Database Info

[Q] Paying Developers to customize your phone !

Am a Non-conformist, I don't try to follow the herd's travels in getting the Best looking customizing on my phone. I became really frustrated with my G2 over the past few days and I'll tell you why .
The G2 is the only phone that I have to go through different hoops in order to hack it to be able to install a custom ROM on it ! After all, the whole idea is to be able to customize it to begin with with some fancy screens and new apps. Every time a new ROM comes out, were all racing to get it installed and working on our devices and were left with a huge mess. Can you honestly remember what ROM you installed last week and have you forgotten what procedures to take before installing your New fancy Rom over it ?
Every time I come here and look at the ROMS being worked on, it seems that you have to follow that developers procedures in order to get it working and guess what, if you BRICK it, it's your own damn fault ! Ain't no one here to blame you for trying out that new fancy Rom, right !
What got me worked up was this, I received a picture from someone via mms and after previewing it on my G2, it closed the thread and took me to my list of sms threads and I still can't figure out how to save the damn picture to my phone !
Maybe, I just overlooked something and maybe I installed an app from the market that changed some small aspect regarding sms and mss messaging, I don't know and frankly, I dislike coming to any forum and having my intelligence questioned by some smart ass nerd who knows more then I do, only because he has the information to fix my problem but is not willing to share the solution until he makes himself Glorified.
Developers are indeed SMART and very SKILLED at what they do but it just seems to me that all it takes is just 1 individual to bring down the Fame and Glory because this 1 individual fails to follow instructions.
How about let's change all this to an idea I have.
An individual comes here with a NEW factory carrier phone, he wants to have it customized his way, He's willing to pay a certain developer to cook a BASE ROM, let's say $25.00 dollars and he likes it, Now he wants certain apps that make it work, let's say he's willing to pay $ 5.00 to 10.00 at the very least, depending on the apps usage. NOW, this NEW owner has his own phone customized to his liking, He's happy as a clam, right ? Maybe and maybe not.
Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas like this? Is it worth trying here ?

If developers had the time to handle your phone the amount of money you are suggesting would probably not buy that time. Also I think it is customary here to take donations and not payment for services. Sorry about your bad experience. Not all of the smart people here are so unrefined as the ones you encountered. Try to keep a cool head. Everything that happens to your phone after the instant it is rooted is ultimately YOUR PROBLEM, like it or not, and that goes for everybody, including smarty pants geeks! If your not a paid member you might want to consider becoming one. If you're new around here it probably couldn't help to have something going for you. If you think you got off on the wrong foot with somebody, PM them a well thought out apology, you might make a friend and get the help you need. Just a thought.

[Q] Kids Rom

I have seen some threads for kids apps. I am interested in finding/building a kids ROM.
My child has a prepaid SIM card and RAZR to be used for certain situations. I would want to be able to let my child carry the phone all the time but restrict what numbers could be called.
So my idea, which can't be an original one, is leverage Android power to install a rooted ROM but run in user mode when I give it to my child. User mode could restrict calling to the phone book only or restrict wi-fi/data access; basically anything that you wanted to restrict or remove. Maybe there could be a ROM builder.
I have many scenarios in mind but maybe they could all be solved by software apps instead of getting into a custom ROM? I'm tech savvy, but haven't ever done a ROM. If the answer is to develop a custom ROM, what device should I choose that would get the most community support? I figure it would be a low end phone, since the point is to make a children's rom.

May I ask how old is your child?
[Sig] dId you know? If you Insert a Coin on your Desire, then it levels up to HD, Z or S :[/Sig]

i was thinking of my son when you mentioned this, it is a great i dea, and i also thought if the original att kid's phone that was out a few years back. it was revamped and it sucked. but good luck on either building one or have some one make one ( put a bounty on it?)

Phones and ROMs
My child is 8 years old. I figure in a few years that it would be fine, but it seems like there would be more of a market for this.
I would put up a bounty for it but I'd prefer to make this a community effort too.
So I will change tack here and ask what the best ROM might be for me to start with and what phones might be recommended? I'm figuring that CM would be easiest to start with, generically?
Thoughts?

I think that is a very good idea.
A good part of that could be accoimplished with a kids theme on an existing ROM.

im sorry but the RAZR is a dumb-phone! it doesnt support 3rd party modding. im afraid you are mistaking the word 'ROM' and actually don't know what it means! You will have no luck finding such ROM for the RAZR... A bootloader of any sort does not exist!
You need a smartphone if you want such a job done, but it requires a investment into a smartphone which are generally more expensive and not intended for 'kids'

I understand...
@olyloh6696: Thanks for looking in on the thread!
You misunderstood what I was explaining. She _currently_ has a RAZR. I want to figure out what the best GSM _android_ phone would be to do the project I'm describing would be. I would of course have to get the new phone; I do understand that the RAZR does not support android (dumbphone).
Any thoughts on phone model or something out there like this already?

rykerwilliams said:
@olyloh6696: Thanks for looking in on the thread!
You misunderstood what I was explaining. She _currently_ has a RAZR. I want to figure out what the best GSM _android_ phone would be to do the project I'm describing would be. I would of course have to get the new phone; I do understand that the RAZR does not support android (dumbphone).
Any thoughts on phone model or something out there like this already?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi
well i guess the best option for a relatively cheap phone (that has android) is the zte blade (in my sig) it is a british phone, but gsm, so i think it should work in the us. if you read reviews for it, it has specs of the desire, nexus one, etc in a cheap budget range. read some revies on it! it also cost £100. Not sure what your budget is though. before you set out to buy the phone, you may need to look up a rom that supports the requirements you want, or you could request one/build your own.
good luck

Unrelated, but the RAZR does support modding lol. Back in the day, pre-Android, I used to hack the hell out of my Razr. There's even a hidden feature called Club Lights that uses the phone's microphone to detect music and make the lights on the phone go with the beat. Youtube it.

That's a great idea... it would be great on a tablet too.
I'm always worried that my son is going to click around in the market and download tons of apps without know it.

Remove Dialer.app, replace with custom Dialer.app
Is the source for the Dialer.app known, i.e. part of the main trunk of the Android sources? I was just thinking that it might not be too hard to just modify that original source to limit it only to the "contacts" tab, that way you can only call the contacts tab.
Another feature I thought of is using some kind of Dynamic DNS client to be able to dial in to the phone.
I was thinking that there could be a "phone home" app that would call home and report the currently used minutes and GPS coordinates, or similar.
Just trying to get the features set worked out and find out if there is existing apps that do this stuff.

2018, quick google search for Kids Custom ROM.... dead thread no progress. There is definitely a market for this, since it's easy to shove a phone into an OtterBox like case and let them have at it with safe guards. My kid has had an Ipad since age 2 without issue. Now she asks for my phone on occasion (years later). It would be easier to just take a custom ROM shove it on a cheap device and give it to her.
Sure, I am a minority, definitely but I can't consider myself the only person who would want to do this.

This is what I'm looking for my child. I'm a software engeneer but I've never works on Android. I think it's not a great works for an Android developer.
I'll follow this post for news.

digging this one up again. anyway to take something like at Nexux 5x and put a totally stripped down version of android on it to achieve something like the lightphone?

nvrpunk said:
2018, quick google search for Kids Custom ROM.... dead thread no progress. There is definitely a market for this, since it's easy to shove a phone into an OtterBox like case and let them have at it with safe guards. My kid has had an Ipad since age 2 without issue. Now she asks for my phone on occasion (years later). It would be easier to just take a custom ROM shove it on a cheap device and give it to her.
Sure, I am a minority, definitely but I can't consider myself the only person who would want to do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Per capita, there are very few people that actually root or flash custom ROMs, the number of kids that could/would use such a ROM is even less than that, this means it is not worth a developers time and hard work to build a ROM for this purpose, especially considering the plethora of different devices out there in the world. There would not be enough kids using "this" or "that" device with "this" or "that" custom ROM. To be as convenient for kids as what you are asking about, there would have to be a "kids ROM" for a large number of devices. This is not a reasonable expectation by any standard.
Add to that, the fact that rooting devices and flashing ROMs can quickly go bad if the user is not familiar with certain aspects of using a device that is rooted or flashed with a custom ROM, this makes for some rather difficult issues to solve due to user error, ignorance and inexperience of the user.
If you want a "safe" or "basic" ROM for a device, you'll have to learn how to build it yourself because I can promise you that no developer is willing to put that much time and effort into building ROMs that will only be used by a small number of users.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

[Q] Using remote access to root a phone and install a rom

I wonder if anyone knows if it is possible to root and install a ROM for someone using remote access of some sort. At least maybe be able to explore the file directory or flash something even on an already rooted phone. I could see why Google may have built in something that would block this from being possible though. The only reason I ask is because there are so many times I try to help a friend on FB or twitter who is having a problem with their phone and I would LOVE to be able to help them! Most of them are somewhat technological idiots and I don't want to lose them to the dark side! We all know every brand and model of phone has it's different quirks and problems and issues Most can be easily solved with a little searching here on XDA. I'd love to be able to help a friend install an OS update or a custom ROM so they can enjoy their phone to it's fullest potential the way it's meant to be enjoyed and they won't get that phone The Borg use( I'm sure most of you will get the Star Trek reference)!
Obviously, the potential would be there for people to make money rooting people's phones remotely. I'm sure there are some people that wouldn't be happy about someone making money off an otherwise mostly free Development community and I understand that completely. I do think it would be a great way for a developer to raise money to continue their efforts and possibly bring in enough to quit their other job to devote themselves full-time or at least add a little to their income. My thoughts on that would be this: For one, at least it would be someone with a hands-on knowledge of the particular phone and various ROMS for that phone. People such as Mike's Recognized Users of his ARHD ROM would be perfect candidates for something like this. It would certainly also cut down on the overly repeated questions we all have to deal with in EVERY forum on this site. When Mike puts out a new rom there are 10+ new pages an hour, mostly repeating the same three questions, and you know what those are. If I haven't checked in a couple of days that could be HUNDREDS of posts! I am actually someone who reads as much as I can before I install anything, even a small update. Would be nice to have one post answering all the questions I would have. Repetitive questions lead to FIVE repetitive answers of "search before you post" followed by "I did" and a two page conversation about searching. Ugh!
Of course, there is also the problem of someone who is not fully adept at doing somethin like this and bricking peoples phones without recourse. For sure, it would be tough to identify a qualified person to do this but it could be possible. Now, unfortunately you would also be opening yourself up to a stranger accessing all your files and information that are on your phone. I'm not a developer by any means but I'm sure there could be an app and program created that would allow you access but block any files containing personal information.
Overall I think there would be some definite postives to something like this, as well as negatives that I'm not thinking about. Would love to hear your opinion.
Oh, and if anyone tries to steal my idea and profit by it I'm reserving all rights to the concept right now!

Someone did it
Halfcab123.com

VNC/RDP and do everything from a command prompt.

tony yayo said:
I wonder if anyone knows if it is possible to root and install a ROM for someone using remote access of some sort. At least maybe be able to explore the file directory or flash something even on an already rooted phone. I could see why Google may have built in something that would block this from being possible though. The only reason I ask is because there are so many times I try to help a friend on FB or twitter who is having a problem with their phone and I would LOVE to be able to help them! Most of them are somewhat technological idiots and I don't want to lose them to the dark side! We all know every brand and model of phone has it's different quirks and problems and issues Most can be easily solved with a little searching here on XDA. I'd love to be able to help a friend install an OS update or a custom ROM so they can enjoy their phone to it's fullest potential the way it's meant to be enjoyed and they won't get that phone The Borg use( I'm sure most of you will get the Star Trek reference)!
Obviously, the potential would be there for people to make money rooting people's phones remotely. I'm sure there are some people that wouldn't be happy about someone making money off an otherwise mostly free Development community and I understand that completely. I do think it would be a great way for a developer to raise money to continue their efforts and possibly bring in enough to quit their other job to devote themselves full-time or at least add a little to their income. My thoughts on that would be this: For one, at least it would be someone with a hands-on knowledge of the particular phone and various ROMS for that phone. People such as Mike's Recognized Users of his ARHD ROM would be perfect candidates for something like this. It would certainly also cut down on the overly repeated questions we all have to deal with in EVERY forum on this site. When Mike puts out a new rom there are 10+ new pages an hour, mostly repeating the same three questions, and you know what those are. If I haven't checked in a couple of days that could be HUNDREDS of posts! I am actually someone who reads as much as I can before I install anything, even a small update. Would be nice to have one post answering all the questions I would have. Repetitive questions lead to FIVE repetitive answers of "search before you post" followed by "I did" and a two page conversation about searching. Ugh!
Of course, there is also the problem of someone who is not fully adept at doing somethin like this and bricking peoples phones without recourse. For sure, it would be tough to identify a qualified person to do this but it could be possible. Now, unfortunately you would also be opening yourself up to a stranger accessing all your files and information that are on your phone. I'm not a developer by any means but I'm sure there could be an app and program created that would allow you access but block any files containing personal information.
Overall I think there would be some definite postives to something like this, as well as negatives that I'm not thinking about. Would love to hear your opinion.
Oh, and if anyone tries to steal my idea and profit by it I'm reserving all rights to the concept right now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol been done already
GNeX
AOKP
FRANCOS LATEST KERNEL
& WHATEVER [MOD AT THE TIME]

The Market Incompatibility Final Solution

The short version:
Let's get Google to change the market incompatibility from "You can't have this," to "Are you sure...?" Because quite honestly why waste precious minutes downloading an APK from some unknown source that for all you know could be tempered with and wind up ****ing up your device.
The teal deer version:
There are now numerous threads regarding this issue and I think it's time we had one that was the central place for us to discuss this issue as it's too scattered about and so far all attempts at remedying the issue have been either in vain or temporary. We shouldn't have to suffer so much over something so unnecessary.
The idea is sound, sure, but its ways of going about doing so are very wrong. In the event that an app doesn't work as expected, or at least in suspicion of such, it need only be noted as a warning to the user. So instead of seeing that black bar stating that we can't have app X and have the install button disabled, we should see that same black bar but with a warning and the install button enabled irregardless.
If big brother is worried that because the app is known to have issues on our devices then they need only to disable the ability to rate the app for that specific user. But that's about it, as it's fairer to both parties involved. We shouldn't have to go through the hassle of having to have to keep looking for ways around something that only goes to further slow down progress, or downloading and installing APK files every time there's an update to our apps (some of which were paid for)!
We need to attack the disease at its source rather than treat the symptoms.
What the issue is basically is that "power" users prefer to use tweaked settings that the market doesn't like despite the fact that those same apps Google deems incompatible, when installed as APKs, actually work flawlessly.
I figured we should have this thread focus on the following issues:
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1. Have something of a Database (or at least a simple list for now) of all the apps that El Goog doesn't want us to install. Just to emphasize the issue as there are quite a bit of apps that work flawlessly and appear in the market, while others aren't (in some cases without the developer's own wishes or knowledge for that matter). And we then label them as working 100% perfectly well or buggy under conditions Y and Z.
We make the list of all apps that are known to be incompatible and actually are! So far I've not encountered a single one. And I've been using my freak device with its freaky settings for a year+ now.
2. This is something I'm still thinking about and am not 100% sure if should be done. Start a petition on Change.org and bring this to big brother's attention as he tends to ignore the little guy. In numbers there's strength.
3. Get a list of app developers who are aware of the issue and support our cause. The reason for three is because I've been in contact with one app developer who was turned down by big brother after pursuing help with this issue because they "don't provide support for custom roms." And it's OK that they don't, as it's reasonable enough. But give us the option of opting out if you think it's wise to, and opt in even if it might cause issue. We're adults for god's sake.
4. Make a list of currently available solutions to fix the so-called 'feature' while we're waiting for an actual fix.
I'll keep this post as updated as I can with the latest known and consistently updated fixes for this 'bug'. Yeah, I said it.
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So far every single app I used worked flawlessly on my I9100 running CM10 with DorimanX custom kernel. I've set the DPI to 160 and I can't imagine myself going back to anything above that. And to emphasize, I've had these setting (or at least the DPI and CM) for so long now (about a year) that I forget sometimes that I'm using something that isn't exactly 'standard', per se.
I mean, if you can live with the default dpi then that's cool, good for you. But I've had a taste of the forbidden fruit, and now I can't go back. . . .
I'm not going to start crusading just yet. First I'd like your, the community of XDA, input on this issue before we do anything. If you have any suggestions or criticism you'd like to share with us, I'd like to hear it, personally. For I may be wrong about the whole thing. Call it, lacking in confidence.
Thank you.

Reserved, just in case.

Also reserved, just in case.

Well this is fantastic. Congrats on the nerve for writing this freakishly long post. That's what I was thinking since the moment I encountered "I'm sorry, but we think this won't work as planned on your device and we deem you stupid enough to make wrong choices, so we'll just put this install button on this shelf right here, where you can't reach it" error.
However, I just said screw it, there's tons of sites where I can just download what I want without anyone questioning my motives and whether it will work or not. Never thought of it as a big deal, just as a tougher way of doing stuff, but not much I can do about it.
To get to the point, I support this cause, will sign whatever I need to sign, but am to lazy to start it myself Just wanted to give you some support. If you're willing to put some more time into this, maybe this is the beggining of a revolution! Revolution of geeks with custom DPIs! But it's still something damn it!
Cheers mate!
Sent from my Desire HD using xda app-developers app

Thank you, Uros. I was happy to read your reply.
It seems that there is no interest in this, however. Very unfortunate, but I suppose if this is what the people want. . . . It was worth a try.

Thanks for your effort.

I am rather curious to know if this is because people were going "tl;dr" or they're genuinely not interested in having this issue fixed. I just need to know so that I could make the proper adjustments.
Granted, it would take a bit longer, but as Goethe said, "I apologize in advance, had I had more time, this letter would be shorter."
Or is it that most people believe that the odds of getting Google to listen to us are too small?

There's a reason why Google won't give us the option to install anyway, just as there's a reason as to why this probably hasn't been noticed by as many people as preferred.
It all comes down to noobs.
Regarding this thread, the noobs are probably coming across this thread and click because they're interested by the title. They see all the text and think "F&#k that!". Unfortunately, that is generally the noob mentality.
Maybe colouring some of the text and spacing it out a little bit more could help the cause, but only time would tell.
Now onto the matter at hand.
I personally don't think Google will allow us to install apps anyway (even though I think they should) because noobs are super dangerous to themselves. In general, noobs won't read which then means that if they go to install an app which isn't compatible and install it anyway, they won't read that it could potentially harm their device.
The other type of user to make a mistake when it comes to installing such apps, would be the general android population. After all, us here on XDA are but a small proportion of Android users globally. Just because we have knowledge about what should and shouldn't be on our devices and how to make things work which shouldn't, the average Android user isn't the same.
They'd probably see the message and simply think "It says it could harm my phone but it's a great phone so nothing will go wrong". That is where problems can then occur.
The noobs and the average android owner would then have mucked up their device in one way or another and would be blaming and complaining to Google (as if it was Google's mistake). That makes it cause more harm than good, hence why I don't think it will happen.
Just my 2 cents, of course
''Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver''

[Q] 3 REALLY REALLY! good app ideas.. where to go from there?

Hey, I'm new to this forum so if I'm posting this question in the wrong section, go easy on me. So I have 3 extremely good ideas for mobile apps and I don't know what to do with them. I'm not an app developer or programmer, I don't have capital to pay other developers and programmers to put these apps into motion and I'm not sure what steps I could take to get these ideas off the ground. I have a feeling some people will say, that's nice, but without any of the things I listed in the previous sentence, it'll be just a pipe dream and until I have capital, I'd be better off to forget about my ideas. So I'm here to see if maybe there is a place to go or how to find the right people to talk to about giving out ideas and getting a small percentage from the apps success.
All three ideas are related to business operations and one, in my opinion would be easier to develop than the other two, and as far as I know, there isn't any apps right now that do what my idea for the 3 apps would be doing. I could teach myself how to develop the apps but that would take years and by then, they may already be developed by someone else. I will vaguely describe the 3 ideas as one would grab information from GPS locations to gather information from the user and would be extremely beneficial to any private or public sector's finances. The second one would use a persons location and SIRI. The third would mainly use location and video/audio.
Is there a website people with ideas can go to and send the idea to whoever there with clear terms mentioned before submission of how the ideas are dealt with so that the idea holder gets some recognition or stake in the idea development and then passes on the idea to a company that will make good use out of it. If there isn't anything like that, a website similar to that would also be a good idea. Businesses need to constantly evolve and come up with new ways to attract and retain customers, and my ideas would benefit business operations by saving time, minimizing costs, and staying ahead of the game by taking advantage of new technology.
Even if my app ideas don't come to fruition, I'm still happy that I came up with them and can come up with more, because without new ideas this world would be a sad and boring place to live.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time and help in advance!