LG's lack of development community support - G3 General

I was really surprised to learn that LG don't have a bootloader unlocking service like even HTC have done and given that the LG never managed to unlock the bootloader, I'm quite surprised that there wasn't more of a community outcry. What is up with that? Have LG ever spoken of supporting the development community? Is it unlikely that we'll see it happen within the flagship lifetime of our device?
NB: This is discussion topic, it's really not a question/answer topic.

sabret00the said:
I was really surprised to learn that LG don't have a bootloader unlocking service like even HTC have done and given that the LG never managed to unlock the bootloader, I'm quite surprised that there wasn't more of a community outcry. What is up with that? Have LG ever spoken of supporting the development community? Is it unlikely that we'll see it happen within the flagship lifetime of our device?
NB: This is discussion topic, it's really not a question/answer topic.
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whoa is this 100% correct? if that's the case I will strongly reconsider getting the G3 and will probably go for either M8 or Z2...

Well, coming from an LG Nexus 5, I can tell you that the development community is booming over there. But that's to be expected with a Nexus device. I'm planning on switching from the Nexus 5 to the G3 (ordered yesterday) in an effort to no longer sacrifice hardware in order to get the vanilla Android experience. These days I'd rather give up some of the software advantages in AOSP ROMs in order to get significantly better hardware.
Unfortunately, it's a sacrifice one way or another. And if you buy a phone such as the G3 you must do so expecting that the development for it will take significantly longer and will likely have less options. However, in my opinion the interface/features offered in the latest stock LG interfaces are quite improved and look/feel much better than the interfaces provided by other manufacturers. I don't think I'll have any issue using the stock interface with the LG for many months after coming from the previous 4 generations of Nexus devices.
The vanilla Android experience has gotten quite boring in my opinion and I welcome the features that will be available on LG's stock ROM.

cez10 said:
whoa is this 100% correct? if that's the case I will strongly reconsider getting the G3 and will probably go for either M8 or Z2...
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Sadly yes, it's something I should've looked into in the six months of waiting for this phone. But it's sadly the case. Even on the G2, they couldn't unlock the bootloader and instead had to bypass it.
sn0warmy said:
Well, coming from an LG Nexus 5, I can tell you that the development community is booming over there. But that's to be expected with a Nexus device. I'm planning on switching from the Nexus 5 to the G3 (ordered yesterday) in an effort to no longer sacrifice hardware in order to get the vanilla Android experience. These days I'd rather give up some of the software advantages in AOSP ROMs in order to get significantly better hardware.
Unfortunately, it's a sacrifice one way or another. And if you buy a phone such as the G3 you must do so expecting that the development for it will take significantly longer and will likely have less options. However, in my opinion the interface/features offered in the latest stock LG interfaces are quite improved and look/feel much better than the interfaces provided by other manufacturers. I don't think I'll have any issue using the stock interface with the LG for many months after coming from the previous 4 generations of Nexus devices.
The vanilla Android experience has gotten quite boring in my opinion and I welcome the features that will be available on LG's stock ROM.
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If you have the patience, I'd recommend waiting a little while to see if they announce a GPe of the G3. That could provide you with the best of both worlds.

Development will improve for sure - the phone has only been out less than a week (D855) with most people still not having received their devices yet and is not even released in the US. It seems the Korean models have shipped with an unlocked bootloader (from what I have heard) and as for the D855 no one has yet confirmed it a) it is locked and b) if it can be unlocked.
I have certainly not looked into it yet myself, although if it is locked, unlocking via any "hacking" method, is beyond my knowledge, someone smarter than me will have to tell us how to do that.
Give it time, development is always slow in the first month of a new device (unless its a nexus), and tends ot only pick up after release in the USA.

sabret00the said:
If you have the patience, I'd recommend waiting a little while to see if they announce a GPe of the G3. That could provide you with the best of both worlds.
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Eh, if they release a GP edition G3 it will still pay to have this one because any AOSP ROMs for the GP edition will be quickly ported over to the non-GP edition anyway. I plan on keeping this phone but will also still be happy if they come out with a GP edition as well so we can get some AOSP source code up and running for this device.
And I'm not worried about the bootloader being locked. Someone ALWAYS finds a way to unlock it rather quickly these days.
Personally, my goal with this phone is to root it to get my DPI settings where I want them and get rid of any bloat that may cause the phone to slow down. If I can manage to accomplish those two things, I'll be happy (and it's already doable). My days of rooting, flashing ROMs, bricking, unbricking, and flashing more ROMs are over. At this point I just want a solid phone that works flawlessly.

Lennyuk said:
Development will improve for sure - the phone has only been out less than a week (D855) with most people still not having received their devices yet and is not even released in the US. It seems the Korean models have shipped with an unlocked bootloader (from what I have heard) and as for the D855 no one has yet confirmed it a) it is locked and b) if it can be unlocked.
I have certainly not looked into it yet myself, although if it is locked, unlocking via any "hacking" method, is beyond my knowledge, someone smarter than me will have to tell us how to do that.
Give it time, development is always slow in the first month of a new device (unless its a nexus), and tends ot only pick up after release in the USA.
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I'm not so much talking about from the community side, I have faith the community will find an unlock or bypass method. I'm more so talking about from LG's point of view. They don't seem to be supportive hence no official channel to unlock the G2 bootloader despite the G3 launching globally this week.

sabret00the said:
I'm not so much talking about from the community side, I have faith the community will find an unlock or bypass method. I'm more so talking about from LG's point of view. They don't seem to be supportive hence no official channel to unlock the G2 bootloader despite the G3 launching globally this week.
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Remember it took years to get HTC to provide an unlock tool (and the company nearly going bankrupt!), Moto and Sony were the same - moto becoming better when Google acquired them and Sony nearly gave up making android devices completely before they decided to become more dev friendly.
Basically companies only provide unlock methods as a last resort, when they feel its the only way to improve their sales. LG haven't needed this yet.
There are still plenty of devices where you cannot officially unlock the bootloader, its not just an LG thing.

Lennyuk said:
Remember it took years to get HTC to provide an unlock tool (and the company nearly going bankrupt!), Moto and Sony were the same - moto becoming better when Google acquired them and Sony nearly gave up making android devices completely before they decided to become more dev friendly.
Basically companies only provide unlock methods as a last resort, when they feel its the only way to improve their sales. LG haven't needed this yet.
There are still plenty of devices where you cannot officially unlock the bootloader, its not just an LG thing.
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I totally hear you, but with the success Sony have enjoyed, you'd hope manufacturers would get involved early on.

Lennyuk said:
and as for the D855 no one has yet confirmed it a) it is locked and b) if it can be unlocked.
I have certainly not looked into it yet myself, although if it is locked, unlocking via any "hacking" method, is beyond my knowledge, someone smarter than me will have to tell us how to do that.
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Is this something that is easy to check?

Dubhar said:
Is this something that is easy to check?
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I can't even access the bootloader. Despite turning USB debugging on, I can't get ADB to recognise the phone. I started a thread to check if others have a similar problem.

It's a flagship, I'm not worried about development support. Look at the g2, it got cm support. Plus the LG software looks decent, not too basic like HTC or too intrusive like Samsungs touchwiz

sabret00the said:
I can't even access the bootloader. Despite turning USB debugging on, I can't get ADB to recognise the phone. I started a thread to check if others have a similar problem.
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I rooted D855 yesterday using ioroot and as a part of the process "adb devices" did show the phone with USB debugging on.
I had to install lg unified driver so windows 8 had a right driver for it.

Heisenberg420 said:
It's a flagship, I'm not worried about development support. Look at the g2, it got cm support. Plus the LG software looks decent, not too basic like HTC or too intrusive like Samsungs touchwiz
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This thread is about development support from LG. Please read threads before commenting. The G2 you mentioned was given as an example of the lack of support previously provided by LG.
jodvova said:
I rooted D855 yesterday using ioroot and as a part of the process "adb devices" did show the phone with USB debugging on.
I had to install lg unified driver so windows 8 had a right driver for it.
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Perhaps I need to update my drivers then. Though that's nearly unheard of as I'm on Linux.

If i can atleast root the phone to remove the bloatware, I'll be happy for a little while.

sabret00the said:
This thread is about development support from LG. Please read threads before commenting. The G2 you mentioned was given as an example of the lack of support previously provided by LG.
Perhaps I need to update my drivers then. Though that's nearly unheard of as I'm on Linux.
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Hm, i've not check on Linux yet, but it is recognised on windows with the right USB drivers installed. Maybe its lacking some udev rule to properly recognise the device?
The LGD855 boots into recovery with adb reboot recovery, but not the bootloader using adb reboot-bootloader its just reboots. I goes into download mode with power+volume up, that about all ive tried.
Slash8915 said:
If i can atleast root the phone to remove the bloatware, I'll be happy for a little while.
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towelroot worked.

on Win 7 by flashing sphinxrom for d855 and s,k,l :
when i was installing the lg driver, it installed the AndroidNet Sooner Single ADB Interface
i had to change it Android ADB Interface

what the hell the device just came out give it some time

daddioj said:
what the hell the device just came out give it some time
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What the hell can't you read & understand what OP has said or trying to say? (sorry no offence intended). He isn't talking about the support of the development community to this device(G3), which by the way will certainly pick up from what it is now, but he is talking about LG's support to the development community(being more developer friendly as Sony & HTC).
And even if we talk about how much active Android development this device(& it's variants) will see, then let me tell you that the development activity of this device will(probably) never be as much as you see with other flagship devices like HTC One(M7 & m8), that is because a) HTC is more developer friendly by letting you to unlock the bootloader & thus making easy for developers to port(make) ROMs, recoveries & what not, where as with LG & G2 it is entirely different case(ask any developer involved in G2 development, how difficult it is or was to make a recovery or a ROM for G2 and for common flahers the risk factor of flashing those recoveries & ROMs that much more because all the solutions based on a bypassing solution with many permutations & combinations rather than a fully unlockable bootloader just as with HTC devices and b) they are more popular devices among people(as much successful the G2 was it wasn't sold as many as S4s & S5s or M7s & M8s).
We all hope that LG will follow HTC & Sony in being developer frienly. No doubt they are making beautiful devices like G2 & now G3. But sadly, as one of other member pointed out above, it is at the stage of extinction that a manufacturer tend to be more friendly with developer community.

st_7 said:
What the hell can't you read & understand what OP has said or trying to say? (sorry no offence intended). He isn't talking about the support of the development community to this device(G3), which by the way will certainly pick up from what it is now, but he is talking about LG's support to the development community(being more developer friendly as Sony & HTC).
And even if we talk about how much active Android development this device(& it's variants) will see, then let me tell you that the development activity of this device will(probably) never be as much as you see with other flagship devices like HTC One(M7 & m8), that is because a) HTC is more developer friendly by letting you to unlock the bootloader & thus making easy for developers to port(make) ROMs, recoveries & what not, where as with LG & G2 it is entirely different case(ask any developer involved in G2 development, how difficult it is or was to make a recovery or a ROM for G2 and for common flahers the risk factor of flashing those recoveries & ROMs that much more because all the solutions based on a bypassing solution with many permutations & combinations rather than a fully unlockable bootloader just as with HTC devices and b) they are more popular devices among people(as much successful the G2 was it wasn't sold as many as S4s & S5s or M7s & M8s).
We all hope that LG will follow HTC & Sony in being developer frienly. No doubt they are making beautiful devices like G2 & now G3. But sadly, as one of other member pointed out above, it is at the stage of extinction that a manufacturer tend to be more friendly with developer community.
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i am Guilty of not reading the whole Thread

Related

Danger!! **{developer edition only}**

That header should be put at the top of every post that talks about the "DEVELOPER EDITION" otherwise some sad owner of the Note 4 is going to brick their phone.
doctor-cool said:
That header should be put at the top of every post that talks about the "DEVELOPER EDITION" otherwise some sad owner of the Note 4 is going to brick their phone.
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How are they going to brick their phone? With the locked bootloader and no root, there is no recovery to flash anything.
Trying to flash any sort CF Root or custom recovery will indeed brick a Note 4 CE
Also people running out and buying the DE not knowing that the device also only has a 30 day warranty..
deathshead said:
Also people running out and buying the DE not knowing that the device also only has a 30 day warranty..
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If you want you can buy the Samsung Samsung Protection Plus℠ Mobile Elite* for Galaxy Note® 3 and Galaxy Note® 4 for $ 129 2 yr extended warranty coverage from the DOP . http://www.samsung.com/us/owners/protection-plus/mobile-elite/
KennyG123 said:
How are they going to brick their phone? With the locked bootloader and no root, there is no recovery to flash anything.
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KennyG123 I appreciate what you are saying but I need to disagree with the notion that there is not a need to provide a distinction between threads that focus on mods for the retail versions of the Note 4 and those that focus on the Developer Edition of the Note 4. As you know, the Retail version and the Developer Edition of the Note 4 are identical except for one very important element...the bootloader. Mods/hacks etc. designed for one can be very detrimental to the other. They are not compatible in this respect.
I'm sure with your experience and expertise that you have seen many, perhaps hundreds, of inexperienced users, excited about taking advantage of their new Android phone and its potential for modding, do something that bricks their phone because they simply didn't know better. Distinguishing threads intended for Developer Edition phones is not intended to benefit the knowledgeable "crack flasher", developer, coder or themer, it is intended to help the "noob" or less experience user from doing something that will brick their phone or lock their bootloader.
With recovery and root now available for the Developer Edition Note 4 ROMs are not far behind. And, hopefully root and SafeStrap will be available for the retail version soon. With that/those events, the ability for new/inexperienced users (both retail owners and developer edition owners) to separate what's safe to flash and what isn't is going to get very complicated. This is only going to be compounded as OTAs begin to be released and different version of firmware start to show up for users to flash. Having a way to separate or distinguish threads intended for Retail users only or Developer Edition users only makes sense to me. Just saying. No rant intended. Thank you for listening.
Only $129? Wow, what a deal. I'll take 2.
doctor-cool said:
That header should be put at the top of every post that talks about the "DEVELOPER EDITION" otherwise some sad owner of the Note 4 is going to brick their phone.
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I absolutely agree.
doctor-cool said:
That header should be put at the top of every post that talks about the "DEVELOPER EDITION" otherwise some sad owner of the Note 4 is going to brick their phone.
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Click to collapse
people should read. if they dont know that their phone is locked and doesnt have recovery not my problem if they brick their device
Personally I'd rather see a separate forum for all the Developer specific stuff. Drop it all there so there is no confusion... but that's just me.
Chuck_IV said:
Personally I'd rather see a separate forum for all the Developer specific stuff. Drop it all there so there is no confusion... but that's just me.
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No it's not just you. There are many of us forum users, both Retail and Dev Edition users, that agree with you.
jpcalhoun said:
KennyG123 I appreciate what you are saying but I need to disagree with the notion that there is not a need to provide a distinction between threads that focus on mods for the retail versions of the Note 4 and those that focus on the Developer Edition of the Note 4. As you know, the Retail version and the Developer Edition of the Note 4 are identical except for one very important element...the bootloader. Mods/hacks etc. designed for one can be very detrimental to the other. They are not compatible in this respect.
I'm sure with your experience and expertise that you have seen many, perhaps hundreds, of inexperienced users, excited about taking advantage of their new Android phone and its potential for modding, do something that bricks their phone because they simply didn't know better. Distinguishing threads intended for Developer Edition phones is not intended to benefit the knowledgeable "crack flasher", developer, coder or themer, it is intended to help the "noob" or less experience user from doing something that will brick their phone or lock their bootloader.
With recovery and root now available for the Developer Edition Note 4 ROMs are not far behind. And, hopefully root and SafeStrap will be available for the retail version soon. With that/those events, the ability for new/inexperienced users (both retail owners and developer edition owners) to separate what's safe to flash and what isn't is going to get very complicated. This is only going to be compounded as OTAs begin to be released and different version of firmware start to show up for users to flash. Having a way to separate or distinguish threads intended for Retail users only or Developer Edition users only makes sense to me. Just saying. No rant intended. Thank you for listening.
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The only threads that need warnings are those for root and those for recovery. There has been no issue with the S4, S5 or Note 3 sections. Again without recovery nothing will flash and no harm can come to the phones. They are exactly the same devices, just bootloader unlocked. People desperate to root will try anything in spite of the warnings. As far as I have seen on previous devices attempts to install recovery will fail and worse that happened was they had to Odin in Stock tar. As I said, unlocked developers editions are not new. They have been in use for Sammy Verizon for almost 2 years with no need for a separate section. If anything the locked edition should be confined to General and Q&A. With so many variants of the same device people will always use the wrong thing. No amount of warnings has ever stopped that. Read through the Sprint S3 sections and find all the bricks caused by flashing international ROMs. Both sections have warnings posted clearly. So we really don't need "the sky is falling" kind of thing here. We just need people to read. The information is there.
KennyG123 said:
The only threads that need warnings are those for root and those for recovery. There has been no issue with the S4, S5 or Note 3 sections. Again without recovery nothing will flash and no harm can come to the phones. They are exactly the same devices, just bootloader unlocked. People desperate to root will try anything in spite of the warnings. As far as I have seen on previous devices attempts to install recovery will fail and worse that happened was they had to Odin in Stock tar. As I said, unlocked developers editions are not new. They have been in use for Sammy Verizon for almost 2 years with no need for a separate section. If anything the locked edition should be confined to General and Q&A. With so many variants of the same device people will always use the wrong thing. No amount of warnings has ever stopped that. Read through the Sprint S3 sections and find all the bricks caused by flashing international ROMs. Both sections have warnings posted clearly. So we really don't need "the sky is falling" kind of thing here. We just need people to read. The information is there.
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Thanks KennyG123 for your response. I totally concur, reading and researching what you have and what you want to do is the first step for any user. I came to the Note 4 from the DE5 and thankfully when ROMs started to appear the developer or OPs did specify whether the ROM was for retail or DE users. I hope this will be true for the Note 4.
jpcalhoun said:
Thanks KennyG123 for your response. I totally concur, reading and researching what you have and what you want to do is the first step for any user. I came to the Note 4 from the DE5 and thankfully when ROMs started to appear the developer or OPs did specify whether the ROM was for retail or DE users. I hope this will be true for the Note 4.
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Unfortunately this lock down of Verizon and AT&T devices has killed development since the S4. This is the other thing to think about... If someone does crack the bootloader or finds a root and SafeStrap like method, suddenly all the DE ROMs will be usable by all.
jpcalhoun said:
KennyG123 I appreciate what you are saying but I need to disagree with the notion that there is not a need to provide a distinction between threads that focus on mods for the retail versions of the Note 4 and those that focus on the Developer Edition of the Note 4. As you know, the Retail version and the Developer Edition of the Note 4 are identical except for one very important element...the bootloader. Mods/hacks etc. designed for one can be very detrimental to the other. They are not compatible in this respect.
I'm sure with your experience and expertise that you have seen many, perhaps hundreds, of inexperienced users, excited about taking advantage of their new Android phone and its potential for modding, do something that bricks their phone because they simply didn't know better. Distinguishing threads intended for Developer Edition phones is not intended to benefit the knowledgeable "crack flasher", developer, coder or themer, it is intended to help the "noob" or less experience user from doing something that will brick their phone or lock their bootloader.
With recovery and root now available for the Developer Edition Note 4 ROMs are not far behind. And, hopefully root and SafeStrap will be available for the retail version soon. With that/those events, the ability for new/inexperienced users (both retail owners and developer edition owners) to separate what's safe to flash and what isn't is going to get very complicated. This is only going to be compounded as OTAs begin to be released and different version of firmware start to show up for users to flash. Having a way to separate or distinguish threads intended for Retail users only or Developer Edition users only makes sense to me. Just saying. No rant intended. Thank you for listening.
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Click to collapse
^^ This, thank you.
KennyG123 said:
The only threads that need warnings are those for root and those for recovery. There has been no issue with the S4, S5 or Note 3 sections.
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I don't post much here as I usually find my answers with a little searching, but I'm a daily lurker and have been since the days of OG droid. I strongly disagree with your statement. There has indeed been plenty of confusion in the Note 3 threads. Also a good little bit of drama and some anger over poorly marked threads. Yes, the threads should be more clearly marked "Developer Edition" by the OP, but it doesn't always happen. In the end, I think it just makes more work for you to moderate but that's your choice.
KennyG123 said:
Unfortunately this lock down of Verizon and AT&T devices has killed development since the S4. This is the other thing to think about... If someone does crack the bootloader or finds a root and SafeStrap like method, suddenly all the DE ROMs will be usable by all.
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Well, you'd think so, but (in the case of the S5 anyway) the number of ROMs available for the retail version out number the number available for the developer edition. You'd think that it would be the other way around. Most developers aren't releasing two versions, one for retail (SafeStrap) and one for DEs. As of last week anyway. Either way, development for the S5, either model, is pretty slim. And, the unified ROMs (AOSP) just don't seem to be ready for prime time. There is always something that just doesn't work right or not at all.
But I have faith. I hope the Note 4 will be blessed with a multitude of ROMs to accommodate a wide range of user wishes and desires...besides it's getting close to Christmas, gotta have faith, right?
jpcalhoun said:
Well, you'd think so, but (in the case of the S5 anyway) the number of ROMs available for the retail version out number the number available for the developer edition. You'd think that it would be the other way around. Most developers aren't releasing two versions, one for retail (SafeStrap) and one for DEs. As of last week anyway. Either way, development for the S5, either model, is pretty slim. And, the unified ROMs (AOSP) just don't seem to be ready for prime time. There is always something that just doesn't work right or not at all.
But I have faith. I hope the Note 4 will be blessed with a multitude of ROMs to accommodate a wide range of user wishes and desires...besides it's getting close to Christmas, gotta have faith, right?
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That is because so few of the DE's were sold.
Adding more forums only adds to the risk of someone flashing the wrong thing. Better they see threads like this than assuming all Verizon variants are the same. There are many other variants that have no forums, US Cellular, Metro, Boost, some Chinese knock off... It is ludicrous to make a separate section for every one. Developers have usually been good about properly marking their work.
If people don't read the documentation then the only person at fault is themselves.
deathshead said:
Also people running out and buying the DE not knowing that the device also only has a 30 day warranty..
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To those who have bought many the 30 day is well known . Don't have any issue with this. It's also voided the second that the phone is unlocked and rooted. i am buying the phone to void a warranty.
Chuck_IV said:
Personally I'd rather see a separate forum for all the Developer specific stuff. Drop it all there so there is no confusion... but that's just me.
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I 100% agree with this.

[Q] What Happened to this phone?

Let's be honest to ourselves here guys, out beloved Moto X Style was officially released in September which means this phone has now been out for at least 3 months and while all the effort that has since been put in this devices by key developers and people from day 1 up till now is very much appreciated and will continue to be appreciated, the development of this device compared to most flagships has been slow motion.
I am just trying to understand what the hell went wrong with this phone that made it end up with such super slow motion development, as when I originally bought the device I was thinking this phone would be at least in the top 20 most active phones on XDA development wise.
It had so much going for it, easy root, easy unlockable bootloader, a pretty much almost complete stock version of android, kernel sources released and motorolas good track record of updating their flagship phones in a timely manner and good hardware to accompany the great bloatware free stock software and a cheap price compared to some other flagships from other companies such as Samsung and Sony
With all this in mind I thought developers would flock to this device and we would have a massive development forum with loads of options between custom roms, mods, themes and other tweaks etc
But this is far from the case and I know the Nexus 6P being released probably had something to do with it, Still this should have been at least in top 20
At first I thought when Android 6.0 MM will be released development will increase then we needed the kernel sources as that was apparently not enough, then we had kernel sources but apart from 1 or 2 roms showing up being in alpha stages nothings changed too much.
This is such a disappointment to say the least.
If only I could understand why this is happening maybe something could be done to fix this or increase the development of this phone, I dont know maybe get some developers from the nexus 6p forums on here some how ...
Any ideas why this has happened and if anything can be done to increase development?
IS THERE ANY WAY WE AS A COMMUNITY CAN GET MORE DEVELOPERS TO WORK ON THIS DEVICE?
djsynth said:
If only I could understand why this is happening maybe something could be done to fix this or increase the development of this phone, I dont know maybe get some developers from the nexus 6p forums on here some how ...
Any ideas why this has happened and if anything can be done to increase development?
IS THERE ANY WAY WE AS A COMMUNITY CAN GET MORE DEVELOPERS TO WORK ON THIS DEVICE?
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I think it's due to a combination of factors, such as :
1) The popularity of the phone/ manufacturer. These figures show Lenovo/Motorloa in 5th place for sales, having a 3.7% market share in Q3 2015
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
3) With phones getting more expensive, more people are put off from unlocking their bootloader due to warranty issues
4) I'm no longer convinced about the benefits of custom ROMs - seems a lot of the time they break more things than they fix. Maybe a lot of other people now think the same.
5) Some apps, for example ones for mobile banking or subscrition TV & Video, will not work with a rooted phone.
In the past I've had various phones from various manufacturers, and I'd say if you get your kicks from installing custom ROMs, then buy a Nexus.
When i had the one plus one there were so many roms that was a brain storm... I prefer some and reliable roms than a plethora where you get confused!!!
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
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4) I'm no longer convinced about the benefits of custom ROMs - seems a lot of the time they break more things than they fix. Maybe a lot of other people now think the same.
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IMO you hit the nail on the head. I love this phone. I had the MXPE 2014 as well, was not a fan. Also owned the original, Loved it.
This MXPE has been great in imo, the lack of development has not been disappointing to me. The stock rom is really pretty good, there are minor tweaks that can be done but most can do these on their own.
I used to be a flash-aholic, but like @GretaLewd has stated...custom roms tend to break things. I'm more in favor of kernel development. But how many different kernels can you have? One way or another they'll be the same.
I also own a Nexus 6P, but my MXPE is my go to device.
I see users complaining about this phone constantly, I really don't think it matters what phone you put in the hands of those users...they would still find fault and complain.
Motorola and Lenovo did good by this device, I just hope they keep up with incrementals for a while.
Isn't the 64bit cpu reason because it takes more work to get cm/aosp roms?
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Good thread. Would love to hear more thoughts
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Ordered the device today. Hope slow development doesn't disappoint me on this device, as others have stated...
I have been using this device for 2 months now. I am happy with it an didn't face a single issue. I can do a little bit tweaking myself using Xposed.
So far the slow development doesn't bother me.
Only buy a device for what it can do out of the box, not what you hope it will be able to do with additional modding and development... Nothing else is guaranteed!
As it stands I'm very happy with my rooted stock Style, not need for custom roms.
chrisund123 said:
Only buy a device for what it can do out of the box, not what you hope it will be able to do with additional modding and development... Nothing else is guaranteed!
As it stands I'm very happy with my rooted stock Style, not need for custom roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a good way to approach Android phones I suppose but I believe
it's still nice to buy a phone that's great out of the box and good development wise, usually flagships tend to have good development and then the mid range and low end phones tend to get smaller developments but I guess there's an exception to everything.
patt2k said:
Isn't the 64bit cpu reason because it takes more work to get cm/aosp roms?
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that's the reason since 64 Bit has been the standard since Lollipop and pretty much all the flagships have a 64bit cpu since the beggining of 2015 but that doesn't stop other development forums from flourishing.
GretaLewd said:
I think it's due to a combination of factors, such as :
1) The popularity of the phone/ manufacturer. These figures show Lenovo/Motorloa in 5th place for sales, having a 3.7% market share in Q3 2015
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
3) With phones getting more expensive, more people are put off from unlocking their bootloader due to warranty issues
4) I'm no longer convinced about the benefits of custom ROMs - seems a lot of the time they break more things than they fix. Maybe a lot of other people now think the same.
5) Some apps, for example ones for mobile banking or subscrition TV & Video, will not work with a rooted phone.
In the past I've had various phones from various manufacturers, and I'd say if you get your kicks from installing custom ROMs, then buy a Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your break down on your thoughts of the subject and I must admit you've mention some very valid points here especially Point 1,2 and 5 but I think out of all of these its Point 1 and 2 that are the most significant, I suppose Motorola have a really small market share explains the lack of adoption between developers when comparing to some of the more prominent manufacturers such as samsung.
and The Android Stock OS has improved significantly within the past couple of years adding some new features that previously people had to root their phones to acomplish such as full app permission controls and backing up app data which google does for you now.
You need to follow development before buying a device these days. i.e. always wait at least 1-2 months. If you follow the development forums you would get an idea if developers are interested in said device or not. I for one, bought it right after I found out that AICP (CM12) rom was being developed. I was interested in running CM13 instead of other AOSP variations. And before I got the device the first (almost daily driver) builds were already uploaded.
Once cm is solid quite a few roms will pop up. Won't be long now.
Official MM has only been out for our phone for a little over a month. give it some time it may pick up. either way it's still an awesome phone out the box... and as stated above, once CM13 is stable im sure we'll see some of the other custom ROMs that are based off it.
GretaLewd said:
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a great point, but I'd like to add that this is especially applicable to our MXPE. We're really close to stock as it is, so there's little motivation to go ROM to debloat like there is on Samsung, LG, and similar phones. On the flip side, we have a lot of really neat features (active display, approach, accelerator gestures, voice controls) that we would lose if we went ROM.
For me, these two points combine, leaving me with little motivation to ROM my phone, especially since I can could get most of the advantages of CyanogenMod with something like GravityBox, which will allow me to keep the Motorola features (I'm currently unrooted because of the warranty, but I'll be rooted in the future for sure) . Of course, these are my own personal opinions, but I suspect that they reflect at least some of the mindset of this community.
I agree with others, that custom roms are often more trouble than they're worth. The only reason to use them these days is if your device isn't going to be updated to the latest version of Android.
Ever since moto introduced 99% stock android + moto display, roms have been entirely unnecessary for me. I used to rom my phones to gain greater flexibility + customizability. Now that I have stock android + Xposed, I doubt I will ever flash another custom rom again.
I'm still waiting for custom super roms that will make this device best in the market. Why can we have a rom with 1080p display, tweak kernel with better control for heating issue for overall battery life and speed?
Sent from my XT1575 using XDA Free mobile app
The biggest issue is that developers don't support devices they don't own. With the launch of the nexus 6 (not the 6p) most developers got it and had no need to update to a y newer devices.
Also to the comment that all flag ships are 64 bit this is not the case. If you look the most popular devices as far as developers are concerned are non 64 bit.
Also as android matures you will see less and less roms. As it will be come harder. There are very few real development teams. Most are just kitchen sink roms. A base with tons of cherry picks and a new name. Nothing even worth looking at twice. But more developers are closing up the source of their projects because of these types of roms.
To be honest most users have no point in flashing roms. Only those that like the development side of it will continue to mod roms and flash things.

LG Stylo 2 Plus MetroPCS

Am I in the right area? I havent found any other section on XDA for it. I just bought this phone and I like it a lot! If someone could guide me in the right direction it would be great!
I'm in the same boat, there's a little chatter at Android Central, but nothing else for this device. I'm just hoping for root and custom recovery.
Also literally in the exact same boat, I'd love to run AOSP or CM on this thing. I don't even see any posts for the normal Stylo 2
Yeah, there's not much chatter at all. On the other hand, kingroot just went over 400 requests, I don't know at what number of requests that they decide to work on an exploit.
I've heard people breaking their phone using kingroot and so on so I will just wait until someone who for sure is rooted there LG Stylo 2 plus and then I will move forward from there. Although it would be nice if XDA would make a little section for us to hang out in. I hope someone on here will hear us out.
I hear ya..been searching for a root, but no luck so far. Im livid over lg opting out of adoptable storage..i wouldn't of bought this phone had i known before hand..oh well with root all things will become possible
Same guys I bought the LG Stylo 2 Plus on MetroPCS and I just want a root that will work I used KingRoot and I was a simi root I restarted 2 times and the root was removed just hope someone will work on a root and a port of CyanogenMod 13
​Maybe we can some how reach out to XDA staff to create a section dedicated to us LG Style 2 Plus users. If someone could help me do this that would be great!
Your biggest issue is that metro pcs is such a small a regional carrier most developers don't get the device which means no development for it. Also you need to have full kernel source for the device and device trees. Which seldom happen for budget devices.
As for adoptable storage, most oem are disabling it or removing it completely.
zelendel said:
Your biggest issue is that metro pcs is such a small a regional carrier most developers don't get the device which means no development for it. Also you need to have full kernel source for the device and device trees. Which seldom happen for budget devices.
As for adoptable storage, most oem are disabling it or removing it completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So no chance of xda ever getting an LG Stylo 2 Plus section?
RussianSolja said:
So no chance of xda ever getting an LG Stylo 2 Plus section?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That depends on how much development it gets. Your best bet is to make things happen and then come back with things like bootloader unlocks, root, roms and development for the device. Also make sure the kernel source for the device is available.
zelendel said:
That depends on how much development it gets. Your best bet is to make things happen and then come back with things like bootloader unlocks, root, roms and development for the device. Also make sure the kernel source for the device is available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I'm not a developer or anything that's why I come to XDA to appreciate other people's work. Let's hope someone comes along soon to show off their stuff. Hey zelendel, you seem like a smart man why don't you give it a go. Lol help us fellow brothers out ????
RussianSolja said:
Well I'm not a developer or anything that's why I come to XDA to appreciate other people's work. Let's hope someone comes along soon to show off their stuff. Hey zelendel, you seem like a smart man why don't you give it a go. Lol help us fellow brothers out ????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only work with devices I own and I only buy nexus devices due to the availability of the source code and kernel source. Sorry
The original Stylo (MetroPCS/T-Mobile) was very fortunate to get as much dev support as it did. I don't foresee much happening for its successors, however.
Lg stylo 2 plus..root please!!! Ill come clean your pool and mow your lawn devs!!!! Someone please be my freakin hero and come up with root.. Oh mighty DEVS ( bows ) i pray to thee
Sd storage crippled
Severance5 said:
I hear ya..been searching for a root, but no luck so far. Im livid over lg opting out of adoptable storage..i wouldn't of bought this phone had i known before hand..oh well with root all things will become possible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes this is bull i think it may be possible to re activate the adaptive storage with adb but adb wont stay connected on the stylo 2 plus but for 1 seconed with the 6.0.1. Whats the piint in having thia phone with 1 terabit expandable storage if you just get a crippled sd card slot that only works for pictures this phone is awesome hardware wise but a pile of **** everywhere else
zelendel said:
Your biggest issue is that metro pcs is such a small a regional carrier most developers don't get the device which means no development for it. Also you need to have full kernel source for the device and device trees. Which seldom happen for budget devices.
As for adoptable storage, most oem are disabling it or removing it completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you get that MetroPCS is a small regional carrier? They have over a hundred and fifty million subscribers according to their parent company T-Mobile who has less than 70 million subscribers. That makes MetroPCS better than twice the size of T-Mobile one of the big four carriers in the United States. They have a subset of the exact same phones that T-Mobile carries as well. Everything from the little small Samsung Galaxy knockoff phones to the Galaxy S 7 is available with Metro PCS. The only difference is that your bill is half as much and you have to pay for your phone up front. Essentially you are not financing all of the other phones of all of the other users on the network which is why their service is so much less expensive.
We had one dev for a brief period of time for the OG Stylo and he left.
Like Revenant Ghost said, don't expect much.
Root hasn't even been achieved yet permanently for the Stylo 2 or Stylo 2 Plus.
Open source code for the stylo 2 plus is here
http://opensource.lge.com/osSch/list?types=ALL&search=lgms550
urphonesux said:
Open source code for the stylo 2 plus is here
http://opensource.lge.com/osSch/list?types=ALL&search=lgms550
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And now someone who has the device and is capable enough needs to step up and do something with it.

Xa1 ultra repository

I will be creating a repository of root methods and guides, recoveries, roms and stock files. This will be a one stop shop for all your developer needs.
So far the only development. Is by Janjan, providing root, and a twrp recovery
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xa1-ultra/development/g3221-built-sources-t3622886
idontwanttobeanoob said:
I will be creating a repository of root methods and guides, recoveries, roms and stock files. This will be a one stop shop for all your developer needs.
So far the only development. Is by Janjan, providing root, and a twrp recovery
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xa1-ultra/development/g3221-built-sources-t3622886
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
considering all development for this device, from the only dev that ever worked on it, has stopped. I regret buying this device. I thought for sure Sony would have better action than this. I had a note 2 before this, and they were still developing for that phone when I stopped using it 2 months Ago. I think im going to try to sell it. it's really pathetic. but it is what it is
Sent from my Xperia XA1 Ultra using XDA Labs
I am in the process of moving but once that is done I will be working on porting a few roms so that we have some choices. Don't give up yet. I have faith in the community
idontwanttobeanoob said:
I am in the process of moving but once that is done I will be working on porting a few roms so that we have some choices. Don't give up yet. I have faith in the community
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought this coming from a Nexus 6P and was surprised that nothing had really been done with it it seems to be a good phone, just some of the stock options suck lol. I saw your thread for root and custom recovery and am going to try it I'm the next couple days.
You said you are going to be porting some Roms over, any ideas which you will be attempting? If you are taking requests I wouldn't mind Pure Nexus.. It's pretty kickass from a well known dev.. Or maybe even crdroid (lineage based)? Thanks for your work so far and keep at it.. Like I said, pretty good phone, just no development much yet.
mikeandjaimie said:
I just bought this coming from a Nexus 6P and was surprised that nothing had really been done with it it seems to be a good phone, just some of the stock options suck lol. I saw your thread for root and custom recovery and am going to try it I'm the next couple days.
You said you are going to be porting some Roms over, any ideas which you will be attempting? If you are taking requests I wouldn't mind Pure Nexus.. It's pretty kickass from a well known dev.. Or maybe even crdroid (lineage based)? Thanks for your work so far and keep at it.. Like I said, pretty good phone, just no development much yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The option for root and recovery is done by JanJan who has stopped working on this device. Please give him a thanks and your credit. Mid level phones have a habit of taking a few months to really get development going. But this phone should have plenty in the coming months!
I'd like to jump in for kernel and recovery development, but the problem is I don't have experience and I have to setup a dedicated Linux machine from one of unused laptop. Also, I have to work like everybody. I have four Xperia (Z Ultra, XA Ultra, XA1 Ultra, and L1). I just need other developers to help me get started.
Note: I only have US version except Z Ultra (C6833).
Hii
Just to give my opinion too on this topic
I did the mistake.. Usually I do my own research by google-ing all the reviews
Then I read some opinions, then i look also on you tube and then the most important
I do look at xda forum to see the support of the device
And i saw all that...but than I saw the forum is not like I am used to..its like dead .. not
just there are no one posting things..but the custom rom support is not there...
Well, I said to me also... ok its a 6 inch.. not everybody likes phablets..
Like, 5 inch is more popular.. maybe that is the reson there are no development..
And then I said..ok announced in Feb/March but just got to the market about May..
So..new device..should be some development..
Unfortunally I got one with bootloader unlock NO status..
And now I can not even get root..
But still... It was weird to have such an phone on XDA with dead forum all at all
Did a bit more research last few day after I got the device
As It looks like all the X series from the Sony Xperia... has no support..
Like there are 7 or 8 devices from the X series and the only one is the X Performance Model wich has like 4 to 5 custom roms
and a few stock modified kernels..
All the other phones do not have anything..
Or let me say the best example the XA Ultra also 6 inch from last year 2016 Model
Has not evan 1 thread or commend under xda forum for custom roms or kernels or what ever..like
more then one year and what?? Nothing..
So I do not hope we will have anything...not to get fooled its a new devices it will be in time and
we will need to wait ... bla bla bla.. nothing will happen
The best thing is to fool yourself with different launchers so that after some of use of the phone
You get sort of a feeling you did flash something..and get the feeling you changed the phone
Thats all...
Would point to NOVA laungher..and some others wich have much settings to modify the looks and
the way it works...
I really to not think anything will happen.. ever
i bought the regular xa1 thinking that there'd be insane development going on for it. looking back, i shouldn't have unlocked bootloader, and looked at getting different phone. if i try to take it back to the store now even though it's under 1 year warranty, they'll just say, "oh we can't replace it, we got to send it off to sony" in which case they won't do anything as sony will see that the bootloader is unlocked
Not to say custom ROMs aren't great and all, I too was here for the good stuff, but people complaining and taking phones back is a bit dramatic.
The stock ROM is great. It doesn't really need a custom ROM. It's a perfectly reasonable phone by itself.
A custom ROM makes sense in phones such as Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi, where they botch everything to make it "unique", but Sony phones tread the line carefully to keep it pure as possible whilst adding actual useful features.
If you're picking up phones just to hack them, maybe you should try to start your own development on them. Get the toolchains, bring up a Linux system and get creative. Then you can be the hero of your own story.
What is the best way to return to fully stock? Relock the bootloader and flash the latest firmware? Might sell mine too and get an Essential PH-1.
So since this is my first Sony device and may be my last for a few reasons question I want to return everything to stock, and I use the method that was provided it won't relock bootloader right? I have to manually relock it like any other device? I just wanna return to stock so I can try and see what it take to get a Oreo rom once the update comes through.
Actually maybe do some research when this phone first came out with had start of support. We have twrp and custom kernel. There's a search button. Try it out.
I know that this thread seems to be dead but I was wondering if someone could share the sound file for plugging in the charging cord

Significant risk of bricking

I may be spoiled because all my previous phones were various versions of Nexus phones (and tablets), all rooted and with various stock and/or other ROMs installed. But Nexus phones were originally designed for developers, easy to root and mod.
Moto G7 is my first non Nexus phone. So what I write may not be unique and perhaps apply to other non-Nexus phones. I don't know.
Despite all my modding I never bricked a phone until I got the Moto G7. And I've read of many others who have hard bricked their Moto phones too. Moto certainly does not want you to root or modify their phones and punishes you if you do.
If you wish to root the G7:
—unlocking the bootloader requires you to first contact and get a code from Moto
—you then get an annoying persistent warning at every boot that tells you this is now an untrusted phone (as if you did not know)
—rooting this phone is fraught with many problems along the way (but it is a new phone with little development)
—if you make the error of later installing an ota update from Moto (even if officially announced on the phone as available and even after unrooting the phone) it can irretrievably brick your phone without warning (as I've done)
That said, the unrooted phone is excellent value despite some problems like occasionally dropping wifi. But in my experience it is not particularly suited for rooting and modding.
Fwiw
(Does anyone know what Moto charges to repair a phone out if warranty?)
maybeme2 said:
I may be spoiled because all my previous phones were various versions of Nexus phones (and tablets), all rooted and with various stock and/or other ROMs installed. But Nexus phones were originally designed for developers, easy to root and mod.
Moto G7 is my first non Nexus phone. So what I write may not be unique and perhaps apply to other non-Nexus phones. I don't know.
Despite all my modding I never bricked a phone until I got the Moto G7. And I've read of many others who have hard bricked their Moto phones too. Moto certainly does not want you to root or modify their phones and punishes you if you do.
If you wish to root the G7:
—unlocking the bootloader requires you to first contact and get a code from Moto
—you then get an annoying persistent warning at every boot that tells you this is now an untrusted phone (as if you did not know)
—rooting this phone is fraught with many problems along the way (but it is a new phone with little development)
—if you make the error of later installing an ota update from Moto (even if officially announced on the phone as available and even after unrooting the phone) it can irretrievably brick your phone without warning (as I've done)
That said, the unrooted phone is excellent value despite some problems like occasionally dropping wifi. But in my experience it is not particularly suited for rooting and modding.
Fwiw
(Does anyone know what Moto charges to repair a phone out if warranty?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine used but mint xt1962-1 on eBay for $110. Prob $150 for repair by Moto. Blankflash is avail on Tele$ram for qld 9008 brick
maybeme2 said:
I may be spoiled because all my previous phones were various versions of Nexus phones (and tablets), all rooted and with various stock and/or other ROMs installed. But Nexus phones were originally designed for developers, easy to root and mod.
Moto G7 is my first non Nexus phone. So what I write may not be unique and perhaps apply to other non-Nexus phones. I don't know.
Despite all my modding I never bricked a phone until I got the Moto G7. And I've read of many others who have hard bricked their Moto phones too. Moto certainly does not want you to root or modify their phones and punishes you if you do.
If you wish to root the G7:
—unlocking the bootloader requires you to first contact and get a code from Moto
—you then get an annoying persistent warning at every boot that tells you this is now an untrusted phone (as if you did not know)
—rooting this phone is fraught with many problems along the way (but it is a new phone with little development)
—if you make the error of later installing an ota update from Moto (even if officially announced on the phone as available and even after unrooting the phone) it can irretrievably brick your phone without warning (as I've done)
That said, the unrooted phone is excellent value despite some problems like occasionally dropping wifi. But in my experience it is not particularly suited for rooting and modding.
Fwiw
(Does anyone know what Moto charges to repair a phone out if warranty?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. The reasons you cite are probably why there is so little development activity on this device.
A big THANK YOU to the TWRP and LineageOS teams for the work they have done on the G7.
I cannot agree more! A huge thank you to the few developers who have helped us, including Alberto97 who gave us the unofficial TWRP early on, the twrp team who recently provided an official version, and the few brave helpers who helped us in XDA.
But, one problem non-expert users face when seeking advice by 'searching first' (as recommended) instead of asking 'again' in the threads is the *outdated advice* found. Take for example something as common as how to root the Moto G7. Advice found by searching for rooting advice include:
If your phone channel is "US Retail", download RETUS (retail US) on pc.
Copy the image to your phone and use Magisk to patch the image. After that, copy the output image to your host computer.
(This spawned numerous queries of 'how do you use Magisk to patch the.....)
Now turn your phone off, press and hold power + volume down to enter bootloader, connect your phone to host computer, and enter
fastboot flash boot
Press space once and drag and drop the output image file to command window.
If everything goes well, restart the phone and confirm it is rooted with Magisk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rather complicated! Actually rooting the Moto G7 with an unlocked bootloader is as simple as:
—install Magisk Manager and use it to download Magisk zip.
—in TWRP, install Magisk zip
That will root the phone.
(besides, many versions of Magisk would patch boot.IMG in ways that don't work correctly for the G7)
I don't know that there is much that can be done about outdated or incorrect advice but it explains the frustration of non-expert users. ?
Tele$ram has much better support these days than XDA
HueyT said:
Tele$ram has much better support these days than XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct. XDA is were I go first but Telegram solved several of my most stubborn problems.
I had zero problems following the directions in these forums, just my two cents.
HueyT said:
Tele$ram has much better support these days than XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It absolutely does. XDA is a fantastic library. I see it as a central hub where the best and the brightest Android people congregate. But if you have a question to ask or feel like helping someone who does, TG can fix you up right away.
Instant gratification - it's what's for dinner.
SmilingPerson said:
It absolutely does. XDA is a fantastic library. I see it as a central hub where the best and the brightest Android people congregate. But if you have a question to ask or feel like helping someone who does, TG can fix you up right away.
Instant gratification - it's what's for dinner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You said it perfectly.
Rapid, knowledgeable answers on Telegram.
XDA is a fantastic library — but that means search finds old advice messages that are no longer valid and can create more problems for you.

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