Hi all, just off the phone from Vodafone and purchased the Sony Z2 Tablet
Comes this Monday.
Just wondering if you guys can give my advise of personal use to weather I have just purchased the best tablet on the market.
I have looked at a few reviews and heard not much bad about this device. I was also wondering if anyone knows if 4.4.4 KitKat will be available in the future for this device.
I am also waiting on the Sony Xperia Z3 mobile coming out to upgrade, best specs i've seen available for a mobile (I know the note4 is pretty awesome specs, but not a big Samsung fan and the screen size is too big for my liking, 5.2 in' is my maximum)
Thanks in advance for your advice guys
Just quickly saw this tablet at local store and it looked pretty nice.
Without any knowledge whether 4.4.4. is coming to z2, i would say that you wont even miss it.
In my opinion 4.4.3 and 4.4.4 brings mostly security updates and not end user updates. But maybe someone can bring some more light into it.
But i think you made a good choice with Z2
---------- Post added at 09:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 PM ----------
To addition you are already able to upgrade 4.4.4 through custom roms but that is another story
I have been using it almost every day since June, and I couldn't be happier. It works flawlessly, it is powerful, fast and smooth, it has no noticeable bugs, it is easily rooteable and customizable if you want. I don't miss anything in it. I am so glad I got the 32gb model...
Android 4.4.4 is coming, it has been already certified, I would bet in a couple of weeks it will be amongst us, first for the phone, and later for the tablet, but i don't care, as current fw works so well.
Enviado desde mi SGP512 mediante Tapatalk
Android 4.4.4 is been rolled out now for old models, apparently it will take a little longer for the z2 as Sony wants to add new features present in the new z3 to the z2 tablet
I have had a lot of phones and tablets in the past but this is my favourite, Sony's UI is great nearly stock but with handy features and looks nice. Its the first tablet where I didn't feel the need to install a custom ROM, plus the battery life is great and apparently may be better in the next update
Oh come on...nearly stock?!
Just because it's not as bloated as Touchwiz doesn't mean it's stock.
Sony also added a lot of bloatware that no one needs and that can not be deinstalled, just deactivated.
Xposed is also a must have for me.
Vaetheran2107 said:
Oh come on...nearly stock?!
Just because it's not as bloated as Touchwiz doesn't mean it's stock.
Sony also added a lot of bloatware that no one needs and that can not be deinstalled, just deactivated.
Xposed is also a must have for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya true I do use Nova launcher so I'm probably biased, I actually don't like the Sony launcher, can't change the margins, cant change font, or icon size and it looks a bit like a cartoonist
Also nova, but I meant all of Sony's apps
Vaetheran2107 said:
Oh come on...nearly stock?!
Just because it's not as bloated as Touchwiz doesn't mean it's stock.
Sony also added a lot of bloatware that no one needs and that can not be deinstalled, just deactivated.
Xposed is also a must have for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Er... you can simply root this device and 1. remove the bloatware (via Titanium Backup or a similar app) and 2. install Xposed.
Where is the problem???
Ofc there is some bloatware in this rom.
It is kind of stupid to blame Sony or any other brand for that.
Compared to the mainstream, we at XDA are a real small group of experienceed users,
who don't need that bloat.
But for the mainstream it has to be as easy as possible. So they install all possible needed sony-apps. And to be honest, Sony has to be stupid to stop doing this, cause it's an easy way to support their services and extra hardware like the ps4 or some tvs.
The ordinary user may loose interest upon the first two steps to use a Sony service.
1. Searching and finding the correct app
2. Installing and configure this app.
The working-out-of-the-box-feeling is most important for the mainstream I guess.
And to be honest... Sonys stock rom works perfectly for me and I don't care about the bloat.
Thinking back to my galaxy tab 2 and the laggy "performance" it had with stock... I love Sony
But to get the mainquestion answered.... You made a great deal. The z2 is an awesome tablet and at the moment I don't wanna switch to an other.
But maybe u have to wait a little for a new firmware to get the touchscreen issues fixed.
Or (what I have done) you use flashtool to get the things working with an user-provided stock rom.
Sent from my SGP511 using XDA Premium HD app
Oh, come on!, bloatware in Android is something of the past. Since 4.1, if i remember well, anybody can disable unwanted system apps, which at all effects is just like deleting them. As these apps are stored in system partition you won't recover free space by disabling them, and if you uninstall them via Titanium Backup, in a rooted device, the freed up space on system partition is useless for installing apps from the store anyway.
Also, as far as i know Sony doesn't include any app which takes too much resources from the system, just their Music/video/games shops, smart connect, some nice image editors, OfficeSuite, Xperia Link, TrackID, Sony Select (the only one i have disabled)... Not a deal breaker to me, they are useful apps, not like Samsung is doing bloating their devices with 2 GB worth of useless apps, constantly poping up with ads.
Oh, and i like Sony's stock launcher more than Google's launcher, i think they are near, buy sony's one looks better and more modern. I never liked the look of pure Android (GB, JB and KK).
You cannot disable all apps unless rooted and even if you disable them, some of them still run in the background and use resources.
SANGER_A2 said:
You cannot disable all apps unless rooted and even if you disable them, some of them still run in the background and use resources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For example?
Enviado desde mi SGP512 mediante Tapatalk
Phone
SANGER_A2 said:
Phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I've got to give my 2 cents here because I think this last post may be the very beginning of a possibly long and unnecessary discussion.
If and only IF you have one of the WiFi-only models and if and only IF those models include the Phone app it can be called bloatware (I don't own one of those models to know if they have the Phone/SMS Messaging/Contacts apps, mine is a 4G one).
But if you own a 4G Z2 Tablet, be that a SGP521, 541 or 551, then you should know that these tablets are phone-capable tablets, i.e. you can actually make phone calls over the standard mobile network, just like a smartphone, and that is meant as a feature, not bloatware.
You can call a bloatware any other apk in Sony's firmware that is not meant to be used as a system feature and there are indeed many of those in Sony's stock ROMs. To name a few that are in the app drawer, you have OfficeSuite, Xperia Link, TrackID, Sony Select, like @RoberM mentioned, just like you have a few of Google's own bloatware, such as Play Games, Play Music, Play Movies, Google+ and Hangout, to name a few. You can even say that AR Effect, Infoeye, Face Unlock and so many others are bloatware. All of these apps have some sort of functionality but they are in no way essential for any of the tablet's features (unlike Phone). Hell, with the exception of Xperia Link, I personally delete each and every one of the apps mentioned in this paragraph with TB (it is actually one the very first things I do after rooting my device).
If you go deeper inside the system you'll also find some bloatware that are not accessible on the app drawer (in other words, you'll have to go deep with Titanium Backup or search for them in Settings -> Applications or delete them directly on system/app or /priv-app folders). To name a few, you have the Wikipedia/lyrics/karaoke extensions (don't really know which app needs them, but I've always deleted them), you have com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks and partnerbookmarks.res.overlay (which add that useless Sony folder on Chrome's Favorites tab) and so on.
The fact of the matter is that all of these apps I've just called bloatware can be disabled without any problem to the OS. But the Phone apk on a phone-capable device is not (the same goes to Contacts or SMS).
And I have to agree with both RoberM and @schurgatzi when they say that 1- arguing about bloatware is a thing of the past when we can easily disable them; 2- mainstream users don't really care or want to care about this things, so for them it is better to have the app and not need it than to need the app and not have (apps they don't need are just put in a folder labeled "useless crap" and left in the last tab of the app drawer); and 3 (and probably most important one)- we on XDA cannot, under any circumstance, think of ourselves as mainstream users - the very fact that we are here having a simple discussion over what is bloatware and what is not, or the simple fact that we spent a few minutes of our time searching on how to get rid of these bloatwares is proof that we are not mainstream users. Mainstream users (and this counts for every-single-body I know) simply don't care about these things (and I honestly think this is the main reason why iPhones are so damn popular and they'll continue to be in the future).
I'm not kidding. The look on my friends' face (some of which I know for more than 10 years) when one of them couldn't remember his WiFi password and I found it by opening the wpa_supplicant.conf file on the data/misc/wifi folder was absolutely priceless (the geek inside of me rejoiced for a while).
SANGER_A2 said:
Phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you calling "Phone app" bloatware in a calling capable device?, or are you saying that you can disable "Phone app" in settings menu but it still uses resources?. Anyway... Good for you!:good:
RoberM said:
Are you calling "Phone app" bloatware in a calling capable device?, or are you saying that you can disable "Phone app" in settings menu but it still uses resources?. Anyway... Good for you!:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both. For me.
I don't know why you're being such a d!ck about this. I offered some helpful, constructive information into this thread as a further explanation why some people (including me) may want to root. If you don't want to root your device, I won't attack you about it. Most users here will not have the LTE version of this tablet and will have no need for the phone module that runs (even if you root and disable it) all the time. If there is a feature that is installed on a device that I will never use: it is bloatware to me, even if it isn't bloatware to everyone. I have my own method of removing about half of the stock apps on this device because I personally don't use them.
---------- Post added at 07:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:46 PM ----------
Tiu Fiu said:
Ok, I've got to give my 2 cents here because I think this last post may be the very beginning of a possibly long and unnecessary discussion.
...
I'm not kidding. The look on my friends' face (some of which I know for more than 10 years) when one of them couldn't remember his WiFi password and I found it by opening the wpa_supplicant.conf file on the data/misc/wifi folder was absolutely priceless (the geek inside of me rejoiced for a while).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I didn't notice this post until I posted my rant. But I agree that it's not worth getting into a flamewar about bloatware!
But the reason I'm not replying is because WOW! I can't believe that file isn't encrypted! Considering that android is basically Linux (which I have a lot of experience of and always assumed it was totally secure) I always assumed that all OS's would encrypt this and hide it away from the user. It lead me on quite an interesting search to see how Linux and Windows hide/secure them. Basically, they don't! It's scary to see how easy it is for anyone with a bootdisk and physical access to a device can gain access to your wifi network.
Thanks for leading me to learn something new today! :good: (I know that sounded kinda sarcastic, but it honestly wasn't).
SANGER_A2 said:
Unfortunately, I didn't notice this post until I posted my rant. But I agree that it's not worth getting into a flamewar about bloatware!
But the reason I'm not replying is because WOW! I can't believe that file isn't encrypted! Considering that android is basically Linux (which I have a lot of experience of and always assumed it was totally secure) I always assumed that all OS's would encrypt this and hide it away from the user. It lead me on quite an interesting search to see how Linux and Windows hide/secure them. Basically, they don't! It's scary to see how easy it is for anyone with a bootdisk and physical access to a device can gain access to your wifi network.
Thanks for leading me to learn something new today! :good: (I know that sounded kinda sarcastic, but it honestly wasn't).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehehehehe the very same thing I thought the first time I learned that. One would normally think this kind of data would be secure somehow (encrypted to say the least) due to its sensitive status. And this is not Android, Windows or Linux's, it's all of them... They basically don't protect WiFi passwords at all. And I'm glad I could share some knowledge today
Tiu Fiu said:
Hehehehehe the very same thing I thought the first time I learned that. One would normally think this kind of data would be secure somehow (encrypted to say the least) due to its sensitive status. And this is not Android, Windows or Linux's, it's all of them... They basically don't protect WiFi passwords at all. And I'm glad I could share some knowledge today
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. Although, I work at a school where we have a Windows domain and all the laptops run Windows 7 and they've been set using active directory policy so you can't view the password just by clicking the "show password" button, even for me as a domain admin I can't do it. I'm gonna try one of the wifi key viewer apps tomorrow and see if the file/registry entry is encrypted or not.
Related
This is what I type at 3 in the morning. Please read for a minute, I'll keep it short and get to the point. I feel NS owners should see this since they seem the most enthusiastic.
This is generally for Android as a whole, targeting Google. Wow, so it's been how many years since Android first came out? And what is the only other competitor in the market - oh right, iOS. iOS has been destroying the market with only one phone which rarely has any lag/bug/glitch issues, namely the 4S or the new 5 (minus the Maps).
The only reason Android has a large market share is due to the large number of phones at reasonable prices. That is all. There are only two competitors in this oligarchy, and one still can't do it right. Google engineers are apparently among the highest paid, yet they decide to constantly release updates which constantly has bugs. It is a pity, to look at many of you Android enthusiasts that are giving a lot of attention to Android development and are contributing to this world, when Google themselves is not treating you right, thus I feel that you are the reason that the brand is remaining strong. You guys have the capacity to overlook its bugs/lags and see what Android is there truly for. On the other hand, I doubt iOS users actually care about that topic since it is rarely seen.
Next, the phones. So we have like a thousand phones running Android from like 20 different manufacturers. What the..? Alright, phones that are aimed for a low budget do not count, but the Nexus devices that Google works on - they should be at least revolutionary. Google has to partner up with different manufacturers each time when creating the next Nexus? Talk about inconsistency, and inviting a lack of hardware acceleration with its software. Google can even build their own phones if they have to, but just get it right! I mean their latest phone, the Galaxy Nexus, is still not a stable phone (although I thought it would be). Samsung is actually holding it down and implementing their own stuff to create a good user experience (thus the success of the Galaxy line). Other than that, ALL other manufacturers are literally wasting money (but producing profits) by adopting Android and Google themselves are getting much more love than they should be getting.
Creating new updates and naming them after the alphabet and weird food names is quite cheesy. That's not the issue though, it creates hype by many users - the anxiety of waiting for the next update that will 'fix all problems' - but what happens? Promises are broken, and the software is bad once again. Like the JB update - turns out it's bad and many/most users tend to agree. So much for project butter haha. It's simply not worth it, not worth stressing or wasting time on it. I realize I am doing that by typing this post, but it needed to be done. People who are making money off of it - you're fine actually.
The message I am trying to get across is that Google's android software is not worth it, we all know it's bad, and Google seriously needs to get it right before everyone hops on the iBoat. There are actually multiple little things that I tried to get across in the post. That is all.
Cool story. Feel free to jump on the iOS wagon. I, for one, really like android.
I'm with android for the customization and freedom. I came from Windows Mobile where you could change anything you wanted and fell in love with flashing custom ROMS and even had a duel boot of WM6 and android 1.0 when I first came out (hated it back then, by the way.)
I bought an iPhone 3g when they came out and sold it by the next day. As you said, it was "flawless" as far as the operation of the OS, but when the OS imposes so much control over user input what do you expect? The iPhone tells you what you're allowed to do, it's not the user that defines what the phone can do.
After dropping my Tilt 2 flat on its face and tearing the ribbon for the screen, I hit the market for a new phone. Windows Mobile was still in the hundreds, but android was a cheaper alternative. I got a Samsung Moment and never looked back.
Maybe coming from Windows Mobile to android is why I don't have as many bug complaints. WM was mostly ALL bugs and glitches. That's not why I had the phone though - I had it for the features. Namely the ability to tether, which took android AND apple several releases to incorporate into their builds, but which was plug-n-play on every WM device I owned YEARS before. I also really enjoyed Windows Voice Command, better recognized as the Sync system in Ford vehicles. I could wear my bluetooth headset and make calls, open programs, listen to music and change songs all without having to touch the phone. Once again, it took apple and Google several editions to add useful voice commands to their systems.
I still miss remote desktop. I stopped having to store music and movies on my device because I could open a program and directly access every file on my home computer and stream anything to my phone screen.
So ultimately I'm with android for the freedom. The openness. The fact that they ALLOW outside developers to exist at all! It's the creativity found in the android community that has kept me, not the hope for a "fix all" update. Personally, the only problem I've ever had with my Android phones is the actual phone app itself. Delayed ringing and sometimes the inability to answer to even slide and answer the call due to screen freezing.
That's MY rant at 5 am lol
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda app-developers app
I'll have a Lamborghini Gallardo, Olivia Wilde and a cherry Coke, while we're at it (dreaming).
When you buy a new phone it should be completely yours not locked down by the manufacturer. If I want to brick I want to be able to do it.
If you really don't like it there a lot of rotten apple phones out there for you to buy.
anyway, I was on stock JB for a while, I haven't encountered all this **** your talking about. It could be faster, nicer, with more options but it is working quite well
Envoyé depuis mon Nexus S avec Tapatalk
Go get lost. Steve Job is waiting there to pay you for this iPhone advertisements in an android thread. You are required there not here. Lol....
Sent from my Nexus S
madd0g said:
I'll have a Lamborghini Gallardo, Olivia Wilde and a cherry Coke, while we're at it (dreaming).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Scratch that lambo make it an Aston Martin Vantage V12. Regarding the other two: Plenty of cherry coke around, but we're gonna have a problem with Olivia: I won't share, no crossing swords!
I love when people try to tell me how I should feel about the products I enjoy.
Logomotph said:
Cool story. Feel free to jump on the iOS wagon. I, for one, really like android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know right?
madd0g said:
I'll have a Lamborghini Gallardo, Olivia Wilde and a cherry Coke, while we're at it (dreaming).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I get that with no cholesterol burger and fries?
p.pavljasevic said:
When you buy a new phone it should be completely yours not locked down by the manufacturer. If I want to brick I want to be able to do it.
If you really don't like it there a lot of rotten apple phones out there for you to buy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've said this before. I hate when companies wanna slap their branding all over my 4 to 600 dollar smartphone and load it up with their crap I am never gonna use.
styckx said:
I love when people try to tell me how I should feel about the products I enjoy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My best friend is a iPhone fanboy. I have to show him once a month why my Nexus S 4G is better then his iPhone 4s.
to each his own, i don't mind jb's quirkyness, it's also a matter of finding just the right rom/kernel combo... can't speak for stock JB.
aokp JB 4 + marmite 4.8.7 is doing quite nice, steady & haven't had weird reboots yet
I will admit that the Nexus S has a hard time with stock Jelly Bean. It pushes the NS basically to its limits in terms of hardware capability. That said, as a daily driver, it's still very, very usable. If you want to see Jelly Bean run like a f**king champ, run it on a Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 7. It's pretty amazing.
Okay I'm not favouring iOS or anything and no I'm not jumping on their wagon, and I am also not hating on Android's customization/community. I've had my Nexus S for almost 1.5 years now and I still believe it's not outdated (great camera, front-facing camera, good screen, good touch sensor)
I appreciate that Android lets its customers customize the phones more than Apple. But what about the 'majority' who don't root or install 3rd party keyboards, etc. and like to run stock? I for one am running stock and native since I believe it should give the best performance as it is made by the manufacturer. But I'm not getting that! There are the red flags going off.
Additionally, when I was referring to iOS, I mean to say mainly iPhone 4 and up. The iPhone 3 was quite bad (although still better than android at that point in time). But with iOS 5/6, sure it takes away user customization, but the majority does not anyway - they just use their phone for their intended purposes and yet experience difficulties? That's a no no. However, ONE thing I do enjoy is widgets over having iOS.
Plenty of people dont run stock as per your definition. Plenty of people use or at least tried different keyboards / launchers / messaging apps etc
Root is not required and installing those apps is no different then installing any other app like Pandora. They are also often editors choice and top selling / top free apps in the play store. People know about them and use them. You don't need a to be a hardcore user to know about and use them.
People actually do change up there apps all the time and on all platforms. Its like saying people with a iPhone shouldn't use instagram because the phone comes with a camera application out the box.
Bottom line is if the user has a option to try different apps they will. Especially if its easy for the average user to install like a normal app. Imagine for a second if winterboard was freely available in the app store and functioned the same way it does on a jail broken device. I'd bet within 24 hrs it would become the most popular app in the app store. Your argument just seems silly to me. People will and do change things are freely and easily changed
albundy2010 said:
Plenty of people dont run stock as per your definition. Plenty of people use or at least tried different keyboards / launchers / messaging apps etc
Root is not required and installing those apps is no different then installing any other app like Pandora. They are also often editors choice and top selling / top free apps in the play store. People know about them and use them. You don't need a to be a hardcore user to know about and use them.
People actually do change up there apps all the time and on all platforms. Its like saying people with a iPhone shouldn't use instagram because the phone comes with a camera application out the box.
Bottom line is if the user has a option to try different apps they will. Especially if its easy for the average user to install like a normal app. Imagine for a second if winterboard was freely available in the app store and functioned the same way it does on a jail broken device. I'd bet within 24 hrs it would become the most popular app in the app store. Your argument just seems silly to me. People will and do change things are freely and easily changed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wonderfully said.
Another tiny bit to add on to my previous point.
The focal point of apples marketing strategy used to be " there is a app for that". Of course this is after they decided to even include a store. Who can forget the air traffic controller getting the weather from his iPhone?
But this doesn't seem to apply to things apple thinks its users shouldn't change.
What are you going to use your nexus to do as you write it has a hard time using jelly bean? - I my self have not got complications - I think I have used jelly bean nearly from when it was free - and I for my part - find it fast and free from lack - it play film - I read a lot news on it - it is very nice to read ebooks - see tv - you name it - ok - I do not use it for play - as all play for me are more or less the same - but ells I injoy jelly bean on my nexus s
Sent from my Nexus S using xda app-developers app
albundy2010 said:
Plenty of people dont run stock as per your definition. Plenty of people use or at least tried different keyboards / launchers / messaging apps etc
Root is not required and installing those apps is no different then installing any other app like Pandora. They are also often editors choice and top selling / top free apps in the play store. People know about them and use them. You don't need a to be a hardcore user to know about and use them.
People actually do change up there apps all the time and on all platforms. Its like saying people with a iPhone shouldn't use instagram because the phone comes with a camera application out the box.
Bottom line is if the user has a option to try different apps they will. Especially if its easy for the average user to install like a normal app. Imagine for a second if winterboard was freely available in the app store and functioned the same way it does on a jail broken device. I'd bet within 24 hrs it would become the most popular app in the app store. Your argument just seems silly to me. People will and do change things are freely and easily changed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand, you're going off on apps when I am not talking about customization. I am just talking about the performance of the phone and the bugs it has. Let me be specific - as I unlock my phone, i swipe through home screens = lag. I open my camera, it takes a while at times = lag. I scroll through a list, and it lags on me. Even though it is minuscule Google needs to clean it up, since I never see it on an iOS device which is a fair comparison as it is the leading competitor.
I am not talking about apps or anything, I think we and everyone has already established that it has more customization. I know most users have 'tried' some customizable app that is not available to iOS but that is no excuse for the actual performance bugs it has. I don't play games (like rarely maybe) on the phone and don't have a huge load of apps installed either. Things just aren't nifty..and it is taking them years to get it right but they'd rather focus on other feature additions which also work poorly.
You are the one who brought up that entire what about the majority of the people out there that don't run third party keyboards etc.
You brought it up. I said it was rubbish.
Android has always been laggy compared to iOS. Apple did a good job with that from the beginning.
The majority of your op is simply not worthy of responding to. Actually I re read it just now and I consider it all entirely flame bait/ trolling. You joined the forum 3 days prior to that as well. Not bothering with that type of silly debate/flaming.
Your 2nd post in the thread actually had something I felt was worth giving a legit response to.
It can be due to Google not paying enough attention to this device, however, I urge you to try new phones like the Nexus and this upcoming LG Nexus. For me, Jelly Bean have been smooth all the way through. Lag is inevitable on this device due to its old single core cpu.
We are atleast fortunate to retain nearly all the features from the latest Android version, Apple withheld features from old phones on purpose so you have to buy their newest and most expensive device.
I'm about to root my Nexus 10. Will I lose anything? Such as some Google Apps refusing to work like paid for movies or books or anything if it detects it's running on a rooted device?
Or do all Google and other apps still work fine?
Anything to watch out for? I'm considering Cyanogen, and will root with Mskip's tool.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001868
Everything will work fine. All that I have ever found not working is my employer's software developed only for the employees. No mass produced app will give you any trouble.
Enjoy CM10!
Sent from my GT-N7100 or the Nexus 10, heaven knows.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
DroidBois said:
I'm about to root my Nexus 10. Will I lose anything? Such as some Google Apps refusing to work like paid for movies or books or anything if it detects it's running on a rooted device?
Or do all Google and other apps still work fine?
Anything to watch out for? I'm considering Cyanogen, and will root with Mskip's tool.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001868
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You lose everything, including your home and first-born child.
In all seriousness, just about everything will work fine if you only root. Some custom ROMs do introduce incompatibility problems, but it's usually on a pretty small scale (an app here or there might not work if your ROM/kernel choice tweaks how the device handles graphics, for example). By and large, you should be fine, but be careful of certain content apps that will refuse to play on rooted devices.
SacGuru said:
Everything will work fine. All that I have ever found not working is my employer's software developed only for the employees. No mass produced app will give you any trouble.
Enjoy CM10!
Sent from my GT-N7100 or the Nexus 10, heaven knows.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come now, you know that's not entirely true. Many stuck-up content providers won't support rooted devices, and you'll also get the standard "unsupported device" claim if you're rooted or have an unlocked bootloader from apps like Google Wallet. By and large though, OP, you should be fine.
Rirere said:
You lose everything, including your home and first-born child.
In all seriousness, just about everything will work fine if you only root. Some custom ROMs do introduce incompatibility problems, but it's usually on a pretty small scale (an app here or there might not work if your ROM/kernel choice tweaks how the device handles graphics, for example). By and large, you should be fine, but be careful of certain content apps that will refuse to play on rooted devices.
Come now, you know that's not entirely true. Many stuck-up content providers won't support rooted devices, and you'll also get the standard "unsupported device" claim if you're rooted or have an unlocked bootloader from apps like Google Wallet. By and large though, OP, you should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right, but I was responding to what the OP had asked. Movies from play will work just fine afaik. And yes, there would be some app developers who won't support modified devices (I've heard of some trouble with the Sky tv app), but then again on some devices there are ways to temporarily unroot to allow such apps to run.
Again, how the device handles graphics can be modified as well. I had trouble with the Naked Browser before I modified the dpi using an xposed framework module.
In simple terms, so as to not confuse things, I would say that the huge majority of apps would give him no problems, and he would be missing out a lot if he refuses to root his device in the fear of one or two apps not working.
Sent from my GT-N7100 or the Nexus 10, heaven knows.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
SacGuru said:
You are right, but I was responding to what the OP had asked. Movies from play will work just fine afaik. And yes, there would be some app developers who won't support modified devices (I've heard of some trouble with the Sky tv app), but then again on some devices there are ways to temporarily unroot to allow such apps to run.
Again, how the device handles graphics can be modified as well. I had trouble with the Naked Browser before I modified the dpi using an xposed framework module.
In simple terms, so as to not confuse things, I would say that the huge majority of apps would give him no problems, and he would be missing out a lot if he refuses to root his device in the fear of one or two apps not working.
Sent from my GT-N7100 or the Nexus 10, heaven knows.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a fine line between "not confus[ing] things" though and glossing over very real issues. It's significantly better for a new user to go into rooting aware of potential problems than rush in and get screwed on something because they expected rooting to be a land of sunshine, rainbows, and daisies, and found it was actually one that also had blood and tears.
That's especially true when you start getting into things like XPosed modules, which, while simple are much more than a new user should really have to contend with. Full stock+rooted is probably the safest introduction because it's so comparatively trivial to revert if you blow yourself up.
Rirere said:
There's a fine line between "not confus[ing] things" though and glossing over very real issues. It's significantly better for a new user to go into rooting aware of potential problems than rush in and get screwed on something because they expected rooting to be a land of sunshine, rainbows, and daisies, and found it was actually one that also had blood and tears.
That's especially true when you start getting into things like XPosed modules, which, while simple are much more than a new user should really have to contend with. Full stock+rooted is probably the safest introduction because it's so comparatively trivial to revert if you blow yourself up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know people who went on to custom roms the day they rooted their phones. I myself used one within a fortnight of using my first android device. Rooting isn't exactly rocket science.
I would really like to know what percentage of apps you believe do not work on custom roms/rooted phones out of all apps in the world. Impossible though it might be to have an exact number, I have a slight suspicion you have a larger-than-what-could-be-true figure in your head. While at it, do mention some of the blood and tears you have had while using your device.
In all the time I have been using android devices, I have only once encountered an app which I couldn't run on my device, and I believe that was purely due to lack of effort on my part.
Again, many people turn on to modifying their devices only because they want to use a custom rom, as the OP already wants to. I have never seen a comment by an user who regrets rooting his device as an app isn't working. I have seen numerous from users who are disappointed with the capabilities of their unrooted devices.
Had you understood my second comment, you would have realized that not only had I agreed with what you had said, I had also, unlike you, actually mentioned a couple of apps which might have problems on a rooted device. Glossing over issues might be wrong, but complicating simple questions is worse, in my opinion.
Sent from my GT-N7100 or the Nexus 10, heaven knows.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
SacGuru said:
I know people who went on to custom roms the day they rooted their phones. I myself used one within a fortnight of using my first android device. Rooting isn't exactly rocket science.
I would really like to know what percentage of apps you believe do not work on custom roms/rooted phones out of all apps in the world. Impossible though it might be to have an exact number, I have a slight suspicion you have a larger-than-what-could-be-true figure in your head. While at it, do mention some of the blood and tears you have had while using your device.
In all the time I have been using android devices, I have only once encountered an app which I couldn't run on my device, and I believe that was purely due to lack of effort on my part.
Again, many people turn on to modifying their devices only because they want to use a custom rom, as the OP already wants to. I have never seen a comment by an user who regrets rooting his device as an app isn't working. I have seen numerous from users who are disappointed with the capabilities of their unrooted devices.
Had you understood my second comment, you would have realized that not only had I agreed with what you had said, I had also, unlike you, actually mentioned a couple of apps which might have problems on a rooted device. Glossing over issues might be wrong, but complicating simple questions is worse, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're starting to get a little touchy there.
I've been rooted and flashing ROMs for several years now, so I'm hardly new to the field. Nor do I think that there's even a large portion of apps out there that have trouble on rooted devices-- because that is not the point. From an end-user perspective, it only takes the loss of one app or a misbehaving one to ruin the experience. A great day-to-day example is Foldersync-- while the app "runs" correctly, if it detects you have root privileges it will spam superuser requests to perform a better sync. If you deny the request, your sync may fail, and if you accept it, the app potentially causes a wakelock. Random behavior can be just as bad as an outright crash.
OP's interest with ROMs is also a point of greater concern than just root. You really don't have to look too far to see people having problems, especially if you every venture outside of Nexus-land. The last hulabaloo I saw over this was back in the HTC One forums because a popular AOSP ROM had a misconfigured graphics driver that caused a few games to fall over and die.
As far as blood, sweat, and tears, try a bootlooping Galaxy Player 4.0 with a wiped /efs that was essentially softbricked for about two months before I had a free six or seven hours to manually dd everything back into place. I've also had my share of bootloops on Nexus devices while experimenting, although with a little fastboot or adb knowledge it's not hard to get out of them.
I have seen plenty of people regret their root or flash. I don't think you quite remember how bad the first bootloop or problem can be if you have never messed with this stuff before. Fastboot and adb are pretty easy to learn to use, but when you're first starting and every black screen seems like the death knell, it's a different matter altogether. Yes, I saw your post, and I understood, but it's a lot better to play it safe, especially at first, then charge ahead unaware of the consequences. Don't tell me you haven't seen people whining in countless ROM threads because they've done something stupid, usually because they didn't know not to.
Bottom line: better to play it safe and know than not. The only point I made up top was that you have to be 100% aware that you're playing with fire before you get burned. That doesn't mean fire isn't useful or that it's scary, but it does mean you have to be careful.
Edit
SacGuru said:
The whole point of my second post was that there are alternatives - to roms, to mods, to apps, to hardware limitations. The availability of these alternatives is amongst the prime reasons we love android, you and I.
The Op is not asking us about Softbricks/bootlooping devices, or black screens. He is asking only about apps. As I said before, I haven't yet seen a comment from someone who wants to unroot his device just because a particular app does not work. It might be possible that with your experience you might have seen one or two, but as you mention yourselves, people sometimes tend to be stupid.
It's unfortunate that I sounded touchy to you. My only answer to the Op still remains that it would be highly unlikely for him to have trouble with apps, even though there could be apps which do not work on modded phones (as I did mention in my very first comment).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we're reading the comment a little differently. This is why I brought up what I did.
I'm about to root my Nexus 10. Will I lose anything? Such as some Google Apps refusing to work like paid for movies or books or anything if it detects it's running on a rooted device?
Or do all Google and other apps still work fine?
Anything to watch out for? I'm considering Cyanogen, and will root with Mskip's tool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on the questions being asked, I think it's reasonable to assume OP doesn't know anything about rooting or ROMs, so I'm being a little more liberal in looking at this comment than I would be otherwise. As such, I'd rather err on giving them information a little outside the original scope than too little.
Rirere said:
You're starting to get a little touchy there.
I've been rooted and flashing ROMs for several years now, so I'm hardly new to the field. Nor do I think that there's even a large portion of apps out there that have trouble on rooted devices-- because that is not the point. From an end-user perspective, it only takes the loss of one app or a misbehaving one to ruin the experience. A great day-to-day example is Foldersync-- while the app "runs" correctly, if it detects you have root privileges it will spam superuser requests to perform a better sync. If you deny the request, your sync may fail, and if you accept it, the app potentially causes a wakelock. Random behavior can be just as bad as an outright crash.
OP's interest with ROMs is also a point of greater concern than just root. You really don't have to look too far to see people having problems, especially if you every venture outside of Nexus-land. The last hulabaloo I saw over this was back in the HTC One forums because a popular AOSP ROM had a misconfigured graphics driver that caused a few games to fall over and die.
As far as blood, sweat, and tears, try a bootlooping Galaxy Player 4.0 with a wiped /efs that was essentially softbricked for about two months before I had a free six or seven hours to manually dd everything back into place. I've also had my share of bootloops on Nexus devices while experimenting, although with a little fastboot or adb knowledge it's not hard to get out of them.
I have seen plenty of people regret their root or flash. I don't think you quite remember how bad the first bootloop or problem can be if you have never messed with this stuff before. Fastboot and adb are pretty easy to learn to use, but when you're first starting and every black screen seems like the death knell, it's a different matter altogether. Yes, I saw your post, and I understood, but it's a lot better to play it safe, especially at first, then charge ahead unaware of the consequences. Don't tell me you haven't seen people whining in countless ROM threads because they've done something stupid, usually because they didn't know not to.
Bottom line: better to play it safe and know than not. The only point I made up top was that you have to be 100% aware that you're playing with fire before you get burned. That doesn't mean fire isn't useful or that it's scary, but it does mean you have to be careful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The whole point of my second post was that there are alternatives - to roms, to mods, to apps, to hardware limitations. The availability of these alternatives is amongst the prime reasons we love android, you and I.
The Op is not asking us about Softbricks/bootlooping devices, or black screens. He is asking only about apps. As I said before, I haven't yet seen a comment from someone who wants to unroot his device just because a particular app does not work. It might be possible that with your experience you might have seen one or two, but as you mention yourselves, people sometimes tend to be stupid.
It's unfortunate that I sounded touchy to you. My only answer to the Op still remains that it would be highly unlikely for him to have trouble with apps, even though there could be apps which do not work on modded phones (as I did mention in my very first comment). Somehow your answer seemed pretty similar to mine ('just about everything would be fine'), so I just wondered why you had to mention to me problems with apps like the google wallet which are easily fixed.
By now, I am sure both of us understand what the other is talking about. Also, the op has enough info to take a decision on his own. My only qualm is that the inclusion of some seemingly complex terminology might turn him off rooting his device
Sent from my GT-N7100 or the Nexus 10, heaven knows.
Those who help noobs go to heaven. True story.
Wow... I just love you guys so much... So much detailed analysis here..
I've rooted all my devices in the past and generally not had any issues if I use a mature solid tool and ROM, I've only had issues with more 'pioneering' ROM's and tools, but for good reason. So I try to stick to the stable well tested mature varieties like Cyanogen and well supported tools, generally where the developer gets some payment (as reward encourages good development).
I'm more concerned with anything like content apps so Google Books / Magazines / Movies / Zinio etc or any other apps that may kick a stink about running on a rooted device?
Spotify seems fine on a rooted device so far though (Nexus 4).
It may not be an issue for some, but I am one of the (possibly rare?) people who PAY for content - specifically reading material. And I have an extensive library so I don't want to lose that.
I'm not so concerned on the technical front as the Nexus should be fairly well community supported and understood mainstream devices and likely to have stable development and mature community support.
I have the mskip tool ready to go so I'm fine with that.
It's not a debate about rooting vs not. I always root because simple things like having a quick tile for WLAN AP can make a HUGE difference through the day as opposed to this retarded idea that people ENJOY diving deep through menu layers for simple on / off functions - it drives me completely and utterly insane over the course of a day. So I like to set up and streamline my device how I need it, and even have accurate time with root tools like ClockSync, or better security support to lock out spyware crap like FaceSpy and so on (if root helps) and also, being able to properly back up my phone.
Or employer mandated junk like Afaria that some companies mandate for BYOD-to-work devices, not that I have any idea what it's for as opposed to a trusted workable solution like Google Apps (I guess everyone has to make their own thing to put their own buggy bloated stamp on everything). Will that mandated junk still work?
The biggest problem I have still is this MTP *CRAP* which which I believe you can't work around? That's another story and Google should be shot for this.
But root vs not has little to do with that. I guess we're stuck with this MTP crap no matter what we do (thanks Google, you tools).
Thanks for the advice here though.
DroidBois said:
Wow... I just love you guys so much... So much detailed analysis here..
I've rooted all my devices in the past and generally not had any issues if I use a mature solid tool and ROM, I've only had issues with more 'pioneering' ROM's and tools, but for good reason. So I try to stick to the stable well tested mature varieties like Cyanogen and well supported tools, generally where the developer gets some payment (as reward encourages good development).
I'm more concerned with anything like content apps so Google Books / Magazines / Movies / Zinio etc or any other apps that may kick a stink about running on a rooted device?
Spotify seems fine on a rooted device so far though (Nexus 4).
It may not be an issue for some, but I am one of the (possibly rare?) people who PAY for content - specifically reading material. And I have an extensive library so I don't want to lose that.
I'm not so concerned on the technical front as the Nexus should be fairly well community supported and understood mainstream devices and likely to have stable development and mature community support.
I have the mskip tool ready to go so I'm fine with that.
It's not a debate about rooting vs not. I always root because simple things like having a quick tile for WLAN AP can make a HUGE difference through the day as opposed to this retarded idea that people ENJOY diving deep through menu layers for simple on / off functions - it drives me completely and utterly insane over the course of a day. So I like to set up and streamline my device how I need it, and even have accurate time with root tools like ClockSync, or better security support to lock out spyware crap like FaceSpy and so on (if root helps) and also, being able to properly back up my phone.
Or employer mandated junk like Afaria that some companies mandate for BYOD-to-work devices, not that I have any idea what it's for as opposed to a trusted workable solution like Google Apps (I guess everyone has to make their own thing to put their own buggy bloated stamp on everything). Will that mandated junk still work?
The biggest problem I have still is this MTP *CRAP* which which I believe you can't work around? That's another story and Google should be shot for this.
But root vs not has little to do with that. I guess we're stuck with this MTP crap no matter what we do (thanks Google, you tools).
Thanks for the advice here though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've not had any problems with Google Play services and root, although most of my books are sideloaded after ripping DRM off of Amazon purchases (I don't really believe in the idea of a "perpetual lease"). As someone who has spent time working on that "employer junk" for corporate use, it may annoy the living **** out of you as a rooted user, but from a corporate standpoint it's actually pretty damn important.
Now, as far as MTP goes, don't quote me on this, but I remember seeing a setting in DriveDroid a while back (it's an app that lets you mount an ISO on your computer by connecting your device) that would let you change your USB connection mode to something other than MTP/PTP. I dont' remember the acronym, unfortunately, but it was a lot more in line with the way a "standard" USB device would connect (with the attendant issues of not using FUSE).
Hello... hope this finds everyone well.
I am a long time android user and keep getting the urge to jump into the windows phone arena. I was just curious from those who have done the switch what you found good and bad about the experience. Just looking for justifications from either spectrum really before doing so I appreciate all of your time and look forward to hearing your experiences.
Thanks!!
Tancreddo said:
Hello... hope this finds everyone well.
I am a long time android user and keep getting the urge to jump into the windows phone arena. I was just curious from those who have done the switch what you found good and bad about the experience. Just looking for justifications from either spectrum really before doing so I appreciate all of your time and look forward to hearing your experiences.
Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, it's nice to see you're willing to make the switch.
Honestly, there are some things from Android that you're going to miss here, but there's also a bunch of new exciting stuff on WP, so in the end it all depends on your ability to adopt something new and different.
Although I don't use an Android phone as a daily device (because that place is taken by my Lumia 820), I have one for various mods and stuff, and I just find WP a better option for me (but obviously both have their advantages and disadvantages). The difference in performance and optimization is most visible on low-end hardware - WP excels there, Android not so much. There's also a difference in terms of features and customizability - all those nifty things you could change/modify/replace in Android are mostly not in WP. The hardware of WP mostly caught up to Android, so there shouldn't be any deal breakers there. The store is growing daily and now includes most "major" apps, but it really depends on you whether you'll be able to find your apps or not.
But before you decide and make opinions about WP, I urge you to wait for the 8.1 update - it brings a lot of new stuff and further refines the user experience, so it'd be wise to make judgment based on that. If you can, I suggest you get a cheap WP to have the first taste of the platform, and then decide if you want to upgrade or go back to Android.
In any case, make a decision based on your own opinion and experiences, it'll surely be the right decision for you.
I switched from my Nexus 4 to my Lumia 520 a few months ago.. one thing I noticed is the speed difference. Even though the 520 only has 512 mb of RAM, it feels more fluid than my Nexus 4.
I actually just made the switch.
From a Nexus 4 to a Lumia 925
Its been about a week, so far not regretting it at all. I managed to find all but i think 3 apps or so that i used on android in the WP store. One thing you will notice, some apps dont have all the functionality as they do on android.
What i do notice about WP is that everything is much more fluid. Tasks are easier and quicker to do. Also, in a lot of cases some of the apps on WP are generally nicer than you'll find elsewhere. I am really glad i made the switch. My main reason for switching was because i was just bored with my Nexus, wanted something different.
The only thing that its really missing at the moment is a google music app, i noticed like the day i got my WP, google changed the api or something in google music with borked all the gmusic apps on the windows store. But in everyday use, i dont miss it much. I just use pandora.
Give it a try, people hate on the apps and selection (i did too at one point) but WP has a great selection and some of the apps are absolutely beautiful.
Many people have a go at WP without ever trying it so well done to the OP for this thread.
I have had 10 Android phones and 4 tablets in the past 4 or so years. I think Android is a fantastic OS, easily the most powerful, feature rich and customisable available. In January I was contemplating swapping my N4 for a N5. However looking around at the fact that Android is so popular now I thought about trying WP8. So I got a brand new Ativ S for £140. The plan was to run two phones for a bit. The thing was I never looked at my N4. I know the lack some Google services is a problem but I have music, email & calendar one way or another so I can still interact with my Android family members.
The biggest let down in WP8 is the browser. IE is …. erm not very good. It needs text reflow (but so does Chrome) as a start but in reality MS need to open the platform to allow other browsers to run their own engines.
My advice is to see how tied in you are to Google and Android apps and see if any are missing on WP8. If the missing ones are vital to you then maybe WP8 isn’t for you.
I am now waiting for the new set hardware coming later in the year. I will then decide whether to get a new WP device or go back to android.
finbaar said:
The biggest let down in WP8 is the browser. IE is …. erm not very good. It needs text reflow (but so does Chrome) as a start but in reality MS need to open the platform to allow other browsers to run their own engines.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Luckily, IE is getting several improvements in 8.1, so it'll be a more viable option for people. The thing that's missing the most IMO is password management. Every decent browser should have it...
finbaar said:
My advice is to see how tied in you are to Google and Android apps and see if any are missing on WP8. If the missing ones are vital to you then maybe WP8 isn’t for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, if you're heavily tied into Google's ecosystem, you may need to reconsider your choice. Not that support for Google's products and services totally sucks, but it's quite lacking compared to what it could be (mostly Google's fault). But the good thing is, if you manage to make the switch to Microsoft's services, they've got you covered.
Me too.. my final android phone was the Xperia z (for a few days).. i just got bored of Android, wanted something different... i may get the LG G Pro 2 when it comes to the Market as a second phone, but my Nokia 1520 is not going anywhere in the near Future.
Super_Sport said:
Me too.. my final android phone was the Xperia z (for a few days).. i just got bored of Android, wanted something different... i may get the LG G Pro 2 when it comes to the Market as a second phone, but my Nokia 1520 is not going anywhere in the near Future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am considering a WP however the applications ... Will I be able to install free programs like we do on Android? I can download games and chunky programs from android app sites, and don't burn my precious internet credit.
agispapatias said:
I am considering a WP however the applications ... Will I be able to install free programs like we do on Android? I can download games and chunky programs from android app sites, and don't burn my precious internet credit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on how you define "free". There's free and trial versions of apps available on WP as well. There's only one store for WP, but you don't really need 10 app stores just to get your apps, do you? But if you're talking about piracy, you're out of luck.
DaviUnic said:
Depends on how you define "free". There's free and trial versions of apps available on WP as well. There's only one store for WP, but you don't really need 10 app stores just to get your apps, do you? But if you're talking about piracy, you're out of luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean is the system accessible like android? In android I can download and install apps from other sources like app sites.
Do WP has a similar system?
As I said, no, and doesn't really need one because quality apps are found in the store. The only other source of apps are homemade apps, but you need dev unlock for that.
DaviUnic said:
you need dev unlock for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It`s free. And @reker says you`re free to install 10 apps now (was 2 for free unlock).
Hi -
As the title says, I'm a total Android noob. I tried a droid phone many years ago, but found it irritating and fiddly, and went with an iPhone. I'm no fan of Apple, but it works pretty good, and as long as I was able to jailbreak the phone, I was OK with it. I think the future of JB for iphone may well be at the end of the road. If I ever have to replace or reload my iphone, then I lose my JB & I'm locked into Apple's walled garden. Unacceptable, as then I lose my ad-block and other items that make the device tolerable.
Realizing that my current iPhone is very likely my last, I snagged a Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T580 to see if I could learn to live with Android. One of my biggest issues with Android is Google. I despise Google and avoid using Google & their services to the greatest extent possible. (Yes, I know, flames and criticism headed my way for saying that ).
I don't want anyone's cloud, mail or other services.; I have my own servers for caldav, mail and file services. I want a stripped down, unbloated, and ad blocking android experience that is as free as possible from google or 3rd party services.
I understand there are other images (Cyanagen, AOKP, etc) but I don't know enough about any of this yet to know what I'd be getting into there.
But as a start, following a guide found here on XDA, I have rooted the tablet, and using Titanium, removed a good bit of the bloatware. I notice that since rooting the tablet, there is a 6 - 8 second delay after entering the pin code and hitting OK before the tablet unlocks. Not sure what that's all about.
There's a lot to learn and a lot of mis-information out there. It's hard to find a straight answer. Any tips or info appreciated as I try and figure out how to get as close as possible to my goal.
kalart said:
Hi -
As the title says, I'm a total Android noob. I tried a droid phone many years ago, but found it irritating and fiddly, and went with an iPhone. I'm no fan of Apple, but it works pretty good, and as long as I was able to jailbreak the phone, I was OK with it. I think the future of JB for iphone may well be at the end of the road. If I ever have to replace or reload my iphone, then I lose my JB & I'm locked into Apple's walled garden. Unacceptable, as then I lose my ad-block and other items that make the device tolerable.
Realizing that my current iPhone is very likely my last, I snagged a Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T580 to see if I could learn to live with Android. One of my biggest issues with Android is Google. I despise Google and avoid using Google & their services to the greatest extent possible. (Yes, I know, flames and criticism headed my way for saying that ).
I don't want anyone's cloud, mail or other services.; I have my own servers for caldav, mail and file services. I want a stripped down, unbloated, and ad blocking android experience that is as free as possible from google or 3rd party services.
I understand there are other images (Cyanagen, AOKP, etc) but I don't know enough about any of this yet to know what I'd be getting into there.
But as a start, following a guide found here on XDA, I have rooted the tablet, and using Titanium, removed a good bit of the bloatware. I notice that since rooting the tablet, there is a 6 - 8 second delay after entering the pin code and hitting OK before the tablet unlocks. Not sure what that's all about.
There's a lot to learn and a lot of mis-information out there. It's hard to find a straight answer. Any tips or info appreciated as I try and figure out how to get as close as possible to my goal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My advice.
Ignore built.prop mods. I haven't seen any empirical evidence to prove it does what people say it does. Infact I've read more to say its bolony. However, I did find 3c toolbox improved my battery life on my Galaxy s5 with lineage os installed.
I managed to remove google from my android box. Use aptiode for an app store.
Download F droid,
Install newpipe YouTube client. Then ads are banished forever.
Install ad-away. Helps block ads on browser.
I use mi-explorer.
Don't use greenify or clean master they don't help.
With 3c toolbox and root you can remove a load of rubbish. My basic M8S runs really great with google removed.
I would recommend lineage OS, I have it running on 3 devices so far. I'm the nougat Aosp from this forum on my tab 10.1.
Backstory: I've always used iPhones, was tired of the bull****, and wished for Android especially the S8. Was shocked, and I'm rarely shocked, but the agressive violation of privacy, the crazy amount of bloatware, and the unoptimised UX and system services overall.
Now, I'm in charge of a wide ecosystem of people using smartphones in our company as well as other companies I consult for. While people always blab about personal privacy (which is a concern of course), what I don't understand is how people dealing with either sensitive, contractual or strategic informations could use Android devices given that it *excuse but there's no better terms* rapes your privacy in every, but also I'm pretty sure, illegal, ways.
For exemple the Sound Detector app, even when disabled, is constantly listening to your environment without your priori knowledge or permissions. In fact it's mainly the permissions scheme that baffles me: on iOS or any PC or Mac, you can install any app without being constrained to accept giving out information or accessing functions that have nothing to do with the app, THEN you can choose what precise permissions, when and why. And of course there's the whole wider problem of usage and data tracking (which I apparently have to install...a firewall??) or even malware (I have to install a separate antivirus for...on a smartphone). Worst exemple being that of course: www.theverge.com/2018/1/2/16842294/android-apps-microphone-access-listening-tv-habits
Now I like Android for all their efforts, development and implementation, as well as Samsung efforts...but I'm on the verge of having to present a report to ban all Android phones (for a "leave at door" Policy or either iPhone, BBMs and any other "more" secure smartphones) like I just realise they did in the US government and other official institutions as well as some corporations...or...understand very well how it works, and devise a clearly guide on how to completely optimise and secure Android smartphones like I would for PCs/Macs.
So here's my mission if you accept to help me:
1. I want to deconstruct how Android works in a very simple scheme for noob.
2. From that I want to list all the system packages and services, to determine those that are critical, optional or bloatware, and actually describe exactly what they're for so people have a clear idea.
3. I want to list all the base applications, stores or packages apps, to determine those that are critical, optional or bloatware, then what they're for and most importantly the best alternative apps to these.
4. I want to list and make a simple schemes of how the device components (sensors, cam, mic...), the different data canals, and the the different permissions are circulating or violating privacy while screwing cpu time, battery and data.
5. Finally I want to learn, understand and create a simple noob introduction to the different tools like Xposed (and XprivacyLua which seems to be the best options), package disablers (I personally went for BK), Firewall, Adblockers and Antivirus (honestly didn't even think I would need those on Android).
So I guess first, I'll list all the apps, packages (and sub-services) that my Galaxy S8 came shipped with that overwhelmed me, so as to know for a basic Galaxy S8/+/Note what is a consensus of what to disable, why, how and by what to replace if there's alternative, while listing basic how-to's of the tools to that. Note that I only know about BK Disabler as of now.
Reserved
Upd: I haven't had time, but I'm starting to do a table with all the packages, what they're for and wether to disable them.
You do know that Silverpush do affect both iPhone and Android, right? And "leave at the door" policy or either iPhone or BBM? There's two errors in this sentence. Are you really what you claim to be? Or just someone with an agenda who just created an XDA account?
why would you need an antivirus for a phone if you stick to play store apps?
rashat999 said:
why would you need an antivirus for a phone if you stick to play store apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are plenty of play store garbage apps with spy ware and crap in them
vladimir_carlan said:
You do know that Silverpush do affect both iPhone and Android, right? And "leave at the door" policy or either iPhone or BBM? There's two errors in this sentence. Are you really what you claim to be? Or just someone with an agenda who just created an XDA account?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iPhone (pretends to) be safe and secure and doesn't straight-up violate your privacy by forcing unneeded permission even before installing the app and running tons of spyware as per unbox while giving all your infos out to apps that demand it and more. It's also a question of procedure: iPhone are really easy to fix/secure with a jailbreak, I didn't even root this Android I got and realised how terribly aggressive their violation of privacy is.
But again, I just want to give people the choice as long as their device is secure, that's why I'm learning all the quirks of Android and how to secure them. All our IT guys confirmed that unless you know exactly how to secure Android devices like we did for our computer park, employees better go for an iPhone.
There's a difference between Apple that might have backdoors to the NSA, and Android that is a crazy open buffet for -permitted- informations stealing without even talking about spyware or silverpush. My Galaxy S8 came with apps and packages that were constantly listening through the mic without my prior knowledge, installation or authorisation, this is intolerable. But I switched for a reason, I'll see if using Android is easily manageable or if it's better to ban them from inside use.
OgreTactic said:
iPhone (pretends to) be safe and secure and doesn't straight-up violate your privacy by forcing unneeded permission even before installing the app and running tons of spyware as per unbox while giving all your infos out to apps that demand it and more. It's also a question of procedure: iPhone are really easy to fix/secure with a jailbreak, I didn't even root this Android I got and realised how terribly aggressive their violation of privacy is.
But again, I just want to give people the choice as long as their device is secure, that's why I'm learning all the quirks of Android and how to secure them. All our IT guys confirmed that unless you know exactly how to secure Android devices like we did for our computer park, employees better go for an iPhone.
There's a difference between Apple that might have backdoors to the NSA, and Android that is a crazy open buffet for -permitted- informations stealing without even talking about spyware or silverpush. My Galaxy S8 came with apps and packages that were constantly listening through the mic without my prior knowledge, installation or authorisation, this is intolerable. But I switched for a reason, I'll see if using Android is easily manageable or if it's better to ban them from inside use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mate my question still stand: are you really what are you claiming to be or you just have an agenda? Some badass company appointed you to decide what is secure and what not. Really? You? In Op you are talking about thinking to allow only iOS and BBM (it's Bbos BTW) only. BBOSS? Really? BBOS was discontinued one year ago...no more updates no more security patches, no more nothing.
vladimir_carlan said:
Mate my question still stand: are you really what are you claiming to be or you just have an agenda? Some badass company appointed you to decide what is secure and what not. Really? You? In Op you are talking about thinking to allow only iOS and BBM (it's Bbos BTW) only. BBOSS? Really? BBOS was discontinued one year ago...no more updates no more security patches, no more nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not my job, but that's part of mine to decide or push in front of committees what tool we should use, purely from a utilitarian, managerial and system POV. None of us beside IT guys ever realised how Android were intolerably insecure, I've had my head in Apple buttock for years thinking "yeah, that's too limited and I heard Android is now as stable and well made".
But I don't want to go back to iPhone either, so here I am sitting with a Galaxy S8 I'm still not using because I don't where to start to secure it, whether I should try to fix everything on the factory rom or just root it.
OgreTactic said:
That's not my job, but that's part of mine to decide or push in front of committees what tool we should use, purely from a utilitarian, managerial and system POV. None of us beside IT guys ever realised how Android were intolerably insecure, I've had my head in Apple buttock for years thinking "yeah, that's too limited and I heard Android is now as stable and well made".
But I don't want to go back to iPhone either, so here I am sitting with a Galaxy S8 I'm still not using because I don't where to start to secure it, whether I should try to fix everything on the factory rom or just root it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay...what exactly makes you to feel insecure? I understand you're bothered that some apps are accessing your microphone. That's easy... Settings-Apps. Tap on those three dots and chose app permission. You'll see what apps have access to microphone and deny permission for them. Job done. What else makes you to feel insecure?
vladimir_carlan said:
Okay...what exactly makes you to feel insecure? I understand you're bothered that some apps are accessing your microphone. That's easy... Settings-Apps. Tap on those three dots and chose app permission. You'll see what apps have access to microphone and deny permission for them. Job done. What else makes you to feel insecure?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I put my S8 away for now I went back to an iPhone. I'm using it off-grid to still try and figure out how it works.
Basically my problems are clear:
1. There's no transparency in background processes/services, the component they use and the data they send.
2. The way permissions are managed is intolerable: forcing you to accept non-necessary and arbitrary access to connected components or private information BEFORE installing the app is a form of extortion. The same goes when running the app: forcing permissions that are not critical to the app code actually running is a form of extortion. Baffles me how Google even allows that today.
3. The fact that there's even a need for a firewall and antivirus, and that the official stores is filled with illegal (copyright infringing app so blatant) and therefor myriads of potential malicious apps like Silverpush-enabled one, without any store control or curation on Google's part.
All this means there is no way I will use an Android rather than an iPhone and allow anyone dealing with private or "sensitive" commercial informations using one inside the company. I'm still trying to figure out if going straight to root is the solution, if I'll have to use cryptography for documents and coms, or if I'll have to spend days figuring out Xposed+Xprivacy, Packages Disablers, MicroG alternative libraries, Firewall and Antivirus and god knows what to make it decently secure like an iPhone (which doesn't aggressively violates your privacy and is really easy to secure with a jailbreak...unless there are hidden backdoors which is still far from the probably illegal open-buffet of private and sensitive informations Google provides to any potential malicious websites, scripts or apps).