hub which is not running on the desktop. This means:
  • Backups cannot be im- or exported, so accounts have to be set up via logging in to your account.
  • Images and sound files / voice recordings cannot be sent.
  • Attachments cannot be saved.
  • It may not be possible to use a potentially present camera for QR code scanning.

License

Copyright (C) 2023 Lothar Ketterer

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3, as published by the Free Software Foundation.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranties of MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.