Hey guys,
smashed my phone this week :crying: and now I'm thinking about picking up the P9!
I wanted to have a little discussion about how easy it is to root/mod Huawei phones in general, since I never owned one before. I realize that the P9 is just coming out and we don't have all the information yet, but the general policy from Huawei should translate to the P9 - i think.
So for example, unlocking the bootloader kinda gimped the camera on my previous phone (xperia z3c). Is this common practice? Can you root huawei phones without unlocking the bootloader? How about xposed?
And how willing are the devs to work on these products.
Oh and do you guys think the P9 will get double tap to wake eventually? I haven't seen confirmation if it exists, but this should be such a basic and standard feature these days that it's unbelievable that the P9 doesn't have it?
cheers and have a great day!
Matt
So all of my experience comes from a cheapo 7" tablet called the Honor T1 which my wife had. That's a really old device though and not very popular.
Anyway it was rootable with a chinese tool (language was an issue for me obviously) but it had basically zero dev support (unsurprisingly)
My question is if that's what I have to expect with the P9^^
come on guys I don't exactly need all facts^^ But let's discuss, give me your opinions! I will probably get my P9 tomorrow anyway so I'm looking forward to modding our P9 exactly the way we want.
clouds5 said:
come on guys I don't exactly need all facts^^ But let's discuss, give me your opinions! I will probably get my P9 tomorrow anyway so I'm looking forward to modding our P9 exactly the way we want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll (mostly likely) be getting the P9 Plus but am doing so in the realisation that full custom ROMs are unlikely to come to this device and those that do will likely not not have full functionality. Only for this phone is this not a deal breaker for me. If it was a pre-requisite for me buying a new phone I'd have been looking at the new Samsungs or HTC.
I really hope you won't be disappointed that you won't be able to get you P9 modded the way you want it, but I fear you may be.
clouds5 said:
Hey guys,
smashed my phone this week :crying: and now I'm thinking about picking up the P9!
I wanted to have a little discussion about how easy it is to root/mod Huawei phones in general, since I never owned one before. I realize that the P9 is just coming out and we don't have all the information yet, but the general policy from Huawei should translate to the P9 - i think.
So for example, unlocking the bootloader kinda gimped the camera on my previous phone (xperia z3c). Is this common practice? Can you root huawei phones without unlocking the bootloader? How about xposed?
And how willing are the devs to work on these products.
Oh and do you guys think the P9 will get double tap to wake eventually? I haven't seen confirmation if it exists, but this should be such a basic and standard feature these days that it's unbelievable that the P9 doesn't have it?
cheers and have a great day!
Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having owned four Huawei mobiles (P8, P8 Lite, Honor 6 and 4C) allow me to clarify some things for you:
Unlocking the bootloader is easy and won't effect any of the proprietary stuff (such as losing DRM keys, Bravia Engine on Sony devices). The bootloader once unlocked can also be re-locked pretty easily. I used P8 and unlocking bootloader didn't effected camera, sound, etc.
You can probably root Huawei devices without unlocking bootloader using Kingroot. Kingroot supports most of the Huawei devices and currently is also able to root Android 6.0 EMUI 4.0 devices. So I believe, Kingroot will add support for the P9 too.
Huawei devices lack development due to incomplete Kernel sources. I haven't the seen the face of stable Cyannogenmod for any of the Huawei devices I've owned. Honor 6 got CM 11 but was unstable for daily use. It's because of the Kirin SoC which has no good sources and is not development friendly. You won't find any spec sheet relating to any Kirin devices. Talking about Kernel sources, they're a mess and they won't even compile. Huawei releases some of the sources in order to be GPL compliant and if you try to compile AOSP, all proprietary stuff such as NFC, Fingerprint, IR Blaster (in this case) are extremely difficult to be run on custom ROM.
Since EMUI 3.1, almost all Huawei devices have double tap to wake feature. P9 should have it including off screen gestures and probably knock gestures.
Thx! Exactly the information I was looking for. This sounds good enough for me. I usually use stock roms with root/xposed and this should be possible on the P9. Good news about the bootloader as well.
The main reasons I used custom roms in the past was to improve performance and battery life. Both are basically not an issue anymore with current phones. And theming is built in anyway.
Related
As already been know, no custom roms were developed for Kirin proccesor?
Any chance for Honor 8 to receive one?
I like the phone, but not the UI...
We are working directly with Honor to get the proper assets needed for open development. It is a work in progress and we should know a lot more in the coming weeks.
If what the articles on XDA and what @svetius say are true, we should have all the required files to start building custom roms. Question is, with the recent release of N, are the to be provided Honor files going to be for M or N?
If anyone is interested, I have uploaded some documentation about the experience of developing custom roms to prior Kirin devices https://github.com/HiSilicon-Kirin/Documentation
It's pretty basic at the moment but if someone wants to read it you might find it helpful for future development.
COMI80 said:
As already been know, no custom roms were developed for Kirin proccesor?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thst's not true https://github.com/P8LiteDev/android_device_huawei_hi6210sft
Ok, my bad and I apologize .... and I rephrase - existing custom roms on previous Kirins are far from being fully functional.
But good news for future development and thanks everybody for replies.
As for the free lesson....
I have to buy a new phone soon as my z3c is experiencing touch problems (I'm out of warranty because i unlocked the bl...) plus there is no good development for it, and this honor 8 would completely meet my needs. but I'll wait first to see if good development for it will really arrive, otherwise will have to buy something else. really hope so though, also considering the amount of good advertising it is receiving in this forum!
i really like recent huawei phones, my gf has one (g8) which is very nice, but I've never got one myself because of the poor development i found for them.. so i hope some good devs will get this one in particular not too late and be able to properly work on it :fingers-crossed:
moly82 said:
I have to buy a new phone soon as my z3c is experiencing touch problems (I'm out of warranty because i unlocked the bl...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true, European laws state that if your phone is defective and you want to use the warranty, the OEM has to prove the malfunction was caused by your modifications. In most cases, unlocking the bootloader won't void your warranty. At least in Europe.
I've sent a few of my previous phones for repairs after flashing custom ROMs... And never had a problem. At least try, even if you want to buy the H8, your Z3c might be repaired regardless, and you would have a fully functional backup phone
COMI80 said:
Ok, my bad and I apologize .... and I rephrase - existing custom roms on previous Kirins are far from being fully functional.
But good news for future development and thanks everybody for replies.
As for the free lesson....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was no big support that's why, but now honor is providing key devs anything they need to make the honor 8 great, let's hope for nougat
Lurdy said:
Not true, European laws state that if your phone is defective and you want to use the warranty, the OEM has to prove the malfunction was caused by your modifications. In most cases, unlocking the bootloader won't void your warranty. At least in Europe.
I've sent a few of my previous phones for repairs after flashing custom ROMs... And never had a problem. At least try, even if you want to buy the H8, your Z3c might be repaired regardless, and you would have a fully functional backup phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, I know myself that is clearly true, but I have already tried, and they do not accept the in-warranty reparation, considering I am now blacklisted in their SW as last time I sent it for repair (again for a z3c famous and common defect on the magnetic port coming out, so nothing relevant to unlocking/flashing custom roms etc) they returned my phone not repaired because it was unlocked...
Well, honor 8 should get custom ROMs
moly82 said:
I have to buy a new phone soon as my z3c is experiencing touch problems (I'm out of warranty because i unlocked the bl...) plus there is no good development for it, and this honor 8 would completely meet my needs. but I'll wait first to see if good development for it will really arrive, otherwise will have to buy something else. really hope so though, also considering the amount of good advertising it is receiving in this forum!
i really like recent huawei phones, my gf has one (g8) which is very nice, but I've never got one myself because of the poor development i found for them.. so i hope some good devs will get this one in particular not too late and be able to properly work on it :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to try an honor phone with Great Rom support look no further than the 5X (GR5) >> http://forum.xda-developers.com/honor-5x
Personally I will pass on the Honor 8 because of the smaller screen size and the kirin processor
yeah i did read about it in this forum but i prefer honor 8 because of the smaller screen I'm the opposite, don't like too big phones actually honor 8 would be even a little too big for me, but could buy it anyway and that's really the maximum size allowed for me processor will be fine as long as development will arrive, if not will probably buy a mi5
Can do a custom rom, but first need a firmware.
If I decide to get this phone, and support for custom ROM's becomes a thing, I feel like the best feature in custom ROM's would be tweaks to the Smart Key aka the fingerprint sensor. Just like with my OnePlus X, many custom ROM's let you set the alert slider for silence, vibrate, ring, or the default DND/priority notification toggle. So I feel like instead of only being able to set 3 functions to the Smart Key, tweaks would allow it to have more than 3 and set it for things that the system doesn't normally allow. That would be awesome in my opinion.
Previously till now, Kirin processor is always a deal breaker for me. I own a Honor 4X with CM12.1 installed.
No custom ROM avaliablity meaning only HUAWEI can provide future updates to us, that's not a good news.
honestly, i am also hesitant about the kirin processor.
i went on a mall last sunday to check the p9 which is most likely the same look except for the hardware and i dont know if i can really take something not close to vanilla android.. but im actually hopeful.. im confused.
yes chance for custom roms
we can expect custom roms for honor 8 in near future but developers work in their leisure time to build custom roms so wait until the kernel sources are released by huawei once they are released there will be different AOSP/cyanogen based ROMS for honor 8.
but never ask for ETAs:angel:
sagar emperor said:
we can expect custom roms for honor 8 in near future but developers work in their leisure time to build custom roms so wait until the kernel sources are released by huawei once they are released there will be different AOSP/cyanogen based ROMS for honor 8.
but never ask for ETAs:angel:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It isn't the kernel source what's needed to build roms (although it's useful), but proper documentation from them.
Huawei nova has SD625, if u not want honor 8
Once they release proper files needed to start development, then we have pretty good devs out there who will start working on ROM immediately.
I am thinking of buying thins phone in order to tinker with it in the future. However I cannot live without a root and I really like to use custom ROMs.
So how probable is it that it will be possible to use custom roms easily à la Google Pixel. How is the trackrecord of Huawei phones in general? I have only ever used Samsung, Nokia and HTC.
Nyquis said:
I am thinking of buying thins phone in order to tinker with it in the future. However I cannot live without a root and I really like to use custom ROMs.
So how probable is it that it will be possible to use custom roms easily à la Google Pixel. How is the trackrecord of Huawei phones in general? I have only ever used Samsung, Nokia and HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
P8 Max had very little support and got root, so I think we'll have root very soon for the Mate 9 especially considering how rapidly the community is growing and quickly these updates are coming along.
opasha said:
P8 Max had very little support and got root, so I think we'll have root very soon for the Mate 9 especially considering how rapidly the community is growing and quickly these updates are coming along.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I agree. Probably a good indicator of the interest in Huawei from the xda community with respect to a device like the Mate 9 is to check the Mate 8 threads. I expect it will get even better for the Mate 9.
There are a bunch of Huawei Nexus6P XDA members upgrading to Mate9. We are expecting root custom roms, etc.
It's a Kirin processor, so the likelihood of any custom ROM other than small variations on Huawei's ROM is extremely low. For example, I wouldn't expect for something like AOSP, Cyanogenmod, etc. coming out for this device.
Rooting will be fine. Once we can unlock the bootloader, we can root.
duraaraa said:
It's a Kirin processor, so the likelihood of any custom ROM other than small variations on Huawei's ROM is extremely low. For example, I wouldn't expect for something like AOSP, Cyanogenmod, etc. coming out for this device.
Rooting will be fine. Once we can unlock the bootloader, we can root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true. To be fair, root is all I care for. The phone is already fast/well made out of the box especially with Huawei's updates.
Hey Guys,
I bought the Honor 8 and I´m super happy with it.
BUT
Why is there almost no custom rom support?
Is Honor holding back on the kernel source?
I´m a little bit worried that (like on my last phone redmi note 2) there will be no good custom roms
and in the end I´m stuck with a phone that will no longer be updated ....
Don´t get me wrong, I dont want to complain, I`m just worried because 350$ is a lot of money for me and I´m looking for a phone that will be (software wise) up to date for at least 3 years. (with custom roms, like CM14 etc)
So, should I return it or should I keep it?
Thanks in advance!
Gecko
there will be rom development but it will be slow as there are no sources to fix bugs or get things working properly
if you really wanted custom roms, you shoulve picked a snapdragon device,
i cant say its not gonna have a good custom rom support, but all i can say is huaweis kirin is not completely open sourced, and even if it will be opened, it is not as flexible as snapdragon..
for a better clearification, go on and have a look at honor 7 or 6 forums,,
I bought this phone about 3 weeks ago. At first I was excited at how beautiful it was, hardware-wise, and simply told myself I'd get used to the software. Fast forward to now and I wish I would have went with a Pixel or even Sony device.
Even on the stock ROM certain things don't work, such as Accessibility Settings for LastPass password App Fill, adding VCard info to your contacts list won't work/sync to the cloud, and the stock Huawei apps that you can't uninstall annoyingly keep asking for permissions. There are more that I forgot to mention but I miss having everything just work in vanilla Android. Sadly, custom ROM support is buggy and is stuck at Marshmallow.
That said, here's what I like:
- PRICE. Can be found for just under $300 now
- much faster than my Nexus 5X
- swipe left/right on the home button shrinks the screen to give easy thumb access to the top of your app (similar to what iOS does)
- there's a Power Hungry app notification which let's you easily close battery draining apps
- fast fingerprint unlock, and you can use the sensor as a button
- though EMUI generally lags behind AOSP, Huawei did a great job making it look sleek even though they borrowed a ton from iOS
I'm going to look into returning it at Best Buy. Once you go stock Android it's hard to get used to anything else (aside from Sony's light touches), and I don't think I can live with this device until next November.
Thank you for all your answers.
I think I´m gonna go with redmi note 3 pro international version
DerGecko110 said:
Thank you for all your answers.
I think I´m gonna go with redmi note 3 pro international version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good choice better rom support
There are lots of interesting alt roms for the Mate 9. Has anyone developed (or be willing to develop) a custom rom for thr Pro? Pretty please!
The poor pro is being left behind... I realise this is largely because of limited geographic release but it's a great phone which deserves some attention. I'm not sure how ewsy/difficult it is to adapt the mate 9 custom roms for the Mate 9 pro... Or perhaps there are some Pro owner developers out there.
FYI I'm currently running LON-L29C636B225. Latest version appears to be B229.
Thanks in advance, and apologies if I missed something on this that has been posted already.
Did you tried to install a Mate 9 Rom?
Gesendet von meinem VKY-L29 mit Tapatalk
Blackball said:
Did you tried to install a Mate 9 Rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. I have asked on threads if a mate 9 rom would work on mate 9 pro and generally got a response of no or 'not sure'. Given that the correct region also seems to be important to make these roms work, I really didn't want to risk flashing a mate 9 image on my mate 9 pro in case of bricking. The twrp I flashed is also different from the standard mate 9 version.
I saw that KangVip build a rom for Mate9/pro...
http://club.huawei.com/forum.php?mod=forumdisplay&fid=2698&filter=typeid&typeid=4298
Isn't it just a different screen size/resolution? That shouldn't be a problem software size. I would imagine.
bejam said:
There are lots of interesting alt roms for the Mate 9. Has anyone developed (or be willing to develop) a custom rom for thr Pro? Pretty please!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should know that huawei phones will never have many if any custom roms. the few that have custom roms like the honor 8/P9 are loosing interest from the few devs that are trying to build roms. oreo might fix that but like i said, devs are loosing interest fast.
im waiting to see the pixel 2 and the LG v30. those will have great hardware and will have a huge custom rom support. never again huawei!
droidbot1337 said:
you should know that huawei phones will never have many if any custom roms. the few that have custom roms like the honor 8/P9 are loosing interest from the few devs that are trying to build roms. oreo might fix that but like i said, devs are loosing interest fast.
im waiting to see the pixel 2 and the LG v30. those will have great hardware and will have a huge custom rom support. never again huawei!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on your response, why did YOU yourself even bother purchasing a Huawei device when you knew that rom development was going to lack?
I already knew for months before purchasing mine that ROM development was going to be small or basically non existent and I've been a ROM flasher for many many years, this is the first device I've ever own that I didn't have to root or even flash a ROM, seems you're pretty much unsatisfied because you can't flash any custom ROMs compared to other devices
XERO_Racer said:
Based on your response, why did YOU yourself even bother purchasing a Huawei device when you knew that rom development was going to lack?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my only huawei devices have been the mate 7 which i bought brand new and a gifted bartered honor 5x and honor 8. i got rid 2 of them as soon as i could. the honor 5x is the only one i still have due to it having a snapdragon soc and a big custom rom selection.
had someone warned me about the mate 7 i would have not bought it but lesson learned. as i have stated many times, huawei hardware is great but their software is complete ****! thankfully huawei is becoming less popular on xda due to them going back on their word about providing major updates for 2 years.
to each their own i guess. you can stick with your huawei devices but most will never take hauwei serious for good reasons. LG v30 FTW!!!
droidbot1337 said:
my only huawei devices have been the mate 7 which i bought brand new and a gifted bartered honor 5x and honor 8. i got rid 2 of them as soon as i could. the honor 5x is the only one i still have due to it having a snapdragon soc and a big custom rom selection.
had someone warned me about the mate 7 i would have not bought it but lesson learned. as i have stated many times, huawei hardware is great but their software is complete ****! thankfully huawei is becoming less popular on xda due to them going back on their word about providing major updates for 2 years.
to each their own i guess. you can stick with your huawei devices but most will never take hauwei serious for good reasons. LG v30 FTW!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Little bit of V30 fanboyism there?
EMUI 5.0 has never been a hiccup for me it's infact the best UI I have experienced so far alot better than 4.0.
Sucks to be you, should've done the research if you knew what you were getting yourself into but you learned it the hard way, but each to their own.
I rather have a device that rarely anyone knows about VS a phone or a brand that everyone knows, have fun with your V30, cuz I'm pretty content where I'm at, no need to go batsh** over what ROM has marginally better battery life or what kernel provided better performance or signal strength with modem files. TBH at least some credibility is due for them for actually polishing up EMUI, if they didn't care this brand wouldn't get far ?
Blackball said:
I saw that KangVip build a rom for Mate9/pro...
http://club.huawei.com/forum.php?mod=forumdisplay&fid=2698&filter=typeid&typeid=4298
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great - I didn't know about this one! The only challenge for me is the Chinese forum. I know I can google transalte but it is still a bit of a struggle - especiall;y to post questions etc.
I was hoping that some of the custom versions for the Mate 9 could easily be adapted for the Pro. I guess the Pro is a mainly Chinese audience. Depsite these ROMs being based on EMUI, I was pleased of late to see that more of them are coming out. Just not for the pro!
I also notice that the kernel source has been released. Although those experimenting are still experiencing some issues with it. https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/how-to/kernel-source-t3639912
But hopefully this means renewed iinterest from developes for an ASOP ROM for both mate 9 and the Pro!
As title say: tell me
meh! no source release, no bootloader unlock...... nothing of value has been lost! as you can see here, there is little to no custom ROMs so your stuck with EMUI. ill gladly buy a oneplus device over a huawei if there are no other alternatives. thankfully i have decided on the zenfone 6!
Good. Kind of happy. Hope Huawei will go down for not updating C636 device
It's political BS, but Huawei weren't supporting the Honor 8 anyway, so it's not affecting us.
Independent development is a joke, official support is worst... this is just another nail in the coffin. It doesn't matter the reasons, only the end result.
Goodbye Huawei/Honor.
huawei could have been huge in the north america if instead of their closed source chips they used snapdragon chips. sure they spend a bit more but using snapdragon chips also allows huawei to keep their secrets to themselves while giving the rest of us what we want and deserve..... sources! also, i think LG should just **** off already! not allowing bootloader unlocking on hardware that you own is bull****! this should be a law. the right to repair act should cover this kind of thing but here in the US corporate money keeps the govt on their side. if the EU could make this happen it would be amazing!
Should Have been banned 2 years back. Atleast I would not have wasted my money...
Now after just 2 years of usage I have to upgrade. I use most of my phones for 4 years..
How are the Pixel 3a's in comparison to the Honor 8? As far as performance goes?
And can those be rooted? I'm basically happy with my Honor 8 after replacing the battery last month as far as performance goes, but I kind of want security updates and OS updates would be nice too.
evilpaul13 said:
How are the Pixel 3a's in comparison to the Honor 8? As far as performance goes?
And can those be rooted? I'm basically happy with my Honor 8 after replacing the battery last month as far as performance goes, but I kind of want security updates and OS updates would be nice too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much did it all cost you to replace the battery? I am looking forward to replacing mine too.
About $35. I got a kit with tools and a new battery off ifixit. I got an OEM back off ebay, figuring I'd probably crack it talking it off, but ended up not needing it.
Yeah should have been banned before honor 8 release, then many early adopters wouldn't have been conned into buying their crap device.
funkiefresh said:
Yeah should have been banned before honor 8 release, then many early adopters wouldn't have been conned into buying their crap device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what really stings yet makes me laugh is that this device is treble compatible and has not custom ROMs other than the openkirin stuff. other devices are able to boot tons of GSIs but not the honor 8.
im happy that i dont have to deal with EMUI but honestly, omniROM is that much better of a ROM. im sure huawei will work something out eventually but i just hope that their reputation is bombed to hell at least here in north america. maybe they will go back to using snapdragons for us which will give us tons of ROMs and a longer usage life.
They're not going to start using SoCs developed by a third party when they make their own.