Why is it so difficult to get the latest Android? - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Please, forgive my ignorance here, but I'm new to Android after coming from WM, and I have some gaps in understanding that I'm hoping maybe you guys could help to fill in.
Given the so-called "open" nature of Android, I'm a bit puzzled why it seems so difficult to get the latest versions of Android running on our phones. If the SDK and resources are freely available and the basic drivers, etc. are a part of the ROMs themselves, why is it so difficult to just update the core of the OS to Gingerbread, for example?
I would have assumed it would have been simpler than it appears to be and Google touts it as being simple, so what am I missing? What's the stumbling block?

Android 2.3 was released very recently, developers are hard at work at it.
Sometimes, it is not always up to Google. As of right now, the Vibrant has access to various 2.2 leaks... HOWEVER! the kernels for vibrant has not been open-sourced. So this limits development (OC, UV and so on). The I9000 kernel source is available, but they drain battery for vibrant users and its not worth using these kernels (in my opinion).
For users without rooting, you can blame the manufacturer and/or carrier for the delays.
Pure Google: Google -> Update
Manufacturer: Manufacturer ports Android on top of their skin (HTC Sense, TouchWiz, Motoblur, and so on) -> Carrier (Adds bloat; removes features e.g. tethering, etc) -> Update

The latest leak (to date) is JL5 which contains 2.2 but not 2.2.1? Is that correct?
I've seen some builds floating around with the designation XXJPX and I don't know if XX in this case is a blank place holder, or if it signifies a series number later (alphabetically) than JL5, even so, J comes before P last I checked, so is XXJPX a later leaked build than the JL5?

donalgodon said:
The latest leak (to date) is JL5 which contains 2.2 but not 2.2.1? Is that correct?
I've seen some builds floating around with the designation XXJPX and I don't know if XX in this case is a blank place holder, or if it signifies a series number later (alphabetically) than JL5, even so, J comes before P last I checked, so is XXJPX a later leaked build than the JL5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe JPX is the I9000 ROM

Ah, yes, I think so.
So, the JL5 is 2.2 but not 2.2.1?

donalgodon said:
Ah, yes, I think so.
So, the JL5 is 2.2 but not 2.2.1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JL5 is 2.2
We have no official 2.2, and no leak of 2.2.1

That's an example. I can't understand.
Is it that there are so many significant or major changes to the OS between 2.2 and 2.2.1 which would make it so difficult to shoe-horn into a cooked ROM for the vibrant based on JL5?
I had this picture of Android in my mind of being a developers paradise/playground from listening to Google's PR team. Not so, I guess.

Two words:
Platform fragmentation.
If Google did what most of us wished they would do and unilaterally told carriers to make updates on time and to stop skinning Android, we might not be in this situation...

synaesthetic said:
Two words:
Platform fragmentation.
If Google did what most of us wished they would do and unilaterally told carriers to make updates on time and to stop skinning Android, we might not be in this situation...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was under the impression that Google was making (de)fragmentation a priority. As it stands, it really does seem that Android is in danger of becoming another Windows Mobile 6.5.x
I was trying to escape that by selling my HD2.

synaesthetic said:
Two words:
Platform fragmentation.
If Google did what most of us wished they would do and unilaterally told carriers to make updates on time and to stop skinning Android, we might not be in this situation...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Skinning isn't really a fragmentation issue. I don't know of any OEM skins that keep ppl from running anything off the Market.
Fragmentation, as used in regard to Android, is the gap between 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, and now 2.3, in performance and compatibility with things developers code. Meaning they can't make a single APK run on all these fragmented code-bases. Think Win95, WinNT, WinXP, WinVista, etc., but all being released within 2 years, instead of spread out over a decade and a half.
-bZj

down8 said:
Skinning isn't really a fragmentation issue. I don't know of any OEM skins that keep ppl from running anything off the Market.
Fragmentation, as used in regard to Android, is the gap between 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, and now 2.3, in performance and compatibility with things developers code. Meaning they can't make a single APK run on all these fragmented code-bases. Think Win95, WinNT, WinXP, WinVista, etc., but all being released within 2 years, instead of spread out over a decade and a half.
-bZj
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the end user, the skins do seem to have a big impact, such as in the case of Samsung, who skins Android with TouchWiz and drags its feet on releasing updates as a result. Same thing happen with HTC and Sense. Sony is much worse.
They could, of course, just leave the UI alone and let the pure Android goodness flow (or hire enough people to get the job done on time if they want to skin, which I'd actually prefer, since some of those innovations really do improve the UI) but all this does seem to impact user experience, since those updates don't get to the phones in a timely manner... at least not like Google had told us they would.

It's always ALWAYS your carrier.
Froyo was released many months ago and stock Android phones, like Nexus 1, got it almost immediately. Gingerbread comes with Nexus S and Nexus 1 is getting it very soon, if it wasn't on Nexus 1 already.
So if fast official OS updates are your main concerns, I suggest you getting a stock Android phone.

Related

Froyo for MyTouch 3G ?!

guys...check this topic...
HTML:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=701194
if this really happens...will it be possible to port it to Hero??
is ported but is beta now...it will be a while until will see it on hero with the final form
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=688523&highlight=froyo =>i've tested this and wifi,bth and some things doesn work because is a beta
VillainRom (plus others?) are developing a froyo release right now, and from what I have been told its not far from a version 1 release.
Only one thing left to fix apparently.
Lennyuk said:
VillainRom (plus others?) are developing a froyo release right now, and from what I have been told its not far from a version 1 release.
Only one thing left to fix apparently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I think the VillainTeam are trying to get the mic working, then I believe it should be ready..!
ooh, thats really good to hear! Knowing our luck if HTC ever decide to give the Hero 2.2 it will probably be sometime in 2012
Well word has it that Google will be putting an end to phone manufacturers skinning Android when they release Gingerbread (3.0), as they plan on improving the interface. If so, that means no more Sense. It also means updating to newer versions of Android will be much quicker (as HTC don't have to make all the changes to Sense etc.) So if the Hero has the technical ability to take Android 3.0, we will most likely go from 2.1 to 3.0, and miss out 2.2.
Gingerbread is scheduled to be released Q4 of 2010. Either way, I'm due an upgrade in October/November anyway, so hopefully I'll get a new device sporting Gingerbread from release!
sonnysoul said:
Well word has it that Google will be putting an end to phone manufacturers skinning Android when they release Gingerbread (3.0), as they plan on improving the interface. If so, that means no more Sense. It also means updating to newer versions of Android will be much quicker (as HTC don't have to make all the changes to Sense etc.) So if the Hero has the technical ability to take Android 3.0, we will most likely go from 2.1 to 3.0, and miss out 2.2.
Gingerbread is scheduled to be released Q4 of 2010. Either way, I'm due an upgrade in October/November anyway, so hopefully I'll get a new device sporting Gingerbread from release!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meh. HTC will still need to add drivers etc. and that will give them a good excuse to take forever
sonnysoul said:
Well word has it that Google will be putting an end to phone manufacturers skinning Android when they release Gingerbread (3.0), as they plan on improving the interface. If so, that means no more Sense. It also means updating to newer versions of Android will be much quicker (as HTC don't have to make all the changes to Sense etc.) So if the Hero has the technical ability to take Android 3.0, we will most likely go from 2.1 to 3.0, and miss out 2.2.
Gingerbread is scheduled to be released Q4 of 2010. Either way, I'm due an upgrade in October/November anyway, so hopefully I'll get a new device sporting Gingerbretad from release!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sence isnt a skin, if anything its a modification to android, also google stopping manufacturers doing anything would defeat the object of android being open source lol
pretty cool to hear some peeps are already working on porting Froyo to our beloved Hero
keeping my fingers crossed...
AndroHero said:
sence isnt a skin, if anything its a modification to android, also google stopping manufacturers doing anything would defeat the object of android being open source lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's a UI overlay, which to me is the same as a skin! Lol! Either way, I can;t wait to see how it turns out.

[Q] Froyo with Sense for Rhodium?

Okay so this may be a useless post and it is my first one so don't beat me up too badly. I have been searching all over the place to find a Froyo build with HTC Sense. It seems as though development has been halted because apparently Sense is too large for the Rhodium CPU and the screen resolution is too high. How can this be true when the Rhodium runs Sense in Windows Mobile 6.5? I want to see a Froyo build that has HTC Sense and camera support. Can or has this been done? Would someone be willing to do it if enough people were willing to donate? I just want my Rhodium to work the way I know it can. I know there is a 2.1 build with Sense but there is no camera and there are many bugs with it and is not useful to me. Any help is greatly appreciated.
If anyone finds any Froyo with sense builds for phones that are NOT the HD or HD2, please post a link to them in this forum.
Thank you.
Sense on WinMo != Sense on Android
So don't confuse them. Why do you want sense? It's just a big piece of bloat, and most of the things you can find in other places (IE Fancy Widget).
Sense in Winmo is native code, Sense in Android is Java. Unfortunately, the gains in terms of development ease gained with Java are offset by the inefficiencies of Java on lower-end hardware.
Also, the problem with Sense is that it needs to be ripped from a Sense-enabled HTC native Android device, and in many cases, the binary has enough customization that it does Bad Things on our devices.
As I understand it, the only Sense-enabled build seen on our devices so far was 2.1, and had, as you mention, resolution issues.
Also keep in mind that the Windows Mobile stock UI was very dated, so Sense was a major upgrade for it. My experience with Sense-enabled Android devices is that it offers very little and just slows the device down. Actually, this seems true for all manufacturer-provided alternate interfaces (like the crappiness of MOTOBLUR...)
Entropy512 said:
Sense in Winmo is native code, Sense in Android is Java. Unfortunately, the gains in terms of development ease gained with Java are offset by the inefficiencies of Java on lower-end hardware.
Also, the problem with Sense is that it needs to be ripped from a Sense-enabled HTC native Android device, and in many cases, the binary has enough customization that it does Bad Things on our devices.
As I understand it, the only Sense-enabled build seen on our devices so far was 2.1, and had, as you mention, resolution issues.
Also keep in mind that the Windows Mobile stock UI was very dated, so Sense was a major upgrade for it. My experience with Sense-enabled Android devices is that it offers very little and just slows the device down. Actually, this seems true for all manufacturer-provided alternate interfaces (like the crappiness of MOTOBLUR...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to back this up, I used one of Tiad's Froyo Sense builds for a bout 2 minutes. It it not worth it. Definitely, not worth it.
ryannathans said:
Just to back this up, I used one of Tiad's Froyo Sense builds for a bout 2 minutes. It it not worth it. Definitely, not worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you get Froyo Build from Tiad including Sense? AFAIK he just released Eclaire builds containing the UI...
wavesshock said:
Where did you get Froyo Build from Tiad including Sense? AFAIK he just released Eclaire builds containing the UI...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He claimed they were Froyo, I only looked at it literally for a minute and never noted what it actually was. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Eclaire.
Anyway, when I get this bloody repo sync command to go through without errors I will start making my own builds I guarantee, they will be better than Tiad, and I don't exactly plan on including any warez
ryannathans said:
He claimed they were Froyo, I only looked at it literally for a minute and never noted what it actually was. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Eclaire.
Anyway, when I get this bloody repo sync command to go through without errors I will start making my own builds I guarantee, they will be better than Tiad, and I don't exactly plan on including any warez
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you going to make sense-builds or do you plan to develop on stock android ports?
Entropy512 said:
Sense in Winmo is native code, Sense in Android is Java. Unfortunately, the gains in terms of development ease gained with Java are offset by the inefficiencies of Java on lower-end hardware.
Also, the problem with Sense is that it needs to be ripped from a Sense-enabled HTC native Android device, and in many cases, the binary has enough customization that it does Bad Things on our devices.
As I understand it, the only Sense-enabled build seen on our devices so far was 2.1, and had, as you mention, resolution issues.
Also keep in mind that the Windows Mobile stock UI was very dated, so Sense was a major upgrade for it. My experience with Sense-enabled Android devices is that it offers very little and just slows the device down. Actually, this seems true for all manufacturer-provided alternate interfaces (like the crappiness of MOTOBLUR...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. This makes some sense of it (no pun intended). I know there are other widgets that use less resources and look better than sense but I like the look and feel of it. I am probably going to be upgrading to an Evo 4g or Evo 3g so I'll have my sense soon anyway but I was able to get some use from the 2.1 sense build once I used a new kernel and used the "clean slate" scene setting. The only thing missing was the camera. I can get by with some sluggishness as I have been using Windows Mobile for a long time but I cannot get by without that camera support seen in the newer 2.2 builds. Also, the Hero has the same CPU speed as the Rhodium. I am not sure if this makes much difference but the phones are very similar in both screen size and processor speed. As well as the Evo Shift as far as screen. I am still new to all this though and those subtle similarities may really be nothing. I'll keep searching and post if I find anything.
ryannathans said:
Just to back this up, I used one of Tiad's Froyo Sense builds for a bout 2 minutes. It it not worth it. Definitely, not worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you get those builds? That was the question I asked in the initial post lol. I love testing so I don't really care if they suck.
nickelghandi said:
Where did you get those builds? That was the question I asked in the initial post lol. I love testing so I don't really care if they suck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On his website, because tiad8 has been banned from xda-devs.
@nickelghandi
Maybe you can test the panda homescreen with sense theme.
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/android-tp2/113446-nsfw-post-your-tp2-android-home-screen-7.html
Hi,
Is there any way to install some of the Sense applications (Music, Video, Image player) on a HTC Touch Pro2 with the CBX0 Android ROM?. I have a Hero device with almost the same hardware and the Sense applications runs well and I´m use with these applications.
Regards,
clarf
clarf said:
Hi,
Is there any way to install some of the Sense applications (Music, Video, Image player) on a HTC Touch Pro2 with the CBX0 Android ROM?. I have a Hero device with almost the same hardware and the Sense applications runs well and I´m use with these applications.
Regards,
clarf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can find the APK's, maybe.
But Sense is a proprietary thing. So it's not 'open' - not easily ported/moved to other devices. All XDAndroid builds are AOSP - straight from Google. All open source.
Good luck. If you want, there's a 2.1 Eclair Sense build - but it hasn't been updated since 2010.
arrrghhh said:
If you can find the APK's, maybe.
But Sense is a proprietary thing. So it's not 'open' - not easily ported/moved to other devices. All XDAndroid builds are AOSP - straight from Google. All open source.
Good luck. If you want, there's a 2.1 Eclair Sense build - but it hasn't been updated since 2010.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for reply,
Well many functions on my HTC phone have issues with old kernel versions, I don´t think I could use Eclair Sense if it´s not maintained/updated.
I´ll search first for the APK´s then...
Thank you
clarf
clarf said:
Thanks for reply,
Well many functions on my HTC phone have issues with old kernel versions, I don´t think I could use Eclair Sense if it´s not maintained/updated.
I´ll search first for the APK´s then...
Thank you
clarf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could always try a new kernel on an old system...
But either way, that stuff is ancient.

[Q] Dev movement at a standstill?

Has the Viewsonic Gtablet development become a standstill?
Thoughts?
Opinions?
No.... I believe not.
Now everyone's holding their breath for HC.
Here somewhere is a post about latest development (sorry can't find it now).
HC is already booting on G-tab. Hopefully devs will get everything they need to get it going.
Keep my fingers crossed!!!!
You have a cyanogen tag in your sig and yet you ask that? They are releasing nightlies at least once a week. As far as Honeycomb goes it may be booting but its completely worthless to use.
I think I'll keep my thoughts and opinions to myself as anything negative about the wonderous GTab is not tolerated here
thebadfrog said:
You have a cyanogen tag in your sig and yet you ask that? They are releasing nightlies at least once a week. As far as Honeycomb goes it may be booting but its completely worthless to use.
I think I'll keep my thoughts and opinions to myself as anything negative about the wonderous GTab is not tolerated here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LMFAO, you can always talk about the "horrible viewing angle" everybody CAN agree on!
Kenfly, there is actual progress reported that I believe involves a dump of an ASUS Honeycomb box that has been ported to the Adam and there is a picture of it on a G-tab. I just read about actual WPA2 support too.
Here is the thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1065220
The good news is, Roebeet has taken an interest too, so there are some VERY clever guys working on this!
Yes there is but it is completely unuseable at this point.
I was told the viewing angles are not horrible and to expressing my opinion of that as well
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1064775
Follow that thread. Oozura is doing a great job keeping everyone up to date with cm nightlies and releases with bugs and bug fixes. They are making huge progress on major issues right now. It means at some point Gojimi will update VeganGinger as well.
If you follow that thread keep mashing that thanks button for him so people know there is interest and he keeps posting
I see it slowing down as more turn towards the newer tablets on the market. Updates wont be as frequent...
If you have it setup good now then you'll be ok. Its not like the internet, video or audio will stop working because of this.
kenfly said:
Has the Viewsonic Gtablet development become a standstill?
Thoughts?
Opinions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No?
Looks like tons of action to me - pershoot and others have delivered stable overclocked/undervolted kernels in the past week, and the CM7 team has cranked out two stable and about 10 nightly revs in the past week, going from "yes, it sorta works" to functional camera and some hardware acceleration for video playback.
What projects are you working on?
there are more forums to search than the ones here (hint)
There's a lot going on, in early (VERY EARLY) stages.
While some might believe that the Gtab is worthless, I would argue that the hardware itself is not at all. The company that put their name on it, and their "support" might very well be as worthless as a batteries to the Amish.
There are experiments going on utilizing The Notion Ink Adam, and porting it's software to the G-tab. There's a rumor that they are getting an official GB update, and if portable to the G-tab, then we could essentially have an "official" GB Rom (including drivers from Nvidea), without VS needing to get their hands dirty. There are a few comparable (in hardware) tablets out there that are getting the support from their manufacturers that we would like to get from VS. If we can't get VS to update, then the next best thing is to borrow updates from other systems.
If it all works out, it will definitely not be a quick release. Lots of testing would be needed, since the code being worked on is not "made" for the G-tablet.
The reason that it seems like development has halted, or at best, slowed down, is because nothing new is coming from the allmighty VS. Nothing can be developed from the nothing that they are constantly providing. The only development that can be done is using existing Roms, and tweaking them. The bottom line, though, is that unless VS comes out with a GB Rom WITH hardware drivers, the current batch of custom Roms, Vegan-Tab, VeganGinger, CM7, TNT, etc. are dead in the water, and will never have hardware acceleration, since they are all based off of old code, that doesn't include it.
So, simple answer, there are developments that are ongoing, there are tweaks and fixes, possibly additions to some of the existing roms, but there will never be any development on new VS rom, until VS actually releases a new VS rom.
Only one person is building off VS firmware. Everyone else is using Google source and from the commits that Nvidia is making to git. VeganGinger and CM7 are under constant development and CM gets closer everyday to finalizing hardware acceleration. Vegan-Tab is froyo and based off vega firmware and has hardware acceleration as does TNTlite.
Depending on Notion Ink, the king of stretching the truth, for something is knuts
And yes there are some half ass non useful ports of Honeycomb posted on other sites. Nothing works. Its a honeycomb gui hacked into an old kernel
TJEvans said:
While some might believe that the Gtab is worthless, I would argue that the hardware itself is not at all. The company that put their name on it, and their "support" might very well be as worthless as a batteries to the Amish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great analogy. =)
TJEvans said:
There are experiments going on utilizing The Notion Ink Adam, and porting it's software to the G-tab. There's a rumor that they are getting an official GB update, and if portable to the G-tab, then we could essentially have an "official" GB Rom (including drivers from Nvidea), without VS needing to get their hands dirty. There are a few comparable (in hardware) tablets out there that are getting the support from their manufacturers that we would like to get from VS. If we can't get VS to update, then the next best thing is to borrow updates from other systems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The NI software release, if they do in fact follow through with something for once, will be utilizing the exact same GB-compatible drivers that we already have. We already have "official" GB ROMs with the same level of HW accel that anything from NI would come out with. We already have those drivers from nVidia. =)
But you're right in implying that VS won't have to get their hands dirty. =)
TJEvans said:
Nothing can be developed from the nothing that they are constantly providing. The only development that can be done is using existing Roms, and tweaking them. The bottom line, though, is that unless VS comes out with a GB Rom WITH hardware drivers, the current batch of custom Roms, Vegan-Tab, VeganGinger, CM7, TNT, etc. are dead in the water, and will never have hardware acceleration, since they are all based off of old code, that doesn't include it.
So, simple answer, there are developments that are ongoing, there are tweaks and fixes, possibly additions to some of the existing roms, but there will never be any development on new VS rom, until VS actually releases a new VS rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually.... you're incorrect here. New development is being done completely independent of VS. It's called CyanogenMod-based and AOSP-based ROMs and they are completely different than those based on VS or NI-based ROMs which anything based on those are in fact MODs and tweaks. CM and AOSP ROMs are based on newer code and do include the foundation for hw acceleration.
So to summarize - development is not dead if you're not based on a locked bootloader and stock ROM from VS. If you're based on Google and nVidia then there is definitely development going on. It's all in what your base is.
We already have "official" GB ROMs with the same level of HW accel that anything from NI would come out with. We already have those drivers from nVidia.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll have to excuse my ignorance on this issue, as all I've used so far is Vegan-Tab. I love it, it's stable, and I've not seen any inherent problems with it, so I figure, why change?
But, I thought that CM7 and VeganGinger had issues with video playback and 3d video acceleration, since Nvidea is "no longer going to support the Harmony Tegra 2 chipset." I don't know much about CM7, but from reading their website, and observing some of the experimental posts, it doesn't seem that they've been able to truly replicate the drivers that, I believe, Nvidea owes us. Nvidea said that they will provide support and updates if manufacturers requested it. As far as I know, Viewsonic only had one update since they made that statement, and it didn't include anything new from NVidea.
I had assumed that since this rumored NI GB update was official from the manufacturer, that they wouldn't have done it without getting official drivers from Nvidea.
I'm sorry, is there something I'm missing? I thought that it was a big deal that NVidea hasn't provided driver updates for true hardware acceleration, and that it can't be achieved without informaiton from them, and that they've decided ot no longer support...
it's a confusing world in the land of G-Tab.
TJEvans said:
You'll have to excuse my ignorance on this issue, as all I've used so far is Vegan-Tab. I love it, it's stable, and I've not seen any inherent problems with it, so I figure, why change?
But, I thought that CM7 and VeganGinger had issues with video playback and 3d video acceleration, since Nvidea is "no longer going to support the Harmony Tegra 2 chipset." I don't know much about CM7, but from reading their website, and observing some of the experimental posts, it doesn't seem that they've been able to truly replicate the drivers that, I believe, Nvidea owes us. Nvidea said that they will provide support and updates if manufacturers requested it. As far as I know, Viewsonic only had one update since they made that statement, and it didn't include anything new from NVidea.
I had assumed that since this rumored NI GB update was official from the manufacturer, that they wouldn't have done it without getting official drivers from Nvidea.
I'm sorry, is there something I'm missing? I thought that it was a big deal that NVidea hasn't provided driver updates for true hardware acceleration, and that it can't be achieved without informaiton from them, and that they've decided ot no longer support...
it's a confusing world in the land of G-Tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rumored NI GB update is just that - rumor just like all the other NI rumors. We'll see what happens.
As to nVidia - the 3991 update that was later pulled from VS contained updated GB-compatible libs that were from the Gingerbread Ventana system image from nVidia. Those libs were (and still are) in CM7 and AOSP and VEGAn-TAB. Hacks and mods have been inserted to make CM7 work with them and hw accel is functioning much better after pershoot's kernel overclocking.
thank you for the clarification

[Q] so... more of the same with Honeycomb?

I'm relatively new to the custom ROM scene, but I'm every bit as geeky as anyone on this forum. After a bit of ROM hopping and trying to find a good solid stable ROM I'm left wondering - is it simply going to be more of the same when the Honeycomb (and eventually Ice Cream Sandwich) source code is released and ported to G Tablet? Of course the newness of HC/ICS will lure me in but it feels like it'll just be a different toilet with the same ish. Is this scene just about sustaining "the chase" or does it actually get better?
P.S. - I'm not ishing on custom ROMs and I mean no disrespect to the ROM developers at all - I'm a developer myself and I would not do anything to hurt my own. Do not take my words the wrong way
DiGiTY said:
is it simply going to be more of the same when the Honeycomb (and eventually Ice Cream Sandwich) source code is released and ported to G Tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it will still be Android. No matter how much you polish a turd, it's still a turd
What do you mean, more of the same?
I fail to see the point above me, as android is clearly not a turd. I also think that things will change. New APIs are released with each version of android, and these APIs in theory could have great effects on which apps can run etc. Just look at the Hero which was updated to 2.1 from 1.5 the difference the the amount of apps it can run at each version is amazing.
DiGiTY said:
I'm relatively new to the custom ROM scene, but I'm every bit as geeky as anyone on this forum. After a bit of ROM hopping and trying to find a good solid stable ROM I'm left wondering - is it simply going to be more of the same when the Honeycomb (and eventually Ice Cream Sandwich) source code is released and ported to G Tablet? Of course the newness of HC/ICS will lure me in but it feels like it'll just be a different toilet with the same ish. Is this scene just about sustaining "the chase" or does it actually get better?
P.S. - I'm not ishing on custom ROMs and I mean no disrespect to the ROM developers at all - I'm a developer myself and I would not do anything to hurt my own. Do not take my words the wrong way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? You weren't here when thy started developing the froyo custom rom and eventually ginger. There were a lot for them to hammer out. We now have very stable roms to use. HC will eventually be stble once they hammer out the bugs.
So I don't know what you mean by the same. Yes it will still be android. No it will never sing and dance. Yes the roms will be more stable. No its not an ipad.
Again I have no idea what you're asking.
I think he wants to know when we're getting iOS.
also seems to think you can't get honeycomb on a gtab yet....when we all know the alpha build been somewhat stable for a week now.
It almost sounds like you're looking for them to create something that exceeds what is sold as stock on other tablets, like the Xoom. For me, it's not even about that. While the devs do their own things to improve functionality and experience on the ROMs they cook up, ultimately the goal here is to provide the same functionality as stock ROMs at the very least to hardware that it wasn't originally designed for. With the GTab, for me it's about getting the equivalent of a higher priced product for less, with the same functionality, and experience.
adampdx said:
I think he wants to know when we're getting iOS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QFT
If the OP isn't into flashing and enjoying finding a ROM that suits their needs and just wants something that 'works out of the box' they are best suited to using IOS which makes things much easier and requires no thinking/experimentation/learning.
Some people buy these devices for the sheer fun of playing around, as annoying as that may sound.
Until the Android Market is updating with new apps regularly people arent going to be fully happy. I love my Tab for what it does but an app a day keeps the ios away.
I couldn't have said it any better. Its about getting the same experience from a device at half the price. I fully appreciate the hard work put into these roms and I think viewsonic would have sold half the amount or less gtabs without them.
Sent from my VEGAn-TAB using XDA Premium App
schettj said:
Yes, it will still be Android. No matter how much you polish a turd, it's still a turd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this seems to be the consensus. Makes sense and answers my question a little.
I guess this custom ROM scene reminds me of projects like XBMP - it went from mplayer to XBMP to XBMC and then to Plex & boxee. It evolved. It matured. Or like car enthusiasts - you have your collection of cars but you have one or two that you've put together that is solid. The thrill of practicing your craft is always going to excite you but at some point something becomes of the hard work that is put in. ROM hopping with Froyo and GB was fun, but knowing the same thing is going to happen with HC/ICS leaves one yearning for their trophy ROM after all that flashing.
Or maybe its out of ROM developers' and flashers' control. Maybe too many manufacturers are releasing too many damn Android devices that ROM developers are stuck in a perpetual state of "adding new device support" and bug fixing instead of innovating and truly polishing. Maybe "the fragmentation" hinders any substantial maturity in this scene and keeps ish more of the same. I may have just answered my own question there.
Oh well.
P.S. - I'm not a fan of iOS, love flashing/ROM hopping and all about getting the same if not better experience from a device at half the price.
DiGiTY said:
Well this seems to be the consensus. Makes sense and answers my question a little.
I guess this custom ROM scene reminds me of projects like XBMP - it went from mplayer to XBMP to XBMC and then to Plex & boxee. It evolved. It matured. Or like car enthusiasts - you have your collection of cars but you have one or two that you've put together that is solid. The thrill of practicing your craft is always going to excite you but at some point something becomes of the hard work that is put in. ROM hopping with Froyo and GB was fun, but knowing the same thing is going to happen with HC/ICS leaves one yearning for their trophy ROM after all that flashing.
Or maybe its out of ROM developers' and flashers' control. Maybe too many manufacturers are releasing too many damn Android devices that ROM developers are stuck in a perpetual state of "adding new device support" and bug fixing instead of innovating and truly polishing. Maybe "the fragmentation" hinders any substantial maturity in this scene and keeps ish more of the same. I may have just answered my own question there.
Oh well.
P.S. - I'm not a fan of iOS, love flashing/ROM hopping and all about getting the same if not better experience from a device at half the price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, your points are extremely valid. I fully expect to be running a Bottle of Smoke beta (or alpha) when Ice Cream Sundae is released and the devs will be jumping all over the place. I think that is the natural order of this "scene" - that as newer code/features/support comes out the older stuff falls by the wayside and resources go to the new kid in town.
I too love to mess with things in general, betas, alphas -pretty much anything.
When I got my Gtab, I had already lurked here and decided I would try TnT lite and VEGAn and see which I liked more. I preferred VEGAn and stuck with it through several versions. I was constantly installing apps that looked interesting and alternative kernels (hello overclocking!) and ended up removing the vast majority of them.
Once the Notion Ink guys (and Roebeet) brought in the HC, my course was changed easily. Since I loved the new UI, I knew I would have a HC device soon. Through the various early alphas to the latest (3.3 last night) I have tried them all, NVFlashing sometimes 5 or 6 times a night to get back to functional. Lately, I keep coming back to version 2.4, which is most stable for me, but I will absolutely be sticking 3.4 and beyond on here even if it is just for a few minutes testing before I go back to 2.4.
If you are going to do any of it, go ahead and NVFlash to the base with the 1.2 bootloader for compatibility down the road. I get props almost daily for being so "cutting edge" and having the newest flavor first among my friends and coworkers/employees. They are always asking what OS I am running today.

[Q] iOS On Note ?

I recently bought the Note. I was an ios user and perfer it over android. I love the hardware of the Note but not the software. So I would like to know if there is a way to run iOS on the Note and when I say run I mean like if it was an iPhone 4s. Is there any one who can help me anything is much appreciated,
Thanks.
Really.......
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Buy an ipad
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk
RiiGGS said:
I recently bought the Note. I was an ios user and perfer it over android. I love the hardware of the Note but not the software. So I would like to know if there is a way to run iOS on the Note and when I say run I mean like if it was an iPhone 4s. Is there any one who can help me anything is much appreciated,
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thanked your post, not because it was in any way useful but absolutely hilarious!
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but that will most likely never happen. I'll trade my wife's iPhone 4 for your Note though, I'll even throw in a dead iPad!
Well, truth be told, there is not a solution yet.
BUT, if you wait a bit, a rom called MIUI will likely be developed.
Let me explain...
Cyanogen is a team that develops 'clean' Android roms for many devices. This means, no bloat and has ALL of the features that Android has to offer, enabled (with exception to features that would not be applicable because the phone simply does not have the hardware - for example, if your phone does not have NFC, Cyanogen wont support it for your device and they simply remove all of the code related to this). The result is, the most feature rich version of Android (and most up to date as they do keep up with Google's releases) with the least amount of crap. This keeps the phone lean and clean.
Now, since Cyanogen is open source, they make the source code available for other rom developers to modify what they have done to create different experiences. This allows developers to start with a feature rich rom and develop on top of that to add their own 'flavor' to their work.
One such 'flavor' is MIUI which strives to make your Android device as Iphone like as possible. While it isnt perfectly matched to the Iphone, its moderately close.
Dont get me wrong, I for the life of me am baffled as to why someone would want their Android phone to look like an Iphone but that is what MIUI is there for.
(BTW, if I am wrong about MIUI, feel free to mention it, based on everything I have read about it however, the impression I got was to theme an Android OS to look like IOS).
However, we have a long way before this happens. Rom developers have barely figured out how to do anything with this phone.
To my knowledge, there is only 1 custom rom (Saurom) and it isnt really all that custom from what I can see. All it seems to have is enhancements from the stock rom (overclocking, cwm, att bloat removed?) but in essence is just a more efficient streamlined stock rom.
There is also only one custom kernel that I can see that again, is the same as the stock kernel but allows for overclocking (and I think I read that the davlik cache size was increased).
Once Samsung releases the source code for the Note, we will start seeing alot more rom development, at which time Cyanogen will jump on board and start making roms (using the source that Samsung releases for things like drivers) and once Cyanogen has a relatively stable rom, MIUI will likely take the Cyanogen source and tweak it.
Very convoluted I know but probably wont be seeing anything earth shattering until the source code is released from Samsung.
littlewierdo said:
Well, truth be told, there is not a solution yet.
BUT, if you wait a bit, a rom called MIUI will likely be developed.
Let me explain...
Cyanogen is a team that develops 'clean' Android roms for many devices. This means, no bloat and has ALL of the features that Android has to offer, enabled (with exception to features that would not be applicable because the phone simply does not have the hardware - for example, if your phone does not have NFC, Cyanogen wont support it for your device and they simply remove all of the code related to this). The result is, the most feature rich version of Android (and most up to date as they do keep up with Google's releases) with the least amount of crap. This keeps the phone lean and clean.
Now, since Cyanogen is open source, they make the source code available for other rom developers to modify what they have done to create different experiences. This allows developers to start with a feature rich rom and develop on top of that to add their own 'flavor' to their work.
One such 'flavor' is MIUI which strives to make your Android device as Iphone like as possible. While it isnt perfectly matched to the Iphone, its moderately close.
Dont get me wrong, I for the life of me am baffled as to why someone would want their Android phone to look like an Iphone but that is what MIUI is there for.
(BTW, if I am wrong about MIUI, feel free to mention it, based on everything I have read about it however, the impression I got was to theme an Android OS to look like IOS).
However, we have a long way before this happens. Rom developers have barely figured out how to do anything with this phone.
To my knowledge, there is only 1 custom rom (Saurom) and it isnt really all that custom from what I can see. All it seems to have is enhancements from the stock rom (overclocking, cwm, att bloat removed?) but in essence is just a more efficient streamlined stock rom.
There is also only one custom kernel that I can see that again, is the same as the stock kernel but allows for overclocking (and I think I read that the davlik cache size was increased).
Once Samsung releases the source code for the Note, we will start seeing alot more rom development, at which time Cyanogen will jump on board and start making roms (using the source that Samsung releases for things like drivers) and once Cyanogen has a relatively stable rom, MIUI will likely take the Cyanogen source and tweak it.
Very convoluted I know but probably wont be seeing anything earth shattering until the source code is released from Samsung.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Off topic but, didn't samsung already already release the source code right before the release of the phone itself?
bonefan03 said:
Off topic but, didn't samsung already already release the source code right before the release of the phone itself?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Afaik they released the kernel source but that's it. I could be mistaken
Sent from A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER! In my beloved velvet leisure suit...
Really you come on an android forum and talk about how you like apple better?
What did you think would happen?
If you want a fruitphone go get in your VW Jetta and get one. Don't ruin a real phone by putting ios on it.
Sent from the only smartphone designed by Chuck Norris
iOS On Note
What I was really hoping for was to be able to keep my Notes Hardware while having full iOS software so I could Facetime or use itunes,appstore,gamecenter,and so forth.
RiiGGS said:
What I was really hoping for was to be able to keep my Notes Hardware while having full iOS software so I could Facetime or use itunes,appstore,gamecenter,and so forth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://opensource.samsung.com/reception/receptionSub.do?method=search&searchValue=SGH-I717
Is this the sources you were speaking of. If so i am still trying to figure out if this is the full source or just kernel
RiiGGS said:
I recently bought the Note. I was an ios user and perfer it over android. I love the hardware of the Note but not the software. So I would like to know if there is a way to run iOS on the Note and when I say run I mean like if it was an iPhone 4s. Is there any one who can help me anything is much appreciated,
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excuse me....I just threw up in my throat a little bit.
And for the love of god. Let the flaming begin, i think this is by far my favorite thread in all of xda. Im completly amused by this and will read the complete flaming of vast stupidity for days to come.
lol well on the bright side, at least his question was posted in the correct forum section.
themisfit said:
https://opensource.samsung.com/reception/receptionSub.do?method=search&searchValue=SGH-I717
Is this the sources you were speaking of. If so i am still trying to figure out if this is the full source or just kernel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those are kernel sources only not full OS source.
themisfit said:
And for the love of god. Let the flaming begin, i think this is by far my favorite thread in all of xda. Im completly amused by this and will read the complete flaming of vast stupidity for days to come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to flame really. We were all new here at some point. A simple no it won't happen will suffice
Sent from A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER! In my beloved velvet leisure suit...
themisfit said:
And for the love of god. Let the flaming begin, i think this is by far my favorite thread in all of xda. Im completly amused by this and will read the complete flaming of vast stupidity for days to come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the flaming won't begin, the thread will end. Here.

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