14 DAY TRIAL // One of the latest updates for Ubuntu Touch has brought a most coveted feature that was still missing, the mouse cursor. This will most likely land with OTA-8, which is scheduled to arrive in about five weeks.
Mouse support is activated when users connect the operating system to a Bluetooth mouse, but until now, the mouse cursor has been invisible. Following the big Mir and Unity 8 update that has just landed in the proposed channel for Ubuntu Touch, users can now also see the mouse cursor. It might look like it's really small, but we have to keep in mind that phones actually have big resolutions. Even if it's a small screen, a big resolution means a small mouse, especially on a 5-inch display.
This feature is actually part of the much bigger effort of convergence that's being worked on by Canonical. A mouse cursor is probably the smallest feature imaginable, but a mouse cursor on phone is not something that you would normally see. Ubuntu Touch is evolving very quickly, and we're getting closer to having a phone also working as a PC, which is one of the convergence's end results.
Mouse is still in the proposed channel
If you're an Ubuntu phone user, you're going to have to wait until the new mouse cursor reaches the stable branch of the OS. This is normal, as the features are first tested in the proposed channel. This channel is highly unstable, and it's not for the regular users, although nothing is stopping you from using it.
An Ubuntu phone that can be used as a PC when connected to a monitor, keyboard and mouse is expected to land next year from the Spanish company BQ. Not much is known about the new device, but from the looks of it, the Ubuntu developers are getting pretty close to a fully working convergent OS.