Database Info

Conversion i9505 to i9505G - Discussion/Rant

I'm not smart enough to do it myself.. however, I am still amazed that no one has been able to work out how to convert an i9505 into a i9505G. I know the partition layout is different, and I also know that there are ported 4.3 GE roms available.. BUT all of that aside.. has Samsung won the war here?
Which leads me to a separate subject.. but.. their knox efuse.. while it hasn't been long.. it looks like they have won there as well.
In any case.. I'm more interested in the conversion to i9505G. Does anyone know more than I do about the status or possibility of ever being able to convert a i9505 to a i9505G?

Well.. This is not as easy as you may think.
Need someone who has both I9505 and I9505G. Also need special connection to I9505 like JTAG to get direct access to flash. Then using JTAG try to dump whole flash from I9505G and upload it to I9505. And then depend on success and whole result, procedure can be simplified.
But JTAG is required at experiment stage if you are not so rich who can afford to buy tens (if not hundred) I9505 while experimenting

A full conversion (think about bootloader,radio) is not possible.
Samsung secured the bootloader very agressively .

Aerys said:
A full conversion (think about bootloader,radio) is not possible.
Samsung secured the bootloader very agressively .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why i've mentioned JTAG. Google JTAG if you wanna know what is that.

Aerys said:
A full conversion (think about bootloader,radio) is not possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People said a reset of the flash counter was not possible.. @Chainfire was able to take care of that just fine..
I doubt it's impossible.. but I wonder how many people have even tried, or if there are even more than a handful of people with the skills needed to make this happen.

xyzulu said:
People said a reset of the flash counter was not possible.. @Chainfire was able to take care of that just fine..
I doubt it's impossible.. but I wonder how many people have even tried, or if there are even more than a handful of people with the skills needed to make this happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried everything except for jtag + bootloader exploit. Even hardbricked my S4 1 time.

Aerys said:
I tried everything except for jtag + bootloader exploit. Even hardbricked my S4 1 time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats very sad to hear, would this mean we will never have a full ported/working edition of google on our phones? shall I sell my phone and move to a nexus? or simply buy the original i9505G?

Noorish said:
Thats very sad to hear, would this mean we will never have a full ported/working edition of google on our phones? shall I sell my phone and move to a nexus? or simply buy the original i9505G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sold my AT&T SGH-I337 GS4 and got an I-9505G. Best decision I ever made.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

oldblue910 said:
I sold my AT&T SGH-I337 GS4 and got an I-9505G. Best decision I ever made.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? Now you cant ever run TW roms now... But on the SGH 1337 you can run both roms

Easton999GS said:
Why? Now you cant ever run TW roms now... But on the SGH 1337 you can run both roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't care less about running ROMs. I unlocked the bootloader but otherwise I leave my devices stock and unrooted. I know how to root and install ROMs but once I knew how, my curiosity was satisfied.
Honestly, I have had Nexus devices my entire Android life. I decided to branch out and try a GS4 with Touchwiz. I really liked my I337, so much in fact, that I also ended up purchasing a Galaxy Note 8.0 as well. There are definitely things in Touchwiz that I'd love to see Google add to the stock user experience. I'm referring to things like air view and having separate wallpapers for the home and lock screens. Alas, though, when you've used stock Android as much as I have, it's hard to use anything else.
The only thing I truly miss about Touchwiz is the camera app. The camera was simply amazing. The other things that are important to me, namely the IR blaster and the S-View cover functionality, both work flawlessly on the I9505G.
Sent from my Galaxy S4 GT-I9505G using Tapatalk 4

What i dislike most in stock Android is halo theme. It's really ugly. Micro check-boxes. Ugly seek-bars. Alert dialogs are too flat and sketchy. Halo theme looks more like concept than theme for daily usage.
TouchWiz theme was odd originally in time of SGS2, but it was getting better and better. On SGS4 it's nearly perfect. May be some elements like ViewPager and title bar need to reworks somehow. But overall it's way better theme than Halo. Also, there are many useful addons in TW ROM like quick settings panel, nice looking lock screen with quick launch shortcuts on the bottom, and other small tweaks making TW ROM much more useful than naked Android. And it's easier to remove unneeded apps/services/tweaks from TW ROM than add them into naked Android.
I would think about I9505G over I9505 only as device with bigger user storage running custom TW ROM, but it looks like not much success here.
From other side, you can buy 32GB version of I9505 and don't think about 16GB-only I9505G.
But hey, there are SHV-E330 and GT-I9506 already

sorg said:
What i dislike most in stock Android is halo theme. It's really ugly. Micro check-boxes. Ugly seek-bars. Alert dialogs are too flat and sketchy. Halo theme looks more like concept than theme for daily usage.
TouchWiz theme was odd originally in time of SGS2, but it was getting better and better. On SGS4 it's nearly perfect. May be some elements like ViewPager and title bar need to reworks somehow. But overall it's way better theme than Halo. Also, there are many useful addons in TW ROM like quick settings panel, nice looking lock screen with quick launch shortcuts on the bottom, and other small tweaks making TW ROM much more useful than naked Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean Holo I believe. That's why I use stock Android. TW with its different colors, big buttons that are not even separated from others and mixed styles in applications is really crazy and a pain to use. For people that like to use a phone without distractions it's a plain and simple fail.
Nice to have options as we're all not the same, you keep your TW phone, I will keep my stock Android one.
sorg said:
And it's easier to remove unneeded apps/services/tweaks from TW ROM than add them into naked Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was taking you seriously until I read this. You think that removing system applications is easier than going to Google Play and download one? Yeah, sure!

jcasares said:
I was taking you seriously until I read this. You think that removing system applications is easier than going to Google Play and download one? Yeah, sure!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah.. It looks like your are really serious talking about replace TW features by 3rd party apps
Which app can replace lockscreen? None. It's impossible by android design. Only can mask some app as lockscreen which is completely different.
Having quick settings panel in on-going notification area? Phh..
If you think, it's not serious, then hold on and think first. May be other person, who is talking about this, knows something you don't know.
I'm not even talking about how serious people who are buying non-Nexus device and then whining about CM/AOSP in half of topics.

sorg said:
Yeah.. It looks like your are really serious talking about replace TW features by 3rd party apps
Which app can replace lockscreen? None. It's impossible by android design. Only can mask some app as lockscreen which is completely different.
Having quick settings panel in on-going notification area? Phh..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're considering rooting a device to freeze/remove system applications. I was talking about simply adding applications to a stock Android from Google Play. I fail to see the former being easier.
And here the "impossible":
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.widgetlocker&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.j4velin.notificationToggle&hl=en
In any case what you might consider essential I might consider a waste of resources.
That was the point of my post. That's why Android is a success.
And if you don't like to read people talking about changing non-Google devices you might be better off XDA.
XDA Developers was founded for developers by developers. It is now a valuable resource for people who want to make the most of their mobile devices, from customizing the look and feel to adding new functionality.

jcasares said:
You're considering rooting a device to freeze/remove system applications. I was talking about simply adding applications to a stock Android from Google Play. I fail to see the former being easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are able to create custom ROM then removing unneeded apps (and even editing framework to cleanup from some useless features) is much easier than add absent functionality.
I suppose, we are on XDA, i.e. developer's forum right? If you are talking from regular user point of view who usually don't know what is "root", then it's out of scope of this board. Just buy Nexus device and then you are set.
jcasares said:
And here the "impossible":
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.widgetlocker&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.j4velin.notificationToggle&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've told you already: there is no way to truly replace lockscreen by any other application. Lockscreen is a part of framework, not APK. I'm using android devices not the first year, and believe me, i've tried these apps long long time ago. These apps mimic lockscreen using some security holes in OS, but they are not replacing lockscreen. Actually, device remains unlocked all the time. Also there are many bugs and glitches because such apps trying to suppress original lockscreen with different kinds of success/fail.
As for modifying device: there are many ways to modify and it's not exactly by installing CM/AOSP. You can check my topics to see that i'm not just user.
XDA has been created long time before CM/AOSP and believe me there are many other good ways to modify the device. CM/AOSP have their own dedicated forums and repositories which should suit your needs better than XDA (if you want to compete in pointing directions to others).
P.S.: look into I9505G forum to see how users begging to add samsung's standard camera app which doesn't work on non-TW ROM.
Suggest them to install some app from Google play
The same can tell about video player and amount of video and audio codecs integrated into TW ROM. On TW ROM i can use nearly any music player and able to playback almost any audio and video. On GE ROM you have to find special audio player having support of some specific format, and then try to get used to its bugs without choice to switch to another player. With video player it's even worse...
Also, CM/AOSP usually don't have tight integration when it comes to Hardware 3D acceleration. Some selected devices (usually Nexus and GE devices) have good 3D support, but only some.
The truth is: Some people wanna to install CM/AOSP and then they realize they miss many useful (usually not noticeable when it presents) features. That's why custom TW ROMs are present and have a lot or users.

sorg said:
The truth is: Some people wanna to install CM/AOSP and then they realize they miss many useful (usually not noticeable when it presents) features. That's why custom TW ROMs are present and have a lot or users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never denied that TW based ROMs have value for some people, just that as well stock Android is much more attractive for others. If not we wouldn't be discussing this and you wouldn't see the kind of activity we see in this forum.
And I still disagree on the "easier" issue but I fail to see any benefit in continuing the discussion.

got a weird question... where's the am/pm display on the 12 hour clock for the i9505G rom that i installed? hmm...

spilksch said:
got a weird question... where's the am/pm display on the 12 hour clock for the i9505G rom that i installed? hmm...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at the window?

So this really isn't going anywhere?
HTC One has just been fully converted into the GPe.
I was really hoping there was some kind of solution for this conversion
Anyway, thanks for all the hard work guys!
Enviado do meu iPad usando o Tapatalk

andreqm said:
So this really isn't going anywhere?
HTC One has just been fully converted into the GPe.
I was really hoping there was some kind of solution for this conversion
Anyway, thanks for all the hard work guys!
Enviado do meu iPad usando o Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you need to ? You have CM/TW/GE to choose from when using the i9505 partition layout. Took us a couple of hours to get KitKat after the GE got it (broodplank delivered AOSP 4.4 even earlier).

[Q] why there is no special features like as in lg g2 or any other high end phones

hello guys...
Just wanted to know why nexus 5 doesn't have special features such as camera effects, special effects for home screen or so on..

That's because Nexus line of devices come with pure vanilla android!
If you want those effects, there are tons of apps available on the playstore

You do realise what Vanilla means right?

Nikhil.1105 said:
hello guys...
Just wanted to know why nexus 5 doesn't have special features such as camera effects, special effects for home screen or so on..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As stated its because we have pure "vanilla" android. It's a bit boring to some but its exciting for those that want speed and love to hack/modify.
Think of it this way. The Nexus 5 is like a Lamborghini (uncomfortable to drive, but very fast), phones like the G2 are like a Mercedes still pretty fast (not as fast as the Lambo) but its more luxurious and packed with features.
The main feature exclusive to the Nexus 5 is timely updates straight from Google.
sent from my neXus 5

ArtieQ said:
You do realise what Vanilla means right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_software
Anyway the reason is of course that the software is built from aosp with Google addons, while this is also the case for any other device, except those have their respective customisations on top of aosp and Google addons.
So nexus 5 has plenty of special features, they are just not exclusive, as Google is about software and makes money from all android devices, and allows all OEMS to use these features, while the OEMS want to keep their features exclusive in order to attract customers to their devices.
So every time Google adds new features, its also rolled out to all other android devices.

Nikhil.1105 said:
hello guys...
Just wanted to know why nexus 5 doesn't have special features such as camera effects, special effects for home screen or so on..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the forum!
The features you mentioned are really easy to add if you are rooted. BEFORE you root, however, I strongly suggest that you read everything you can about the phone to become familiar with its native functionality (e.g., the sticky threads at the top of this forum) as well as the N5 Apps and Themes forum to get an idea of how you can mod (Browsing the Play Store and trying out apps is also a lot of fun). ONLY after you have read thoroughly everything mentioned above, you can decide if you'd like to root (which I recommend, because many great apps and mods require root) and, perhaps, try flashing some custom roms and kernels.

I'm familiar with Google play and have installed many apps from there, but I've not owned another Android phone. So I don't know what capabilities other high end phones have that are missing on the N5.
What are some of the better customizations some high end phones have that I could add to the N5 using which apps? I am rooted but would prefer to remain with stock rom 4.4.2 rather than flash a new rom.
Thanks.

Actually, we're still slightly modified from vanilla aosp. We have Google dialer lookup and photosphere.
Nexus 5 is developers phone and built on a budget
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

rootSU said:
Actually, we're still slightly modified from vanilla aosp. We have Google dialer lookup and photosphere.
Nexus 5 is developers phone and built on a budget
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's right. AOSP also has Browser by default (not Chrome) and many other things...
We (Nexus + GPE Devices) have:
AOSP + Google Apps - Some AOSP Apps (that were replaced).
Sent from my Nexus 5

Anderson2 said:
I'm familiar with Google play and have installed many apps from there, but I've not owned another Android phone. So I don't know what capabilities other high end phones have that are missing on the N5.
What are some of the better customizations some high end phones have that I could add to the N5 using which apps? I am rooted but would prefer to remain with stock rom 4.4.2 rather than flash a new rom.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you are rooted, I would suggest perhaps looking into xposed framework and the gravity box module, since it's essentially made for phones this close to stock android. You can enable a ton of useful features from there, all on the stock ROM. There are also kernels you can flash to attain certain features, such as the knock on screen to activate thingy that comes with the LG G2. There aren't really a tone of features that other phones have that the N5 doesn't, The base functions are essentially the same, they just present a ton of different ways to go about it. With gravity box, for example, you can make it so when you tap on the status bar the phone goes to sleep. You can really do anything you want as far as customization, but all smartphones essentially do the same thing ie:internet, phone calls, camera, bt, music etc. Since you went ahead and rooted, research custom recoveries and start going to town exploring options. There are a ton for a phone such as this, it's just a matter of sifting through all the option until you find exactly what you want. You can google the highlights that other OEMs provide and find a close-as-possible match for that feature, whether it be a module, rom or kernel. There are A TON of options, so don't get overwhelmed and have fun brother! Modding a Nexus is, in my opinion, more about the journey of exploring the possibilities rather than searching for the perfect set up. Welcome to the best phone out right now and if there is anything I can help you with, please feel free to PM me.

Thanks for replying. Because I've never used one of the other phones I just didn't know what I was "giving up" by going with Nexus.
I've been a user of Xposed Framework, Xgravity, Xprivacy, and Boot manager for some time and love them. Also greenify, titanium backup, Nova prime, and TWRP. I'm delighted with the phone but had no previous experience to compare it with which is why I asked the question.
For instance I've heard some users rave about their MotoX interface but I don't know what made it so special. Do you know?
(Still scared to go into kernels and different roms because everything is working so well and I don't want to mess things up).

Anderson2 said:
Thanks for replying. Because I've never used one of the other phones I just didn't know what I was "giving up" by going with Nexus.
I've been a user of Xposed Framework, Xgravity, Xprivacy, and Boot manager for some time and love them. Also greenify, titanium backup, Nova prime, and TWRP. I'm delighted with the phone but had no previous experience to compare it with which is why I asked the question.
For instance I've heard some users rave about their MotoX interface but I don't know what made it so special. Do you know?
(Still scared to go into kernels and different roms because everything is working so well and I don't want to mess things up).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 2 biggest aspects, as far as I understand, to what makes the Moto X so unique is the "always listening" feature, which we have with ok Google and the active display lockscreen, which shows messages and content from the lockscreen using a black background. Since it is AMOLED, that uses less battery than actually turning on the phone to look at the message. There are a couple app that can perform this function for any phone (AcDisplay and Dynamic Notifications.) While they are certainly cool, doesn't do us much good battery-savingwise because we don't have AMOLED screens. Moto X also uses its core in some way that is supposed to be more efficient...but I honesty haven't looked into it much : ) I completely understand about be wary with kernels and ROMs! I've been flashing assorted mods for a couple of years, but it took me some time to commit myself to doing it and I read and read and read because I didn't wanna jack anything up. Inevitably I did, but it was a learning experience. I completely understand about the stock ROM as well. I have tried a few ROMs and kernels on this phone and decided that I was perfectly happy with stock. I'm not even rooted anymore and I locked my bootloader back (shameful, I know. and though this kind of contradicts what I was saying about experimenting, stock is where I am the most satisfied...I've tried plenty of other ROMs, but I've found I crave true stability) This phone is a beast as is and the only reason I would ever root is just for gravity box, but I'm content for now. There are some bugs with stock, but Google is working on them and there should be an update in the near future.

Thank you.

Nikhil.1105 said:
hello guys...
Just wanted to know why nexus 5 doesn't have special features such as camera effects, special effects for home screen or so on..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does. It's the easiest phone to mod and comes with the largest mod community. That's a special feature that's why I buy it
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

you guys forget that it does have a special feature, its googles baby, its a nexus. and like all nexus, its freedom in a device

Anderson2 said:
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NP bud

Nikhil.1105 said:
hello guys...
Just wanted to know why nexus 5 doesn't have special features such as camera effects, special effects for home screen or so on..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's special because I CHOSE what makes it special. I can have camera effects or unique home screens with ease....it was built that way.

Thanks to all... But I don't know how to root.. And rooting will void my warranty.. And if in case something goes wrong in route then I will regret for it..

Nikhil.1105 said:
Thanks to all... But I don't know how to root.. And rooting will void my warranty.. And if in case something goes wrong in route then I will regret for it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will be happier with a different phone.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Xposed for 6.0

I'm rooted on stock with twrp, wanted to install some tweaks for the reboot menu and status bar and I know we need xposed for it.
Can anyone guide me as to how to install it? I've read tutorials but wanted to ask the people here. I'm new to this phone.
Much thanks

https://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/unofficial-xposed-samsung-lollipop-t3180960
Use ARM/SDK23 for the Galaxy S5.
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

good info, im just not sure why people use xposed as opposed to a custom ROM with the features that theyre looking for baked into the ROM

Because sometimes, there are many things "cooked", and if I need 1 or 2 mods, then I don't need to deal with all the bugs that came with custom ROMs.
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

csmasn said:
Because sometimes, there are many things "cooked", and if I need 1 or 2 mods, then I don't need to deal with all the bugs that came with custom ROMs.
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats pretty fair, but i dont really get many (if any) bugs with custom ROMsif installed correctly. Im not bashing xposed, i just think that custom ROMs are the way to go for my taste

plus, in my experience, using xposed on a stock rom is better, you don't have to deal with any bugs

jafferkhan said:
plus, in my experience, using xposed on a stock rom is better, you don't have to deal with any bugs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
right on, im glad that it worked well for you! ive had quite the opposite experience with xposed, maybe its just user error tho

youdoofus said:
right on, im glad that it worked well for you! ive had quite the opposite experience with xposed, maybe its just user error tho
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can screw things up fast and often! Haha. I use XPosed purely for boot manager and greenify. Those are safe on any rom. Unfortunately there are so many modules you can use on your phone that aren't meant for it. If you're not happy to screw things up to learn what works than it can be a huge headache. Lol. I gave up screwing with many of the modules. Oh. I also use it for no ads and background play for YouTube.

Kreatur3 said:
It can screw things up fast and often! Haha. I use XPosed purely for boot manager and greenify. Those are safe on any rom. Unfortunately there are so many modules you can use on your phone that aren't meant for it. If you're not happy to screw things up to learn what works than it can be a huge headache. Lol. I gave up screwing with many of the modules. Oh. I also use it for no ads and background play for YouTube.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
man, i havent had a stock ROM in so long, im not sure where id even start LOL

youdoofus said:
man, i havent had a stock ROM in so long, im not sure where id even start LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I keep it purely for camera quality. I've yet to see a custom rom that compares.

Kreatur3 said:
I keep it purely for camera quality. I've yet to see a custom rom that compares.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
one of a few things i miss about touchwiz

youdoofus said:
one of a few things i miss about touchwiz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're using it on stock? How does it improve the camera quality?
As I've seen... I'm using the s5 for a second phone while my first is a note 5 which is the best phone I've used, after I had to give away my note 7.

And also that the camera on the s5 is not bad either... I just don't like it when it asks me to hold the device steady while it's taking a photo...

jafferkhan said:
And also that the camera on the s5 is not bad either... I just don't like it when it asks me to hold the device steady while it's taking a photo...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, im on resurrection remix nowadays and very much miss the TW camera. I ran MOAR for over a year and wanted to try out the AOSP ROMs that everyone was ranting about, and i rather enjoy several things about RR, but the camera is rather lackluster on AOSP. TW ROMs have access to the stock Samsung camera, which is awesome!! I really havent found much that just WOWs me about AOSP vs MOAR other than the fact that MOAR isnt being updated anymore (yes, you jsut witnessed someone remind themselves about why they decided on something that they had totally forgotten LoL) I spent a little time finding out if one could port the stock TW cam to AOSP, but apparently its not possible

youdoofus said:
no, im on resurrection remix nowadays and very much miss the TW camera. I ran MOAR for over a year and wanted to try out the AOSP ROMs that everyone was ranting about, and i rather enjoy several things about RR, but the camera is rather lackluster on AOSP. TW ROMs have access to the stock Samsung camera, which is awesome!! I really havent found much that just WOWs me about AOSP vs MOAR other than the fact that MOAR isnt being updated anymore (yes, you jsut witnessed someone remind themselves about why they decided on something that they had totally forgotten LoL) I spent a little time finding out if one could port the stock TW cam to AOSP, but apparently its not possible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you used flat style bar indicators? It doesn't seem to work properly. The issue that I'm having is that it won't show the data icon even when I'm connected...
I want to change the look of the status bar... Any suggestions?

jafferkhan said:
Have you used flat style bar indicators? It doesn't seem to work properly. The issue that I'm having is that it won't show the data icon even when I'm connected...
I want to change the look of the status bar... Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not really, if youre running a stock ROM because it takes an xposed module to do it and im just too unfamiliar with those to be of any help

Why custom room?

I see a few "home-brewed" roms out there but not with their difficulties to install and possible soft bricking.
I don't see any of these roms beating out simply sticking with stock, rooting, exposed framework w/ gravity box, V4A, and secure settings.
This is all that is needed for me to be happy. Until an official rom comes out that has this phone figured out with gapps and have all these mods built in and a bit safer to flash, then maybe then.
So, all in all, I'm happy until this happens. Any one else happy with their set up as of now and if an official rom comes then fine time to play some more?
Sent from my Pixel 2 using my fingers on the keyboard.

Gravity box is working on 8.1 now?
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Diesel_Jeremiah said:
Gravity box is working on 8.1 now?
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Beta
Sent from my Pixel 2 using my fingers on the keyboard.

Why I cannot edit the subject to "ROM"? Lol.
Sent from my Pixel 2 using my fingers on the keyboard.

jasonbiggs said:
I see a few "home-brewed" roms out there but not with their difficulties to install and possible soft bricking.
I don't see any of these roms beating out simply sticking with stock, rooting, exposed framework w/ gravity box, V4A, and secure settings.
This is all that is needed for me to be happy. Until an official rom comes out that has this phone figured out with gapps and have all these mods built in and a bit safer to flash, then maybe then.
So, all in all, I'm happy until this happens. Any one else happy with their set up as of now and if an official rom comes then fine time to play some more?
Sent from my Pixel 2 using my fingers on the keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nevermind - looks like Systemless xposed is working now. YAY!

jasonbiggs said:
Why I cannot edit the subject to "ROM"? Lol.
Sent from my Pixel 2 using my fingers on the keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because custom rooms on phones are much cooler. You can flash any color paint you want on the walls and even flash yourself a man cave. J/K. But seriously, this is the first phone I have ever owned that I'm actually satisfied with the stock Android experience. When I was using an HTC Evo 3D back in the day, I grew quite fond of MIUI so I would love to see an Oreo version of that down the line. For now I'm sticking with stock. I never tried Lineage OS so I may try that as things progress, but not as a daily driver. There is a version of Lineage for my Nvidia Shield TV that I may duel boot to and play with before I try it on my Pixel.

PuffDaddy_d said:
Nevermind - looks like Systemless xposed is working now. YAY!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correction again. My exposed install didn't pass safety net.
Followed these instructions and still failed safety net.
https://magiskroot.net/install-system-less-xposed-framework-oreo/

DJarkIV said:
When I was using an HTC Evo 3D back in the day, I grew quite fond of MIUI so I would love to see an Oreo version of that down the line.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a lot of MIUI launchers, if that's the experience you're looking for - see https://play.google.com/store/search?q=miui launcher . (An app is an app, regardless of which phone it's running on, so the fact that a particular app is running in an HTC won't change anything about it much, if at all, it's just the launcher that makes the real difference.)

Rukbat said:
There are a lot of MIUI launchers, if that's the experience you're looking for - see https://play.google.com/store/search?q=miui launcher . (An app is an app, regardless of which phone it's running on, so the fact that a particular app is running in an HTC won't change anything about it much, if at all, it's just the launcher that makes the real difference.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I was actually stating is that the stock Pixel ROM is actually quite nice and useable even for a power user. Whereas the stock ROM for other phones I've owned were the opposite so I actually needed to run a 3rd party ROM to truly enjoy my phone. As far as MIUI, the launcher was not the reason I liked it so much. In fact, I really enjoy the Pixel launcher. (#1) When running a real MIUI ROM you have the ability to master toggle Root. This is a security feature and you can turn root off entirely when not needed and turn it on only when needed. (#2) The built in firewall is very handy. It not only allows you to select which apps can connect to the internet and which ones cannot but specifically which app processes can and cannot. I am able to stop Google services from sending anonymous info behind the scenes while keeping basic functionality of Gapps. (#3) The built in permission manager. Much more advanced than the permission manager on our Pixel 2 phones being that on MIUI there is a list of permissions most people don't know exist. These permissions are not configurable and hidden in most ROMs such as the ability turn off an apps access to your phones unique ID (IMEI, serial #, etc). These advanced permissions can be configured for both user and system apps alike. Again, just giving an app the bare minimum permissions it needs to function correctly without anything extra or intrusive. In addition, I really like the settings menu layout as well as additional settings not found in most AOSP ROMs. However, the last version of MIUI I really used like this was Jelly Bean based so I can only imagine how far it has come since then and I'm looking forward to trying an Oreo based version on my Pixel some time in the future.

I was about to purchase pixel 2 this weekend. While big brother (pixel 2 XL) having certain screen QC issues, I was thinking to get smaller one (even though - not big fan of small screen, small battery and huge bezels, but whatever). I remember my good old days with Nexus 5 with tons of custom ROMs. I was thinking the is going on right now with pixel 2 family.
I was shocked that there''re no custom ROMs so far. Wow... Even TWRP is in beta stage, but pixel 2 has been released months ago. That's weird....
Am I missing smth or got blind all of sudden? Why there''re no custom ROMs???

starche_old said:
I was about to purchase pixel 2 this weekend. While big brother (pixel 2 XL) having certain screen QC issues, I was thinking to get smaller one (even though - not big fan of small screen, small battery and huge bezels, but whatever). I remember my good old days with Nexus 5 with tons of custom ROMs. I was thinking the is going on right now with pixel 2 family.
I was shocked that there''re no custom ROMs so far. Wow... Even TWRP is in beta stage, but pixel 2 has been released months ago. That's weird....
Am I missing smth or got blind all of sudden? Why there''re no custom ROMs???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A/b partition that Google decided to go for pixel is tough and cumbersome for devs
And most developers moved to oneplus due to less price
Cheers ?
Sent from my Google Pixel 2 XL using XDA Labs

Prattham said:
A/b partition that Google decided to go for pixel is tough and cumbersome for devs
And most developers moved to oneplus due to less price
Cheers
Sent from my Google Pixel 2 XL using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I was thinking about OnePlus 5T.
I guess whoever wants custom ROM should get OnePlus 5T, but not pixel 2.

starche_old said:
That's what I was thinking about OnePlus 5T.
I guess whoever wants custom ROM should get OnePlus 5T, but not pixel 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea pretty much
But on any given day pixel > than OP
Cheers ?
Sent from my Google Pixel 2 XL using XDA Labs

TWRP isn't in beta anymore
Sent from my Pixel 2 using XDA-Developers Legacy app

jasonbiggs said:
Why I cannot edit the subject to "ROM"? Lol.
Sent from my Pixel 2 using my fingers on the keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edit > Go Advanced > Title.
You might need to use a PC or view XDA in desktop mode from a mobile device.

[ROOTLESS] system wide Theming, simple and easy just download and try it out!

You can theme your Galaxy system with this awesome app it also themes some apps like Youtube, Whatsapp, Play Store, etc etc
Supported devices: Galaxy Note / S / J / C / A series ''Nougat, Oreo''
Just try it out here on the Play Store
NO ROOT NEEDED!
Lets support these awesome guys!!

Can u post screenshots? Tks

Its an excellent app for theming, finally i am able to make my phone look the way i want.
Thanks bro.

I try this app, works well, you can create your own theme.

Braindeadz said:
I try this app, works well, you can create your own theme.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its the same theming app i posted hehe

Thanks for the post. I'm giving the app a go, and so far, it works well. I have a question regarding app elements, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips. I'm going with a black theme, and when I apply it, there are a few elements in a couple of apps that are turning out all black. One is calculator. The numbers are fine, but the symbol keys are all blacked out, making them invisible. The second is dialer. Everything looks alright, except for the FAB for the number pad. It's all black.
For primary color, I used #000000, and for accent, I used #ffffff. Am I doing this right?
Thanks for any help.
EDIT: Figured it out. I had to change the primary color from black to something else.

Thanks for the post. I have been looking at a way to theme it more than just Samsung Themes let's you and I have been trying to get fonts and this does it all! J know substraum could to but I always had bad luck with it. We will see how stable this is but I feel like it is going to be just fine. I even decided to do the donate version to support the developers. Thanks again

Uuhh... You guys all know about substratum right?

partcyborg said:
Uuhh... You guys all know about substratum right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do. Why?
Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

gadget069 said:
I do. Why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because many of you are acting like theming outside if Samsung themes is some new things, and that this mediocre app is somehow amazing?
Just saying,the theme isn't even compatible between the two

partcyborg said:
Because many of you are acting like theming outside if Samsung themes is some new things, and that this mediocre app is somehow amazing?
Just saying,the theme isn't even compatible between the two
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then don't use this themer, why troll this thread?
Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

partcyborg said:
Because many of you are acting like theming outside if Samsung themes is some new things, and that this mediocre app is somehow amazing?
Just saying,the theme isn't even compatible between the two
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Substratum SUCKS. When I used it on Nougat it drained the **** outta my battery. Now that it's on Oreo, they made a new app "Andromeda" and wanna charge people $$$ again just for an update. RIDICULOUS TRASH!

JoeFCaputo113 said:
Substratum SUCKS. When I used it on Nougat it drained the **** outta my battery. Now that it's on Oreo, they made a new app "Andromeda" and wanna charge people $$$ again just for an update. RIDICULOUS TRASH!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In trying to use Substranium on Oreo and isn't working very well. Disappointed for sure. Hopefully the $2 I spent will fix the bugs
Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

The only reason I chose to go with this app as opposed to Substratum is because the bar for entry with this app is really low, comparatively. I have an S8 Active which is not rooted (nor am I planning to root). This means I have to download Andromeda ($2) and the desktop script in order to get Substratum to work. And I have no guarantee that it will work well. I have to pay $2 to find out, and then request a refund if it doesn't. With this app, I download one app, no additional app(s) to install, and no desktop script to run after every reboot. Plus, I don't have to deal with paying, only to request a refund later if things don't work out.
It may not be as pretty, but it's functional for my needs.

After oreo substratum and andromeda aren't working on my note 8 so I tried this app again after months of not using it. Its come a long way. I freaking love being able to do ANY color notifications I want with ANY color text! I don't think people realize what this app can do now. I see people that basically just want black notifications with white text so it can be easily read. In my opinion it blows substratum out of the water even when I did have it working on nougat. This may be my favorite app ever.

So this is just a Trial app and you have to pay to unlock all features? And I think its not fully compatible with OREO yet.

ryaneu said:
So this is just a Trial app and you have to pay to unlock all features? And I think its not fully compatible with OREO yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oreo compatible. Is not a trial, it has features that require a donation but it's functional without those couple of options. Also it s a trail breaker built in. So themes will stick without messing with disabling anything.

partcyborg said:
Because many of you are acting like theming outside if Samsung themes is some new things, and that this mediocre app is somehow amazing?
Just saying,the theme isn't even compatible between the two
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats the problem? Why dont you use substratum and pay for something thats not even supported in the future? Just saying let us have fun with it

Substratum can't do notifications like this that I know of. That's the main reason this app gets me. Notifications anyway you want them. Not just black or white.

JoeFCaputo113 said:
Substratum SUCKS. When I used it on Nougat it drained the **** outta my battery. Now that it's on Oreo, they made a new app "Andromeda" and wanna charge people $$$ again just for an update. RIDICULOUS TRASH!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, if you had the first clue what you were taking about, or even a general idea how any of this worked, you would realize how misinformed and silly you sound.
First of all, substratum did not "drain the **** out of" your battery. That is physically impossible, as there are no running services involved outside of the brief part where you use the app to install the theme. Nothing running means no battery drain. Computers are smart enough to change some colors and shapes on the screen without taxing a 3,000mah battery and an over 1ghz processor. Dont blame substratum because your system was screwed up and needed a factory reset.
Secondly, since you obviously have no clue how any of this works im in a good mood today so I'll explain it to you. Forgive the length, but there is a lot that appatrently needs explaining lol.
First, substratum isn't "charging people for an update." samsung oreo has a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT theme engine than samsung nougat. Why is this the case? Because with nougat samsung, in their oh so excellent wisdom completely ripped out and replaced the already existing theme engine in stock android with their own monstrosity. Why they did this is anyone's guess, but the answers definitely wont include words like "compatibility" or "logic", but it broke existing nougat theming. Given that the substratum app is basically a "theme compiler" app that builds layers used by the os, a substratum dev team figured out that they could compile substratum theme manifests into the magic proprietary samsung hybrid-engine tire fire that is the touchwiz nougat theme system. So they did, and it works. It doesn't allow native drop in of any configuration of system themes for aosp to the completely different tw versions, but it works, and works well provided someone has actually designed the theme layers with substratum in mind. At first those were few and far between and i too was frustrated at looking at countless themes on play store that wouldn't work on my phone, but now there are numerous beautiful options for the s8 and s8+. I count 21 different themes installed on my phone now, and i have a lot of them but not all.
After this substratum implemented theming for oreo, for which the entire ecosystem had finally solidified around the aosp theming engined (called OMS). They realized that with an app similar, BUT COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TO like what they had done for samsung, they could open theming up to all standard oreo devices. So they did, and it works, except for that you have to grant privileges via adb to make changes without root which dont persist across reboot (this would be googles fault), but it allows the entire ecosystem to use native theming, so Yay.
Come several months later, and oreo betas finally appear. As devs look at them to see what changes to sungstratum (the addon for samsung nougat) would be necessary, low and behold they find that samsung has apparently seen the error of their ways and left the oreo OMS theme system (almost) entirely intact! This is great news everyone thinks, because now even one off custom samsung devices can use the same thing everyone else does, and they're well be true interoperability across all of the Google ecosystem. Sounds great right? Except a handful of over opinionated under informed samsung users see this as not not upporting the substratum theme app on oreo, despite the fact that 1) absolutely zero off the code was compatible, 2) they already have an app on the play store that everyone else uses, so keeping a separate one made literally no sense, and 3) it was SAMSUNG who is responsible for all of this!
So if you want to be mad at someone, be mad at samsung. They are the ones who changed everything and screwed everyone using theming not their own.
Ot, yoy can not be angry for having to spend a whole $2 on the Andromeda app because you CHOOSE not to root (you don't need Andromeda if you have root access) and appreciate the fact that leas than a cup of coffee or less than your weekly allowance you can have a vast array of gorgeous themes to use on your $800 oreo device that you can use without theme killer hacks, or dealing with knox. Or, you can just do a little reading about the systems you have such underinformed opinions on, root your device and get this for free as well as a ton of other awrsome possibilities. When youve done a little homework and are to root, do a xda search for my nick with "rom" on the end to get started ?️.