Yes yes, this is a life story thread, but I want to chronicle how far we have come in the last few months, and the incredible teamwork this community has.
Around march, I got my Galaxy Player for the first time. With the galssy eyes of a techno geek unwrapping his new gadgets, I tore open the box, and beheld my shiny new toy, something, which I did now know at the time, that would take me far beyond my wildest dreams of technical success. Of course I bricked it withing the first 3 hours, "accidentally" deleting ALL the dalvik control settings from build.prop, and not having adb installed at the time, or even knowing what the heck Odin was, spent a merry 7-8 hours trying to get my prized posession back to it's stock state. I probably repartitioned and flash over 50 times that night, which was also when I flashed the INTL bootloader off of zaclimon's thread (little knowing that I would have a healthy partnership with him in just a few months), and thet next morning, I was back in business.
Of course I crack-flashed ALL the rom's there were for the 4.0 at the time. Klin's klassic, steve's, rooted stock, whatever I could find. I just couldn't help but feel slightly depressed that there wasn't really much of a dev presence for my new device, and I was more the enviously eyeing the 5.0's ICS builds. So I lurked for a few months, pondering whether I should even activate my dormant XDA account, scared that I was just too much of a noob to actually get help.
One day though, I took the plunge. I decided that I was going to try and get my feet wet in this "xda" thing, and maybe browse general, helping the occaisonal user in distress. Just 1 day later, I posted my first contribution thread, without even having 10 posts! The tweak guide for the Player, how proud I was of it. All the nice tweaks I had enjoyed on my TF and had discovered for my Gplayer, all there for my own personal quick applying.
2 days after that, I began asking klin1344 about ICS, as reading through some threads, I thought I heard some rumours about a secret underground build that may have been surfacing, as well as whether or not SGS (what is that?) tweaks can be used on our player. He pleasantly responded with the fact that no, there was no ICS, and he had never considered using SGS tweaks. Would I like to be his dev partner?
I will not lie to you, this FLOORED me. Little me, the noob who had maybe had is Gplayer for 2 weeks, and barely knew his way around the terminal, being asked by a dev to help him? Easily one of the proudest moments of my XDA career. I signed up immedately, we began discussing, and ended up coming to a mutual agreement that partnering may not be the best idea, as we both had differing opinions on what should constitute a ROM. He was going to let me support Klassic (my favorite rom), and he was going to start a SGSII themed rom (which turned into ICY fusion.
With joy in my heart, I learned the basics I needed from him (such as DD) and began applying all the tweaks I had from my tweaks thread into this rom. I decided to rename it "stratusrom", and include multiple releases. One beta, one weekly, and one stable. This was nixed completely as soon as I learned how hard devving could be, and after a few false starts that long time forum members will remember, and renaming it "stratusrom" and eventually "etherealrom" (hence the celestially-named projects that I am related to, if you guys wanted to know), I began devving. Not much happened here, I released a few iterations, guiding hands such as daniel644 and the dev zaclimon provided their amazing help to the poor little dev who could (me), trying to make a decent rom. At one point, I had a falling out with Klin (whcih I am sure most of you remember, that was a scary night for me, the little dev, being whaled on full-force by a senior-class dev, with both us us threatening to remove our work), but let's not dig up old bones. Long story short, I rethemed my rom, made it not-klassic, and just worked on it until about mid-july.
In the meantime, I was releasing a whole slew of threads documenting my research. Who knew that SGS roms could be easily ported, and that rom creation wasn't scary? I had a blast finding all of these things out, and even gained a small following during this time, as most development had died off, with klin never really getting his heart back into 4.0 development, tdm leaving, and Balor leaving his kernel for good.
Then it happened. I decided to spearhead an ICS initiative (as at the point, while I didn't even know what a compiler was, thought I was knowledgable enought to start something like that), to finally get it working. Ah, the good old days. Me, neyodmiun and zaclimon, swapping ideas, with the occaissonal user popping in to offer advice or to comment on our progress. Around this time, I also began getting support questions, and as I answered them nicely, and genuinely tried to help them beyond the normal "find my help post" and no response afterwards, and ended up getting a reputation as being someone who wouldn't blow off noobs (not that I am accusing anyone of doing so, but I know that some devs do not take users seriously at all). zaclimon offered up the idea of hiring a freelance dev, and that was ultimately accepted as our plan. Enter Oisis.
This is where most of you guys will know me from. With Oisis on board, we booted ICS on august 13th, and were in business after that. I formed a team aptly named "TeamSuperNova", and got to work learning what the heck GCC was, and where the vendor folder went. What's github again?
Not much to tell from here, as the rest is just history.
I want to thank everyone on XDA for making this journey possible. From klin1344, and zaclimon, to goldflame, and all the other users to have taken on the excellent role of support, so that we can work on what really matters, I think I, no WE have accomplished what we wanted. While our entire community is very small, we are all united as a TEAM, working together like clockwork. Some new user has an issue with cm9? The support team is on it right away, and we normally have their issues sorted out in a few hours. Someone wants to start development? Zaclimon, me, or any of the other devs quickly pop in and give them some advice on where to start, and some resources to use. Any PM that I get, however noobish or "silly" it seems, I answer, and most of the time I actually get it resolved. So don't be afraid to speak up and give your opinion or ask for help. That's what we all are here for. To help, and contribute, as much as we can.
Thank you XDA, users, and everyone for making all of this possible. Now that my speech is over, feel free to put up your own personal story, or just discuss.
Where did you actually start to learn to dev? I've been wanting to start and I asked Meticulus (if you remember him, he was part of the old dev family) and all he told me was "Read a lot " Not the best answer.
Sent from my YP-G70 using xda app-developers app
You are a great example of what xda members should be like, I also would like to try to follow in your footsteps as I just got my sgp two weeks ago to !
thank you hanthesolo for all your great work!
EcHoFiiVe said:
Where did you actually start to learn to dev? I've been wanting to start and I asked Meticulus (if you remember him, he was part of the old dev family) and all he told me was "Read a lot " Not the best answer.
Sent from my YP-G70 using xda app-developers app
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Well quite honestly, I just picked it up here and there. Devving isn't really something you "pick up overnight", or read a how to on. Essentially the best way to learn how to dev, is to do something horrible to one of your devices, and then try to fix it . I can't tell you how much I learned when I bricked my player for the first time. What's Odin? You mean cwm installs WITH the kernel? Just take you're time, try and Google anything you may have questions about, and ask devas anytime you have a problem (hopefully in pm). Other than that, my ROM creation guide may help you get started (although I really need to clean it up), and once you feel confident enough to start compiling, pop me a pm, and I will be happy to guide you through any questions you may have.
spartacus279 said:
You are a great example of what xda members should be like, I also would like to try to follow in your footsteps as I just got my sgp two weeks ago to !
thank you hanthesolo for all your great work!
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Thanks for the compliment! I HATE it when devs get a superiority complex over their users, and basically refuse to talk to them/help them, or do so in an extremely condescending way, which hurts the community more than it helps, especially a small one like this.
To start revving, just refer to my response above, and pop me a pm whenever you need any help .
I've hard bricked my Player twice and I guess I know how to recover from any situation, I know all the things and headaches associated with bricking a player and such. But thanks for your reply!
Sent from my YP-G70 using xda app-developers app
Theres something that was pointed out to me by a new friend, that I had to vent about.. so HERE IT IS!!1
Why are some people too good to hang out in their threads and answer questions about the builds they post???
It seems to me that it builds credibility, to help the people using your build, so why not hang out and answer questions, address issues, help finding solutions, offer advice... BE HUMAN
Sure its great that new builds are being pushed out constantly... BUT IF YOURE NOT TALKING TO THE PEOPLE RUNNING THE CURRENT ONE AND EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WHAT GOOD IS IT????
Step down from the clouds, and walk barefoot on the grass with the rest of us.. its cool and refreshing on your feet
WOW Man..
pitbull8265 said:
Theres something that was pointed out to me by a new friend, that I had to vent about.. so HERE IT IS!!1
Why are some people too good to hang out in their threads and answer questions about the builds they post???
It seems to me that it builds credibility, to help the people using your build, so why not hang out and answer questions, address issues, help finding solutions, offer advice... BE HUMAN
Sure its great that new builds are being pushed out constantly... BUT IF YOURE NOT TALKING TO THE PEOPLE RUNNING THE CURRENT ONE AND EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WHAT GOOD IS IT????
Step down from the clouds, and walk barefoot on the grass with the rest of us.. its cool and refreshing on your feet
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Could not have said it better.... You hit the nail right on the head.. People respect those who back their work with support:good::good::good:
This DOES seem to be in SHORT reserve.. WELL STATED
Impressive
I have noticed this too.. Its like these people are too GOOD for Q&A and sometimes even respond to questions like they are PETTY and an inconvenience.. There ARE some who DO help, and those people deserve to know they are appreciated.. You in particular, have helped me a ton, so thanks.. Maybe you'll start a movement, and more people will start doing their part to help their followers...
+1
There is a SERIOUS shortage of helpers and an overage of shovelers
All these builds keep coming, and still the same problems on the one they put out before with a different NAME for the ROM.. Its like they change the name and recycled it..
I read through threads now, and if the OP doesn't hang out and help their users, I wont use their builds anymore.
Couldn't agree more!! Nicely said too
Be proud of your work.. Stick around and make sure people can..ya know, enjoy it too..
It's quality not quantity that matters. Stepping on other teams and developers to rush something out just to say "FIRST" will get you no where.. So while timely updates are important, if that's the only thing you post in your own thread.. "New build is up" when there's been 10 pages of people asking questions... I'll never support you, both publicly or financially.
I understand new enthusiast can be quite frustrating or maybe you just aren't a people type of person.. team up with someone that is... pass the q&a on to them, but do fricking something, people want support for YOUR roms and if you put out 20..that means all 20.
Exactly, how dare these developers not spend any time in the forums answering the same useless non-informative questions over and over. How dare they spend countless hours building a ROMs for free and then share it for others to use. How dare they spend time with their families and go to their actual job and have a life. How dare they….. (/sarcasm)
mapatton82 said:
Exactly, how dare these developers not spend any time in the forums answering the same useless non-informative questions over and over. How dare they spend countless hours building a ROMs for free and then share it for others to use. How dare they spend time with their families and go to their actual job and have a life. How dare they….. (/sarcasm)
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Yea, I'm somewhere between this and the op. They shouldn't be 100% absent, but on the same note, some consideration for the above quote is in order too.
While were venting, its possible the devs haven't figured out how to fix some of these issues, but it doesn't do a dam bit of good for 50 people to complain about the same thing and no one is posting logcats. So don't complain about things not getting fixed, if your not attaching logs to every post about issues.
Just my 2c, add 97c more and go buy a cheeseburger.
Sent from my G3, Unlocked by Team Codefire
mapatton82 said:
Exactly, how dare these developers not spend any time in the forums answering the same useless non-informative questions over and over. How dare they spend countless hours building a ROMs for free and then share it for others to use. How dare they spend time with their families and go to their actual job and have a life. How dare they….. (/sarcasm)
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Then why put out 20 instead of 1 that they can handle is the point!!
Variety is the spice of life. I'd rather have 20 that will get fixed eventually than just 1 that works perfectly. If they are all too similar for you then just move on to another one, build your own, or just wait for fully featured lollipop which will be here soon enough. If a thread is maintained or not - I'm just happy to have a thread. A couple devs have walked away already and it'd suck if more left. Just be grateful for what we've got and be patient.
Kris Nelson said:
Then why put out 20 instead of 1 that they can handle is the point!!
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The same person is not releasing 20 different versions. Also, most are all based off of the AOSP core source, but each dev might add their own touch/flare to it. But, since each one is based off of AOSP, then more than likely, they will all have the same issues, unless the dev has made some changes.
I'd rather have a lot of choices than none. Believe me, when there is NO dev support (that is, a lot of ROMs being release), then you get even MORE whining of "Why isn't there any ROMs/dev support for this?"
Maybe you're not a dev, but I am (not for ROMs but that is my full-time job). Development takes a lot of time. I do it at work and to do it at home as well, especially for something that is free, takes a lot of time and dedication. Especially, ROM development is NOT an easy task. Rebuilding ROMs takes at least 90 minutes or more, depending on the speed of your machine, the size of the source code, etc. Heck, I've pulled down the git for CM12 and it's 12gb in size (source code only, not compiled) and it took hours to download over my high-speed internet connection at home.
I can understand wanting support if you PAID for it, but this is free, people. Free. They don't ask for anything in return monetarily, and yet, we see people demanding support as if they paid for it. You get what you pay for, and in this case, it's free. But I feel the support most devs give is very good, considering it's free. Also, for things like CM, it's usually not just one dev, but several who have responsibilities for different parts of the Android code base. So, just because one guy posts about it, doesn't mean he's the only dev on it. He might be sending your findings back to the other devs.
Also, you DON'T have to flash these custom ROMs. They all have disclaimers that the dev is not responsible for any damages that may occur to your phone. They don't guarantee support, but it's there for you to use. However, who is to say they aren't monitoring the forums? Just because they don't respond, doesn't mean they aren't looking into the issues you report.
Yes, I understand how you want a response from them, but in the end, it is your choice whether you want to flash or not. They didn't twist your arm to do it.
Keep posting your defects. Most devs, the good ones, do monitor the forums and take note of the issues. However, they know about other major issues that they are probably trying to work on. Again, for most, it is done in their spare time.
I myself would like to build and release ROMs, but right now, I don't have the time. it's not just "make a change, compile, release". There is a lot of researching, debugging, etc that must go on. Those that are programmers understand this. And, once you fix a bug, you don't just go and release it (under normal circumstances). You have to go through a complete testing cycle, retesting previous tests along with any new tests to ensure you didn't break something else. It's not that simple.
However, with these free releases, WE are the testers. WE are the ones that report back the issues so they can be addressed. Post them here, or even some devs have Twitter pages where you can post defects. Not all, but some.
In the end, be thankful you have so many choices. Yes, it may seem as if they are all the same, and in some cases they are and some are from people who just want to say "look I released a ROM" and then you never hear from them again. But, in the case of XDA, to post about a ROM in the dev forum, I believe you have to be an identified developer, so they do have to go through some vetting process. So, more than likely, they are legit developers, not a fly-by-night person.
Just wanted to get that off my chest. I understand what people feel, but you have to understand, this is not an easy thing to do. Maybe a lot of you understand that, but I find that a lot don't. Or, they say they understand, when they really don't. They just "think" they understand.
Wow. Off the soapbox. It just burns me as a developer when I see things like this. Yes, I understand where you are coming from, but sometimes, I think you need to hear it from the other side as well.
Ciao!
If you're a good parent, when you bring a child into this world, you raise it, and nurture it... creating it is not enough...
noun
1.
the act or process of developing; growth; progress:
iBolski said:
The same person is not releasing 20 different versions. Also, most are all based off of the AOSP core source, but each dev might add their own touch/flare to it. But, since each one is based off of AOSP, then more than likely, they will all have the same issues, unless the dev has made some changes.
I'd rather have a lot of choices than none. Believe me, when there is NO dev support (that is, a lot of ROMs being release), then you get even MORE whining of "Why isn't there any ROMs/dev support for this?"
Maybe you're not a dev, but I am (not for ROMs but that is my full-time job). Development takes a lot of time. I do it at work and to do it at home as well, especially for something that is free, takes a lot of time and dedication. Especially, ROM development is NOT an easy task. Rebuilding ROMs takes at least 90 minutes or more, depending on the speed of your machine, the size of the source code, etc. Heck, I've pulled down the git for CM12 and it's 12gb in size (source code only, not compiled) and it took hours to download over my high-speed internet connection at home.
I can understand wanting support if you PAID for it, but this is free, people. Free. They don't ask for anything in return monetarily, and yet, we see people demanding support as if they paid for it. You get what you pay for, and in this case, it's free. But I feel the support most devs give is very good, considering it's free. Also, for things like CM, it's usually not just one dev, but several who have responsibilities for different parts of the Android code base. So, just because one guy posts about it, doesn't mean he's the only dev on it. He might be sending your findings back to the other devs.
Also, you DON'T have to flash these custom ROMs. They all have disclaimers that the dev is not responsible for any damages that may occur to your phone. They don't guarantee support, but it's there for you to use. However, who is to say they aren't monitoring the forums? Just because they don't respond, doesn't mean they aren't looking into the issues you report.
Yes, I understand how you want a response from them, but in the end, it is your choice whether you want to flash or not. They didn't twist your arm to do it.
Keep posting your defects. Most devs, the good ones, do monitor the forums and take note of the issues. However, they know about other major issues that they are probably trying to work on. Again, for most, it is done in their spare time.
I myself would like to build and release ROMs, but right now, I don't have the time. it's not just "make a change, compile, release". There is a lot of researching, debugging, etc that must go on. Those that are programmers understand this. And, once you fix a bug, you don't just go and release it (under normal circumstances). You have to go through a complete testing cycle, retesting previous tests along with any new tests to ensure you didn't break something else. It's not that simple.
However, with these free releases, WE are the testers. WE are the ones that report back the issues so they can be addressed. Post them here, or even some devs have Twitter pages where you can post defects. Not all, but some.
In the end, be thankful you have so many choices. Yes, it may seem as if they are all the same, and in some cases they are and some are from people who just want to say "look I released a ROM" and then you never hear from them again. But, in the case of XDA, to post about a ROM in the dev forum, I believe you have to be an identified developer, so they do have to go through some vetting process. So, more than likely, they are legit developers, not a fly-by-night person.
Just wanted to get that off my chest. I understand what people feel, but you have to understand, this is not an easy thing to do. Maybe a lot of you understand that, but I find that a lot don't. Or, they say they understand, when they really don't. They just "think" they understand.
Wow. Off the soapbox. It just burns me as a developer when I see things like this. Yes, I understand where you are coming from, but sometimes, I think you need to hear it from the other side as well.
Ciao!
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Thank you.. Just to correct you though.. There ARE the same persons that are putting out 20 different versions (1 developer. releasing 20 different roms.) That was just the point i was making..
I do personally research before i ever flash a rom or anything..and trust me i donate!! LOL
Kris Nelson said:
Thank you.. Just to correct you though.. There ARE the same persons that are putting out 20 different versions (1 developer. releasing 20 different roms.) That was just the point i was making..
I do personally research before i ever flash a rom or anything..and trust me i donate!! LOL
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I see who you are talking about. If you read the OP, at the bottom, he gives thanks to the devs on these ROMs. I don't think he's a developer at all. At least, his profile doesn't say so. I think he just finds all these ROMs and posts links to them. I could be wrong, and I apologize if I am if that person is reading this thread, but I don't see where the OP of the 5+ ROM threads is the actual developer for them. It's almost like he does the "announcing" for the devs of those ROMs.
And since it does appear that you do not have to be a developer to post in the standard DEV forum, then that makes even more sense.
I do know that in another forum I frequented a lot, you were given developer status and only developers could create new threads in the DEV/ROM forum. That was to prevent a lot of "spam" postings of ROMs.
Makes me wonder if that's what is happening here.
iBolski said:
I see who you are talking about. If you read the OP, at the bottom, he gives thanks to the devs on these ROMs. I don't think he's a developer at all. At least, his profile doesn't say so. I think he just finds all these ROMs and posts links to them. I could be wrong, and I apologize if I am if that person is reading this thread, but I don't see where the OP of the 5+ ROM threads is the actual developer for them. It's almost like he does the "announcing" for the devs of those ROMs.
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I wish you were correct but nope, he is the builder and maintainer. Trust me many more than 5+ when you include other carriers as well.. But not just the one, others have started as well... It's very frustrating that after 1 week, several messages of a very specific problem (not mine just someone i was helping) on different sites where they are posted.. I have to track down someone that i know can help but has NOTHING to do with any of these roms...and gets zippy cash.. Though he should..lol
Anyway, i truly value great developers and have learned who to support and who not to. I like to help people so the developers can build awesome stuff and its my way of keeping the simple crap of your plate so you can do just that..but when i can't even find the answer, the developer should be available.
Just saw your edit.. Yes i think that is happening too. I was always under the assumption that builders/maintainers did so for the actual devise and carriers they use.. I guess that's no longer the case.
Oadam11 is a builder of various roms for our G3's from source repositories available for anyone to build from, and anyone to commit to. He may or may not be doing any commits/merge requests - and even if he did those contributions might not be accepted into the various G3 forks.
In any case, he might not be in a position to contribute to feature requests or bug fixes. He might not be running his own builds of all these roms, past checking to see if they will boot and more or less work.
Say Team Vanir does a fork of their work for the G3, an official one. Ok, then you would ask for support from members of Team Vanir, sure, though you might not get much, depending on a lot of factors (including your attitude...) Then consider the possibility that someone just builds something like Commotio from publicly available sources, with just enough tweaks from somewhere to get it to compile and run, unofficially, on one or more G3 variants. I suspect that is where oadam11 is coming from. He doesn't create the roms, he builds them for G3's. He watches the repositories for each rom he has built for us, and when he sees that rom's devs have checked in and merged useful updates, then he rebuilds for us when he has time. Builds take a while. Then he makes them available for us users to download and install them, after some degree of testing.
The point is that he is in no way responsible for supporting the builds he produces of these team's work. It would be impossible for him to anyway. I am sure he gets permission and some degree of cooperation from any team project he builds from, but he is NOT a team member, or major contributor, for all of them. He is a noble builder and distributor, and you should expect nothing more from him than What he is already providing.
If you want to get a problem or new feature dealt with on any given rom, you must deal with the team's source contributers by raising issues on their gerrit or maybe working on an outstanding and team-prioritized bug as a contributor.
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
Thank you..you actually confirmed the point I was making. However, is the average person going to know all this? Of course not...should they do their research prior, of course but they don't... I see good teams being hurt by this as well.. Vanir just had an issue the other day.. Something is being lost in translation and by no means was i only referring to Adam.
I understand. It is interesting that in G+ just a little why ago someone asked David Kessler of Team Vanir who was their maintainer of the G3 Vanir and he replied that they don't have one.
There was also discussion about someone providing support, like answering questions. The idea of supporting a clueless user who had tried to flash TouchWiz onto a Vanir device, by beating the user over the head with an iPhone6+ was suggested. The devs have no patience with such users, generally.
That said, Holy Angel seems exceptional.
Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
The problem I have, is that when a person POSTS a Rom, and are the OP, they need to support what they post, and help the people posting questions in the thread, or BOW OUT!!! There are people posting and dumping... DONT Post a ROM if you're not willing or able to help the team you are Posting links to... Dont post it and then say "Any problems, contact THEM"
THAT PERSON mentioned, has a lot of them, all as OP, none supported other than.."New build up"
Raising the age limit for COPPA
The amount of entitlement exhibited in this thread is phenomenal. Yes, by all means don't use a build if the developer (who has actually done some REAL WORK) won't support you to your liking.
That will really teach those mean developers a lesson.
Don't forget to complain about the slow speeds of free downloads as well.
It's also a good idea to stop using a build if the developer won't add features you want, and soon, too.
DeanGibson said:
The amount of entitlement exhibited in this thread is phenomenal. Yes, by all means don't use a build if the developer (who has actually done some REAL WORK) won't support you to his/her liking.
That will really teach those mean developers a lesson.
Don't forget to complain about the slow speeds of free downloads as well.
It's also a good idea to stop using a build if the developer won't add features you want, and soon, too.
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Just because you want a feature, doesn't mean it's a good feature to add. If you did that, you would end up with something that could eventually become impossible to maintain.
There are SO many bugs right now in the AOSP code that these devs are trying to fix to make it work on this phone. I would rather those get fixed first.
And, do you think you are the only one to ask for features?
I'm a developer, not for android, but I write code for a living. And what you are asking for is what we call "scope creep". We have to weed out the "must haves" with the "wants". Must haves are the things that they user must have in order to perform their job. This is usually adding functionality that isn't there currently that is needed to complete their job. The "wants" are "I would like to have the ability to clear out all background apps with a single button or swipe". That is NOT needed on this phone, but it's a nice "to have" option, but it doesn't affect the overall performance of the OS itself. Yes, you might say it does because you can clear out the background apps, but in reality, those apps are NOT running. I don't want to get into the specifics of android app management, but those apps you see in the "recent apps" history are NOT running. They are suspended and not taking up ANY CPU cycles, what-so-ever. If they happen to be, then it's a poorly written app, and it means the dev knowingly circumvented the Android OS app management process which is a big no-no. In that case, you should go back to the dev of the app and demand they fix that.
But, you are free not to install the ROM. That's fine and that's your choice, but it just irks me when I see people make complaints like this who probably have no idea what the software development life cycle is all about. To me, fixing bugs right now is the main issue, not adding pretty enhancements to the OS.
And who's to say they aren't working on what you ask, especially if you ask for fixes to major issues (such as battery life, radio, etc)?
Remember, these are UNOFFICIAL releases. They are based off of AOSP source which is pretty much device-agnostic except when it comes to Nexus devices since those are Google devices and therefore, the AOSP source is built for those type of devices.
Android is completely different from iOS. iOS is built for a set of hardware that doesn't have much variance like Android does. Hence, that is why Apple controls both the software AND the hardware of iPhones. It means less fragmentation across devices, but it also means, they decide what is best and you have no way of getting the source.
Google releases the source for Android so you CAN have these custom ROMs built. But, because one Android device has a different hardware configuration from another (CPU and GPU's being the biggest ones), then anything that can take advantage of the hardware architecture for a particular phone means having to change the AOSP source to use any of those "advantages" from that hardware. Which then means, that source no longer works on other phones, only for the phone they modified it for.
So, give the devs some slack, please. They are working hard on it and it's not one dev. If it were, then give the guy even MORE slack. The source for Android is over 12gb along. That is where it's not even compiled. And, compiling the android source generally takes about 90 minutes. So, each "fix" they do requires recompiling (90 minutes) and then testing.
Then, more than likely, the "fix" either didn't work or it possibly broke something else. That means, going back, determining the issue, fixing it, recompiling (wait another 90 minutes) and test again.
That all takes time, people. We developers are NOT magicians, even though it might seem like it.
So, try to imagine trying to fix all the big bugs that you know about, then have to come here, read through ALL the posts and then log those requests down, prioritize them based on all the other work you have, make those changes, recompile, test, etc. It's not a easy and it gets frustrating. But believe me, when we do fix an issue or are able to give the users what they want, we get an extreme amount of satisfaction knowing that we were able to satisfy the "customer".
So please, be careful what you state about devs. Those that do read here usually have thick skins, but complain enough, and they might just quit and then you have nothing.
I understand where people are coming from, but you've been blaming the devs when it's not their fault. Again, the android source is huge and it takes more than one person to work on it. Especially if they are responsible for more than one device. Some devs are working on source for more than just this phone. So, add that to what I already stated and hopefully, you can begin to understand what the devs are going through.
sorry if this is in the wrong place, but i have recently bought the A5 (a5009) and have searched high and low on xda, but cannot find any support for the phone on this forum. As it is related to the alpha line, i was wondering if this sub-forum will be the place for news or ROMs for the A3/A5/A7? or have i missed something?
i feel its a great phone, but touchwiz is so ugly compared to stock android (in my opinion), and this could sway me away from the phone if there is no support.
i have noticed that it can be rooted already, but i dont see much point unless there are custom roms available or am i missing the point?
many thanks
Dom
Thepompa said:
sorry if this is in the wrong place, but i have recently bought the A5 (a5009) and have searched high and low on xda, but cannot find any support for the phone on this forum. As it is related to the alpha line, i was wondering if this sub-forum will be the place for news or ROMs for the A3/A5/A7? or have i missed something?
i feel its a great phone, but touchwiz is so ugly compared to stock android (in my opinion), and this could sway me away from the phone if there is no support.
i have noticed that it can be rooted already, but i dont see much point unless there are custom roms available or am i missing the point?
many thanks
Dom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can, return your A5 and get the alpha! . It is the value for money phone of the new series... It has 3x faster cpu and many times faster GPU and better camera than A5. :good::good::good:
To be honest, i don't think that anybody with some hardware knowledge will buy A5 or A7 at least until the price drops to adequate levels.
I don't want to turn this into a comparison thread as I just wanted to know where on xda I can find out about the new A series, but the alpha here in the UK is more expensive.
With my job, having an expensive phone is not a good idea as it can get damaged easily, that's why I went with a mid - range phone this time. I still have time to think though, so I may change the phone yet.
Has the alpha got many roms available for it?
Thepompa said:
I don't want to turn this into a comparison thread as I just wanted to know where on xda I can find out about the new A series, but the alpha here in the UK is more expensive.
With my job, having an expensive phone is not a good idea as it can get damaged easily, that's why I went with a mid - range phone this time. I still have time to think though, so I may change the phone yet.
Has the alpha got many roms available for it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is ongoing CM11 port and there are 2 custom roms based on stock ROM.
And i think, that there must be separate subforum for A series...
If you root your phone you can remove samsung crap and install launchers... and you'll get whatever software experience you want, you just need to spend some time with it.
P.S. look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1660354&page=1712 it seems thet there are several requests for A5 forums... Just wait (and maybe add request) and there will be forums for your beautiful device to!
thanks for the help!
Thepompa said:
sorry if this is in the wrong place, but i have recently bought the A5 (a5009) and have searched high and low on xda, but cannot find any support for the phone on this forum. As it is related to the alpha line, i was wondering if this sub-forum will be the place for news or ROMs for the A3/A5/A7? or have i missed something?
i feel its a great phone, but touchwiz is so ugly compared to stock android (in my opinion), and this could sway me away from the phone if there is no support.
i have noticed that it can be rooted already, but i dont see much point unless there are custom roms available or am i missing the point?
many thanks
Dom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! I've searched everywhere and I couldn't find good resources for the A7 or for any of the A series. Like you did, I did find a how-to-root guide but I don't see much point either without custom roms. I was actually hoping for an AOSP rom too and this is usually where I find everything I need but there's no forum yet :/
sykez said:
Exactly! I've searched everywhere and I couldn't find good resources for the A7 or for any of the A series. Like you did, I did find a how-to-root guide but I don't see much point either without custom roms. I was actually hoping for an AOSP rom too and this is usually where I find everything I need but there's no forum yet :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the post above mine there is a link for a thread that users can request devices to have thier own forum. I noticed quite a few people are now asking for the A series, so cast a vote and fingers crossed we get one
Has a thread opened up yet ? i did post a request for a thread , have found sources for KK kernel at samsung and have started building the cm12 basic's device tree. would like somewhere to document it.
darkspr1te
I haven't noticed one opening up so far. There is a lot of call for one in the thread I mentioned. I'm assuming the forum would be announced if one opens up?
No idea.
congrats on the cm progress. I would love to test out what you have and having a forum would make it easier
toms95 said:
If you can, return your A5 and get the alpha! . It is the value for money phone of the new series... It has 3x faster cpu and many times faster GPU and better camera than A5. :good::good::good:
To be honest, i don't think that anybody with some hardware knowledge will buy A5 or A7 at least until the price drops to adequate levels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought it for that reason, i have the hardware knowledge and it's a qualcomm cpu, i've requested a forum for A3/A5/A7 devices, i've got kernel sources and msm8916 device tree for cm11/12,
now i just need the forum.
darkspr1te
@darkspr1te cool, do you have the sources uploaded? I would like to help out, I have the A500F.
Keep up the good work Darkspr1te. I am a bit of a noob on this and don't understand everything you say, but I'm looking forward to a mod for the A3.
Hopefully a forum will be opened soon.
Gnome said:
@darkspr1te cool, do you have the sources uploaded? I would like to help out, I have the A500F.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Standard kernel sources can be found at samsung open source center. I have A500H/DS , sadly the sources i pulled wont even compile yet. Been busy on projects past week so i will only get into the sources again this wkend.
Still no feedback on a forum so i might hijack a thread here for now so I can at least start sharing.
darkspr1te
Looking forward to a rom/mod for the A3!
love to see a galaxy A Custom Rom community.
darkspr1te said:
Standard kernel sources can be found at samsung open source center. I have A500H/DS , sadly the sources i pulled wont even compile yet. Been busy on projects past week so i will only get into the sources again this wkend.
Still no feedback on a forum so i might hijack a thread here for now so I can at least start sharing.
darkspr1te
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you might want to start a thread on miscellaneous android dev.
Hello all, I have been following everything about the A3 recently since a cousin of mine just bought it; it´s so sad that there isnt a forum about this device. I would be happy to help on any new brews
It would be nice if they create a Galaxy A series forum. I have an A3, its a great small phone. I use it as my side phone(got a Note 4).
Recovery
Hey guys, I just found a Recovery, but it's Chinese. Working fine on A500M. Just flash with Odin. Now we can try to port Roms from other 410 SoC based devices!
ps: turn the phone on normally, and when the screen turn on, press volume down + power + home (yup, the same buttons of the download mode)
Srry by the bad english, I'm Brazilian
I was looking to get the A5 tomorrow...but the lack of a forum and ROMs is really making me hesitate.