Related
First, let me say up front that I have the utmost respect for the developers in the Captivate forum. It's a handicapped device that has much more potential than I think we'll ever be able to tap, simply because there isn't much motivation for Samsung to fix its biggest issues. Let's face it: The things we like most about our favorite Android handsets are precisely the things that make them seem "too complex" to the non non-technical general public. I think that the Galaxy S line has been a huge dissapointment to enthusiasts, and a big "ooh, ahh" for the iPhone-types.
That being said, let me move on to my main gripe: Through my Droid Incredible, I fell in love with flashing ROMs. If it had a higher build number, I flashed it. And you know why? Because it was better a better build. Newer baseband versions fixed more problems than it caused. I could flash ROMs on a train versus needing to be at my desktop for an exhaustive multi-step shamble. And when ROMs were released from build to build, developers in general knew what to expect as far as results.
I simply can't say that that's true with the Captivate. I'm growing increasingly frustrated with this phone and it's idiocy. I hate having ROMs with "Beta 9.3.5" after their title. I hate that half of the releases are to take out some Samsung crap, replace it with some AOSP-like goodness, just to see what sticks.
Again, it's not a condemnation of the Devs. They have made this phone tolerable, which is no small task. I just think it's a sad state of affairs when an OS based on an open source foundation has been so brutally slapped together that it makes a phone with the looks and hardware specs of a Ferrari about as much fun to own and maintain as a Yugo.
Who's with me on this one?
EDIT:
I'm keeping my original post above, partly because there have been too many responses to make removing it reasonable, and partly because I'd like something to review the next time I decide to try and put my thoughts out there to the community.
I never imagined that I would draw so much criticism over this post. I honestly thought I did a pretty good job of making it apparent that I truly appreciate all of the developers' work. I'm a huge fan of the Android platform and of open source projects in general. Allow me to draw a poorly crafted and weak analogy, if I may:
I love my two-year old boy dearly. He's a fantastic kid and big bright spot in my life. He has asthma, and I really do hate providing his breathing treatments. It doesn't mean I'm not thankful for the technology that allows him to breathe, and I certainly wouldn't consider trading him in for a different model without such issues. I would, however, consider venting to other parents of an asthmatic child about how laborious the process of breathing treatments is, and how unfriendly it is towards children his age.
I'm not quite sure how I managed to come across as anti-open source, anti-developer, or at all unappreciative of our dedicated developers - but apparently that's exactly what I did, so for that I apologize. What is really awful is that with one well-intended post I feel that I have ostracized myself from a community that I thoroughly enjoy supporting.
So instead of being constructive... and building a ROM of your own or simply not using them, you're complaining? No one said you have to use them. No one said you have to update all the time.
Definitely not with you.
I think the fustration you're feeling is related to these only having being available to the masses for about 2 months. The modding community started with HTC phones, so they have the momentum. That being said the samsung community is making a lot of progress, and HTC/Samsung cross modding is in full swing. Be patient.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Thanks for your thoughts. I thought I had posted in "Captivate General", not "Captivate Troll." My mistake.
I have actually tried just about all the ROMs available. You may have noticed that I stated that this is not a Dev issue. I doubt many can do better than the talented developers we have here - I know I couldn't. Hell, even Samsung can't.
My point is that I think the Galaxy S line is a harbinger of things to come for Android. I hope I'm wrong, but as Android becomes increasingly mainstream, it also becomes increasingly less important to deliver function AND form.
The average consumer wants sexiness with phrases like "dual-core" listed in the specs, regardless of what the device can actually deliver.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
crayak said:
I think the fustration you're feeling is related to these only having being available to the masses for about 2 months. The modding community started with HTC phones, so they have the momentum. That being said the samsung community is making a lot of progress, and HTC/Samsung cross modding is in full swing. Be patient.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
You have a good point, and I have no problem waiting. I suppose I was just sharing my reflections.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
I share you feelings somewhat. Thats why I picked a ROM (Cognition 2.1.6) and will stick with it until Froyo officially drops for the Captivate. I also hate having to restore a phone after a flash which is why I choose not to do it often.
vbhines said:
My point is that I think the Galaxy S line is a harbinger of things to come for Android. I hope I'm wrong, but as Android becomes increasingly mainstream, it also becomes increasingly less important to deliver function AND form.
The average consumer wants sexiness with phrases like "dual-core" listed in the specs, regardless of what the device can actually deliver.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I actually agree here. But this is sort of Google's thing in a lot of areas. Google Wave, Google Buzz etc. Google MASTERS searching. And everything else they throw stuff on a wall and some sticks and some don't. I worried about that with Android from the very beginning. They often times release half finished products and then allow the devs to finish (or not in some cases) the future of the product/service.
By going to 100 different carriers in 100 different iterations google may very well stop caring about the polished product and just allow the devs to do the rest.
When I had my HTC Hero I had a Flash addiction. Now I just have decided to stick with one build and update it when updates happen. There have been quite a few VERY recent improvements. SetIron's kernel is a fine example. Stuff is happening at a much faster pace than it was when I got my phone 2 months ago. There are twice as many ROMS if not more. Things are going blow wide open when Official Froyo and its source code drop. I think there was stagnent developing at first because we all knew Froyo was coming. If we're lucky Froyo and Gingerbread will share the same kernel so porting IT won't be a big deal either.
FWIW, The Captivate hasn't been out anywhere near as long as the Incredible. Give the Devs some time - it can only get better.
rfarrah said:
FWIW, The Captivate hasn't been out anywhere near as long as the Incredible. Give the Devs some time - it can only get better.
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Click to collapse
I think his frustration is more that we have this incredible piece of hardware and the less than stellar job that Samsung has done to finish it off on the software side. If it wasn't for the devs/cookers I probably would have sold my Captivate by now, and I have only had it for 1 month, coming from a Milestone.
Samsung, hire some of these devs to fix your mess you call a kernel and os. Without the lagfixes from the devs this phone responds worse than my Milestone.
bradasmith said:
I think his frustration is more that we have this incredible piece of hardware and the less than stellar job that Samsung has done to finish it off on the software side. If it wasn't for the devs/cookers I probably would have sold my Captivate by now, and I have only had it for 1 month, coming from a Milestone.
Samsung, hire some of these devs to fix your mess you call a kernel and os. Without the lagfixes from the devs this phone responds worse than my Milestone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Thank you for saying what I was trying to, but in far fewer words.
the galaxy s phones might be the last of the phones not locked by the manufacturer. and i like the samsung software package but dislike that it only works if x or y componant is still there. i dont get the appeal of aosp for an every day rom but i get that it is a transition for porting other things, once we know what we need to make the phone work with aosp we can make it work with anything. and i think that people arent giving samsung enough credit for support on the device. the stock rom was buggy and jf7 came out and made things better, now we are waiting on froyo and im sure it will be better yet, if the the leaked copies are an indication then froyo should be quite good.
i think the multi step proceedures is dev preferance for clearing data, there have been roms that you can flash over and keep everything. the other issue is lagfixes which aren't available(or needed) on other devices. the lagfix is part of those oh sh!t moments where you need odin, also having odin available is another avenue for the devs. if we could only flash from recovery you would see alot more cockwork flashable roms that are compatable with multiple lagfixes.
i messed with an evo and really got an apreciation for samsung, i felt the evo was of low build quality and that odin flashing a rooted rom is much more convenient than the rage against the cage meathod of adb pushing files and rooting and recovery flashing. rooting a galaxy s is rediculously easy, just an update.zip, or an one click app on the phone, or a one click app on a pc. or for froyo a 3click kernel flash in odin then an update.zip. or flashing a rooted rom with odin.
i have made many noob mistakes and taken risks and got it running every time. i dont know about the incredible but i think with some other devices i would have either bricked or pulled all my hair out fixing it.
i was in the airforce and one thing that people always said was that the two best bases are the one you last came from and the next one you are going to. people were always telling stories about "back in kirkland...." and "when i get to misawa..." but people were always complaining about there current base. i have a fealing that in year or two when we have new phones we will see many thing we hate about those as well. and if we had motorolas we'd hate those and if we had incredibles we see the galaxy s playing asphalt 5 from samsung apps and be like if only my phone could do 3d like that one.
I have one issue with my phone, the GPS. While I'm mad it doesn't really work it's something I NEVER use. Other than that I'm running the latest Cognition rom and couldn't be happier.
gunnyman said:
.....Things are going blow wide open when Official Froyo and its source code drop. I think there was stagnent developing at first because we all knew Froyo was coming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is 100% the reason. I fully expect that there will be some amazing things done and some great roms released.
I don't know if it was mentioned or not already but the reason why there are so many beta versions of roms and why newer versions open up issues is for the same reason as above, no source code available. So be patient and I promise you'll be kicking yourself for making this thread.
I am not a programmer, just a user with some technical expertise, but I love these open source OS's. I jumped on Linux as soon as MS Vista came out and the improvements and leaps forward by that community on the desktops has been amazing. When I opened a Win7 PC for the first time, I realized Microsoft is now copying Linux, not the other way around. Just last week I looked at the new MAC OS and I wanted to scream that they were ripping off the XFCE GUI in Linux. Linux is leading the way in Netbooks now and embedded devices are now a focus. If you have ever flashed a router with Tomato, or one of the other Linux router OS's, you know what amazing things routers are now capable of. And then we have smart phones and make no mistake, Android is just Linux in a smart phone. We don't have to deal with a proprietary systems from MS or Apple, where you only get what they hand out to you. This is Burger King baby, you get it your way. Google may be the name on this open source OS, but it belongs to us all. Google can not take this OS proprietary. Yet any time we, the people, wish we can spin off another branch of development with those things we want. OS's like Meego (and I'm sure there will be others) should be able to be ported over, if we wish, in the near future. We may be looking at an era where we can truly buy the smart phone of our choice, install our OS of choice and choose our carrier of choice with ease.
Bottomline here is you can help. If you are not a dev, or a programmer, you can still contribute to this by continuing to use these builds, and report bugs, and you can contribute money to any of the open source efforts, particularly in areas where you want to see more effort. You don't have to sit on the side lines anymore and just whine about how you are getting the short end of the stick by the big corporations. Open Source belongs to us all, take ownership.
i dont think apple is really copying xfce. ..macosx versions are terminal based and therefor unix like and very similar to linux. x11 window environments have been around for many year. xfce doesn't offer that much that i know of that isn't in others window managers. it is possible that the developers on all sides are taking ideas from each other, but i think since power user often have a lot of shortcuts setup to get through common tasks faster that they are implementing some of these things as presets. similarities can just as easily similar minds overcoming very common problems. granted many developers may be running alternate os's and may be inspired by the other. not that i dont believe in corperate espionage i certainly do but i think a lot of things are just obvious solutions.
the problem with phones is that the manufacturers can lock us out and the locks can be difficult to break. you are right that google doesnt own the os but the manufacturers have proprietary source along side the source that they must release because it was taken from google. at some point it makes development dificult. i think we need an emphasis on aosp to build roms from. not because i like the google software, i find it plain and ugly, but because once aosp is figured out there is more understanding of how it all fits together and ports become easier.
i just cant wait to see the day when we can custom order aosp compatible hardware and build phones based on what our priorities are and what we can afford. i know we cant actually solder the boards our selves with surface mount but it could be done on an assembly line with robots if a manufacturer decided to use them to there full potential.
vbhines said:
Thanks for your thoughts. I thought I had posted in "Captivate General", not "Captivate Troll." My mistake.
I have actually tried just about all the ROMs available. You may have noticed that I stated that this is not a Dev issue. I doubt many can do better than the talented developers we have here - I know I couldn't. Hell, even Samsung can't.
My point is that I think the Galaxy S line is a harbinger of things to come for Android. I hope I'm wrong, but as Android becomes increasingly mainstream, it also becomes increasingly less important to deliver function AND form.
The average consumer wants sexiness with phrases like "dual-core" listed in the specs, regardless of what the device can actually deliver.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't agree with your more about your criticism about Samsung - but I'm not sure how this applies for Android as a whole. The closest thing you can say is Android fails to exclude poorly performing companies - but that's not much of a statement, is it?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
GreenWolf70 said:
I am not a programmer, just a user with some technical expertise, but I love these open source OS's. I jumped on Linux as soon as MS Vista came out and the improvements and leaps forward by that community on the desktops has been amazing. When I opened a Win7 PC for the first time, I realized Microsoft is now copying Linux, not the other way around. Just last week I looked at the new MAC OS and I wanted to scream that they were ripping off the XFCE GUI in Linux. Linux is leading the way in Netbooks now and embedded devices are now a focus. If you have ever flashed a router with Tomato, or one of the other Linux router OS's, you know what amazing things routers are now capable of. And then we have smart phones and make no mistake, Android is just Linux in a smart phone. We don't have to deal with a proprietary systems from MS or Apple, where you only get what they hand out to you. This is Burger King baby, you get it your way. Google may be the name on this open source OS, but it belongs to us all. Google can not take this OS proprietary. Yet any time we, the people, wish we can spin off another branch of development with those things we want. OS's like Meego (and I'm sure there will be others) should be able to be ported over, if we wish, in the near future. We may be looking at an era where we can truly buy the smart phone of our choice, install our OS of choice and choose our carrier of choice with ease.
Bottomline here is you can help. If you are not a dev, or a programmer, you can still contribute to this by continuing to use these builds, and report bugs, and you can contribute money to any of the open source efforts, particularly in areas where you want to see more effort. You don't have to sit on the side lines anymore and just whine about how you are getting the short end of the stick by the big corporations. Open Source belongs to us all, take ownership.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is one of the best posts I have read on this forum. What a great insight into the evolution of the smartphone, it damn near brought a tear to my eye and sure as hell made me proud to be an owner and defender of the ideal of Open Source. Sure, my Captivate isn't perfect, but I continue to try new ROM's and use my technical proficiency to try and reason out any bugs so as to provide useful feedback. In turn, these ROM's continue to get better and everyone profits.
I love you guys... *group hug*
Dani897 said:
the galaxy s phones might be the last of the phones not locked by the manufacturer. and i like the samsung software package but dislike that it only works if x or y componant is still there. i dont get the appeal of aosp for an every day rom but i get that it is a transition for porting other things, once we know what we need to make the phone work with aosp we can make it work with anything. and i think that people arent giving samsung enough credit for support on the device. the stock rom was buggy and jf7 came out and made things better, now we are waiting on froyo and im sure it will be better yet, if the the leaked copies are an indication then froyo should be quite good.
i think the multi step proceedures is dev preferance for clearing data, there have been roms that you can flash over and keep everything. the other issue is lagfixes which aren't available(or needed) on other devices. the lagfix is part of those oh sh!t moments where you need odin, also having odin available is another avenue for the devs. if we could only flash from recovery you would see alot more cockwork flashable roms that are compatable with multiple lagfixes.
i messed with an evo and really got an apreciation for samsung, i felt the evo was of low build quality and that odin flashing a rooted rom is much more convenient than the rage against the cage meathod of adb pushing files and rooting and recovery flashing. rooting a galaxy s is rediculously easy, just an update.zip, or an one click app on the phone, or a one click app on a pc. or for froyo a 3click kernel flash in odin then an update.zip. or flashing a rooted rom with odin.
i have made many noob mistakes and taken risks and got it running every time. i dont know about the incredible but i think with some other devices i would have either bricked or pulled all my hair out fixing it.
i was in the airforce and one thing that people always said was that the two best bases are the one you last came from and the next one you are going to. people were always telling stories about "back in kirkland...." and "when i get to misawa..." but people were always complaining about there current base. i have a fealing that in year or two when we have new phones we will see many thing we hate about those as well. and if we had motorolas we'd hate those and if we had incredibles we see the galaxy s playing asphalt 5 from samsung apps and be like if only my phone could do 3d like that one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GreenWolf70 said:
I am not a programmer, just a user with some technical expertise, but I love these open source OS's. I jumped on Linux as soon as MS Vista came out and the improvements and leaps forward by that community on the desktops has been amazing. When I opened a Win7 PC for the first time, I realized Microsoft is now copying Linux, not the other way around. Just last week I looked at the new MAC OS and I wanted to scream that they were ripping off the XFCE GUI in Linux. Linux is leading the way in Netbooks now and embedded devices are now a focus. If you have ever flashed a router with Tomato, or one of the other Linux router OS's, you know what amazing things routers are now capable of. And then we have smart phones and make no mistake, Android is just Linux in a smart phone. We don't have to deal with a proprietary systems from MS or Apple, where you only get what they hand out to you. This is Burger King baby, you get it your way. Google may be the name on this open source OS, but it belongs to us all. Google can not take this OS proprietary. Yet any time we, the people, wish we can spin off another branch of development with those things we want. OS's like Meego (and I'm sure there will be others) should be able to be ported over, if we wish, in the near future. We may be looking at an era where we can truly buy the smart phone of our choice, install our OS of choice and choose our carrier of choice with ease.
Bottomline here is you can help. If you are not a dev, or a programmer, you can still contribute to this by continuing to use these builds, and report bugs, and you can contribute money to any of the open source efforts, particularly in areas where you want to see more effort. You don't have to sit on the side lines anymore and just whine about how you are getting the short end of the stick by the big corporations. Open Source belongs to us all, take ownership.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EsotericPunk said:
This is one of the best posts I have read on this forum. What a great insight into the evolution of the smartphone, it damn near brought a tear to my eye and sure as hell made me proud to be an owner and defender of the ideal of Open Source. Sure, my Captivate isn't perfect, but I continue to try new ROM's and use my technical proficiency to try and reason out any bugs so as to provide useful feedback. In turn, these ROM's continue to get better and everyone profits.
I love you guys... *group hug*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said Androiders!
+10
Then go wait on the sidelines for a cyanogen port. We, galaxy s phone owners. Don't and won't need huge steps beyond what we have. Your expectations are limited to what your old phone needed to perform.
You are right its silly. And unnecessary. Find a new hobby if porting roms isn't doing it for you.
vbhines said:
First, let me say up front that I have the utmost respect for the developers in the Captivate forum. It's a handicapped device that has much more potential than I think we'll ever be able to tap, simply because there isn't much motivation for Samsung to fix its biggest issues. Let's face it: The things we like most about our favorite Android handsets are precisely the things that make them seem "too complex" to the non non-technical general public. I think that the Galaxy S line has been a huge dissapointment to enthusiasts, and a big "ooh, ahh" for the iPhone-types.
That being said, let me move on to my main gripe: Through my Droid Incredible, I fell in love with flashing ROMs. If it had a higher build number, I flashed it. And you know why? Because it was better a better build. Newer baseband versions fixed more problems than it caused. I could flash ROMs on a train versus needing to be at my desktop for an exhaustive multi-step shamble. And when ROMs were released from build to build, developers in general knew what to expect as far as results.
I simply can't say that that's true with the Captivate. I'm growing increasingly frustrated with this phone and it's idiocy. I hate having ROMs with "Beta 9.3.5" after their title. I hate that half of the releases are to take out some Samsung crap, replace it with some AOSP-like goodness, just to see what sticks.
Again, it's not a condemnation of the Devs. They have made this phone tolerable, which is no small task. I just think it's a sad state of affairs when an OS based on an open source foundation has been so brutally slapped together that it makes a phone with the looks and hardware specs of a Ferrari about as much fun to own and maintain as a Yugo.
Who's with me on this one?
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Click to collapse
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I have seen some threads for kids apps. I am interested in finding/building a kids ROM.
My child has a prepaid SIM card and RAZR to be used for certain situations. I would want to be able to let my child carry the phone all the time but restrict what numbers could be called.
So my idea, which can't be an original one, is leverage Android power to install a rooted ROM but run in user mode when I give it to my child. User mode could restrict calling to the phone book only or restrict wi-fi/data access; basically anything that you wanted to restrict or remove. Maybe there could be a ROM builder.
I have many scenarios in mind but maybe they could all be solved by software apps instead of getting into a custom ROM? I'm tech savvy, but haven't ever done a ROM. If the answer is to develop a custom ROM, what device should I choose that would get the most community support? I figure it would be a low end phone, since the point is to make a children's rom.
May I ask how old is your child?
[Sig] dId you know? If you Insert a Coin on your Desire, then it levels up to HD, Z or S :[/Sig]
i was thinking of my son when you mentioned this, it is a great i dea, and i also thought if the original att kid's phone that was out a few years back. it was revamped and it sucked. but good luck on either building one or have some one make one ( put a bounty on it?)
Phones and ROMs
My child is 8 years old. I figure in a few years that it would be fine, but it seems like there would be more of a market for this.
I would put up a bounty for it but I'd prefer to make this a community effort too.
So I will change tack here and ask what the best ROM might be for me to start with and what phones might be recommended? I'm figuring that CM would be easiest to start with, generically?
Thoughts?
I think that is a very good idea.
A good part of that could be accoimplished with a kids theme on an existing ROM.
im sorry but the RAZR is a dumb-phone! it doesnt support 3rd party modding. im afraid you are mistaking the word 'ROM' and actually don't know what it means! You will have no luck finding such ROM for the RAZR... A bootloader of any sort does not exist!
You need a smartphone if you want such a job done, but it requires a investment into a smartphone which are generally more expensive and not intended for 'kids'
I understand...
@olyloh6696: Thanks for looking in on the thread!
You misunderstood what I was explaining. She _currently_ has a RAZR. I want to figure out what the best GSM _android_ phone would be to do the project I'm describing would be. I would of course have to get the new phone; I do understand that the RAZR does not support android (dumbphone).
Any thoughts on phone model or something out there like this already?
rykerwilliams said:
@olyloh6696: Thanks for looking in on the thread!
You misunderstood what I was explaining. She _currently_ has a RAZR. I want to figure out what the best GSM _android_ phone would be to do the project I'm describing would be. I would of course have to get the new phone; I do understand that the RAZR does not support android (dumbphone).
Any thoughts on phone model or something out there like this already?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi
well i guess the best option for a relatively cheap phone (that has android) is the zte blade (in my sig) it is a british phone, but gsm, so i think it should work in the us. if you read reviews for it, it has specs of the desire, nexus one, etc in a cheap budget range. read some revies on it! it also cost £100. Not sure what your budget is though. before you set out to buy the phone, you may need to look up a rom that supports the requirements you want, or you could request one/build your own.
good luck
Unrelated, but the RAZR does support modding lol. Back in the day, pre-Android, I used to hack the hell out of my Razr. There's even a hidden feature called Club Lights that uses the phone's microphone to detect music and make the lights on the phone go with the beat. Youtube it.
That's a great idea... it would be great on a tablet too.
I'm always worried that my son is going to click around in the market and download tons of apps without know it.
Remove Dialer.app, replace with custom Dialer.app
Is the source for the Dialer.app known, i.e. part of the main trunk of the Android sources? I was just thinking that it might not be too hard to just modify that original source to limit it only to the "contacts" tab, that way you can only call the contacts tab.
Another feature I thought of is using some kind of Dynamic DNS client to be able to dial in to the phone.
I was thinking that there could be a "phone home" app that would call home and report the currently used minutes and GPS coordinates, or similar.
Just trying to get the features set worked out and find out if there is existing apps that do this stuff.
2018, quick google search for Kids Custom ROM.... dead thread no progress. There is definitely a market for this, since it's easy to shove a phone into an OtterBox like case and let them have at it with safe guards. My kid has had an Ipad since age 2 without issue. Now she asks for my phone on occasion (years later). It would be easier to just take a custom ROM shove it on a cheap device and give it to her.
Sure, I am a minority, definitely but I can't consider myself the only person who would want to do this.
This is what I'm looking for my child. I'm a software engeneer but I've never works on Android. I think it's not a great works for an Android developer.
I'll follow this post for news.
digging this one up again. anyway to take something like at Nexux 5x and put a totally stripped down version of android on it to achieve something like the lightphone?
nvrpunk said:
2018, quick google search for Kids Custom ROM.... dead thread no progress. There is definitely a market for this, since it's easy to shove a phone into an OtterBox like case and let them have at it with safe guards. My kid has had an Ipad since age 2 without issue. Now she asks for my phone on occasion (years later). It would be easier to just take a custom ROM shove it on a cheap device and give it to her.
Sure, I am a minority, definitely but I can't consider myself the only person who would want to do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Per capita, there are very few people that actually root or flash custom ROMs, the number of kids that could/would use such a ROM is even less than that, this means it is not worth a developers time and hard work to build a ROM for this purpose, especially considering the plethora of different devices out there in the world. There would not be enough kids using "this" or "that" device with "this" or "that" custom ROM. To be as convenient for kids as what you are asking about, there would have to be a "kids ROM" for a large number of devices. This is not a reasonable expectation by any standard.
Add to that, the fact that rooting devices and flashing ROMs can quickly go bad if the user is not familiar with certain aspects of using a device that is rooted or flashed with a custom ROM, this makes for some rather difficult issues to solve due to user error, ignorance and inexperience of the user.
If you want a "safe" or "basic" ROM for a device, you'll have to learn how to build it yourself because I can promise you that no developer is willing to put that much time and effort into building ROMs that will only be used by a small number of users.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk
Wow... Did I pick the wrong phone to get this year? Every phone Ive had since I started getting smartphones has had some community around it that has developed roms. It seems like the Q hit the scene and got lost. Everyone is either on the galaxy III or EVO LTE. Or is it just difficult or something to make roms for this phone.
Maybe my desire to have a hardware keyboard is getting outdated... I remember when the epic came out and sold out nearly immediately just because of all the people who wanted a hard keyboard.
I guess Im just disappointed ... thanks for paying attention for a moment,
Wow... that's a nice first post introducing yourself to the community...
Maybe a little research before purchasing would have helped you make a better decision?
This phones dev is in it's infancy, most qwerty phones take off a bit slow, see where this one is in a year.
-Saint
Another thing to consider (and I think others have voiced this previously here or something similar)....at least compared to the Epic, this phone doesn't have the innate motivational outright must-have *need* for ROM development and such, for one simple reason: while not saying the phone is perfect, by and large, the phone just simply works and works well on stock alone. As many reviews attested from launch, its also about as close to AOSP in stock form as you're likely to see from a major US carrier with little built-in bloat.
None of that is to say that ROM development wouldn't make it better or isn't desirable by any stretch, but at the same time, there isn't really a general sense of urgency about it either as compared to examples we've all experienced in the past. Hopefully that's due to Google's influence taking hold over Motorola and continues going forward as well.
fallnSaint said:
Wow... that's a nice first post introducing yourself to the community...
Maybe a little research before purchasing would have helped you make a better decision?
This phones dev is in it's infancy, most qwerty phones take off a bit slow, see where this one is in a year.
-Saint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry? I didn't realize I needed to introduce myself everytime I get a new phone. I may not post very often, but I have been here for a while. Sadly, my ability to do anything with making roms is very limited and I havent had the time to learn much more than how to root and put in new roms. At the moment Im leery of rooting this phone due to the whole "Void your warranty" thing that motorola has. It may not matter at all since I have insurance, I dont know.
PythonFanTN said:
Another thing to consider (and I think others have voiced this previously here or something similar)....at least compared to the Epic, this phone doesn't have the innate motivational outright must-have *need* for ROM development and such, for one simple reason: while not saying the phone is perfect, by and large, the phone just simply works and works well on stock alone. As many reviews attested from launch, its also about as close to AOSP in stock form as you're likely to see from a major US carrier with little built-in bloat.
None of that is to say that ROM development wouldn't make it better or isn't desirable by any stretch, but at the same time, there isn't really a general sense of urgency about it either as compared to examples we've all experienced in the past. Hopefully that's due to Google's influence taking hold over Motorola and continues going forward as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough, I suppose I did note that I wasn't having much issues. I guess I just got used to getting a new phone and seeing new roms up almost the same week. Thats happened on the last four phones ive had. I may just have to bite the bullet and just unlock my bootloader so that I can root and use it again. I really am only missing one item that I want, but as mentioned above, Im a bit leery on the "void your warranty" to unlock the phone. I was a little put off by the "no drm content" warning too, but then again, I dont usually watch movies on my phone... just lots of crunchyroll.
kilmarac said:
Sorry? I didn't realize I needed to introduce myself everytime I get a new phone. I may not post very often, but I have been here for a while. Sadly, my ability to do anything with making roms is very limited and I havent had the time to learn much more than how to root and put in new roms. At the moment Im leery of rooting this phone due to the whole "Void your warranty" thing that motorola has. It may not matter at all since I have insurance, I dont know.
Fair enough, I suppose I did note that I wasn't having much issues. I guess I just got used to getting a new phone and seeing new roms up almost the same week. Thats happened on the last four phones ive had. I may just have to bite the bullet and just unlock my bootloader so that I can root and use it again. I really am only missing one item that I want, but as mentioned above, Im a bit leery on the "void your warranty" to unlock the phone. I was a little put off by the "no drm content" warning too, but then again, I dont usually watch movies on my phone... just lots of crunchyroll.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First post in a new forum acts as your intro imo. We are working towards some roms, just a bit slow going atm.
As for the official unlock, have you looked at this:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1942243
Can't say I have ever used a warranty having insurance, but may put some of your concerns to rest.
-Saint
Well I look at this one of two ways...
Either you a) help make those ROM's that come out within a week of the device's release or b) wait for others to release them.
I am usually in the B category, as the most I've done previously was help test and write scripts... I'm attempting to be in the A category myself, but it's not working out real well (as you can tell...)
So, unless you can help, I suggest you continue to wait. It will come, just give it time... the hardware is solid, and I don't see any issue getting CM9 singing. CM10/other stuff will have to wait IMHO until official JB - unless some other breakthru is made, which would be great.
Regardless, patience is a virtue. Everyone is doing this in their free time, for no profit. I hope to have something fruitful in the near future, but I have very little help and am still learning the ropes of Android development in general...
I was contemplating getting init.d working for us, but I think I'll wait a bit longer. League of Legends is calling me.
Seriously though, the ROMs will start flowing when people find issues with what we have now. And since what we have now is as close to stock as it gets with manufacturer skins, people are pretty satisfied. I know I sure am, otherwise I'd have cooked something up already.
Sent from my XT897 using Tapatalk 2
Hi.
What kind of power we can have if we will make petition to Samsung software/developement team to do some updates of Android to our phone?
How many users are here that have this awesome mobile?
I always think is good idea to try than moan...
I e-mailed Yotaphone and asked if they would consider making a qwerty slider....
I think it would be beneficial if we all did the same.
It is not my intention, to find new device.
I am fed up going for new.
Old is good enough many times.
Our mobile is enough for emails, www etc. but the only downside is software.
It's not going to happen. Both the carrier (T-Mobile) and Samsung would need to agree that it's worth spending a lot of money to give this phone an upgrade. Given that both companies want you to buy a new phone every 5 minutes, neither of them want people to be satisfied with their old phone. And speaking of old, this phone is almost 3 years old and has a small user base. There are hundreds of more popular phones released between then and now which haven't seen updates, so no one's going to pay much attention to ours. The only way to get updates is to make them ourselves.
If we don't try - we will never know for sure.
How many registered users are in Relay section, can anybody check?
Check in
I am in business!
Here!
Sent from my SGH-T699 using XDA Free mobile app
I'm still using mine, but it's really a secondary phone at this point. Given that the flex cable is this phone's Achilles heel, I don't slide the keyboard out very often, either.
lol. How about a few of you...
a) learn to code and help move the 5.x support forward,
b) donate a phone to a dev, since the two primary developers no longer OWN a relay (and both have mentioned that they would be willing to work on it if somebody donated a phone).
Sign up at freenode/#apexqtmo
doitright said:
lol. How about a few of you...
a) learn to code and help move the 5.x support forward,
b) donate a phone to a dev, since the two primary developers no longer OWN a relay (and both have mentioned that they would be willing to work on it if somebody donated a phone).
Sign up at freenode/#apexqtmo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would love to learn how to code but no one really has time to teach and i know there are plenty of guides but I'm afraid I'll kill my phone. I've already managed to kill my usb port, not from coding attempts, but nonetheless inoperable. As for donating, the relay is my only working t mobile phone so I don't want to give it up. I would, however would pitch in on one. From what I've seen they go for about 100 or so. I would like to be part of the solution in any way I can.
Another Relay user here...
Since this is one of the last good QWERTY phones around, figured it was time to stop just lurking this forum and sign up lol. I'd also be willing to test any new 5.x ROMs built, since I'll have an alternate phone in a couple of days that I can fall back to if I break this one.
I have a phone and I can code, however I need somebody who give me clue or some direction to follow. I've never coded for hardware, only business apps.
This one is not gonna be cheap, but if it runs android it will be amazing:
http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/02/blackberry-venice-slider-leak/
Wow! Extremely cool, man! Thanks for the info
Is it me or is xda latly dying bit by bit?
Its like devs moved on to a new forum or something
Or did rooting of phones harder?
Lately not many custom roms either
Wesley_NL said:
Is it me or is xda latly dying bit by bit? Its like devs moved on to a new forum or something. Or did rooting of phones harder? Lately not many custom roms either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not an Administrator, Moderator or any type of xda-developers Representative but, the xda-developers does value member feedback and the following thread was created to provide a place for such feedback.
[All XDA Members] Feedback/Recommendations for XDA by Fallen Spartan
I wish you the best of luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I Am The Egg Man,
They Are The Egg Men.
I Am The Walrus!
Coo Coo Cachoo!
I DO NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT VIA PM UNLESS ASKED/REQUESTED BY MYSELF.
PLEASE KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Wesley_NL said:
Is it me or is xda latly dying bit by bit?
Its like devs moved on to a new forum or something
Or did rooting of phones harder?
Lately not many custom roms either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are in an age where most of the developers live in areas where more and more devices have locked bootloaders and/or patched kernels that prevent most of the known methods from being useable on those devices. Some of these developers are on contracts with their mobile carrier which limits the new devices available to them as "free" upgrades from their carrier and most aren't going through the trouble of buying a device from another source to activate on their network. This limits the amount of development because they usually only develop for the devices they own.
Then you factor in that the various device communities here are growing which means we have more user/members complaining and demanding cool stuff for their devices and that leads to the developers being less likely to share their work just to avoid the hassle from whining members.
DO NOT CONTACT ME VIA PM TO RECEIVE HELP, YOU WILL BE IGNORED. KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Droidriven said:
We are in an age where most of the developers live in areas where more and more devices have locked bootloaders and/or patched kernels that prevent most of the known methods from being useable on those devices. Some of these developers are on contracts with their mobile carrier which limits the new devices available to them as "free" upgrades from their carrier and most aren't going through the trouble of buying a device from another source to activate on their network. This limits the amount of development because they usually only develop for the devices they own.
Then you factor in that the various device communities here are growing which means we have more user/members complaining and demanding cool stuff for their devices and that leads to the developers being less likely to share their work just to avoid the hassle from whining members.
DO NOT CONTACT ME VIA PM TO RECEIVE HELP, YOU WILL BE IGNORED. KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see well if i could dev i would,
even if ask allot,
but i try to help with knowledge i have,
i thought devs moved over to a new forum,
thats why i asked ,
because i keep an eye out what my next device will be since i want to stay rooted so i can do more with my device
A basic rom sucks specialy bloated once
Wesley_NL said:
I see well if i could dev i would,
even if ask allot,
but i try to help with knowledge i have,
i thought devs moved over to a new forum,
thats why i asked ,
because i keep an eye out what my next device will be since i want to stay rooted so i can do more with my device
A basic rom sucks specialy bloated once
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel the same way about development lately. I was just explaining a couple of factors that have influenced the situation.
DO NOT CONTACT ME VIA PM TO RECEIVE HELP, YOU WILL BE IGNORED. KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Droidriven said:
I feel the same way about development lately. I was just explaining a couple of factors that have influenced the situation.
DO NOT CONTACT ME VIA PM TO RECEIVE HELP, YOU WILL BE IGNORED. KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand, but i thought it was only samsung where develop was dead but now that i scrolled for my nect device i noticed it was fairly quiet on xda
Wesley_NL said:
I understand, but i thought it was only samsung where develop was dead but now that i scrolled for my nect device i noticed it was fairly quiet on xda
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well...for some reason, Samsung and Verizon devices have, in the past, been where a large part of the development has been done. These are the ones that are mostly locked down, even the Verizon Pixel is locked when all the other Pixel devices aren't. Also, the newer android versions are getting more and more difficult to root. This is expected because the OEMs are constantly at work trying to find ways to prevent altering the devices, they don't consider us being the owners of the devices or software, we only pay for the privilege to "use" the devices and software.
There are plenty of other devices that are still supported and will be supported in the future
DO NOT CONTACT ME VIA PM TO RECEIVE HELP, YOU WILL BE IGNORED. KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Droidriven said:
Well...for some reason, Samsung and Verizon devices have, in the past, been where a large part of the development has been done. These are the ones that are mostly locked down, even the Verizon Pixel is locked when all the other Pixel devices aren't. Also, the newer android versions are getting more and more difficult to root. This is expected because the OEMs are constantly at work trying to find ways to prevent altering the devices, they don't consider us being the owners of the devices or software, we only pay for the privilege to "use" the devices and software.
There are plenty of other devices that are still supported and will be supported in the future
DO NOT CONTACT ME VIA PM TO RECEIVE HELP, YOU WILL BE IGNORED. KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured as much specialy at samsungs, someday we will be at ios locks , no bt sharing , no usb otg, headphone jack removed to prevent hack via that way,
Its just sad , we already pay so much for our devices so why not give people the freedom to root or not,
its not like everyone root, its just a small amount maby 10% since most use iphones anyway,
chinese device will most likely stay unlocked i hope ,
the once like one plus, xaomi mi, and so , tbh i like to have vanilla as much as possible not 90% bloat apps with same purpose like samsung have sucks, only drain batt and use space and recourses,
I was aiming for one plus 5 but still not what i wanted, samsung still is closest except it's rom, i like to stay led screen as one of my personal features since i watch alot anime on the go, adaway/adblock is my main consern i hate those adds in apps and those popup adds, further a good touchwiz like the 6x6 with settings , although it don't work for me anymore so swapped to nova but nova is not realy like i want it to be , it was nice in the s3 times, sound mods that dont hurt my ears like dolby atmos and viper4android also one of the things i want to keep using , and root is a good thing to have specialy for account swap and reroll in games,
Tbh i liked nokia n900 with maemo/meego and its stereo build in speakers for when i don't wan't to use headphones, and its lovely psychal keyboard
Samsung is good for its nice devices and nearly bezzeless screen , if compare to a sony Atleast
Wesley_NL said:
I figured as much specialy at samsungs, someday we will be at ios locks , no bt sharing , no usb otg, headphone jack removed to prevent hack via that way,
Its just sad , we already pay so much for our devices so why not give people the freedom to root or not,
its not like everyone root, its just a small amount maby 10% since most use iphones anyway,
chinese device will most likely stay unlocked i hope ,
the once like one plus, xaomi mi, and so , tbh i like to have vanilla as much as possible not 90% bloat apps with same purpose like samsung have sucks, only drain batt and use space and recourses,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is all opinion based. But reasonable opinions.
The Devs here at XDA arnt disappearing or doing any less developing for the majority. Instead the number of devices and different variants of those devices are growing so rapidly, that it lessens the probability of you obtaining a device that a Dev feels passionate about, and puts time into developing.
Also, technology advances rapidly. A mod that changes your status bar can quickly be abandoned due to capability issues in the next android version.
Dev's dont recieve a lot of monetary gain, or proper thanks or appreciation for doing what they do. Android is a very complex machine. Multiple layers, multiple languages, and unique in that design. Very complex, with scripts that have calls for this, and calls for that, which has to be constructed correctly to pull from any section, under any circumstance.
New android releases have ability to duplicate and sometimes enhance, with the combination of a launcher, those features of a custom rom. Which causes less people to have reason to need or want a custom rom.
The cell phone companies would probably love to give customers the freedom of unlocking boot loaders and rooting phones with ease. Think about it. Samsung has a year warranty on cell phones.. you root and you have now voided that warranty. They no longer fix your device for free. Also, if they helped you easily achieve root on your device then they gave you, the customer, what you wanted, without risk of being responsible and in the same token, made you a happy customer. Its the carrier companies you should be angry with. They are the ones who puts money into Samsungs pockets. I mean have you ever purchased a device directly from Samsung? Or did you obtain it through a carrier company? Almost all individuals originally get cell phones from carrier companies. That being said - if verizon puts a clause into the contract that promises Samsung they will buy so many devices for so many years, only if they will increase security and difficulty of getting super user access, which will decrease the chances of a average customer removing that device from Verizons carrier lock. Samsung isnt going to decline a major carrier. Its not only verizon. Its most carriers. How do you think they profit from selling a 200$ phone for 20$?
Now heres the good things happening in the cell phone world..
Its now mandated that all US carriers provide free unlocking, from the network carrier lock, on all GSM devices sold after a certain date. Granted you meet all the stipulations they require. So now greater freedom of phones, or at least a law, made by the US government helping customers fight big companies. When we all know, its not too often that happens.
Anyone can root any device. As long as you know the languages android is designed in. Its all open sourced. You can compile and build an exact replica of your phone, except a few parts. The problem is in the difficulty of doing that. The complexity slows progression of released one click roots, or flashable roots.. those were programmed by people or teams who put in hard work to simplify the process to increase the chances of average people to successfully root.. those people are the Devs your talking about vanishing..
Another big thing ive heard about. The new android 8.0 Oreo has made the process of building custom roms, more simplified. Basically making the construction of one phone, be the same construction of multiple devices and variants, making roms free from being device specific. Increasing the probability of you owning a device with the same build as a Dev thats releasing a rom. Reversing what i said at the start of this reply. This would also cut down on the need to port, and decrease rom bugs like audio and wifi or volte. Thats what my understanding of it is. If im incorrect about this please someone explain it better, in lamans terms..
All in all, I agree with your statement that less and less rom development is happening. But, I feel like that is about to change directions. Not headed back to the way it was, but a new path.. and im ready for it..
And try apex launcher. Gives you ability to hide apps even in the free version unlike nova.. pretty sleek and fast.. alot of customization.. that along with a pie app,which gives you almost like a "apps edge" feel.. i also heard about a way to change your quick tiles in newer android versions.. the only thing about that is, im not sure if they were talking about just changing the main tiles at the top or changing them altogether.. i hope altogether.. i never use smart view, or power saver.. instead id like to have pandora, xda labs, etc
juzten said:
This is all opinion based. But reasonable opinions.
The Devs here at XDA arnt disappearing or doing any less developing for the majority. Instead the number of devices and different variants of those devices are growing so rapidly, that it lessens the probability of you obtaining a device that a Dev feels passionate about, and puts time into developing.
Also, technology advances rapidly. A mod that changes your status bar can quickly be abandoned due to capability issues in the next android version.
Dev's dont recieve a lot of monetary gain, or proper thanks or appreciation for doing what they do. Android is a very complex machine. Multiple layers, multiple languages, and unique in that design. Very complex, with scripts that have calls for this, and calls for that, which has to be constructed correctly to pull from any section, under any circumstance.
New android releases have ability to duplicate and sometimes enhance, with the combination of a launcher, those features of a custom rom. Which causes less people to have reason to need or want a custom rom.
The cell phone companies would probably love to give customers the freedom of unlocking boot loaders and rooting phones with ease. Think about it. Samsung has a year warranty on cell phones.. you root and you have now voided that warranty. They no longer fix your device for free. Also, if they helped you easily achieve root on your device then they gave you, the customer, what you wanted, without risk of being responsible and in the same token, made you a happy customer. Its the carrier companies you should be angry with. They are the ones who puts money into Samsungs pockets. I mean have you ever purchased a device directly from Samsung? Or did you obtain it through a carrier company? Almost all individuals originally get cell phones from carrier companies. That being said - if verizon puts a clause into the contract that promises Samsung they will buy so many devices for so many years, only if they will increase security and difficulty of getting super user access, which will decrease the chances of a average customer removing that device from Verizons carrier lock. Samsung isnt going to decline a major carrier. Its not only verizon. Its most carriers. How do you think they profit from selling a 200$ phone for 20$?
Now heres the good things happening in the cell phone world..
Its now mandated that all US carriers provide free unlocking, from the network carrier lock, on all GSM devices sold after a certain date. Granted you meet all the stipulations they require. So now greater freedom of phones, or at least a law, made by the US government helping customers fight big companies. When we all know, its not too often that happens.
Anyone can root any device. As long as you know the languages android is designed in. Its all open sourced. You can compile and build an exact replica of your phone, except a few parts. The problem is in the difficulty of doing that. The complexity slows progression of released one click roots, or flashable roots.. those were programmed by people or teams who put in hard work to simplify the process to increase the chances of average people to successfully root.. those people are the Devs your talking about vanishing..
Another big thing ive heard about. The new android 8.0 Oreo has made the process of building custom roms, more simplified. Basically making the construction of one phone, be the same construction of multiple devices and variants, making roms free from being device specific. Increasing the probability of you owning a device with the same build as a Dev thats releasing a rom. Reversing what i said at the start of this reply. This would also cut down on the need to port, and decrease rom bugs like audio and wifi or volte. Thats what my understanding of it is. If im incorrect about this please someone explain it better, in lamans terms..
All in all, I agree with your statement that less and less rom development is happening. But, I feel like that is about to change directions. Not headed back to the way it was, but a new path.. and im ready for it..
And try apex launcher. Gives you ability to hide apps even in the free version unlike nova.. pretty sleek and fast.. alot of customization.. that along with a pie app,which gives you almost like a "apps edge" feel.. i also heard about a way to change your quick tiles in newer android versions.. the only thing about that is, im not sure if they were talking about just changing the main tiles at the top or changing them altogether.. i hope altogether.. i never use smart view, or power saver.. instead id like to have pandora, xda labs, etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the netherland samsung is 2 year waranty even if you root it, i asked samsung care when i fixed the camera, tbh i like the 6x6 mod with settings, i agree nova sucks lately , but i use nova sinxe s3 time when archidroid putted it in the rom and i have pro of nova , well im also ready to see what oreo is like , tbh i like custom roms as i told even if im not making big use of it but i want to stay custom + root for certain apps, also i am gonna see what real chinese brands gonna do with their devices i dont want to waste 1300 euro on a iphone or note8, unlike 99% of idiotic people that only get a device to show off and only to whatsapp and snapchat , also what is the next thing iphones is gonna steal? Nokias charl zies camera? , and that for a lowlife chinese product while a real chinese android is 10x beter,
But realy i look for a divice with atleast
Led screen arround 5.5"+
Nice smooth rom
Not a pre but srereo buildin speakers for if i don't want to wear a headphone
A micro sd card reader
No big bars like a sony more like s8 or mii mix
Good headphone amp
I think that kind im looking for,