Hey
The first (Android) smartphone with camera that can really compete with the digital cameras and no section for it?
Modding it would be great
Altek A14 Leo
Altek Leo Section
regarding the serious problems the Altek Leo has, as no google apps, not even market, no rooting published, no adobe flash, firefox will not install and so on,
a section would be useful for the distessed owners of this camera phone which
is more a fumble phone than a smart phone. Its advantages are a very good lens, an outstanding CCD chip, a xenon flash and professional camera software.
True, is buggy
I bought one actually and despite it being pretty buggy, I just absolutely love the camera.
Definitely needs some software love though:
1) Interface is pretty sluggish and 2.1 isn't helping, the latest android performance improvements would be nice.
2) Touch-screen is strangely inaccurate. Swype was a must for me.
3) Battery life is pretty bad (not certain how much a newer Android would help, but any amount of powersaving fixes would help).
4) Buttons/widgets to lock the screen (e.g. Extended Controls) don't work.
5) The camera button doesn't open the camera when the phone is locked (debatable I guess, but imo, the camera button should just open the camera, period).
6) Default alarm clock doesn't ring randomly.
7) Not to mention apps randomly crashing, strange animation bugs in the Album viewer, no google apps, terrible GPS, etc.
But despite those, I've managed to work my way round them and am in love with it.
Alex
I have one of these and I do like the quirkyness .
I would love to improve the experience by modding.
Quirkyness fits well
To continue the list (more than enough for a forum)
- Backups by Titanium, AVG or Nandroid do not work because i have no idea
how to root the Altek Leo.
- WLAN range is still very short and does not always an automatic reconnect.
- I could not manage to make any browser play flash files, but the moboplayer
plays flv files well.
- Apps like soundhound say the microphone is blocked.
About half of the apps i need are not available because they will not install
or they are exclusively available over google market and getting them from
file hosters seems a bit risky to me. Most of this problems seem to be caused
by the small software space of 120 MB for files and 83 MB for running
applications.
But i will keep the Altek Leo and use it because the camera prooved itself
as outstanding among mobile phones.
- I use the application stores Applanet, Amazone Appstore, Handango,
SlideMe SAM and the tools Memory Booster Lite, Android Tweak.
Does anyone discovered any other useful helpers for this half of an
ANDROID device ?
"We do not need any adobe flash, we have got a real xenon flash."
Where To Buy
Does anyone know where to pick up/order one of these units?
Here To Buy
Search at Ebay, you will need a Paypal account.
I bought mine from Wifigadget.
Eason of Yupitek provides International Customer Service,
have a look at the facebook pinwall.
Thanks for the tips! Really like Memory Booster and Swype.
If you're on a mac, the "missing sync" from markspace is well worth the buy - particularly given that there does not seem to be a way to add a Google account under accounts and sync - it's missing on my altek leo! Anyone elses too?
Also recommend "Lookout" if you're worried about virus from no easy way to get apks other than file sharing sites.
Despite the quirks, very happy with this all-in-one device - music player + phone + camera - 3 down to 1! Fantastic!
Vignette
Sidenote, 'Vignette' is the perfect app for this device.
It doesn't fix any of the quirkiness, but it's a photo manipulation tool which complements the fantastic camera perfectly.
You can take your pics and then touch them up making the phone a studio for all things photography.
You can purchase it from the AndAppStore.
By poor battery life, how many days do you get out of it?
root and market
Has anyone tried the Gingerbreak exploit? I heard it might work on older devices. Also, if you don't trust file sharing sites and want stuff from the market. You could try running an emulator and installing the Market on that, then sideloading the APKs. I haven't tried it myself yet, but it seems there are a lot of people doing this. Here's one HOWTO which is specific to Mac but I think it's prety much the same or at least you should be able to use the same system image. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1387830/how-to-install-android-market-app-on-the-emulator there are lots of other links if you google "android market emulator" I don't have the Leo yet because they're sold out in Taiwan, but I've got mine on order. I'm most interested whether the google apps work at all if they're sideloaded. I've just sort of bricked my older Cyanogen device. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Oh, here's a Windows specific link - http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/10004/accessing-android-market-from-android-sdk/
and be careful with Gingerbreak!
There's also UniversalAndRoot to try http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=747598
and SuperOneClick http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=803682
Poor battery-life
@rocky7st
It depends on usage. Light usage is ok. Any sort of medium/heavy usage won't get you through the day.
I bought it from an ebay seller which sent me 2 batteries which was helpful:
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230614421067
It's is useful since it allows me to occasionally geek out with the camera, playing with apps or using the GPS (i.e. 2 hours straight) and and it'll completely run out of juice by late afternoon.
I usually wait till I get home to recharge it on those occasions, but it's been very useful to be able to switch to the backup battery if I'm out and about and I really need to use the phone.
@everyone_else
On the topic of side-loading apps, my gf has an Android phone with a market on it, so I use the "Astro" file manager which allows you to "Backup" the apks, and then I transfer them to my phone via email.
I've been unable to get my device to show up with adb, so not far enough to try SuperOneClick.
UniversalAndRoot says something like "unable to root"
Z4Root says "running root exploit" and does not progress..
That's bad news but good to know at the same time. Hopefully there will be a method soon. Still waiting on mine but I unbricked my older one. Seems to be an almost total lack of hands-on reviews (outside of a trade show) so I thought someone might be interested in this one. Also, I emailed the author to see whether and how he installed the Market app.
http://120x160.com/old-entries/216-hardware-review-altek-leo-a14-camera-phone
Cheers for the reply jackflap. Do you guys know anything about the Android 2.2 upgrade, I've heard Altek is meant to be releasing it next month.
Okay, I got SuperOneClick working so I have root. ADB worked in windows after installing the Altek software.
ADB in linux still cannot find the phone..
So I tried installing various vending.apk files but keep getting MISSING SHARED LIBRARY or out of date SDK.
@daktak I've been trying to develop for the Leo but have not been able to get ADB to work in windows. Where did you obtain the Altek software?
Hi All,
I am a complete noob here and non technical.
Recently bought an altek leo with the sole purpose of loading an app called Passport Photo Plus and using the device to create passport photopgraphs and to send by Bluetooth to a compatible printer.
We have been doing this on other android smartphones but wanted to use the altek due to its camera features.
It appears that our desired app is ony avaiable on Market.
Being non -technical we have tried and failed to find a way to install this app on our leo.
I'm sure there may be other apps available but we specifically want this one due to it's features.
Does anybody know if this can be done, and if so how? Can anybody point me in the right direction (in easy to understand non tech terms please!)
Would happily pay a small fee for succesful step by step instructions (not sure if I can post that here, if not please ignore / mods pls delete).
Many thanks in advance.
So most of the info available is a bit difficult to find for my specific use since the device is still kinda newish. Information is in the threads, but I figured I’d start this thread to hopefully help others that are looking for similar answers as well. I take ZERO credit for all of this as I’ve done nothing but gathered the relevant information and links to make it easier for others:
I recently acquired several Amazon Fire HD 10 2017 devices. The first one I opened is running 5.4.1.0. There is little to no information about this version of Fire OS. I’m unsure if it’s actually the same as 5.4.0.1. I want to keep my OS version as low as possible in the hopes that someone figures out a root or some other good fancy stuff. I’m also worried about later OS versions breaking the ability to do certain things like 5.6 breaking the ability to uninstall stock apps.
What I have been able to achieve on this device:
1. Uninstalling OTA updates (https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=74672462&postcount=5)
2. Uninstalling Ads from the lockscreen(https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=74428774&postcount=6)
3. Installing the Google Play Store (https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=74602175&postcount=21)
4. Replacing the stock launcher with Google Now launcher(https://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire/general/launcher-root-launcher-hijack-v2-t3561026)
You’ll need to follow this in order to be able to perform the first two
https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/development/tips-tricks-root-t3310569
NOTE: When you power on the device it goes through a set up process. During this process it wants to check for and install updates. When this starts I would recommend just powering it off then powering it back on. It should just tell you it’ll try again later. After that you can continue setting up the device.
Lastly as far as what I’ve read on here the device can’t be rooted.
Hello, great forum!
Joined specifically to ask these questions. I did use "search" here for a while before registering but, never found a clear-cut answer.
So, can I turn my fire 8hd into a regular android tab? Is it possible to COMPLETELY wipe the amazon os and run a normal launcher?
-I never registered device to prime, I followed a guide to add google stuff and nova launcher but, I hate hitting the home button and seeing the amazon home flash before going to nova. It is updated to 5.60. I've been reading some of the threads for hijacking the os (so many versions!) and it just made me even more confused.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Hi, at the moment there is no other OS for these tablets but you can use Launcher Hijack V3 with nova launcher, this should get rid of the flickering of fire OS showing and at least give the appearance of a normal android tablet.
abacabie said:
Hi, at the moment there is no other OS for these tablets but you can use Launcher Hijack V3 with nova launcher, this should get rid of the flickering of fire OS showing and at least give the appearance of a normal android tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply!
Yup, I had installed Hijack v3 when I added everything else but I still see the amazon home flicker briefly.
Next questions would be, have previous version been successfully completed in removing all the amazon stuff and making it a normal android tablet?
If so, is there a general feeling around here that this will be possible in the future with 5.60?
What steps should I take now to block future updates in hopes of making this a normal tablet?
The older Kindle HD (from 2012) can do this, as they've managed to run custom recovery on it. A custom recovery (TWRP or similar) is the first step to being able to actually replace the OS, and as far as I know only the older HD model had that available. Without it, you're stuck with Fire OS for the foreseeable future.
My old 2012 KFHD ran Android 6 Marshmallow for nearly the last 2 years until the charging port starting going haywire, and in an attempt to repair it I accidentally bricked it.
I was going to get another one to replace it, but decided to spend a little more on a more recent edition, the last generation (2016) HD 8. Why? Because as much as I like stock Android, I actually lost access to high definition content in Netflix and Amazon Video streaming services, since it was no longer recognized as a certified device for that. Uncertified devices only get access to lower resolution video, which begs the question- why have an HD tablet for low res video?
Turns out I use my laptop more for work, and this is just a reading/video/casual gaming device for me. The new version is a little faster and has more RAM, and those things work fine if not better in the original Fire OS, so I'm OK with that.
I came here actually wondering if any progress had been made in custom roms/recoveries for the HD8, but this thread confirms what I already figured. If you want a Kindle that you can remove and replace the OS, you need to go back some generations and get an older one.
Hello. I'am new to Android phones and rooting in general. I've been looking over how to root my pixel 2 but it seems duanting. So until I'm comfortable I was combing these forums for an ad free apk version of youtube without requiring a root to be performed.
I've downloaded f Droid to get dns66 which seems to have me covered outside of youtube and pandora but not sure if it's set correctly either lol.
Also if anyone wishes to throw me some tips especially how to work my search fu to get more out of this site. Much appreciated.
I found this
**********.com/download-modded-youtube-apk-with-no-ads/amp/
Been trying to work it but finding I have to install item after item between windows and pixel. Wish me luck I guess
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/app-youtube-vanced-edition-t3758757
So, Fire tablet are kind of trash (except for the price). FireFixer will pretty much do everything Fire Toolbox does, except you just press one button (the only button, actually) to completely fix most problem people have with Fire tablets. It removes ads from the lockscreen (optional, can potentially cause legal issues with Amazon), delete Amazon bloatware, install Google Play and Google Play Services, and install a few custom apps made specifically for FireFixer.
I want to make a few things clear and answer a few questions you might have:
1. It will be free and open source
2. The goal is to make it as easy as possible to use. Not everyone who has a problem with their Fire tablet knows what to do or even what to search. The goal is to make an app that can be installed and completely set up out of the box. No extra installations, nothing. The user should be able to launch the app, plug in their Fire tablet, and click the start button. Of course they will need to turn on developer options and ADB debugging, so instructions on how to do so will be in the app.
3. Help is wanted! There's a lot I want this to do, and I can't make it all on my own. The FireFixer app (the desktop app which makes all the changes to the device) will be written in C# and will use Windows Forms for the UI. The custom made (mobile) apps that come with FireFixer will be written in Java and possibly Kotlin. If you know C# (F# and VB.NET could be useful too) or Java/Kotlin, and want to help, then go to the GitHub repo and start contributing (I'm assuming you know how to use GitHub).
I can't wait to start working on this, I'll post here and possibly make another thread when it's done.