Database Info

My Pixel 2 is rooted from awhile back. I want to update/upgrade

I really just want recommendations for what should I be upgrading or switching to in terms of which recovery I should have installed and what is the latest version for my phone or whatever.
Can someone PLEASE tell me if what they think of any of the FEW custom roms available? I will take the first recommendation...lol. Maybe the best recommendation is to just use stock like I am because it's fine but I still want to do a refresh and get the latest and greatest updates since I am probably not receiving OTA updates
For a long time I had been REALLY hoping to install a custom ROM on this puppy but sadly, even though I love my Pixel 2 and having it rooted, noone seemed to care be making custom roms for her at the time. Development is/was slow it seems unless I am viewing it wrong. strange.
I find that really strange because I recall claims that google is ok with you rooting this phone and does not in fact break the warranty.
Anyways, yeah please any simple advice would be helpful to me as I am just a little out of the loop since I last updated my phone

I don't really understand the point or see the need for me to install a different kernel but can't someone please tell me what might be cool about doing so?
I just want my phone to have a try with a different ROM installed that might be sleeker or more efficient and customizable somehow, just to try it and see.

if you dont know why you need a different kernel then dont do it.
if you want a custom rom on your Pixel 2 for the COOL factor. dont do it.

munchy_cool said:
if you dont know why you need a different kernel then dont do it.
if you want a custom rom on your Pixel 2 for the COOL factor. dont do it.
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I agree with the sentiment as far as the kernel is concerned, but disagree for custom roms. There are a lot of features on custom roms for other phones that are pretty cool, so his question makes sense. Personally, I used to flash custom roms on older devices, and I'd pick them based on what features I thought were "cool."
As for the OP, I've been running rooted stock on my Pixel 2 since day one, and I have no desire to try custom roms. There's nothing appealing to me, offered by custom roms, that I can't get on stock with Magisk Modules and other root apps, such as Substratum. As far as which recovery to use, just check out the TWRP thread, it'll have the most recent. If you want to update your stock rom, just download a factory image from Google and flash it. Just be sure to remove the -w from the .bat if you don't want it to wipe your device.

This is the first phone that I have not rooted since I got it. The process is very cumbersome and the phone seems to run really well stock. I used to like wise also be caught up with custom roms but now it's just nice having everything work although unfortunately root is much harder to get as well

mikeprius said:
This is the first phone that I have not rooted since I got it. The process is very cumbersome and the phone seems to run really well stock. I used to like wise also be caught up with custom roms but now it's just nice having everything work although unfortunately root is much harder to get as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how is root harder to get?

munchy_cool said:
how is root harder to get?
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It's just more cumbersome. I rooted my Pixel 1 and not having a dedicated recovery partition like the nexus did just made things a bigger pain in the ass than they needed to be. If I made changes, etc I had to always fastboot into TWRP then reflash. I think I just miss the way the nexus was. Right now I cannot use CDMA on the OnePlus, but if the merger happens with Sprint and T-Mobile and I can I'm going to consider it.

mikeprius said:
It's just more cumbersome. I rooted my Pixel 1 and not having a dedicated recovery partition like the nexus did just made things a bigger pain in the ass than they needed to be. If I made changes, etc I had to always fastboot into TWRP then reflash. I think I just miss the way the nexus was. Right now I cannot use CDMA on the OnePlus, but if the merger happens with Sprint and T-Mobile and I can I'm going to consider it.
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just have to add twrp zip after flashing a rom. Magisk does not mess with TWRP.

mikeprius said:
This is the first phone that I have not rooted since I got it. The process is very cumbersome and the phone seems to run really well stock. I used to like wise also be caught up with custom roms but now it's just nice having everything work although unfortunately root is much harder to get as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same. I know lots of people say "just flash twrp after each monthly update" etc but the reality is why make something more complicated than it needs to/used to be. For the Pixel 2 it seems every TWRP update is a "I'm going to make a backup image of my phone and cross my fingers it works when I need it" feeling. I don't personally enjoy that so like you I'm sticking with stock on the P2 for now.

Just read my previous post on updating. You'll be glad you did: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=76342671
Sent from my Pixel 2 using my fingers on the keyboard.

mamarcac said:
Same. I know lots of people say "just flash twrp after each monthly update" etc but the reality is why make something more complicated than it needs to/used to be. For the Pixel 2 it seems every TWRP update is a "I'm going to make a backup image of my phone and cross my fingers it works when I need it" feeling. I don't personally enjoy that so like you I'm sticking with stock on the P2 for now.
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I have not tried to make a back up since the Pixel 1. I'm sure things have improved however before when I first had the Pixel 1 and tried to make a backup I had issues and never tried again. Also the updating process, I would just flash the new boot.img and system, when I tried it with the pixel 1 it kept erasing despite removing the w- flag.
The Pixel 2 works well enough plus it's my daily driver and the process has just become cumbersome esp with work and others things I am doing. Probably at some point I may look at it again, and I have CDMA, but if I want to really run with that stuff I'd probably just get a OnePlus which is oriented more towards modding.
Plus more and more apps are not working with root and while you can get around that with magisk it's a cat and mouse game constantly. I don't even know how to do it anymore but I remember last year you had to flash this, then that, etc, etc in a certain sequence, then if it didn't work you start all over etc etc.....It's just a hassle.

Looks like Dirty unicorns incoming...

I was just checking out various customs threads & twitters and saw that DU had added Bonito to its official page as well as a screenshot on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/_DirtyUnicorns_/status/1129623484567621633?s=20
Im really hoping the dev community takes off for these devices like the old nexus days.

Wickidmasshole said:
I was just checking out various customs threads & twitters and saw that DU had added Bonito to its official page as well as a screenshot on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/_DirtyUnicorns_/status/1129623484567621633?s=20
Im really hoping the dev community takes off for these devices like the old nexus days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have mixed feelings. I rooted all 45 different Android phones I owned prior to my last 3 (essential, OnePlus 6, and more pixel 3A). I feel like these days there are way fewer reasons to use custom roms. Base Android has gotten really good, stock roms (for companies like OnePlus and essential) are stable and add lots of useful features, and the good manufacturers are doing updates multiple times a month anyways. We don't see crazy innovation like we did back in old paranoid Android days with projects like Halo and pie controls. And a lot of the real kernel developers like sultanxda moved on to other non-Android projects. It's a shame, but it helped push Google and it's partners into making better software. God knows how many features Google copied from custom roms. Kind of makes you wonder where we'll go from here now that roms are less of a necessity.

Yeah, I was on Android from day one and had been flashing the old windows phone before that. I've stopped installing roms on the last few phones however because I perceive them as worse than the stock software. I came here from a 6T which had a fair few ROMs but none that had the fingerprint sensor working correctly. I want that fingerprint sensor. There are other things but that's the idea, I used to see roms as a proposition where I gave up a few things but gained more than I lost. Now I don't see myself gaining much of anything that I'm not getting with a quick trip into Magisk with everything still working, but I do see things like that lost fingerprint sensor. It's kind of sad to me in a way because it was a bit like a hobby.

xxBrun0xx said:
I have mixed feelings. I rooted all 45 different Android phones I owned prior to my last 3 (essential, OnePlus 6, and more pixel 3A). I feel like these days there are way fewer reasons to use custom roms. Base Android has gotten really good, stock roms (for companies like OnePlus and essential) are stable and add lots of useful features, and the good manufacturers are doing updates multiple times a month anyways. We don't see crazy innovation like we did back in old paranoid Android days with projects like Halo and pie controls. And a lot of the real kernel developers like sultanxda moved on to other non-Android projects. It's a shame, but it helped push Google and it's partners into making better software. God knows how many features Google copied from custom roms. Kind of makes you wonder where we'll go from here now that roms are less of a necessity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you. I haven't rooted my past 4 (6, 6p, pixel xl, pixel 2 xl) probably bc they all ran "pure Google."
I do also have a note 9 att variant and I wanted to root and install custom on that device the 2nd day in.
But to have options is always a good thing. Keep it up devs!!!
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using

I can't get excited because I tried to figure out what features this rom has that would entice me to get into unlocking/etc and I can't find any sort of place where they actually tell you why you should install their mod. Their website still lists g+, to give an idea of how good their user communication is.

Is there any way I can get hotspot to work without having to use a custom rom

With magisk and Xposed, ROMs just aren't as necessary to me as they used to be, especially now that Google has made a good bit of functionality Pixel-only that isn't always replicated as well in ROMs.
There are still plenty of folks looking forward to them though, so this is definitely good news!

I stopped using custom roms when Marshmallow came out.
But I still use EX for the kernel..
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

jmcandrews83 said:
Is there any way I can get hotspot to work without having to use a custom rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there's a build prop mod that pretty well known and works on any phone. Unfortunately you need an unlocked bootloader and root so no OTAs and you'll have to keep magisk updated to keep safety net working (it gets updated pretty often)

Heck I dont know why anyone would not want a custom rom. More options and features. Yeah stock has gone far these days but I will always welcome more development.

I can totally understand why people feel there isn't a need for root access or custom ROMs anymore. Stock has certainly improved a lot. I find it useful for a few things, though:
Limiting battery charge to 80% so it prolongs the life of my battery. It's important in a world where you can no longer change batteries with ease.
Swapping my back button on the nav bar to the right side
De-Googling my phone, i.e. installing LineageOS without GApps.

Hold on just a sec, for my part I didn't say anything about root, that's a must have for me. I also didn't say that I don't welcome the development, just that it probably wont be for me. Despite that I'm always glad to see it happen whether it is applicable to my use case or not. I certainly didn't mean to imply or say that ROM development is bad, I apologize if that was the connotation people got from my posts.

krabman said:
Hold on just a sec, for my part I didn't say anything about root, that's a must have for me. I also didn't say that I don't welcome the development, just that it probably wont be for me. Despite that I'm always glad to see it happen whether it is applicable to my use case or not. I certainly didn't mean to imply or say that ROM development is bad, I apologize if that was the connotation people got from my posts.
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Hey, there! If you're replying to me, I'm sorry if I mislsed you. I didn't quote anyone because I was just referring to the general discussion from everyone.

Archangel said:
Heck I dont know why anyone would not want a custom rom. More options and features. Yeah stock has gone far these days but I will always welcome more development.
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Same here bro ...i love more options and features cuz then it feels like i have 3 different phones in 1 lmao
Stock is getting better but still a little boring for me

I just hope this isnt another one of those Pixel XL things where all of the development goes to the XL and nothing comes to the regular Pixel 3a

Looks like they released a release candidate.
http://download.dirtyunicorns.com/?device=bonito

Wickidmasshole said:
I was just checking out various customs threads & twitters and saw that DU had added Bonito to its official page as well as a screenshot on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/_DirtyUnicorns_/status/1129623484567621633?s=20
Im really hoping the dev community takes off for these devices like the old nexus days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would think that would be the case - especially given the massive availability in North America alone. (I had a Galaxy Nexus and ran DU on it starting with Marshmallow and through Nougat - DU on a Pixel 3a XL would be - literally - Old Home Week and a good thing.) The ONLY reason I'm not running DU *now* is that I left the GNex for the Galaxy S7 Snapdragon - and not long after, the GNex croaked - it's now a paperweight.
If anything, the Pixel could be bigger than the Nexus line *ever* got to be - here is why:
1. First off, it can go to any carrier in North America - it's not restricted to Verizon Wireless.
2. Wide retail availablility - online my foot! I don't HATE online - I just prefer retail for things like phones (and that is despite being in the front yard of Amazon HQ2). And that is just the availability end.
3. Sane pricing - even, if not especially, in retail. ($479USD - as I stated before, that is the 3a XL - *half* the price of the S10e.) The S10e is pricier than the Note 9 - which is bad enough; to have the 3a XL undercut the same S10e by that much? Why would - or should- I buy an S10e? (And I don't hate the S10e - before the 3a and 3a XL came along, I was seriously considering the S10e, and I had actually seen it in retail and gotten some hands-on time with one - I haven't been able to do that with the 3a XL yet.)

Archangel said:
I just hope this isnt another one of those Pixel XL things where all of the development goes to the XL and nothing comes to the regular Pixel 3a
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The XL has been Google's AOSP build target with all the Pixels including 3a.

lazycow said:
The XL has been Google's AOSP build target with all the Pixels including 3a.
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So, I should return my 3a and get an XL for the dev support, you think?

jmtjr278 said:
So, I should return my 3a and get an XL for the dev support, you think?
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Click to collapse
I suspect the XL will get more support. But I don't know enough about either device to be sure how development will progress.

No signs of P3A development?

Anyone else starting to get concerned that now 40 days into P3a's life, there are no signs of growing development efforts?
ElementalX was all over it very quickly, but I'm starting to get worried that nobody wants to invest time into development for a budget phone, despite it selling off the charts everywhere.
Just curious if anyone else has a perspective to offer.

nickmv said:
Anyone else starting to get concerned that now 40 days into P3a's life, there are no signs of growing development efforts?
ElementalX was all over it very quickly, but I'm starting to get worried that nobody wants to invest time into development for a budget phone, despite it selling off the charts everywhere.
Just curious if anyone else has a perspective to offer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 3a is using stock rom, which I rooted. I love this phone, Bluetooth is crystal clear. I am beginning to wonder why I would need TWRP.

Yeah tbh I would have already expected TWRP to come out for the 3a already, based on the fact that the custom recovery was completed soon after the release of the Pixel 1, 2, and 3. I saw a thread that had a few people working on it, but I still have not heard anything in a while. I know TWRP is eventually going to come, but I guess we've been spoiled with the last 3 releases.
I have seen the thread showing how to install Magisk on the 3a, but it's not an official build yet either...

There's been some development on the 3a. Currently running Dirty Unicorns 13.3 and it's smooth. Besides no TWRP, I don't see why there shouldn't be some ROMs in the works.

John256145 said:
Yeah tbh I would have already expected TWRP to come out for the 3a already, based on the fact that the custom recovery was completed soon after the release of the Pixel 1, 2, and 3. I saw a thread that had a few people working on it, but I still have not heard anything in a while. I know TWRP is eventually going to come, but I guess we've been spoiled with the last 3 releases.
I have seen the thread showing how to install Magisk on the 3a, but it's not an official build yet either...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is official.

Heres a photo of TWRP splash if you want hype lmao

You will need TWRP if you run anything special like a Magisk module and something goes wrong and you either have to flash stock again or TWRP and uninstall the module. I really hope we at least get TWRP,,,all the other stuff is gravy.

I though that the flagships Pixels got barely any development because they were too expensive. Apparently not.
So why does the 3a barely have any development, compared to the more expensive OnePlus 7 Pro for example? Is it because Google isn't sending out units to developers? Or is it simply not popular for some reason with the XDA community?

Bidiminished said:
I though that the flagships Pixels got barely any development because they were too expensive. Apparently not.
So why does the 3a barely have any development, compared to the more expensive OnePlus 7 Pro for example? Is it because Google isn't sending out units to developers? Or is it simply not popular for some reason with the XDA community?
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IMO because the stock experience is just that good. What reason does someone have to flash a custom ROM over stock now? It certainly isn't because stock is too slow.

ZVNexus said:
IMO because the stock experience is just that good. What reason does someone have to flash a custom ROM over stock now? It certainly isn't because stock is too slow.
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Click to collapse
Very rightly said!! I used to die for flashing pixel experience roms in my redmi note 3, 5 pro, mi a2, s9! In the end i decided lets get the Pixel 3a & kill the urge

Hellrazoraj said:
Very rightly said!! I used to die for flashing pixel experience roms in my redmi note 3, 5 pro, mi a2, s9! In the end i decided lets get the Pixel 3a & kill the urge
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Click to collapse
I usually have lineage on any phone ive had. I dont have the urge with this. although id still like the option.

Unstroofy said:
I usually have lineage on any phone ive had. I dont have the urge with this. although id still like the option.
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Understandable, lets wait & see in the Dev side. I guess its an easy walk in the park for devs that they are not working on the device.

Hellrazoraj said:
Unerstandable, lets wait & see in the Dev side. I guess its an easy walk in the park for devs that they are not working on the device.
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Someone is working on lineage for the 3a. I think its gonna be a unified rom with the XL. Twrp is only a matter of time.

Pretty sure TWRP is coming. It would be strange for them to ignore a Pixel

dtb1987 said:
Pretty sure TWRP is coming. It would be strange for them to ignore a Pixel
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They only support what they own. They don't own a P3A. End of story.

How do you know? All we can do is speculate at the moment unless someone has actually heard from someone from TWRP.

ZVNexus said:
They only support what they own. They don't own a P3A. End of story.
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No.

Unstroofy said:
No.
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Click to collapse
Give me a device that they don't own that they support. Sure, there's tons of unofficial device maintainers for TWRP, but I mean actual core members of TWRP that maintain a device that they do not own themselves.

ZVNexus said:
Give me a device that they don't own that they support. Sure, there's tons of unofficial device maintainers for TWRP, but I mean actual core members of TWRP that maintain a device that they do not own themselves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP do not own any devices. You need to read their FAQs to have a basic understanding of how it works.
Again, people are working on twrp for the 3a.

Unstroofy said:
No.
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Click to collapse
https://twrp.me/faq/howtocompiletwrp.html
He's right
Also, I'm pretty sure he's the one working on twrp...

Why Pixel 3a/XL so unpopular?

I ask this question because I see a very little activity on a ROMs forum, I didn't check other ones.
For example my previous phone, Mi A1 (Android One) has an official builds for most ROM, even my wife's Mi A3 has much better activity. I had bought Pixel because I'm a Google fanboy and its cheapest Pixel available.
My own answer: people with less budget just buy Android One phones (like Mi A* line), people who want Pixel buy a full phone, like Pixel 3 (without a) or 4.

I suspect for a few reasons:
1. It isn't needed as the phone runs the latest version of android anyway.
2. Many people buy a Pixel series phone because that's exactly what they want - the latest version of android without skins or bloatware.

Yea, there isn't much of a need for ROMs on pixels. Took me 6 months to get to the point I was missing AOSiP and decided to build for it lol.
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using XDA Labs

yurikoles said:
I ask this question because I see a very little activity on a ROMs forum, I didn't check other ones.
For example my previous phone, Mi A1 (Android One) has an official builds for most ROM, even my wife's Mi A3 has much better activity. I had bought Pixel because I'm a Google fanboy and its cheapest Pixel available.
My own answer: people with less budget just buy Android One phones (like Mi A* line), people who want Pixel buy a full phone, like Pixel 3 (without a) or 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before the Pixel 3a and the Pixel OG, I had a LG G3 and the Galaxy S3. Always used custom ROMS. Haven't used a custom ROM for either Pixel. No need.

Ok, I got it, thanks

I think pixel popularity will take off when TWRP is able to be installed. I admit I have been spoiled by TWRP and the ease with which ROMs can be flashed and most importantly backups can be made.

alliance1975 said:
I think pixel popularity will take off when TWRP is able to be installed. I admit I have been spoiled by TWRP and the ease with which ROMs can be flashed and most importantly backups can be made.
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Click to collapse
Ohh, how I miss nandroids!

good thread and yeah i think we're getting to the "post-mortem" point re: ROMs (Skittles9823’ AOSiP notwithstanding). i went from the samsung galaxy s3 -> xperia z3 -> xperia xz1c -> pixel 3a, and each one has been a big step down in terms of ROM availability (i was spoiled with the galaxy s3, in hindsight). i really did think the 3a would be a ROM bonanza but i also agree with the general vibe that stock android is so, so much better than it was 5 years ago that it's harder and harder to find things worth "fixing".

c_tho said:
good thread and yeah i think we're getting to the "post-mortem" point re: ROMs (Skittles9823’ AOSiP notwithstanding). i went from the samsung galaxy s3 -> xperia z3 -> xperia xz1c -> pixel 3a, and each one has been a big step down in terms of ROM availability (i was spoiled with the galaxy s3, in hindsight). i really did think the 3a would be a ROM bonanza but i also agree with the general vibe that stock android is so, so much better than it was 5 years ago that it's harder and harder to find things worth "fixing".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only AOSP 10 ROM I have run on my Pixel 3a (Havoc 3.1) fixed one thing compared to stock - Voice over WiFi/Voice over LTE - and that is so low-margin that it often goes unaddressed; basically, there's a lot less broke with either stock OR AOSP; result, what is there to "fix"? TWRP itself is needed much less because - even going back as far as Android 8, the OS backs itself up regularly, by default, and without the end user doing anything. (With Samsung Experience (the predecessor to OneUI), I noticed it in the Samsung Members app; it's been retained in OneUI in the same place. It's by default in Android 9 + going forward; it still is in both Android 10 and the 11 Developer Preview - basically, the scutwork is going away. I haven't needed to root at all
with 10; who would have thought that? (In fact, among those of you that still run Magisk on 10, do you REALLY need to root to do what needs (in your opinion) doing? Or are you simply used to having to?

PGHammer said:
I haven't needed to root at all
with 10; who would have thought that? (In fact, among those of you that still run Magisk on 10, do you REALLY need to root to do what needs (in your opinion) doing? Or are you simply used to having to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea. I absolutely need to root to do what I need. QuickSwitch is a must for me, custom kernels which provide wireguard at the kernel level, substratum for uniform dark mode (although stock theming is good now, but for apps that don't have a dark mode yet, substratum is needed), Active Edge customisation is also super convenient.
Thats pretty much the necessary stuff for me, the rest is mainly just custom fonts and liking to have complete control over my device. Also the fact that I'm a module developer so tinkering with this stuff is fun for me :laugh:
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using XDA Labs

The comments suggest everyone has their own set of musts and wants for their devices. Stock Android provides the musts for me as well as some wants. But I will continue to read the forums.

alliance1975 said:
I think pixel popularity will take off when TWRP is able to be installed. I admit I have been spoiled by TWRP and the ease with which ROMs can be flashed and most importantly backups can be made.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SketchyStunts said:
Ohh, how I miss nandroids!
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Click to collapse
Not sure if we really need nandroids: you can easily backup and restore apps and their data even without TWRP and generally we have factory images / installation bundles available for our device. So there is not really a need for TWRP ... in addition I doubt that TWRP for Android 10+ will be available soon.

Skittles9823 said:
Yea. I absolutely need to root to do what I need. QuickSwitch is a must for me, custom kernels which provide wireguard at the kernel level, substratum for uniform dark mode (although stock theming is good now, but for apps that don't have a dark mode yet, substratum is needed), Active Edge customisation is also super convenient.
Thats pretty much the necessary stuff for me, the rest is mainly just custom fonts and liking to have complete control over my device. Also the fact that I'm a module developer so tinkering with this stuff is fun for me :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ask because how many folks need to go there? If anything, it has become fewer; more Anidroid users, but fewer follks needing to root because the need to root has dropped because the core is more capable than it used to be. You have said it yourself; some of why you root is out of convenience; not typical of most folks, is it?

PGHammer said:
I ask because how many folks need to go there? If anything, it has become fewer; more Anidroid users, but fewer follks needing to root because the need to root has dropped because the core is more capable than it used to be. You have said it yourself; some of why you root is out of convenience; not typical of most folks, is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, the need is definitely dwindling. I feel like there will will always be some amount of people doing it though.
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using XDA Labs

Skittles9823 said:
Yea, the need is definitely dwindling. I feel like there will will always be some amount of people doing it though.
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stipulated.
Thing is, the A-series Pixel addresses a market that even the Nexus ignored; smartphones that run stock that you don't have to fiddle with. (While the Galaxy Nexus came close, you still had to do some fiddling even with them; the A-series Pixel you just run, pretty much. While there are low-end smartphones - even lower-end than the A-series Pixel - that CLAIM to be as good; they have not proven themselves - not even compared to the Pixel 3a. So we are talking proven software, proven hardware, and at sane pricing. The Converse All-Star (Chuck Taylor) of smartphones. (I'm not THAT old; however, I heard of them - in my case, it was the Nike Air Strike Force as opposed to the pricier Air Jordans. I still have them.)

PGHammer said:
The Converse All-Star (Chuck Taylor) of smartphones.
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Click to collapse
relatable, as someone who replaces his broken chucks with a new pair of chucks about every four years

I came over from the V30, which has an incredibly active community, even nearly 3 years after launch.
The reason I switched to Pixel? I was honestly tired of the time it took to try to turn my V30 into a Pixel. With everything from Pixel Experience (and other AOSP ROMs), to hacks to try to get the Q gestures on Pie, to third party ports of GCam, to people downloading and installing Digital Wellbeing, Google Phone, etc, etc, I finally realized that what I really wanted was a Pixel. So I bought one. And now I have no need to modify it.
I think people pick the 3a line precisely because they don't want to have to hack anything. The users are far more like iPhone users than like Android users. They want nice pictures of kids, and a phone that just works without much effort.

AndDiSa said:
Not sure if we really need nandroids: you can easily backup and restore apps and their data even without TWRP and generally we have factory images / installation bundles available for our device. So there is not really a need for TWRP ... in addition I doubt that TWRP for Android 10+ will be available soon.
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Are Nandroids required? No. But the ability to make a full backup of your current ROM so that you can try out a new ROM or develop on a real phone and go right back to square one in the time it takes to flash the backup is certainly beneficial. It makes a huge difference and certainly more people would be willing to experiment on their daily driver phone if it was available. The idea of having to flash factory and then wait for Google to restore all my apps and data makes me cringe.
I for one have decided NOT to try some of the ROMs, etc that are available for this exact reason.

sic0048 said:
Are Nandroids required? No. But the ability to make a full backup of your current ROM so that you can try out a new ROM or develop on a real phone and go right back to square one in the time it takes to flash the backup is certainly beneficial. It makes a huge difference and certainly more people would be willing to experiment on their daily driver phone if it was available. The idea of having to flash factory and then wait for Google to restore all my apps and data makes me cringe.
I for one have decided NOT to try some of the ROMs, etc that are available for this exact reason.
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Backing up is easy without twrp. Sure it's no twrp backup, but it's fine.
You can use adb-sync to synchronise the files in internal storage with a folder in your PC and vice-versa. That along with a swift backup of all your apps, app data, etc essentially allows for a complete 100% reliable backup that only takes about 20 mins to backup/restore give or take depending on the speed of the drive it's backing up/restoring to.
Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using XDA Labs

@sic0048
I was not referring to Google's restore mechanism, but to have a local copy on an external device which can be restored if needed.
@Skittles9823
There is also my android-backup-project which is still in an early stage but as a POC it's working quite well. I am just analyzing whether there is a chance to prepare e.g. a zip which can be flashed back by standard recovery / fastboot. Probably this is not so easy thinking at generic android devices but for the Pixel ones I expect that it can be more easy.

pixel 2 xl to pixel 4a???

So I went from the pixel 2xl to the 4a.
Mainly because development was coming to a halt.
But seems that there is nothing going on with the 4a.
Did I pick the wrong phone to upgrade to.
What I really like about pixels is being able to use fastboot, the camera and not using a program like let's say odin.
Should I have picked up a OnePlus phone instead.
Are google phone just going down hill now a days.
I just would like honest answer not just the normal well you development the **** then. That response is getting old. Xda forms are a great place to asked and get answers. But does anyone have any good suggestions. Thank you

I did the same thing. So far there's a couple 11 ROMs available, Superior os and Derpfest. Hopefully things pick up soon.
If not I'll be giving this to my wife and getting a 4a5g or a 5

Edmontonchef said:
I did the same thing. So far there's a couple 11 ROMs available, Superior os and Derpfest. Hopefully things pick up soon.
If not I'll be giving this to my wife and getting a 4a5g or a 5
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4a 5g is way worse on development. They have proton kernel and that's it. We have some roms and some kernels. I think most custom roms just attempt to replicate vanilla android with useful features. I think that's why you have so few roms here. We already have vanilla. I think a ton of the features of customs from generations past have slowly made their way into vanilla and there aren't really a whole lot of features lacking. I realize some more customization in certain areas would be nice but we are on the right track. I don't even find root access to be 100% necessary out of the box anymore.
Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

If custom ROMs you are after head over to the project trebble page and flash a gsi.

ttocs99 said:
If custom ROMs you are after head over to the project trebble page and flash a gsi.
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Do they run well
A video I saw was saying that sometimes they don't work on all phones correctly
But I also don't know much about gsi roms
Sent from my Google Pixel 4a using XDA Labs

I am getting ready to compile the kali nethunter kernel for our device. Maybe ill start porting some stuff too.

SirFronts said:
Do they run well
A video I saw was saying that sometimes they don't work on all phones correctly
But I also don't know much about gsi roms
Sent from my Google Pixel 4a using XDA Labs
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That's the point people! are using gsi on all kinds of devices but they should work fine on pixels. A lot of fixes has been implemented on most gsi. It's worth a shot and have nothing to loose as it's easy to fix a soft brick on pixel by fastboot flashing the 4a factory image.

ttocs99 said:
That's the point people! are using gsi on all kinds of devices but they should work fine on pixels. A lot of fixes has been implemented on most gsi. It's worth a shot and have nothing to loose as it's easy to fix a soft brick on pixel by fastboot flashing the 4a factory image.
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You are right that's the one thing I love about pixels.
I haven't bricked one yet. Gotta love flash-all lol.
That's why I didn't mind using OnePlus 7pro
Sent from my Google Pixel 4a using XDA Labs

SirFronts said:
Are google phone just going down hill now a days.
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No, the opposite. On previous phones stock Android sucked so you had to faff about with unlocking bootloaders, flashing roms, getting help from incels with social problems (as you mentioned - "fix it yourself" type responses).
The pixel 4a is now as good as the best non-standard Android phones, like the OS on Honor/Huawei phones, so there's no longer any need to waste time risking bricking your phone with rom flashing and the like; it's pretty much perfect out of the box...well, nothing Nova Launcher won't fix.

Yep back in the day...3g days lol...root and roms were developed to improve devices overall. With the pixel line they really don't improve anything really. Now if someone ports say MIUI or something drastically different I will just stay stock. That's just me though.