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Hi there, I have an Incredible S with Android 2.3.3 and Sense 2.1. It was originally locked to Virgin (canada) but I unlocked it and now it's on Rogers. The phone says there is no software updates.
It gets the job done as basically all I'm using it for is text and phone.
I am a complete newbie and know nothing about RUU's, radios, kernels, and other stuff I've read on here.
I have seen many threads about people having upgraded to ICS and find their phones laggy, the screen gets stuck, ect.
My question is, if you have upgraded, was it worth it, or do you wish you never had done it?
I would enjoy having the latest, but not very technical inclined.
Thanks, and I appreciate you feedback.
If you're happy stay where you are.
I have tried most of the roms and some are laggy some are not. I'm on Nik's Project X with the Redux kernal and love it. Ice cream sandwich is a lot nicer to use than Gingerbread, easier to look at and a lot easier to set up to suit what you want.
But again it really is personal preference.
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using xda premium
Yeah, it really is personal preference.
I am currently on Nik Project X and it is running extremely smoothly...
I guess the only reason you would like to upgrade to ics is purely for compatibility, as much of the newer apps are going to jellybean and ics, rather than gingerbread. The official OTA was quite laggy when i got it, so i rooted and switched to a custom rom. Also, if you install a custom radio, network signal could dramatically increase or dramatically decrease. So beware what radio you are flashing. Also, flashing a radio is very risky, so beware!
In the end, it is your choice. If you are just using your phone purely for text and calling, then you can stick with gingerbread, but people like me who are using their phone and discovering it's capabilities, it is probably better if they upgrade..
I agree Pic.
My suggestion would be to install a good recovery. And make a nandroid backup. That way if it goes wrong you can go back to where you were!
Then load a rom in and play. I could never in back to 2.3! Or even sense 2.
And yes, Project X is smooth and to my way much better.
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using xda premium
Depends on the ROM. I'm on MIUI GB and recently tried MIUI v4 only to find it a laggy POS for the most part. From what I understand the stock ICS ROMs that are rolling out from most manufacturers can be quite laggy. I think this is something to do with how ICS manages memory. Custom ROMs can get around this, so it'd be worth experimenting.
Compatibility probably won't be an issue for the time being. I seem to recall that something like 80% of Android phones are still on Gingerbread, so making an app only run on ICS or JB would seriously limit your market.
Regarding flashing a new radio I'd say that, unless you have good reason to want to change (really poor signal etc), I wouldn't bother. I'm not sure the risks outweigh the reward, if everything is fine with the version you already have.
Put it this way - the reason I rooted my phone was because HTC updated the ROM and my phone ground to a halt. Flashing a custom ROM transformed my phone back into a speedy machine, and added a whole bunch of additional functionality that I now can't live without!
Fair enough,
If u do not want to flash a custom rom, then u can flash a stock rom.. For some reason it is quicker than ota and it maintains s-off...
Your choice in the end buddy
Sent from my HTC Incredible S
Thanks for the responses and experiences guys!
I guess I'll stick with what I have until I've done more reading and am more confident.
Thanks again
funlog said:
Hi there, I have an Incredible S with Android 2.3.3 and Sense 2.1. It was originally locked to Virgin (canada) but I unlocked it and now it's on Rogers. The phone says there is no software updates.
It gets the job done as basically all I'm using it for is text and phone.
I am a complete newbie and know nothing about RUU's, radios, kernels, and other stuff I've read on here.
I have seen many threads about people having upgraded to ICS and find their phones laggy, the screen gets stuck, ect.
My question is, if you have upgraded, was it worth it, or do you wish you never had done it?
I would enjoy having the latest, but not very technical inclined.
Thanks, and I appreciate you feedback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no "over the air" (OTA) updates from Bell/Virgin, but HTC have released an ICS update on their developer site:
http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/10/02/h...for-incredible-s-users-on-its-developer-site/
Just filter on device "Incredible S", carrier "HTC" and region "CA". The downloaded file is an RUU, which will do all the work of updating your phone to Android 4.0.4 and Sense 3.6.
I applied the update yesterday without any issue, though did a full reboot (remove battery) in order to clear out some initial sluggishness.
FWIW, my thoughts:
+ new text message conversation UI is nice, with each message in it's own little piece of paper
+ text message timestamps are correct on rogers (i.e. don't need to download "SMS time fix")
- some of the animations are a little overdone
= the tile-based approach to rendering pages means initial loads are blurry, but scrolling is fine once the page has finished rendering
++ no Bell bloatware
+ new gmail app is much much better
- not sure I like the new phone answer/decline UI when the screen is locked
+ htc mail app handles multiple accounts better than the gingerbread version, though now that the gmail app is usable, this isn't a big deal for me
- htc calendar widget is white text on black background, I preferred the old version
- lost access to various htc-specific apps/widgets, so you'll need to find replacements on the play store
+ play store app replaces the market
Overall, I'm happy with the update.
This old preview will give you an idea of what Sense 3.6 looks like: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/13/htc-sense-3-6-preview/
Go for Nik Project X,
Even though you are light user (like me), you will enjoy very light and smooth user interface and also sense 4.0
Also, ICS will come with all its hidden benefits...no need to list down I guess....
I also have a Virgin Mobile IncS unlocked and now on the Rogers network. I'm currently using Nik's IncS Jellybean rom and it has been incredibly stable for me and I am using it as my daily rom. It's not perfect, but it's an excellent rom.
If you're concerned about the feedback on ICS/Jellybean, but still want to explore rooting, why don't you try some of the Gingerbread roms? CM-7.2 is one of the most stable roms out there and has quite a few features that are not present in the stock rom. If you don't want to lose Sense, there are quite a few roms in development that might meet your needs. There are even a few that are based on the official ICS rom.
Hi guys, well I bit the bullet and loaded the stock ics ruu from htc site. Have not rooted or s-off yet as I don't feel confident enough yet.
So far, about a week in and it is very fast. I have to admit, I don't notice too much of a difference because I am such a basic user.
But it has got rid off quite a few things I never used, so it is leaner. So I'm happy I did it, and want to thank everyone for their opinions and help. :good:
Firstly, please don't get me wrong here. Im not trolling in the slightest and I really appreciate all the work the devs do here.
With the HTC One having such high specs is there really any need to flash custom Roms? In my opinion all of them seem the same and don't look or feel any different to the stock rom on the One. The only benefit I can see is for Root access.
Im sure there is a lot of "under the hood" tweaks that are done but are these really noticeable or beneficial to the end user? Other peoples thoughts would be interesting.
dr9722 said:
Firstly, please don't get me wrong here. Im not trolling in the slightest and I really appreciate all the work the devs do here.
With the HTC One having such high specs is there really any need to flash custom Roms? In my opinion all of them seem the same and don't look or feel any different to the stock rom on the One. The only benefit I can see is for Root access.
Im sure there is a lot of "under the hood" tweaks that are done but are these really noticeable or beneficial to the end user? Other peoples thoughts would be interesting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually yes, I wish to get CM working fully on HTC One.
It gives us an alternate experience than what HTC wanted us to.
Best of all, you don't have to wait so long for HTC to update their phones.
Especially when they abandon the One, we rely on CM.
But I'm really hoping for the success of the One, nobody could resist the look and feel of the One.
Livebyte said:
Actually yes, I wish to get CM working fully on HTC One.
It gives us an alternate experience than what HTC wanted us to.
Best of all, you don't have to wait so long for HTC to update their phones.
Especially when they abandon the One, we rely on CM.
But I'm really hoping for the success of the One, nobody could resist the look and feel of the One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree the updates and the benefit of getting rid on Sense if you dont like it is a real benefit. But is there a need for multiple Sense custom roms?
dr9722 said:
I totally agree the updates and the benefit of getting rid on Sense if you dont like it is a real benefit. But is there a need for multiple Sense custom roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's subjective I guess. But for something like example HTC DROID DNA or Butterfly, Sense 5 gets ported before HTC did. So I guess it's also a huge benefit.
Earlier updates is the main reason why I will be rooting, these phone networks take ages to update it's unavailable!!
Also there are some very nice skinned roms out there
I won't be unlocking my bootloader for a while. Not until I am at least sure that my device is working 100% and that will take a couple of weeks. I was eager to root it etc but I was reading about HTC's warranty and it seems as though it is a very long winded process. Maybe you wish to do the same?
m00moo said:
I won't be unlocking my bootloader for a while. Not until I am at least sure that my device is working 100% and that will take a couple of weeks. I was eager to root it etc but I was reading about HTC's warranty and it seems as though it is a very long winded process. Maybe you wish to do the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep ill be in no hurry either.
when i finally get a device im happy with yea i will root and flash custom rom, but not CM - Sense 5 is great and IMO is much better than stock JB - there are a few minor things I would like added, but I have no doubt they will be added to custom sense 5 roms in due course.
to me, there is no point in being a flashaholic. flash the latest stable base, and then keep up with custom kernels for battery.
thats me, idk bout u guys
Personally something that will push me over the unlock bootloader line is when either when A) IF the HTC logo can become mapped as a button, or B) A full relock becomes available lol
For me, absolutely. I consider some features (such as long press vol key to skip tracks) essential. There are also always some visual things I like to change no matter how well it is made
I just need root to enable volume key wake, and ill want to remap the keys. Everything else looks flawless
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
do you need root etc. to install flash on ONE ?
ChazyChaz said:
do you need root etc. to install flash on ONE ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. To my knowledge, the built in browser has flash support.
What about Wi-Fi hotspot support?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
While there's obviously no NEED, a lot of people will prefer to flash ROMs for a variety of different reasons.
I'd say the main reasons are;
*The ability to have a pure AOSP look which is preferred by a lot of people (especially those who come from a Nexus device). Also, a lot of people don't like the look/feel of Sense and will therefore want to change the UI to something which is more preferable to them.
I, for example, have never tried Sense before and could quite possibly hate it once I finally test it. On the flip side of that, I may love it but at least custom ROMs will give me the ability to completely change the UI whilst giving me a ton more customizations and optimizations than a custom launcher would do.
*As mentioned at the end of the first reason, customization is a huge part of what a lot of people do with their devices. For example, when I had my SGS2 I used to love the ability to flash a simple ROM and have a ton of customization at my fingertips, so I could edit the look of my phone to my hearts content.
*Some people are simply flashaholics and have ORD (Obsessive ROM-flashing/updating Disorder). I'll normally flash every ROM in sight if the device is new and there aren't many ROMs available yet. This way it gives me a good early decision as to what type of ROM I'd prefer on said device. However, once the device starts getting more development and more ROMs start appearing in quick succession, I'll then make my mind up about which ROM to choose and generally won't change ROM for the vast majority of the devices lifetime.
Got a HTC? Join the HTC Hangout Thread
I unlocked, rooted and flashed now because in a few months time the phone will be setup perfectly; all the right apps, all the right data, all in the right place (and HTC might of discovered a way to do a Sensation on us (S-Off))
With the phone rooted I can be relatively confident of getting it back to my currently backed up state after any major updates (and, when I finally install some games, get their progress restored as well)
Sent from my Tricked out HTC One via xda-developers application
Sense means HTC. I don't see any reason to buy HTC if I'm not gonna use sense.
Because HTC makes great hardware. I buy HTC exclusively, but I rip sense off it ASAP and put AOKP or CM or something without sense. Nexus devices are generally not top of the line hardware, they're supposed to be a benchmark for development (i.e. midrange). That said, N4 has more impressive specs than usual, but I can't imagine buying an LG phone. I have never realized LG even made smartphones, only flip phones until the N4 was released.
Still, HTC makes best hardware, I just generally don't like sense. That said, sense 5 does look interesting.
Sent from my EVO LTE using xda premium
Having options is nice!
Dharkan said:
Sense means HTC. I don't see any reason to buy HTC if I'm not gonna use sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To a certain extent, yes, I agree with you on that statement. However, sometimes you just need a change and it is nice to have the option of running AOSP roms as well. I would much rather go back and forth between Sense/AOSP than TouchWiz/AOSP after having my GS3.
No. Roms are for old devices. Lol
Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 2
I purchased the HTC one from a sprint store. It is the M7_wls hboot 1.44.00. I promptly rooted it by unlocking the bootloader with fastboot and installed TWRP and cyanogenmod 10, since I used and loved cyanogenmod7 for 3 years on my EVO before physical damage and processing inferiority finally made me throw in the towel. It was perfect. beautiful. best device and ROM combo I ever saw. The HTC one and cyanogen 10: a match made in heaven. But then, quite unexpectedly, after allowing the phone to die on a job site one day, it would not take a charge. The good news is that sprint will not attempt to open the phone and so no unrooting was necessary to replace it. In fact they did it there in the store since I was within fourteen days of the original purchase date. No removable battery! It was their contention, and I tend to agree, that it simply became unseated within the case, although I hadn't dropped it. fine. new phone. I once again unlocked the bootloader and installed TWRP and cyanogenmod 10. used it for a day (which was quite cold and humid, but I was inside primarily) and the audio stopped working. No music, no in-call audio. While frantically texting customers, I managed to download the nightly cyanogen update and flash it. My in-call audio came back, but ringtones, notifications, music, games and all other possible audio remained null.
I unrooted it by running the RUU in a virtual machine (I use a mac) and, even returned to stock, no sound. In-call audio remained (thank god). I took it in again and after the obligatory sea of clerical errors, sprint ordered me a new one. I really don't want to go through this again. I love the phone, but business is suffering. Is it possible that either of these issues were my fault? I've heard the inside of the M7 is quite convoluted and littered with coaxial cables like older HTCs and I did drop the second one twice. It had a nice case and simply slid out of the angled, inside breast pocket of my coat maybe three feet onto the floor each time. No such occurrence on the first. It makes sense what some are saying that the sound card simply became disconnected inside the case, but now I'm wondering if I'm mussing the root up somehow. My new phone will be here in a few days and I'm simply never going to use Sense 5. I'd rather eat discarded blowpops out of a sandbox. How can I make sure this doesn't happen again? Is it possible that these are both hardware defects and I'm the most unlucky customer ever? I see minimal cases of the latter issue occurring on the stock ROM, but it does happen. Usually it is fixable however. Mine was definitely not. Are these phones as unreliable as they have been for me? They seem to really impress even the picky crowd, so I'm thinking no. Help! Were these really both hardware issues, or did I mess them up?
Longest post I've ever seen. LOL
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
I would unlock, root, and S-off your new device as soon as you get it, and try something different. CM10 is pretty outdated as it is, and even if you are hesitant to go to a newer version for fear of having a less stable experience, there are plenty of 10.2 ROMs that should be stable. Not only that, but there are numerous stock-based ROMs that will offer a great user experience with the ability to disable sense or remove it completely. RENOVATE is a great choice for that sort of experience. If you are looking to try something new, my latest build of Beanstalk is 4.4.2, CM based, and offers a lot of custom features not found in most other ROMs here at M7SPR. It does have some small bugs here and there, but nothing that impedes your ability to use it as a daily driver. Not pimping my own build, mind you, just offering options. So, give something new a try and hope for the best is my advice. Oh, and try harder not to drop the damn thing.
Happy Holidays!
derp
elvisypi said:
Longest post I've ever seen. LOL
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, sorry for the verbosity. I think I may have a problem 19th century British dramas.
hey thanks!
BMP7777 said:
I would unlock, root, and S-off your new device as soon as you get it, and try something different. CM10 is pretty outdated as it is, and even if you are hesitant to go to a newer version for fear of having a less stable experience, there are plenty of 10.2 ROMs that should be stable. Not only that, but there are numerous stock-based ROMs that will offer a great user experience with the ability to disable sense or remove it completely. RENOVATE is a great choice for that sort of experience. If you are looking to try something new, my latest build of Beanstalk is 4.4.2, CM based, and offers a lot of custom features not found in most other ROMs here at M7SPR. It does have some small bugs here and there, but nothing that impedes your ability to use it as a daily driver. Not pimping my own build, mind you, just offering options. So, give something new a try and hope for the best is my advice. Oh, and try harder not to drop the damn thing.
Happy Holidays!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice!:highfive: Out of curiosity, why do you say to get s-off instead of just HTCdev unlock? Also, I find alot of files that I assume are for the m7wls with m7spr in the title. I don't really not follow most of what people have posted about the different modes and titles, but I gather that as long as the ROM says m7 and is a CDMA version I'm good? I'm going to superglue this new one to my hand. not really. I need to be more careful though. never had a nice phone before. I would like one that has kitkat... I never had that phase of, "I hope I don't mess my phone up," with the EVO, but I like the one so much that I find I'm apprehensive about ROMs now. For the sake of calming my paranoia, what do you think the likelihood is that either of those issues had to do with CM10? It feels low to me since I unrooted and the problem persisted on the second one. Do you use your kitkat mod? I kinda do want kitkat and I'm such a fan of CM. admittedly partially because I like the color, but still. I like it. Where can I download?
Up top, this isn't a "best ROM" or "what should I run" sort of thread. It's also a topic that can easily provoke rage so please don't think that I'm trying to convince anyone of one thing or another. This is just me being curious.
After starting with Android a few years ago, I've noticed an increasing amount of "flashing fatigue" setting in lately. Sure, I'll root (because I have a lot of utility apps that require root), but the appeal of custom ROMs is fading fast. The Google Edition port was my latest (and longest standing) ROM for my One, and before that I'd tried one or two stock-derivative ROMs (save one bad AOSP experience back when we had sleep of death going on). I'm back to stock now, and trying a "fuller" experience (no launcher replacement, etc.-- minus root, again, for some XPosed tweaks like disabling the NFC icon).
This phone's now been out a while, so I'm curious: how many of you have "settled down" so to speak on one side or the other?
The first Android I owned was an Epic 4G and then Epic 4G Touch. Both left a ton to be deaired from a software standpoint and I easily flashed 3 dozen or more different roms between those two phones.
Flash forward to the HTC One and I've never felt the need to leave the stock ROM. I do use the Google Experience Launcher and have replaces some of the stock apps with better versions from 3rd party devs, but honestly I don't really see a point. Performance, battery life and functionality all seem to have hit a perfect balance with this phone. And like you suggested, the fatigue of flashing is really heavy these days especially since I'm not looking to fix a flaw or add a feature. Although once a working KitKat ROM hits us I will probably root and flash just to get a feel. Though admittedly I've always found the bone stock look of Android to be lacking visually.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
The very first phone I flashed over to a custom firmware was the LG G2X from T-Mobile. The android experience on that phone was very tasteless and bloated. Support from LG was less than non-existent. I found that I couldn't really stand using the phone on stock so I flashed a few different roms until I landed on eaglesblood. Although there was a lot broken on eaglesblood, I found it an upgrade to stock. Fast forward like Adam described and I have been on the HTC One for nearly 6 months. In that time I have flashed perhaps a few custom roms. In the end, I reverted back to stock. The One is a solid phone from both a software and hardware stand-point. I find myself checking my BlinkFeed a few times an hour and if I am on a senseless ROM I feel lost without it.
Tl;dr I have no need to ever leave stock. Stock rooted is good enough for me.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
I've been running RageOne and have found it to be more than enough from what I need for my HTC one
Same here. I started with Hero, then Evo Shift, Evo 3D, Evo 4G LTE and now The One. I previously always rooted and flashed multiple roms until found one that like and stable enough for daily use. With the One, I honestly haven't done nothing to it. I find it prefect for everyday use. No problem was so ever. At times I feel weird because I never had an HTC or android phone for less than a week without rooting it and etc, but with the One no need since good as is.
I know also pending amount of developers we have currently since most leave to develop in other phones or carrier based phone model is what we can choose from roms available which is less than the other carrier model.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
The HTC One is my first non Nexus smartphone, so dealing with all the bloat that comes with Sense and stock has been hard for me. When I was using my Nexus S 4G I used Slim Rom and loved it for its minimal nature and stuck with it. Slim bean 4.3 stable has been a great rom for me, though now that the 4.4 builds are out I've found them more suitable for a daily driver. Slimkat is awesome and I personally cant wait for it to reach stable. Minimal is my cup of tea, add in Google Experience Launcher and I'm one happy guy.
I had a Hero, then a whole bunch of Shift4G's. Rooted all of those because I could make them noticeably faster, increase the battery life, and get rid of apps I didn't use.
With the One, it's already fast enough that I wouldn't notice an increase much. The battery life is great for the way I use it, I recently had a stretch that was nearly 40 hours off the charger (obviously I didn't use it a heck of a lot during that time). And being able to hide the apps I don't want from the app drawer means I forget they're even there. Because of that, I haven't seen a good reason to put a different ROM on this phone...yet
i want the new look. and enjoy new features. i have never seen a boot loop. so i cant take risk of that. though everyday bugs are okay. as i have other devices. id be okay? as in from boot loops or soft or hard bricks? Thanks.
No, definitely not. I don't know what your Android experience is, but from your comments and the "junior member" tag (not a reliable indicator, I know), plus the fact that you've never had a bootloop (lucky!) I'm guessing that it's not much.
I've had Nexus devices for several years and I'm sort of comfortable with upgrading and fixing, so I tried the Android N preview. I lasted about a week. Far too many things were broken - many apps have not been upgraded, and probably won't be until we're far closer to the final release.
So unless you want to ruin your day-to-day experience with one non-working app after another, have patience and wait at least until the second preview, and even then wait to read in these forums about how many problems still remain.
As to new features and new look - minimal, and not worth the aggravation, in my opinion.
But there you go - others may have a different opinion - you'll have to decide for yourself, of course.
akholicc said:
i want the new look. and enjoy new features. i have never seen a boot loop. so i cant take risk of that. though everyday bugs are okay. as i have other devices. id be okay? as in from boot loops or soft or hard bricks? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say a minimum for checking out the preview is:
-leave the bootloader unlocked
-Know how to flash a factory image on a per image basis (no flash-all.bat)
-Have 0 critical data on the thing, if you wipe it you lose nothing you care about. Keep in mind even camera photos, sms history, small things like that. (btw N preview is very very buggy trying to take pictures on any app I got force closes everytime I opened google camera, lcamera, or open camera)
When the marshmallow preview came out I put it on my N5, it was just a table weight at the point when the preview came out as I had my N6. Now with the N preview I went and charged ahead putting it on my daily use device, and it "worked" but a LOT of apps weren't working correctly, many games Bloons monkey city, hill climb racing, etc crashed randomly or didn't open at all, some other apps like Dish anywhere, yahoo messenger, google camera, UPS, etc didn't work either. MXplayer was running every video in super safe Software decoding mode.
The transitions and animations were pretty awful on stock kernel, only kernel I found to work well was 2.95GHz Elementalx (running on ondemand and yes I noticed slightly smoother performance because ondemand shoots to max frequency under any load) or Elite Kernel with Blu-active governor (highly recommend elite though smoothest kernel I've seen.) And under any kernel the device ran much hotter than Marshmallow, I could only get 2.5 hours of mid brightness SD youtube over wifi from 100 to 0 battery (I can easily exceed that with a stock N5...) and again device ran hot on stock kernel doing that.
SOoo if your N6 is your sideline phone go for it, it'll dirty flash over stock and I didn't see any improvement from clean flashing :/. But seriously this preview is more buggy than the first Lollipop preview was imo.
Long story short I'm back on Marshmallow PureNexus + Elite kernel. Much smoothness and back to my cool running 4 hour screen time every day phone that sleeps like a baby . (granted that could just be more of not running stock but I went from Marshmallow xposed gravitybox stock rom and N was buggier w/ more random reboots and freezups.
Make sure to read the sticky`s thread (in my signature) for usefull and lifesaving threads about flashing etc etc and getting some basic knowledge you will need before you tinker with your phone, after that unlock the bootloader and backup important files just to be sure and then enroll to the google beta thread.
-Edit- first backup off course and then unlock the bootloader. Btw for a first release its quite stable and fluent, the 2nd release should come within a week i guess.
dahawthorne said:
No, definitely not. I don't know what your Android experience is, but from your comments and the "junior member" tag (not a reliable indicator, I know), plus the fact that you've never had a bootloop (lucky!) I'm guessing that it's not much.
I've had Nexus devices for several years and I'm sort of comfortable with upgrading and fixing, so I tried the Android N preview. I lasted about a week. Far too many things were broken - many apps have not been upgraded, and probably won't be until we're far closer to the final release.
So unless you want to ruin your day-to-day experience with one non-working app after another, have patience and wait at least until the second preview, and even then wait to read in these forums about how many problems still remain.
As to new features and new look - minimal, and not worth the aggravation, in my opinion.
But there you go - others may have a different opinion - you'll have to decide for yourself, of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks man. so i guess i should wait for more stable build.
StykerB said:
I'd say a minimum for checking out the preview is:
-leave the bootloader unlocked
-Know how to flash a factory image on a per image basis (no flash-all.bat)
-Have 0 critical data on the thing, if you wipe it you lose nothing you care about. Keep in mind even camera photos, sms history, small things like that. (btw N preview is very very buggy trying to take pictures on any app I got force closes everytime I opened google camera, lcamera, or open camera)
When the marshmallow preview came out I put it on my N5, it was just a table weight at the point when the preview came out as I had my N6. Now with the N preview I went and charged ahead putting it on my daily use device, and it "worked" but a LOT of apps weren't working correctly, many games Bloons monkey city, hill climb racing, etc crashed randomly or didn't open at all, some other apps like Dish anywhere, yahoo messenger, google camera, UPS, etc didn't work either. MXplayer was running every video in super safe Software decoding mode.
The transitions and animations were pretty awful on stock kernel, only kernel I found to work well was 2.95GHz Elementalx (running on ondemand and yes I noticed slightly smoother performance because ondemand shoots to max frequency under any load) or Elite Kernel with Blu-active governor (highly recommend elite though smoothest kernel I've seen.) And under any kernel the device ran much hotter than Marshmallow, I could only get 2.5 hours of mid brightness SD youtube over wifi from 100 to 0 battery (I can easily exceed that with a stock N5...) and again device ran hot on stock kernel doing that.
SOoo if your N6 is your sideline phone go for it, it'll dirty flash over stock and I didn't see any improvement from clean flashing :/. But seriously this preview is more buggy than the first Lollipop preview was imo.
Long story short I'm back on Marshmallow PureNexus + Elite kernel. Much smoothness and back to my cool running 4 hour screen time every day phone that sleeps like a baby . (granted that could just be more of not running stock but I went from Marshmallow xposed gravitybox stock rom and N was buggier w/ more random reboots and freezups.
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thanks for detailed reply sir. i decided to wait untill some stable build comes. as i dont know anything about flashing. im too afraid to even try. :crying: thanks though:good::good:
If you do decide to register for the N preview, you'll eventually get an OTA update which will apply the N over your existing M and you'll lose nothing.
BUT...
I think I've read a couple of threads where people have accepted the OTA and it hasn't worked, and they hadn't unlocked their bootloaders and therefore have no phone at all. As a bare minimum, if you're going to try the preview, you should unlock the bootloader so that you have at least a fighting chance of installing a new ROM if there's a problem.
Normally root prevents OTAs, but strangely it worked fine on my rooted N6. Maybe the systemless root fooled it...
BUT...
If you unlock the bootloader, you'll lose all your data - it wipes the phone, so back up photos, SMS, etc.
And if you're not confident about doing this, then I stick with my original answer - don't touch N at all until the final factory release around October.
(P.S. A plea to everyone in these forums. Don't reply to a simple 1-page thread post copying the entire post to which you're replying. I've already read the original - I don't need to read it again. Copy the original post only where necessary - e.g. if it's on a previous page. And even then copy only the point to which you're replying, not the entire post. The result will be clearer and shorter threads which will be more enjoyable to read.)
i'm going to wait for the factory release. Thanks again. and sure no problem ill keep that in mind.
These are horrible answers
These are horrible answers by people who themselves don't know enough about the subject to give any advice, for example, the first gentleman referred to your XDA member status to partially determine your knowledge on the subject. Consider mine, i have a senior member account, and i have now started this one which i use when i want to have some quiet time. It is annoying that there are some who think that after they have learned to flash a ROM on their Nexus device (the easiest device to flash) that they are part of some exclusive club in which their first duty is to deter any would be members from ever wanting to join. These people should be praising you for your interest, not deterring you from it.
That being said, here is my opinion on your question, you have a Nexus device so you probably have some sort of interest in Android or AOSP in general, so start learning all that you can about it. You're main focus should be in researching your bootloader unlock, fastboot, ADB, and your custom recovery of choice... (My preference is TWRP). Once you have your custom recovery in place and have made a full backup with it, there is little you can do to ruin your device, just make sure to never touch the recovery partition again until you are a little more knowledgeable. Once you feel like you have done the research you need, than take a crack at it. We all had to take the leap at one point or another. It isn't rocket science, these people are not smarter than you are, and its no big deal if you aren't happy with the new version, worst case scenario is you wipe and re flash. You said you have other devices in case yours has a hiccup and takes a day or so to come back, so just have fun with it. Good luck and feel free to pm me if you need any info or help.
S1CAR1US said:
These are horrible answers .
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I agree.. I never signed up for the beta program(unless flashing N automatically enrolled me).. At the minimum unlock the bootloader.. Learn what you can and give it a shot. My experience with N has been almost perfect. All the apps I use work, I've installed my magpie transparent theme, camera opens normally, not one unintended reboot. I like N a lot. I came from pureNexus rom. Losing a device or two might come with the learning experience(I lost one Evo & Evo Lte) but I have more knowledge because I learned along the way. Go for it!!
its very easy..
if you want a N ota(all the N previews), then sign up. if you could care less about otas, then dont sign up. all signing up will do is let you get a N ota.
Uh oh..another 'horrible answer' coming up!
Depends. How badly do you NEED your phone? Do you use it for important business? Can you afford it to be 'down' for any length of time? What are your expectations..root?Adaway?TWRP? etc. Will your desired themes/layers/tweaks work on N? I cannot answer these questions for you, and no one else can. It's all a balancing act between risk and stability..some of us live on the edge, some should have no shame in waiting for stability.
And this may help people to decide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/help/unlock-bootloader-t3356276
If you don't know what you're doing, just don't do it. Simple.
Slight deviation from the topic but can i accept the N ota if I am stock rooted? Will it work and will I lose root?
Depends on the root. I was rooted with (as I remember, may be wrong) SuperSU v2.67 and to my astonishment the OTA worked. You will lose root, but it's simple to restore.
But read the warnings above - unless you're really experienced and can fix your phone the risk outweighs the small benefits, in my opinion, especially if you do it now when the second preview will be available shortly.
And whether you do or not, unlock your bootloader so that if you have problems you have at least a fighting chance of recovering your phone.
And note - UNLOCKING YOUR BOOTLOADER WIPES YOUR PHONE.
Thanks for the detailed response. My bootloader is unlocked already so at least that bit us done. I rooted just before the April update came out. Happy to lose root and try to get it back once the ota has been installed as there isn't much I use it for anyways.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
Heck yes. That is the joy of having a Nexus
I'm still running preview 1 and it's cool and all but, the lag gets pretty frustrating. I would at least wait until preview 2 if you're really feeling it.