Database Info

[Q] Are we depended on Viewsonic or Android?

New to Android. But long time user of Linux/RH/Fedora. Are there “distro's” on Android? Can users easily add/remove software with a RPM type management system? In Linux if you don't like TnT you would just uninstall it. Viewsonic g tablet seems to be ok if you manually change a few things. I'm assuming that this is generally a temporary problem due to Viewsonic being behind in their updates. But what I would like to know is there going to be any long term “distro” type leadership going forward? When the new Android Tablet OS is released will it work with most hardware (Viewsonic) like a Linux distro or are we depended on Viewsonic. If Viewsonic let us down can we divorce them and go directly to Android or someone else for automatic updates? Thinking about buying. Can wait for Flash update hopefully in December. Don't see screen as a problem, basically the same as most laptops/netbooks. Can add market manually till it become official with new OS.
.
Sears - Save $5 off $50 with code SEARS5OFF50 at cart

Android is not like normal distros.
Being primarily an OS aimed at mobile devices (IE phones) with limited memory and proprietary layouts and internal set-ups, all drivers can not be provided in one overall install. Confliction between drivers would be an issue as well. Also look at many phones (like the nexus one) the Firmware controlling the cellular radio also controls the camera and encoding of videos and images. There is some common ground, but one ROM will not work on all devices without tweaking for the perticular device. CyanogenMOD ROM is a good example, it works on many devices but you must install the proper version for the device you have.
Also remember that we do not have Root on these devices out of the box, 99% of the time we must find an exploit to gain full access to the device. The Nexus one and the G tablet are the only devices I know of off hand without locked down bootloaders. Cellular carriers want the devices looked down so the users can not use the device in ways that the carriers do not want. (like free tethering)
We are dependant on the manufacturer often times to release source code for the device so Devs can rip out the proper drivers and framework for the device. Often times drivers cross over between android versions making updating easier for the ROM devs.
If you want a device that you can truly tinker with, stick to devices that Google has as Developer models. The old G1 the Nexus One and the upcoming Nexus S. Maybe they will release a Dev tablet as well.
The N900 is more open in that regard as far as being like a true Linux, though the future of that branch seems uncertain. It will defiantly be more niche.

Thanks for the reply. I guess I was thinking Android was Linux lite. Not sure where I stand on a tablet now. Think I want a Linux pc in a tablet form. Fedora on a tablet would be fine for me. Like you say tablets with MeeGo (Intel/Nokia/Linux Foundation) may or may not appear any time soon. Have to wait and see what happens.

tktim said:
Thanks for the reply. I guess I was thinking Android was Linux lite. Not sure where I stand on a tablet now. Think I want a Linux pc in a tablet form. Fedora on a tablet would be fine for me. Like you say tablets with MeeGo (Intel/Nokia/Linux Foundation) may or may not appear any time soon. Have to wait and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android is running on top of Linux, and given programs compiled for ARM you can install about anything, but there's no X... Framebuffer stuff could potentially work..
But no, if you're looking for a typical Linux desktop environment, this isn't the place to look. Although some of the dual boot Windows/Android tablets makes me wonder how difficult it would be to get it Linux/Android.

Thanks for the additional information.

[Discussion] Future of Android

How do you think Android is going to get when Ubuntu, Tizen, or even Firefox OS appear?
I find Android really wasteful in resources, and any developer will confirm that Android can't get the max out of any hardware (due to Java VM)
Until now, Android didn't actually have any competitor, iOS is closed source, and Apple makes 1000$ devices, and phones with Android with the same specs (or better) are at no more than 800$ (correct me, I don't use $ in Romania)... The other competitor is still existent, Windows... it is really smooth, fast, looks cool, but it seems to be a marketing fail+not open source
Tizen and Firefox OS seem to be having only HTML5-based apps... which means it will be a rendering engine processing everything... just another kind of VM in my opinion they have the same smoothness Android has, from what I saw
However, Ubuntu seems to be a lot like the PC version, smooth, fast, user friendly, and will be able to run NATIVE (no VM) applications, which will make it a lot faster, even for lower end devices
Where do you think Android is going to go when they will be released? Yes, I am asking you and expressing my opinion, please Google before answering (yes, one cool thing about Android is the full Google integration)
Tizen - announced to be released this year
Ubuntu and Firefox OS - 2014

I really don't know the answer.
I've never seen Tizen and FF OS so I can't tell.
I know iOS and Windows aren't open source so we can't "deal" with them.
Ubuntu isn't user friendly at all, in fact, all Linux is NOT user friendly, at least comparing to Windows.
Right now, I just enjoy the beauty of Android until some things blow it away.

votinh said:
I really don't know the answer.
I've never seen Tizen and FF OS so I can't tell.
I know iOS and Windows aren't open source so we can't "deal" with them.
Ubuntu isn't user friendly at all, in fact, all Linux is NOT user friendly, at least comparing to Windows.
Right now, I just enjoy the beauty of Android until some things blow it away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Linux is just the kernel Ubuntu is a distro, and Android can also be called a distro, but for mobile platform

Re: [Q] Future of Android
A good question with uncertain answer. We can't say about the future of android.
But what i can say is that a new device with new platform will take some time to get good market. Since android is the largest selling platform in the world it takes some time to survive the competition.

Android will be fine. Ubuntu didn't convince majority to leave their investment in Windows, and they'll have same problem moving people from android.

Allanitomwesh said:
Android will be fine. Ubuntu didn't convince majority to leave their investment in Windows, and they'll have same problem moving people from android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ubuntu can't convince me to switch because I can't give the PC to anyone, they say "wtf is that sh*t?"
And plus, it is a lot harder to get the drivers for my Optimus laptop... and gaming is slower in wine if more games had native clients for Linux

Re: [Q] Future of Android
Go with ubuntu you will never be mistaken........
I hate my X and love my Next.......... Conditions apply*

Google might expand the NDK API (native development kit) so you could make an entire app with it. Anyway i think most Games is written using it nowdays, since Java is so (too) slow.

The Google ecosystem is getting so large, i don't think that Ubuntu will have the resources to get anywhere near that.

Talking about Future of Android, I heard that WINE application which run in linux is being developed for android

Re: [Q] Future of Android
In future android will surely come up very much..
May be the andriod can interact by talking.
At that time we will ask mods to build our regional languages

Re: [Q] Future of Android
I wonder if a sensor that is capable of detecting our eyeball movement, that could be used for scrolling and other purposes
Sent from my HTC Explorer

Re: [Q] Future of Android
swaroopg551 said:
I wonder if a sensor that is capable of detecting our eyeball movement, that could be used for scrolling and other purposes
Sent from my HTC Explorer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SIV's eyeScroll?
Sent from my GT-I8160 using xda app-developers app

swaroopg551 said:
I wonder if a sensor that is capable of detecting our eyeball movement, that could be used for scrolling and other purposes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I hate solutions that try to "think" for me, and guess what I want to do. Even if they are right 70%, they are still wrong the other 30%...
And it feels like my phone (or a car, or whatever) is forcing me to do things I do not want to do. That a developer thinks he is smarter than me.
I get used to functionalities presented this way but they are still irritating.
I just imagined a number of times this eyeball movement sensor would be wrong... wrrrrr....

[FEELER] Universal Webtop-Like HW & SW Platform

I am posting this thread seeking feedback and judging interest in such a project.
Most Android devices these days have USB OTG / host functionality as well as HDMI-out.
Motorola exploited this on the Atrix and Bionic with docks that are essentislly a powered USB hub and HDMI adapter or the webtop which 9s a dock with a battery, screen, keyboard and touchpad. Their setup allowed you to run a modded Ubuntu on the screen ajd had a window to access the normal phone interface.
Now with the progress of the Android platform, they have abandoned it mostly, as of 4+ the aforementioned HW only allows you to use android in tabet mode.
What I am proposing is a likely OpenSource project to develop:
- universal hw for all android devices
- custom jailed linux and xwm/interface adapted for touch/hdpi/small screens
- custom android x server allowing integration
- custom android x client/rsp (rdp) for android to allow viewing of phone interface on screen
The goal being a well designed version allowing a hybrid of linux apps and android apps in tablet mode seamlessly integrated.
Let me be clear that I am trying to judge interest and brainstorm, I am NOT asking about the feasibilty or technical requirements or burdens.
Eventually with enough interest, other OS apps could be integrated and virtualized.
I have 20+ years sw engineering, design and development experience and am willing to put in my efforts to seed this project if the interest is there.

Well no responses - but some THANKS.. So I'll take that to mean there is some interest.
I am actively developing this and a whole suite of tools to accompang it starting with a universal, configurable, network (bt/wifi/3G/RG) and hardware syncronizable audio driver. Follkwing that I will be working on a 2-way android/linux x-server/client system.
Each tool will be released as an individual piece and eventually will (hopefully) come together to build a system to enhance android and bridge the ever narrowing gap between android and a pc.
I really would be interested in some feedback especially regarding the hardware aspect.

forbiddenera said:
Well no responses - but some THANKS.. So I'll take that to mean there is some interest.
I am actively developing this and a whole suite of tools to accompang it starting with a universal, configurable, network (bt/wifi/3G/RG) and hardware syncronizable audio driver. Follkwing that I will be working on a 2-way android/linux x-server/client system.
Each tool will be released as an individual piece and eventually will (hopefully) come together to build a system to enhance android and bridge the ever narrowing gap between android and a pc.
I really would be interested in some feedback especially regarding the hardware aspect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds very interesting :good:

forbiddenera said:
I am posting this thread seeking feedback and judging interest in such a project.
Most Android devices these days have USB OTG / host functionality as well as HDMI-out.
Motorola exploited this on the Atrix and Bionic with docks that are essentislly a powered USB hub and HDMI adapter or the webtop which 9s a dock with a battery, screen, keyboard and touchpad. Their setup allowed you to run a modded Ubuntu on the screen ajd had a window to access the normal phone interface.
Now with the progress of the Android platform, they have abandoned it mostly, as of 4+ the aforementioned HW only allows you to use android in tabet mode.
What I am proposing is a likely OpenSource project to develop:
- universal hw for all android devices
- custom jailed linux and xwm/interface adapted for touch/hdpi/small screens
- custom android x server allowing integration
- custom android x client/rsp (rdp) for android to allow viewing of phone interface on screen
The goal being a well designed version allowing a hybrid of linux apps and android apps in tablet mode seamlessly integrated.
Let me be clear that I am trying to judge interest and brainstorm, I am NOT asking about the feasibilty or technical requirements or burdens.
Eventually with enough interest, other OS apps could be integrated and virtualized.
I have 20+ years sw engineering, design and development experience and am willing to put in my efforts to seed this project if the interest is there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just saw your post; I owned 2 Motorola RAZR (a RAZR i for now) and I really miss the webtop! I used it a lot so I am very interesting by your project. It's a shame that Motorola let go this idea, I think it was something that can make Motorola outstanding from other brands.
I'm sure there is a lot of people interested by that kind of app.

ichi go said:
I just saw your post; I owned 2 Motorola RAZR (a RAZR i for now) and I really miss the webtop! I used it a lot so I am very interesting by your project. It's a shame that Motorola let go this idea, I think it was something that can make Motorola outstanding from other brands.
I'm sure there is a lot of people interested by that kind of app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope so, I have started slowly developing the low levels of the stack of tools required for this.
If you are interested in making this a reality, then I need support. Moral support, testing, food, hardware.. etc.. Mostly I need to know there's a demand and that people will use it and benefit from it.
Currently I require a few things for testing and development, if anyone wants to.help.
- USB OTG / Host adapter for microusb. x 2
- Powered USB hub.. The source in my city has one for $10, but do not sell the power adapter to.go with it.
and, would be beneficial:
- A droid Bionic HD dock or Webtop dock, unfortunately my phone was not sold in Canada and ship them to me for my friend in the states and I cannot get these here.
please spread the word if you are interested, rally support and it will get done.
The first thing I am developing for this is a universal low latency audio driver replacement for android / linux with extended.ipc/net routing capabilities. Partly because I am a musician and need such elsewhere is why I am starting with audio.. I also intend to get the audio plug on my moto dock working on nonstock

forbiddenera said:
I hope so, I have started slowly developing the low levels of the stack of tools required for this.
If you are interested in making this a reality, then I need support. Moral support, testing, food, hardware.. etc.. Mostly I need to know there's a demand and that people will use it and benefit from it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have my support in whatever you need. ive been a webtop guy since day 1, wonderful technology but *WAY* ahead of it's time (and lets not even talk about how i spent $300 bucks on my first lapdock, and $50 on my second when they canned the webtop project lol. i will caution you that it doesn't seem like there is much demand anymore for the dual environment setup. i have quite a bit of market insight as to why this is, but at any rate, innovative development is never appreciated until it is actually developed, no?
forbiddenera said:
Currently I require a few things for testing and development, if anyone wants to.help.
- USB OTG / Host adapter for microusb. x 2
- Powered USB hub.. The source in my city has one for $10, but do not sell the power adapter to.go with it.
and, would be beneficial:
- A droid Bionic HD dock or Webtop dock, unfortunately my phone was not sold in Canada and ship them to me for my friend in the states and I cannot get these here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aside from several years of commercial software testing experience, i have at my disposal for testing:
Motorola Atrix 4G (only moto phone unlocked kernel + webuntu mod)
Motorola Droid Bionic
Samsung Galaxy Nexus (uses MHL)
Motorola Xoom tablet (HDMI out)
- 1 bionic lapdock, 1 universal lapdock 100
- bionic HD dock
- MHL USB > HDMI adapter
- USB OTG cable
looking forward to contributing and seeing this become a reality my friend.:good:

I am still wanting to push this forward. I really need a HD DOCK with USB tho.. If anyone can help, post or PM me.
cheers

I am still wanting to push this forward. I really need a HD DOCK with USB tho.. If anyone can help, post or PM me.
Or a lapdock, or a usb otg and powered hub, or... I do have an hdmi cable and use webtop 3 all the time for watching tv..
Unfortunately google basically stopped moto from doing this.. We can all run linux but using it on vnc is sloppy, android x server doesnt work proper yet.. And even webtop 3 isnt that bad of an idea..
cheers

forbiddenera said:
I am still wanting to push this forward. I really need a HD DOCK with USB tho.. If anyone can help, post or PM me.
Or a lapdock, or a usb otg and powered hub, or... I do have an hdmi cable and use webtop 3 all the time for watching tv..
Unfortunately google basically stopped moto from doing this.. We can all run linux but using it on vnc is sloppy, android x server doesnt work proper yet.. And even webtop 3 isnt that bad of an idea..
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If someone or a few ppl can chip in to split the cost itd rly hlp.. yks

Hey, every idea you've posted seems good. The only thing I see holding back is, well, you have no credentials to show what you can/have done. I'd love a webtop for my phone, and an external android ssd(rasberry pi?) sounds sweet!
Anyways, what I'm trying to say is, I personally would love to see these projects come to life and help out with the funding side of things(unless you've got some extra time to teach) I do have a passion for developing, it's just not a skill yet.
Tell/show me more of what you can give/make to these protects you have planned and I'll tell/show you what I can fund/help with.

Really cool idea. I'm interested and if you develop even a crude "example" I'm sure the community will hop on board too.
Best of luck and I'll be keeping an eye out .

topdnbass said:
Really cool idea. I'm interested and if you develop even a crude "example" I'm sure the community will hop on board too.
Best of luck and I'll be keeping an eye out .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using webtop3 with just an hdmi cable for a bit - and at the least something like that should be available to every device with hdmi/mhl (eg. dynamic dpi change, phone screen becomes touchpad and kb unless hw mouse/kb avail) but also with all Android devices being linux, there should be a better way to run linux apps than vnc or a half-finished barely functional x server (not damping on the devs).
I have 15-20 years experience in coding almost all languages on almost all platforms. Done a ton of webstuff, none of it's really online or available (NDA). I worked with AOL/nullsoft for a short bit for sc_trans and thus ran my own radio, IdealSound. Unfortunately the AOL BW dried up and I had to kill it, but I am reviving it. I don't have a lot to show now, but give me a few weeks...
Anyhow, I see a ton of potential in android, I like open source, and, I think it's terrible that google axed wt3 even. wt2, I understand why.. wt3 is just dynamic dpi on hdmi and a different launcher profile (and a touchpad).
There needs to be more, and, I use android enough to be willing to invest time into this. Unfortunately, I am not able to invest $.
I envision multi-app android multi-tasking (two apps one screen? windowed?) and seamlessly running linux apps, like gimp, integrated ala parallels style (=using win appson mac seamless)
I eat Linux for breakfast and poop Java. And that's pretty much what android is.. I need dev tools tho.. my biggest concern really, is google and what they have planned conflicting with what I want to do.
I do plan to KISS (keep it stupidly simple) as much as possible though. Any dev I do will be very modular.

forbiddenera said:
I have been using webtop3 with just an hdmi cable for a bit - and at the least something like that should be available to every device with hdmi/mhl (eg. dynamic dpi change, phone screen becomes touchpad and kb unless hw mouse/kb avail) but also with all Android devices being linux, there should be a better way to run linux apps than vnc or a half-finished barely functional x server (not damping on the devs).
I have 15-20 years experience in coding almost all languages on almost all platforms. Done a ton of webstuff, none of it's really online or available (NDA). I worked with AOL/nullsoft for a short bit for sc_trans and thus ran my own radio, IdealSound. Unfortunately the AOL BW dried up and I had to kill it, but I am reviving it. I don't have a lot to show now, but give me a few weeks...
Anyhow, I see a ton of potential in android, I like open source, and, I think it's terrible that google axed wt3 even. wt2, I understand why.. wt3 is just dynamic dpi on hdmi and a different launcher profile (and a touchpad).
There needs to be more, and, I use android enough to be willing to invest time into this. Unfortunately, I am not able to invest $.
I envision multi-app android multi-tasking (two apps one screen? windowed?) and seamlessly running linux apps, like gimp, integrated ala parallels style (=using win appson mac seamless)
I eat Linux for breakfast and poop Java. And that's pretty much what android is.. I need dev tools tho.. my biggest concern really, is google and what they have planned conflicting with what I want to do.
I do plan to KISS (keep it stupidly simple) as much as possible though. Any dev I do will be very modular.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like I said before, I'm very interested and would like to be on your team when this idea takes flight.
PM me and let's get started.
let me know what you need to get started, I'll reply with what I can offer.
also give whatever details of why you need what and so on, that you deem appropriate or necessary.
looking forward to hear from you.

Test Monkey
Just saw this today. If it helps, I may have a useful assortment of gear to test this kind of thing out on, when it comes to that.
Motorola Droid X2 cdma (no HDMI, but if you were going for a dock adapter that added HDMI over usb)
Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE (micro HDMI)
Motorola Photon (micro HDMI)
A Motorola LapDock (Fits both of the Photons, but won't recognize the touchpad or keyboard)
Hisense Sero 7 Pro Tablet (mini HDMI)
The Q is the only one I use daily, so I can monkey around with the rest pretty recklessly. I know my way around adb & CWM / TWRP, but I'm no dev. Just been flashing custom ROMs since the early windows mobile days, so I'm not scared of much.
I'm currently trying to cobble together a software-based solution for myself with the LapDock, using a combination of methods used by other folks on other gear, so I might also have some links worth following for stuff that's been done already. Either way, good luck.

Qualcomm TOQ: too weak to run Android Wear ROMs I guess...

So, a "number" of OEMs are using Qualcomm SOCs for their Android Wear devices.
So my guess would be that Qualcomm TOQ is a "reference platform" for Android Wear.
Perhaps there may be ROMs released.... or leaked given that OEMs surely have them already.
No source code for now....
I'm guessing the kernel will be the more or less usual Android variant of the Linux kernel, perhaps with fewer drivers/features. And it's ARM of course.
How similar to standard Android on the higher level ?
I'm still pretty new to smart-watches. I haven't looked at the preview SDK yet.
EDIT: Uses an STM micro, too weak I'd guess to run Android (Wear variant).
EDIT: Looking now, and wondering if the code will even be open sourced ? Google may want to have more control this time around. Google, and the HW OEMs, might even put in roadblocks to custom ROMs even if the source is open, including the usual device locking of course.
http://developer.android.com/wear/preview/start.html :
Caution: Do not install apps on the Android Wear emulator. The system does not support traditional Android apps and the result of running such apps is unpredictable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. Time to try some of my apps and see what happens.
EDIT2: My app UI works !, although the UI is very squished. Looks almost like normal Android (from the app/dev point of view, Launcher or whatever UI is very different). I'm sure a whole bunch of APIs don't work and some will never work.

hm they use their cpus, why not the displays?
mirasol displays seem to be the perfekt ones
http://www.qualcomm.com/mirasol/technology

I really doubt that the toq can run google wear. It is using a 200mhz non snapdragon soc.

yerand said:
I really doubt that the toq can run google wear. It is using a 200mhz non snapdragon soc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a teardown of it somewhere ?

I really think the android wear platform is going to be locked down. I even doubt google will allow oem customization beyond maybe some skinning. Wearables is too fragile of a market to allow the amount of freedom we have on android phones/tablets. So, that means it'll probably have specific hardware requirements and such that prevent it from running on devices that weren't intended to run it. Even if it were remotely possible it wouldn't work very well. Look at other porting projects like Windows phone to android devices and sense for non-htc devices.

I'm leaning towards Google treating "Android Wear" the same as "Android Phone/Tablet".
Google has never hesitated to be open with the "basic" code to run Nexus devices. Open source is good for them.
That's the low level stuff that they build upon and REALLY protect with closed source and licensing requirements: Google Play, GMail, etc.
It's in their interest for everybody to be build the compatible low level.
I don't think Google has committed on the matter publicly yet, funny.

mikereidis said:
Is there a teardown of it somewhere ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was looking up a part number after tearing down one and found theTech Insights report: http://www.techinsights.com/uploade...ts/Wearable-Wellness_Survey_Sample_Report.pdf

Fencesitter said:
I was looking up a part number after tearing down one and found theTech Insights report: http://www.techinsights.com/uploade...ts/Wearable-Wellness_Survey_Sample_Report.pdf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ! I thought there was only one teardown and it cost $1250 to see.
So, STMicroelectronics STM32F207IGH6 ARM Cortex-M3 32-Bit Microcontroller...
Not a Qualcomm SOC/CPU. And only 16 MB of RAM ???
I don't think this will ever run Wear.
I guess it's just an early prototype, of Mirasol among other things.

mikereidis said:
Thanks ! I thought there was only one teardown and it cost $1250 to see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which company was that?
Let me say for the purposes of CYA that I found the Tech Insights link merely by searching for the term "wcn2243 data sheet" Which is one on of the smaller chips on the Toq.

Fencesitter said:
Which company was that?
Let me say for the purposes of CYA that I found the Tech Insights link merely by searching for the term "wcn2243 data sheet" Which is one on of the smaller chips on the Toq.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same company, more detailed report, including some die photos. Advertised for $1250 here: http://www.techinsights.com/reports...market-reports/Report-Profile/?ReportKey=9830
You linked to a legitimate sample report, linked from this page: http://www.techinsights.com/teardown.com/teardown-sample-reports/
I looked at the firmware for the 1st Sony smartwatch and could see several of the hardware components and some proprietary RTOS. Sony supposedly "opened" the watch, but it's just a toy OS last I looked. They weren't releasing anywhere near enough code to replicate stock.
Anyway, the TOQ parts list seems somewhat reasonably similar; there's probably just a few common designs out there. But things may be changing if the new watches will run an actual variant of Android; ARM based micro-controllers being replaced with I guess more powerful "SOCs", not that it's too easy to distinguish a SOC from a micro...
...Now I'm wondering what's in the Chromecast I just got, LOL... Google is going more deeply embedded now.

Is it realistic to install Android on a 2021 Kindle E-reader ?

Hi !
I'm considering buying an Amazon Kindle E-reader because reading on my phone really hurt my eyes on the long run but I'm worried about being jailed in the Amazon environment. I'm aiming for the cheapest recent model, the Kindle 10.
I was wondering if it's possible to replace the proprietary firmware with Android or a lightweight derivative.
I did some googling but the only result I got was this thread with removed responses : https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/closed-guide-install-android-os-on-kindle-8-gen.4449977/
I'm kinda new so I don't really know what could make it possible or impossible to do it so here's my thoughts :
- Is the Amazon Firmware flashable like I would replace the OS on a computer ?
- Will the hardware be sufficient to run Android or lightweight ? (512MB of RAM, a 1Ghz ARM CPU, 8Gigs of storage, from Wikipedia)
- I know e-inks displays are really slow to refresh so I'll be disabling fancy android animations etc...
I'm not against doing it myself if no one already did, I think this could be a good experience, I just want to be sure I'm not doing something impossible from the start.
Thanks in advance for your help !

hollowww said:
Hi !
I'm considering buying an Amazon Kindle E-reader because reading on my phone really hurt my eyes on the long run but I'm worried about being jailed in the Amazon environment. I'm aiming for the cheapest recent model, the Kindle 10.
I was wondering if it's possible to replace the proprietary firmware with Android or a lightweight derivative.
I did some googling but the only result I got was this thread with removed responses : https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/closed-guide-install-android-os-on-kindle-8-gen.4449977/
I'm kinda new so I don't really know what could make it possible or impossible to do it so here's my thoughts :
- Is the Amazon Firmware flashable like I would replace the OS on a computer ?
- Will the hardware be sufficient to run Android or lightweight ? (512MB of RAM, a 1Ghz ARM CPU, 8Gigs of storage, from Wikipedia)
- I know e-inks displays are really slow to refresh so I'll be disabling fancy android animations etc...
I'm not against doing it myself if no one already did, I think this could be a good experience, I just want to be sure I'm not doing something impossible from the start.
Thanks in advance for your help !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might be feasible but pointless because android will be limited due to the fact that an E-reader doesn't have the hardware to take advantage of many features built into android.

Droidriven said:
It might be feasible but pointless because android will be limited due to the fact that an E-reader doesn't have the hardware to take advantage of many features built into android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback
Ultimately the goal isn't to get a full fledged working android, it obviously won't play videos or take pictures, I only want the ability to use whatever reader app I want and a lot of them are android apps...
Do you maybe have some advices on how to attack the problem ? I never did something similar so I'm actually learning how to replace android with lineage on a regular android phone to better understand how it works to begin with.

hollowww said:
Thanks for the feedback
Ultimately the goal isn't to get a full fledged working android, it obviously won't play videos or take pictures, I only want the ability to use whatever reader app I want and a lot of them are android apps...
Do you maybe have some advices on how to attack the problem ? I never did something similar so I'm actually learning how to replace android with lineage on a regular android phone to better understand how it works to begin with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, it requires an android ROM that has been specifically built for the device. It isn't like changing the OS on PC you can't just install any android software on it. Unless someone else has already built android for it, you would have to build/port it yourself, then you'd have to work how to get the device to allow installing it. You'd also have to build a custom recovery such as TWRP for the device in order to install the ROM and installing TWRP on the device requires an unlocked bootloader, which is another thing you'd have to figure out.
In my opinion, not worth it, better to buy a device that you can install your reader apps on.