14 DAY TRIAL // Canonical works on a few Ubuntu Touch branches at all times, besides the current stable one that everyone can get. From the looks of it, the development one is based on the new Wily Werewolf, and it's receiving some interesting changes.
A new OTA update has been released for the Ubuntu Phones, and lots of improvements have landed, but developers are also working on more advanced stuff that will take months to reach users. For example, a new version of the Mir display server is expected to land for the Ubuntu Touch based on Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf), but that transition is still months away.
The only way to keep ahead of the curve is to make sure that you have plenty of time to test this kind of major change. Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf) will land in October, so there is plenty of time to make all kind of improvements. The interesting thing about the development cycle of Ubuntu is that most of these modifications are done openly, and everyone knows what's coming, long before a release is made. Good luck in doing the same thing for other mobile platforms like iOS or Android.
Ubuntu Touch team working on Wily Werewolf version
"Not too many exciting news from the landing team so far. Fixes are flowing-in steadily - all their details can be found in the commitlogs that are auto-generated on every image build below. Wily will be getting the new 0.14.0 mir release soon - the silo with fixes to unblock it from -proposed is waiting for a final archive-admin ACK, after which its vivid-overlay counterpart will be moved forward. Also, a fix for the recent telegram rc-proposed regression has just been signed off and will be landing in the store," said Łukasz 'sil2100' Zemczak in his regular message.
It's not really a surprise that the developers are looking so far ahead, but it's nice to take a peek at their process.