On the on and off relationship between FirefoxOS and WhatsApp

Good-bye, ConnectA2! 

Yesterday, my FirefoxOS gave me some bad news: ConnectA2, my chosen app to access the WhatsApp network was discontinued and that I should wait for a new soon-to-be ready app called "ConnectedIM".

ConnectA2 was not a perfect app.  Sometimes it would fail to connect and, after an update, it would constantly receive messages from +server saying "Unable to parse the resource".  This messages were annoying, specially because one could several during a day.  I once got 11 in two hours!

It also lacked certain characteristics from the real WhatsApp which, however, was never a problem for me.  I mean, I was conscious ConnectA2 was NOT WhatsApp.  So, expecting absolute equivalence was foolish.  After all, I was using a FirefoxOS phone, not an android phone.

LoquiIM...very similar to KDE's Kopete

Once that ConnectA2 got seriously broken, I had to remove it and started using LoquiIM.  This app lets one configure accounts on Facebook, Google Hangouts and, of course, WhatsApp.  I only used it to access the WhatsApp network and found it quite efficient.  However, every time WhatsApp released an app update, LoquiIM would fail.  Of course, I was then using a developer phone.  When I got the commercial FirefoxOS phone, LoquiIM was the only app that could access the WhatsApp network.

OpenWapp, show me what you can do

There was another change and LoquiIM started to underperform, so I went back to ConnectA2 for a while... that is, until yesterday.  Since ConnectA2 is no more, I had to decide if I stayed with LoquiIM or if I tried another app: OpenWapp.

 OpenWapp's design is very consistent with the rest of the apps on the FirefoxOS platform (HTML5?), so it feels very natural on the phone.  However, I have noticed that it takes some time to display incoming messages.

For the time being, I will keep using OpenWapp.  Let us see how it goes.  If it performs poorly, I can always go back to LoquiIM or, if they fulfill their promise, I can give ConnectedIM a try.

Hotspots: My Firefox OS phone saved the day

I might be many things, but I am sure I am not a NOMOphobic individual.  As a matter of fact, I can survive pretty well without a mobile phone.

I don't like mobile phones.  What's more, I hate all kinds of phones. 

I guess that makes me a telephonephobic.

However, and as paradoxical as it may be, I own a ZTE Open Firefox OS phone, which I use basically to check my email and calendar on the go, quickly browse a web page, and receive messages from family members.

I practically never use the function that gives the device its name (telephone), that, is, making calls.  I see my phone as a tiny tablet thingie and use it as such.

But today, I had to take care of my 4-year-old daughter.  It was raining and she is recovering from a bad flu, so going out was out of the question.  The cable was not working, so no TV for her... which she did not really mind.  But she wanted to use her computer to see her favorite videos online and we had no connection.

What to do?  I used the phone as a hotspot to share its Internet connection with my laptop.  How?

You go to Settings, and then select Internet Sharing.   Then you give your Wi-fi hotspot connection a name and select a type of security (I use WPA2).  Then you assign the password and, voila, you just turn your phone into a mini wi-fi router.

My daughter was happy because she was able to see her videos while I prepared her lunch.  Then we played with her Monster High dolls and her Plants vs Zombies plush toys until she fell asleep.

Now I am writing this entry using the hotspot of the ZTE Open Firefox OS phone.

Mmm.  I might not be NOMOphobic, but I surely am a no-net phobic person!

By the way, if you own an Android phone, this is the procedure:

Settings -> Wireless and networks -> Tethering and portable hotspots