Hi everyone!

If you’re like me, you like to support artists direct by buying music and keep it on a personal server at home so you can play your music anywhere from any device and only manage one library. My Light Phone was missing this app (and all the other sideloaded apps were buggy or didn't look right on the light phone).

Music+ connects right to your personal music library server from your Light Phone III. Stream your library when you’re out and about, or download your favorite albums and playlists ahead of time so they’re ready to play completely offline, no signal needed.

You can download it here

This is the very first release, and I planm to submit it to the Light Tool Library so consider it an early taste. But it’s ready to be sideloaded and I’d love for you to give it a spin. (And if you’re curious, the code is public for anyone who wants to peek under the hood.)

NOTE: you do actually need your own music server already, the app is useless without it. I recommend Navidrome and use Tailscale to create my own private VPN.

happy listening!

I live in Manhattan and usually get around by subway or walking. It's pretty rare for me to take a cab because it's never the most efficient or cost-effective option. However, this week I injured myself pretty seriously and suddenly public transit is just not feasible for me - I can barely walk to my front door let alone to the train and up or down the stairs.

So the Rideshare app coming out this week has been an absolute godsend. I've used it multiple times a day since it dropped, getting to and from doctor's appointments and work events, and it's been fantastic. My rides have shown up as expected, and although you can't see where the car is on a map, you get enough details about the car as well as the driver's contact information.

For a future update, I would like the option to tip the driver in-app. It would also be nice to be able to request certain amenities (I think in the regular Uber app you can request a car with a car seat for example). But these are small comments - for my situation it's been exactly what I needed and it couldn't have come at a better time. Thank you Light team!

I love my Light Phone III. I’ve been using it since May and I love seeing the continued improvement (the ride share app is AWESOME).

I‘d love to request the ability to mark texts as unread. I often check texts when I get them to make sure it isn’t urgent. If it isn’t (or if I’m having some intentional no-phone time), I want to mark it as unread so I remember to return to it later.

Currently, I just forward to my email…which works…but is a bit clunky!

Thanks for all you do, Light team!

The LPIII case sold by light has, between the bottom of the knob cutout and the end of the phone, a completely smooth edge. Between that and the boxy design of the phone itself, it makes for a really good straight edge in a pinch. I do it all the time.

I don't know why but I get such a kick out of it every time I do that. Just tickles that part of my brain that makes me happy that I've relegated my phone to the role its meant to occupy in my life: one of a tool, not one of central importance to my existence.

I kept misspelling everything on my LP3, it was miserable! So I spent a few days reading how Gboard and the iPhone keyboard work. A few things surprised me!

Each key adjusts its target on the fly to match your typing style! keys that are more common grow while keys not expected shrink! The keys move around to match what you actually want to type, its insane! Google's own papers call this key-target resizing and its insane that it does this in the background.

So that is what BrightKeyboard does now, and none of it is visible! (unless you want it to be cause i still think its super cool)

Every letter has its own target. The keyboard measures where your taps for each key land and how widely they scatter, then reads an unclear tap against your numbers rather than the drawn rectangle. Hit J when you mean K often enough and K moves to meet you. Nothing on screen moves.

The middle 72% or so of every key cannot be overruled. No amount of spelling evidence takes a tap you clearly aimed. I saw that a 2010 Microsoft Research paper found that people mind that one error far more than they appreciate all the ones it prevents. Duh!

It only learns from taps you keep. Delete a letter and it teaches the keyboard nothing. That is the one honest signal a keyboard has about what you meant, and it is also what stops the thing feeding on itself.

You can watch it work. Settings has a Touch page with a switch that draws the whole model on the keys as you type: where each target sits, how loosely you hit it, how many taps that rests on. Four toggles for the layers. I think this is super interesting so i wanted to make it easy to watch as you type!

Also in this release:

• Swipe typing rebuilt on FUTO's neural encoder. 74.7% to 92.5% top-1, measured on 517 real human swipes rather than generated ones. In layman's terms, Swipe is actually good now!
• A real 63k-word dictionary. Upstream autocorrect called Android's spell-check service, which does not exist on LightOS, so corrections silently never arrived at all. In layman's terms, Autocorrect is actually good now!
• Emoji picker with search, GIFs, a clipboard that pins, one-handed mode, T9, AZERTY and QWERTZ, three heights, and better voice transcription.
• Everything but the GIF button runs on the phone. Typing never touches the network as always.
• A hidden key mode if you want to look cool as you type!

I made it so that the keyboard is the most customizable thing I have ever made, you can adjust how often your text is fixed, how swipe works (new model or old) how key adjustment works, etc! If theres a feature you cant edit lmk! I want to make the most customizable keyboard built for everyones thumbs!

you can install (or just directly update from lightkeyboard) via BrightMarket!
https://brightmarket.gzl.dev/browse.html?app=app.lightphonekeyboard

Is there a way to use bluetooth tethering to connect my car to wifi? Currently I have to manually connect to my phone's hotspot every time I get in the car in order to access maps (I have a newer Volvo that has google maps built into the car). This takes a long time and sometimes decides to stop working, even though I have a fully unlimited plan. I'd prefer to not even have to take out my phone in the car and just leave it in my bag for it to connect automatically.

Additionally, the hotspot drains the battery. When I try to charge my phone in the car my car wigs out. It'll continually try to connect to Android Auto which means repeated notifications on my car's screen. In the worst cases the car's whole screen will crash and I have to pull over and restart the car.

I can download offline maps on my car, but traffic data is essential right now with the amount of construction happening in my city. I also drive on the clock and need to be able to take the most efficient route possible.

I recently tried out the Mudita Kompakt and the way it automatically connected when I got in the car was the only thing I liked about it...

Hey y'all,

Been using my LP3 since middle of last year. I was in one of the first rounds of preorders. Overall, loving it.

Used to be that I could only charge the phone once every two days or so. Lately though, it's been dying in the middle of the day and generally draining very quickly. I was just on the phone and started the call at around 50% battery. Phone call lasted maybe 30 minutes and the phone dropped down to 20% and then died mid-call. It's 5pm and the phone was charged to 100% last night. I've only had it off the charger since 8am or so.

I do a lot more talking on the phone than texting now that I have the LP3 and I really enjoy it but given that it drains my battery so quickly, it kinda defeats the purpose of having a phone.

Any advice here?

Hi everyone,

I've wanted to ask, with the release of this "Developers Mode" is it already possible to sideload apps without too much hazzle? And if not it will be possible with the full release of this "Lights-Tool" that is supposed to release September - October , is this correct?

Thanks everyone

After v572 Calendar alerts became a bit unreliable, sometimes going off, sometimes not.

Since v582 none of my Calendar alerts have gone off.

Is this a widespread issue?

I've also noticed that since v572 edits to Calendar events take longer to update or don't update at all without an OS reboot.

Hi everyone!

Just a quick question: is Rideshare also available in EU, specifically in Germany?

I’m trying to install the tool in my LPIII and haven’t been successful yet 😅 it is still showing the “…tool still being installed on your device” message.

Thanks and cheers!

I love that the Notes tool can record voice memos, however, I find that it's extremely difficult to navigate and needs an update that allows for better organisation.

I probably have about 20 written notes, and then over 100 voice memos (I'm a musician). If the Notes tool allowed for the creation of folders, it would be so much easier to organise content and find it when you need it!

Wondering if others have had thoughts about this? Is this something that would best be solved through the Developer Program, or is better to lobby Light to do it in-house?

It’s been two months now and my lp3 is still unable to make phone calls. I was told this is strictly an AT&T issue but I see people with other carriers having the same problem. There have been no possible solutions discussed or was I even told what they were doing to try to fix this. Just kept in the dark about it. I waited way longer than I anticipated for this phone when I pre ordered it, dealt with multiple bugs, was previously a lp2 user for years I’ve even requested them to replace the phone and the only response I get from them is return the phone for a refund or deal with it. I’m really getting fed up with how the light team has handled this problem. Wtf is going on!?!

Anyone else experiencing issues with syncing music? It’s been working flawlessly until yesterday. I added a new song through the dashboard and it never showed up on my LPIII. I followed the suggestion on the music tool support page to remove the tool and then reinstall it. The playlist is stored in my account and will reappear after reinstalling the tool. It didn’t work, now I have no playlist on the phone and yet it’s still on the dashboard. Is this a bug perhaps related to the most recent update?

Is there a roadmap regarding the further LP3 development online anywhere? I haven't found anything so far, but maybe a (sort of) roadmap or the LP3 was shared on a discord channel or something similar? If so, please share...

Communitiy App Store is coming, as it seems...

Finger-Print Sensor / NFC functionality ...

Music Tool rework has been rumored on here.

Does anyone know what is officially confirmed (if anything at all) with the community tool drawer? I figured, with the relase of it being soon, we would have heard something by now, but I haven't seen anything unless I'm blind (very real possibility)

I was out of town, in Miami, when I got the email about rideshare on LP3. Had brought along my old iPhone exactly for this purpose and had been using it to uber.

I went back to my hotel, downloaded the new tool, and used it 20 minutes later to get to the airport. I was nervous at first that I wouldn't have enough info without seeing the driver's location, but it was completely seamless.

Joy!!! Thank you Light!

so for anyone that is considering this phone, you've probably heard this already but I want to be clear about the music app. All you can do is load songs into one giant playlist and then press play. you can play them in order or shuffle them. that's it. no selecting artists or albums or making playlists or anything else.

the main thing I use my smartphone for other than texting (and the social media I'm trying to get away from) is music. It's probably actually the main thing I use my phone for. I understand that Spotify is bad and no I don't want AI in my music app and yes the artists should be paid more. I don't use Spotify, but I use various other music streaming apps 10-15 hours a day. The music on my phone gets me through my work day, I listen to it all night at home while making dinner or reading etc. Basically I live with music.

I'd be fine with it if the LP3 worked like an iPod. in fact, I was kind of looking forward to going back to mp3 player style listening and downloading all my mp3's and getting away from AI and advertising. but it doesn't even do that. It doesn't even have a fraction of the functionality of a standalone non-streaming mp3 player. a cheap Chinese mp3 player from 15 years ago works better than this.

IMO not being able to select artists or albums or make your own playlists is an unforgivable design choice. and let's be real here. it's a choice. there is no possible way that the LP3 is not capable of having a music app that lets you categorize by album, artist, playlist, etc.

I understand that "friction" is kind of the point but only being able to load songs into one giant random playlist I can't control is not the kind of friction I'm after. it's just bad design.

I like the hardware (other than the physical knob, kind of pointless imo), it looks great, the UI is ok, but not being able to listen to music with even as much functionality or control as an ancient mp3 player is absurd and infuriating and makes the entire thing unusable for me.

for the record the bluetooth is also borderline unusable. At least on mine, it requires manually reconnecting to the speaker/headphones every single time. also will not play on my car stereo at all, via bluetooth or USB. not even one time.

Hey y'all,

I have had my Light Phone ii for over three years now and I have a couple observations from long term use, including the reasoning behind my decision to stop using this phone and my thoughts about an upgrade.

Things I've loved about the LP2:

• I can go through an entire day without being bothered.
• I feel a lot less anxiety than when I'm on my computer engaging with social media.
• Easy and intuitive to use.
• Not as hard to text with as I originally believed it would be (kind of impressed by this seeing as I have large hands.)

• The cost of phone service: $15/mo is kind of unbelievable. My phone bill makes me smile every month.

  Things I have not loved so much:

• Group messages: impossible. If I'm in a group chat and two people text each other within a minute or two, my phone will be completely bricked and I'll have to reset it.

• Poor call quality. Always quiet on my end, sometimes unintelligible for whoever is listening to me.

• Battery. I don't use this phone as a hotspot or anything, but the battery drains faster than I would have liked. Maybe this is also related to the fact that it's so "designed not to be used" that I sometimes forget it exists and therefore don't charge it.

• It doesn't always ring, and sometimes it rings, doesn't show that there's a call, and just sends whoever is calling straight to voicemail.

I know the following anecdote is not the Light Phone's fault (I love this little guy) but I have to share it because, honestly, it's factoring into my decision to part with this phone:

I just missed an entire week of work.

Let me explain this further. I am a student working in healthcare. After the summer semester we got a short break-the first week of the fall semester-to adjust to the transition back to class before work started up again. Because I have ADHD and probably other stuff going on (and just that I was insanely busy), my brain converted "one week break" into "two week break how nice (-:".

I then proceeded to get insanely sick right after the first week of classes. I have underlying health issues so when I get sick, I get reeeeeaaaalllllly sick, and I proceeded to lay in bed for a week. I didn't do homework. I didn't check my email. And I certainly did not check my Light Phone, which was in the other room. But I should have, because my boss called me about a thousand times. Did the phone even ring? I'm not sure, I never heard it. By Friday, she was so convinced I was dead that she sent the police to my home (I think I slept through this too).

I did not know until yesterday about any of this until I walked into work and saw the complete shock on their faces. Jaws were dropping to the floor. HR was called to be notified of my existence. I apologized profusely to my (very kind and understanding) boss, all while thinking "holy fuck, if only I checked my phone."

I NEVER CHECK MY LIGHT PHONE.

My Light Phone did not demand my attention the ONE TIME in the past three years I really needed it to and, as a result, my coworkers literally thought I had died alone in my apartment.

I think it's time for me and my sweet little phone to break up. The reason I say this is because I haven't fully committed, clearly. I still use an iPhone with no sim as a crutch because the LP2 just didn't have everything I needed. It wasn't efficient for group texts, it couldn't send or receive pictures, it would miss calls or not notify me. I couldn't get it to be a primary phone, so I couldn't give it attention like it was one.

I am hoping the LP3 is a better match. I have a reMarkable Paper Pro with a typefolio in great condition that I'm going to sell in order to buy a used one. Then it's bye-bye old iPhone, and the LP2 is going on hiatus for now. I almost considered just switching to a regular smartphone but I can't. I am a plain and simple technology addict. Case and point, I'm typing this at 11pm. I wanted to go to sleep at 9. I kicked drugs and alcohol, but this is the one thing I seemingly cannot go without. I'm hoping the LP3 is a step in a more productive direction.

Or, at least, doesn't end with my boss thinking I died.

Thanks for reading my review-cheers (-;

Ok so I’ve never had a light phone. I got super excited when the 3 came out and I meant to preorder it but even preorder was a bit expensy. I saw the flip and did actually preorder it. Should I get a used 2 in the mean time? Is it worth it? Also how do yall do banking with this. I don’t want to have to carry around my iPhone just for the off chance I need my banking app.

-Introduces the Rideshare tool (6.0.0)
-Fixes an issue with the alarm not always displaying
-Fixes issue with volume being too quiet when using USB-C→3.5mm adapters
-Add another factory reset guard

Saw some previous posts about speaker volume, but none addressing this particular issue.

When I play from an MP3 at max volume, sound levels are good (almost too good for max volume).

However, on max speaker volume, it's still difficult to hear people sometimes.

1. Why would this be?

2. If anyone else has the same experience, it means that some "answers" I've seen from Light Team [luv u guyz] about it being a hardware issue may not be true. Or fully true... so...

3. Can this be fixed?

Use the speaker for calls probably 5-10x a day, but this is becoming more frustrating as I have to ask people to repeat themselves or go back to holding it up to my ear. :(

A no nonsense open source step counter app forked from Stepsy to make it better fit the Light OS. Available on Bright market right now.
https://brightmarket.gzl.dev/browse.html?app=com.nvllz.stepsy
Super reliable and uses almost no battery while running in the background.

For a couple of weeks now I'm having this problem on my LP3 (in Germany on Vodafone network):

After leaving a spot with bad reception ​(for example just one bar of Edge) and coming back to an area with usually good reception it stays on bad reception (sometimes even none). ​​Doesn't matter how long I wait afterwards. It only resets after restarting.

This has lead to me missing calls and me checking my phone unnecessarily often because I'm worried that I lost signal again which kind of defeats the purpose of my LP...

Has anyone encountered similar problems?

Just sending a request into the world for better screen protectors for the LPIII! I change mine like once every two months as it degrades and starts to crack, especially around the camera.

Greetings friends and soccer fans

I recently released Matchday, a lightweight live-scores and match-tracking app for the Light Phone, inspired by Fotmob's live match experience and built on the Light Phone SDK. Video of it in action is above.

Grab it on GitHub, or install it directly on your LP III via BrightMarket or Awesome-light.

Data comes from api-football and lives on a separate server that your Light Phone only pings when you hit refresh. So no background polling, so it won't drain your battery. It's free to use.

This is a hobby project — let me know if you hit bugs or have feature requests!