Hi All,
While I was searching for a new device to purchase, this question popped into my head: how do ROM developers decide which devices to support? Admittedly, this question arose because I wanted to find a phone that would be compatible with the most ROMs and is currently still under active development. But I also am genuinely curious as well.
I'm new to the custom ROM scene and just started researching but from what I can understand, most, if not all, developers are doing this on their own free time without any sort of payment. In that case, I would assume, they would only support devices that they have access to, in other words, devices that are currently using and have used. Additionally, developers are probably tech-savvy so I am also assuming that most developers will choose a phone that they think is best. Although what is best is subjective, I believe that there are a common set of desired features which will lead to a couple of devices being more popular than others. As a result, some phones will see support from a wide variety of ROMs while others will see a few or none at all.
I went through a couple of the ROMs I was interested in from this list (https://www.xda-developers.com/the-most-popular-custom-roms-on-xda/), and found that Nexus 5x was common between them all. I can't recall what phone was popular during 2015 but was this phone really so popular/desired that all ROM developers seems to have one lying around in 2019/2020? Its been past 4 years since its launch and I assume that its specs are very outdated compared to what we have now but it is still being supported by many ROMs. What lead to this phone to become such a commonly supported phone by ROM developers?
The Nexus line was at a good price point, good hardware for the time and fully supported factory images from Google with regular updates, next to impossible to hard brick, worked across multiple carriers worldwide, easy to unlock bootloader, custom recoveries available, and popular following. I'm sure I've missed something [emoji846]
Device's that are only available in a limited market, or are unable to be bootloader unlocked, don't have factory images are difficult to support and have a limited following reduces the likelihood that a person interested in developing will buy that phone.
ktmom said:
The Nexus line was at a good price point, good hardware for the time and fully supported factory images from Google with regular updates, next to impossible to hard brick, worked across multiple carriers worldwide, easy to unlock bootloader, custom recoveries available, and popular following. I'm sure I've missed something [emoji846]
Device's that are only available in a limited market, or are unable to be bootloader unlocked, don't have factory images are difficult to support and have a limited following reduces the likelihood that a person interested in developing will buy that phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't mind, could I have your opinion on Moto G5 Plus in regards to ROM support? It appears to be supported by Pixel Experience, AOSP Extended, and ResurrectionRemix so it looks like it has a fair amount of support. However, when I view the top devices page on XDA (https://forum.xda-developers.com/top) I don't see the Moto G5 Plus. Would there be any relationship between the top devices on XDA and devices supported by the most ROMs?
No, there really is not a correlation between the top devices on XDA and ROM support.
The top devices reflects basically the activity within the forum. So new device releases will trigger people's curiosity so even though there may be zero ROM support, the device has activity.
A device like the Moto G5 plus that has been out for awhile, just doesn't have loads of activity in the forums. There is still activity on ROM threads, but it's more sporadic.
Got it, thanks for your help. Looks like I'll just have to keep digging through the forums and rom websites and try to make an educated guess about what device has and will continue having the most rom support.
The lineageOS support for the Nexus 6 is ongoing and that phone was released in 2014. There was a lot of passion surrounding that device, but as developers had their device fail (battery died, screen broken, ect), they moved onto other devices.
My point is, the best you can do is find a popular phone in your price range and hope. The OnePlus series may be worth looking at.
Related
I'm currently trying to choose my first smartphone, and am having real trouble narrowing it down. At the moment it's between an S3, One X+ or a Nexus 4. However this isn't a versus thread, I'm asking about the development communities for Samsung and HTC devices.
1. Which company (HTC and Samsung) is more supportive to developers, and which flagship phone has the best support from developers themselves?
I'm guessing since the S3 is more popular, it has better developer support, but I also hear that Samsung refuse to release an Exonys source code or something, whereas HTC allows bootloaders to be unlocked, but that doesn't mean it's particularly easy to install custom kernals or roms to HTC devices. Do either of those issues affect the S3 or One X?
2. Which device out of the S3 and One X currently has stable roms that have most original features working (like fully functioning GPS, wifi, camera and all that)?
If I were to get a non-Nexus device, ideally I'd like to flash it back to stock Android to have them as close as a Nexus device as possible, or with a custom rom based on stock android.
3. If you had to order all the manufacturers in terms of the quality and quantity of bug-free custom roms available, and ease of installing them, how would you order it?
For example, Nexus > Samsung > Motorola > HTC > Asus, or whatever.
Also for those asking why I don't simply go for the Nexus 4, it's because the build quality issues frighten me a bit.
Smeghead_ said:
I'm currently trying to choose my first smartphone, and am having real trouble narrowing it down. At the moment it's between an S3, One X+ or a Nexus 4. However this isn't a versus thread, I'm asking about the development communities for Samsung and HTC devices.
1. Which company (HTC and Samsung) is more supportive to developers, and which flagship phone has the best support from developers themselves?
I'm guessing since the S3 is more popular, it has better developer support, but I also hear that Samsung refuse to release an Exonys source code or something, whereas HTC allows bootloaders to be unlocked, but that doesn't mean it's particularly easy to install custom kernals or roms to HTC devices. Do either of those issues affect the S3 or One X?
2. Which device out of the S3 and One X currently has stable roms that have most original features working (like fully functioning GPS, wifi, camera and all that)?
If I were to get a non-Nexus device, ideally I'd like to flash it back to stock Android to have them as close as a Nexus device as possible, or with a custom rom based on stock android.
3. If you had to order all the manufacturers in terms of the quality and quantity of bug-free custom roms available, and ease of installing them, how would you order it?
For example, Nexus > Samsung > Motorola > HTC > Asus, or whatever.
Also for those asking why I don't simply go for the Nexus 4, it's because the build quality issues frighten me a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna km this now before it turns into what we both know will happen.
I will put it to you this way. No ROM is bug free and never will be. To many personal options for the dev the test out. XDA is not about ROMs. It is about development. While you may think they are the same, they are not. Development is all about trying new things and making new stuff up as you go along. Not how stable you can make a ROM.
Each device has its followers and its fans. You will find most of the OG developers prefer HTC ad this is where we all started. Then enter the android devs they tend to lean to the nexus as it was built to use the open source drivers. Unlike the rest. Samsung makes good screens but the refusal to release the code or anything to help is an end game for most.
People will always jump to the newest thing. This is how they are programmed to be. Get a device that does what you need and the rest will follow
Thread closed
Batcom2
Hi guys,
I have bought the phonebaby6s from amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Sudroid-SOYES-Smartphone-Android-Mtk6572/dp/B01M8LM868/
This phone is terrific. It fits easily in the palm of your hand, runs android 5.1 and does most of what I want from a mobile phone. I'm having some problems with the phone and would like to ask questions about it here. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a forum for this phone on XDA developers. The phone seems to be sold by several vendors ( sudroid, Soyes, hippipoo and possibly others. ). I am not able to find a support site. None of the vendors have web sites and there is no information available from google. There are at least two versions of the phone . Mine is LTE but some are 3G only.
On kickstarter right now is a project for the Jelly phone. The Jelly is both larger and has a smaller battery than the phonebaby6s. The PhoneBaby is a terrific device and needs it's own forum.
I want to find info on rooting the phone. The phone is hanging on updates at the moment. I also have not been able to use USB transfer due to unknown device error.
yahoodimenuin said:
Hi guys,
I have bought the phonebaby6s from amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Sudroid-SOYES-Smartphone-Android-Mtk6572/dp/B01M8LM868/
This phone is terrific. It fits easily in the palm of your hand, runs android 5.1 and does most of what I want from a mobile phone. I'm having some problems with the phone and would like to ask questions about it here. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a forum for this phone on XDA developers. The phone seems to be sold by several vendors ( sudroid, Soyes, hippipoo and possibly others. ). I am not able to find a support site. None of the vendors have web sites and there is no information available from google. There are at least two versions of the phone . Mine is LTE but some are 3G only.
On kickstarter right now is a project for the Jelly phone. The Jelly is both larger and has a smaller battery than the phonebaby6s. The PhoneBaby is a terrific device and needs it's own forum.
I want to find info on rooting the phone. The phone is hanging on updates at the moment. I also have not been able to use USB transfer due to unknown device error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your phone is not an actual supported device made by a real company/manufacturer. Your device is one of the devices known as a "clone". There are a lot of so-called "companies" that use various pieces of cheap Chinese hardware components that were originally designed for other devices, they put all these components together even though they weren't designed to work with each other(similar to building a car from parts of other cars) then they "hack" together an operating system for the device, usually the OS on a clone is unstable.
They do not have an actual company to support the device, they have no stock source code to release and no stock firmware to make available to the public. This is because the devices they make are not all made of the same combination of components and this makes it impossible for them to have a stock source code or stock firmware because each of the devices would not be able to use it even though the devices all "look" the same and have the same "name".
You probably won't find any kind of information about the device and I can almost guarantee that the device will not be supported at XDA unless you do it yourself. There are no developers that would ever own or work on that device because it's not something that any of them would be interested in, they all have much better devices than that and they only work on the devices they personally own. If you want root and custom recoveries or ROMs then you'll have to figure all that out and put it all together for yourself. And even if you do all of that and build your own recovery and your own ROMs and post them on XDA, it still won't get its own forum because I can guarantee that there are not enough people that own that device, XDA only creates forums for devices that have a large community of users that own the device.
Your device is just too "unknown"
Get a better device and stop buying generic Chinese devices.
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
Hi there,
This phone comes with Nougat and thus it's more or less easy to find some custom Nougat ROMs for the device. However, for need of running an app which requires Marshmallow, and the inability to return or change the phone, I'm looking to compile a custom Android 6 ROM for this phone. Is this possible at all? Given that many people would have lots more expertise in this task than I will ever have, I'm curious as to what a quote for this work would be. I would seriously consider reasonable quotes and would not require this to be an exclusive product (i.e. if the dev wants to publish the ROM it would be fine by me).
Cheers,
Eduardo
You are gonna have a hard time. The biggest issue will be the lack of a marshmallow kernel source for the device and a lot changed. When I say a lot I mean a lot like all the way down to the runtime.
So pretty much without that you will have to make the kernel and all the drivers from scratch. A price tag on that would be in the thousands and require hundreds of hours of work. That is not even saying that it will work at all.
As posted in the Title, I need a tablet to use for dev/test/demo purposes. Mostly B2B applications. I'm having a hard time finding one that meets my needs. Please help!
Preferences:
1. Would like to stay as close to stock android as possible.
2. Updates and Support. There are two routes in mind, a very cheap device that we would have to replace frequently, or preferably a more solid device that will get updates for years to come.
Side note: Root and custom rom might get approved with a device with a factory unlock-able bootloader. This would have to be from a company with a good track record like OnePlus for example.
In the past we've used Nexus devices for dev/test/demo purposes. Now that those are no longer made, we'll probably get a pixel 3a for a phone form factor. They've supported the original for over 3 years now. Correct me if that's not a good option.
Mods, feel free to move this if there is a better place for this question.
I'm interested in this phone and wondering what custom ROM support may be like for the device? I had a quick look at the pixel 4 and it's not massively supported but I don't really know how recent or popular it is?
I'm currently using a Xiaomi mi9t with pixel experience+. I know the p4a will be similar if not the same minus the additional features added in the pe+ version, which I quite like tbh.
I know it's early days and probably most can't even get their hands on the phone yet but curious what you might expect based on previous pixel devices?
I would also be interested in this. The 4a's "stock" Android is fine, but there are very few customization options. For example, the setting to hide specific Satus Bar icons is available in Settings but greyed out and inaccessible. I would really love to install LineageOS on this device.
As for popularity, the Pixel 4 was expensive and had poor battery life, so I don't think it had many adopters. The 4a on the otherhand is a steal at $350 and in a post-COVID world, I can see many people who need a new device going for the budget option. I really hope this helps us build a large development community
I plan on staying stock for a few weeks, but rooting and flashing roms is a weekly thing for me. I'm sure there will be plenty fairly quickly. Our codename is "sunfish", right? Much better than my current dumpling.
Sent from my OnePlus 5T using XDA Labs
One of the main developers at DU got one, it's a safe bet ROMs will be available
I would be super shocked if this device does not get any rom support as popular as it is. I believe a couple of devs have said they will start developing roms.