How hard is it to port apps? - Nexus 6 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Seeing all these Pixel exclusive features is making me antsy (since I crave bleeding-edge software), to the point where I am considering learning how to port the APKs found on the Pixel system image. For instance, what exactly must be done to get the Pixel systemui.apk to work on the shamu? What about the live wallpapers? Is it even possible due to missing libraries?
Anyway, food for thought. If it's not incredibly difficult and my school workload remains light, I could see myself consider this undertaking.

snowrelyt said:
Seeing all these Pixel exclusive features is making me antsy (since I crave bleeding-edge software), to the point where I am considering learning how to port the APKs found on the Pixel system image. For instance, what exactly must be done to get the Pixel systemui.apk to work on the shamu? What about the live wallpapers? Is it even possible due to missing libraries?
Anyway, food for thought. If it's not incredibly difficult and my school workload remains light, I could see myself consider this undertaking.
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just so you know, a pixel is 64 bit phone where a nexus 6 is a 32 bit phone. you cant run 64 bit apps on a 32 bit phone.

simms22 said:
just so you know, a pixel is 64 bit phone where a nexus 6 is a 32 bit phone. you cant run 64 bit apps on a 32 bit phone.
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I'm well aware, but is there no way to compile it for a different architecture? At all?

The "exclusives" in regards to the Pixel/Pixel XL are the launcher, Google Assistant, and possibly the camera app. The Pixel launcher is a 32-bit app and has been available for some time. Google Assistant has already been ported over via a build.prop edit. The only thing that hasn't been touched is the camera app, and honestly, it's not that big an upgrade.
The underlying system files are all going to come our way in December, as the Nexus 6 is slated to get Android 7.1. Building a ROM right now isn't going to be feasible without Android 7.1 vendor blobs, as I don't think the Android 7.0 blobs will work.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
The "exclusives" in regards to the Pixel/Pixel XL are the launcher, Google Assistant, and possibly the camera app. The Pixel launcher is a 32-bit app and has been available for some time. Google Assistant has already been ported over via a build.prop edit. The only thing that hasn't been touched is the camera app, and honestly, it's not that big an upgrade.
The underlying system files are all going to come our way in December, as the Nexus 6 is slated to get Android 7.1. Building a ROM right now isn't going to be feasible without Android 7.1 vendor blobs, as I don't think the Android 7.0 blobs will work.
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The Pixel has a few other apks we can't install; Live wallpapers, SystemUI (with new nav buttons and color burst), and a themed settings menu. Those are mainly what I'm interested in, so are you saying it's not possible to bring those to the shamu?

Not unless they're included in the source code Google provided.

Related

Question about Cataclysm.

Hey guys, just a quick question, is Cataclysm rom built off of a genuine stock system.img like the ones hosted on the google dev site? Or is some of it AOSP based? And if it is from stock genuine Android, isn't there some kind of legal issue with that? Just wondering this, I use Cataclysm and I LOVE IT! It's my daily driver! Thanks all!
H4X0R46 said:
Hey guys, just a quick question, is Cataclysm rom built off of a genuine stock system.img like the ones hosted on the google dev site? Or is some of it AOSP based? And if it is from stock genuine Android, isn't there some kind of legal issue with that? Just wondering this, I use Cataclysm and I LOVE IT! It's my daily driver! Thanks all!
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The dev had an explanation of how it worked on the original thread. Android is open source and google releases sources for all the nexus devices and they also conveniently package them into flashable images to fix things. There was at least 1 release where the dev had to wait for the source to come out even though the factory images were out in order to do anything. So in short no there's no legal issue. The dev used open source files and modified them for non-profit. The reason no one else really does that type of mod is due to the fact that AOSP mods are widespread and people can just use others' code to incorporate them into the rom (or just use CM). Or if the dev is particularly dedicated then they might use an AOSP base because they want to keep up with all the bleeding edge enhancements to android which may or may not have any real benefit. When you target just 1 device by using its stock rom source then the mods have to be made for specifically that device (and why would anyone create code for 1 device when they could just use what works on virtually all devices) though the Nexuses are evidently similar enough to port between them hence the N5, 6, 5x, and 6p versions. The use of the stock source however meant that you kept the "rock solid stability" that Google's team of software engineers created so the dev could focus on adding features because the base he was working on was solid.
StykerB said:
The dev had an explanation of how it worked on the original thread. Android is open source and google releases sources for all the nexus devices and they also conveniently package them into flashable images to fix things. There was at least 1 release where the dev had to wait for the source to come out even though the factory images were out in order to do anything. So in short no there's no legal issue. The dev used open source files and modified them for non-profit. The reason no one else really does that type of mod is due to the fact that AOSP mods are widespread and people can just use others' code to incorporate them into the rom (or just use CM). When you target just 1 device by using its stock rom source then the mods have to be made for specifically that device (and why would anyone create code for 1 device when they could just use what works on virtually all devices) though the Nexuses are evidently similar enough to port between them hence the N5, 6, 5x, and 6p versions. The use of the stock source however meant that you kept the "rock solid stability" that Google's team of software engineers created so the dev could focus on adding features because the base he was working on was solid.
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So all in all, Cataclysm is using stock Android and not AOSP, but done in a way that there are no legal issues? So in essence, flashing the system.img file from the dev site and adding Cataclysm mod to it is the the exact same difference as using the full Cataclysm installer? No AOSP added?
StykerB said:
.... "rock solid stability" that Google's team of software engineers created
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That has a price:
- white ui, grey text on white bad readable; especially with sunlight;
- white background causes battery drain on amoled displays;
- pesky search bar; not removable or change to transparent;
- no option to change to a dark theme;
- N6 full resolution 2560 x 1440 not used;
- N6 native resolution = 493. G. sets it to 560 dpi;
- no option to kill running apps;
- code to use layers can't be used without rooting;
- G-apps not predestinated for layers.....etc.
NLBeev said:
That has a price:
- white ui, grey text on white bad readable; especially with sunlight;
- white background causes battery drain on amoled displays;
- pesky search bar; not removable or change to transparent;
- no option to change to a dark theme;
- N6 full resolution 2560 x 1440 not used;
- N6 native resolution = 493. G. sets it to 560 dpi;
- no option to kill running apps;
- code to use layers can't be used without rooting;
- G-apps not predestinated for layers.....etc.
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Yes but would you rather not have something solid for people to build on? some of those things aren't even about stability... like the full resolution thing? assuming you're referring to onscreen buttons, and DPI is always on every device set in multiples of 80 for app standardization reasons. The overlay code for layers wasn't intended to be used for theming. Hence why google only used it for stuff like the ATT boot animation. and Google's apps and OS are separate and shouldn't be expected to adhere to a modding community's theme engine that they don't support. And dark themes were probably a design decision rather than actual stability issue.
StykerB said:
.....some of those things aren't even about stability... like the full resolution thing?....
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You're right my list is not about stability only.
Using the N6 now for more than a year. I've seen a beta version with a dark theme, but it was removed. Why? Stability issues ?
To make the N6 acceptable for my daily use, especially battery life and readability, I had to change a lot of things. That has consequences for the stability. The N6 is still stable but I wouldn't say rock stable.
So all in all cataclysm is built using real Android? The main question in this thread lol But yea, AOSP does have it pros and cons as well as stock, I have to play devils advocate here and say that all roms do have their differences.
H4X0R46 said:
So all in all cataclysm is built using real Android? The main question in this thread lol But yea, AOSP does have it pros and cons as well as stock, I have to play devils advocate here and say that all roms do have their differences.
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Yes what he did was use the stock android package. But make no mistake. AOSP is the real android. There are very few diff between what google releases and AOSP. The main diff is thie closed sourced stuff Google adds.
zelendel said:
Yes what he did was use the stock android package. But make no mistake. AOSP is the real android. There are very few diff between what google releases and AOSP. The main diff is thie closed sourced stuff Google adds.
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Thanks! I was never sure just how much stuff is taken out of AOSP, but it's just small differences then. Glad I know that now! And hey, since we're on the subject, how are gapps legal? Aren't gapps those closed source bits that google DOES omit from AOSP? Play store and background things? Like, I know there's some legal thing where gapps shouldn't be preinstalled in an AOSP rom, but what's the grey area with gapps? Thanks again for the detailed description! Learning these things is good lol
If you have a look around, legal means very little here.
Google has only issued a C&D order to CM to not enclude it in their roms. This is why no aosp has them built in by default.
zelendel said:
If you have a look around, legal means very little here.
Google has only issued a C&D order to CM to not enclude it in their roms. This is why no aosp has them built in by default.
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LOL I had a feeling that was the case here on XDA haha but I love Android and the development is HUGE! No other mobile OS can match Google's Android! Thanks for answering my questions man! Appreciate the help! Have a good rest of the night! Or day depending on where you're from, I'm from USA lol
H4X0R46 said:
LOL I had a feeling that was the case here on XDA haha but I love Android and the development is HUGE! No other mobile OS can match Google's Android! Thanks for answering my questions man! Appreciate the help! Have a good rest of the night! Or day depending on where you're from, I'm from USA lol
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Im in the US as well. Well kinda lol I live in Alaska.
Yes it is but that might becoming to an end soon. With more and more people closing off their source. This is a good and bad thing. We will see what happens. Also more and more OEM are gonna lock down their devices so people will have to pic. Things like mobile pay or modding their device.
zelendel said:
Im in the US as well. Well kinda lol I live in Alaska.
Yes it is but that might becoming to an end soon. With more and more people closing off their source. This is a good and bad thing. We will see what happens. Also more and more OEM are gonna lock down their devices so people will have to pic. Things like mobile pay or modding their device.
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Yea it's awful that people are making everything closed source! I'm a person who loves to tinker with my things, modded game consoles and phones and all, my hobby haha I just hope Android always stays open source! AOSP anyways. And are they starting to make Android devices more secure and non moddable? I hope the Nexus line always stays developer friendly, because I bought a Nexus for the sake of tinkering with it lol
H4X0R46 said:
Yea it's awful that people are making everything closed source! I'm a person who loves to tinker with my things, modded game consoles and phones and all, my hobby haha I just hope Android always stays open source! AOSP anyways. And are they starting to make Android devices more secure and non moddable? I hope the Nexus line always stays developer friendly, because I bought a Nexus for the sake of tinkering with it lol
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Honestly. It because of script kiddies. The ones that just build from others source and post roms. Doing nothing but changing some text. To be honest all it would take is Google to stop pushing code to aosp. Android development would die off at that point.
Yeah if you look at things like Samsung, some devices are not even rootable, Sony, if you unlock the bootloader you lose the camera functions, even China based companies are locking bootloaders. Xiaomi just started doing this and have refused to give some the unlock because it goes against their business plan.
As for the nexus. We should be OK but then you have things like the Mm kernel that was a pain to get root on. And you lose mobile payments. Also more and more apps are looking for things like root and xposed and then refusing to work if they are installed.
zelendel said:
Honestly. It because of script kiddies. The ones that just build from others source and post roms. Doing nothing but changing some text. To be honest all it would take is Google to stop pushing code to aosp. Android development would die off at that point.
Yeah if you look at things like Samsung, some devices are not even rootable, Sony, if you unlock the bootloader you lose the camera functions, even China based companies are locking bootloaders. Xiaomi just started doing this and have refused to give some the unlock because it goes against their business plan.
As for the nexus. We should be OK but then you have things like the Mm kernel that was a pain to get root on. And you lose mobile payments. Also more and more apps are looking for things like root and xposed and then refusing to work if they are installed.
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I've definitely heard of apps looking for root and for xposed framework (both of which I can't live without and use), and a lot of phones from certain companies are completely out of my interest because of no moddability. I wonder if it's even possible to root newer Samsung phones because of Knox security, and I won't even touch an Xperia, I've heard that they merge a lot of partitions, like boot and recovery and things like that, too confusing and not worth it to me. I just hope Android development stays strong in the Nexus scene at least, I love my Nexus!
Also, why do almost all AOSP ROMs have the "KitKat" sounds? Is that just what's released in AOSP? The "knocking" sounds I mean.
H4X0R46 said:
Also, why do almost all AOSP ROMs have the "KitKat" sounds? Is that just what's released in AOSP? The "knocking" sounds I mean.
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To be honest I never noticed. I don't use any of the stock sounds.
H4X0R46 said:
I've definitely heard of apps looking for root and for xposed framework (both of which I can't live without and use), and a lot of phones from certain companies are completely out of my interest because of no moddability. I wonder if it's even possible to root newer Samsung phones because of Knox security, and I won't even touch an Xperia, I've heard that they merge a lot of partitions, like boot and recovery and things like that, too confusing and not worth it to me. I just hope Android development stays strong in the Nexus scene at least, I love my Nexus!
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I dont think the Nexus line will see many issues other then root becoming harder to get.
Some Samsung devices cant be rooted. Like my buddy that is a samsung fan has a note 4, note 5 and a few Galaxy s5 in his house and all of them are locked down.
More and more people are too worried about things like warranty to even bother really. I even waited on updating the n6 until root was gotten for it.
Pretty sure those can be rooted but you trip Knox which voids warranty. I haven't looked at Sammy phones since I had my S4 but I know the Note 4 and S5 had ROMs.
HipKat said:
Pretty sure those can be rooted but you trip Knox which voids warranty. I haven't looked at Sammy phones since I had my S4 but I know the Note 4 and S5 had ROMs.
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Nope no root for the note 5. Only some can be. The tmobile version doesn't lock the bootloader but the rest do.
As tripping Knox is not an option for many as it voids their warranty but flashing roms does that anyway.

Any developers starting to tackle 7.1.2 AOSP build for Nexus 6?

I know that 7.1.2 on the Nexus 6 is not supported by Google, but anyone know if any of the developers tried incorporating based on the AOSP 7.1.2 chain?
You realize those are preview builds for the other devices right? Code isn't pushed to AOSP yet AFAIK. I think the highest is 7.1.1_r22
edit: maybe it is? https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/android-n-mr2-preview-1
Not worth trying at the moment. The source will change from preview to the final build. It's better to wait until the final build gets pushed out and the full source code reaches aosp. In other words, patience, young grasshopper. We will get custom Roms based on 7.1.2 ?
Arju said:
Not worth trying at the moment. The source will change from preview to the final build. It's better to wait until the final build gets pushed out and the full source code reaches aosp. In other words, patience, young grasshopper. We will get custom Roms based on 7.1.2
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Thanks gentlemen! I understand you want to base on the final build to hopefully get rid of most of the bugs..
and the big improvements between 7.1.1 and 7.1.2 are what?
Personally I think we all get too excited by these updates. Me, I struggle to see the major differences between Kitkat and 7.1.1 (I'm pretty unobservant, but hey, it's just a communication/entertainment device, yeah?) so although I look forward to playing with the new version I raraly see any killer difference. Android, to my eyes, is about as advanced as it can get until it can actually give me a backrub and a cup of fresh-brewed coffee in the morning. I'm not holding my breath...
dahawthorne said:
Personally I think we all get too excited by these updates. Me, I struggle to see the major differences between Kitkat and 7.1.1 (I'm pretty unobservant, but hey, it's just a communication/entertainment device, yeah?) so although I look forward to playing with the new version I raraly see any killer difference. Android, to my eyes, is about as advanced as it can get until it can actually give me a backrub and a cup of fresh-brewed coffee in the morning. I'm not holding my breath...
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Are you also blind? Because Kitkat and Nougat are miles apart.
I'm short-sighted. No need to be offensive.
Examples? I can play videos, talk to people, text. What major (and I mean major) differences are there then? It's a phone and communications device. Kitkat did that. Nougat is just icing.
Go on, justify your statement rather than just being offended and offensive.
@admiralspeedy: No, @dahawthorne is right in that the changes in Android recently have been more evolutionary than revolutionary. The last really significant change in Android was switching from Dalvik to ART, which was experimental in Android 4.4.x and enabled in Android 5.x. and up.
Note that Material Design isn't a significant change, and neither is SEAndroid enforcement.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
@admiralspeedy: No, @dahawthorne is right in that the changes in Android recently have been more evolutionary than revolutionary. The last really significant change in Android was switching from Dalvik to ART, which was experimental in Android 4.4.x and enabled in Android 5.x. and up.
Note that Material Design isn't a significant change, and neither is SEAndroid enforcement.
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Everything can't be "revolutionary" and being evolutionary hardly means that there are very few big changes. KitKat is the last iteration of Android to use the Holo theme and now through Lollipop, Marshmallow and Nougat we've had several major improvements to the entire Android interface through material design. The interface changes alone are enough to consider KitKat and anything newer, vastly different. You also mentioned Dalvik to ART, which is a huge change, but you failed to mention proper 64-bit support (beginning with Lollipop), more customization (such as the notification tray toggles), native multi-window, the official fingerprint API, and when the next iteration is released, KitKat will probably be dropped from security patches unless a ton of people are still hanging on to it.
Really the list goes on but I think it's quite ridiculous to say that the evolutionary changes made from KitKat to Nougat are hardly substantial.
But @dahawthorne never said there were no significant changes. All he said is he couldn't see them. As for what you've listed, nothing there is truly significant, not even 64-bit computing. That's not to say they're not welcome or anything like that, but Dalvik to ART is significant because it fundamentally changed how Android worked under the hood.
P. S. Calling other posters blind because you can't see their point? Ironic.
admiralspeedy said:
Everything can't be "revolutionary" and being evolutionary hardly means that there are very few big changes. KitKat is the last iteration of Android to use the Holo theme and now through Lollipop, Marshmallow and Nougat we've had several major improvements to the entire Android interface through material design. The interface changes alone are enough to consider KitKat and anything newer, vastly different. You also mentioned Dalvik to ART, which is a huge change, but you failed to mention proper 64-bit support (beginning with Lollipop), more customization (such as the notification tray toggles), native multi-window, the official fingerprint API, and when the next iteration is released, KitKat will probably be dropped from security patches unless a ton of people are still hanging on to it.
Really the list goes on but I think it's quite ridiculous to say that the evolutionary changes made from KitKat to Nougat are hardly substantial.
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I think that my point would be best-illustrated by handing two phones (Kitkat & Nougat) to a "normal" user (i.e. non-XDA person interested in using the phone and uninterested in the technology). I can easily imagine the scenario because I'm married to one. She might say that the new icons look nice, and the design is easy on the eye. Dalvik/ART? Couldn't care less. 64-bit? Even *I* couldn't care less. Multi-window? Impractical even on my N6's large screen, and effectively a tech showpiece, a solution looking for a problem. My N6 and my wife's N5 don't have a fingerprint reader, and in any case that's more of a hardware feature requiring software rather than a software feature in its own right. And persuading her to let me install new security versions is like pulling teeth.
I therefore stand full-square behind my original "little difference" statement, because to the "normal" user that's exactly the case.
this thread actually is about differences between 7.11 and 7.12
and, whether you think there are major differences between lollipop, kitkat and nougat, I think we ALL can agree that the differences between a 7.11 os and a 7.12 os will hardly be worth anyone's time to get excited about.
maybe when it moves to 8.0 it will be significant, but a one dot move in ANY OS generally means absolutely nothing
dahawthorne said:
I think that my point would be best-illustrated by handing two phones (Kitkat & Nougat) to a "normal" user (i.e. non-XDA person interested in using the phone and uninterested in the technology). I can easily imagine the scenario because I'm married to one. She might say that the new icons look nice, and the design is easy on the eye. Dalvik/ART? Couldn't care less. 64-bit? Even *I* couldn't care less. Multi-window? Impractical even on my N6's large screen, and effectively a tech showpiece, a solution looking for a problem. My N6 and my wife's N5 don't have a fingerprint reader, and in any case that's more of a hardware feature requiring software rather than a software feature in its own right. And persuading her to let me install new security versions is like pulling teeth.
I therefore stand full-square behind my original "little difference" statement, because to the "normal" user that's exactly the case.
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Agreed. The average person couldn't care less or even really tell a difference. My gf is the same way. She doesn't even Ike doing the monthly security updates to the point she made disable it lol. As long as it makes calls, texts, Facebook and a few websites then she is happy.
wase4711 said:
this thread actually is about differences between 7.11 and 7.12
and, whether you think there are major differences between lollipop, kitkat and nougat, I think we ALL can agree that the differences between a 7.11 os and a 7.12 os will hardly be worth anyone's time to get excited about.
maybe when it moves to 8.0 it will be significant, but a one dot move in ANY OS generally means absolutely nothing
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l2tp protocol should be fixed in 7.1..2 according to issue #196939. it is something i was waiting for almost two years.
never heard of that, never read about that, have no clue about that, and you wont find any discussion about it on XDA, so, its not an issue that is at the forefront in anyone I knows mind...
wase4711 said:
never heard of that, never read about that, have no clue about that, and you wont find any discussion about it on XDA, so, its not an issue that is at the forefront in anyone I knows mind...
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This is true that you are not seeing talks about it but just because you dont see anything said about it on XDA doesnt mean it is not in the forfront of anyones mind.
Talks like that really arent dont in the threads anymore but in private chats. 99% of any real development talks are done away from users these days.
As for 7.1.2 this will start to get really hard as this is when 32bit support dies and all of Google code is for 64 bit chips. Developers are already starting to see the change over and soo it will be true death for 32 bit devices. As porting it backwards is almost not conceivable.
To be honest, 32-bit supports won't go away, in fact it's required. Why? ARM Cortex A35 and A7 CPUs which will be here to stay, even though it's obviously true that industry and ROM developers are moving to 64-bit support (ie. AARCH64 AKA ARM64 mode) - ie. Cortex A53 and up to A73, the 32-bit ARM processors will still be used for many years to come, obviously for embedded battery life reasons, like Android Wear.
Otherwise, Nexus 6 will be my last 32-bit device (I know Android Oreo will still come onto Nexus 6 via Lineage OS, obviously because it will still support 32-bit mode for some reasons - Android Wear is based on full-blown Android OS, so if you remove 32-bit mode support, you risk breaking the watch ecosystem). I am kind of torn between ASUS ZenFone AR or Pixel 2. Hard choice.
Dr. Mario said:
To be honest, 32-bit supports won't go away, in fact it's required. Why? ARM Cortex A35 and A7 CPUs which will be here to stay, even though it's obviously true that industry and ROM developers are moving to 64-bit support (ie. AARCH64 AKA ARM64 mode) - ie. Cortex A53 and up to A73, the 32-bit ARM processors will still be used for many years to come, obviously for embedded battery life reasons, like Android Wear.
Otherwise, Nexus 6 will be my last 32-bit device (I know Android Oreo will still come onto Nexus 6 via Lineage OS, obviously because it will still support 32-bit mode for some reasons - Android Wear is based on full-blown Android OS, so if you remove 32-bit mode support, you risk breaking the watch ecosystem). I am kind of torn between ASUS ZenFone AR or Pixel 2. Hard choice.
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Just because those chips are here doesnt mean the OS has to support it. Plus with the adaption rate of devices, by the time that it would matter 99% of devices will already being running a 64 bit chip.
Look at it this way. Google only works on code for their base devices. All 64bit.
As of LOS. If they dont have a base to work from then it will be very hard indeed.
They will not risk that. It is already in the works if you think about it. Only the n6 is a 32bit device that google supports. So they already have it setup for 64bit to work with the watch.
If you watch google source code you will see the transition.
True, but who knows, as of now? Google occasionally pull the surprises (I don't trust commit notes from certain companies such as Google, they occasionally put too much eggs into a basket - recent Nexus and Pixel muck-ups proves that), so it's possible they would either continue with transition or just cancel it and stick with hybrid builds. It's now more of a wait and see thing.

Android O and Nexus 6

Now that Android O developer preview has dropped. I feel like the devs should drop working on 7.1.2 and just go straight to Android O when they create an AOSP branch on it. Any devs planning on doing that?
That will almost be impossible as with 7.1.2 Android O will be 64 bit. Porting back to our 32 bit device will be next to impossible
zelendel said:
That will almost be impossible as with 7.1.2 Android O will be 64 bit. Porting back to our 32 bit device will be next to impossible
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Ok, so what's next, after 7.1.1 in AOSP for our Shamu? Nothing?
gothy.gothy said:
Ok, so what's next, after 7.1.1 in AOSP for our Shamu? Nothing?
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Android O is only in Dev preview stage. The code is bound to change and the full code is not there for us to compile. So if anyone actually are going to try then they are going to build a messy hacked build and have to start all over again when next preview comes. Best is to wait until Android O launched at fall when the final code gets pushed to aosp and that's the right time for developers to work on Android O for our Shamus. In short, now is not the right time.
gothy.gothy said:
Ok, so what's next, after 7.1.1 in AOSP for our Shamu? Nothing?
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No one is sure. It very well maybe the last AOSP we see. It will still be worked on i am sure but I doubt we will see anything past it for the shamu. This is why many devs have moved to other devices like the 6p or the 3t.
Arju said:
Android O is only in Dev preview stage. The code is bound to change and the full code is not there for us to compile. So if anyone actually are going to try then they are going to build a messy hacked build and have to start all over again when next preview comes. Best is to wait until Android O launched at fall when the final code gets pushed to aosp and that's the right time for developers to work on Android O for our Shamus. In short, now is not the right time.
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No, not about the time I asked, but the possibility to have Android O, doesn't matter when.
I asked what will be after 7.1.1.
---------- Post added at 11:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 PM ----------
zelendel said:
No one is sure. It very well maybe the last AOSP we see. It will still be worked on i am sure but I doubt we will see anything past it for the shamu. This is why many devs have moved to other devices like the 6p or the 3t.
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Click to collapse
Well, it is a pity, because it's a very good device!
@gothy.gothy We will probably see Android O through the unofficial route and I'm sure the Nexus 6 will live to see another year, but further than that it's hard to predict. Zelendel is right that it will only get harder and harder by time and when apps only starts supporting 64bit and looses support for 32bit then we're out of the game. We might get a sloppy hack of a build but loose app support in future major updates after Android O. So the best would be to move to a device that runs 64bit.
rester555 said:
Now that Android O developer preview has dropped. I feel like the devs should drop working on 7.1.2 and just go straight to Android O when they create an AOSP branch on it. Any devs planning on doing that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No developers are "working" on 7.1.2 (except maybe a few brave kernel developers), because the source isn't pushed to AOSP until the final release.
zelendel said:
That will almost be impossible as with 7.1.2 Android O will be 64 bit. Porting back to our 32 bit device will be next to impossible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't mean to start a flame war, but this just isn't right. There has been no effort to "remove" 32-bit support. In fact, the Nexus Player is still a 32-bit device (albeit x86) which is supported by O, it may be 64-bit hardware, but due to proprietary firmware, they decided to have the 2nd-stage bootloader, and kernel/user-space boot in 32-bit mode. It has the O preview out now. Plus the 32-bit toolchains still get active support, and even 64-bit devices (i.e. angler/marlin) run some amount of arm(32) code in the form of their proprietary firmware/libraries, so we'll always need the ability to run 32-bit code on Android, and therefore, not stripping 32-bit compatibility from Android.
Also, there haven't been any specific moves by Google in terms of AOSP source away from 32-bit support.
gothy.gothy said:
Ok, so what's next, after 7.1.1 in AOSP for our Shamu? Nothing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd bet just about any amount of money the Nexus 6 will see O once source drops.
zelendel said:
No one is sure. It very well maybe the last AOSP we see. It will still be worked on i am sure but I doubt we will see anything past it for the shamu. This is why many devs have moved to other devices like the 6p or the 3t.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would O be the last AOSP we see? Android is mostly licensed under GPLv3, so they have to release source (that compiles) for the large majority of android. If you're refereeing to the fushcia OS they are creating, according to git logs, it is to be used on intergrated system's, as the kernel they wrote is very minimal.
My apologies gentlemen, I thought that AOSP was pushed on each developer preview. I didn't realize that it doesn't hit the AOSP Branch until the final build.
rester555 said:
My apologies gentlemen, I thought that AOSP was pushed on each developer preview. I didn't realize that it doesn't hit the AOSP Branch until the final build.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hence why you look silly putting up this thread...
npjohnson said:
No developers are "working" on 7.1.2 (except maybe a few brave kernel developers), because the source isn't pushed to AOSP until the final release.
I don't mean to start a flame war, but this just isn't right. There has been no effort to "remove" 32-bit support. In fact, the Nexus Player is still a 32-bit device (albeit x86) which is supported by O, it may be 64-bit hardware, but due to proprietary firmware, they decided to have the 2nd-stage bootloader, and kernel/user-space boot in 32-bit mode. It has the O preview out now. Plus the 32-bit toolchains still get active support, and even 64-bit devices (i.e. angler/marlin) run some amount of arm(32) code in the form of their proprietary firmware/libraries, so we'll always need the ability to run 32-bit code on Android, and therefore, not stripping 32-bit compatibility from Android.
Also, there haven't been any specific moves by Google in terms of AOSP source away from 32-bit support.
I'd bet just about any amount of money the Nexus 6 will see O once source drops.
Why would O be the last AOSP we see? Android is mostly licensed under GPLv3, so they have to release source (that compiles) for the large majority of android. If you're refereeing to the fushcia OS they are creating, according to git logs, it is to be used on intergrated system's, as the kernel they wrote is very minimal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is where you are mistaken. Android isn't under the GPL. Only the kernel is. Android is under the apache license. Google doesn't have to push any code for Android at all. They could completely stop. Or keep doing what they started with the 6p and that is make the system files like system ui closed sourced.
You really have not been paying attention much. Just look at the last issues the nexus had with the updates. Not to mention not getting all of the stuff in the update that the 62 bit devices got.
zelendel said:
This is where you are mistaken. Android isn't under the GPL. Only the kernel is. Android is under the apache license.
You really have not been paying attention much. Just look at the last issues the nexus had with the updates. Not to mention not getting all of the stuff in the update that the 62 bit devices got.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies for the typo there. GPLv3 (which requires source release) ==> Apache (which does not). As you noted though, kernel sources are GPLv3.
I really have been paying attention though. I too wondered why the Nexus 6 didn't get Nougat as quickly, and why the 6P's 7.1.2 updates were delayed. If you do some static disassembly/analysis on the Nexus 6's proprietary blobs (in specific, take a look at the prebuilt qcom binaries, like qmuxd and mm-qcamera and the date they were signed), you can deduce that the reason we saw a delayed 7.1.1 (and 7.0 for that matter) on the Nexus 6 was because QCOM either had issues with the specific hardware peripherals related, or just wasn't keen on working on them. An issue that isn't strictly related to 32-bit support, because we saw the same exact issue with Angler on the initial 7.1.2 Beta release (some blobs which are pre-signed being dated barely before the build date). Plus the Nexus 6 itself was never intended to be a Nexus phone. In an interview with one of the Engineer's who worked on the Nexus 6, they stated that there initially was another manufacturer who backed out last minute, forcing them to use the Moto X Pro shell that shipped in China (the hardware is identical + an IR sensor for Moto Display), so Google hasn't ever been to keen on the Nexus 6.
And, what are you referring to that 64-bit devices got that the Nexus 6 didn't? Other than some of the gestures, I don't see it. The 6, 6P, and 5x all got Assistant (well, everyone did), with 7.1.1, they all got gesture support (the 6 is missing one, I think double-tap to wake? And that's because it never worked reliably on the 6's display panel without significant battery repercussions). None of the Nexus series devices got Pixel Launcher (officially at least), but they're all capable of side-loading it (i.e. no 64-bit only libraries), and none of the Nexus series got the Pixel style navigation bar, but I suppose those two could be written off as 'Pixel Exclusives', and are 32-bit agnostic anyway.
One more shining example of 32-bit getting updates just fine is the Android One program, which contains a boatload of currently supported devices (many of which are expected to get O), many of which are not only 32-bit, but MediaTek powered (unrelated, but still interesting).
npjohnson said:
Apologies for the typo there. GPLv3 (which requires source release) ==> Apache (which does not). As you noted though, kernel sources are GPLv3.
I really have been paying attention though. I too wondered why the Nexus 6 didn't get Nougat as quickly, and why the 6P's 7.1.2 updates were delayed. If you do some static disassembly/analysis on the Nexus 6's proprietary blobs (in specific, take a look at the prebuilt qcom binaries, like qmuxd and mm-qcamera and the date they were signed), you can deduce that the reason we saw a delayed 7.1.1 (and 7.0 for that matter) on the Nexus 6 was because QCOM either had issues with the specific hardware peripherals related, or just wasn't keen on working on them. An issue that isn't strictly related to 32-bit support, because we saw the same exact issue with Angler on the initial 7.1.2 Beta release (some blobs which are pre-signed being dated barely before the build date). Plus the Nexus 6 itself was never intended to be a Nexus phone. In an interview with one of the Engineer's who worked on the Nexus 6, they stated that there initially was another manufacturer who backed out last minute, forcing them to use the Moto X Pro shell that shipped in China (the hardware is identical + an IR sensor for Moto Display), so Google hasn't ever been to keen on the Nexus 6.
And, what are you referring to that 64-bit devices got that the Nexus 6 didn't? Other than some of the gestures, I don't see it. The 6, 6P, and 5x all got Assistant (well, everyone did), with 7.1.1, they all got gesture support (the 6 is missing one, I think double-tap to wake? And that's because it never worked reliably on the 6's display panel without significant battery repercussions). None of the Nexus series devices got Pixel Launcher (officially at least), but they're all capable of side-loading it (i.e. no 64-bit only libraries), and none of the Nexus series got the Pixel style navigation bar, but I suppose those two could be written off as 'Pixel Exclusives', and are 32-bit agnostic anyway.
One more shining example of 32-bit getting updates just fine is the Android One program, which contains a boatload of currently supported devices (many of which are expected to get O), many of which are not only 32-bit, but MediaTek powered (unrelated, but still interesting).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you look close at the one program, it was an epic fail. They seldom see an update. MTK bweing the main reason they dont get updates. Just ask anyone where andoid one is even sold. Many never even saw a single update.
If you look at the official software that was pushed (not what was pushed to AOSP as they are different) to the pixel you will notice things like the system ui being different as google now closed alot of that off.
Delayed/. You mean delayed, pushed, pulled and then reuploaded. Even with things still broken on the n6. I mean even the latest update for it disabled saftynet checks for the nexus 6 as a workaround for the changes in the code that didnt convert properly from 64bit to 32bit.
You have to understand that google doesnt care about anything older. All they are worring about is the pixel line now.
rignfool said:
Hence why you look silly putting up this thread...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think I look silly at all. Based on the conversation on the thread. I think it was a good discussion.
It's still possible for Nexus 6 to see Android 8.0 but it's now more of a chicken and egg issues. As for Android 7.1.2, I am sure it's still officially a hybrid build as well. All we can do is wait and see what's in Android 8.0 Oreo source code this early winter.
As for Nexus player, I doubt they locked Long Mode out of firmware, it's impossible because the kernel can call the stack register required for a jump from Protected Mode (32-bit) into Long Mode (64-bit) directly, no matter what (yes, even in MS-DOS). It's up to Google to decide if Nexus Player stay in 32-bit mode - I bet Android 8.0 will allow it to enter Long Mode this time, with the Long Mode option enabled in Linux kernel - only CPU-Z app will tell you whether it's running in 64-bit mode.
we believe in great developers like in lineageOS they are still supporting nexus 4 and nexus 5 without any problems with regularly updates , but if android o is 64 bit that will be the pain
Dr. Mario said:
It's still possible for Nexus 6 to see Android 8.0 but it's now more of a chicken and egg issues. As for Android 7.1.2, I am sure it's still officially a hybrid build as well. All we can do is wait and see what's in Android 8.0 Oreo source code this early winter.
As for Nexus player, I doubt they locked Long Mode out of firmware, it's impossible because the kernel can call the stack register required for a jump from Protected Mode (32-bit) into Long Mode (64-bit) directly, no matter what (yes, even in MS-DOS). It's up to Google to decide if Nexus Player stay in 32-bit mode - I bet Android 8.0 will allow it to enter Long Mode this time, with the Long Mode option enabled in Linux kernel - only CPU-Z app will tell you whether it's running in 64-bit mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I wish this was right, but the 2-nd Stage Bootloader (a LittleKernel derivative) runs in strictly 32-bit mode, and we are unable to load any 64-bit kernel's, plus, several device firmwares for the Nexus Player (as provided by Intel) are strictly 32-bit, and don't work in 64-bit contexts.
zelendel said:
If you look close at the one program, it was an epic fail. They seldom see an update. MTK bweing the main reason they dont get updates. Just ask anyone where andoid one is even sold. Many never even saw a single update.
If you look at the official software that was pushed (not what was pushed to AOSP as they are different) to the pixel you will notice things like the system ui being different as google now closed alot of that off.
Delayed/. You mean delayed, pushed, pulled and then reuploaded. Even with things still broken on the n6. I mean even the latest update for it disabled saftynet checks for the nexus 6 as a workaround for the changes in the code that didnt convert properly from 64bit to 32bit.
You have to understand that google doesnt care about anything older. All they are worring about is the pixel line now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Several of the One program's phones like, seed, seed2, general mobile 4g, have all not only been hosted on Google's factory image page, and some even got updates much faster than the Nexus 6 did (comical, and ridiculous I agree, but 32-bit non-the-less).
And, with the Pixel's I would agree that Google close sources several app (SystemUI, Frameworks-res, etc.) but it is worth questioning a few things:
1) If they'd given the Nexus's those apps, don't you suppose there'd be some backlash from owners who bought the phone because of its open source nature? The Pixel's made no promise of that.
2) Are the small features they contain even worth it? A blue color scheme (when the old teal is arguably more visually appealing), circular icons (which many hate), and a Night Light Overlay (this is useful, but requires a new hardwarecomposer setup that the 6P just doesn't have, and all the 3rd party/flashable solutions fall back to using a GL shader and the device's battery/performance takes a noticeable compared to the Pixels implementation).
And, as for the SafetyNet check disabling, though Android Police said that, there is literally no proof. The check tokens are still sent, and verified server side, and if you're rooted, the device still fails the authentication. AP threw out some unsubstantiated information. No deivce side-change was needed on the Nexus 6, so they re-uploaded the same factory image, and made a server side change. And nowhere was anything said about it being 64 ==> 32-bit code incompatibility. Do you have any source on that?
npjohnson said:
Well, I wish this was right, but the 2-nd Stage Bootloader (a LittleKernel derivative) runs in strictly 32-bit mode, and we are unable to load any 64-bit kernel's, plus, several device firmwares for the Nexus Player (as provided by Intel) are strictly 32-bit, and don't work in 64-bit contexts.
Several of the One program's phones like, seed, seed2, general mobile 4g, have all not only been hosted on Google's factory image page, and some even got updates much faster than the Nexus 6 did (comical, and ridiculous I agree, but 32-bit non-the-less).
And, with the Pixel's I would agree that Google close sources several app (SystemUI, Frameworks-res, etc.) but it is worth questioning a few things:
1) If they'd given the Nexus's those apps, don't you suppose there'd be some backlash from owners who bought the phone because of its open source nature? The Pixel's made no promise of that.
2) Are the small features they contain even worth it? A blue color scheme (when the old teal is arguably more visually appealing), circular icons (which many hate), and a Night Light Overlay (this is useful, but requires a new hardwarecomposer setup that the 6P just doesn't have, and all the 3rd party/flashable solutions fall back to using a GL shader and the device's battery/performance takes a noticeable compared to the Pixels implementation).
And, as for the SafetyNet check disabling, though Android Police said that, there is literally no proof. The check tokens are still sent, and verified server side, and if you're rooted, the device still fails the authentication. AP threw out some unsubstantiated information. No deivce side-change was needed on the Nexus 6, so they re-uploaded the same factory image, and made a server side change. And nowhere was anything said about it being 64 ==> 32-bit code incompatibility. Do you have any source on that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People these days aways looking for proof when info like this can't be shared openly nor can sources. You would be amazed at things talked about in development chats that don't make it to the users.
Just sit back and watch. I like most other developers have already decided to leave the N6 and get newer devices. When asked about it they already said they will not be converting any 64bit code at all. So anything that is coded for 64 bit devices then the N6 will never see it.
At least I have two agendas on hand; 1. I am already planning on buying the next Nexus (Pixel 2) or similar phone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SOC whose bootloader remain user-unlockable and usable on Verizon network (I absolutely hate Verizon's locked bootloader policy). 2. There's other options, like Ubuntu Touch.
npjohnson said:
No developers are "working" on 7.1.2 (except maybe a few brave kernel developers), because the source isn't pushed to AOSP until the final release.
I don't mean to start a flame war, but this just isn't right. There has been no effort to "remove" 32-bit support. In fact, the Nexus Player is still a 32-bit device (albeit x86) which is supported by O, it may be 64-bit hardware, but due to proprietary firmware, they decided to have the 2nd-stage bootloader, and kernel/user-space boot in 32-bit mode. It has the O preview out now. Plus the 32-bit toolchains still get active support, and even 64-bit devices (i.e. angler/marlin) run some amount of arm(32) code in the form of their proprietary firmware/libraries, so we'll always need the ability to run 32-bit code on Android, and therefore, not stripping 32-bit compatibility from Android.
Also, there haven't been any specific moves by Google in terms of AOSP source away from 32-bit support.
I'd bet just about any amount of money the Nexus 6 will see O once source drops.
Why would O be the last AOSP we see? Android is mostly licensed under GPLv3, so they have to release source (that compiles) for the large majority of android. If you're refereeing to the fushcia OS they are creating, according to git logs, it is to be used on intergrated system's, as the kernel they wrote is very minimal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sure hope to see Android O on our Shamu! Fingers crossed we'll start to slowly see ROMs after official release and AOSP! Hope it's possible!
---------- Post added at 08:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:58 PM ----------
rester555 said:
I don't think I look silly at all. Based on the conversation on the thread. I think it was a good discussion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no such thing as a dumb question, how else does one learn? :angel:

How is the state of the OnePlus 3T right now?

Hello, I've been an Android user from a while and decided to upgrade from my Nexus 5 to the OnePlus 3T. The only thing I'm concerned is not having the Google Android version since I'm very fond of how good it is, but in October 31st, Nexus 5 will be 4 years older and although Google isn't still talking of stop working on the software side of it it is probably going to happen eventually.
With all that said, I'm trying to learn beforehand (my phone arrives in 10 days) if are there any lag problems, if people are using any specific ROMs that work better with it and anything that could be quality of life improvements that I could do once it arrives.
Thank you
perezdi said:
Hello, I've been an Android user from a while and decided to upgrade from my Nexus 5 to the OnePlus 3T. The only thing I'm concerned is not having the Google Android version since I'm very fond of how good it is, but in October 31st, Nexus 5 will be 4 years older and although Google isn't still talking of stop working on the software side of it it is probably going to happen eventually.
With all that said, I'm trying to learn beforehand (my phone arrives in 10 days) if are there any lag problems, if people are using any specific ROMs that work better with it and anything that could be quality of life improvements that I could do once it arrives.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Nexus 5 is already discontinued when it comes to official software updates. It will only get security patches and even that won't be for long. (In fact it's latest factory image is from December 2016 so it might've fully stopped already.)
As for the Oneplus 3T, it's currently running the latest 7.1.1, latest security patch and the Oneplus skin (OxygenOS) is basically stock Android on steroids. I'm running the fully stock beta 4 version and the phone is extremely fast and smooth, battery is great. It's good to the point where I haven't even felt the need to unlock the bootloader and root yet. You definitely won't be disappointed in your purchase.
I recently (last week) replaced my 2 year old Nexus 6 with a OnePlus 3T and had the same concerns as you. Would I enjoy another OEM's version of Android? I was even running a really bare bones Vanilla AOSP ROM by the end and loved it.
I don't regret changing at all thus far.
I'm on OxygenOS 4.1.1 with Franco Kernel and Magisk v12 and it's working beautifully! I figured I'm gonna run OOS for a while before seeing if there's any nice ROMs available. I've been looking around a little, but not many of the available ROMs seems worth it (I don't want CM, Lineage or anything pre-rooted).
-Ric- said:
As for the Oneplus 3T, it's currently running the latest 7.1.1, latest security patch and the Oneplus skin (OxygenOS) is basically stock Android on steroids. I'm running the fully stock beta 4 version and the phone is extremely fast and smooth, battery is great. It's good to the point where I haven't even felt the need to unlock the bootloader and root yet. You definitely won't be disappointed in your purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, that's so good to hear! This is exactly what I was expecting. Yeah, Nexus 5 had an extremely good run and until the beginning of this year I felt it was still so good as far apps go, but anything web related started being more and more painful. It is still a pretty good phone and I'll keep around for Android dev related things.
Now I'm pumped for the 13th.
Thanks
Didgeridoohan said:
I'm on OxygenOS 4.1.1 with Franco Kernel and Magisk v12 and it's working beautifully! I figured I'm gonna run OOS for a while before seeing if there's any nice ROMs available. I've been looking around a little, but not many of the available ROMs seems worth it (I don't want CM, Lineage or anything pre-rooted).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you did modify your phone? Or am I getting it wrong? If not, why is that?
perezdi said:
The only thing I'm concerned is not having the Google Android version since I'm very fond of how good it is
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OOS is as close as you can get (factory OS) to "pure" Android unless you buy a Nexus or Pixel (and the latter will of course cost you). Many are calling the OP3T a spiritual successor of the Nexus series.
There are just a few OnePlus versions of apps (music player, file manager, weather) that many folks will find useless (you probably have your preferred options). And a OnePlus launcher.
But beyond that, there are a few modifications many will see as value added: The OnePlus camera app is really nice (great options in Manual mode). There are lots of settings which let you tweak and customize in (my opinion) really useful ways.
perezdi said:
With all that said, I'm trying to learn beforehand (my phone arrives in 10 days) if are there any lag problems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is arguably the fastest phone around, until the new flagships hit the streets.
perezdi said:
So you did modify your phone? Or am I getting it wrong? If not, why is that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flash Franco Kernel because I have great experiences with it from my Nexus 6. Ran without for a few days, but realised I missed it...
I install Magisk because I want root and for a few nice systemless modifications. Currently: changing screen density, debloating system apps and Viper4Android.
redpoint73 said:
OOS is as close as you can get (factory OS) to "pure" Android unless you buy a Nexus or Pixel (and the latter will of course cost you). Many are calling the OP3T a spiritual successor of the Nexus series.
There are just a few OnePlus versions of apps (music player, file manager, weather) that many folks will find useless (you probably have your preferred options). And a OnePlus launcher.
But beyond that, there are a few modifications many will see as value added: The OnePlus camera app is really nice (great options in Manual mode). There are lots of settings which let you tweak and customize in (my opinion) really useful ways.
This is arguably the fastest phone around, until the new flagships hit the streets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. I never used a launcher (except the Google Now, not sure if that is even considered a launcher itself, and hopefully it is a feature in every Android phone, not just Google ones), ideally, I think I would want to get rid of that, if possible. The File Manager might be helpful, although I use one I like, perhaps theirs is a good one. No biggie, though.
Didgeridoohan said:
I flash Franco Kernel because I have great experiences with it from my Nexus 6. Ran without for a few days, but realised I missed it...
I install Magisk because I want root and for a few nice systemless modifications. Currently: changing screen density, debloating system apps and Viper4Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. You were just tuning it to your taste and knowledge. Okee dokee. Thanks!
perezdi said:
I never used a launcher (except the Google Now, not sure if that is even considered a launcher itself, and hopefully it is a feature in every Android phone, not just Google ones), ideally, I think I would want to get rid of that, if possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Now is a launcher (AKA home app). It's not pre-installed, but you can easily install it from the Play Store.
I don't think you can disable or uninstall the OnePlus launcher on a stock OP3T ("disable" is grayed out), but you certainly can with root (may want to freeze it before uninstalling, and make sure it doesn't break anything else). But I also doubt it would make any significant difference, compared to simply installing Google Now launcher, and making it the default home app.
perezdi said:
The File Manager might be helpful, although I use one I like, perhaps theirs is a good one. No biggie, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't used it much, it does the basic functions (move/copy files, looks like it can open archives like ZIP) but doesn't look like anything special. If you use one that has more features (particularly root browsing) you'll probably prefer what you already use.

Question What is the best custom ROMs for Pixel 5a?

Hi
Im new here
What is the best custom ROMs for Google Pixel 5a?
ty
ALWA7SH6 said:
Hi
Im new here
What is the best custom ROMs for Google Pixel 5a?
ty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now you have pixel experience and lineage os 18. So nothing special, this phones availability (usa and japan) will hinder it's rom development. If we are lucky, maybe we will get up to 5 custom roms.
ALWA7SH6 said:
Hi
Im new here
What is the best custom ROMs for Google Pixel 5a?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have only found 4 custom roms for the phone. all AOSP roms just different variations
1. pixel experience (best. not as updated as lineageOS.)
1a. lineageOS (best. updated regularly)
2. Calxyos (big on security and removing google tracking. microg and other non tracking security apps installed. updated regularly)
3. GrapheneOS (not the best due to having to install microg and the rest of the mircog stuff to get playstore games and apps to work)
really its a toss up between experience and lineage. unless you want to go stealth. then it would be calxyos.
with aosp being the only choice base rom for the phone its extremely limited. unless a recognized developer gets his hand on one and ports over a different rom. your stuck with aosp variations
rchris494 said:
i have only found 4 custom roms for the phone. all AOSP roms just different variations
1. pixel experience (best. not as updated as lineageOS.)
1a. lineageOS (best. updated regularly)
2. Calxyos (big on security and removing google tracking. microg and other non tracking security apps installed. updated regularly)
3. GrapheneOS (not the best due to having to install microg and the rest of the mircog stuff to get playstore games and apps to work)
really its a toss up between experience and lineage. unless you want to go stealth. then it would be calxyos.
with aosp being the only choice base rom for the phone its extremely limited. unless a recognized developer gets his hand on one and ports over a different rom. your stuck with aosp variations
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I expect it is a stupid phone and it is not supported and I regret that I bought it
TY
ALWA7SH6 said:
I expect it is a stupid phone and it is not supported and I regret that I bought it
TY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't buy google pixel for custom roms. There are other phones if you want custom roms and community support.
ALWA7SH6 said:
I expect it is a stupid phone and it is not supported and I regret that I bought it
TY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here. i came from HTC, but ATT pushed my phone off their network with a load of crap how it didnt support 4g or LTE phone calls. when it actually did. they just wouldn't whitelist the phone so you could use that feature or wifi calling. so in a scramble to find a new phone i landed with this pixel. biggest POS i ever owned. i thought samsung was garbage until i got this one. its slower than my HTC U11. screen is smaller. it's sad when a 5 year older phone is better than something released in 2021. i have had nothing but problems with it since day 1. text messaging keyboard disappears. text messages disappear. text phones and link disappear. i have to open and close the app 3 or so times to get the message to pop up. maps is a train wreck. half the time i can't close the app or it goes into split screen mode and then you can't do anything. you have to reboot the phone to use it again. updating any of their apps the phone gets worse. every factory rom update is worse than the last one. they never update the base apps with each rom update so im stuck with the same broken crap android 11,12,12L all the same problems. now i know why HTC sold off their crap phones division to Google and kept the flagship phones under their wing, because they found a sucker to buy their garbage low end phone. so google could launch their rebranded HTC phones as garbage pixels.
team twrp would have to get their hands on one of these phones so they could make a proper device tree for it even then i noticed their is some key parts to the factory rom that seem to be missing or embedded into other parts of the images so porting a rom would not be an easy task. then to port a rom you would have to find another phone with similar specs as this one to make it even possible. so you are more or less stuck with Googles source codes for rom building. so then your are basically just building another AOSP rom variation.
all version i listed pull from the same source code when i go to manually build their roms. so really the are all the same rom with just their add-ons and removals of stuff with a few teaks here and there.
so for now our only hope is that on black friday they are selling this phone for $100 and some developers decide to pick one up and start some development on this phone outside AOSP builds.
rchris494 said:
same here. i came from HTC, but ATT pushed my phone off their network with a load of crap how it didnt support 4g or LTE phone calls. when it actually did. they just wouldn't whitelist the phone so you could use that feature or wifi calling. so in a scramble to find a new phone i landed with this pixel. biggest POS i ever owned. i thought samsung was garbage until i got this one. its slower than my HTC U11. screen is smaller. it's sad when a 5 year older phone is better than something released in 2021. i have had nothing but problems with it since day 1. text messaging keyboard disappears. text messages disappear. text phones and link disappear. i have to open and close the app 3 or so times to get the message to pop up. maps is a train wreck. half the time i can't close the app or it goes into split screen mode and then you can't do anything. you have to reboot the phone to use it again. updating any of their apps the phone gets worse. every factory rom update is worse than the last one. they never update the base apps with each rom update so im stuck with the same broken crap android 11,12,12L all the same problems. now i know why HTC sold off their crap phones division to Google and kept the flagship phones under their wing, because they found a sucker to buy their garbage low end phone. so google could launch their rebranded HTC phones as garbage pixels.
team twrp would have to get their hands on one of these phones so they could make a proper device tree for it even then i noticed their is some key parts to the factory rom that seem to be missing or embedded into other parts of the images so porting a rom would not be an easy task. then to port a rom you would have to find another phone with similar specs as this one to make it even possible. so you are more or less stuck with Googles source codes for rom building. so then your are basically just building another AOSP rom variation.
all version i listed pull from the same source code when i go to manually build their roms. so really the are all the same rom with just their add-ons and removals of stuff with a few teaks here and there.
so for now our only hope is that on black friday they are selling this phone for $100 and some developers decide to pick one up and start some development on this phone outside AOSP builds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem is that this phone is sold only in USA and Japan and I doubt that community regarding rom development is high in those countries. So only enthusiasts who import 5a from one of those two countries can maybe work on it.
Also, this phone is carbon copy of 4 5g (plus bigger battery and IP ratting) even though looking at how they were build they are not the same, but main components and sensors are. So maybe porting 4a 5g ROM will be better than to build from scratch.
predragiPredrag said:
Problem is that this phone is sold only in USA and Japan and I doubt that community regarding rom development is high in those countries. So only enthusiasts who import 5a from one of those two countries can maybe work on it.
Also, this phone is carbon copy of 4 5g (plus bigger battery and IP ratting) even though looking at how they were build they are not the same, but main components and sensors are. So maybe porting 4a 5g ROM will be better than to build from scratch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I come from Samsung S10e.
A company like (SAMSUNG) that has spent more than 13 years in the field of screens and phones cannot be compared with a company (GOOGLE) that has spent only 4 or 5 years.
I chose this device only for its size, battery and water resistance, but I did not expect that the Android system in it is so bad and not optional
How can build a Rom?
ALWA7SH6 said:
How i can build a Rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it is not so simple, you have to google it, learn to code and debug and it will take you some time even if you have existing ROM to copy things from.
predragiPredrag said:
it is not so simple, you have to google it, learn to code and debug and it will take you some time even if you have existing ROM to copy things from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont have time so NO TY
ALWA7SH6 said:
How can build a Rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's more of a pain in the ass than it's worth. on my dual cpu 16 core system it takes 2 hrs just to build it. i usually just follow the steps on the pixel experience wiki page. if you want to mod it even more you would have to learn to program in c and c++. then with everything being open source borrow someone else's mod to include into your rom. then spend hours or even days troubleshooting, debugging or fixing code. if things are not compatible.
i wish i could get a stripped to nothing rom that only makes phone calls. that's it. the rest of the garbage you can download as an app or get a magisk module to do the rest.i don't need googles BLOATWARE garbage along with all of the garbage they cram down my phone's throat to slow it down to snail pace then go oh your phone is outdated that is why it's slow. so buy this other $1000 phone and that will fix your problem. i go yeah right. the thing is a year old. how in the hell is it out dated. my piece of sh*t 10 year old laptop works just fine. once i got off bloatware winblows 10 and install winblow 10 ltsc without the extra garbage no one ever uses.
[ROM][13][barbet] PixelExperience [AOSP][OFFICIAL]&[UNOFFICIAL]
PixelExperience for Pixel 5a Barbet What is this? PixelExperience is an AOSP based ROM, with Google apps included and all Pixel goodies (launcher, wallpapers, icons, fonts, boot animation) Our mission is to offer the maximum possible stability...
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