Ubuntu Touch OTA 2.0: Chromium 134, Widevine Streaming, and Nothing Phone (1) Support

by Geth Author

On July 24, 2026, the UBports Foundation released Ubuntu Touch OTA 2.0 — the second major feature update based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS "Noble Numbat." It's a meaningful release for anyone running Linux on a phone, addressing some of the platform's longest-standing practical limitations.

The browser situation improves considerably

The Morph Browser now runs on a Chromium 134 engine, a significant jump in web compatibility over the older engine it replaced. Modern web apps were increasingly broken on Ubuntu Touch; this closes a large portion of that gap. For a platform that leans heavily on web apps given the limited native app ecosystem, this matters more than the version number suggests.

Streaming is finally viable

OTA 2.0 ships with a Widevine installer, which means supported devices can now play DRM-protected content from services like Netflix. Previously this required workarounds; now it's a checkbox in setup. This is one of those features that shouldn't be notable in 2026, but it's a significant usability barrier that many alternative mobile operating systems still haven't cleared.

New devices and display improvements

The Nothing Phone (1) and Zinwa Q25 join the official supported device list. On the display side, OTA 2.0 adds handling for device notches and rounded corners — small but irritating gaps in the UI that become obvious the moment your device has them. Printing support also arrives in this release.

Shell and quality-of-life changes

The Lomiri shell gains a screenshot editor with crop, rotate, and color-adjustment tools. The emoji keyboard picks up over 2,000 new entries and emoji variant support. X11-based legacy apps from the Open Store have improved compatibility, and mobile data connections are more reliable across supported hardware.

The bigger picture

Ubuntu Touch occupies a niche but an important one: it's the clearest working demonstration that a fully open-source Linux stack can run on phone hardware people actually own. OTA 2.0 doesn't change that position, but it sharpens it — Widevine and a modern browser engine are the two features most likely to determine whether a general user gives the platform a serious try.

Supported devices can pull the update via Settings → Updates. For the full device list and release notes, see the UBports blog.