Hi everybody!
It's my first post here, I'm quite a noob at all these Android things, but I got my HTC Hero last year and have been using it quite a lot since then.
I'm also fond of FLOSS (Free/Libre/Open Source Software), and I always try to find an open source equivalent to what I'm using. That's how I switched to Ubuntu Linux 6 years ago and never came back to Windows
I've been looking on the Web, reading Android news websites, and I realized they never talk about open source software being developed for Android phones. At most, they will talk about free (as in beer) softwares, but most of the time these are ad-supported or quickly become ad-supported if they're popular.
For instance, I looked for a music player (cause the one offered by HTC is quite slow and poorly reads OGG music -- yes I'm also in open formats!), and I could only find ad-supported free-ish softwares (MixZing player for instance)... but no open source choice!
On Linux, there are dozens of music players, and of course they're all open source, so you just choose the one you like the best, and even if it doesn't suit you perfectly, you can modify it or develop a plugin for it!
I was wondering if all that was because of the Android Market. Could it be possible to push an open source application on the Android Market? Would it be accepted?
Anyways, to summarize: Is there an open source community on Android?
Thanks in advance!
I'd say yes, you can find many oss in android market, but generally the source is in devs personal page. For instance my apps are open-source, the rom hackers generally give out their source, and more. However i don't know if there are oss apps for all categories...
Hi!
Thanks for your answer! (and congrats for the supertux port )
I'm pretty concerned about the multimedia part... So far:
MixZing Player ==> Ad supported, closed sources
Tune Wiki ==> Ad supported, closed sources
Astro Player ==> Commercial software, closed sources
Cubed ==> Closed sources
etc.
The only one I see was Rock On, which used to be closed sources until the project was discontinued (now the sources are available on github I guess).
As for the other softwares, a lot of them are created by people who think they're going to be rich by selling 0.99 USD softwares... therefore all these softwares are (obviously) closed-sources!
not to be a smart ass but, as long as it works, does it really matter if the source is available?
Yes FOSS is great but if there's a closed source app that does the job I'll use it, there's nothing wrong with closed source vs open when it comes to functionality
Of course, it's mainly a philosophical/ethical topic.
But to give you an example, MixZing recently decided to add an ad-supported system. In the initial release after this system was applied, ads were displayed every 10 seconds, it became almost unusable!
Of course, because a lot of people complained, the MixZin developers changed that. Yet, it's still heavily invaded with ads everywhere...
Another thing is that if you like a software but think it lacks a functionality, with open source you can add it. Of course, it requires technical skills, but the most important thing is that it is possible. With closed source, the only thing you can do is to send a feedback to the developers, then cross your fingers and hope that your request will be implemented in the next version.
A last thing: if the software is discontinued (e.g. the main developers lack of time to keep maintaining the software), the source is available for anybody to maintain it. With closed sources, well... use your software until the next Android update tells you it's too old to run on your system!
By the way, I should twist my fingers 7 times before typing anything: the main developer of RockOn created a project called ^3 (Cubed) which is open source as well, and which has evolved a lot since the last time I checked it! It might become my music player of choice!
I personally use Music Mod. I'm not sure if it's open or not, it's based on the stock music player.
As for open source vs not, I use the best tool for the job. I've used Linux for 11 years and Unix for years before that but I'm no source code tree hugging hippy..
There are many open source software.. I'd have to guess most on code.google.com are open..
arcMedia is based off ffmpeg and so should be OSS
(appbrain playing up today so link here)
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_applications/multimedia/arcmedia_jpez.html
I was just curious if there are any android 4.2 roms in development for vzw sgs3 cuz i have the keyboard and im sure the phone can run it
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
No.
From the Cyanogenmod Google+ Page
11/19/12
CM 10.1 Status Update
So we continue to work through the merger of 4.2 code and our CM enhancements. A branch in our github repos called mr1-staging has been created to facilitate the merger and is the target for core CM items (not features).
mr1-staging is not meant to be compile-able, its only purpose is to be a staging grounds for our core work. Chances are, it is useless for independent builders.
CM 10.0 (4.1.2) code is in jellybean-stable, if you are working on a bug-fix for the last stable release, patches should be submitted against that branch. If/when we do another 4.1.2 release (ie CM 10.0.x), it will originate from code in this branch.
Once staging is done in mr1-staging, we will push all that code to a 'CM10.1' branch, and eventually back to our primary 'jellybean' branch. This process is in place to make sure that we effectively move forward from CM 10.0 code, instead of starting over as was seen with the jump from Gingerbread to ICS. Patches from gerrit will be accepted towards CM 10.1, but for now, please have patience while we work through mr1-staging.
While the 4.2 updates are on a smaller scale, they do present some changes that will need to be considered and will effect our implementation of features. Just to name them briefly: Telephony Split, Multi-User, Quick Settings, and Lock-Screen Widgets. These items will be a strong focus when the initial CM10.1 branch is created.
On the feature front, +David van Tonder decided to make his weekend productive, and has already worked on the code for the majority of our MMS enhancements: Emoji support, sms split, gestures and templates, quick messaging. Notably MMS auto retrieve is not being forward ported as Google fixed that themselves. As stated above, patches will hit gerrit review after this staging process is completed.
As always, a timeline isn't and won't be available. We will continue to provide updates as we have them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
11/13/12
What's next?
Android 4.2 is getting the OTA treatment from the powers that be. We eagerly await the source to hit the AOSP repos. When it does, we will begin the task of defining what is new, what has changed, and what CM features should stay (or go). We already anticipate removing the CM enhancements to the Clock app (Google made their own), and enhancing the Quick Settings (most likely not porting over the Notification Power Widgets). However, these assessments are preliminary, and won't be finalized until MR1, or whatever tag is used, has the source to go with it.
Edit: Oh and yes, before its asked, 4.2 will be CM 10.1 (not CM11).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to android development, so please bear with me:silly:. As I understand, stock android is a generic firmware released by Google Inc. and not specific to any particular device. Similarly, CyanogenMod is also a generic firmware. Then what's the difference between the two?
prahladyeri said:
I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to android development, so please bear with me:silly:. As I understand, stock android is a generic firmware released by Google Inc. and not specific to any particular device. Similarly, CyanogenMod is also a generic firmware. Then what's the difference between the two?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi prahladyeri. This is from the Cyanogenmod Wiki
So what is the difference between Android and CyanogenMod?
About 1-2 times a year, the vanilla Android operating system (known as AOSP, or the Android Open Source Project) is internally developed, then released to the public, by Google. They provide the source code to anyone who wants to download it. The CyanogenMod community, comprised mostly of unpaid volunteers and enthusiasts from around the world, takes this newest Android code and "ports" it to dozens of new and older (aka "legacy") devices. At the same time, other CyanogenMod developers start adding features, fixes, and improvements that Google didn't include to the CyanogenMod code, which benefits all the devices. The CyanogenMod community has a whole infrastructure for people to build and test experimental versions, report bugs, and contribute back to the source code.
Sometimes features that started in CyanogenMod have appeared in newer version of "official" Android. And every time Android does a new "code dump" of their latest version, CyanogenMod benefits from Google's changes.
In this way, CyanogenMod is one (but not the only) community distribution of what started as vanilla AOSP. The Android community is vibrant, with numerous "modders" and "themers" and "performance enhancers" taking the source code and doing incredible things to it. Generally, there is a spirit of sharing knowledge and empowering people to experiment with controlling their devices, often giving old phones new life, and hopefully having fun in the process.
What does it all mean to me?
CyanogenMod is an alternative operating system intended to replace the one pre-installed on your smart phones and tablets. If you've got an older device that isn't getting updates anymore, or if your device seems unusually slow, or maybe you're sick of spyware, adware, and other unwanted garbage on your phone that you can't remove... Maybe your device is missing features or has been otherwise artificially limited in functionality. Perhaps you just could use a boost in performance. Or maybe you'd like to be more confident that your operating system has included some of the latest bug fixes.
If so, CyanogenMod might be for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I just want you all to vote for your favourite custom ROM for Redmi Note 5 / Redmi Note 5 Pro. This will help the developer community to better understand the general public demand.
Here is a short description f each type of custom ROM given above(may not be in same order!)
1. LineageOS
We start off with the biggest name in the custom ROM scene – LineageOS. While many of you might not be familiar with the name, LineageOS is actually the same custom ROM that started as CyanogenMod. Back in the fall of 2016, Cyanogen Inc. announced that it was discontinuing development and shut down the infrastructure behind the project. Since then, the developer community has kept the project alive, but under the name of LineageOS. Built on top of Google’s AOSP code and adding their own custom code to it, LineageOS works as a standalone ROM as well as the source code for many other custom ROMs out there. It has the biggest developer team under its name and officially has support for over 190 devices. The ROM includes basic but useful features that include but are not limited to customizing the status bar, changing the overall theme, editing the navbar and much more. While Google’s AOSP is barebones, LineageOS gives it a sense of customizability while maintaining stability.
The ROM offers builds for Android Marshmallow (6.x) and Nougat (7.x), with support for Oreo (8.0) coming soon. Also, the list of officially supported devices includes offerings from Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG, Xiaomi, OnePlus and more.
2. SlimRoms
If minimalism is what you’re looking for, SlimRoms is right up your alley. Possibly the lightest and most functional custom ROM out there, the SlimRoms project is based on the AOSP code while adding useful tweaks to it. The most notable features of the SlimRoms project is the inclusion of the Slim Recents and the Slim PIE. The recents alternative is used to display the recent apps in a sidebar, as opposed to occupying the entire screen. The PIE, on the other hand, comes as a navbar replacement, that proves to be highly useful when using your device in Immersive mode. Other SlimRoms features include a custom dialer, custom Quick Settings tiles, lock screen shortcuts, Privacy Guard, and more. The SlimRoms project offers simple and minimalistic transitions that end up resulting in a clean and neat interface, that can further be customized should the user choose to.
SlimRoms have been around for a while and is available on all major OEMs such as Google, LG, HTC, Moto, Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus and more. The latest supported version is Android Nougat 7.1.2, and a build for Android Oreo (8.0) is expected to be released soon.
3. Paranoid Android
Another great ROM that doubles up as a source for many other custom ROMs out there, Paranoid Android is one of the most acclaimed custom ROMs of all times. The development team focuses on bringing a polished and refined experience while using minimum resources. While it may not boast of the plethora of features and customizations that other ROMs offer, Paranoid Android or PA, does promise a soothing user experience overall. It comes with its own unique features such as Hover mode, which allows the user to view and interact with their notifications from any screen, (which was then integrated into AOSP as part of Heads-up notifications). It also offers its own version of the PIE menu, as well as a fully immersive mode for Android. Paranoid Android has long been regarded as the main project from which Google has brought over a lot of features, one biggest feature being the Ambient Mode, which was present in PA as Peek.
While PA did experience a few bumps lately, causing the development scene to slow down a bit, it is now back and is better than ever, with officially supporting Android Nougat 7.1.2, and support for Android Oreo 8.0 to be released soon. It’s available for devices from Nexus, Pixel, OnePlus, Sony, Oppo and more.
4. Resurrection Remix
For all those users who like to boast about the tons of features that their device has, you can’t do better than Resurrection Remix. Probably one of the most famous custom ROMs out there, Resurrection Remix (RR) has been around for a long time now and is preferred by a huge number of people. RR’s ideology has been to offer the maximum number of features available to the user, and it delivers it in a great fashion. It uses AOSP, LineageOS, SlimRoms, and Paranoid Android; all as its main source code, and then adds extra features to it. While most ROMs cherry pick selected features and add them to their code, RR adds just about anything and everything there is to offer. This does, of course, come at a cost. The ROM itself is quite hefty and seems to be a bit heavier on system resources. Also, having tons of features all mixed up in the code do end up making the ROM unstable at times.
RR currently supports all major devices from manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, LG, Moto, Lenovo, Huawei, OnePlus,and more. Also, it is one of the fastest ROMs to be delivered, so expect Android Oreo 8.0 anytime soon.
5. Dirty Unicorns
If I were to describe Dirty Unicorns in my own words, I’d have to say it is the stable version of Resurrection Remix. This is because of the plethora of customization features it offers is great, and it does so without any loss in the stability of the ROM. This is because the major difference between DU and RR is that while RR simply merges the various codes into one main project, RR’s team actually rewrites the entire code from scratch to ensure system stability. While this does mean that updates come a little slower, they are still able to deliver fortnightly updates. Also, DU has its own DU-SmartBar as well as FlingBar, that are both navigation bar replacements. While the former one functions to add more buttons to the normal navigation bar, the latter one replaces the navbar with a gesture-enabled panel that you can customize. Lately, the development team behind DU decided to remove certain features from the ROM, but those features were simply the ones users like to have on their device but never use it in real life. As a result, the latest versions are stable than ever and goes easier on the system’s resources.
DU currently supports Android Nougat 7.1.2 , and Oreo 8.0 is expected to be released in a couple of weeks for all major devices from Samsung, Moto, LG, OnePlus, Nexus, Pixel, and more.
6. AOSP Extended
As the name suggests, AOSP Extended is built directly from the AOSP source code and adds various cherry-picked commits from multiple other projects. Like all custom ROMs out there that are based on AOSP, AOSP Extended provides a smooth and lag-free experience out of the box. The AOSP Extended is also not short on features (or as the dev team likes to call it – Extensions), boasting of multiple customizability options available to modify the status bar, lock screen, and other Android settings. It also exhibits DU’s navbar/Flingbar, as well as other carefully selected features that mix well with Google’s imagination of Android. The development team behind AOSP Extended is also highly active, rolling out timely updates at the start of each month. AOSP Extended is in most ways, one of the most dependable custom ROMs out there that can be used as a daily driver.
It’s currently available for many devices including the likes of LG, Xiaomi, Lenovo, HTC, Samsung, OnePlus and more, and currently runs on Android Nougat 7.1.2.
7. Pure Nexus
Imagine being on your device’s stock ROM, but with slight tweaks here and there that allow you to customize your device to your choice without losing out on the stock stability. Well, if you own a Nexus or a Pixel device, this is easily possible for you. The Pure Nexus project has been around ever since Nexus 4 and has grown on to support all the Nexus and Pixel devices, with active development on all of them. It offers the same AOSP experience that’s exclusive to Google’s lineup, along with truly tested features and minimal or no bugs. In my experience with this ROM, the battery life was just the same as the stock ROM, but I was able to customize a few things here and there. To put it into better words, think of Pure Nexus as custom ROM that delivers the same experience that you’d get if you had installed Xposed and Gravity Box on the stock AOSP ROM.
The Pure Nexus project is only officially available for the Pixel and Nexus lineup, though it has been ported to other devices as well. It already has support for Android Oreo 8.0.
8. Carbon ROM
To define Carbon ROM would take up more than a couple of words. In your first run of this ROM, you’d find it similar to just about every other custom ROM out there. Use it for a couple of days, and you literally start experiencing the true beauty of Carbon ROM. One of the first ROMs to successfully implement Substratum (initially RRO and Layers), Carbon ROM is regarded as one of the most stable ROMs out there. The added functionalities in the form of CarbonFibers include tons of mods for the System, Status bar, buttons, lights, gestures and other various options. While it still lacks behind RR in the race for maximum customizability features, Carbon ROM still manages to hold its ground. Longtime users find it really hard to switch to any other ROM, for even though the features may be present on other ROMs as well, the smoothness and stability is unmatched. CarbonROM is available on a plethora of devices, thanks to its long-running development, and officially supports major offerings from Samsung, HTC, LG, OnePlus and more. It currently runs on Android Nougat 7.1.2, with support for Android Oreo 8.0 coming soon.
9. ViperOS
Another ROM based on the AOSP Gerrit but having its own custom mods is the ViperOS. You might not have heard of its name, considering its a rather new project, having surfaced around the launch of Android Nougat 7.1 only. Despite being a relatively new project, the ROM has quickly evolved into becoming a very stable and reliable ROM and gives plenty of other competitors a run for their money. A simple and neat ROM, ViperOS does not feature multiple customizability options but instead offers a great balance between battery and performance. The ROM recently even updated their source code for the latest in Android, that is, Android Oreo 8.0. Personally, I feel ViperOS is a near perfect mixture of stock ROM with several customizability features and amazing battery life. Since it is a growing project, it doesn’t have a long list of supported devices, yet, but is soon expected to grow to support all the major devices, with support for Android Oreo 8.0 already been announced.
10. FlymeOS
Okay, so if you’re located just about anywhere outside of China, chances are that you haven’t heard of FlymeOS. Well, FlymeOS is the official OS that powers up Meizu’s range of devices, and it does it amazingly. Originally developed by and for Meizu, the custom ROM project has since then been ported to support other OEM devices as well. FlymeOS stands as a direct competitor to MIUI, having more or less the same interface, combined with a great mixture of colors and details. Some unique features of FlymeOS include an in-built Toolbox that offers a compass, a leveler, a ruler, and toggles for various Android settings right from the corner of your screen. Then, it features its own Security Center as well as support for FlymeOS themes. Lastly, the ROM also comes with mBack key and gestures, that allow you to navigate through the entire UI using just the home key and a couple of gestures. If you’re bored of the stock Android look and MIUI looks a little too cliche for you, FlymeOS might just be what you’re looking for. While Flyme officially supports Android Marshmallow, with its beta announced for Nougat just a couple of weeks ago, the ROM’s features more than makeup for the slow development.
Thanks for voting!
DU, AOSPA and Pure Nexus...aint coming officially for sure....other will definitly
and wrong sub forum for post
LineageOS.
Sent from my MotoG3 using XDA Labs
Viper os
Slim ROM!
why you even started this thread @ap6709
LOS is a must for me
RR, AOSPE
I voted LOS because that is the one that I used the most. I haven't used Slim or AOSP extended. Are they open source and not based on LOS?
So if I don't flash GAPPS there is no proprietary code?
Lineage OS
Resurrection remix , AOSPE.
methuselah said:
why you even started this thread @ap6709
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to get a public opinion on the most sought after custom ROMs and also to make the custom ROM developers aware of the demand. That is all. Am I doing something wrong? Please tell frankly.
:angel:
What is the code name of this device?
jilx said:
What is the code name of this device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIk Vassace
Nitrogen os
I don't know why this thread is made....but it should be removed.
It all depends on developers whether and which rom they will build. @MikeChannon please look after this and close this thread
This is the official Telegram Group for Redmi Note 5 Pro:
********************************************************************
Telegram Group Link - https://telegram.me/redminote5proofficial
********************************************************************
Guys please join!
Aosp extended, Resurrection remix ?
A couple of days back, a dev made Project Treble possible in a RN4 by using the MIUI partition for device and component firmware as required for Treble. I personally don't own a RN4 so didn't get to test it, neither am I am following that thread. But if it's possible to do so, then the ROMs with 8.1 and above should be a lot more stable ( talking about you RR ) . And if I'm not mistaken many devs already know about this and some devs of RN4 we'll move into RN5P. So as for custom ROMs are concerned, let's wait it out. The devs understand the device a lot better than us end users. Let the devs figure out a standard for the OS/ROMs. Till then MIUI isn't bad. Personally I dislike the bloat and lack of an App Drawer, contradicts the minimal approach which I prefer. But that's just me, but I think in general is not unusable.
The phone was up for sale first time 2 days ago and so I think instead of drooling for ROMs, give the devs their own time. They are doing it for free for us. Let's respect that and not be greedy.
Nitrogen os
Loving in kenzo now i want on rn5 pro