Database Info

[Q] Should I buy a Nexus S?

Hi there. I am an LG P500 user. This phone is kinda normal,here are the specs:
MSM7227 Processor 600MHz
512MB of RAM
3.0 MP Camera
320x480 MDPI Screen resolution
Stock Froyo,can be updated to 2.3.3 official Gingerbread or unofficial CM7 (2.3.7)
No support for internal memory card
Bluetooth 2.1
Phone may seem crappy,but just take a look at our LG P500 forums - http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=839.
We have everything: TeamWin Recovery,official ClockworkMod,Unofficial CyanogenMod 7 port which is fully working,tons of custom ROMs (even based on CM7 source),Official 2.3.3 update,great themed ROMs and yes,even franco.Kernel.
But I want some more. So,@ Media World italian store nexus one is now 270€,so I've chosen that(for MIUI,Oxygen,CM7,AOSP etc. official support),probably,not sure. My stupid noob question is:
Samsung Galaxy Nexus is being released,so it will be leaving Nexus S back,am I right? It didn't happen for Nexus One,but I read somewhere that Google after 4.0 won't release official updates no more for it. Will this also happen with Nexus S? Just want to be sure .

I'm not sure if I understand your question. Are you asking if the original Nexus will continue to be supported by Google, or if the GNex will be superior to the NS?

ciaox said:
Hi there. I am an LG P500 user. This phone is kinda normal,here are the specs:
MSM7227 Processor 600MHz
512MB of RAM
3.0 MP Camera
320x480 MDPI Screen resolution
Stock Froyo,can be updated to 2.3.3 official Gingerbread or unofficial CM7 (2.3.7)
No support for internal memory card
Bluetooth 2.1
Phone may seem crappy,but just take a look at our LG P500 forums - http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=839.
We have everything: TeamWin Recovery,official ClockworkMod,Unofficial CyanogenMod 7 port which is fully working,tons of custom ROMs (even based on CM7 source),Official 2.3.3 update,great themed ROMs and yes,even franco.Kernel.
But I want some more. So,@ Media World italian store nexus one is now 270€,so I've chosen that(for MIUI,Oxygen,CM7,AOSP etc. official support),probably,not sure. My stupid noob question is:
Samsung Galaxy Nexus is being released,so it will be leaving Nexus S back,am I right? It didn't happen for Nexus One,but I read somewhere that Google after 4.0 won't release official updates no more for it. Will this also happen with Nexus S? Just want to be sure .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The nexus s will most definitely get an update. Google has stated that it will release AOSP soon after it release the galaxy nexus.
If you would rather not spend a few hundred euros more for a phone, the nexus s a great alternative, even if its a little out dated.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

if your going to buy the phone off contract, Id say do it while our phone doesnt have thousands of roms we have it were it counts and everything is nice and smooth
We might lose official support after ics but that would mean the next OS version is a long ways away

Nexus S is one good phone, and not obsolete at all yet. I'd recommend it. But it depends on what you plan to do with the phone, certainly a dual-core phone is better for gaming.

So,basically I am asking a simple question. After which Android release Nexus S is going to lose official support? I don't think it will lose it after ICS.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA Premium App

It's a great phone, no complaints

ciaox said:
So,basically I am asking a simple question. After which Android release Nexus S is going to lose official support? I don't think it will lose it after ICS.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We don't know that.
However we assume it will lose support whenever it can't handle a version of Android that requires more than it has. ICS will be just fine, and it should not lose support after ICS. And even if it did, a port would most likely be quite easily made.

Yes I own nexus s and it is an awesome phone
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium

A nexus s is a awesome phone, and yes google will eventually stop releasing updates for it. But if you dont have the money to buy a Motorola Razr or a Glaxy Nexus, the Nexus S is a great buy.

i'm very satisfy with nexus s battery life and a lot of developers support it, you should buy it if you are as poor as me

I upgraded to the nexus s from a kyocera echo(which could have been a good phone had kyocera released a recovery and it had some dev support.) and I've loved it since I got it. It's definitely a great phone and imo the best one in it's price range.

buy it. quality pure google phone. very satisfied user here.

Google has been asking for Android partners to go for *AT LEAST* an 18 month release cycle for its models, so that would mean that you'd get official updates up to about May/June 2012. They've never said explicitly they'd support the Nexus S for 18 months, but I think it's safe that they'd hold themselves to at least the same standards they want their partners to be. There's many articles online about the 18-months cycle, for example here: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/10/google-clarifies-18-month-android-upgrade-program-details-far-f/
Now as to whether to buy the phone or not, I'd say go for it. I've had a ton of Android phones, including ones considered top of the line at some point of other, sgs2, lg 2x, you name it I've had it for at least two weeks. I love the Nexus' form factor, its weight, the amount of development that goes on and most of all, I LOVE that the stock rom is pure Android. The curved screen, in my opinion, is the most beautiful feature on the phone and I'd only swap this phone for a Galaxy Nexus.
290 is a damn good price. Go for it. Resale prices are also quite decent by the way, check ebay for used phones, they seem to sell for around 200-250 eur at the moment, and with them being among the first phones to get ICS, I doubt that will change that much.

HeavenlyWinds said:
A nexus s is a awesome phone, and yes google will eventually stop releasing updates for it. But if you dont have the money to buy a Motorola Razr or a Glaxy Nexus, the Nexus S is a great buy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, it's an awesome, fast and stable phone, but if you got the money for it, you definitely want to buy a Galaxy Nexus.

The Nexus S is the first phone I've ever had where a successor was released and I didn't care a whit. I love this phone and am totally satisfied with it in every way. I can't wait to play with it with ICS loaded.
It's the perfect size for my hand, battery life and general performance are great, it runs all the software that I want, and is just a good-looking phone. The GNex may be most of these things as well (it's too big IMHO and battery life remains to be seen) but there's nothing driving me towards upgrading from my current phone.
If you don't care about upgraded hardware and can be happy with "last gen" technology, the Nexus S IMO is the best bang for your buck. It'll be supported for a long time to come if the generally favorable feeling its users seem to have towards it continues.

Ok,I may be buying it. But I'm still not sure:
No HDMI
No Dual-Core
No FM Radio (i heard somewhere it works with cm7 and miui)
Secondary camera is only 0.3 MPx.

ciaox said:
So,basically I am asking a simple question. After which Android release Nexus S is going to lose official support? I don't think it will lose it after ICS.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the time the Nexus S "loses official support", you'll want something else, anyway.
EDIT: I just picked one up for $150 from local classifieds. Couldn't be happier.

Don't buy samsung

Samsung is a manufacturer which is having the most market shares currently.But, their customer aftermarket support is the worst.
As all of us know, the Galaxy line of devices are so successful today for having a sales of up to millions.The reason for this is from the start of the Galaxy S.It is their flagship phone in 2010, with a sales of about 20 million globally. Now, Samsung have made a decision not to upgrade the Galaxy S to the newset Android 4.0. Source: http://www.samsungtomorrow.com/2043
Translated English page by Sammobile : http://www.sammobile.com/2011/12/22/official-no-android-4-0-for-galaxy-s-and-galaxy-tab/
Is it a hardware issue?No, it is because they just don't want to upgrade it and wants people to buy their new phones so they can make more money.And even Sony Ericsson done soooo much better than them. They decided to upgrade their whole 2011 Xperia line of devices, even including the 150$ Xperia Mini.
Yes i know that the Galaxy S is an old device, which already exceeded the 18 months of software update. But well, what happens to its other brother? The Galaxy S Super Clear LCD i9003 which launched about the same time as the Galaxy S2, and the Galaxy S Plus which have not even exceeded 6 months,and the recently Galaxy W,what would happen to them?And also, the Galaxy S have so much similarities to the Nexus S, which had its Ice Cream Sandwich update about 1 week ago.
It is a BIG SHAME that Samsung would make this decision, as these devices are still in the 18 months software update timeline. Is the Google's Android Update Alliance dead? Most of us would probably say yes. If Samsung are not gonna rethink this and release the new update for the Galaxy S phones, I would be sure that this is my first and last Samsung phone ever.Samsung is just caring its sales of new devices and its money.My next phone would be only from Google, the Nexus line.

I'm guessing u have a galaxy s? All companies are like that all they care about is money. Why give it to the old phone when they can Just make a new one and give it to that one and make double or triple the money. Just because their greedy didn't mean its a bad phone. Just saying. Funny thing is I have an HTC
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

These companies are venomous, I'm going to get an n9 even if its a dying breed
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

The best part about this post is the last sentence. The Nexus is made by Samsung buddy...

LMAO he doesn't know that Google phones are still made by Samsung (cue the Galaxy Nexus)
Sent from my GT-S5830 using XDA App

ODD PHONE ERA Reply
boss man Kole said:
I'm guessing u have a galaxy s? All companies are like that all they care about is money. Why give it to the old phone when they can Just make a new one and give it to that one and make double or triple the money. Just because their greedy didn't mean its a bad phone. Just saying. Funny thing is I have an HTC
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The market is just a joke now - the devices are all junk really. Everybody can get one now because they're free on contract, and that has totally killed the value of a "smartphone", even if we can get them cheaper now. For this reason, there's no need to cry over spilled milk. I had an HTC Diamond from 2009 up until this year, when it wasn't worth it to repair because the market screwed itself so badly. I (sadly) carry around a Samsung Epic (the superior of all the Galaxy S series), but it'll never be able to replace the magic of Windows Mobile that our quickly moving market/retarded Microsoft has frowned upon.
- 2B

Motorola is the worse when it comes to upgrade
and with their locked bootloader you can't even load custom ROMs
HTC is heading the same way as Moto

If you want updates then next time just get a nexus device next time your available for an upgrade or get a crapple iPhone!! ;p
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium

If you are whining about updates why don't you flash a custom rom? Or get a nexus? Oh wait....
Sent from my E10i using XDA App

people who care about receiving the latest update would be on forums like this - by extension you will have dabbled with custom roms.
samsung gave their reason why they couldn't put ICS on the older devices - it involves touchwiz, which is their core skin - samsung aren't going to ditch it for their non nexus devices anytime soon (otherwise every android handset would really be "the same as the next").
load a custom rom with no skins onto your phone and stop complaining, or buy a new device. nobody guaranteed you any updates to the latest firmware - and hell, i wouldn't be surprised if the galaxy s 2 won't receive an update to android letter "J" because the screen resolution is too small or something.

Stop whining and get a new device. I was once a Galaxy S user, and have been through the Eclair, Froyo and Gingerbread era. I am more than satisfied to have this phone supported until Gingerbread. Besides, I can flash the ported ICS rom if I want to.

Wiggy Fuzz said:
people who care about receiving the latest update would be on forums like this - by extension you will have dabbled with custom roms.
samsung gave their reason why they couldn't put ICS on the older devices - it involves touchwiz, which is their core skin - samsung aren't going to ditch it for their non nexus devices anytime soon (otherwise every android handset would really be "the same as the next").
load a custom rom with no skins onto your phone and stop complaining, or buy a new device. nobody guaranteed you any updates to the latest firmware - and hell, i wouldn't be surprised if the galaxy s 2 won't receive an update to android letter "J" because the screen resolution is too small or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spot on! Most of the average consumer don't give a damn about what android version they are using, the manufacturer skin and other stuff about that. As long as the phone is works just nice, then they don't care about the versions they are using. I even saw phones (Xperia X8) still stuck at 2.1 and yet the phone works just fine. Did the phone render unusable for not having 4.0? No right? If those guys (especially techies) still whine about manufacturers not giving updates or some sort why don't they flash a custom rom? Problem Solved.

Bro!
This is ****ing XD-****ing-A!
root your phone and flash the ****!
You're pissed off at a company for not putting out OTAs of upgrades?
We're talking about Android here, the OS that I love, that i die for. What are we talking about, Android? We're talking about Android! What are we talking about, Android?
This is XDA homez!
root your phone and flash ICS!
How in the name of Zeus did you go 4 days with a stock ROM on ANY Samsung device? How the **** did you not void your warranty the second you unboxed your phone??
In ALL of the time you spent putting together this very eloquent and moving post, you could have rooted your phone and flashed a custom ROM.
Just wait for CM8 on EVERY device, don't worry about it, you're getting bent out of shape.

Can old S even handle 4.0 hardware wise? How much ram does 4.0 need to run comfortably?
Also, OP, you've clearly NEVER really been a phone enthusiast, have you? Go look up OMNIA HD, for example. People still used and more or less loved it despite how little support it got even from the community.

Skv012a said:
Can old S even handle 4.0 hardware wise? How much ram does 4.0 need to run comfortably?
Also, OP, you've clearly NEVER really been a phone enthusiast, have you? Go look up OMNIA HD, for example. People still used and more or less loved it despite how little support it got even from the community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah dude, ICS uses like so much less resources then even Sense 1.0, you could probably flash it on a motorola startac

orangekid said:
Bro!
This is ****ing XD-****ing-A!
root your phone and flash the ****!
You're pissed off at a company for not putting out OTAs of upgrades?
We're talking about Android here, the OS that I love, that i die for. What are we talking about, Android? We're talking about Android! What are we talking about, Android?
This is XDA homez!
root your phone and flash ICS!
How in the name of Zeus did you go 4 days with a stock ROM on ANY Samsung device? How the **** did you not void your warranty the second you unboxed your phone??
In ALL of the time you spent putting together this very eloquent and moving post, you could have rooted your phone and flashed a custom ROM.
Just wait for CM9 on EVERY device, don't worry about it, you're getting bent out of shape.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fixed. XD
It is just amusing to see that non-android techies just whine about (Insert phone manufacturer here) not giving updates to (Insert phone of the manufacturer). And OP even rant in a forum called XDA.... Head-------->Wall
What? Did the phone rendered unusable for not having 4.0? Well, you can get a freaking Nexus... and Problem Solved.
BTW Sammy is one of the most dev-friendly manufacturers out there. They tried to make everything open source, having an open bootloader and even gave SGS2s to CM7 developers. They hired Steve Kondik (The guy who worked on the popular CyanogenMod Rom) too. Unlike HTC which locks down bootloaders on their devices and lied about it about the bootloader unlock thingy.
---------- Post added at 02:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:32 AM ----------
orangekid said:
yeah dude, ICS uses like so much less resources then even Sense 1.0, you could probably flash it on a motorola startac
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I lol'd at this.

rocker529 said:
My next phone would be only from Google, the Nexus line.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do realize that last two Nexus phones were made by Samsung, right?

AnyMal said:
You do realize that last two Nexus phones were made by Samsung, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless OP wants to get a Nexus One which won't be updated to ICS officially....

sooyong94 said:
Fixed. XD
It is just amusing to see that non-android techies just whine about (Insert phone manufacturer here) not giving updates to (Insert phone of the manufacturer). And OP even rant in a forum called XDA.... Head-------->Wall
What? Did the phone rendered unusable for not having 4.0? Well, you can get a freaking Nexus... and Problem Solved.
BTW Sammy is one of the most dev-friendly manufacturers out there. They tried to make everything open source, having an open bootloader and even gave SGS2s to CM7 developers. They hired Steve Kondik (The guy who worked on the popular CyanogenMod Rom) too. Unlike HTC which locks down bootloaders on their devices and lied about it about the bootloader unlock thingy.
---------- Post added at 02:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:32 AM ----------
I lol'd at this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol thx for the fix, was laughing my ass off at Jim Rome and slipped the 8 instead of 9

Just get nexus end of story.

When will we get our first ICS based ROM

I really want some ICS love! Anyone know any thing about any ROMs based off of ICS or.... even better.... CM9? I am new to this rooting thing so...

Wow. Just search through all the topics in the skyrocket forum and you'll find your answer
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

This is like some kind of Platonic Ideal of a post here.
But, I'm pretty sure they're going to release ICS at the big Samsung/AT&T/Google event tomorrow.

Savitt said:
I really want some ICS love! Anyone know any thing about any ROMs based off of ICS or.... even better.... CM9? I am new to this rooting thing so...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before you ask a question, please search the forum first, therefore other members will not give you harsh answers.
If you are looking for answers to rooting your device, please go here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1383464
If you are searching for rom developments, please go here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1383
If you are searching for information on Ice Cream Sandwich, best luck is to search google or in the general section. There is NO certain release date of when ICS will be available, but there are rumors and some information that states it will be in Q1 of 2012.
Good luck to you.
Please press "Thanks" if I have helped you in anyway.

What event? Do you have a link. ?

I think he's referring to the CES 2012 event on January 9th.

Oh thats not tomarrow lol tomarrow is the 5th . Darn i was hoping there was some att/sammy event tomarrow.

Phoneguy589 said:
I think he's referring to the CES 2012 event on January 9th.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed. That is the only upcoming event that I am aware of.

I wasn't...LOL. I can't afford to buy another phone. I just pre-ordered the Transformer Prime so I'm out of money...so my wife says.

silver03wrx said:
Oh thats not tomarrow lol tomarrow is the 5th . Darn i was hoping there was some att/sammy event tomarrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha me too my friend l lol the hope jumped up through my body!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

No, I was being mean. There's not event tomorrow and ICS is but a distant dream. Enjoy your device now and don't sweat the OS version number. ICS is not going to give much more over what you have now.

I'm sort of with the OP in wanting to know about any rom based on ICS. I've searched the forums and google to no avail. I'm seeing other devices getting a version of CM9, but nothing for the Skyrocket yet.
So, my question is this: Is anyone working on an ICS rom for the Skyrocket such as CM9? If I had the know-how I'd be all over that since we have such a great and powerful phone. I know AT&T and Samsung will eventually release ICS, but it'll never compare to the likes of CyanogenMod.

No no ones working on it. Why make a hacked up version. Thats not very functional. When our update is just around the corner. We will see ics, and mabye cm9 but.not until theres a leak for the skyrocket or the actuall update.

silver03wrx said:
No no ones working on it. Why make a hacked up version. Thats not very functional. When our update is just around the corner. We will see ics, and mabye cm9 but.not until theres a leak for the skyrocket or the actuall update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Like some others I'm an impatient type...especially after using ICS on my HTC Incredible. Can hardly wait to have it on my Skyrocket, but will sit quietly (maybe) and wait.

Not saying this to start a flamewar or anything but why are so many people with talent focusing on old roms and tweaks and not ICS? IMO this is what is hurting Android with better development etc, it seems like iOS hacking and tweeking seems to be more tight-knit and innovative, where Android seems to just have (almost) the same thing over and over again.
Now, I am not saying it is the same, there are obviously very difficult functions and programming that needs to be done, but I don't get why all efforts by everyone wouldn't be focused on ICS since it is what Android needs, a fresh new OS that could change the game.

Turbojugend said:
Not saying this to start a flamewar or anything but why are so many people with talent focusing on old roms and tweaks and not ICS? IMO this is what is hurting Android with better development etc, it seems like iOS hacking and tweeking seems to be more tight-knit and innovative, where Android seems to just have (almost) the same thing over and over again.
Now, I am not saying it is the same, there are obviously very difficult functions and programming that needs to be done, but I don't get why all efforts by everyone wouldn't be focused on ICS since it is what Android needs, a fresh new OS that could change the game.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so you want us to randomly pull kernel source for ICS (linux kernel 3.0+) out of our ass?
samsung has not provided us with enough driver libraries/binary blobs that work properly with AOSP GB, let alone ICS.
the problem here is the manufacturers. they control the proprietary hardware/drivers we need to focus attention on something. we could hack something together, but it wouldnt be worth a crap, and by the time we got something working half decent, Official would be dropped on us with source and we would have to basically start fresh....
tl;dr: it is not worth the time it takes to try to hack something together until we have 'something' from samsung.

Pirateghost said:
so you want us to randomly pull kernel source for ICS (linux kernel 3.0+) out of our ass?
samsung has not provided us with enough driver libraries/binary blobs that work properly with AOSP GB, let alone ICS.
the problem here is the manufacturers. they control the proprietary hardware/drivers we need to focus attention on something. we could hack something together, but it wouldnt be worth a crap, and by the time we got something working half decent, Official would be dropped on us with source and we would have to basically start fresh....
tl;dr: it is not worth the time it takes to try to hack something together until we have 'something' from samsung.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly its not as simple as ics source code being out, you also need proper drivers for the hardware

Pirateghost said:
so you want us to randomly pull kernel source for ICS (linux kernel 3.0+) out of our ass?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That answers a lot for me, like I said I am not too familiar coming from Iphone (day one, I just got a Samsung Galaxy S II LTE (Skyrocket))
So obviously you need the kernel to work with the OS, I didn't know they were not released.
draztikrhymez said:
....you also need proper drivers for the hardware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it harder for phone hardware? Seems to be a lot of open source, or scene made drivers for, say video cards.

Turbojugend said:
That answers a lot for me, like I said I am not too familiar coming from Iphone (day one, I just got a Samsung Galaxy S II LTE (Skyrocket))
So obviously you need the kernel to work with the OS, I didn't know they were not released.
So what exactly is open about Android then? If you are at the mercy of the manufacture's to release the kernel, how is that open?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android itself is OPEN. you can go and build your very own version of 4.0 ICS right now from source code. there are very few phones you can STABLY and RELIABLY run it on though.
The NEXUS line of phones exists for a reason. they are untouched by carriers (verizon teabagged the Galaxy Nexus a little), and do not have some stupid overlay on them. they are developer devices in that it is the first phone to get android updates straight from google (no manufacturer interference required).
every other phone is tainted with a manufacturer's UI. Touchwiz on Samsung phones (galaxy nexus is a samsung but they provided the hardware not the software), Sense on HTC, 'non-blur' on Motorola, whatever Sony calls theirs...lol, LG, etc
on top of that tainted Android interface is a carrier branding or lockdown (doesnt apply to the entire world, but im only referring to US here)
so google releases new version of Android
manufacturers build phone, and customize android to fit their model (this is where android almost stops being OPEN)
carriers get a hold of the manufacturers build of android and tweak and modify it themselves (more than likely they just tell the manufacturers what they want), as you know they love to include bloat and lock it down from the user
you receive your android phone after it has gone through all those steps....long process huh? we dont get updates to newer versions as quickly because of that long process...and they would rather us buy new phones instead of improving perfectly good hardware.
Android is open in the sense that manufacturers can use it however they wish, within reason. it is not necessarily meant to be 'open' to the average end user, and manufacturers dont want you messing with the phone they built. its the reason XDA is what it is today, albeit with roots deep in WinMo hacking.

Hey Pirateghost Really great in-depth info with your permission I would like to add this info for noobs here.
Pirateghost said:
Android itself is OPEN. you can go and build your very own version of 4.0 ICS right now from source code. there are very few phones you can STABLY and RELIABLY run it on though.
The NEXUS line of phones exists for a reason. they are untouched by carriers (verizon teabagged the Galaxy Nexus a little), and do not have some stupid overlay on them. they are developer devices in that it is the first phone to get android updates straight from google (no manufacturer interference required).
every other phone is tainted with a manufacturer's UI. Touchwiz on Samsung phones (galaxy nexus is a samsung but they provided the hardware not the software), Sense on HTC, 'non-blur' on Motorola, whatever Sony calls theirs...lol, LG, etc
on top of that tainted Android interface is a carrier branding or lockdown (doesnt apply to the entire world, but im only referring to US here)
so google releases new version of Android
manufacturers build phone, and customize android to fit their model (this is where android almost stops being OPEN)
carriers get a hold of the manufacturers build of android and tweak and modify it themselves (more than likely they just tell the manufacturers what they want), as you know they love to include bloat and lock it down from the user
you receive your android phone after it has gone through all those steps....long process huh? we dont get updates to newer versions as quickly because of that long process...and they would rather us buy new phones instead of improving perfectly good hardware.
Android is open in the sense that manufacturers can use it however they wish, within reason. it is not necessarily meant to be 'open' to the average end user, and manufacturers dont want you messing with the phone they built. its the reason XDA is what it is today, albeit with roots deep in WinMo hacking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Best Phones for Testing APKs?

We need to buy about 2 phones for testing some custom android apps we've built.
Does anyone have suggestions on what the best phones for testing would be?
I was thinking something with HTC sense on it, and something with stock android on it. Both need to be able to s-off and root easily.

erm... the google dev phones (nexus) ?? Personally I use galaxy nexus most for this kinda thing

For any kind of software testing, you need to know how it will function on both the latest and greatest devices, as well as the oldest hardware you intend to support.
I'd think for the price of two top-tier 2012 phones, you could buy 1 top of the line current phone, one from last year, and one from 2 years ago. Possibly also include Sense, Touchwiz and vanilla android.

Something running GB and something running ICS/JB. Many phones are still on GB so a used device running GB would be useful to test on.

Test it on emulator first?

jianC said:
Test it on emulator first?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes for sure it's the first thing to do,but not always if it works on emulator it will work on specific phone

Nexus one and galaxy nexus. Then you've got gingerbread and jellybean covered

If you need a newer phone for testing , the Galaxy Nexus is an obvious choice .
If you need a older phone ( old hardware ) to test yous apps , have a look at Nexus 1 or HTC Desire , it can run flawlessly 2.2 , 2.3 and 4.0.4 . I have a Desire on ICS ( BCM ) so I can tell .

willpower102 said:
We need to buy about 2 phones for testing some custom android apps we've built.
Does anyone have suggestions on what the best phones for testing would be?
I was thinking something with HTC sense on it, and something with stock android on it. Both need to be able to s-off and root easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HD2? ROMs range from Android 2.1-4.1 (AOSP, AOKP, CM), Sense 2.0-3.5 (one discontinued Sense 4 alpha), TouchWiz + GB, Xperia Arc GB, MIUI etc. It's also got similar specs to a low-range phone nowadays so that would be a good choice I think. In addition, a One X probably.

HTC One X?!

Samsung galaxy nexus
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Galaxy nexus its official hands down
Sent from my evo 4g using xda premium

It seems it is indeed no contest there.
Does the Galaxy Nexus come with Sense by default? (It's been a while since I've looked into these. Last Android phone I owned was a droid bionic and before that the htc hero.)
We definitely are going to support gingerbread, so we'll need a little bit of an older phone too. I'm sure breaking it up like that into 3 or so phones is ok, as long as they fall under budget.
And yeah, the dev tests with emulators, but I'm QA on this project so I get to play with them real-world once he's done and find more bugs.

Nexus S and a Galaxy Nexus,
Will do the job well:thumbup:
Sent from my GT-S5660 using xda premium

willpower102 said:
It seems it is indeed no contest there.
Does the Galaxy Nexus come with Sense by default? (It's been a while since I've looked into these. Last Android phone I owned was a droid bionic and before that the htc hero.)
We definitely are going to support gingerbread, so we'll need a little bit of an older phone too. I'm sure breaking it up like that into 3 or so phones is ok, as long as they fall under budget.
And yeah, the dev tests with emulators, but I'm QA on this project so I get to play with them real-world once he's done and find more bugs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GNex is a Nexus phone, so why would it come with Sense?
Anyway, the best choice is still the HD2 IMO. You can test it on all versions of Android from 2.1-4.1 and it's incredibly cheap, with specs which are not too bad (1GHz Snapdragon with 576MB RAM) for the price. If you can get the app to run smoothly on the HD2 the likelihood is that it will run on any newer phone.

IMHO you have yo use a stock device.. nexus as all the docs suggest. Custom ROMs have additions substitutions and tweaks that in a dev sense are not baseline. Although the differences are minimal or should be. Better to play safe. So nexus s and galaxy nexus.. Google provide stock ROMs for these in dev device downloads.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Noted. Thanks.
And yeah, that's cool that some of these phones support plenty of roms, but I don't want to be flashing 3 different roms every time the dev iterates a new point (v.2) update. I'd rather have 2-3 phones ready to go. (seems lazy, but I've got a lot of other work to do to

We got a droid (motorola timestamp issues), a Galaxy Nexus, and an hd2. So the hd2 comes stock with windows mobile? This is strange to me.

willpower102 said:
We got a droid (motorola timestamp issues), a Galaxy Nexus, and an hd2. So the hd2 comes stock with windows mobile? This is strange to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the hd2 does have a lot of support, but when the top threads in the device specific forum warn of how unstable and beta-ish android development is on this phone, then I'm not really as excited as I was. might end up returning this one.

[Q] Do samsung-free roms exist?

Just bought an S6 and if my past phones were any indication I will want to remove as much vendor android customization as possible.
I don't care about warranty and am happy to root/unlock/s-off/etc my phones.
How's development looking for the S6, has anyone produced a rom with the samsung stuff stripped out?
I don't need a ROM with gizmos, just the samsung stuff and preinstalled apps taken off.

They is a great topic , i was just talking to my coworkers from tmobile that im litterally gonna switch to the g3 or htc m8 because the development on here is so sad its driving crazy (yeah yeah, i know if i want a rom i should build it myself) well if i had the BRAINS that these developers have i would exploit my knowledge but because I dont have the knowledge then we can only depend on the developers...just imagine cm 12 running on a 64bit processor...jesus.... instant nerd boner... seriously... we need to use our phones full potential...if not then why the strong processsors for? Why all the specs... htc m8/moto X 2nd gen/Lg G3/nexus 5 (for that android M)
Any feedback? I feel like ppl are afriad to speak on this topic that they dont just so they dont get flamed... but someone has to stand up and bring it to attention...
Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

I agree. I would love to see some cm/aosp. I think about switching to another device that can run it every day

Yeah, I agree to. I'm waiting for CM or AOSP rom. I want imagine a pure stock on my phone...But I thing maybe it's difficult with Knox or Samsung bloadware to make different rom who can run on our phone. All we have actually are based on Samsung rom... So wait and see...

The s6 has the least amount of preinstaled apps ... and a lot of them you can remove ... why do you people even buy phones from Samsung if you need to change every little detail about it ... maybe the best advice is that you make your own phone at home ....
Sent from my SM-G920F using XDA Free mobile app

I don't see how stripping out most of the features and adding on a buggy CM software is "getting the full potential" of the phone.
A 64 bit processor vs 32 is negligible anyway, and Cm, really? That's like equipping Iron Man's suit with a ZX spectrum computer.

zdravkodubravec said:
The s6 has the least amount of preinstaled apps ... and a lot of them you can remove ... why do you people even buy phones from Samsung if you need to change every little detail about it ... maybe the best advice is that you make your own phone at home ....
Sent from my SM-G920F using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do i buy phones from samsung? Umm lets see it has the latest hardware, camera, processor, screen display.... that was a really dumb question...smh... vs one plus one or a moto x 2014... i wanna run cm on a 64 bit processor.
Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

OP, what you are looking for is called Android Open Source Project or AOSP for Short. AOSP is the Google's Android Source Code Repository. It has a code base for your phone's Processor (SoC). There are several Developers who utilize this Google Source to create Custom Roms with Features that are not available in Samsung's Touchwiz rom. You can review this list
for currently available Roms on your Device. Essentially what is called "Play Store Edition" of a device, is basically the same thing as regular Device but has AOSP Rom.
Unfortunately this thread is a duplicate of Does Exynos = no custom ROMs? So please carry on the Discussion over there,
Thread closed.