[Q] android an its control of its source from the manufactrers - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello everyone, i am an android user for a couple of years. (i don't know if this is the correct place to post this)
As an informatic and system analyst student, i always have been interested in what apple does with its operating system and the development of the iphones. Analysts people says that apple have control over the software and hardware development and the result of that is a great phone with a super optimazed software. In android, the manufacturers have control only (?) over the hardware development. I read a post about the reasons why samsung is developing tizen and xaomi is developing MiOS. The main idea of tizen and MiOS is to have complete control over the software development and here i have a big doubt:
If the manufacturers have the source code of android and can do what ever they want (touchwiz, sense, miui...), one can say that they have complete control over the software development? if no, why not?
why manufacturers doesn't optimize the source code of android to their phones, but prefer to develop a custom (and heavy) interface over android? or develop a complete diferent OS (tizen, MiOS)?
i am not trying to have a questionless answer, just opinions... and sorry for my bad english (it isn't my primary language).

Related

gingerbread 2.4

i tink that LG was waiting for cooking a stock rom based on android 2.4 (instead of the 2.3 promised) because of their similarities, in fact the gpu accelerations for 2D, rumored for the 2.4, can only help our P500 performance.
i hope this, and you?
Ps: i tink that a P500 at 150$ with 2.4 in the very next month can bring android for many doubtful people..
I'm not really keeping my hopes up. I bet the last official update we'll receive is Gingerbread. Most companies focus on their flagship phones, and despite the O1's popularity, I don't think it'll receive much.
Also, IMHO, Google is going too fast. Manufacturers are having a hard time catching up and stuff.
But if you ask me, I'm contented with Froyo. Unless, of course, there's a really badass killer feature available only to future releases.
And I think this should be in the General category
kpbotbot- It's more like manufacturers use the differente Android os'es for marketing uses . Look at samsung , they're waiting to release the native 2.3 devices and bearly then will they release gingerbread for their current flagship : Galaxy S . It's a dirty world .
Yeah. Here's a super thank-able screenshot I took weeks ago
LG and Samsung seem like very different companies. The Optimus line is a very good buy for most carriers. It will convert a lot of users to the Android world like me. LG seems to catter to their users too.
The manufacturers should understand Android devices should follow Googles releases. It seems like most manufacturers just barely make the software and communities like xda do the actual bug fixing and create a more robust system with the custom kernel & ROM releases.
Sent from my VM670 using XDA App
why would companies spend money and time in the software when
communities like xda do the actual bug fixing and create a more robust system with the custom kernel & ROM releases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@orlox - Imagine buying a phone that doesn't come with an operating system.
I prefer if companies release only the lifeless phone, and xda would give life to it.
So androids will be much cheaper
ccdreadcc said:
I prefer if companies release only the lifeless phone, and xda would give life to it.
So androids will be much cheaper
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the idea!
Post delivered via piece of paper tied to a brick... sorry 'bout the window! XD
The reason I chose this phone is because, for me, it's a small portable computer. If only every bit of hardware of this phone had a corresponding device driver (that we can get hold of), I think there's nothing stopping us from using a full Linux desktop, or other operating systems capable of running on the ARM architecture.
Not so relevant note: Some say the bootloader is locked. True?
kpbotbot said:
The reason I chose this phone is because, for me, it's a small portable computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So true!
I am very satisfied with my first Android experience, in spite of all the bugs and hardware limitations of this cheap phone. Almost anything I needed but couldn't do before on my "dumb" phone became possible with this micro computer. So I don't really care if it's running Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Ice Cream or Milk & Toast & Honey.
You would care if it was running Cupcake.
P.S There really is a possibility for us to get 2.4 on our phones. It is still called Gingerbread but it will support Honeycomb apps.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
there are some questions to answer, why people buy a smartphone in general. We must see the differences between users who "use" the mobile as a daily instrument, users who use the mobile to play 3D games, users who read in the internet and communicate with it and users who are tweaking/hacking (not so sad as i write here). Most of users are using their device for communication, and so the manufacturers can say "why we should develop so fast as google? Our users doesn't need the new features like NFC or other". When communities like XDA, Cyanogen,CodeAurora,androidcentral or others develop their ROMs to their needs, they should do that - they are users who "want" the features. So, manufacturers can invest more time and money in new devices for more experience and for advanced users (like technical freaks). We (users who are lucky for while) can buy the "new" device at a later time, so we can save some money. Nothing other does LG,Samsung or HTC - they are developing for the feature. The money and time to invest in updates or bugfixes are too much for the most - this could be one reason for hold back updates or dont develop. As a developer i can say, the time to spend for Gingerbread development is not small - i have needed 3 monthes to develop a rom, that have just some bugs, and i've do that for fun. for a manufacturer this is not fun
kpbotbot said:
Yeah. Here's a super thank-able screenshot I took weeks ago
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This makes perfect sense from the carrier's perspective. If people had to pay to upgrade to the next version the carriers might have more incentive; as it is now they aren't seeing any more money so why bother investing time on something that could blow up in their face.
andy572 said:
there are some questions to answer, why people buy a smartphone in general. We must see the differences between users who "use" the mobile as a daily instrument, users who use the mobile to play 3D games, users who read in the internet and communicate with it and users who are tweaking/hacking (not so sad as i write here). Most of users are using their device for communication, and so the manufacturers can say "why we should develop so fast as google? Our users doesn't need the new features like NFC or other". When communities like XDA, Cyanogen,CodeAurora,androidcentral or others develop their ROMs to their needs, they should do that - they are users who "want" the features. So, manufacturers can invest more time and money in new devices for more experience and for advanced users (like technical freaks). We (users who are lucky for while) can buy the "new" device at a later time, so we can save some money. Nothing other does LG,Samsung or HTC - they are developing for the feature. The money and time to invest in updates or bugfixes are too much for the most - this could be one reason for hold back updates or dont develop. As a developer i can say, the time to spend for Gingerbread development is not small - i have needed 3 monthes to develop a rom, that have just some bugs, and i've do that for fun. for a manufacturer this is not fun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah , bro , but you're one man fighting against the tides . It's bound that LG has at least a reminder of 5 man cell team working on getting gingerbread out . And besides they have other ways of getting info and ironing out bugs faster then you can .
Sad that they didn't place on the internet a god damn ETA by now .... thus I guess may or june might a realistic launch date
Oh and to be on-topic with the thread , I guess we'll see 2.4 by CM7 if any of the legendary devs still take interest in this phone ofc
+1 i second that...plus i heard that not all the code used is even OPEN..I mean mik somewhere mentioned that some libraries had no corresponding code in the source code archive....thats gotta stink plus porting of android is different than developiing Linux Distro..I mean no mailing lists and not such a big community of "porters"....but tahts just my take..
sarfaraz1989 said:
+1 i second that...plus i heard that not all the code used is even OPEN..I mean mik somewhere mentioned that some libraries had no corresponding code in the source code archive....thats gotta stink plus porting of android is different than developiing Linux Distro..I mean no mailing lists and not such a big community of "porters"....but tahts just my take..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you're right:
many libraries are closed source, it's like a driver from nvidia for Linux X.org.
The only way to port it to a new android version is to test if it works - if not, we have a problem. manufacturer does not support communities, so we have to build many workarounds or rewrite the code so that it works. i would wish, the manufacturers opens their drivers and codecs for playing audio and video - so we can develop faster, more stable and uncomplicated:/
back to topic:
i've readed the last days that gingerbread 2.4 is the internal 2.3.3 - let's check, if apps for honeycomb work on this version: in 2.4 there should be compatibility for the honeycomb apps^^
andy572 said:
you're right:
many libraries are closed source, it's like a driver from nvidia for Linux X.org.
The only way to port it to a new android version is to test if it works - if not, we have a problem. manufacturer does not support communities, so we have to build many workarounds or rewrite the code so that it works. i would wish, the manufacturers opens their drivers and codecs for playing audio and video - so we can develop faster, more stable and uncomplicated:/
back to topic:
i've readed the last days that gingerbread 2.4 is the internal 2.3.3 - let's check, if apps for honeycomb work on this version: in 2.4 there should be compatibility for the honeycomb apps^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if everything's open then it is unlikely they make money. Then they close down and there won't be any phone.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
@yanuk... seems to be like u have not used linux before...Let me tell you how it works...Theres tons of companies (apart from thousands of enthusiasts) that write OPEN SOURCE DRIVERS for their hardware and submit it to the LINUX KERNEL maintainers(Linus torvalds included) example INTEL..If i m buying an ANDROID phone, i only want to pay for the hardware and not software..All drivers developed by the manufacturer shud be open source ..BUt instead its more like an abuse of the OPEN SOURCE community ..HOw CAn devs go ahead and hack the crap out of their phones, when they have trouble even porting newer OSes because of "some f****** proprietary driver" ...Screw the manufacturers ..I wish OPENMOKO had taken off when it had the chance..OPENMOKO = OPEN SOURCE OS +OPEN SOURCE HARDWARE with all datasheets, spec, circuit diagrams available..RUn whatever u possible can run on an it !!! My dream of having a completely Open (gtk runnin) geek device is still very distant..
sarfaraz1989 said:
@yanuk... seems to be like u have not used linux before...Let me tell you how it works...Theres tons of companies (apart from thousands of enthusiasts) that write OPEN SOURCE DRIVERS for their hardware and submit it to the LINUX KERNEL maintainers(Linus torvalds included) example INTEL..If i m buying an ANDROID phone, i only want to pay for the hardware and not software..All drivers developed by the manufacturer shud be open source ..BUt instead its more like an abuse of the OPEN SOURCE community ..HOw CAn devs go ahead and hack the crap out of their phones, when they have trouble even porting newer OSes because of "some f****** proprietary driver" ...Screw the manufacturers ..I wish OPENMOKO had taken off when it had the chance..OPENMOKO = OPEN SOURCE OS +OPEN SOURCE HARDWARE with all datasheets, spec, circuit diagrams available..RUn whatever u possible can run on an it !!! My dream of having a completely Open (gtk runnin) geek device is still very distant..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like you have not worked in and managed any technology firms before.
I'm sincerely hoping your dream come true where you will own a successful openmoko company develop cutting edge technology with over 100 staff and offer your sw and hw for free with no claims to patent rights. All the best!
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App

Cascades for BB10 thread proposal

Hi! I've been developing apps for BB10 using cascades lately, and I would like to know if anybody is interested in that topic, and if you think it would be agood idea to have a thread for that (Sorry if I'm breaking any rules, I don't even know if BB10 devices are something xda users are inerested in)
Thanks in advance for your time and your attention.
ClowReedd.
Anyone interested in this?
... I don't know if nobody is interested in this platform, or if it is against the rules to request a forum for another platfomr as I did... I hope it is just against the rules, as it would be great to have more developers working on BB10 and cascades. The more competition there is, the better apps the final user will get
Thankd for your attention, and sorry if I'm doing something against the rules.
ClowReedd.
BB10 ? i think BB is so difficult to dev
bb
android is better than bb os
BB10 is awesome for devs!
I explored bb10 platform and it's awesome.People who develop for android can feel home here as they provide tools to port the apps with little or no coding.They support Native c++,adobe air,html5 apps.
The thing that interests me is they are very supportive giving away devices to devs and bounty promotions.
U guys have to understand that BB10 is evolving with time,see 10.2 is coming this or nxt month and it upgrades the Android runtime upgrades to 4.2.2
BB10 has android like in an emulated environment but can be easily usable with launcher app but currently it restricts many things like rooting and other but don't know abt that cause most devs and modders for bb10 are all-time bb users.So android hackers and modders may be able to root it.
Don't complain abt low app support,like bloatware on android phones which can be removed by custom roms.BB10 can use android app which are converted by tools which can be found everywhere.
I use most of the apps on my Z10 LE-instagram,snapseed,xda app,all....even games like NFS MW:victory:
Anyway just go through BB10 dev site and have a good time!
https://developer.blackberry.com/
Yes! I'm interested! The best thing of BB10 is that it natively allows Qt development!

[Q] android an the control of its source from the manufactrers

Hello everyone, i am an android user for a couple of years.
As an informatic and system analyst student, i always have been interested in what apple does with its operating system and the development of the iphones. Analysts people says that apple have control over the software and hardware development and the result of that is a great phone with a super optimazed software. In android, the manufacturers have control only (?) over the hardware development. I read a post about the reasons why samsung is developing tizen and xaomi is developing MiOS. The main idea of tizen and MiOS is to have complete control over the software development and here i have a big doubt:
If the manufacturers have the source code of android and can do what ever they want (touchwiz, sense, miui...), one can say that they have complete control over the software development? if no, why not?
in your opinion: why manufacturers doesn't optimize the source code of android to their phones, but prefer to develop a custom (and heavy) interface over android complete diferent OS (tizen, MiOS)?
i am not trying to have a questionless answer, just opinions... and sorry for my bad english (it isn't my primary language).

Interview with Ivan - the developer of the leaked AOSP ROM

Ivan, or more popularly known as 秋叶随风, is a super fan / guru that has help beloved MIUI fans around the world by developing customised ROMs.
When the MIUI news team first broke news about the upcoming interview
with Ivan, our ever enthusiastic fans responded with over 100+ burning
questions for dear Ivan in our fan poll!
Despite churning out amazing works that are used by MIUI fans all around
the globe, Ivan keeps a surprisingly low profile, and trying to befriend him
on QQ is no easy feat; His one and only friend request question requires
you to know his boss’s phone number before you can gain acceptance as his
friend!
Of course, the MIUI news team spares no efforts in reaching out to Ivan
for the ever curious MIUI fans, and here’s the much-awaited interview with
some of the interesting fan questions, complete with a real snapshot of
what Ivan looks like!
Question 1 : Tell us 4 interesting facts about
yourself!
I’m actually a staff of Xiaomi and a big loyal fan of MIUI!
Nobody calls me by my real name at work - Instead, everyone prefers to
call me by my nickname, “秋大”
I used to be a developer for iOS and webkit, the open source web browser
engine that's used by Safari, Dashboard, Mail, and many other OS X
applications
I’m a novice in swimming, having just picked up the skill last year; To be
honest, my swimming can’t even rival that of the kids that I see in the pool!
Question 2: What do you actually do in Xiaomi and
how long have you been working there?
I started working for Xiaomi last year and is currently involved in Linux
server and configuration management and technical support. My main duty
is to ensure that my fellow colleagues can work or laze happily! Occasionally,
I dabble in MIUI system upgrades, memory optimization, stable ROMs
upgrades as well as updating the Android version to allow my colleagues to
test out Google’s latest features.
Question 3: How did you learn to customise ROMs
and can you teach other aspiring fans how to go about
doing it too and what is required to get started?
When I first came into contact with Android phones, the phone
manufacturers integrated the phones with too much bloatware that made the
user experience abysmal. Hence i decided to try my hand at customising the
ROM by myself, purely out of interest! I am actually self-taught, and
personally i think this is one area that is very difficult to teach.
For aspiring fans that would like to go down this path to customise their own
ROM, my advice would be to first familiarise yourself with Java, C, C++
and Linux, as well as shell kernel script writing. A good way to get started is
to follow what others have done in customising the ROM, by basing it on
their git log to understand the logic behind the tweaking. Of course, the
prerequisites are that you have plenty of time, and a relatively good
computer with fast internet speed.
Question 4: What features are you planning to add
to your latest customised ROM?
It may surprise you, but i do not like adding new functionalities. If you want
to, you don’t have to do it yourself, but use the ready solutions out there
like CyanogenMod, Paranoid Android, AOKP, etc.
Question 5: What device are you using now and why?
I am currently using two phones; an iPhone 5, and Mi2. I love my Mi2
primarily because i find the size perfect, and the hardware is not outdated,
and best of all, i can customise it everyday!
Question 6: How long does it take for you to work
on each ROM?
From conceptualisation till its actual run takes around 1 week, but it could
take 1 to 2 months to correct for all the bugs and stabilise the system. If i
am lucky, I could update and release a more stable version in 1 - 2 weeks.
Question 7: Do you actually earn anything from
doing this?
I pursue and customise ROMs out of my pure personal interest and passion
to share what I love with fellow MIUI fans, and I do not earn a single cent
out of this. Of course, more money is always good, but personally my
opinion is that if one were to pursue this out of monetary interest, it would
defeat the purpose of doing this in the first place.
Question 8: What was the first ROM you made and
what was the motivation behind it?
I first customised the ROM for my Huawei C8500/U8150. Back then,
the phones is packed with more customised softwares. I had the idea of
customising it for my phone for a very simple reason; the touch points for
the phone weren’t many at the point in time, and i decided to tweak the
kernel source to add two more touch points and that’s how I got started!
After that, I got hooked on customising and the rest is history.
***** TOP FAN. QUESTION *****
(from @ej8989 -> We see you have great potential as paparazzi! Care to join the
MIUI News Team? )))
Question 9: Are you dating someone within the
MIUI community?
My interactions with fellow colleagues hardly extend beyond our professional
working relationship, and the majority of the fans are guys! No girl would
want to date a code geek anyway, so… to put it simply, no.
Source : MIUI forum
en.miui.com/thread-48984-1-1.html
Hope all of you enjoyed. (Nothing talked about sources makes me sad).
Lol. No mi-bunny for me though.
Dear Ivan
Have a great respect for you Bro...
SaiMadhav
sivabommakanti said:
Ivan, or more popularly known as 秋叶随风, is a super fan / guru that has help beloved MIUI fans around the world by developing customised ROMs.
When the MIUI news team first broke news about the upcoming interview
with Ivan, our ever enthusiastic fans responded with over 100+ burning
questions for dear Ivan in our fan poll!
Despite churning out amazing works that are used by MIUI fans all around
the globe, Ivan keeps a surprisingly low profile, and trying to befriend him
on QQ is no easy feat; His one and only friend request question requires
you to know his boss’s phone number before you can gain acceptance as his
friend!
Of course, the MIUI news team spares no efforts in reaching out to Ivan
for the ever curious MIUI fans, and here’s the much-awaited interview with
some of the interesting fan questions, complete with a real snapshot of
what Ivan looks like!
Question 1 : Tell us 4 interesting facts about
yourself!
I’m actually a staff of Xiaomi and a big loyal fan of MIUI!
Nobody calls me by my real name at work - Instead, everyone prefers to
call me by my nickname, “秋大”
I used to be a developer for iOS and webkit, the open source web browser
engine that's used by Safari, Dashboard, Mail, and many other OS X
applications
I’m a novice in swimming, having just picked up the skill last year; To be
honest, my swimming can’t even rival that of the kids that I see in the pool!
Question 2: What do you actually do in Xiaomi and
how long have you been working there?
I started working for Xiaomi last year and is currently involved in Linux
server and configuration management and technical support. My main duty
is to ensure that my fellow colleagues can work or laze happily! Occasionally,
I dabble in MIUI system upgrades, memory optimization, stable ROMs
upgrades as well as updating the Android version to allow my colleagues to
test out Google’s latest features.
Question 3: How did you learn to customise ROMs
and can you teach other aspiring fans how to go about
doing it too and what is required to get started?
When I first came into contact with Android phones, the phone
manufacturers integrated the phones with too much bloatware that made the
user experience abysmal. Hence i decided to try my hand at customising the
ROM by myself, purely out of interest! I am actually self-taught, and
personally i think this is one area that is very difficult to teach.
For aspiring fans that would like to go down this path to customise their own
ROM, my advice would be to first familiarise yourself with Java, C, C++
and Linux, as well as shell kernel script writing. A good way to get started is
to follow what others have done in customising the ROM, by basing it on
their git log to understand the logic behind the tweaking. Of course, the
prerequisites are that you have plenty of time, and a relatively good
computer with fast internet speed.
Question 4: What features are you planning to add
to your latest customised ROM?
It may surprise you, but i do not like adding new functionalities. If you want
to, you don’t have to do it yourself, but use the ready solutions out there
like CyanogenMod, Paranoid Android, AOKP, etc.
Question 5: What device are you using now and why?
I am currently using two phones; an iPhone 5, and Mi2. I love my Mi2
primarily because i find the size perfect, and the hardware is not outdated,
and best of all, i can customise it everyday!
Question 6: How long does it take for you to work
on each ROM?
From conceptualisation till its actual run takes around 1 week, but it could
take 1 to 2 months to correct for all the bugs and stabilise the system. If i
am lucky, I could update and release a more stable version in 1 - 2 weeks.
Question 7: Do you actually earn anything from
doing this?
I pursue and customise ROMs out of my pure personal interest and passion
to share what I love with fellow MIUI fans, and I do not earn a single cent
out of this. Of course, more money is always good, but personally my
opinion is that if one were to pursue this out of monetary interest, it would
defeat the purpose of doing this in the first place.
Question 8: What was the first ROM you made and
what was the motivation behind it?
I first customised the ROM for my Huawei C8500/U8150. Back then,
the phones is packed with more customised softwares. I had the idea of
customising it for my phone for a very simple reason; the touch points for
the phone weren’t many at the point in time, and i decided to tweak the
kernel source to add two more touch points and that’s how I got started!
After that, I got hooked on customising and the rest is history.
***** TOP FAN. QUESTION *****
(from @ej8989 -> We see you have great potential as paparazzi! Care to join the
MIUI News Team? )))
Question 9: Are you dating someone within the
MIUI community?
My interactions with fellow colleagues hardly extend beyond our professional
working relationship, and the majority of the fans are guys! No girl would
want to date a code geek anyway, so… to put it simply, no.
Source : MIUI forum
en.miui.com/thread-48984-1-1.html
Hope all of you enjoyed. (Nothing talked about sources makes me sad).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Good Android device for modding?

My beloved Nokia N900 linux phone has finally died and now I need something to replace it. All the Linux phones out there are unsuitable for various reasons so it looks like Android is my best option for a new phone.
This is what I am ideally looking for:
Usable as an every-day phone.
Available to purchase right now here in Australia (which rules out things like the pro1-x that isn't actually shipping and the Fairphone that is EU only)
Supports 4G LTE on 2100MHz/18i00MHz/850MHz (since that's what Vodafone Australia is using)
Open and moddable/hackable (i.e. able to replace the kernel and OS with an alternative should I want to do that rather than having to deal with a locked bootloader)
Running a modern version of Android with the Google stuff (i.e. official Google store and maps)
As little bloatware as possible (or at least as little bloatware as possible that I can't actually remove)
All source available as required by the GPL or any other licenses that require source release (I refuse to give my hard-earned money to anyone who profits off intentional copyright violations although it may be impossible to find a device that meets this criteria given how bad most OEMs seem to be at this for reasons I don't understand)
In terms of brands the only one I have an objection to is Sony (I hate Sony in general for reasons I won't go into here)
Oh and if there is a device that meets my other criteria and still has a hardware keyboard (likely to be impossible in 2020) that's even better.
IMHO it is uninteresting which brand/model a new Android device is: IT MUST BE TREBLE ENABLED to be able to install Android GSI versions. FYI: Android GSI is a full OS image that matches the AOSP source code. Actually Android GSI 11 is available.
Is there a database anywhere that lists which devices support Treble (and therefore presumably can have alternative kernels and OS images installed) and/or which companies are doing the right thing and sharing the kernel source as required by the GPL?
A 2-years-old overview here.
As always: GIYF ...
Sounds like anything running modern Android will support Treble (and therefore can presumably have the kernel and OS replaced with alternatives if my understanding of what Treble is is accurate). So that just means I need to figure out how good different device manufacturers are at GPL compliance for the kernel and anything else they need to publish source code for.

Categories

Resources