VollaLauncher and VollaSpringboard - Guide

[waldbursche]

The Volla OS operating system and its special user interface are continuously being developed. You can find an overview of the development status on the Github platform where we publish the operating system's source code.

https://github.com/HelloVolla/

In the volla-os-beta-test repository, you will also find this guide along with the ability to report issues and track their resolution.

https://github.com/HelloVolla/volla-os-beta-test/issues

If you unlock a Volla Phone with a Volla OS operating system, you will reach the Volla Launcher, which allows you to execute basic functions of the device, including opening apps.

You can access the Volla Launcher by pressing the Home button at the bottom of the display or using the corresponding swipe gesture from the bottom edge of the display inward.

To fully hide the Android navigation bar for the Volla Launcher, tap "Full-screen view" in the "Display and Menus" group within its settings. You can access the Volla Launcher settings by swiping twice to the right so that the settings appear from the left side.

The Volla user interface includes two main concepts:

Launchpad
with:
- Text field
- Shortcuts

Collections
for
- Contacts
- Conversations
- Messages
- Notes


Quick Guide:

To the Launchpad -> Input Line:
A prerequisite for using the input line is that contacts must be stored in the "Phone" storage and their contact details properly labeled. In the Contacts app, open each contact and ensure that the mobile number is selected with the label "Mobile," all phone numbers are entered in valid international format (e.g., for Germany +49 1), and an email address is provided to use all features of the launchpad.

Brief guide to importing contacts:
WARNING
If the .vcf file you want to import contains contacts with individualized ringtones or logos, an error message will occur, and the import will not proceed.
Solution:
Open the .vcf file on your PC in an editor and search for the string

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SOUND;X-IRMC-N:;;;;

or also

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LOGO

in the contacts and delete them everywhere. Save the file anew and then import it into your Volla Phone as instructed.

There are various methods. Here are three variants:

Use of an Address Book File
Export your address book from your previously used smartphone or another computer into a file in vCard format with the extension .vcf.
Now copy the address book file to your Volla Phone or an SD card that you subsequently insert into the Volla Phone. Use your PC or Mac as an intermediate step if necessary.
Open the Contacts app and select the menu via the three dots in the upper right corner, then "Import contacts from .vcf file."
Select your address book file in the File Manager and confirm the import. It is important that you specify "Phone" as the target contact source. To do this, in the import window "Import Contacts" -> "Target Contact Source" -> "Device Storage," tap and select "Phone Storage" from the selection menu and confirm with OK. Do not select the entry "Device Storage (not visible to other apps)."

Online Address Book
Open the Sync app and tap the plus sign in the lower right corner. If you are launching the app for the first time, the app will show an introduction.
Choose one of three methods to connect your online address book. In most cases, you'll use "Log in with URL and username."
After successful login and connection to your online address book, check the box for the account calendar you want to synchronize.
Tap the synchronization button in the lower-right corner of your address book view. Using the gear icon in the upper-right corner, set the frequency of synchronization.

SIM Card
Save your most important addresses from your old mobile phone onto your SIM card, which can hold up to 250 contacts.
Insert your SIM card into the Volla Phone, and you will find your addresses in the Contacts app and on the launchpad.

Using the input line

Input Step 1:

@

Input Step 2:

Name

With each letter entered, a matching contact list appears that you can select by touch. Only properly created contacts will be displayed.

Context Menu 1:

Call Mobile
Call Private
Call Business
Call Alternative Number

Depending on the number and labels of the phone numbers assigned per contact, the context menu will appear with the corresponding entries that you can use by touch. A connection via the phone app will be established.

Input Step 3:
@"Name" already appears in the input line, followed by a space, and now proceeds with

Free text input

At least the input of one word/letter followed by a space is required.
Use a line break after the words, and the system will use the first line as the subject of an email.

Context Menu 2:
As soon as text input begins, the following menu should appear and can be used at any time to send the text within the desired messaging form.

Send SMS
Send private email
Send business email
Send other email

Depending on the number and labels of the email addresses assigned per contact, the context menu will appear with the corresponding entries that you can use by touch and which will open the pre-defined email app so that you can optionally add attachments or formatting. "Send SMS" activates the SMS service.

The cross symbol at the end of the input line deletes the input and restores the initial state.

Explanations for the Quick Guide:

Launchpad
Whenever you call up the Volla Launcher, it displays the launchpad. The idea is that you write something, and the system recognizes what you want to do. For this purpose, it provides suggestions to complete your input or suitable functions for your input.

Launchpad: https://github.com/HelloVolla/volla-os- ... board.jpeg

The launchpad supports the following use cases:

Contact Selection
If you start your input with the @-sign, the system recognizes that you want to enter a name and suggests people from your address book sorted preliminarily by name. Tap a name in the list, and it will be inserted into the text field. A prerequisite for this function is that there are entries in your address book.

By entering more letters, you can filter the contact list. The launchpad shows names that contain the entered sequence of letters anywhere.

You can synchronize contacts using the installed app for synchronizing address books and calendars via the CardDAV and CalDAV protocols.

Call
Subsequently, the system suggests calling this person. Tapping this suggestion starts a call via the telephony app. Suggestions for functions are distinguished from suggestions for completing your input by their red background color.

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@Claudia_Sommer

Messages

If instead of initiating a call, you enter additional words, the system suggests sending the entered contact a short message or email. Tapping the suggestion opens the respective app with a pre-filled message that you just need to send.

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@Claudia Sommer Are you joining us for lunch?

Using a line break after the words, the system uses the first line as the subject of an email. A prerequisite is that you have set up at least one email account.

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@Claudia_Sommer Lunch Break
Would you like to join us for lunch at the Italian restaurant during the lunch break?\
Best regards from Petra

Depending on the data stored for a contact, the Volla Launcher suggests sending a message via SMS, email, or the Signal Messenger service.

Web Search
If you start your input with a word instead of a contact, the system suggests searching the internet with this word. For this, the system launches the browser with the entered keyword. By default, the Volla Launcher uses the DuckDuckGo search engine. In the settings under the "Search Engines" group, you can also choose Startpage or Metager.

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Volla

Note
Enter multiple words, and the system also suggests creating a note. You will then find this as an entry in the notes collection marked with a red dot.

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Volla Phone

You can also use line breaks.

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Volla Phone
New Features:
1. Security Mode
2. Multi Boot

Web Address
If you enter a valid web address, the system suggests opening it in the browser.

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volla.online

Phone Number
If you enter a phone number in the text field, the system also suggests initiating a call. As with all inputs, a space at the end of a word or a sequence of digits is necessary to trigger the evaluation of the input.

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+491234567890

If you then enter one or more words, the system offers to send a short message but not an email.

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+491234567890 Hi Petra, how are you?

Email Address
If you enter an email address and text, the Volla Launcher suggests sending an email.

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hello@volla.online Where can I buy a Volla Phone?

If you enter multiple lines, the first line will be used as the subject of the email:

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hello@volla.online Volla retailer
Dear Volla team,
Where can I buy a Volla Phone?

Calendar Event
The Volla Launcher recognizes different forms of describing a calendar event, consisting of date, optional time, title, and optional description.

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12.08.2022 12 Uhr Mittagessen mit Peter
12.08. 16:30 - 17:30 Training im Sportverein
6 - 8 pm Dinner with Paula at Joe's Pizzeria

If the time is missing, the Volla Launcher plans a day event. If only the second time for the event is missing, the same day applies.

Instead of a date, you can also choose weekdays or a short form:

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Tomorrow 10 am Video conference with Paula
Thursday 14 - 18 Wine seminar at the Ratskeller

With a line break, the Volla Launcher uses the text after the first line break as the description of the calendar event.

If you tap the suggestion to enter the appointment in the calendar, the system opens the calendar app, where you can confirm the event to save it.

Further use cases are planned.

Shortcuts
On the launchpad, you see a red dot. With this, you can call up shortcuts with just one gesture. Touch the dot so that the menu opens, slide your finger or stylus over the desired menu item, and lift your finger or stylus:

Touch -> Slide -> Release

The standard includes the following functions:
- Call recent and favorite contacts
- Call recent conversations
- Call recent messages
- Call notes
- Call the phone app
- Call the camera
- Call the gallery
- Call the calendar app

Unnecessary functions can be deactivated.
Additional apps can be added to the list of shortcuts.

You can manage the shortcuts in the settings under the relevant group of the Volla Launcher. Standard functions can be deactivated and activated, while self-defined shortcuts can also be deleted.

You can add new shortcuts in three ways:

1. Tap on an app in the overview and hold the touch until a context menu appears and select the option "Add to shortcuts."

2. Swipe twice to the right from the launchpad to bring up the settings from the left. Tap on the "Shortcuts" group and then on the plus sign to open a context menu from which you can select an app.

3. This method is recommended only for experienced users!
After backing up the hidden file .shortcut.json (Documents folder) to a safe location of your choice, open the hidden file .shortcut.json (Documents folder) in an editor.
This can be the Markor editor on the phone or you can also open, edit, and save the file directly from the USB-connected phone on the desktop and immediately check the result. Always pay attention to correct syntax!

A single entry looks like this, for example:

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{"id":"org.fossify.calendar","name":"Calendar & Appointments","activated":true},

If a number instead of an address is listed under "id," it refers to a system app.
Under "id", enter the system address of the desired app "org.fossify.calendar"
Under "name", enter the desired short command formula that should appear on the launchpad, e.g., "Calendar & Appointments"
Under "activated", you can define whether the command should appear on the launchpad using true or false (also controlled via Volla Launcher - swipe twice to the right - Settings - Shortcuts - red dot before the relevant entry).
Red dot active - Command appears - true
or
Red dot inactive - Command does not appear on the launchpad - false.

Tip: Also, bookmarks saved as internet addresses in the app overview can be added to the shortcuts this way.

Collections
The collections give you a quick overview of important information and appropriate functions. After calling up a collection, you will see an animation where the system slides the collection in from the right side.

You can navigate back to the launchpad with a swipe gesture, the Home button, or the Home gesture.

Each collection can be filtered via a text field below the heading.

Contacts
The system automatically compiles important contacts. In the beta version, the system considers all contacts you have marked as favorites in your address book or with whom you recently communicated via a phone call or SMS or MMS message.

In the contacts overview, you will find the name of the contact along with their organization or the latest unread message or missed call.

Tapping and holding an entry opens a context menu and offers the following functions depending on the address book entry:
- Open the address book entry
- Open the Signal profile
- Initiate a call
- Open the messenger app to write and send a short message
- Open the email app to write and send an email
- Also here, the selection follows the gesture for shortcuts.

Tapping briefly on an entry opens the conversation with the person, which initially includes calls, SMS, and MMS messages.

At the bottom of the view, you will find a text field where you can reply directly via SMS or MMS.

Signal messages are optional integrated.

Conversations
Here, the system displays the latest conversations with name or phone number and text, sorted by time and topic. The beta version considers SMS and MMS messages. Further communication channels are planned.

Tapping briefly on a conversation shows the conversation with all exchanged messages.

Here too, you can reply via the text field at the bottom directly via SMS, MMS, and in the future via the Signal Messenger service.

Messages
Here, the system displays the latest messages grouped by their source and sorted by time. This has the advantage that important messages from sources that rarely publish do not get lost in the message stream.

If you tap on the icon of the message channel, you will go to all recent publications of the selected message channel.
Tapping on the displayed message takes you to the full message, which the system prepares for optimal readability.

As standard, the Volla Launcher exemplarily shows the RSS feed from three news channels. You can subscribe to your own RSS or Atom feeds from news portals and blogs via two ways:

Tap on a link to an RSS or Atom news feed in the browser and hold the touch until a context menu appears. Choose the option to share the link with the Volla Launcher.
Write the link to an RSS or Atom news feed into the text field of the launchpad or copy it there. The launchpad will suggest subscribing to this feed.
In the settings of the Volla Launcher, you can deactivate and activate news feeds in the "News Channels" group or delete them entirely by tapping the cross on the right.

Notes
In this collection, the Volla Launcher lists all notes you have created either via the launchpad or in the list view of this collection.
Tap on a list entry to read the full note. In the detail view, you can edit, delete, or pin a note to the top of the list. Pinned notes can also be unpinned via the same path.

Links with and without protocol prefix and lists are recognized automatically by the Volla Launcher and formatted accordingly.

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A list
1. Sorted lists
- Unsorted lists
* Various bullet points

Apps
If you perform a swipe gesture to the right from the launchpad, you will reach the overview of installed apps, which are listed alphabetically by name.

By default, the apps are divided into two groups: frequently used apps and other apps. Through the settings of the Volla Launcher, you can also display the apps ungrouped or in further groups, one for each app category.

Regardless of the grouping, you can filter the displayed apps via the text field.

A red dot indicates whether you have missed a call or have an unread short message.

Settings
If you perform a swipe gesture to the right from the app grid, you will reach the app settings.

As the first group, you will find the selection of the design theme.
Dark mode
Light mode
Transparent mode

The transparent mode uses the background image that you can change in the system settings. Changing the design mode also defines the lock screen background image simultaneously.

Standard Apps
Volla OS comes without Google Apps and Play Services to protect user privacy. Therefore, it includes curated, open-source alternatives. See the relevant overview for more details.

https://github.com/HelloVolla/volla-os- ... ystem-Apps

The selection is not yet final.

Backup and Restoration of the VollaLauncher
In the user directory in the "Documents" folder ("Documenta"), you will find the following files (enable viewing of hidden files if necessary):
- Feeds.json
- contacts.json
- shortcuts.json
- notes.json
These four files should be regularly copied to a secure location.
In case of data loss, these files are copied back into the "Documents" folder (confirm the overwrite prompt for existing files with the same name).

Restoring an Earlier Version of the VollaLauncher
1. Backup the VollaLauncher data (as described above)
2. Reset the VollaLauncher to factory settings

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Settings - Apps - All Apps - Volla

Three-dot menu (top right) "Uninstall Updates"

3. F-Droid Store:

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Settings (bottom right gear icon) - Manage Installed Apps - VollaLauncher - Versions (List)

Tap and install the desired version

4. Optionally, restore backups into the Documents folder