Database Develop

[Q] Purchase decision, but many questions unanswered

I currently own a HTC Wildfire, which is decent for the most part, but I'm missing some features...and I saw a heavy price drop for Nexus One, but I cant find enough information about it (all reviews seem to be highly outdated and based on the initial Android 2.1 version)...so I would like to ask a few questions:
What is the latest Android (official) version available for it?
Is it still a supported device (as in will it receive future updates or they declared that it's at it's last one)?
How good is the Flash Player 10.1 support? Is it comparable to desktop use (can play videos on all pages or if the video is high quality it'll freeze and stuff)?
How good are the games on it? Mostly referring to games such as Asphalt, Angry Birds, Order of Chaos and other "quality" games (not just the basic ones)...if possible a compatibility list or examples of the game-quality would be greatly appreciated.
[IMPORTANT] I heard there was mo multi-touch support...is it true?
Any notable flaws or features that make it better than other devices (of the same rank that is, not the latest models)?
The price I'm being offered is 140€, which is still a lot for me (with this economy =| ), so I would like to get informed before making a decision...anyone can help?
Thanks in advance!

Can only answer some of your questions.
1. The latest official version is Gingerbread 2.3.6. Released a few weeks ago
2. Not sure at the moment. I believe Ice Cream Sandwich (future release) can run on the Nexus S, so there is a chance it might show up on the Nexus One. If not, there will probably be a ROM from the devs.
3. Flash gets updated regularly from the market. Not sure it's fair to compare a phone to a desktop. So far it's going fine for me.
6. There are some notable hardware issues. The power button has been known to fail. There's also an issue with touch response that occurs every so often. Turning off the screen and turning it back on solves it. It's the biggest annoyance for me.

[*]What is the latest Android (official) version available for it?
[*]Is it still a supported device (as in will it receive future updates or they declared that it's at it's last one)?
[*]How good is the Flash Player 10.1 support? Is it comparable to desktop use (can play videos on all pages or if the video is high quality it'll freeze and stuff)?
[*]How good are the games on it? Mostly referring to games such as Asphalt, Angry Birds, Order of Chaos and other "quality" games (not just the basic ones)...if possible a compatibility list or examples of the game-quality would be greatly appreciated.
[*][IMPORTANT] I heard there was mo multi-touch support...is it true?
[*]Any notable flaws or features that make it better than other devices (of the same rank that is, not the latest models)?
1. As mentioned by Liko, 2.3.6 is the latest official Android version for the N1. If you go with custom ROMs, the 2.3.7 is available through CyanogenMod on some of their later nightlies.
2. It is unknown how far the support for the N1 will go. People were speculating that it may not receive the Gingerbread update (which, obviously, isn't true). Google has not specified whether or not the N1 will receive ICS, although, I believe that it will get it. But even after official support dies, there will always be custom ROMs that will allow it to keep going (the G1 officially supports 1.6, but through developers, they have gotten it to support a limited version of 2.3).
3. Flash on phones will never be as robust as flash on desktops. There can never be support for mouseovers, and the lack of a mouse can make things difficult. Also, some sites just don't support the on phones (I know roosterteeth.com used to be one, I don't know if it has changed). But 99% of the times I have needed flash support (I enable it only when I need it), it has worked.
4. Gaming doesn't seem to be an issue with a few exceptions. Multi-touch does exist with the phone, but it is a poor implementation that does have issues sometimes. Most of the time I don't have issues with it, but sometimes with a game like SliceIt, when you are trying to use multi-touch, it goes all screwy. Other than multi-touch, the only thing that limits the N1 is a lack of more recent hardware. Some games out there require the Tegra2 processor, so those obviously won't work. But I have played all Angry Birds, Yoo Ninja, SliceIt, Cut the Rope, Death Worm, Fruit Ninja, Reckless Racing and more. I haven't ever come across performance issues other than the touch screen limitations listed above.
5. As I mentioned above, the phone does have multi-touch support. It is there, and 90% of the time it works great. I never seem to have issues with pinch-to-zoom. The main time you run into issues is when you are needing specific points that are close to a straight line on an x or y axis. It can be very spotty then.
6. There is a possibility of the powerbutton failing due to a design flaw. Most people try to find ways to minimize that by using things like Trackball Wake, and widgets and/or apps to turn off the screen and rebooting/shutting off the device. There are the multi-touch issues I mentioned above, along with sometimes the screen will just go "screwy". It is hard to explain, but just turning off the screen and turning it right back on will reset it, and it will work again. And the phone is extremely limited with internal space.
But, I do love my phone. It will be extremely hard to part with it. The AMOLED screen (if you happen to get it) is gorgeous. The phone is still quick even though it is getting close to 2 years old. It is built very well and has taken quite a few drops like a champ. Trackball notifications are AMAZING! I still don't understand why more manufacturers have not used this. The official car and home docks are very solid and I love that they have built-in connectors for those docks. And if you throw a custom ROM on there, like CyanogenMod, the phone gets 10x better.
Now with all that being said, I don't know if I can honestly recommend this phone. The biggest reason is because of its age. It does still hold up well to newer devices, but those new devices are still better. Whether they have better battery life, more internal space, or better performance. The N1 still holds its own, but it is starting to show its age.

OnePlus 3 [Encrypted vs Unencrypted] [Benchmark Results & Discussion]

Hey XDA.
So I'm guessing I'm not the only one wondering if the OnePlus 3 benefits or not from coming with storage encryption by default as per Android Marshmallow OEM requirements. So I put a little experiment together and decided to share my results with the XDA OP3 community.
Disclaimer
None of the results here should be taken as an absolute, as always these tests are flawed and should be taken with a grain of salt, the whole idea of this was to see if disabling encryption would boost "performance" on the device.
Testing Methodology
To attempt to reduce differences that could affect results between both testing scenarios (Encryption enabled and disabled) I followed a set of rules perfoming these tests:
Both scenarios had the phone with the same amount of data that is to say, same apps installed and files on sdcard as to replicate results on an equal and real environemnt (not freshly restored device with no data or apps)
Tests were run back to back for each set of tests. after the first set (Boot Time) there was a 3 minute period for the phone to cool down before perfoming the second set (Antutu) etc.
First all tests were run with encryption enabled after disabling encryption and restoring all apps and data a period of time (5-6min) was taken to ensure device was cool again before tests for the second scenario were started.
Boot Time was done by starting timer as soon as power button was held and holding until OnePlus Logo and Name appeared on screen, timer was stopped as soon as Lockscreen rendered.
Results
Oneplus 3
Encrypted------------------------------------------- Un-Encrypted
Boot Time
0:30:82-------------------------------------------0:30:32
0:34:44-------------------------------------------0:28:98
0:30:78-------------------------------------------0:29:54
0:34:79-------------------------------------------0:28:32
0:34:28-------------------------------------------0:28:15
Median 1,2,3,4,5
M 33:02-------------------------------------------M 29:06 +12%
Boot Time saw a 12% benefit from Unencrypted storage which I expected but in my opinion isn't as big as a difference when compared to other devices with and without encryption before the Snapdragon 820
Antutu
stuck at 70%------------------------------------ 143698
143297------------------------------------------- 143213
141531-------------------------------------------- 142985
141849------------------------------------------- 142895
141501------------------------------------------- 142502
Median 2,3,4,5
M 142045-------------------------------------------M 142899 +0.60%
The first test performed on the encrypted scenario got stuck at 70% and as to not skew results the first scores for both scenarios were ignored when calculating median, here we can see a 0.60% increase in performance for the unencrypted scenario which in my opinion is too small of a difference to draw a correlation between encrypted and unencrypted and worth mentionting is that anyway I believe no significant differences would be tested and found here between both scenarios because of the way encryption works.
Geekbench
2409-----------------------------------------2396
5620-----------------------------------------5597
2433-----------------------------------------2406
5591-----------------------------------------5628
2428------------------------------------------2392
5587----------------------------------------- 5578
2439-----------------------------------------2390
5643-----------------------------------------5581
2431------------------------------------------2391
5569-----------------------------------------5544
Median 1,2,3,4,5
M 2428-----------------------------------------M 2395 -1.35%
M 5602--------------------------------------------M 5586 -0.28%
Here we can observe a decrease in performance of 1.35% in single core results and 0.28% in multi-core results which again in my opinion does not amount to anything noticeable in day to day usage and I believe is not the result of encrypted or unencrypted storage differences
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Conclusion
Based on these results and this personal experience only, I conclude that for me the only benefit of unencrypting my storage was a shorter boot time (~4sec) and performance wise there is little to no difference at all, and while the security benefits of Android encryption are questionable to say the least. some employers/companies require this to be enabled at all times, and since in these results the differences are so miniscule, there would be at a glance no reason to not stay encrypted if you already are. Although a more in depth testing methodology and cases where storage read/write speeds were predominant would be ideal to maybe see significant differences between performance of encrypted and unencrypted storage, I presume this would not affect a regular user enough to warrant the reformating of all user data if the storage is already encrypted, which will probably be the common state of Android phones that are coming out now and in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviously this will not replicate the same experience anyone can have so I encourage anyone to reply to this thread with their personal experience on the matter, what is your opinion on encryption? and if you find this post helpful somehow remember to hit the thanks button on my post or any other user that replies helpfully to you. Thanks.

Android's Full-Disk Encryption (FDE) Can Be Cracked on Qualcomm-Based Devices
http://news.softpedia.com/news/andr...racked-on-qualcomm-based-devices-505900.shtml
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"Although Beniamini is working with both Qualcomm as well as Google, the core of the issue might not be completely fixable and might even require new hardware changes to fix. "
http://thehackernews.com/2016/07/hacking-android-encryption.html
******
I don't know what to think.
Why encrypt when everyone and their mother can crack it?
Seems like our device will never have 'Apple-grade' encryption.

gruntyoldbag said:
Android's Full-Disk Encryption (FDE) Can Be Cracked on Qualcomm-Based Devices
http://news.softpedia.com/news/andr...racked-on-qualcomm-based-devices-505900.shtml
****
I don't know what to think.
Why encrypt when everyone and their mother can crack it?
Seems like our device will never have 'Apple-grade' encryption.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"According to Duo Security, 57% of all Android devices, from the company's internal data set, are vulnerable to this attack, the rest having Google's May Android security update installed, which patched CVE-2016-2431, or just don't use a Qualcomm chip."
so if you have the latest OOS which has the June 1st patch, your safe. For now. hackers are always one step ahead, but the chances of your or my device being hacked are slim to none. Look at stagefright, not one single incident.
Nice that they put the script on GitHub tho... And "Apple-grade encryption" means absolutely squat. How do you think iCloud images leak onto the internet?

Read the admentment to my post above.
Also iCloud images leaked because of weak passwords / guessing security questions on the web.
Certainly not because of a weak OS/Chipset.

gruntyoldbag said:
Read the admentment to my post above.
Also iCloud images leaked because of weak passwords / guessing security questions on the web.
Certainly not because of a weak OS/Chipset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that all systems are vulnerable to attackers at some level, even the ones considered the "most" secure (paypal, banks etc.) can and have been hacked.
Apple devices are no more or no less secure than android, (5.0+) both systems have their weaknesses and can be brute force attacked. A lot of security experts are suggesting the Nexus devices to be used if security is a concern as they at least get monthly updates. Nice thing about that is AOSP gets updated around the same time, so custom roms that are kept up to date with the latest merges reap the same benefits as a Nexus device.
FYI: I'm not trying to sound preachy/rude/short or anything, I had a heated argument this morning with my companies IT department as they still want us to use iPhone 5S/BBZ10's instead of new Nexus/Samsung devices.. (our plan is up for renewal)

Well if I understand correctly it requires bruteforcing the password/pin.... I suggest to encrypt but also use a strong password. There's no 100% safe security anyway. It depends of your 'adversary' too. For most users it's not the NSA. So even if the protection is not perfect a strong password should be good enough. You can use the fingerprint reader too (and switch off the phone in some situations, like crossing borders...).

It's a bit concerning that some responding to this OP are basically making light of the very, very serious vulnerabilities mentioned in the above links. Obviously Apple, at least as of the writing of the above articles, seems to have better system for FDE. Especially on their newer chipsets. I really hope that Qualcomm and Google figure out some sort of work around for this for our 820, but also the other QC SoCs that are currently supported.
No, my adversary is not the NSA or other intel agencies(hopefully). I would like a (highly?) reliable method of disk encryption that actually works and isn't compromised in detail on a blog post along with a whole bunch of scripts and code and the developer of hashcat posting in the comments section with goal of collaborating on way to further optimize the attack and integrate into the HC code base.
Call me paranoid but I'll never be any company's, corporation's, organization's or developer's fanboy... IMO I AM THE PAYING CUSTOMER. DELIVER OR **** OFF.
I love Android and OOS is a very true interpretation but as far as security goes this NEEDS to be fixed ASAP in one way or another. Too bad we can't get a copperOS ROM. Even if we had that for the OP3 it appears that the issues are largely the result of QC's implementation of the "TrustedZone".

How to disable encryption?

what would be more interesting are actual i/o speeds before and after encryption not crappy antutu and geekbench, im not gonna get horny of benchmarks from antutu like alot of people do, but read and write speeds are different, i might get a semi

how can i remove this Encryption from recovery????

It does not sound negligibile at all. Why didnt you test with large app starts and app installation. I, for instance, accidentally encrypted my op3t and i noticed by seeing that a game was being installed for an unusually long time.

Thanks. I'm not going to bother with trying to stay unencrypted from now on after seeing this. I always seem to mess the process up and end up encrypted, lol. Like my current ROM. I know the other day I looked and was not encrypted. Now I am. I have no idea what I did but I certainly didn't do it on purpose. I don't care about boot or install times since I don't do that much anyway.

Guys go for unencrypted gives best performance + f2fs for data and cahe both.

The limits of Tasker

TASKER can do so, so, so much, but the same time, there are some very grey, very hazy limitations to what Tasker can do. What you can do varies from phone to phone and some of the cooler examples you'll see require a rooted phone. Beyond devices, the biggest limitation Tasker can face is your time — how much of it are you willing to spend to do this stuff? I've spent weeks fine-tuning my precious alarm after I switch phones, but that alarm also gives me something nothing else on Android can.
That's the heart of Tasker. It can work Android magic, if you're willing to take the time to understand the logistics and the programming behind it. That magic tests the limits of Android and the limits of user ingenuity, and if you're willing to suspend your disbelief, it can leave you in awe.

Bummed out
Tasker allows you to create an apk that can supposedly be run on another device. Besides most projects not working on any other device, the most limiting thing about Tasker is it's scene building ability. I can't believe that after this many years, scenes are still broken. Go ahead and spend a few days laying out your perfectly placed elements just to destroy all of your hard work with an accidental touch and not having an undo button. Better yet, try experimenting with a simple resolution change and your scene will never be the same again. So much for sharing your awesome project with anyone else. At least it will give you plenty to do the next time you accidentally change your resolution on your device. Tasker is great for doing tiny things with your phone, but you should look elsewhere if you plan on creating a full fledged App.

Trying To Understand Android Radio Customizations Possibilities

Hello,
I am new here and have no experience programming Android systems. I am looking at buying an Android platform in dash radio unit that has some hard key buttons and hard hey knobs.
I don't know if this differs from other Android platforms such as a cellular telephone or a tablet but here's what I am wanting to accomplish (I am under the impression anything is possible since it's just a computer program comprised of 1s and 0s but I'm sure all of you will set me straight).
Okay so essentially I would like to customize the interface, easy enough I know lot of people accomplish that, perhaps only rooting would be required... however I think my vision is more complicated than most. My intent is to create a vector cartoon image of my vehicle, during boot I would like to have the image load on the screen and as the booting phase is progressing (like a status indicator) different lights will turn on, and perhaps have some audio that plays. Then on the home screen I would like to have the same image (or similar) with different status indicators shown, which lights are on, if the vehicle is running, TPMS values, also time of day would be reflected with either a sun progressing across the sky from Sun rise to sun set, then the moon will come out with Northern Lights dancing in the sky. While driving perhaps the wheels could turn.
So yes to me it seems highly ambitious and very in-depth. All of that information will be available to the unit via other applications except for the lighting which I could route through separate circuitry (perhaps through a USB interface??) unless there's another?
My intent is not to open the unit or rebuild it physically. But rooting, reprogramming, flashing, and wiring outside of the unit I am comfortable with.
I believe that's a good start for now, I appreciate your time.
P.S. I don't mind learning and doing the work myself, I am starting from scratch though. Is this viable? Would it be expensive to pay someone? Is it even possible?
I have left out the brand and product because I'm assuming it wouldn't matter, it is running Android 8.0, 4G+32G, 8-core CPU, it has the hard buttons and is touch screen.

Sorry, there is another feature I was looking at having. It has a dedicated hard key "Navigation" button. I was hoping to have two or three specific navigation applications, that as I press that button, it will jump to the last used application, and with each button press it will cycle through all the other 'designated' gps applications.
Also I might want to customize some other hard key button functions, but that's the major one, so I am hoping/assuming it can be done in the first place.
Also simple default startup options, running programs, screens and layout.
Thank you for your time and knowledge.

No one even has any advice or help or anything constructive?
Am I posting this question in the right forum?
Usually forums aren't this quiet. ?

What your looking to do sounds like it would require a decent amount Android programing knowledge. If your starting from scratch with no experience in programing or building Android applications I do not think it's worth your time.
Yes the headunits run a mostly normal version of Android with some customization to do things like interact with the can bus and play Bluetooth audio.

Thank you for the reply, so for an experienced programmer, is this reasonably achievable?
Would it be with contacting someone to do this?

Help disabling or finding another workaround for the recent apps screen due to its use in getting around productivity app blockers.

Hi,
I'm new to the forum, but I have a problem that seems too specific to be able to look for advice anywhere else. I have a Samsung S10 5g with Exynos SoC.
I have ADHD that can severely hamper my ability to do focused work when I can't eliminate distractions. Life has changed to the point that I can't get around without a smart phone (I couldn't log into my work account without using 2FA on a mobile app as the only option, for example), but I recently discovered that the paid version of BlockSite actually did quite a good job of locking down my phone with the option to unlock it by a password known only to my wife whenever that's needed.
That worked well for me for several months, and productivity soared as did the quality of my relationship. The problem is, the app has to be airtight. When ADHD brain pain sets in, nothing else matters to me more than breaking into my phone to mindlessly browse and ease the pain. And after a few months I was regularly spam tapping on apps on my recently viewed apps screen to try and force it to stay open. It fell apart completely when I accidentally opened split screen mode and realised that the BlockSite block screen only takes up half the screen. Since then, the app has been useless and I tend to browse in those difficult times as much as I ever used to.
It doesn't matter how I accomplish it, rooting or otherwise, but id like to find a way to completely disable recent apps functionality to bring BlockSite back to being functional for me.
I'm currently seeking treatment through other means, but it would be a huge help to me regardless if this were possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated.