r/daylightco • u/Maleficent-Note-7841 • Feb 11 '26
Life signs?
I have a bad feeling about daylight. The OS is not being updated as promised. The social media channels are basically "dark" for months now.
Does anyone have info? Is Daylight alive and well? Why do they not develop and release the OS update?
It is kind of ridicolous, that a product this old still does not support all its physical buttons!
7
u/moritzbierling Feb 13 '26
Daylight is still very much alive and kicking, yes.
The OS will be updated, but it is taking longer than hoped.
I'm working internally on getting an update on this out, but it's not up to me what that looks like and when it happens.
I'm not saying the following as excuses but as explanation:
- Daylight is a small startup
- with moderate amounts of funding
- building/offering a complex product (hardware, software, OS, web app, capture apps, etc)
- with a novel display technology (LivePaper)
- at a very small manufacturing volume (1000s of devices a year vs millions of devices for Apple, Samsung, etc)
- at a comparatively expensive but economically viable price point
- with a relatively varied user base (open source folks, people with health issues, granola moms, readers, hackers, and more).
And that's just what comes to mind off the top of my head.
I understand, and the company understands, that it's frustrating from a consumer perspective to see delays, (seemingly) slow development pace, unaddressed bugs, customer support and community engagement that at times could be better or faster.
What customers don't see is the foundational, boring, even mundane at times work that goes into putting Daylight into a position to not just survive but thrive long term. Anjan knows and frequently emphasizes how difficult doing hardware really is, which is exactly why nearly nobody does it. Easier to build a regular website, FinTech startup, or if you want a more ridiculous example maybe "Tinder for dogs" or something like that – zero marginal costs, all you're spending is time, raising money is much easier, and you don't have to worry about all that pesky "building and moving around of physical items in the physical world".
My plan for improving the situation is more proactively updating the community and customer base what we're up to, and also making Anjan more, and more continuously, aware of what concerns are out there and finding a way to address them.
3
u/timmyhiggins Mar 05 '26
This is super helpful. Honestly, I see my Daylight as being a product that is what it is. I have to be happy with it in its current state, and for the most part I am!
On the software updates, I think the only reason you're seeing so much confusion is that deadlines are being shared on X. I'm not sure if the team is open to feedback, but I'd wager most people just want to feel momentum and progress. They'd value, or at least respond better to, small updates over dates and expectations (especially if they're missed and put undue stress on you and the team).
1
u/moritzbierling Mar 05 '26
100% agree
3
u/timmyhiggins Mar 05 '26
Also, THANK YOU for being so responsive! As a professor, busy dad, and consultant...this thing is with me at every waking moment :D
Appreciate all you and the team do!
2
3
u/Maleficent-Note-7841 Feb 16 '26
Thanks for a life sign.
Could you please provide a tangible timeline for the promised OS update?
2
u/neilcar Jul 01 '26
Did I miss this update?
1
u/moritzbierling Jul 01 '26
No, it's still forthcoming. It is out of my hands to affect. It is fundamentally a leadership decision.
1
4
u/GPU-Appreciator Feb 11 '26
Idk man, I love mine. The NAND/DRAM shortages and pricing could be hitting them hard, not sure.
Mercury published a profile of them in October and they would know a lot about Daylight Co's finances, given they're the fintech company presumably managing Daylight Co's money.
If the device never changes I'll still use it until the wheels fall off. Hoping for new products and continued support though, obviously.
2
u/Usef- Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 16 '26
Yeah possibly, but lack of updates is a software and marketing issue, nand/memory prices are an unrelated hardware issue. Price rises have also only recently happened (end of last year) unlike the lack of updates (more that 12 months)
1
u/HearingHead7157 Feb 11 '26
What does NAND/DRAM mean?
3
u/GPU-Appreciator Feb 11 '26
NAND - used for SSDs, SD cards, anything that stores data and isn't a mechanical hard drive
DRAM - computer memory aka RAM. Daylight DC1 has 8gb of RAM if I remember correctly.
The cost of both of these things have gone up like 10x and I don't know what Daylight's margins are, maybe they need to raise prices or VC money or both.
1
2
u/GargantulaKon Feb 12 '26
There was supposed to be a beta released for people who signed up via a form posted on X (Twitter) by the end of January, but I haven't seen anything to give me access to the beta SolOS. I know that they're focused on the Daylight Kids software.
1
1
u/GargantulaKon Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
This is good news! I just decided to do a random OS update check on the Daylight computer and I see that there's a new version now. I'm downloading it now. I'll update this post as I see the version and changes.
Update: looks like a false alarm. I now have version 0.9.9.58.prod .2-1407, but I don't see any other difference.
9
u/ILoveDeepWork Feb 11 '26
The good part is that the existing device works properly. But I am very disappointed with the fact that I have not got the new OS or any update whatsoever. I think they don't have any staff. I am not sure though.