Interview with Ivan - the developer of the leaked AOSP ROM - Mi 3 General

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

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

Why isn't android as stable as iOS or WP7?

I have with all three OSs but somehow iOS and WP7 feel much more stable. They never crashed yet, iOS can't even crash I think, while Andoid crashed many times. It it because of the linux based kernel?
Your question doesn't really make sense. Android is not unstable. It just depends on your rom and hardware capabilities. If they are good, your device will be fine, if not, then of course it's not going to be the smoothest thing in the world. So blame your device (even if it's a good device, you still need to make the best out of it), not Android.
Run the latest iOS on the original iPhone. Tell me its stable
ugothakd said:
Run the latest iOS on the original iPhone. Tell me its stable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Classic .
Android seems pretty stable to me, I've never had any crashes on my SGS2, I've had a couple force closes but I'd imagine that's down to apps being bad rather than the actual OS.
This sounds like it was started as a troll thread by the OP to me
Given the right conditions, any piece of software can crash and do so hard
http://cdn2.iphone4jailbreak.org/forum/wp-content/uploads/mobile-substrate-crash-iphone-4.jpg
http://gradly.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110215_ibook_crash.png
iOS is a very modified verison of unix/bsd (well unix serves somewhere under it as the base), which is what linux is modeled after. Take that as what you will.
Neither iOS or wp7 allow users the chance to screw up your phone nearly as much as android does as well (well unless you have one of those android phones with a locked bootloader).
Another thing you need to take into account is the hardware restrictions used by WP7 and IOS. With WP7 you have to meet the minimum requirements set by Microsoft. IOS hardware is only built and created by Apple and each model is now only being supported for so many years before they won't allow it to be updated to the most recent IOS version.
With Android, you have multiple manufacturers creating a variety of devices where there is almost no hardware restrictions except whether the phone will run the ROM or not. Android phone hardware can vary by huge amounts of memory, CPU speeds, and GPUs.
if there are problems it has to do with the manufacturer of the phone and the rom they developed, not android. Get a nexus phone, stable, fast, smooth, and it has the vanilla version of android. After I removed all the bloatware off my phone and installed cm7, my captivates been a different phone. Makes me remember why I went with android over IOS or wp7.
Everyone seems eager to fork over their hard earn money to be Google's beta tester. But I'm more surprised at how people take pride in how "stable" android is, while they have to hack the beck out of it for it to be a decent phone.
otnos said:
Everyone seems eager to fork over their hard earn money to be Google's beta tester. But I'm more surprised at how people take pride in how "stable" android is, while they have to hack the beck out of it for it to be a decent phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at the nexus line, Pure Vanilla android. I don't hear too many crashes from the stock users.(if any at all)
otnos said:
Everyone seems eager to fork over their hard earn money to be Google's beta tester. But I'm more surprised at how people take pride in how "stable" android is, while they have to hack the beck out of it for it to be a decent phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you expect everyone to say android sucks on an android subforum? I think you would want to head to the apple subforum if you want to hear that.
People use android because it works for them. However, it may not work for everyone and those that it does not, are more than welcome to use a different phone

Benefits of a Cyanogen 7 or 9 ROM over these already highly tuned custom roms?

Hi,
Could someone please enlighten me to the benefits of a Cyanogen mod over all of these custom ROMS that include a version of Sense (I think that they all do).
I'm referring to Energy, Revolution ROMS.
Would a Cyanogen mod be faster, have more battery life, and be more stable since it is an AOSP (android open source project) based and doesn't have the Sense overhead? Does it have any other secret sauce?
Or are the custom ROMS already pretty much equal to what Cyanogen puts out, with the only difference being Sense?
Thanks!
p.s. Coming from the iphone world, it is interesting that there are no custom ROMs for iOS. There does not appear to be a need since the core OS is pretty stable. While I liked that, I do miss the ability to tweak my phone at the ROM level. In all honesty though, the fact that for the vast majority of Android phones, a custom ROM is a flat out necessity in order to achieve stability and battery life, would probably not fly with most customers. But I'm willing to go through the putting a custom ROM on my phone since it's more like an adventure to me than a hassle.
ICS is ran over AOSP which is the fastest because they include NO bloatware at all.
Sense includes tons of bloatware and Sense just slows down the system.
CyanogenMod is ran over AOSP for the fastest experienced.
Please post your questions in the Q&A section mate, to keep the Development section nice and tidy.
Cheers!
In general, the Cyanogen team added many features to the Android AOSP, in many ways out 'featuring' the cell providers teams. Things like gesture lock are great add-ons that provided functionality with very little in the way of bloat. Additionally, they could tweak things in AOSP that the vendors might not want to touch for fear of breaking thousands upon thousands of users. CM is a boutique ROM.
Apple, to your point, offers no custom ROM's, and this is by design. The whole point of the Apple ecosystem ( and it's success in large part), is due to the fact that they keep it very locked down. This ensures a consistent and predictable environment in which to work, and support costs are kept to a minimum.
Some of us (myself included) don't really enjoy the Sense's of the world, and although they are not all together horrible, I just don't favor some fancy graphics over app functionality. I just generally like the simple clean interfaces. I have to hand it to the Sense team though... there are some pretty nice base apps. BUT, I prefer 3rd party tools most times, and like supporting the little developer if he keeps his project going.
Finally, the computer hacker in me just loves tweaks, optimizations, and tinkering with things. If I can overclock a chip, you can be damn sure I am going to do it!

[Q] How Will Google's New Android Strategy Affect ROM Development?

Hi everyone,
I'm a writer for LockerGnome.com and currently putting together an article exploring Google's new Android strategy. I'm looking for some opinions, particularly from developers, about what Google's new strategy portends for ROM development.
In a nutshell, here's Google's new strategy for Android: It will be giving multiple mobile-device makers early access to new releases of Android and to sell those devices directly to consumers. (Search "site:wsj.com google" for the Wall Street Journal's report. Hopefully you'll be able to access the link I've provided, but if not: Essentially, Google will be offering consumers more phones to purchase with a "vanilla Android" experience; they will then be able to take these phones to the cellular carrier of their choice. A researcher quoted in the article believes that Google is moving toward a more iOS-like experience, with less variance among devices.
What I'd like to know is what those in this community feel will result due to this new strategy. Since they're may be less variances among future Android devices, will there be less of a demand for "vanilla-ized" Android ROMs? My understanding of CyanogenMod is that one of its main appeals is that it allows for users to experience a plain, "vanilla" Android on devices -- with enough new devices already offering a pure, bloatware-less Android, will the CyanogenMod scene begin to fade in relevance?
Please let me know if I can use any of your comments in my article, and let me also know how you would like to be attributed if I use your comment(s). (Private message me, if you'd like, with a link to one of your online profiles or a website that you run, or some such thing.)
Thanks!
I'm a writer for LockerGnome and
well i dont think its gonna be an iOS-like experience at all, its all gonna be pretty much the same cept we'll have 5 nexuses, manufacturers are still gonna be making their devices with their 'OEM skins' just the like theyre doing it now. i also can feel like manufacturers are gonna release same device theyll have as nexus with their skin on top (picture the One X with the option to choose if you want it with sense or with vanilla/stock android) kinda like the Desire Z and the T Mobile G2, its gonna be even better for us flashaholics cause well be able to flash more ROMs
also Cyanogenmod its gonna keep growing cause even if its AOSP based they add their own optimizations making the experience even better, every more and more people are flashing that particular ROM even if their device has vanilla android already in it
nonione said:
well i dont think its gonna be an iOS-like experience at all, its all gonna be pretty much the same cept we'll have 5 nexuses, manufacturers are still gonna be making their devices with their 'OEM skins' just the like theyre doing it now. i also can feel like manufacturers are gonna release same device theyll have as nexus with their skin on top (picture the One X with the option to choose if you want it with sense or with vanilla/stock android) kinda like the Desire Z and the T Mobile G2, its gonna be even better for us flashaholics cause well be able to flash more ROMs
also Cyanogenmod its gonna keep growing cause even if its AOSP based they add their own optimizations making the experience even better, every more and more people are flashing that particular ROM even if their device has vanilla android already in it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your comments. So with the introduction of more "Vanilla" Android devices, you believe the "flashaholic" community will continue to grow? Won't the majority of consumers who purchase the unlocked Android devices no longer have a reason to flash their devices? It's obvious that "flashaholics" enjoy optimizing and overclocking their phones (even at the expense of other things, such as battery life) -- but don't you think most consumers would prefer not to void their warranty (and would generally opt for better battery duration rather than a speed boost)?
You can use anything. Please attribute me as "lalop".
Note: An important distinction to make (not having the article at hand, I'm not sure if the researcher made it himself): Google is attempting to reduce the variance in the software of Android phones. In terms of hardware, it is the complete opposite. Encouraging competition between multiple Nexii will ensure that only the most cutting-edge designs are sent in. Without any OEM differentiation on the software, the contest truly becomes that of the best manufacturing. (This means no more half-assed Nexus specs/accessories *cough Samsung cough*.)
charssun said:
What I'd like to know is what those in this community feel will result due to this new strategy. Since they're may be less variances among future Android devices, will there be less of a demand for "vanilla-ized" Android ROMs? My understanding of CyanogenMod is that one of its main appeals is that it allows for users to experience a plain, "vanilla" Android on devices -- with enough new devices already offering a pure, bloatware-less Android, will the CyanogenMod scene begin to fade in relevance?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CyanogenMod turns OEM skins into AOSP, that is true, but the result can hardly be called "vanilla". The "Mod" itself adds so much customization and speed that, as I noticed firsthand from using the Galaxy Nexus, the stock ROM and CM9 aren't really comparable at all.
Now, you talk about "vanilla-ized" ROMs, but I would suggest this is a misnomer. Yes, anyone can compile AOSP if they just want a "vanilla" ROM, but there's almost no point to just stopping there and going no further. The ROM and/or kernel are just begging for your tweaks, your mild improvements, and this is precisely what drives the homebrew developer.
As such, it turns out that almost every custom ROM has something differentiating it from the original; even the so-called "vanilla experiences" are generally designed to be smoother and have better battery life. No number of stock phones from Google could possibly reduce the demand for (nor the incentive to create) such things. So I would say that the answer is "no" on all accounts.
---
Now, the effect of multiple Nexii on homebrewing that would worry me is "fragmentation" (though not in the usual sense of the word). Having five Nexuses would effectively detrone each one from its former pedestal as the (no pun intended) Nexus of development. Since most homebrew developers would probably not purchase all five (and would have a harder time maintaining all versions even if they did), this could end up having an adverse effect on their development. Although having a fleet of Nexus is practically a dream come true, I fear that five may be too many, and may unintentionally compromise their development as a whole.
Now, as pointed out by lazaro here, this would not affect ROM development per se, only low level stuff like kernels. The obvious way I can think of to avoid the issue is to mandate similar hardware for all the Nexus - and yet I feel this is undesirable. After all, competition is key here, and I'm sure we're also all waiting for our Nexus Note™, of course! *hint hint*
http://t.co/9rTNXkvM
Here are some of my thoughts on the matter.
I am more excited about this than I have been for any other Android news ever! I am ready to get out of the continuous contacts and upgrade dates, especially the high prices for service.
As far as development goes, some of the best development has been done on Nexus devices, except of course the hd2... What will be good for manufacturers is that they will receive earlier updates for android allowing them to tweak their proprietary versions sooner allowing quicker updates!
For custom rom's you will see a lot of activity.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
thebobp said:
You can use anything. Please attribute me as "lalop".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for taking the time to post your comments; my own response to yours is below.
thebobp said:
Note: An important distinction to make (not having the article at hand, I'm not sure if the researcher made it himself): Google is attempting to reduce the variance in the software of Android phones. In terms of hardware, it is the complete opposite. Encouraging competition between multiple Nexii will ensure that only the most cutting-edge designs are sent in. Without any OEM differentiation on the software, the contest truly becomes that of the best manufacturing. (This means no more half-assed Nexus specs/accessories *cough Samsung cough*.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was vague in my description of what was mentioned about device variance in the article. Here's exactly what the writer of the article stated:
Rajeev Chand, head of research at Rutberg & Co., said Android has become a kind of "Wild West" in which app developers have struggled to make sure apps are compatible with hundreds of different Android-powered devices. Both device makers and carriers have left their imprint on devices, meaning the "customer experience is highly variant", he said.
Mr. Chand said Google's shift appears to be a move "to create a more standardized experience for consumers and app developers," similar to that of Apple.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does that fit what you're asserting?
thebobp said:
CyanogenMod turns OEM skins into AOSP, that is true, but the result can hardly be called "vanilla". The "Mod" itself adds so much customization and speed that, as I noticed firsthand from using the Galaxy Nexus, the stock ROM and CM9 aren't really comparable at all.
Now, you talk about "vanilla-ized" ROMs, but I would suggest this is a misnomer. Yes, anyone can compile AOSP if they just want a "vanilla" ROM, but there's almost no point to just stopping there and going no further. The ROM and/or kernel are just begging for your tweaks, your mild improvements, and this is precisely what drives the homebrew developer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The term Vanilla is how the CyanogenMod "look" is described at http://www.cyanogenmod.com/about. I should have recognized that there is a world of difference between aesthetics and performance. Thanks for pointing that out.
thebobp said:
As such, it turns out that almost every custom ROM has something differentiating it from the original; even the so-called "vanilla experiences" are generally designed to be smoother and have better battery life. No number of stock phones from Google could possibly reduce the demand for (nor the incentive to create) such things. So I would say that the answer is "no" on all accounts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have any experience with iOS devices; is there a similar incentive to modify iPhones and iPads purchased directly from Apple?
thebobp said:
Now, the effect of multiple Nexii on homebrewing that would worry me is "fragmentation" (though not in the usual sense of the word). Having five Nexuses would effectively detrone each one from its former pedestal as the (no pun intended) Nexus of development. Since most homebrew developers would probably not purchase all five (and would have a harder time maintaining all versions even if they did), this could end up having an adverse effect on their development.
Although having a fleet of Nexus is practically a dream come true, I fear that five may be too many, and may unintentionally compromise their development as a whole.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One thing to note: Google will be working with "as many as five manufacturers at a time to create a portfolio of 'Nexus' lead devices that include smartphones and tablets." To me, this doesn't necessarily imply just give devices -- there could be a few devices from each manufacturer.
thebobp said:
Now, as pointed out by lazaro here, this would not affect ROM development per se, only low level stuff like kernels. The obvious way I can think of to avoid the issue is to mandate similar hardware for all the Nexus - and yet I feel this is undesirable. After all, competition is key here, and I'm sure we're also all waiting for our Nexus Note™, of course! *hint hint*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for your views. If I use your comments I'll be sure to attribute them to "lalop"; is there also a URL you are associated with that I may link to? If you prefer privacy, that's perfectly understandable. Also: Are you a developer?

To every smart developer out there.

devs are all busy making their own roms/Kernels or whatever, for example my poco f1 Has tons of roms while most of the users prefer to stay on the stock miui, others use Pixel Experience or LOS. The other 90% Of roms didn't change that much, so the idea is to be on the top of this game with a rom looking exactly like an ios device, based over miui but the main difference would be the theme, keeping the performance of miui with the look of ios, it would beat absolutely everything out there. I know that it would be more than difficult, but more than worth it simultaneously. So instead of developing many roms that may end up as a useless failed project, work on this idea and just imagine it being GSI too, would blow like hell, share your ideas about this if you can be helpful.
Skinning roms to look like IOS was a thing about 10 years ago. It never really took off.

Categories

Resources