Hi All,
I've been debating on an M8 for a while. I'm coming from a Note 3 that cannot seem to hold a 4G signal even in very good LTE coverage areas. I am on my second Note 3 due to this issue. I really like the M8 and it's loud speakers and wouldn't mind a bit smaller screen overall compared to the Note 3. It seems the M8 can be had for a decent price so I just wondered if it's still a worthy purchase since it's about 7 months old now.
Also, do you think I'll get similar battery life to my Note 3 (about a day of moderate to heavy usage) with the M8? Anything I should be aware of before purchase? I don't root so I'll be using it as it comes from Verizon. My biggest hope is a better signal and radio reception as the Note 3 sucks. I never had such an issue with signal until I got the Note 3.
Thanks for the info,
Rob
The M8 still holds its own exceedingly well and I do believe it's still worthy of consideration. Namely due to the speakers which you just can't get that experience on any other phone, on Verizon at least.
As far as battery life goes, I'd label the M8 as an above average performer. I'm not sure if it will meet the same spec as the note 3 here, but it certainly is one of the longer lasting phones I've used. Expect 5-6 hours of constant on-screen LTE usage. It has been known to even last longer than the S5's slightly bigger 2800mah so HTC worked some magic in power management it seems.
I've not had signal issues with this phone but this is impossible to gauge on a case by case basis. Everyone lives in different areas with different signal strengths and will have different experiences with it.
Rooting is very possible through S-Off methods though I believe the current working method isn't free. The creators ask $25 for each unlock, which while not completely unreasonable could be a turn off to some.
That being said, in all honesty if it were me purchasing a new phone at this current time, I'd wait to see what the deal with the Nexus 6 and the Droid Turbo is. I probably wouldn't opt for the nexus 6 as I don't prefer to place tablets up to my face, but the turbo seems to be absolutely crazy if the rumors are true.
If you don't want to wait then I'd say the M8 should be up there with the G3, S5 and Note 4. It just comes down to your hardware priorities.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
I've been rooting and romming for years on 4 different devices and I gladly paid the $25 for sunshine. Think about how many times you have gotten a priceless app or mod for free...so you have to pay for one now - no biggie in my opinion. After all, you're getting something very special for the one-time fee of $25. Hey, it's nice to know it works, right? I bet if you ask ANYONE who owned the galaxy S4 on Verizon who ended up taking the OTA that locked their bootloaders (for what seems to be permanently...so far) if they'd pay the $25 to get the ability back, to flash a rom over their stock one, I bet they'd all say ABSOLUTELY!!!! So, I think we're lucky actually
Thanks for the replies. I actually don't have an interest in the new Droid Turbo, I really like the look and feel of the M8. I went to a store and played around with it today. I'm sold on this phone. It should be just as speedy as my Note 3 and last me for as long as I need it. I'm confident the battery will last me as well. The camera seems to be it's weakness but I don't take many pics anyway so it's not a big deal to me.
After looking at the rooting process for the phone I may even go that route and install the CleanROM as well. I have rooted before, way back in the original Droid days but a lot has changed since then. It appears to be rather simple so it'll be worth it to de-bloat the phone. Looking like I'll have one soon.
Thanks again,
Rob
Everyone I interact with loves my phone for its camera. It takes better pics than any iPhone that I've seen in action which discludes the Iphone6. I doubt the I6 is any better though. The M8 takes a more clear brighter correct picture by far than iPhone5.. So don't worry about camera at all you will love it for its camera.
I actually just gave up my note 3 for the m8.... And I couldnt be more happy..... And I believe you'll feel the same way...
Everything on the m8 seems to be better minus the camera. The sound I get from my car system via bluetooth from the m8 compared the note 3, no comparison. I'm a audiophile so that was a big plus for me.
I'm rooted and ROM on sinless had to sunshine. Worth every penny. Enjoy your m8!
What? Rooting and s-off are ENTIRELY FREE. You guys got scammed.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Dr.Gasmo said:
What? Rooting and s-off are ENTIRELY FREE. You guys got scammed.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firewater is free...but it has to work on your device. If it doesn't, Sunshine is your only option. Unless you know of another way.
I would gladly pay for S-off if I needed it. I used weaksauce for free when the M8 first came out. The developer that gave that to us is awesome and I feel that the m8 would be no fun without root. If you can find an exploit for free please let us know. But I doubt you will... @jcase is awesome and spent a good amount of time and he deserves to be credited.
Dr.Gasmo said:
What? Rooting and s-off are ENTIRELY FREE. You guys got scammed.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one got scammed by us. Three exploits were released for the m8. Weaksauce (free, by me), firewater (free, by @beaups) and SunShine (paid, by @beaups and myself).
The first two free ones (weaksauce and firewater) were patched, and no longer work on newer devices. We invested much money and time into developing these, and there is no way we could continue doing it for free. It was costing too much money, and negatively impacting us outside of this hobby. Having to explain to the wife why I have to go back to the store, to buy my 4th device of the same model at $700? yeah I better find a way to counter that cost.
Instead of calling us scammers, why don't you look into the facts. We wrote the FREE ones and the paid ones, we invested years of our lives into this field, and tens of thousands of dollars into phones (want pictures of boxes of phones? I can take take them). I think we earned the right to charge for SOME of the things we produce.
Rushing said:
I would gladly pay for S-off if I needed it. I used weaksauce for free when the M8 first came out. The developer that gave that to us is awesome and I feel that the m8 would be no fun without root. If you can find an exploit for free please let us know. But I doubt you will... @jcase is awesome and spent a good amount of time and he deserves to be credited.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't forget @beaups, he is awesomer.
Dr.Gasmo said:
What? Rooting and s-off are ENTIRELY FREE. You guys got scammed.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aw man. you dun goofed up bro......
jcase said:
No one got scammed by us. Three exploits were released for the m8. Weaksauce (free, by me), firewater (free, by @beaups) and SunShine (paid, by @beaups and myself).
The first two free ones (weaksauce and firewater) were patched, and no longer work on newer devices. We invested much money and time into developing these, and there is no way we could continue doing it for free. It was costing too much money, and negatively impacting us outside of this hobby. Having to explain to the wife why I have to go back to the store, to buy my 4th device of the same model at $700? yeah I better find a way to counter that cost.
Instead of calling us scammers, why don't you look into the facts. We wrote the FREE ones and the paid ones, we invested years of our lives into this field, and tens of thousands of dollars into phones (want pictures of boxes of phones? I can take take them). I think we earned the right to charge for SOME of the things we produce.
Don't forget @beaups, he is awesomer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey man! i would like to personally thank you guys for your work! i got the m8 was searching around.... did some research and found out my m8 had the latest firmware.... was so bummed out. then i found sunshine! thank you again!
jcase said:
No one got scammed by us. Three exploits were released for the m8. Weaksauce (free, by me), firewater (free, by @beaups) and SunShine (paid, by @beaups and myself).
The first two free ones (weaksauce and firewater) were patched, and no longer work on newer devices. We invested much money and time into developing these, and there is no way we could continue doing it for free. It was costing too much money, and negatively impacting us outside of this hobby. Having to explain to the wife why I have to go back to the store, to buy my 4th device of the same model at $700? yeah I better find a way to counter that cost.
Instead of calling us scammers, why don't you look into the facts. We wrote the FREE ones and the paid ones, we invested years of our lives into this field, and tens of thousands of dollars into phones (want pictures of boxes of phones? I can take take them). I think we earned the right to charge for SOME of the things we produce.
Don't forget @beaups, he is awesomer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You shouldn't have to put up with crap like this.
I want your post read more so I am def. quoting it, and in the time, going to give my opinion, as I'm pretty pissed that someone considers what you guys provide scamming.
I personally thank you for all that you do for us, for everything, not even in just the HTC forums, but for Android..
Please know that one *to NOT get banned..* umm, person, doesn't speak for the group. Those of us that do appreciate what you do, and understand that it's very expensive and to be honest I think $25 is cheap, (I recall that being the price, when I saw it and felt that to be VERY fair, I know I'd personally pay more.) and I think you should of been charging sooner as in those root threads no one ever looks back but it doesn't seem like you guys get what you were promised. I bet you guys only got what? 30%-50%?
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but arggg..
I am hoping more people read and understand why charging is necessary.. especially if we want to all continue to have root in the future. We are blessed to have this option. Think about the price difference of buying the developer edition.. Sure, you can buy a device (if you are ready for contract upgrade), sell it and use that towards developer edition but I bet you end up paying more than $25 in the end.
Sh!t, I sure as hell know that if an option to unlock the Samsung S5 bootloader for $25 was around, I'd probably be on that device.
Went from a Galaxy Nexus, to a iPhone5s, to a Galaxy S4 ,and now to the HTC m8 last thursday. After 3 days, I can safely say this is hands down the best phone I've ever had. Running completely stock 4.4.3 this thing is fast, great battery life, i can have 10+ apps open and no slow down. Just make sure you enable the ART runtime and your golden.
I was going to look into rooting, flashing this thing but honestly its been so great I dont think I will until I get bored.....
BubbaRob1978 said:
After looking at the rooting process for the phone I may even go that route and install the CleanROM as well. I have rooted before, way back in the original Droid days but a lot has changed since then. It appears to be rather simple so it'll be worth it to de-bloat the phone. Looking like I'll have one soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been running CleanROM for the past several months, and I just have to say, you'll be very happy with it. It's not ENTIRELY as debloated as I would prefer, but that's easily fixed with TiBu (and I'm picky anyway, so your mileage may vary).
And as others have said, it's still a great device. I got mine at launch, and I couldn't be happier.
Disclaimer: The screen is hard (if not impossible) to see when you have polarized sunglasses on, so FYI. And it collects fingerprints like that's it's job.
sfreemanoh said:
I've been running CleanROM for the past several months, and I just have to say, you'll be very happy with it. It's not ENTIRELY as debloated as I would prefer, but that's easily fixed with TiBu (and I'm picky anyway, so your mileage may vary).
And as others have said, it's still a great device. I got mine at launch, and I couldn't be happier.
Disclaimer: The screen is hard (if not impossible) to see when you have polarized sunglasses on, so FYI. And it collects fingerprints like that's it's job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, there is a display panel lottery with the M8 regarding the sunglasses issue. My device exhibits this issue, but my friend's does not. His is also a little cooler color temperature wise. However this is a good point to bring up.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
jcase said:
No one got scammed by us. Three exploits were released for the m8. Weaksauce (free, by me), firewater (free, by @beaups) and SunShine (paid, by @beaups and myself).
The first two free ones (weaksauce and firewater) were patched, and no longer work on newer devices. We invested much money and time into developing these, and there is no way we could continue doing it for free. It was costing too much money, and negatively impacting us outside of this hobby. Having to explain to the wife why I have to go back to the store, to buy my 4th device of the same model at $700? yeah I better find a way to counter that cost.
Instead of calling us scammers, why don't you look into the facts. We wrote the FREE ones and the paid ones, we invested years of our lives into this field, and tens of thousands of dollars into phones (want pictures of boxes of phones? I can take take them). I think we earned the right to charge for SOME of the things we produce.
Don't forget @beaups, he is awesomer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that these developers deserve to get paid for their skill and time. It's just a shame that there are so many cheap ass people that wouldn't donate to the cause and help them out if the people that could have would have then people like me could enjoy an m8 instead of Hateing it. I'm about to sell this phone and go back to my l90. without root the Verizon version of this phone is so horrible and dont even get me started on the stock rom...hasn't HTC heard of a long press menu. It saddens me to see such a beautul piece of hardware reduced to such squalor by the Rom and provider, knowing that the ability to awaken it is just out of my wallets reach.
Div033 said:
Actually, there is a display panel lottery with the M8 regarding the sunglasses issue. My device exhibits this issue, but my friend's does not. His is also a little cooler color temperature wise. However this is a good point to bring up.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've heard that once before, but only from one person, so I wasn't confident in the info. Good to know it's actually the case. And now I'm annoyed... >_<
personally i think jcase and beaups have the right model for this process.
bounty threads are nice and all, but people promise and don't pay and there is so much heartburn. releasing the app with payments baked in for unlocks makes the model so much more transparent, automatic and accountable. now devs can put their hard work into releasing their exploits and get paid in a clear way from us freeloaders without them having to wonder if their efforts will break even for them.
hey
jcase said:
No one got scammed by us. Three exploits were released for the m8. Weaksauce (free, by me), firewater (free, by @beaups) and SunShine (paid, by @beaups and myself).
The first two free ones (weaksauce and firewater) were patched, and no longer work on newer devices. We invested much money and time into developing these, and there is no way we could continue doing it for free. It was costing too much money, and negatively impacting us outside of this hobby. Having to explain to the wife why I have to go back to the store, to buy my 4th device of the same model at $700? yeah I better find a way to counter that cost.
Instead of calling us scammers, why don't you look into the facts. We wrote the FREE ones and the paid ones, we invested years of our lives into this field, and tens of thousands of dollars into phones (want pictures of boxes of phones? I can take take them). I think we earned the right to charge for SOME of the things we produce.
Don't forget @beaups, he is awesomer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey I had to go the sunshine route also it did not bother me a bit and it worked absolutely wonderful I appreciate the ability to be able to even unlock this phone . The only thing that does suck is I did not do a better physical cosmetic inspection of my M8 before I paid for the sunshine . The upper camera is glued off-center to the case and drives me insane they are sending another one this time I will be sure to more thoroughly inspect it before spending for another unlock .. Believe me I have gotten a lot of things for free from the site and I have no problem chopping off a piece to have a fully unlocked cell phone on Verizon it rocks.. As far as these developers go I know that I have used Jcase exploits over on the Kindle fire HDX ... The device which severely saddens me I had bought two more of them hearing of the Bootloader unlock .... Waited and waited then heard of that bad news . Which I understand all that it just does not make it suck any less .. I would've been happy to pay in a similar manner as this works .. Damn the Man and the fine print. Thanks again jcase and beaups, and all such developers that devote their free time that allows us to enjoy our playtime since this is my first HTC device time to learn how to return to stock and S-on LOL uhg oh but anyway ,i love this phone, coming from Loki,verizon32gbS4 this has much better radio reception and clarity in places where the S4 would not pick up at all and yes the speakers rock. . .
---------- Post added at 05:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:19 PM ----------
k.electron said:
personally i think jcase and beaups have the right model for this process.
bounty threads are nice and all, but people promise and don't pay and there is so much heartburn. releasing the app with payments baked in for unlocks makes the model so much more transparent, automatic and accountable. now devs can put their hard work into releasing their exploits and get paid in a clear way from us freeloaders without them having to wonder if their efforts will break even for them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
jcase said:
No one got scammed by us. Three exploits were released for the m8. Weaksauce (free, by me), firewater (free, by @beaups) and SunShine (paid, by @beaups and myself).
The first two free ones (weaksauce and firewater) were patched, and no longer work on newer devices. We invested much money and time into developing these, and there is no way we could continue doing it for free. It was costing too much money, and negatively impacting us outside of this hobby. Having to explain to the wife why I have to go back to the store, to buy my 4th device of the same model at $700? yeah I better find a way to counter that cost.
Instead of calling us scammers, why don't you look into the facts. We wrote the FREE ones and the paid ones, we invested years of our lives into this field, and tens of thousands of dollars into phones (want pictures of boxes of phones? I can take take them). I think we earned the right to charge for SOME of the things we produce.
Don't forget @beaups, he is awesomer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It makes me uncomfortable seeing you have to explain yourself, you shouldn't have to! Anyone who complains do not deserve it cause they would never donate anyway. I feel like it is way worth a good donation and having it free lets us off the hook, we have had plenty for free it is way past time to give back! I thought it felt great to pay the $25 and when I had to I couldn't help but not think twice! Anyone who can afford this phone can afford your great contribution.
Related
Glad I didn't yet sell my S4, because I believe the Verizon S5 is soon to be the most returned phone in Android history.
While Verizon/Samung/Android didn't "actively" mislead anyone about the capabilities of this phone, they clearly allowed people to believe things to the contrary, and it royally pisses me off.
1> There is no sense in having a finger print scanner that doesn't work most of the time, and doesn't allow for purchases with PayPal as originally intended/advertised.**Now working**
2> Crippling the download booster function and not even offering an explanation is simply unacceptable.
3> Having an extSdCard that 4.4 doesn't allow 3rd party apps to access is not "secure", it's stupid.
4> Rooting and allowing awesome developers to do what they do is what Android is ALL ABOUT, and this phone is the epitome of preventing that.
5> I'm sure there are other things yet to make it to light, that will also have no explanation for the defiance of logic.
Verizon, Android, and Samsung have succeeded in making the iPhone of the Android world. Frankly, I'd rather have an iPhone, and iCant stand em. Best of luck to those that decide to stick it out and pray for root, as I believe that is the only thing that could possibly salvage this joke of a device. Anyone involved in it's creation, should feel ashamed.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted by hypocrites as self evident, as if they never personally ridiculed, or violently opposed it."
That's a negative sense. Can you imagine it positively ?
If you see it as positively then developer edition give ours good opportunity.. i believe it..
jpmcnown said:
Glad I didn't yet sell my S4, because I believe the Verizon S5 is soon to be the most returned phone in Android history.
While Verizon/Samung/Android didn't "actively" mislead anyone about the capabilities of this phone, they clearly allowed people to believe things to the contrary, and it royally pisses me off.
1> There is no sense in having a finger print scanner that doesn't work most of the time, and doesn't allow for purchases with PayPal as originally intended/advertised.
2> Crippling the download booster function and not even offering an explanation is simply unacceptable.
3> Having an extSdCard that 4.4 doesn't allow 3rd party apps to access is not "secure", it's stupid.
4> Rooting and allowing awesome developers to do what they do is what Android is ALL ABOUT, and this phone is the epitome of preventing that.
5> I'm sure there are other things yet to make it to light, that will also have no explanation for the defiance of logic.
Verizon, Android, and Samsung have succeeded in making the iPhone of the Android world. Frankly, I'd rather have an iPhone, and iCant stand em. Best of luck to those that decide to stick it out and pray for root, as I believe that is the only thing that could possibly salvage this joke of a device. Anyone involved in it's creation, should feel ashamed.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted by hypocrites as self evident, as if they never personally ridiculed, or violently opposed it."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're being a bit dramatic...this phone will get some returns being so locked down, but the number of us that care about root is small, less than 3% I would bet. This will be the best selling Android phone of the year for any carrier most likely.
1) Fingerprint scanner can be greatly improved if you scan the sides of your fingers as well.
2) Agreed and explanation would be nice, but on the other hand they could be trying to avoid a lot of people using this and unknowingly eating up all their data allotment. Consumers have come to understand that being on your wifi doesn't use your data, so if they enabled this feature, they would be using their data while on wifi as well, many without understanding. Then lots of people get overages and get upset with the carriers, causing a headache and more bad PR.
3) Agree again, but Google is asking OEM's to do this with KitKat, it's not unique to Samsung.
4) Rooting/ROMing is not even close to being what Android is "ALL ABOUT", but it's a nice perk with most phones.
5) Okay
This phone will likely get root at some point, but who knows for sure. Luckily, there's other great options to pick from as well.
jpmcnown said:
Glad I didn't yet sell my S4, because I believe the Verizon S5 is soon to be the most returned phone in Android history.
While Verizon/Samung/Android didn't "actively" mislead anyone about the capabilities of this phone, they clearly allowed people to believe things to the contrary, and it royally pisses me off.
1> There is no sense in having a finger print scanner that doesn't work most of the time, and doesn't allow for purchases with PayPal as originally intended/advertised.
2> Crippling the download booster function and not even offering an explanation is simply unacceptable.
3> Having an extSdCard that 4.4 doesn't allow 3rd party apps to access is not "secure", it's stupid.
4> Rooting and allowing awesome developers to do what they do is what Android is ALL ABOUT, and this phone is the epitome of preventing that.
5> I'm sure there are other things yet to make it to light, that will also have no explanation for the defiance of logic.
Verizon, Android, and Samsung have succeeded in making the iPhone of the Android world. Frankly, I'd rather have an iPhone, and iCant stand em. Best of luck to those that decide to stick it out and pray for root, as I believe that is the only thing that could possibly salvage this joke of a device. Anyone involved in it's creation, should feel ashamed.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted by hypocrites as self evident, as if they never personally ridiculed, or violently opposed it."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your forgot the fact the 98% of S5 users don't care about those facts, you are a minority. I am glad you didn't buy an S5 so we don't have to hear you whine about what we already know. Those that bought in know what we are getting into, coming from a former S4 user w/ Root. If we don't get root, that will suck, but I will be just fine, the less I tinker with my phone, the more I enjoy other things in life.
I have a great idea for you, go to TMobile, they will pay your ETF and get your dream phone.
wow... calm it down son...
waiting for root exploit is part of the fun for me... yes, it sucks i can't have root out of the box to restore my apps but samsung made plenty of upgrades that will keep me busy till a root is out... if it ever does.
I got your back JP. The Verizon Samsung Galaxy s5 turned out to be all the things I thought it would be. I.E. more of the same from Samsung and Verizon both. I am so glad I jumped ship to HTC and got the M8. I am comfortably S-off'ed, doing whatever the hell I want with my 600$ phone.
Guys, cut him ssome slack. I'm sure each and every one of you has *****ed about buying a 600$ phone and not being able to modify it at some point.
I was able to successfully obtain f-off on the Galaxy S5.
jucytec said:
wow... calm it down son...
waiting for root exploit is part of the fun for me... yes, it sucks i can't have root out of the box to restore my apps but samsung made plenty of upgrades that will keep me busy till a root is out... if it ever does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong post
fillyo said:
Then go to the M8 forums, we don't care about your thoughts on the S5 and why you bought the M8. I'm not in there posting why I didn't buy the One. I went to buy the One on launch day but chickened out because the camera sucks and the bezel is huge and it is too tall.
Sent from my SM-G900V using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read my post again monkey. I never said I bought an M8. I said I don't mind waiting for root. M8 is garbage
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
nicholi2789 said:
I got your back JP. The Verizon Samsung Galaxy s5 turned out to be all the things I thought it would be. I.E. more of the same from Samsung and Verizon both. I am so glad I jumped ship to HTC and got the M8. I am comfortably S-off'ed, doing whatever the hell I want with my 600$ phone.
Guys, cut him ssome slack. I'm sure each and every one of you has *****ed about buying a 600$ phone and not being able to modify it at some point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then go to the M8 forums, we don't care about your thoughts on the S5 and why you bought the M8. I'm not in the One forum posting that it is a POS and why I didn't buy the One. I went to buy the One on launch day but chickened out because the camera sucks and the bezel is huge and it is too tall. But that is my choice, I'm not ****ting on everyone else's who bought the One by telling them that in their forums. We know this phone will not be cracked and who cares, works fine as it. I just want root for tether and debloat.
It's funny that you see M8 and Nexus 5 fanboys posting all over the S5 articles everywhere bashing the S5, it's a joke. You must not be happy with your choice. I guess this is what happens to the top dog.
Sent from my SM-G900V using xda app-developers app
Eh, people just need to reinforce their decision to go for prettyness over functionality. But we all cannot be teenage girls. And yes, sometimes the most popular device is actually the best.
I think this whole "rebel against popularity" stems from the battle between iOS and Android. Unfortunately Samsung is being seen as the new Apple in the android environment when clearly the provider, in this case VZW, is the oppressor.
Sent from my shiny new GS5 using XDA Premium.
previous device: Galaxy Nexus
jpmcnown said:
Glad I didn't yet sell my S4, because I believe the Verizon S5 is soon to be the most returned phone in Android history.
While Verizon/Samung/Android didn't "actively" mislead anyone about the capabilities of this phone, they clearly allowed people to believe things to the contrary, and it royally pisses me off.
1> There is no sense in having a finger print scanner that doesn't work most of the time, and doesn't allow for purchases with PayPal as originally intended/advertised.
2> Crippling the download booster function and not even offering an explanation is simply unacceptable.
3> Having an extSdCard that 4.4 doesn't allow 3rd party apps to access is not "secure", it's stupid.
4> Rooting and allowing awesome developers to do what they do is what Android is ALL ABOUT, and this phone is the epitome of preventing that.
5> I'm sure there are other things yet to make it to light, that will also have no explanation for the defiance of logic.
Verizon, Android, and Samsung have succeeded in making the iPhone of the Android world. Frankly, I'd rather have an iPhone, and iCant stand em. Best of luck to those that decide to stick it out and pray for root, as I believe that is the only thing that could possibly salvage this joke of a device. Anyone involved in it's creation, should feel ashamed.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted by hypocrites as self evident, as if they never personally ridiculed, or violently opposed it."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yes it does allow payments via Paypal, stop being a tool and READ, maybe even Google something....
2. The gentlemen above me gave a great explanation. It just wouldn't make sense in a capped data environment.
3. If Root were obtained, this wouldn't be an issue. 3rd party apps CAN access the card BTW, they just can't write to folders other than their own. You do know the My Files app works, right????
4. No. Providing smartphone users with an OS that has tightly integrated Google services as a means for Google to serve you relevant ads is what ANDROID is all about. You and I and the rest of us who care about customizing are miniscule compared to the BILLION PLUS Android users. Get a clue dude.
5. Stop being a tool, get off the forums, go play around with the phone, maybe even watch a video or two about all the tips and tricks the phone has, and then come back, when you're ready to not sound like a whiny teenager.
---------- Post added at 01:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:20 AM ----------
nicholi2789 said:
I got your back JP. The Verizon Samsung Galaxy s5 turned out to be all the things I thought it would be. I.E. more of the same from Samsung and Verizon both. I am so glad I jumped ship to HTC and got the M8. I am comfortably S-off'ed, doing whatever the hell I want with my 600$ phone.
Guys, cut him ssome slack. I'm sure each and every one of you has *****ed about buying a 600$ phone and not being able to modify it at some point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I doubt most of us have. Apart from it being an old argument that accomplishes NOTHING, it also is pretty naive to buy a phone THINKING that people who VOLUNTEER and work on donations would spend time to find an exploit, as if this is owed or expected. The sense of entitlement for people who believe this is ridiculous.
S5 does have root, does have custom boot loader, and already has roms. It is VERIZON that has your phone locked.
I'm sorry to say it, but I jumped over to T MOBILE and they paid my ETF fee....up to $350...
$50 A month unlimited, instead of $90 or so, plus additional line too. ...
So far I'm happy with the switch though.
Sorry you are having issues with your version.
If I come across anything to help you guys I will post in here for you.
Sent from my rooted 'beaned' SM-G900T using Tapatalk Premium
mexiken said:
1. Yes it does allow payments via Paypal, stop being a tool and READ, maybe even Google something....
2. The gentlemen above me gave a great explanation. It just wouldn't make sense in a capped data environment.
3. If Root were obtained, this wouldn't be an issue. 3rd party apps CAN access the card BTW, they just can't write to folders other than their own. You do know the My Files app works, right????
4. No. Providing smartphone users with an OS that has tightly integrated Google services as a means for Google to serve you relevant ads is what ANDROID is all about. You and I and the rest of us who care about customizing are miniscule compared to the BILLION PLUS Android users. Get a clue dude.
5. Stop being a tool, get off the forums, go play around with the phone, maybe even watch a video or two about all the tips and tricks the phone has, and then come back, when you're ready to not sound like a whiny teenager.
---------- Post added at 01:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:20 AM ----------
No, I doubt most of us have. Apart from it being an old argument that accomplishes NOTHING, it also is pretty naive to buy a phone THINKING that people who VOLUNTEER and work on donations would spend time to find an exploit, as if this is owed or expected. The sense of entitlement for people who believe this is ridiculous.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Follow your own advice, I'll wait.......
2. I wish I was so naive that no explanation, would be considered an explanation.
3. You do know that "My Files" is not a third party app, right????? I understand that most of these issues would be a non-issue with root access, but please oh wise one, explain how this apparent increased root difficulty is peculiarly carrier-specific?
4. No one in the history of the world has ever said "I'm going to get an Android so I can have relevant ads." At least one person has said, "I want to customize the **** out of my phone, therefore, Android."
5. Thank you, I had no idea that there was information about this phone anywhere other than XDA. Perhaps in my quest, I may find this elusive information about the Verizon S5 fingerprint scanner usable with Paypal you speak of.
6. I do NOT feel "entitled" to root. I understand that what you call "volunteering" isn't also about NOT getting paid, which is why I have no problem supporting the awesome efforts of root/recovery/rom/app developers. I DO feel entitled to features advertised to be available in a product, and if/when those features are deliberately disabled, I DO feel entitled to an explanation. Unless you can provide explanations instead of a cult-like defense reserved for Apple Forums, please limit your responses to the tools that may kiss you ass elsewhere.
This is no different than if a car company was to release a model of vehicle with a set of unique features, only to have the dealership remove them, and not bother to tell anyone about it. Then when you realize that those features are missing, and take to a forum (typically) full of enlightened people with explanations and solutions, you instead receive rhetoric like "Stop *****ing about the car not having heated seats(albeit not a unique feature), it has a steering wheel, doesn't it you ungrateful prick?"
em0ney14 said:
S5 does have root, does have custom boot loader, and already has roms. It is VERIZON that has your phone locked.
I'm sorry to say it, but I jumped over to T MOBILE and they paid my ETF fee....up to $350...
$50 A month unlimited, instead of $90 or so, plus additional line too. ...
So far I'm happy with the switch though.
Sorry you are having issues with your version.
If I come across anything to help you guys I will post in here for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your input, I am seriously weighing my options, I've been checking out the T-Mobile S5 forums, and see a lot of interesting things going on over there. I haven't been under contract with Verizon for years, and frankly, coverage is the only thing that's preventing me from leaving, and they unfortunately have no competition in that regard. Still considering throwing my grandfathered unlimited data plans on ebay, and exchanging coverage for capability.
jpmcnown said:
Thanks for your input, I am seriously weighing my options, I've been checking out the T-Mobile S5 forums, and see a lot of interesting things going on over there. I haven't been under contract with Verizon for years, and frankly, coverage is the only thing that's preventing me from leaving, and they unfortunately have no competition in that regard. Still considering throwing my grandfathered unlimited data plans on ebay, and exchanging coverage for capability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same boat. I have piece of mind, that wherever I go I have service with Verizon. Although tmobile has great service where I live in Atlanta, I've also traveled north and south and felt so cheap and angry having a phone with a G and edge icon for data majority of the time. I mean it's 2014 for crying out loud. LOL! Also the fact my family lives in West Virginia where there's no tmobile service and it roams on att at the worst capped speeds. At that point I promise to not let Verizon go because it has a stellar LTE icon at least 90% of the way. Once I get back to Atlanta, I say, well I have great coverage where I live, costs is cheaper, and mainly bootloaders are unlocked with tmobile. Once I travel on the road again it's the same cycle of me back pedaling leaving Verizon because they're hands down the most reliable, I have a 20% discount, and unlimited data. I'm tempted to suspend my service with Verizon and only reconnect when I travel until tmobile gets there coverage wise. Since I've been off contract forever I can suspend my line for at least half the year without being billed. I feel ridiculous going through this as an adult because I like to flash ROMS. Help me? LOL!
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
jpmcnown said:
I was able to successfully obtain f-off on the Galaxy S5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is hands-down the funniest post I've ever read on XDA. I agree, after my Note 3, I'm all done with Samsung devices permanently. They don't care about their customers at all. They've been most unhelpful after I've exhausted every channel of support imaginable looking for a solution. I wish Motorola would make a high-end device again, which I bet they are. Regardless, don't get too excited about the S5 getting unlocked. I've been working with another S4 developer for about 6 months now, and while we've got a great understanding of what's going on, there's not much we can do. We're still working, but don't get this device expecting custom ROMs and kernels. Root is realistic though, and I'd imagine it'll be here soon
Remember that you have 14 days after renewal of contract or purchase of the device to bring it back and tell those red trolls that you can't root this bad boy.
jpmcnown said:
Thanks for your input, I am seriously weighing my options, I've been checking out the T-Mobile S5 forums, and see a lot of interesting things going on over there. I haven't been under contract with Verizon for years, and frankly, coverage is the only thing that's preventing me from leaving, and they unfortunately have no competition in that regard. Still considering throwing my grandfathered unlimited data plans on ebay, and exchanging coverage for capability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does the work, selling your unlimited plan? Do you have to lose your phone number as well?
Free storage from Copy:
https://copy.com?r=cScoov
jpmcnown said:
Glad I didn't yet sell my S4, because I believe the Verizon S5 is soon to be the most returned phone in Android history.
While Verizon/Samung/Android didn't "actively" mislead anyone about the capabilities of this phone, they clearly allowed people to believe things to the contrary, and it royally pisses me off.
1> There is no sense in having a finger print scanner that doesn't work most of the time, and doesn't allow for purchases with PayPal as originally intended/advertised.
2> Crippling the download booster function and not even offering an explanation is simply unacceptable.
3> Having an extSdCard that 4.4 doesn't allow 3rd party apps to access is not "secure", it's stupid.
4> Rooting and allowing awesome developers to do what they do is what Android is ALL ABOUT, and this phone is the epitome of preventing that.
5> I'm sure there are other things yet to make it to light, that will also have no explanation for the defiance of logic.
Verizon, Android, and Samsung have succeeded in making the iPhone of the Android world. Frankly, I'd rather have an iPhone, and iCant stand em. Best of luck to those that decide to stick it out and pray for root, as I believe that is the only thing that could possibly salvage this joke of a device. Anyone involved in it's creation, should feel ashamed.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted by hypocrites as self evident, as if they never personally ridiculed, or violently opposed it."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice of you to share how you really feel about the GS5. Now you should take that to the M8 forums since it will get you a lot more mileage there. Here people just don't care.
I'm very happy with my GS5 and a lot of people are too.
Sounds like you don't even have the phoeu, but came here to troll instead.
Good luck with that.
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
brazcub said:
Nice of you to share how you really feel about the GS5. Now you should take that to the M8 forums since it will get you a lot more mileage there. Here people just don't care.
I'm very happy with my GS5 and a lot of people are too.
Sounds like you don't even have the phoeu, but came here to troll instead.
Good luck with that.
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, you got me, I'm pissed about a phone I didn't buy. What part of my diatribe would give any sane person the impression that I don't own the Verizon S5 genius?
I've submitted two reviews on the Verizon website giving my honest opinion of the device. They have denied posting both times due to what they say violates the guidelines. Admittedly, my first review was rather harsh. After the first denial, I went back and read the guidelines and posted a very toned down version. I didn't post anything that was specifically prohibited in the second review. They did not see it that way and denied posting the second version for the same given reason. Apparently, Verizon will not tolerate ANY criticism of their company by reviewers.
Here are their guidelines:
Verizon values your feedback!
When writing your review, please consider the following guidelines:
Focus on the product and your individual experience using it
Provide details about why you liked or disliked a product
All submitted reviews are subject to the terms set forth in our Terms of Use
We reserve the right not to post your review if it contains any of the following types of content or violates other guidelines:
Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other language not suitable for a public forum
Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers, or websites
Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other forms of contact information
Critical or spiteful comments on other reviews posted on the page or their authors
In addition, if you wish to share feedback with us about product selection, pricing, ordering, delivery or other customer service issues, please do not submit this feedback through a product review. Instead, contact us directly.
Enjoy writing your review!
What is the text of your review?
KarlStyles said:
What is the text of your review?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't keep my exact text, but this is pretty close to what I said in my edited review:
Samsung did a great job designing this device. Why isn't this device sold with an unlockable bootloader as the manufacturer intended? Power users should be able to use their own property as they see fit as long as it doesn't break any laws.
I'm disappointed that Verizon chose not to offer the 32gb version of this phone. Because of the way that Android manages memory, many apps can't be moved to the Micro SD card. For users that need a lot of apps, memory will quickly become an issue.
I'm not happy that the phone is sold loaded down with software that is designed to promote sales and marketing of other products and I'm not allowed to disable or uninstall it.
They own the site so they're entitled to filter content as they see fit.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using xda app-developers app
mike163 said:
I didn't keep my exact text, but this is pretty close to what I said in my edited review:
Samsung did a great job designing this device. Why isn't this device sold with an unlockable bootloader as the manufacturer intended? Power users should be able to use their own property as they see fit as long as it doesn't break any laws.
I'm disappointed that Verizon chose not to offer the 32gb version of this phone. Because of the way that Android manages memory, many apps can't be moved to the Micro SD card. For users that need a lot of apps, memory will quickly become an issue.
I'm not happy that the phone is sold loaded down with software that is designed to promote sales and marketing of other products and I'm not allowed to disable or uninstall it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't disagree with anything you said, but it does fall out of their guidelines. It is more a complaint against Verizon than a review of the phone. Maybe the way to go about it is to rephrase it more like a product review. For example, instead of generalizing on limited apps to card, phrase it as your experience. Something like "unlike previous phones, the new android system didn't let me move as many apps to the external card. As a result, I find the 16 gb storage is filling up quickly." Then move to disappointed that Verizon doesn't have 32gb version.
Similarly you can mention that the device runs ok, and Samsung added a feature to turn off system apps in order to conserve battery and reduce clutter. But then move to however there is a lot of bloat that can't be turned off.
I'm not sure what to do with the rooting portion, maybe keep it as a final note rather than making that your main point. I would also add a starting statement of "I've used the phone for x days and here's my impression so far". That may be enough to qualify it to their standard.
Btw, you didn't mention the fact that Verizon disabled two of the main advertised features of the phone - download boost and finger print payments.
You must be maintain guidelines.. All time..
I'm considering going back to T-Mobile over the S5 root issues. It gets worse and worse each year with them. I've been a loyal customer for 10 years and they took my unlimited away, bloated my phone with apps, raised rates and now they pretty much don't allow the truth to be told on their site. I've been due for an upgrade for a LONG time and I think I might take up t-mo's buy out your contract thing just to stick it to them.
1timer said:
I'm considering going back to T-Mobile over the S5 root issues. It gets worse and worse each year with them. I've been a loyal customer for 10 years and they took my unlimited away, bloated my phone with apps, raised rates and now they pretty much don't allow the truth to be told on their site. I've been due for an upgrade for a LONG time and I think I might take up t-mo's buy out your contract thing just to stick it to them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm debating going with you to be honest.
thewebsiteisdown said:
I'm debating going with you to be honest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too. Another Cincinnatian here as well. Shame T-Mo coverage isn't that great here. Neither is Sprint...only good ones are VZW and ATT and C-Bell (now VZW! I think I am gonna puke).
SOCOM-HERO said:
Me too. Another Cincinnatian here as well. Shame T-Mo coverage isn't that great here. Neither is Sprint...only good ones are VZW and ATT and C-Bell (now VZW! I think I am gonna puke).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look what I just read.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/te...s-browsing-to-advertisers-20140426-zqzzq.html
thewebsiteisdown said:
Look what I just read.
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/te...s-browsing-to-advertisers-20140426-zqzzq.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know that every other provider DOESN'T do this? Doubt it's just VZW.
jmill75 said:
Do you know that every other provider DOESN'T do this? Doubt it's just VZW.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon has their phones locked down completely and T-mobile doesn't. There for I can rid the problem with T-mobile pretty easily, not so much with Verizon. That's my point what's yours?
thewebsiteisdown said:
Verizon has their phones locked down completely and T-mobile doesn't. There for I can rid the problem with T-mobile pretty easily, not so much with Verizon. That's my point what's yours?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, yes you may be able to get rid of carrier IQ type programs running on your phone. Not sure what this has to do with TMOBILE seeing what websites you are visiting using there network and selling this to advertising companies etc....
Ex 2: Just because I run Chrome in incognito mode doesn't mean Time Warner doesn't monitor my traffic.
Back to you, whats your point, you said it like "OMG LOOK AT WHAT I JUST READ" "BAD VERIZON"
LOLOLOLOLOL
jmill75 said:
LOL, yes you may be able to get rid of carrier IQ type programs running on your phone. Not sure what this has to do with TMOBILE seeing what websites you are visiting using there network and selling this to advertising companies etc....
Ex 2: Just because I run Chrome in incognito mode doesn't mean Time Warner doesn't monitor my traffic.
Back to you, whats your point, you said it like "OMG LOOK AT WHAT I JUST READ" "BAD VERIZON"
LOLOLOLOLOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost all mega-corps data mine like crazy. Fine. Discover that I like rooting on XDA, have a facebook account, play video games...I don't care.
What I do care about is being able to do what I want, when I want with my device. VZW doesn't seem to care about the customer at all anymore.
SOCOM-HERO said:
Almost all mega-corps data mine like crazy. Fine. Discover that I like rooting on XDA, have a facebook account, play video games...I don't care.
What I do care about is being able to do what I want, when I want with my device. VZW doesn't seem to care about the customer at all anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly thank you for summing it up for me.
VZW, and ATT, are required by law to allow you to network unlock the device, not boot loader unlock. The carrier covers warranty claims on the device, therefore it is in their interest to minimize the amount of damage "power users" can do to their devices
in my opinion, this trend of carriers locking bootloaders is the direct result of unscrupulous "modders" sending in for warranty or insurance claims after bricking their devices.
finally, we are by far the minority of smartphone users. a very very small percentage of Samsung, or the carriers, customer base and we DO have other options. the Nexus line, HTC with their unlockable bootloaders, GPE, and Dev edition devices.
/rant sorry
Russ77 said:
great input, thanks.
call it whatever you want, companies are in business to make money. if they're giving up profit margin due to fraudulent warranty claims on modified devices, they're well within their rights to sell locked devices.
was anyone here really surprised that the s5 is locked? really?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much profit has been lost on this? $10k? $1 million? If you took the entire user base of XDA or any other tech forum and had all of them return broken phones, then you'd attention of a company like VZW. Otherwise, they don't care. They just want to pick a fight they can win easily and make the "modding" community look bad because 1% have not followed directions or are just plain dumb.
A) if you bring in a rooted device that is bricked, they won't even offer you a claim
B) How many people are dumb enough to spend hours on XDA and other sites following instructions and asking questions, only to just give up and go back to VZW/ATT with their bricked phone and say "Idk how this happened?"
Please. These companies aren't in business to make money, they are in business to advance an agenda for shareholders while raking in the money from consumers who have a rapidly disappearing range of options to consider. Cincinnati is a great recent example. Our local provider just got bought out by VZW and at the same time, laid off a decent chunk of staff to make way for the corporate shift. All the while, these same companies lie to the customer with their marketing fluff.
I am not an advocate for one carrier over another, as I have no vested interest in any one of them over another. However, I will say that T-Mo's "in your face" approach to their new marketing is quite polarizing to the rest of the status quo in the industry of "corporate bs doublespeak" where one day you have a contract for $99/mo unlimited everything, and the next, you are paying $130 with a data cap. (Which happens to be what happened to me).
If the PC industry was this way, we wouldn't have half the progress we have seen in the last 20 years. Instead, the PC industry (mac included) embraced unique user created content (hackers included) and actually employed some of those who were great at it to work for them. But, NO, not in the telecom industry. It is the most ridiculous double standard.
So yes, these companies can go shove it. I'm done here. I won't be getting an S5 or and HTC M8 at this point. I have analyzed the phones and neither one is getting the "ok" from me anyhow. I just think it is very interesting how much a company is willing to combat what the "android community," if you can even call it one, has become.
A bunch of polarizing, angry tech loving people who never agree on anything, myself included. Get me out of here. I'm done.
Make it easy on yourself. Don't buy Samsung-Verizon ****. I got an m8. Sharp looking phone, rooted and unlocked in days. Even if you rock stock, there is far less bloat. Sense isn't the steaming pile that touchwiz is. And they sell 32 GB for the same price as this unholy garbage.
SOCOM-HERO said:
Me too. Another Cincinnatian here as well. Shame T-Mo coverage isn't that great here. Neither is Sprint...only good ones are VZW and ATT and C-Bell (now VZW! I think I am gonna puke).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm from NKY and just switched from sprint to T-Mobile. I don't get LTE in NKY, and I haven't been to Cinci yet since the switch. That being said, my coverage has been pretty good and so long as I'm in anything resembling civilization I pretty much always get 4g (5-10Mbps). It's not all bad, and hopefully LTE is on the way, Unlimited data is nice, and I have JUMP, so being able to upgrade yearly is awesome as well.
1timer said:
I'm considering going back to T-Mobile over the S5 root issues. It gets worse and worse each year with them. I've been a loyal customer for 10 years and they took my unlimited away, bloated my phone with apps, raised rates and now they pretty much don't allow the truth to be told on their site. I've been due for an upgrade for a LONG time and I think I might take up t-mo's buy out your contract thing just to stick it to them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They didn't take away unlimited, they basically forced you to opt out of that option in order to pay for contract price phones when you upgrade. I've never had the unlimited, so it's nothing I really bothered to complain about. I did however, end up doubling my coverage for the same price one day 2 years ago when I was on the My Verizon app, and noticed they were offering it. Of course they didn't bother to advertise it anywhere else though.
I will never lose Verizon. I know it sucks how freaking crazy they are locking everything, but there are Devs out there who always find a way. I can not simply give up the best coverage just for root. As much as it might suck one day, not being able to actually use your phone due to **** service would be even worse.
---------- Post added at 12:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:49 AM ----------
k.electron said:
Make it easy on yourself. Don't buy Samsung-Verizon ****. I got an m8. Sharp looking phone, rooted and unlocked in days. Even if you rock stock, there is far less bloat. Sense isn't the steaming pile that touchwiz is. And they sell 32 GB for the same price as this unholy garbage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung phones are superior to HTC. Not just my opinion, but basically backed up by facts. S5 has the best display on the market, hands down. Faster processor, better camera, better layout, better extras. The only thing the HTC has over the S5 is exterior speakers, but honestly, who even uses them that much? You're either listening to music on your headphones, or plugging the phone into better speakers anyways
TouchWiz is not the most horrid operating system I've run (it still isn't superb), but all the same, I'd rather be running pure AOSP (Android Open Source Project), but we need unlocked bootloaders. Come on Verizon, stop sucking! It is my phone and I ought to be able to do what I please with it. Imagine if you bought a fridge from the biggest and most powerful fridge manufacturer (Verizon) only to find out you were only allowed to put strawberries in it. Of all the foods in the entire world, the fridge manufacturer only allows strawberries in the fridge. Sure, it might be fine at first, but what happens when you want to make the fridge your own? As soon as you put a food other than strawberries in said fridge only to find the doors lock and the fridge stops working entirely. Now your fridge is useless because you wanted to support other people and make the fridge your own. If the farmers of the world want to survive, they need to strike deals with the fridge manufacturer in order to get their foods into the fridges. This is a monopoly. There is zero competition; everyone is at the mercy of the fridge manufacturer. This is what Verizon is doing with their phones. Either the developers give in to Verizon's insane demands (money and horrible contracts) to get the software on the phone, or they die out entirely and nobody ever remembers the developers even existed. Sure Verizon offers "Developer Edition" devices, but developers can't have a user base if users cannot install their software. What is the point of developing software for a device if nobody can use it? I'm just saying this is absolute garbage, and we should not take any more of it. Thoughts?
redusk said:
TouchWiz is not the most horrid operating system I've run (it still isn't superb), but all the same, I'd rather be running pure AOSP (Android Open Source Project), but we need unlocked bootloaders. Come on Verizon, stop sucking! It is my phone and I ought to be able to do what I please with it. Imagine if you bought a fridge from the biggest and most powerful fridge manufacturer (Verizon) only to find out you were only allowed to put strawberries in it. Of all the foods in the entire world, the fridge manufacturer only allows strawberries in the fridge. Sure, it might be fine at first, but what happens when you want to make the fridge your own? As soon as you put a food other than strawberries in said fridge only to find the doors lock and the fridge stops working entirely. Now your fridge is useless because you wanted to support other people and make the fridge your own. If the farmers of the world want to survive, they need to strike deals with the fridge manufacturer in order to get their foods into the fridges. This is a monopoly. There is zero competition; everyone is at the mercy of the fridge manufacturer. This is what Verizon is doing with their phones. Either the developers give in to Verizon's insane demands (money and horrible contracts) to get the software on the phone, or they die out entirely and nobody ever remembers the developers even existed. Sure Verizon offers "Developer Edition" devices, but developers can't have a user base if users cannot install their software. What is the point of developing software for a device if nobody can use it? I'm just saying this is absolute garbage, and we should not take any more of it. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that comparison to the fridge is gold. I am completely on your side to letting my fridge have more than just these damn strawberries. Even though my current fridge is free, I still want my other other fridge to be free!
Sent from my Unlocked SCH-I535 running AOKP
Well I had this issue with Motorola and we signed big petitions and got absolutely nowhere. They lost a faithful customer. So I bought this Samsung cause it was easy to do as I wish but they eventually locked it. I personally am not locked but my contract is coming due soon and development is slowly dying. So soon it will be time to move on to another manufacture which may be on a different provider. The question is, will I eventually run out of different manufactures as they all slowly lock down?? I don't know but I will continue to move to the next open device as they come. I am done with crap like this and I'm playing it smarter as I go each time by not buying the device the day it comes (not implying you did) out and keeping an eye on the forums for a month or two before I buy. I need to make sure the coast is clear before buying it. I will most likely be buying the next Nexus to be on the safe side plus their is always a ton of development for it. My contract will be up before it's released but I will just wait before I just buy another device cause I'm available to do so. This will obviously require me to move to another provider so no more Verizon. When my contract is up and they are knocking at my door with deals for a new device I can tell them to blow me. I have 4 phones on my account and you can be rest assured that everyone of them will be removed.
All I can say is rants like this don't get anyone anywhere. I totally agree with you and I'm glad your voicing your disgust and opinion but the best thing for us all to do is simply to move on. They just don't listen and they don't care.
razz1 said:
Well I had this issue with Motorola and we signed big petitions and got absolutely nowhere. They lost a faithful customer. So I bought this Samsung cause it was easy to do as I wish but they eventually locked it. I personally am not locked but my contract is coming due soon and development is slowly dying. So soon it will be time to move on to another manufacture which may be on a different provider. The question is, will I eventually run out of different manufactures as they all slowly lock down?? I don't know but I will continue to move to the next open device as they come. I am done with crap like this and I'm playing it smarter as I go each time by not buying the device the day it comes (not implying you did) out and keeping an eye on the forums for a month or two before I buy. I need to make sure the coast is clear before buying it. I will most likely be buying the next Nexus to be on the safe side plus their is always a ton of development for it. My contract will be up before it's released but I will just wait before I just buy another device cause I'm available to do so. This will obviously require me to move to another provider so no more Verizon. When my contract is up and they are knocking at my door with deals for a new device I can tell them to blow me. I have 4 phones on my account and you can be rest assured that everyone of them will be removed.
All I can say is rants like this don't get anyone anywhere. I totally agree with you and I'm glad your voicing your disgust and opinion but the best thing for us all to do is simply to move on. They just don't listen and they don't care.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is sadly the world we live in today. Thankfully, the providers don't have us by the balls just yet, but I fear they soon will. That will be a sad day for the Android community. (Especially considering Android is open source.) Perhaps someday we will be able to publicly voice our concerns and equate our inability to unlock our phones' bootloaders to our (ability/inability) to unlock their SIM cards. It absolutely limits competition, and that's illegal. Thankfully Congress listened to the American people on the SIM card thing, but even if I can unlock my phone's SIM, I cannot use it on another network because my current operating system is locked to Verizon's network. We are literally half way there, but I doubt it will get any further, sadly.
i HATE touchwiz so much that i...dare might say it.... get the new iphone when it comes out. I am sick of VZW not having any really solid phones with pure google
jackpot08 said:
i HATE touchwiz so much that i...dare might say it.... get the new iphone when it comes out. I am sick of VZW not having any really solid phones with pure google
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never..... I won't ever subject myself to having anything apple. My kids both have ipods but never will you see me with any apple products.
It is sad they choose not to go with Nexus products at all, personally I think they are really loosing out as tons of people want them but can't get them on this network. I'm still a customer because of the coverage. It's sure as hell not for the prices or even the ability to customize my own device. I don't care if they claim to own it, I pay for it and use it so it's mine plain and simple
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
redusk said:
TouchWiz is not the most horrid operating system I've run (it still isn't superb), but all the same, I'd rather be running pure AOSP (Android Open Source Project), but we need unlocked bootloaders. Come on Verizon, stop sucking! It is my phone and I ought to be able to do what I please with it. Imagine if you bought a fridge from the biggest and most powerful fridge manufacturer (Verizon) only to find out you were only allowed to put strawberries in it. Of all the foods in the entire world, the fridge manufacturer only allows strawberries in the fridge. Sure, it might be fine at first, but what happens when you want to make the fridge your own? As soon as you put a food other than strawberries in said fridge only to find the doors lock and the fridge stops working entirely. Now your fridge is useless because you wanted to support other people and make the fridge your own. If the farmers of the world want to survive, they need to strike deals with the fridge manufacturer in order to get their foods into the fridges. This is a monopoly. There is zero competition; everyone is at the mercy of the fridge manufacturer. This is what Verizon is doing with their phones. Either the developers give in to Verizon's insane demands (money and horrible contracts) to get the software on the phone, or they die out entirely and nobody ever remembers the developers even existed. Sure Verizon offers "Developer Edition" devices, but developers can't have a user base if users cannot install their software. What is the point of developing software for a device if nobody can use it? I'm just saying this is absolute garbage, and we should not take any more of it. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thoughts... change companies, because they really don;t care about you. We are a very small percent of their business, most people just use their phones as is and its not like you are going to stop using smartphones.
DigitalMD said:
Thoughts... change companies, because they really don;t care about you. We are a very small percent of their business, most people just use their phones as is and its not like you are going to stop using smartphones.
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Click to collapse
You hit the nail on the head with that one. My gf has been complaining about the OTA updates on both 4.3 and 4.4 and I told her I could root the phone, she won't hear anything about rooting. Big red will never hear or care about our plights that these are our phones. We can forget about them even caring about what we think
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
where to go?
my contract @ Verizon is o.v.e.r.!!! - I'm free- what phone to buy and where to go?? please, anyone, help!
I rooted my S3 (running kitkat) with towelroot- (have busybox and the gang) but the bootloader war is not over. I'm losing this battle with the bootloader and I have a day job... I just want a phone with as much freedom as i can get- any suggestions?
ShapesBlue said:
You hit the nail on the head with that one. My gf has been complaining about the OTA updates on both 4.3 and 4.4 and I told her I could root the phone, she won't hear anything about rooting. Big red will never hear or care about our plights that these are our phones. We can forget about them even caring about what we think
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ANTIESTABLISH said:
my contract @ Verizon is o.v.e.r.!!! - I'm free- what phone to buy and where to go?? please, anyone, help!
I rooted my S3 (running kitkat) with towelroot- (have busybox and the gang) but the bootloader war is not over. I'm losing this battle with the bootloader and I have a day job... I just want a phone with as much freedom as i can get- any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buy a nexus 6 in that case if you want freedom from bootloader lock down. I can't wait until my contract is up in June. I may just buy it out come tax time if I have the money
From my CM11 S3
total agreement, Blue...
yup!
I think they won..... I waited for the contract to be up thinking i scored the gs3 w/o paying... they were too smart for me....
so now i'm stuck with the locked bootloader - stock rom...
here i come, nexus...
ShapesBlue said:
Buy a nexus 6 in that case if you want freedom from bootloader lock down. I can't wait until my contract is up in June. I may just buy it out come tax time if I have the money
From my CM11 S3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bootloader downgrade
There's a company in Caldwell Texas named Mobile Tech Videos and supposedly they offer a bootloader downgrade service for $50. I've decided to give that a try. Wish me luck, seriously.
Gabe1021 said:
There's a company in Caldwell Texas named Mobile Tech Videos and supposedly they offer a bootloader downgrade service for $50. I've decided to give that a try. Wish me luck, seriously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you decide to please let us know how it turns out. I'm considering the same.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Gabe1021 said:
There's a company in Caldwell Texas named Mobile Tech Videos and supposedly they offer a bootloader downgrade service for $50. I've decided to give that a try. Wish me luck, seriously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Caldwell, TX is a small town. How'd you get along with that boot loader unlocking?
Had MF1, a week ago accidently flashed NE1.
Switched to Sprint, bought a S5.
Sold the S3.
Bye bye Verizon.
Gabe1021 said:
There's a company in Caldwell Texas named Mobile Tech Videos and supposedly they offer a bootloader downgrade service for $50. I've decided to give that a try. Wish me luck, seriously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update?
DNak206 said:
Update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like nothing has changed for them, see this thread for any updates
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1306767
My S3 running BlissStalk
It workded for me
DNak206 said:
Update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I've been busy and hadn't posted my personal experience, but I now can report that I cannot complain about my service with Mobile Tech Videos.
My Verizon Galaxy S3 is rooted and I am running CyanogenMod 10.2.1.
I paid Mobile Tech Videos to unlock the bootloader and install the ROM and I'm perfectly happy with my S3 now.
Gabe1021 said:
Sorry I've been busy and hadn't posted my personal experience, but I now can report that I cannot complain about my service with Mobile Tech Videos.
My Verizon Galaxy S3 is rooted and I am running CyanogenMod 10.2.1.
I paid Mobile Tech Videos to unlock the bootloader and install the ROM and I'm perfectly happy with my S3 now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa...ive always been led to believe that once u take the NE1 update, that is it, no going back, do not pass go do not collect $200, cannot get the girl, limp sausage forever. so there IS a way to roll back? do u have any idea HOW they did it because theres no way i can send my phone to texas! it cannot have been that difficult, as it was only $50...
l3l4ck0ut said:
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa...ive always been led to believe that once u take the NE1 update, that is it, no going back, do not pass go do not collect $200, cannot get the girl, limp sausage forever. so there IS a way to roll back? do u have any idea HOW they did it because theres no way i can send my phone to texas! it cannot have been that difficult, as it was only $50...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nobody knows how they do it. And they certainly aren't going to tell anyone how they do it. That would be the easiest way to lose customers.
As you can see by my account date I'm no stranger to flashing/modding phones although back in 2007-08 HowardForum had more info and I used to do a lot there. Wow how the days of buying a bad ESN HTC Mogel and flashing it over to Cricket have changed. Gotta love how the spirit of damn the corporate man is stronger than ever in the community so thanks to you all for the hard work and effort you put into it.
Here's my current issue, I have two M8s for Verizon that I bought for my son and I as a father/son project. We build computers, run Linux, I try to get involved in his games and to find as much common ground as possible for us to connect on. Just buying the phones was a HUGE expense for me as I'm a single dad on disability so it was a HUGE outlay I had to plan for. Now I'm having a really tough time figuring out how to get a custom ROM on them. I spent 8 hours messing with this last night, WeakSauce, WeakSauce2, the old Fire Water method, trying to figure out how to use TWRP, HTCDev, the instructions on the SkyDragon site and I made zero progress.
So my question is, what is the easiest way to get any and ideally SkyDragon ROM on my Verizon M8? There's no way I can afford $50 for Sunshine, that's 30% of my weekly income and I don't even have a Paypal account if I could afford it. Back in the day I used to just help out by hosting files and such for awhile or kicking somebody what a person could afford. Are there any other options for me here or am I sunk?
Thanks a lot!!!
Tucson85743 said:
As you can see by my account date I'm no stranger to flashing/modding phones although back in 2007-08 HowardForum had more info and I used to do a lot there. Wow how the days of buying a bad ESN HTC Mogel and flashing it over to Cricket have changed. Gotta love how the spirit of damn the corporate man is stronger than ever in the community so thanks to you all for the hard work and effort you put into it.
Here's my current issue, I have two M8s for Verizon that I bought for my son and I as a father/son project. We build computers, run Linux, I try to get involved in his games and to find as much common ground as possible for us to connect on. Just buying the phones was a HUGE expense for me as I'm a single dad on disability so it was a HUGE outlay I had to plan for. Now I'm having a really tough time figuring out how to get a custom ROM on them. I spent 8 hours messing with this last night, WeakSauce, WeakSauce2, the old Fire Water method, trying to figure out how to use TWRP, HTCDev, the instructions on the SkyDragon site and I made zero progress.
So my question is, what is the easiest way to get any and ideally SkyDragon ROM on my Verizon M8? There's no way I can afford $50 for Sunshine, that's 30% of my weekly income and I don't even have a Paypal account if I could afford it. Back in the day I used to just help out by hosting files and such for awhile or kicking somebody what a person could afford. Are there any other options for me here or am I sunk?
Thanks a lot!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's currently no other option that would allow you to flash roms.
There's a javacard thread in the vzw m9 section....perhaps you can find someone near you who could s-off them via Java card/clip for you.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
you honestly didnt pick a good phone. return them and get some nexus 5s or moto gs
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...hone-maker-essential-is-said-to-consider-sale
shocker
We'll...
Like the stages of grief, I was initially frustrated and upset. After thinking about it for about 3 minutes, just about every possession I own is for sale, for the right price. Go get it Andy!
Kinda sad, was tempted to buy a ph-2. But now I'm happy I'll get a chance to buy a ph-1 when they go on fire sale. It will fit right in with my nextbit Robin.
this was a response from Essential that Android Police received
An official Essential spokesperson responded to our request for comment. Here's what we got:
"We always have multiple products in development at the same time and we embrace canceling some in favor of the ones we think will be bigger hits. We are putting all of our efforts towards our future, game-changing products, which include mobile and home products."
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Damm! I've been so looking forward to the new phone! I'm sure it would have been a much bigger success.
(another article about it, based on Bloomberg report https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/24/...ncels-phone-development-considers-sale-report )
So do I buy another backup one as there really doesn't seem to be an alternative.
IronRoo said:
Damm! I've been so looking forward to the new phone! I'm sure it would have been a much bigger success.
(another article about it, based on Bloomberg report https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/24/...ncels-phone-development-considers-sale-report )
So do I buy another backup one as there really doesn't seem to be an alternative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah.. all the phone needs is oled screen and it would be perfect.. though the lcd is very good
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Do you think we'll still get continued support for the PH-1, as getting the security updates quick, and getting updated to the official release of android p?
Thomas Cloutier said:
Do you think we'll still get continued support for the PH-1, as getting the security updates quick, and getting updated to the official release of android p?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was just wondering that myself.. let's hope the support continues for years to come. I have no plans to upgrade. Love my PH-1
I would not count on continued support for very long. You can’t hardly get decent long term support from phone companies that stay in business...
Sad day really. Especially the cancellation of the phone. I really believed the second one was going to get it right. I only had two problems with the phone: Low light performance of the cameras and poor signal strength (mostly indoors)
I don't think it would have been hard to improve in those areas for their next phone. He is giving up to easy.
P.S. won't be buying their other products if this is how it's going to go.
Maybe we need a petition started to give him more confidence.
It is sad, the Essential Phone had such promise. But sometimes in business "Promises" won't pay the staff or the bills. I was looking forward to PH-2, but now I am, I can't believe I am saying this, looking at the iPhone X.
I have use Android phones ,Nexis< from the beginning. Nexus left us in favor of the extremely expensive and hamstrung Pixel, I was really hoping Essential would fill that void, the one thing is the universe is constant "Apple" seems to always keep thing consistent.
Damn I need to call my therapist, its just a fuc____g phone...
Oh no. That's bad news. What a beautiful phone and not being continued.
First my wonderful Lumia, now the Essential.... Sometimes you wonder what it takes to break into this market.
oldman_58 said:
It is sad, the Essential Phone had such promise. But sometimes in business "Promises" won't pay the staff or the bills. I was looking forward to PH-2, but now I am, I can't believe I am saying this, looking at the iPhone X.
I have use Android phones ,Nexis< from the beginning. Nexus left us in favor of the extremely expensive and hamstrung Pixel, I was really hoping Essential would fill that void, the one thing is the universe is constant "Apple" seems to always keep thing consistent.
Damn I need to call my therapist, its just a fuc____g phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Essential and iPhone X. When it comes to size I constantly confuse the two of them. The Essential phone was the first Android device that felt like Apple quality to me. Can’t go wrong with either one.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Damn, that really sux. This was the best phone I ever owned
sam2c said:
Damn, that really sux. This was the best phone I ever owned
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, good thing for now is that we still own the best phone we ever owned.
derausgewanderte said:
Oh no. That's bad news. What a beautiful phone and not being continued.
First my wonderful Lumia, now the Essential.... Sometimes you wonder what it takes to break into this market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You jinxed it!
Don't buy a OnePlus 6 please...
Jk
Bummed on this one for sure. I've been impressed enough with this phone and especially the support to have considered replacing my wife's aging Nexus 5X with the second generation one (assuming the camera was better than the ph-1).
this feels exactly like what happened to me when Google sold Motorola soon after I bought my 2013 Moto X, which is still my all time fav phone. Google was supporting it (we got KitKat FAST) and then BAM the support was yanked out when the company got sold. I was starting to like this phone almost as much.
SHOCKKR said:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...hone-maker-essential-is-said-to-consider-sale
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rumors.
From Andy:
"We always have multiple products in development at the same time and we embrace canceling some in favor of the ones we think will be bigger hits. We are putting all of our efforts towards our future, game-changing products, which include mobile and home products."
Where does that say the company is closing or that PH-2 is dead?
The article is from a confidential source.
tech_head said:
Rumors.
From Andy:
"We always have multiple products in development at the same time and we embrace canceling some in favor of the ones we think will be bigger hits. We are putting all of our efforts towards our future, game-changing products, which include mobile and home products."
Where does that say the company is closing or that PH-2 is dead?
The article is from a confidential source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cmon dude he posted it as a response to the articles
"we embrace canceling some in favor of the ones we think will be bigger hits."
I think that is pretty clear, unless you're being intentionally obtuse.