Customizing LineageOS 7.1.2 App Chooser - LineageOS News & Discussion

I have a rather peculiar problem with the app choose tab that pops up whenever I try to open a file that has no app associated to it.
In older Android versions it used to be that I could just click on the name of my favourite app that would suffice to have it open up the file for me.
That has the huge advantage, that I can still choose to use a different app next time around.
That still seems to work with stock Android 7.1 on my Samsung Note 8, but not so in LineageOS 7.1.2 on my P900.
There I must actually click one of the two options of "Just Once" or "Always" - nothing else will do.
That leaves me with the incredibly bothersome task of having to navigate myself all the way through the settings menu, should I ever in haste push the "Always" button.
Is there any way or modification that would make LineageOS behave like standard Android in this way and/or an easier means to undo the effect of pushing "Always"?
Thx in advance for any help with this.

Nobody got any idea here?

Related

T-Mobile Device Tune-up Beta

Hey guys, T-Mobile is implementing a new program with their My Device program for Android devices called Device Tune-up, in beta form. From reading everything, I guess it's essentially another task-killer. I'm going to give it a shot. Anybody else willing to try?
From T-Mo:
Background:
T-Mobile is continually looking for ways to bring new innovation to our customers. Within the My Account application, we are adding new functionality in the My Device section called Device Tune-up. Device Tune-up is built to run in the background at all times and ‘tune-up’ the device by closing unused services that are running.
Device Tune-up is different from most task killers because it does not require you to do anything. Device Tune-up will default to 'on'. While on, Device Tune-up proactively closes services to help the device and battery perform at their best. Most pre-loaded applications will not be affected by Device Tune-up. For our non-technical users, this may mean you never even realize Device Tune-up is running; your device may simply run better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download & instructions here
I installed as soon as I saw them tweet it, and I must say I'm pretty impressed, it works very well. More people should try it though, I would like to see what others think of it.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
well they pulled the link before i got a chance to dl. says it'll be up again tomorrow.
are you seeing any of the said improvements?
Does anyone have the APK? They pulled the download for the night.
http://www.4shared.com/file/lhr3ePUm/My_Account___Beta.html
how can i run this in a non TM devices?and also not a t-mobile user........?
I downloaded this, but it does not allow you to turn off pre-installed apps. That's a major loss and pretty much renders the thing useless. Advanced Task Killer works much better in this department.
I'm going to give it a shot and see if it works okay. I don't use a lot of the apps that are req to stay on and not kill so it may work great for me. I'll see in a day or two.
That's weird I installed it but I don't see the device tune up part anywhere and I'm not on wifi. Also I read this on the download page:
If, after installing the beta, you do not see Device Tune-up on the Quick Tools menu, it means that your device was placed into a control group experience. To opt out of the control group experience and be able to see Device Tune-up, long click on the Phone Info line under Quick Tools tab and choose to ‘opt-out’ of the control group. You will then see Device Tune-up.
I followed the instructions and I long press on the phone info part under quick tools and nothing happens or I don't get any option to opt-out. Anyone else having this issue? Does this app work on nexus one running froyo?
gmonterrosa82 said:
That's weird I installed it but I don't see the device tune up part anywhere and I'm not on wifi. Also I read this on the download page:
If, after installing the beta, you do not see Device Tune-up on the Quick Tools menu, it means that your device was placed into a control group experience. To opt out of the control group experience and be able to see Device Tune-up, long click on the Phone Info line under Quick Tools tab and choose to ‘opt-out’ of the control group. You will then see Device Tune-up.
I followed the instructions and I long press on the phone info part under quick tools and nothing happens or I don't get any option to opt-out. Anyone else having this issue? Does this app work on nexus one running froyo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try installing apk manager from the market then install it from there thats what i had to do to get mine to work
gmonterrosa82 said:
That's weird I installed it but I don't see the device tune up part anywhere and I'm not on wifi. Also I read this on the download page:
If, after installing the beta, you do not see Device Tune-up on the Quick Tools menu, it means that your device was placed into a control group experience. To opt out of the control group experience and be able to see Device Tune-up, long click on the Phone Info line under Quick Tools tab and choose to ‘opt-out’ of the control group. You will then see Device Tune-up.
I followed the instructions and I long press on the phone info part under quick tools and nothing happens or I don't get any option to opt-out. Anyone else having this issue? Does this app work on nexus one running froyo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jriv said:
try installing apk manager from the market then install it from there thats what i had to do to get mine to work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean? I installed apk manager and all it does is show me all my apps installed. And I do see the myaccount app in installed but there's nothing else to do....did I miss a step?...... Thanks
I got it and installed it through the apk manager as you stated and installed the app but it still doesn't show device tune up or holding long pressing the phone info doesn't give me the option to opt-out....
after you install it open up my device go to quick tools and press and hold on phone info then you get a pop up asking about the control group thing
Yeah I've tried this like 100 times today, nothing happens I hold "phone info" it highlights green I hold it nothings pop ups asking me to opt out. I've installed and reinstalled the app through the apk manager and without it and it just isn't working. I have nexus one running froyo (latest update) am I missing something????
Its for 2.1 devices only
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Ah....well then there you go. Thanks
This app is so completely pointless. Except for the percentage meter, which I am testing to see if I get battery battery life with no percentage widget running. I don't like the 1-10 scale the settings menu has.
This is basically how it works for me. Since I know how to end programs using the back button method , I go to my "My device beta", go to end tasks, and every task I would like to kill says "cannot kill pre-installed app".
Facebook, twitter, all sorts of dumb S*** has to be left running. Personally I hate the mail app because it lags and the gmail app is better, so I would like to close mail along with FB and many others. Would it be so terrible if T-mobile made these things optional.
Any one agree/disagree? care to argue?
I agree that this is useless. I have tried it for a few days now and it has done nothing. I still (out of habbit) go and click my task killer and it constantly is still killing apps that this beta is missing. I purposely opened some and let them run in the background for several hours unused and it still did not kill them and they were not stock apps so it should kill them just fine. Anyway, I still use my task killer to save battery so nothing has changed except I lost a few min of my life tinkering with this. Not worth the time.
I've gotten about 2 extra hours (from 10 to 12 hours) of battery life after installing this. There are plenty of articles explaining how advanced task killer is actually a battery drain, and is really only used by people with a microsoft windows mindset. TMOs app runs a bit differently and actually kills tasks that are running in the background, not just holding memory (I'm not going to explain the differnce, as its been done 100x already).
I give the app a good rating.

"Just Once" & "Always" Options are missing in activity Chooser

"Just Once" & "Always" Options are missing in activity Chooser
After updating to Marshmallow (SM-G900H) the activity chooser doesn't show the options to select just once or always. I have multiple apps that can handle a single file. But, when I select a single application, it's automatically set as default. I have to clear the default in order to open it in another. Eventhough it's useful for the users who uses limited apps, They can select "always" if there is an option.
It's really frustrating & killing the freedom of switching between apps.
There are so many similar reports all around the world in S6 as well. The most of the suggested workaround is to use "Better Open With". But, that won't work with many uncommon extension. For example I want to open an xml file. I usually use HTML viewer for better viewing experience & to validate. But, want to open with Quick Text Editor for editing. Since It Openwith can't handle, I have to clear the defaults everytime.
How many of you have similar issues...?
Sent from my SM-G900H using Tapatalk
ktsamy said:
After updating to Marshmallow (SM-G900H) the activity chooser doesn't show the options to select just once or always. I have multiple apps that can handle a single file. But, when I select a single application, it's automatically set as default. I have to clear the default in order to open it in another. Eventhough it's useful for the users who uses limited apps, They can select "always" if there is an option.
It's really frustrating & killing the freedom of switching between apps.
There are so many similar reports all around the world in S6 as well. The most of the suggested workaround is to use "Better Open With". But, that won't work with many uncommon extension. For example I want to open an xml file. I usually use HTML viewer for better viewing experience & to validate. But, want to open with Quick Text Editor for editing. Since It Openwith can't handle, I have to clear the defaults everytime.
How many of you have similar issues...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I miss that option after upgrading to marshmallow
Yes it's frustrating to always clear defaults to use another app
We may have to emphasize this issue, if we needs this feature back to marshmallow.
I have already contacted samsung india support team & they have replied that they will forward it to the development team. Got a reference number too.
Until or unless it's emphasized Samsung will never care.

Recommendations and Help With Apps

I've had my Essential Phone for about three days and I've got mixed feelings about it. This is my escape from the Samsung ecosystem, and I love love love the fact that it isn't bogged down with bloat. Generally, the PH-1 does everything faster than any phone I've ever owned, even the much lauded iPhone. But there's a number of functionalities I'd like to get.
1.) File Management: I thought this was part of the Android OS. Apparently not? I would like to find a file management app that gives me Windows-like control and navigation.
2.) Camera: The PH-1's native camera app might be good someday. For now it sucks. I'd heard you could "just get the Google Pixel Camera" and everyone made it sound super easy. Well ... I did go out and find the Nougat version Google Pixel Camera APK. I installed it. It crashes instantly upon opening and never works. I'd love to know what went wrong there.
3.) Keyboard: Okay, sometimes Samsung just does it better. Their keyboard app was perfect and I'd gotten used to the layout. Now I'm wishing I could have my Samsung keyboard back. The Google one sucks, truth be told. Most keyboard apps you find searching Google Play are all about being pretty or fancy or whatever. I just want the same simple functionality back: All letters and numbers on the same screen and the most common special characters as alternate long-press options on that same page. Decent intelligent autocomplete. Larger buttons. Extensions such as .com when they make sense and not when they don't.
I'd also like to get any and every recommendation for apps. Is there any point in rooting the PH-1? That sort of thing.
Thanks in advance!
BonkersTheClown said:
I've had my Essential Phone for about three days and I've got mixed feelings about it. This is my escape from the Samsung ecosystem, and I love love love the fact that it isn't bogged down with bloat. Generally, the PH-1 does everything faster than any phone I've ever owned, even the much lauded iPhone. But there's a number of functionalities I'd like to get.
1.) File Management: I thought this was part of the Android OS. Apparently not? I would like to find a file management app that gives me Windows-like control and navigation.
2.) Camera: The PH-1's native camera app might be good someday. For now it sucks. I'd heard you could "just get the Google Pixel Camera" and everyone made it sound super easy. Well ... I did go out and find the Nougat version Google Pixel Camera APK. I installed it. It crashes instantly upon opening and never works. I'd love to know what went wrong there.
3.) Keyboard: Okay, sometimes Samsung just does it better. Their keyboard app was perfect and I'd gotten used to the layout. Now I'm wishing I could have my Samsung keyboard back. The Google one sucks, truth be told. Most keyboard apps you find searching Google Play are all about being pretty or fancy or whatever. I just want the same simple functionality back: All letters and numbers on the same screen and the most common special characters as alternate long-press options on that same page. Decent intelligent autocomplete. Larger buttons. Extensions such as .com when they make sense and not when they don't.
I'd also like to get any and every recommendation for apps. Is there any point in rooting the PH-1? That sort of thing.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can set up the Google keyboard to display letters and numbers as well as symbols on long press. It's in the keyboard settings in your phone settings but isn't turned on by default. I don't know why. I turned it on and now it's usable. Go to phone settings, language&input, virtual keyboard, Gboard and preferences. Enable show numbers and long press symbols
Also I use file explorer from play store
barleysoda said:
You can set up the Google keyboard to display letters and numbers as well as symbols on long press. It's in the keyboard settings in your phone settings but isn't turned on by default. I don't know why. I turned it on and now it's usable. Go to phone settings, language&input, virtual keyboard, Gboard and preferences. Enable show numbers and long press symbols
Also I use file explorer from play store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I prefer the SwiftKey Beta keyboard, been using it for years.
barleysoda said:
You can set up the Google keyboard to display letters and numbers as well as symbols on long press. It's in the keyboard settings in your phone settings but isn't turned on by default. I don't know why. I turned it on and now it's usable. Go to phone settings, language&input, virtual keyboard, Gboard and preferences. Enable show numbers and long press symbols
Also I use file explorer from play store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the timely response. Yeah, got the Gboard sorted. Weird how you have to look to find settings and minor tweaks like that. Oddly found that I prefer ASUS file manager. Strange that the Android OS doesn't have file management built in. Is there a way to enable full control of my PH-1 files and folders from my PC?
Next problem: Sounds. Once again, Samsung made it all so much easier. Need to sort out how to specify sounds for specific apps. For example, if I get a text message, I am used to setting one sound just for that and different sounds for other specific events. What I am seeing here is ringtones, media and notifications. And quite annoyingly, EVERY APP seems to be enabled to span notifications by default. Apparently,you have to block each one individually. It's also be nice to set my phone to silent easily but on a timer so I don't forget to turn it back on. Used to just pull down top of the screen and tap the icon to silence. Had an app to turn it back on on a timer called Shush, but it didn't work reliably.
Had another "damn I love this phone" moment yesterday when I realized that I can actually just uninstall my longtime nemesis, Google Music.
BonkersTheClown said:
Thanks for the timely response. Yeah, got the Gboard sorted. Weird how you have to look to find settings and minor tweaks like that. Oddly found that I prefer ASUS file manager. Strange that the Android OS doesn't have file management built in. Is there a way to enable full control of my PH-1 files and folders from my PC?
Next problem: Sounds. Once again, Samsung made it all so much easier. Need to sort out how to specify sounds for specific apps. For example, if I get a text message, I am used to setting one sound just for that and different sounds for other specific events. What I am seeing here is ringtones, media and notifications. And quite annoyingly, EVERY APP seems to be enabled to span notifications by default. Apparently,you have to block each one individually. It's also be nice to set my phone to silent easily but on a timer so I don't forget to turn it back on. Used to just pull down top of the screen and tap the icon to silence. Had an app to turn it back on on a timer called Shush, but it didn't work reliably.
Had another "damn I love this phone" moment yesterday when I realized that I can actually just uninstall my longtime nemesis, Google Music.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the msgs app, you can set the notification sound for that.
For the timed silence, when you pull down the notification bar, you will see the do not disturb icon. A circle with a stroke through it. When you turn that on, you can set a duration for it.
I use Ex File Explorer on my phone and I use the blackberry keyboard.
There is another thread on this forum that's dedicated to the Google cam port where you can get the APK.
Sent from my PH-1 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
BonkersTheClown said:
1.) File Management: I thought this was part of the Android OS. Apparently not? I would like to find a file management app that gives me Windows-like control and navigation.
2.) Camera: The PH-1's native camera app might be good someday. For now it sucks. I'd heard you could "just get the Google Pixel Camera" and everyone made it sound super easy. Well ... I did go out and find the Nougat version Google Pixel Camera APK. I installed it. It crashes instantly upon opening and never works. I'd love to know what went wrong there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. If you search on the play store, there are a bunch of free file managers for download. There's a bunch of them, pick one that fits your style
2. Did you get the ported one? Havent tried it but I don't think the actual pixel camera apk will work on any phone. Check out the most recent port in this thread
https://forum.xda-developers.com/essential-phone/themes/google-camera-port-t3665197/page4
flakko86 said:
1. If you search on the play store, there are a bunch of free file managers for download. There's a bunch of them, pick one that fits your style
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got that part sorted. As a pure Android noob, I was surprised the OS doesn't have one built in.
2. Did you get the ported one? Havent tried it but I don't think the actual pixel camera apk will work on any phone. Check out the most recent port in this thread
https://forum.xda-developers.com/essential-phone/themes/google-camera-port-t3665197/page4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am pretty sure I got the right one, but I'll try the one you linked along with the instructions. We'll see how it goes.
Okay I have downloaded the APK, how do you access changelog and make the prescribed settings changes?
BonkersTheClown said:
Got that part sorted. As a pure Android noob, I was surprised the OS doesn't have one built in.
I am pretty sure I got the right one, but I'll try the one you linked along with the instructions. We'll see how it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock Explorer:
Settings - Storage - Explore
onenexus said:
Stock Explorer:
Settings - Storage - Explore
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah true, found that before. It's a lot of steps. I wanted and got something to stick on my home screen that gets me there in a single tap.
BonkersTheClown said:
Okay I have downloaded the APK, how do you access changelog and make the prescribed settings changes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While you're in the app, tap the 3 horizontal lines on the top right corner of the screen. That should take you to the settings menu
More fun stuff. I would have thought that this would be simple. I dumped Google Music because quite frankly it sucks and I have always hated it. Shopped around and found a music player that I liked: Pi Music Player. Now when I try to play music via voice command via Google Assistant, it doesn't know what app to use. I'm offered the choice between Google Play and YouTube. I have looked and looked, but haven't found steps for changing the GA default music app to Pi Music Player - at least no steps that actually work. Another one of those, "this should seriously be easier than this" things.
Also, on my old Samsung phone, I was able to get the home button working in Google Chrome. Frankly, I'd rather use Brave as I prefer to not spend my bandwidth on letting Google spy on me. Same is true in Brave and Chrome: No home button possible.
Thanks so much for the help!

Minimal Android OS for Note 4 Audio & Video?

Am thinking about using a Note 4 for Audio and Video only (no phone or Internet).
Hope someone else has tried this and has some suggestions concerning reducing Android OS to minimum.
Also instead of reducing the Android OS if it would be better to use a 3rd party ROM?
Open to all comments
KermitJ said:
Am thinking about using a Note 4 for Audio and Video only (no phone or Internet).
Hope someone else has tried this and has some suggestions concerning reducing Android OS to minimum.
Also instead of reducing the Android OS if it would be better to use a 3rd party ROM?
Open to all comments
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're not interested in internet, yet want reliable audio and video, maybe try old kk roms that are optimized or some lollipop aosp roms. That way the software is at its lightest.
QuoPrimum Thanks for the tips!
Forgot to add that I am new to Android but have been using Windows for a while.
For Windows there are a number of ways to remove unnecessary parts
1. preformed like Micro XP v0.82
2. make your own using nLite
Anything like this for Android?
Also have been searching for a description what each Android file does like Black Viper does for Windows. Windows Services Information http://www.blackviper.com/windows-services/
Hope someone knows about an Android (or even Linux) info similar to this.
KermitJ said:
QuoPrimum Thanks for the tips!
Forgot to add that I am new to Android but have been using Windows for a while.
For Windows there are a number of ways to remove unnecessary parts
1. preformed like Micro XP v0.82
2. make your own using nLite
Anything like this for Android?
Also have been searching for a description what each Android file does like Black Viper does for Windows. Windows Services Information http://www.blackviper.com/windows-services/
Hope someone knows about an Android (or even Linux) info similar to this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could disable/freeze apps with titanium backup or using adb.
QuoPrimum Thanks for the suggestion "You could disable/freeze apps with titanium backup or using adb."
Checked "Titanium Backup User’s Guide" https://www.titaniumtrack.com/kb/titanium-backup-kb/titanium-backup-user-guide.html Was especially interested in 7. Manage Applications List of apps Tapping the “Backup/Restore” button brings you to the application list – or rather the list of available “items”. Here you can see which applications and settings are available on your phone, and what has already been backed up (the symbols to the right tell you the latter – hit your phones menu button and select “Legend” for details on what they mean). Tapping an application brings up a popup from which you can select actions to be taken with the selected item: You can e.g. run an application, back it up, restore it (or its settings). You also may also decide to un-install the application – even if it is a system app! But with the latter, you should be very careful: Remove the wrong thing, and your phone may start malfunctioning. Which is why you should first try whether it’s safe to remove that system application. This can be done by “freezing” it.
Clarification: What type of information is available when select legend.
Also do you know of a beginners guide for Android OS services?
KermitJ said:
QuoPrimum Thanks for the suggestion "You could disable/freeze apps with titanium backup or using adb."
Checked "Titanium Backup User’s Guide" https://www.titaniumtrack.com/kb/titanium-backup-kb/titanium-backup-user-guide.html Was especially interested in 7. Manage Applications List of apps Tapping the “Backup/Restore” button brings you to the application list – or rather the list of available “items”. Here you can see which applications and settings are available on your phone, and what has already been backed up (the symbols to the right tell you the latter – hit your phones menu button and select “Legend” for details on what they mean). Tapping an application brings up a popup from which you can select actions to be taken with the selected item: You can e.g. run an application, back it up, restore it (or its settings). You also may also decide to un-install the application – even if it is a system app! But with the latter, you should be very careful: Remove the wrong thing, and your phone may start malfunctioning. Which is why you should first try whether it’s safe to remove that system application. This can be done by “freezing” it.
Clarification: What type of information is available when select legend.
Also do you know of a beginners guide for Android OS services?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know of any specific guides, but if you look around xda, there should be a few debloating guides for roms.

Need HELP for minor Home Screen customization.

Hello everyone,
I've got a Smart TV with stock Android TV (v 11, can't disclose client , at the moment).
Is there any way to add a super minor customization to android tv ?
It's literally minor, it's adding an entry point for an App, which is not an App Icon Launcher, because they want it to look like integral part of the OS.
It could be anything like an Icon (next to the other system icons like settings, input, profile), or an Entry in system settings menu' , or something like that, to launch the Application.
It's so minor that redo all the work and get into AOSP is way too overkill, it would start a completely different project.
No, the client exclude the option to just have the App installed, they want the App as it was integral part of the Operating System.
I've read several documentations :
- Aosp : Way too many cons for such a small customization.
- Android Operator Tier with Custom Launcher : Could be viable to do a custom launcher, but the Smart TV is not eligible for operator tier (Not sold in leasing, do not sell any pay/linear channel, it's just a plain Smart TV)
- Custom Launcher on stock Android TV : Not viable, it would still be an Application with its launcher or would need some tricky configuration which wouldn't look like integral part of the OS at all.
- TIF (TV Input Framework) : Would just modify and recompile the TV App work ? I'm not sure if it is possible and how difficult it would be and if it is possible to "overwrite" just the TV System App on a Stock Android TV OS.
Do you have any suggestions how to achieve the desired "customization" without loosing all the built in supports/services that come with stock Android TV OS ? The simpler the better.
Thank you so much in advance!
from what you're explaining isn't a minor customization.
what you want is to customize the android tv launcher, however that launcher is an app just like everything else on the tvbox including your iptv app, youtube app, netflix app, etc...
so for your to achieve what you want, you'll need to have some dev knowledge, and you'll need to disassemble, modify and reassemble the launcher app + do whatever customization you need done.
it's not impossible, however it's not easy at all.
option2: you can hire a developer to develop your own tv launcher with whatever customization you want, probably won't be cheap, but will achieve exactly what you want.
option3: find an open-source tv launcher, use it, customize it as you like, you may or may-not need to hire a developer to do extra customizations, your cheapest, easiest, and quickest way to achieve what you're looking for. just google open source tv launcher, i'm sure you'll land on a few.
example:
Code:
https://gitlab.com/flauncher/flauncher
donmega_icecube said:
from what you're explaining isn't a minor customization.
what you want is to customize the android tv launcher, however that launcher is an app just like everything else on the tvbox including your iptv app, youtube app, netflix app, etc...
so for your to achieve what you want, you'll need to have some dev knowledge, and you'll need to disassemble, modify and reassemble the launcher app + do whatever customization you need done.
it's not impossible, however it's not easy at all.
option2: you can hire a developer to develop your own tv launcher with whatever customization you want, probably won't be cheap, but will achieve exactly what you want.
option3: find an open-source tv launcher, use it, customize it as you like, you may or may-not need to hire a developer to do extra customizations, your cheapest, easiest, and quickest way to achieve what you're looking for. just google open source tv launcher, i'm sure you'll land on a few.
example:
Code:
https://gitlab.com/flauncher/flauncher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello!
Thanks so much for the answer, Don Mega.
Damn i hope there was an easier way to add an icon.
I see...
No need to hire a developer.
I'm a Senior android engineering and I got a skilled team but we never had to work on the android TV OS system itself tho ( we're specialized on mobile apps and iot solutions, not tvs).
Btw .. I could develop a custom launcher but it may take time and as I said as far as I've read on documentation, a custom launcher would still need AOSP if the manufacturer want to override the system one.
Doesn't it ?
I ask 'cause AOSP is too much of an effort (at least just for an icon!) and several manufacturer who started on aosp and various customizations are now abandoning it (I already worked on a STB for British telecom and yeah, i didn't work on their custom OS specifically but i know they changed their mind in the end).
Probably because once you go that route, you loose all the support and services out of the box, and you need to take care of too many things to keep it up to date.
So they usually prefer to stick to Android tv stock version (wise choice).
If that's the case I suppose the manufacturer will be better find a more standard way to launch their app
Nimx said:
Btw .. I could develop a custom launcher but it may take time and as I said as far as I've read on documentation, a custom launcher would still need AOSP if the manufacturer want to override the system one.
Doesn't it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no need for flashing a different OS or Custom Rom to be able to install a custom developed app.
so if you make your own apk, all you need to do on the existing tvbox, enable unknown sources, to be able to install your own apk on there, it should be pretty straight forward.
put the apk on a usb stick, plug it into your box and navigate to any file manager app, you'll be able to find your apk, click on it and install, on your remote control press the HOME button, it should popup a msg asking which launcher you want to load, since now you developed your own launcher and the old launcher is still there, choose which launcher you want to be default. you can always go into settings > apps and disable the old launcher so if anyone presses the HOME button again, it always defaults to the new one you developed.
so short answer, no you don't need AOSP or any type of Custom Rom
donmega_icecube said:
no need for flashing a different OS or Custom Rom to be able to install a custom developed app.
so if you make your own apk, all you need to do on the existing tvbox, enable unknown sources, to be able to install your own apk on there, it should be pretty straight forward.
put the apk on a usb stick, plug it into your box and navigate to any file manager app, you'll be able to find your apk, click on it and install, on your remote control press the HOME button, it should popup a msg asking which launcher you want to load, since now you developed your own launcher and the old launcher is still there, choose which launcher you want to be default. you can always go into settings > apps and disable the old launcher so if anyone presses the HOME button again, it always defaults to the new one you developed.
so short answer, no you don't need AOSP or any type of Custom Rom
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The manufacturer obviously don't want users to do this procedure to choose the new launcher, but should be able to persistently active it overriding the system one. And that's why I thought custom ROM was needed.
If that's not true then your solution is the perfect one
donmega_icecube said:
no need for flashing a different OS or Custom Rom to be able to install a custom developed app.
so if you make your own apk, all you need to do on the existing tvbox, enable unknown sources, to be able to install your own apk on there, it should be pretty straight forward.
put the apk on a usb stick, plug it into your box and navigate to any file manager app, you'll be able to find your apk, click on it and install, on your remote control press the HOME button, it should popup a msg asking which launcher you want to load, since now you developed your own launcher and the old launcher is still there, choose which launcher you want to be default. you can always go into settings > apps and disable the old launcher so if anyone presses the HOME button again, it always defaults to the new one you developed.
so short answer, no you don't need AOSP or any type of Custom Rom
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Just to keep you updated.
Custom launcher need user to set the new one.
But we found a possible solution without the burden to do a custom Rom.
Adding a new Ad-Hoc button on the Remote controller to launch their ecosystem settings app and/or a custom launcher (since this Smart Tv is a new model that will initially be delivered to several europe countries).
In this way it will look quite integrated in the android tv system, and the android TV OS will be always kept up to date from regular google updates, without all the issues plaguing custom roms like it does for other manufacturers.
Thank for your help
Nimx said:
Just to keep you updated.
Custom launcher need user to set the new one.
But we found a possible solution without the burden to do a custom Rom.
Adding a new Ad-Hoc button on the Remote controller to launch their ecosystem settings app and/or a custom launcher (since this Smart Tv is a new model that will initially be delivered to several europe countries).
In this way it will look quite integrated in the android tv system, and the android TV OS will be always kept up to date from regular google updates, without all the issues plaguing custom roms like it does for other manufacturers.
Thank for your help
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Click to collapse
sometimes i wish i was a developer, glad you found an easy solution.
thank you
It's still quite easy to become a developer due to high demand.
Not sure how old are you but I started when I was 34 yo by myself with no prior experience.
Nowadays, 5 years later, I Interview many candidates and I can tell the discriminating factor is not prior studies but dedication, high IQ (logic and abstraction wise) and learning speed.
Good luck if you'll ever decide to get into it
i'm 44 i have no patience for programming in general, I never did, I'm a full time network admin, and really into hardware a lot more than software.
but when it came to Android, i got my hands dirty flashing custom roms on all my phones. i started to customize my own roms for tv boxes.
but I kinda wish I did have some android dev skills, it's the only thing i end up outsourcing when needed.
thank you

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