Related
So this week I went ahead and flashed Liquid Smooth...overall I like a lot about the ROM. However, I have found a few things that I miss from the stock TW. Those things include:
The Gallery App - What I really miss is the ability to display social network photos (google and Facebook) and also easily use high quality versions of the pictures within my phone (ie. wallpapers).
Related to Gallery - The ability to view videos and pictures on my Co-Star (GTV) box at the push of a button when viewing on my phone. Instant big screen viewing...I miss it.
I know that TW apps such as the gallery and phone cannot be installed on AOSP...but does anyone have any suggestions on apps that may be able to replace those features? I have found Pictarine as a pretty good option for Facebook photos (since JustPictures! FB login no longer works). However I'm still missing the ability to push to my Co-Star...since it's not closed Samsung functionality, I figure that there has to be something out there.
Eyebolt said:
So this week I went ahead and flashed Liquid Smooth...overall I like a lot about the ROM. However, I have found a few things that I miss from the stock TW. Those things include:
The Gallery App - What I really miss is the ability to display social network photos (google and Facebook) and also easily use high quality versions of the pictures within my phone (ie. wallpapers).
Related to Gallery - The ability to view videos and pictures on my Co-Star (GTV) box at the push of a button when viewing on my phone. Instant big screen viewing...I miss it.
I know that TW apps such as the gallery and phone cannot be installed on AOSP...but does anyone have any suggestions on apps that may be able to replace those features? I have found Pictarine as a pretty good option for Facebook photos (since JustPictures! FB login no longer works). However I'm still missing the ability to push to my Co-Star...since it's not closed Samsung functionality, I figure that there has to be something out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For some things there just aren't viable replacement widgets out there, like Email., but there are plenty of TW based custom ROMs here that allow for unbelievable themes and mods which look and perform as good or better than CM /AOSP and still let all the Samsung features work or even add more features from S4 and Note 2. Its surprising to me how far Google and 3rd party developers seem to have messed the boat on good widgets. Of course for Google some of it is politics, they don;t want to be closely tied to for example Facebook integration, since Facebook is in many ways a competitor to Google. Its for that reason that I think the new "Google Experience phones will be a failure with most people because honestly, AOSP Google is pretty bland and has no good pathway to better widgets unless you intend to use only Google apps and not things like Facebook, twitter, etc.
For the Co-Star/ ViMu media player you might try some of the UPnP/DLNA compatible stream apps in the market
Hey guys, im pretty much new to the android scene, last week one of my parents friends changed their carrier to Telstra and my plans came into the conversation, and i said that i would like to get an android phone in the near future (probably the nexus 5 depending on whos making it).
Anyways he said he could give me one of his old android phones, a HTC Velocity 4G to see if i liked it or not.
Now my previous phone was a Nokia N8, not exactly great for apps n stuff but it was good at browsing the net using Opera and its battery life was amazing especially with music in the background it could last for quite a bit. If you werent using the browser and it was just sitting there with a few tabs open it could last nearly the entire day, if you actively used it with music in the background i think it lasted about 2 -3 hours
So here are a couple of questions i would like to ask regarding the phone itself and the google play store n such.
1. Do all android phones seemingly have bad battery life? i put some music on this phone, and it didnt even want to last a damn hour, that im wondering if it really is the phone or if the battery was stuffed up during the time they had it (understandable)
2. Do all android phones come with this task manager and can you only fully close apps from this app itself? i mean the N8 all you did was hold a button it would have the open apps and you just touched the X button.
3.. The Google Play store. Do you have to sign in with a google account? i mean i have a youtube account with a gmail but i dont think i want my phone to get all these email notifications or store my contacts on this account, mainly because this account gets alot of spam, in the spam folder and in the inbox folder that and i dont really use google plus except on a few occasions that i dont really wanna receive those kinds of notifications. Is it better just to create a new gmail just for my phone?
4. If i want in the future, can i remove my android phone from an account and decide to move it to another account due to unforeseen circumstances and keep the apps i might buy in the future?
Please remember im still new to the android scene, pretty much using Symbian my whole life (well only nokia 6300 and nokia n8 but they were both great phones) so dont judge me to harshly.
Thanks
Regular Android User Trying To Help
I am by no means an "expert", but I can try to answer your questions.
1. I currently have the Droid Razr MAXX HD and I can easily get 2 full days of use, and if I try, 3 days of full use. This is taking pictures, using 4g, playing games, texting, you name it. I also know they just released a 5000MaH battery for the S4, meaning it will last longer than my phone. Also, most phones have an optional extended battery.
2. Mostly, you don't need to close your apps. If you use the back button to navigate all the way out, or simply hit the home button, it will stay in your ram, but it won't normally interfere with the speediness of your device; since android apps are run in their own virtual device. But, in the settings you can force close any open app, and custom roms allow you a "kill" button for open apps.
3. I think it is better to create a new gmail for your phone. You have to sign into a gmail account to really even use an android phone, and I find it quite nifty. The one account lets you log into anything Google, the playstore, gmail, keep, etc. I have my contacts synced with my Gmail, so I never lose phone contacts, and I have really switched over to gmail because of my android phone. I just find it better to use than old school yahoo. Plus, I use drive, keep, and calendar frequently. Try all these Google apps for yourself, they can be very useful.
4. If by account you mean google account, then no, because the apps you purchase are synced with that account. If you mean carrier, then yes, because the apps are synced to the google account. You can also back your apps up with a rooted phone with certain software. Someone else might be better at answering this though.
Hope I helped.
jdubya42 said:
I am by no means an "expert", but I can try to answer your questions.
1. I currently have the Droid Razr MAXX HD and I can easily get 2 full days of use, and if I try, 3 days of full use. This is taking pictures, using 4g, playing games, texting, you name it. I also know they just released a 5000MaH battery for the S4, meaning it will last longer than my phone. Also, most phones have an optional extended battery.
2. Mostly, you don't need to close your apps. If you use the back button to navigate all the way out, or simply hit the home button, it will stay in your ram, but it won't normally interfere with the speediness of your device; since android apps are run in their own virtual device. But, in the settings you can force close any open app, and custom roms allow you a "kill" button for open apps.
3. I think it is better to create a new gmail for your phone. You have to sign into a gmail account to really even use an android phone, and I find it quite nifty. The one account lets you log into anything Google, the playstore, gmail, keep, etc. I have my contacts synced with my Gmail, so I never lose phone contacts, and I have really switched over to gmail because of my android phone. I just find it better to use than old school yahoo. Plus, I use drive, keep, and calendar frequently. Try all these Google apps for yourself, they can be very useful.
4. If by account you mean google account, then no, because the apps you purchase are synced with that account. If you mean carrier, then yes, because the apps are synced to the google account. You can also back your apps up with a rooted phone with certain software. Someone else might be better at answering this though.
Hope I helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mostly what jdubya42 said but heres my word on it.
1. Battery life. Battery life can be bad on any device, it depends on what you use and how much you use your data or WiFi Bluetooth etc. Also like jdub said the new s4 is getting a 5000mah battery, that's a lot of juice normally android phones will have only around 1000mah-1800mah, your lucky if you get 2000mah. Android tablets get somewhere around 7000mah, so 5k on a phone should last you all day. Just think of how much the nexus 5 will get.
2. Most android phones nowadays come with a task manager. On some of the Samsung phone all you would have to do is hold the home button and will show you all the apps you have opened, and keeps them running. Its a nice way to switch between apps but keeping apps in the background can drain your battery fast so you should close the ones your not using (the task manager for android only comes with android 4.0 and up devices lower versions of android close the app when exited out), for this I would recommend a phone that would have more than one core, the s4 comes with 1.6ghz quad core which is more than enough.
3.as for the gmail, yes you need to make gmail account or use existing one, android is open source, the way google make money is the OEM (original equipment manufacturer, HTC Samsung lg etc) makes the phones sells them, profit for OEM, and people buy apps movies music and books from the Google play store, profit for Google.
4. If you get a new android phone you are able to still use all the apps music etc you bought on your previous devices and use on future ones, you won't have to remove your gmail account from your old phone.
Welcome to the world of android mate
Closing apps and getting "battery saving" apps can potentially save you battery but in addition to the software aspect, you can also modify the hardware usage. By that I mean unlocking, rooting, custom kernel and ROM. Just installing them will likely optimize your phone better then stock but you can also manually set your min/max frequency, frequency governor, core activity, undervoltage, GPU governor/responsiveness, and more.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1736168
Trying to make up my mind which ones do you, Outlook or Gmail, keyboard, excetera. Samsung likes to have a ton of duplicate apps oh, I'm curious as to which ones you think are extremely useful and which ones are the ones you get rid of first?
I use Outlook, alternate between keyboard. I use samsung calendar, health and messages because of watch. I use samsung file manager. I do not use their video player or music player. I do use samsung internet for browser.
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
Thank you, I think watching. I am mostly happy with the stock Samsung keyboard compared to SwiftKey but I keep going back and trying it. I missed the Gmail app after having all of my accounts on Outlook. I might be willing to try it again.
All those samsung apps are just pure leaches. It's clear to me that samsung is challenging google in a few areas of the business. For nearly every google process app , there's also a samsung version also running or installed. Gradually increasing their own eco system. Pi$$ take.
Outlook, never again. It was a terror on my XP machines. It was always the weak link.
Just the name puts a shiver down my spine.
Gmail stopped the malware/virus/spam carnage cold.
In 12+ years I've never had a malware issue with Gmail other than Google screwing it up; that they do quit well.
For me it's simple and obvious after a few days of use of Samsung phone, VS years of experience with anything else.
Samsung apps are rubbish. Period.
The keyboard junk? unable to uninstall it, even after installing GBoard. It's full of links to other junkware from Samsung like these emoticons apps and garbage. Those ones are gone.
The "File manager app"? lol. junkware with "added feature" like "analyse storage", and other unwanted useless garbage.
Even in the customization, theres's some link to junk shop to buy some theme related custom junk. Paying 3 USD to get a stupid picture on my phone?
I want to use the features, without my phone turning into an ads device. I want in the themes to select some, eventually from my own media, without having to go to Samsung junk. I want my keyboard to be a useful keyboard without being a link to paying garbage and other apps.
I did not buy that junk phone, got it free from work. Good experience, there is no way I would even pay more than 100 USD for that garbage. No wait, I should even be paid to use that junk which attempts to make me pay for using my own phone, my own device at every single steps.
Long live LineageOS, PixelExperience, and the likes: Android native roms without parasite apps at every single steps.
I removed around 50 junks from Samsung, I should even be more aggressive next time (when Android 11 will be there) because it's horrible.
It would have been much easier to even start from scratch (ie custom rom) rather than trying to take back control from that Samsung horrible ROM, since it's soo many dependencies and unwanted junk.
Samsung surely make money that way. I find this phone and junk installed offensive. It's so bad it's beyond anything acceptable. And I'm the fool on the "purchasing side" (well again, I did not pay for that). I mean it's Samsung device or mine? Certainly gives me a very bad opinion of Samsung, their business model and quality is very clear, so are their intentions. Not for me.
Hmm, oddly enough I use all Google apps. I've learned on my previous phone that if you want the best performance, use all Google apps haha.
I've already removed just about every Samsung app from this phone, all the way from the phone and message apps through the utility apps (clock, calculator, calendar etc).
I was having problems with my Note 20 Ultra since I got it two days before launch, but after finally getting to do a factory reset, it looks like most of those issues have been resolved and weren't related to the Samsung app removal.
I prefer Google Messages, Google Calendar, Google Phone, and GBoard. Using ADB, I was able to uninstall most Samsung bloat. The Samsung Contacts and Calculator apps are the only ones I find superior to the Google ones. Using HEX Installer, I was able to install an AOSP theme to get a more clean look and get rid of Samsung's overly rounded UI.
i want a rom with the minimal google services and every other thing is available on the damn play store, you don't need to fill me up with google speech services as well as the google application, yet android webview and don't even get me started on google services for ar and the list goes on and on for the bloatware that we in the first place, abandoned the official miui to get rid of, rather the developers of pixel experience and arrowos, etc... are giving us so much bloatware, even the vanilla builds they have so much bloatware, what i want is google play store and google play services and i will and can download any other application that i want and uninstall anything i don't want on my phone, developers seem to be forgetting the basic gist of a custom rom, it's to get rid of bloatware from its roots, not to just hide it or even disable it, but don't have that kinda storage on my or active background processors i wanna have the best battery life, with the basic functions of my xiaomi note 10 pro, i wanna have the 108 camera application, the default miui calling application, it's very light, of course i don't want the buggy google phone app, it's very laggy and severely slow.
don't give me the google calendar preinstalled i will just get it whenever i want it, don't give me no option to uninstall the aosp keyboard, give me the bare minimum just to run this rom as light as possible, anything else i will get it i promise, if i couldn't get it, let me cry on my own.
everything is installable, but not everything is uninstallable.
i have tried every other rom, that's on here, they seem to be just copying and pasting roms with different names, we don't need a ton of useless roms, what we want is one rom, very miui like, but with no bloatware and i don't wanna hear, try xiaomi eu, cause i did, and as a matter of fact i am on now, it has a lot of bloatware as well, mi browser, mi calendar, mi weather, mi coin, get apps, with no option to uninstall any just disable. still the stuff remains in my system storage, taking up my storage for nothing, and i am assuming also draining my battery very minimally in the background.
if a developer can provide that, we're by all means willing to donate very generously. we don't want a bunch of copycats, i already said that, i can't put enough emphasis on it, though.
Cause we didn't leave miui indonesia and so on and so forth, to get buggy custom roms with a lot of bloatware as well, and also so much more buggy that miui roms, no rapid charging, no taking advantage of my 33 watt, no 108 camera.
Merotaha said:
i want a rom with the minimal google services and every other thing is available on the damn play store, you don't need to fill me up with google speech services as well as the google application, yet android webview and don't even get me started on google services for ar and the list goes on and on for the bloatware that we in the first place, abandoned the official miui to get rid of, rather the developers of pixel experience and arrowos, etc... are giving us so much bloatware, even the vanilla builds they have so much bloatware, what i want is google play store and google play services and i will and can download any other application that i want and uninstall anything i don't want on my phone, developers seem to be forgetting the basic gist of a custom rom, it's to get rid of bloatware from its roots, not to just hide it or even disable it, but don't have that kinda storage on my or active background processors i wanna have the best battery life, with the basic functions of my xiaomi note 10 pro, i wanna have the 108 camera application, the default miui calling application, it's very light, of course i don't want the buggy google phone app, it's very laggy and severely slow.
don't give me the google calendar preinstalled i will just get it whenever i want it, don't give me no option to uninstall the aosp keyboard, give me the bare minimum just to run this rom as light as possible, anything else i will get it i promise, if i couldn't get it, let me cry on my own.
everything is installable, but not everything is uninstallable.
i have tried every other rom, that's on here, they seem to be just copying and pasting roms with different names, we don't need a ton of useless roms, what we want is one rom, very miui like, but with no bloatware and i don't wanna hear, try xiaomi eu, cause i did, and as a matter of fact i am on now, it has a lot of bloatware as well, mi browser, mi calendar, mi weather, mi coin, get apps, with no option to uninstall any just disable. still the stuff remains in my system storage, taking up my storage for nothing, and i am assuming also draining my battery very minimally in the background.
if a developer can provide that, we're by all means willing to donate very generously. we don't want a bunch of copycats, i already said that, i can't put enough emphasis on it, though.
Cause we didn't leave miui indonesia and so on and so forth, to get buggy custom roms with a lot of bloatware as well, and also so much more buggy that miui roms, no rapid charging, no taking advantage of my 33 watt, no 108 camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[ROM][12.1] crDroid 8 [OFFICIAL][MIUI Cam included]
*** Disclaimer I am not responsible for any damage you made to your device You have been warned Features: * Vanilla builds (no gapps) * MIUI Cam included * Thermal profiles / Mi Sound enhancer included * Encrypted by default * Selinux enforcing...
forum.xda-developers.com
Murad Ali said:
[ROM][12.1] crDroid 8 [OFFICIAL][MIUI Cam included]
*** Disclaimer I am not responsible for any damage you made to your device You have been warned Features: * Vanilla builds (no gapps) * MIUI Cam included * Thermal profiles / Mi Sound enhancer included * Encrypted by default * Selinux enforcing...
forum.xda-developers.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This rom is very big with a lot of bloatware let alone unneeded apps. What I want is a rom that's very simple and minimal as possible to give me the best screen on time
Merotaha said:
This rom is very big with a lot of bloatware let alone unneeded apps. What I want is a rom that's very simple and minimal as possible to give me the best screen on time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OmniROM
Omni is about innovation, new features, transparency, community, and freedom.
omnirom.org
Murad Ali said:
OmniROM
Omni is about innovation, new features, transparency, community, and freedom.
omnirom.org
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what's the difference between omni gapps and omni micro?
Merotaha said:
what's the difference between omni gapps and omni micro?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no google apps in omni micro
Hello.
I plan to turn my phone as "dumb" as possible, leaving only apps that are absolutely necessary and practical, essentially making my phone as minimalistic, simple and distraction free while at the same time maximizing the hurdle to install new apps due to the lack of willpower aswell as the general battery life.
I have the POCO F1 with LineageOS 19.1, root is currently enabled via Magisk.
I considered just buying a regular dumb phone, but unfortunately I do not feel they are worth it; plus I'd want to still use Spotify.
I'd greatly appreciate ideas/solutions for this particular project. Thank you in advance!
EnigmaticLife said:
Hello.
I plan to turn my phone as "dumb" as possible, leaving only apps that are absolutely necessary and practical, essentially making my phone as minimalistic, simple and distraction free while at the same time maximizing the hurdle to install new apps due to the lack of willpower aswell as the general battery life.
I have the POCO F1 with LineageOS 19.1, root is currently enabled via Magisk.
I considered just buying a regular dumb phone, but unfortunately I do not feel they are worth it; plus I'd want to still use Spotify.
I'd greatly appreciate ideas/solutions for this particular project. Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you'd like to do isn't really "dumbing down" XD - it is simply making a "barebones Android" phone with only the apps/functions you need without usual bloat that comes preinstalled on the new devices. This is in fact something a lot of people on XDA are passionate about, as it helps optimize for space, speed, battery life and privacy.
For the Android phone to be considered usable in modern day and age, it needs a handful of apps:
Dialer
SMS messenger
Contacts
File manager
Gallery
Clock
Calendar
Calculator
Web browser
Camera
Installing vanilla LineageOS rom (or any other rom with no GoogleApps) will give you this default Android experience. For 99% of tasks that do not involve Google this is enough.
However, most people want something more than just a dialer, and so phone manufacturers pre-install some other stuff for them: Google (play store, chrome, maps, drive, mail), Payment (Samsung Pay), Gallery/Music apps, social media apps, fancy wallpapers etc. This is what makes the phone "smart" for you, I guess?
In case you want to cut it down further, you can use adb to remove certain apps from this list. This includes certain system apps too, like unnecessary fonts or accessibility services (web search is your friend here). Theoretically the phone can serve as a GSM calling brick only with the following:
Dialer
SMS messenger
Contacts
But then you'd be doing the hardware a misservice - why lug around Octa-core 8GB RAM 4000mAh HD TFT6.1" 999GB device if you could achieve the same with a Nokia 1100 or 3310? These are still being sold
UPDATE: Just saw your additions about Spotify. If you only want to use the phone for Calling/Web browsing/YouTube/Spotify, go with the "Install No GApps LineageOS -> Sideload apps you need and nothing else".
Word of WARNING though: a lot of popular messaging/steraming/quality of life (maps) apps APSOLUTELY DEPEND on google ecosystem (i.e. GApps like google play, google play services and google services framework).
WITHOUT GOOGLE THESE APPS WILL LIKELY CRASH or won't work as intended. I.e. Whatsapp will not give you "New message" notifications and will not ring UNLESS you have it open in your face right when the call comes in. Delivery/Ride sharing apps that need google maps will not show you the map. Facebook messenger will has the same problem as Whatsapp. List of risks is far too long, and you will need to have an idea of whether the app requires google and whatsnot.
Therefore Make absolutely sure that barebones phone is what you want. If it is, a lot of apps that reliably work with the barebones setups can be found on Fdroid.
Despite having "dumb" in the name, this procedure requires one to be amazingly smart about it
To conclude, you have the following ways of achieving this:
1. Install no-Gapps (i.e. "vanilla") lineageOs, delete what you wont need, sideload .apk of apps you are after
2. Install stock android rom, then Degoogle and Debloat it. Guides for your particular model can be found here on XDA
3. Install SlimROM, a custom Android distro whose developers had the same idea as you did, i.e. optimized for simplicity.
Totesnochill said:
What you'd like to do isn't really "dumbing down" XD - it is simply making a "barebones Android" phone with only the apps/functions you need without usual bloat that comes preinstalled on the new devices. This is in fact something a lot of people on XDA are passionate about, as it helps optimize for space, speed, battery life and privacy.
For the Android phone to be considered usable in modern day and age, it needs a handful of apps:
Dialer
SMS messenger
Contacts
File manager
Gallery
Clock
Calendar
Calculator
Web browser
Camera
Installing vanilla LineageOS rom (or any other rom with no GoogleApps) will give you this default Android experience. For 99% of tasks that do not involve Google this is enough.
However, most people want something more than just a dialer, and so phone manufacturers pre-install some other stuff for them: Google (play store, chrome, maps, drive, mail), Payment (Samsung Pay), Gallery/Music apps, social media apps, fancy wallpapers etc. This is what makes the phone "smart" for you, I guess?
In case you want to cut it down further, you can use adb to remove certain apps from this list. This includes certain system apps too, like unnecessary fonts or accessibility services (web search is your friend here). Theoretically the phone can serve as a GSM calling brick only with the following:
Dialer
SMS messenger
Contacts
But then you'd be doing the hardware a misservice - why lug around Octa-core 8GB RAM 4000mAh HD TFT6.1" 999GB device if you could achieve the same with a Nokia 1100 or 3310? These are still being sold
UPDATE: Just saw your additions about Spotify. If you only want to use the phone for Calling/Web browsing/YouTube/Spotify, go with the "Install No GApps LineageOS -> Sideload apps you need and nothing else".
Word of WARNING though: a lot of popular messaging/steraming/quality of life (maps) apps APSOLUTELY DEPEND on google ecosystem (i.e. GApps like google play, google play services and google services framework).
WITHOUT GOOGLE THESE APPS WILL LIKELY CRASH or won't work as intended. I.e. Whatsapp will not give you "New message" notifications and will not ring UNLESS you have it open in your face right when the call comes in. Delivery/Ride sharing apps that need google maps will not show you the map. Facebook messenger will has the same problem as Whatsapp. List of risks is far too long, and you will need to have an idea of whether the app requires google and whatsnot.
Therefore Make absolutely sure that barebones phone is what you want. If it is, a lot of apps that reliably work with the barebones setups can be found on Fdroid.
Despite having "dumb" in the name, this procedure requires one to be amazingly smart about it
To conclude, you have the following ways of achieving this:
1. Install no-Gapps (i.e. "vanilla") lineageOs, delete what you wont need, sideload .apk of apps you are after
2. Install stock android rom, then Degoogle and Debloat it. Guides for your particular model can be found here on XDA
3. Install SlimROM, a custom Android distro whose developers had the same idea as you did, i.e. optimized for simplicity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is really interesting. I am thinking of trying to do this with a Google pixel 4a. Would I be able to do the lineage OS with that? I haven't found other threads that speak on this topic, am I right? Thinking that I would like to customize exactly what apps I have on the phone etc.
LineageOS for Google Pixel 4a exists:
LineageOS Downloads
download.lineageos.org