The Z4 Tablet is possibly my dream tablet, it has a great screen, microSD slot, good battery life and it seems dev-friendly.
I've got no Sony experience and I see surprisingly little custom ROM development. How 'dev-friendly' is this tablet? Does Sony provide source codes, drivers? Are they easy in unlocking bootloaders and flashing stuff like radios? Does it seem likely custom post-Marshmallow ROMs will be cooked in 1,5-2 years from now on?
do some research!
e.g. here "Anybody work on root?" much off topic posts unfortunately
there are two section with the title "Development" here ...
look at the phones: Z3+ and Z5 (nearly the same sources)
and all you need with almost useful documentation in SONY's Developer world:
http://developer.sonymobile.com/
DHGE said:
e.g. here "Anybody work on root?" much off topic posts unfortunately
there are two section with the title "Development" here ...
look at the phones: Z3+ and Z5 (nearly the same sources)
and all you need with almost useful documentation in SONY's Developer world:
http://developer.sonymobile.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I admit my question was a bit lazy, but it'd be pretty easy for people like you with lots of experience/knowledge on this Sony platform to give me a general idea.
I ordered a Z4T, but while reading this subforom while waiting for the shipment, things start to itch me a bit.
I'll anwer my own questions the way I see it now: Sony is pretty developer-friendly by providing source code and build instructions, but it's pretty buggy and there are very few developers doing stuff for the Z4T. I guess it's because of the bad availability of the device and the relatively small user base. The people @ FXP build ROMs, but I haven't heard much about how useful these builds are. If anything, I heard people downgrading from the 5.1.1 build. Rooting is only possible by unlocking the bootloader and flashing @AndroPlus' custom kernel. His current TWRP build has a bug that makes it impossible to restore a device backup.
Sony provides the option for unlocking the bootloader, but you'll completely lose your warranty. Furthermore, the TA partition will be irreverably changed and you'll lose functionality.
Marhsmallow has been announced, so there's that.
SONY's devices are good compromise for me
@jelbo
Good summary!
My opinion:
The SONY devices are good hardware. I like them because they are water resistant since I lost a phone after cycling in heavy rain.
I have a Tablet xperia Z with CyanogenMod on it. Android 5.1
The start with that 3rd party ROM was slow and it was quite buggy. Also battery life was worse than with stock ROM.
I have a SAMSUNG Galxy S5 phone. They have Knox-protection on their devices. Quite evil compared to SONY. Because it was released with Kitkat I could root it via exploit and keep Knox untriggered. I could get CyanogenMod, even Marshmallow Alphas for the phone. But the drivers are not that good and the battery life with stock is very good (up to four days for me).
So I will keep that phone on stock and I used Titanium Backup to get rid of SAMSUNG's bloatware.
SAMSUNG do not provide documentation and many of their SOCs are proprietary - no chance to do any development for these devices.
Long post short: SONY is very open and relatively easy to hack on their devices.
Better (now) in price and features than the Nexus devices IMO. I would never buy a device without any chance to do development on it.
I think the bug in TWRP will get fixed soon (has bitten me once).
Thanks for your kind reply
DHGE said:
@jelbo
Good summary!
My opinion:
The SONY devices are good hardware. I like them because they are water resistant since I lost a phone after cycling in heavy rain.
I have a Tablet xperia Z with CyanogenMod on it. Android 5.1
The start with that 3rd party ROM was slow and it was quite buggy. Also battery life was worse than with stock ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds familiar. In my experience with the last few phones I've had, AOSP-based ROMs were always a tad slower and less battery-friendly than stock or stock based ROMs. For example, the stock 'Google Play Edition' ROMs ran like a dream on my HTC One m7, but others were always less smooth / battery friendly.
So, for the Z4T I'm not partularly worried about the lack of 3rd party ROMs. I'll be fine with stock rooted. But for the longer term, because of the unpopularity, I think it's unlikely to see much going on in a year from now on and that kind of makes me doubt my purchase.
I have a SAMSUNG Galxy S5 phone. They have Knox-protection on their devices. Quite evil compared to SONY.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but not more evil than Sony I think. Samsung's bootloader unlock 'trips' Knox and it'll disable features like secure storage and services that depend on it. It's also irreversible. It's an awful lot like Sony's irreversible TA partition 'tripping'.
Because it was released with Kitkat I could root it via exploit and keep Knox untriggered. I could get CyanogenMod, even Marshmallow Alphas for the phone. But the drivers are not that good and the battery life with stock is very good (up to four days for me).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could root my Galaxy S6 using an exploit, without tripping Knox. I'm running 5.1.1 with an engineering bootloader, while still having my Knox untriggered. It's a luxury I'm not gonna have on the Z4T, unless an exploit will be found.
SAMSUNG do not provide documentation and many of their SOCs are proprietary - no chance to do any development for these devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's one of the reasons I want to avoid a Samsung as my new tablet. Exynos is a black box, so custom, stock-based ROMs will be the best you can get. BUT, I'm doubting now. Custom, stock-based ROMs are fine with me - as you mention, battery life is great. And on top of that, Samsung is so popular that lots of development is being done. I think chances are bigger to see the Marshmallow successor being ported for older Samsung devices than we'll see on this Sony Z4 Tablet in the future. But that's an assumption, I don't have Sony experience, but I see things re pretty dead here, even though the device was released quite a long time ago.
Long post short: SONY is very open and relatively easy to hack on their devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not really seeing that yet, but again, I've only looked at the Z4T now.
Better (now) in price and features than the Nexus devices IMO. I would never buy a device without any chance to do development on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The microSD is an essential part for me. If the Pixel C would have had a microSD-slot I'd have chosen that. Development and future updates are a huge selling point for Nexus devices.
I think the bug in TWRP will get fixed soon (has bitten me once).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's hope so.
Hopefully the Z4T will get some more love soon, as I have just sent my Pixel C back and taken a punt at a open box Amazon warehouse deal last night with 40% off the LTE
I love my Z3CT, Z3C and Ultra, which have had great support from the devs, so am expecting the Z4 to be the best hardware of the lot, but would also love a root method while keeping the bootloader locked for now.
Heres to hoping perhaps MM will lead to some kernel exploits.
scoobydu said:
[...] as I have just sent my Pixel C back [...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What made you return your Pixel C?
I love my Z3CT, Z3C and Ultra, which have had great support from the devs [...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did it take a while to get to that point? Do you think the Z4T will have the same support?
jelbo said:
What made you return your Pixel C?
Did it take a while to get to that point? Do you think the Z4T will have the same support?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont get me started on the Pixel C from Google UK pricing error on day 1 and their refusal for a week to refund or swapout 32g for 64g devices, due to their error; then I had a hardware fault with the screen not responding after 24hrs of use. I found their support just awful More issues were being reported in the xda forum and I decided I wasn't going to spend £550 to beta test for google. Nice solid device but heavier that the Z4 and sliding the keybard across the keyboard to remove it, just made me nervous of scratching something everytime I did it.
To be honest the Z4 forums are very quiet, but so were the pixel c's; as a few people were commenting.
I had to root my Z3 Tab by loading the Z3 phone firmware and rooting that, as that had a kernel vunerability and the kernel on the Z3 tab didn't.
Once the Z3 phone firmware was loaded and rooted, I could backup my TA partition and reload the Z3 tab firmware, rooted.
Its generally the phones that get root and the tabs have to utilise what they can, unless of course a dev has the tab.
The tab forums got much busier once the device had a less risky root method.
Sad to see that Nut hasn't got a recovery done, but I am assuming that due to root only being available by unlocking and losing TA, so limited testers, but haven't had time to read the history yet.
I have to say though that the Z4 is fantastic in comparison to the Pixel C and I am very glad I have reverted to the device that I know especially at £360 for the LTE version + keyboard on Amazon open box. First time using and the device is pristine. To be fair the Z4 is many iterations of getting it right and the Pixel is googles first try. Once its at Pixel C v4 it will probably be very good!
Heres to hoping MM is officially released soon, so the chances of rooting may get better.
from Nut
This is the reason why I didn't release XZDR for the Z3+/Z4/TabZ4 yet, too much difference with the Shinano and older device trees.
Edit:
That should be solved with 2.9 though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems the 64 bits is a material change, so things need to progress in 2.9 from my early readings.
scoobydu said:
Dont get me started on the Pixel C from Google UK pricing error on day 1 and their refusal for a week to refund or swapout 32g for 64g devices, due to their error; then I had a hardware fault with the screen not responding after 24hrs of use. I found their support just awful More issues were being reported in the xda forum and I decided I wasn't going to spend £550 to beta test for google. Nice solid device but heavier that the Z4 and sliding the keybard across the keyboard to remove it, just made me nervous of scratching something everytime I did it.
To be honest the Z4 forums are very quiet, but so were the pixel c's; as a few people were commenting.
I had to root my Z3 Tab by loading the Z3 phone firmware and rooting that, as that had a kernel vunerability and the kernel on the Z3 tab didn't.
Once the Z3 phone firmware was loaded and rooted, I could backup my TA partition and reload the Z3 tab firmware, rooted.
Its generally the phones that get root and the tabs have to utilise what they can, unless of course a dev has the tab.
The tab forums got much busier once the device had a less risky root method.
Sad to see that Nut hasn't got a recovery done, but I am assuming that due to root only being available by unlocking and losing TA, so limited testers, but haven't had time to read the history yet.
I have to say though that the Z4 is fantastic in comparison to the Pixel C and I am very glad I have reverted to the device that I know especially at £360 for the LTE version + keyboard on Amazon open box. First time using and the device is pristine. To be fair the Z4 is many iterations of getting it right and the Pixel is googles first try. Once its at Pixel C v4 it will probably be very good!
Heres to hoping MM is officially released soon, so the chances of rooting may get better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply, good info. I'm glad to hear some reassuring comments on the Z4T. Looks like you had a great deal as well. In the Netherlands they're hard to get. I payed €635 for the WiFi model... I'm still doubting a little bit to go for a discounted Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 for €380 though. I read it'll even get Marshmallow in April. Price difference is pretty big and there's lots of stuff for it already.
I'll have a look in some Xperia phone subforums on XDA.
jelbo said:
Thanks for your reply, good info. I'm glad to hear some reassuring comments on the Z4T. Looks like you had a great deal as well. In the Netherlands they're hard to get. I payed €635 for the WiFi model... I'm still doubting a little bit to go for a discounted Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 for €380 though. I read it'll even get Marshmallow in April. Price difference is pretty big and there's lots of stuff for it already.
I'll have a look in some Xperia phone subforums on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there are no deals on the Z4 Tab in the UK and all the new prices are the same retail price.
Thats why I decided to take a chance on the Amazon one, as I could return it if it was damaged or anything; and normal 12 months warranty with Amazon.
For me I haven't had a Samsung since my Tab 7.7 and wouldn't personally have another, but each to their own. The devs were always complaining at Samsung not releasing all the source code to their SoC's, wheereas Sony seemed to be more dev friendly.
The Z3 Tab is fantastic if you didn't mind the 8inch, but I am hoping once the Z3+ root is forthcoming and general 64bit root/recovery is done, then we will have some progress; he says, not being able to help the devs on whats seems a lot of work.
jelbo said:
I've got no Sony experience and I see surprisingly little custom ROM development. How 'dev-friendly' is this tablet? Does Sony provide source codes, drivers? Are they easy in unlocking bootloaders and flashing stuff like radios? Does it seem likely custom post-Marshmallow ROMs will be cooked in 1,5-2 years from now on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a shame that such a good device is so low supported by free developers even though it seems it's more open by the Sony in comparison with Samsung.
I noticed that some people think in the thread that not so much users have this device. I have an old phone so called HTC desire HD which was released in the faraway 2010, it is excellent supported as it even has the contemporary android 6.0. I don't believe that there are more HTC decide HD users rather than xperia tablet z4 users. Moreover, I see as my comrade-users of our device crying ? everyday on a Russian 4pda.ru site, that we wait but there's no a good root method, there is no a good description or a video showing us how does the only custom ROM work. What works and what is broken. And just not seeing good news over the course of several months. Of course, I am very disappointed in dramatic fashion, but I hope The change will come.
Thank you for attention!)
cut the drama
- you should not compare a phone to a tablet (numberwise)
- look into the fora for phones Z3+/Z4 and Z5
they have nearly identical SoCs, differences a sometimes build options
- there is a HUGE xperia cross devices forum here with tons of additional info
- the Z4 Tablet became available in June 2015
- the first sources from SONY showed up in .... June 2015
- I rooted the device in July - having done no Android programming or rooting before
- I ordered the device after researching (see below) and before there was root available because my findings showed that there would be sources and documentation from SONY so that if all else fails I would get later a custom rom or could even roll my own
- a video for "seeing" developing/hacking? Dream on...
- there is lots of documentation (even video) available, maybe no video on how to do a web search or an xda search
- searching (and reading and trying things out) worked for me - coming from SAMSUNG phones with no prior development experience on Android ... TRY IT
DHGE said:
- you should not compare a phone to a tablet (numberwise)
- look into the fora for phones Z3+/Z4 and Z5
they have nearly identical SoCs, differences a sometimes build options
- there is a HUGE xperia cross devices forum here with tons of additional info
- the Z4 Tablet became available in June 2015
- the first sources from SONY showed up in .... June 2015
- I rooted the device in July - having done no Android programming or rooting before
- I ordered the device after researching (see below) and before there was root available because my findings showed that there would be sources and documentation from SONY so that if all else fails I would get later a custom rom or could even roll my own
- a video for "seeing" developing/hacking? Dream on...
- there is lots of documentation (even video) available, maybe no video on how to do a web search or an xda search
- searching (and reading and trying things out) worked for me - coming from SAMSUNG phones with no prior development experience on Android ... TRY IT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good summary.
Small point, but the rooting element is by unlocking the bootloader, which not all will want to do. It is though an option that exists and we are thankful for those that have done so in order to progress the dev support.
Related
I'm deciding between these two and I like to put custom roms on my phone. From what I know, both Sony and HTC are pretty easy to root and support devs (much better than Samsung I guess), but which one would have more roms and easily rootable?
bazzanaja said:
I'm deciding between these two and I like to put custom roms on my phone. From what I know, both Sony and HTC are pretty easy to root and support devs (much better than Samsung I guess), but which one would have more roms and easily rootable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its tough call on which device is easier to root...
as far as developer support is concerned, I for one hope to get the Z2, the FreeXperia team (CM devs) [they get devices directly from Sony] will be supporting it, so there will be official CM support, AOSP/AKOP will be supported [Sony gives devices to these devs too]... other than these there would be a lot of other devs also picking up this phone... so that should give you a good idea...
BTW, in general, Sony devices have lesser developer support as compared to other flagships of HTC & Samsung...
i
bazzanaja said:
I'm deciding between these two and I like to put custom roms on my phone. From what I know, both Sony and HTC are pretty easy to root and support devs (much better than Samsung I guess), but which one would have more roms and easily rootable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u wanna phone or device for developing nothing can replace by Nexus or GPE devices
btw famous custom roms are supported for almost of sony and htc and also samsung devices.
and rooting; as u know almost of time u don't need to do anything for rooting ur android. there always a tool from devs that u use some keys and done!
and suggest u to go for xperia z2 (generally cause i will go for it )
Most likely the HTC M8.
Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk
i havent owned any HTC or Sony devices, but their rooting instructions are somewhat complicated comparing to Samsung, not sure where you are getting that Samsungs are hard to root/unlock. Now, they all can be rooted. just that Sony and HTC are a little harder because:
Sony have a protected system partition where it stores its camera drivers, you might have to restore that partition after rooting/unlocking the bootloader, so to install custom ROM you required extra steps and AFAIK the camera wont work the same due to the lack of drivers in custom roms.
HTC they have some extra security for their bootloader it seems (S-ON/S-OFF, google that) but they support most custom ROMs. Just gotta deal with that BS.
Samsung, their main issue is their Qualcom drivers are closed source, so you might have a buggy bluetooth/camera/video driver at first until some devs are able port/improve the original driver to use with AOSP (kind of).
Just got rid of my S4 one month ago since my job got my an iPhone :crying: I am going to get the Z2 even if they dont have as much custom ROM love as the others, but I am tired of Samsung already. Im thinking of either replacing my Nexus 5 or get rid of the iPhone and stay with the Z2 and the N5. That way i can satisfy my flashing and hacking needs with the N5 while having a premium device such as the Z2.
I'm currently trying to decide between the Z2 and M8. Coming from S3 with literally massive dev support, I can see that the M8 is likely to get more dev support than the Z2, but as long as there is some decent stock based ROMs and decent AOSP/CM ROMs then I'd be happy on the Z2.
I do keep reading about broken camera on custom Kernels (on Z1) though. Is this likely to be the case on the Z2?
I've never been on Sony before, so it is new ground to me...
remydlc said:
i havent owned any HTC or Sony devices, but their rooting instructions are somewhat complicated comparing to Samsung, not sure where you are getting that Samsungs are hard to root/unlock. Now, they all can be rooted. just that Sony and HTC are a little harder because:
Sony have a protected system partition where it stores its camera drivers, you might have to restore that partition after rooting/unlocking the bootloader, so to install custom ROM you required extra steps and AFAIK the camera wont work the same due to the lack of drivers in custom roms.
HTC they have some extra security for their bootloader it seems (S-ON/S-OFF, google that) but they support most custom ROMs. Just gotta deal with that BS.
Samsung, their main issue is their Qualcom drivers are closed source, so you might have a buggy bluetooth/camera/video driver at first until some devs are able port/improve the original driver to use with AOSP (kind of).
Just got rid of my S4 one month ago since my job got my an iPhone :crying: I am going to get the Z2 even if they dont have as much custom ROM love as the others, but I am tired of Samsung already. Im thinking of either replacing my Nexus 5 or get rid of the iPhone and stay with the Z2 and the N5. That way i can satisfy my flashing and hacking needs with the N5 while having a premium device such as the Z2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really depends because you can just unlock the bootloader and flash a recovery without having to S-OFF if you just want root and custom ROMs for an HTC. Samsung is generally more frustrating because they don't really merge device trees and there are many variants of the phone itself all over the world. Used to own the Exnyos S4 and it was development hell .-. So I switched to the HTC One and I got what I wanted. In currently S-ON and I would only S-off to change CIDs and such. It's quite dangerous to S-ON again from an S-OFF as well. Something to consider if you plan to get an HTC.
Happy Flashing from the proud owner of a HTC One.
---------- Post added at 09:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:01 PM ----------
I plan to buy a Z2 because it has the specs, the functionality and we are gonna have some hands on good devs from the start of development. I truly believe that its the Z2s time to shine as its such a beautiful phone that's hopefully gonna get alot of development. The M8 is meh. I'm an HTC Fan but honestly the m8 doesn't look all too good and I had much higher expectations for HTCs new flagship
Happy Flashing from the proud owner of a HTC One.
Bllooi said:
It really depends because you can just unlock the bootloader and flash a recovery without having to S-OFF if you just want root and custom ROMs for an HTC. Samsung is generally more frustrating because they don't really merge device trees and there are many variants of the phone itself all over the world. Used to own the Exnyos S4 and it was development hell .-. So I switched to the HTC One and I got what I wanted. In currently S-ON and I would only S-off to change CIDs and such. It's quite dangerous to S-ON again from an S-OFF as well. Something to consider if you plan to get an HTC.
Happy Flashing from the proud owner of a HTC One.
---------- Post added at 09:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:01 PM ----------
I plan to buy a Z2 because it has the specs, the functionality and we are gonna have some hands on good devs from the start of development. I truly believe that its the Z2s time to shine as its such a beautiful phone that's hopefully gonna get alot of development. The M8 is meh. I'm an HTC Fan but honestly the m8 doesn't look all too good and I had much higher expectations for HTCs new flagship
Happy Flashing from the proud owner of a HTC One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The htc m8 like you said doesnt seem too impressive specially spec wise, but i have a feeling it will get a much bigger development support. Not to mention that sony is going to release another flagship in 6 months.
malek777 said:
The htc m8 like you said doesnt seem too impressive specially spec wise, but i have a feeling it will get a much bigger development support. Not to mention that sony is going to release another flagship in 6 months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True... After a while I am considering that a snapdragon 805 might do better. Not much innovation is going on with the current flagships and i think 2014 is going to be a pretty boring tech year for phones and wearables are coming in. I'm a proud owner of the HTC M7 and ive seen the leaks of the M8 im finding the speaker grills look weird and there is no use of the bottom bezel. I have to be honest the M8 looks terrible compared to the HTC One and all these flagships are carrying the 801's which are just a bump up... I think i might wait...
Nah, the M8 will have more support (and legs) due to the fact that it has a GPE version. They are already committed to updating it to the latest version of android for two years. This will be ported across for most of the other variants just like it was on the one and that work will be available not long after the GPE hits the street as the same dev already has it in the works and is just waiting for a dump. Meanwhile here you have a phone that will already be old and pathetic when the 3 comes out on its fancy smanchy 805 chipset before the end of the year.
I bought in here guys so don't get me wrong. I feel this phone will have plenty enough support but if that were my main criteria I would have went with the M8.
bazzanaja said:
I'm deciding between these two and I like to put custom roms on my phone. From what I know, both Sony and HTC are pretty easy to root and support devs (much better than Samsung I guess), but which one would have more roms and easily rootable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC cannot be Compared to Sony for the Quality of the Build Materials but for Developing Section HTC is more far away from Sony.
So if you want have Software support for your device buy Nexus or HTC, if you want have the feeling of an amazing quality phone in your hand, buy Sony.
Out of all of the devices out there that support LineageOS, the Z5 Compact looks the most appealing to me, because of the good audio quality, nice design/build, and reasonable size.
But is it foolish to purchase a Z5C with the intention of using it to run a custom ROMs?
Are people here using custom ROMs purely as a stopgap until they can get a newer phone that supports Oreo? I don't need or want the latest, greatest hardware, but ever since buying my first smartphone (a Nexus) I've become accustomed to using the latest software. Is the Z5 Compact a dead end in that regard? Or is it likely that I'll be using Android P and Q on this device in the next couple of years?
"But Strobelite, if you're worried about being able to use the latest version of Android, why don't you just get something by Motorola? Those have a healthy, active developer community. Or, you could just be a normal person, and buy a new phone."
If it runs GApps, I won't use it
Audio quality is important to me
The Motorola phones are ugly, in my opinion
Hi, since a few weeks I'm running on LineageOS 14.1 with my z5 Compact and I don't miss the stock rom at all. I didn't test all features yet (e.g. MHL), but I'm very satisfied until now. It's stable (didn't encounter any random reboot), fast and battery life is ok for me (I use Amplify and Greenify with xposed).
I only can recommend this and if you want to run without GApps, this is the way to go. I'm using Yalp store and it's even faster updating my apps than the original Play store.
Phone has FM Radio, SD card slot, fast and accurate GPS and enough power (LOS doesn't seem to run as hot as the stock rom (you can choose between performance profiles), so it's another plus for me).
Just try it and see if it works for you.
The only thing that annoyed me is the camera, the quality is just bad and sometimes it doesn't focus (or too late)
If you dont miss the camera then yes.
Strobelite said:
But is it foolish to purchase a Z5C with the intention of using it to run a custom ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can understand your problem but of course it is imo.
Z5 line has never been widely supported by developers and the Compact is the one with less roms now. You can imagine what kind of future it would have.
Luckily in the past we had great guys who made stock rom root/mods/DRM restoration but the AOSP scene is completely different. As always you lose some features with non-stock roms, usually Camera quality (because you lose closed source vendor optimizations/software) and minor ones.
There will be probably 1 or 2 roms for future android versions (thanks to projects like SLim rom, PAC, Resurrection,...) but there are already few mantainers, especially for the Z5c, and some aosp roms are also unofficially maintained by one person...
Sony lost people (and developers) appeal after the Z3 line and this gets reflected in custom rom support for the newer Xperia lines. If you really want the latest OS on your phone for the next 4 years you should go for something else imo.
Z5c is still great device, refined materials and with good battery but don't expect a forum support like Samsungs, Huaweis,... Unfortunately the old days where flagship phones were < 4,5" are gone.
Maybe you already know it but GSMarena has a great phone-finder search engine which can help you refine your search for compact products.
Well custom rom/kernel development for this device was pathetic enough now the ****ty people at asustek decided
not to update the ultra to oreo. They just updated zenfone deluxe and posted @ zentalk fourms that ultra will not be getting the oreo. Reasoing : in order to ensure the stability of ZU680KL system and user's best experience,
the company finally decided not to plan further software update to Android 8.0 system which
caused inconvenience. We are very sorry thank you for your ASUS product. Support . Well i request u all to send email or contact the asustek in anyway and make them to update the ultra to oreo . What a shame. Its one of the better devices i have owned screenshot of conversation is attached. :crying::crying:
Just awesome. I'll never buy anything from Asus ever again.
What a bunch of crooks and liars. Shame on them.
F*ck Asus. Was waiting for Oreo update for my ultra.
Well this surely pisses me off!
I'm officially learning how to build Android for our phone. I only have a few years coding experience, but I'm going to give it my all. Wish me luck boys.
Ibleedandroid said:
I'm officially learning how to build Android for our phone. I only have a few years coding experience, but I'm going to give it my all. Wish me luck boys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all the best-good luck!
while i had this device, I tried to port miui eu (deodexed) from the mi max 2 pro (same processor, resolution, graphics) but could only get to mi boot animation. Not many resources out there (mostly old and understand porting is a very case-by-case task)
might get interested in the device again if some rom development starts. Weird as it has a qcom processor but all interest is in samsung, sony, and even some smaller Chinese brands but not this one. (6.8 screen maybe) admit i have very little knowledge if any on development but tried it anyway
So that certainly means kiss off Android p. Asus definitely doesn't mind stepping on their own crank. Such a great / fast device, but it was almost abandoned from the first few months.
.
hillg001 said:
So that certainly means kiss off Android p. Asus definitely doesn't mind stepping on their own crank. Such a great / fast device, but it was almost abandoned from the first few months.
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agree 100%...asus is an apt name for the company (in a way)
mathurmatt said:
Well custom rom/kernel development for this device was pathetic enough now the ****ty people at asustek decided
not to update the ultra to oreo. They just updated zenfone deluxe and posted @ zentalk fourms that ultra will not be getting the oreo. Reasoing : in order to ensure the stability of ZU680KL system and user's best experience,
the company finally decided not to plan further software update to Android 8.0 system which
caused inconvenience. We are very sorry thank you for your ASUS product. Support . Well i request u all to send email or contact the asustek in anyway and make them to update the ultra to oreo . What a shame. Its one of the better devices i have owned screenshot of conversation is attached. :crying::crying:
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Boycotting Asus pissed off...
What about rumors that Zenfone3 Ultra at last will get 8.1Oreo upgrade? Lot's messages everywhere around Jan 3rd 2019 and no word from ASUS.
Any clues?
C.MD said:
What about rumors that Zenfone3 Ultra at last will get 8.1Oreo upgrade? Lot's messages everywhere around Jan 3rd 2019 and no word from ASUS.
Any clues?
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Asus might release Android 8.1 Oreo for Zenfone 3 Ultra smartphone
Read more at: https://www.gizbot.com/mobile/news/...1-oreo-zenfone-3-ultra-smartphone-056555.html
https://www.gizbot.com/mobile/news/...1-oreo-zenfone-3-ultra-smartphone-056555.html
Yeah .. Might.
Will cross my fingers and wait. Maybe trouble with blurry and no focusing camera will be fixed at last with new update. Or not. It's ASUS
I'd like to get to as close to vanilla as possible. Not a fan of Samsung's ui or bloat. I'm coming from the tab s1 which had some pretty good roms. There are none for this device and it's almost 6 months old. I would make one myself but lack the necessary skills
Most of the newer top end Samsung Tablets get very little developer support since they cost so much. Happens with every new tablet having people asking where the developer support is for it. Samsung newer UI much nicer and any vanilla roms would take away most of the functionality that makes the tablets great. Apparently the S5e has some dev support.
Problem is Samsung seems to be super slow with there updates for the S7.
I've owned the S7+ SM-T970 for like just a week and I'm already feeling impatient waiting still running off the Oct. update while I keep hearing about about UI 3.0 update hitting there flagship phones.
Do you think at some point down the road when or before OEM support ends we can look forward to some working roms or Treble GSI options ?
Markeee said:
Problem is Samsung seems to be super slow with there updates for the S7.
I've owned the S7+ SM-T970 for like just a week and I'm already feeling impatient waiting still running off the Oct. update while I keep hearing about about UI 3.0 update hitting there flagship phones.
Do you think at some point down the road when or before OEM support ends we can look forward to some working roms or Treble GSI options ?
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Not everyone gets the update at the same time (don't know how they handle when and who should receive the update). I only got a November update a few days ago (though some claimed to have already gotten it) and it offered few improvements. The tablet still feels the same as usual.
As one must choose between custom ROMs and Knox (especially warranty), I'm currently at a loss myself, and for the time being I haven't heard of anyone trying (or succeeded in) booting a GSI on S7/S7+ probably because of this, although it's theoretically possible (again thanks to Treble). At least we now have TWRP... it might be better if one day custom kernels become available.
So far this is the only tablet I know that can offer 120Hz display. My current phone (Razer Phone 2 which is also 120Hz-capable) still doesn't have a specialized ROM but I can already run GSIs on it with adequate performance. For new devices, going for GSI might be easier, but performance-wise it still has a way to go compared to specialized ROMs.
Think it has to do with the fact that snapdragon is locked on samsung
Is there anything that predicts developers will take more interest in the Galaxy S23 range, so we can finally have a custom ROM scene for Galaxy?
Maybe because the S23 (all devices: S23, S23 Ultra, S23 Plus) ditch Exynos in favour of a Qualcomm SM8550-AC, an S23-exclusive version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Did we need a change of wind to make things turn out differently for this device versus earlier Galaxy S ranges? I really hope it's time for renewal, as if im not wrong, the last one that had a nice ROM scene & development going on was the Galaxy S5+ which is so many years ago..
I am talking about a sizable custom ROM scene (all recent devices were dealt a bad hand, or completely lacked it) and the least that would make me very happy: the entry of LineageOS, something that's not been there for years, surely for reasons.
Due to having been away from Galaxy as a result of the lack of ROM scenes in prior devices, I am out of the loop regarding Samsung Galaxy platforms for development support, can anyone state what the main things holding it back have been in recent years? Things being locked down too much, like with other major brands? For what the main blockers are, is there reason to believe that the S23, or the move from Exynos to Qualcomm chips on the other hand, will make a difference? Because as far i know, Qualcomm is the proficient & preferred platform for most devs.
Well as much as Samsung makes everything depend on Knox not being tripped, I doubt it.
I noticed that something may be ongoing when it comes to custom ROM (LineageOS, chipset) work for Galaxy S23+, see: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/lineageos-progress.4582781/
Development there can benefit S23 Ultra vice versa, as it's similar and also sm8550-ac, who knows if that person succeeds they'll move on to S23 Ultra afterwards. I know it's speculation, but in my book these are hopeful signs.
Rom scene has been dull on this side due to Samsung Crippling devices when rooted (Knox being permanently tripped - hence killing resale value) and Dev's losing interest in Samung. We have 2 roms and 2 devs actively supporting the development here which is nothing like the Galaxy S5 or Note 4 Days.
Aside to the above, The stock devices are so good, that there's nothing more you can achieve by rooting which can outweigh the cons of rooting.
JazonX said:
... We have 2 roms and 2 devs actively supporting the development here...
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There exist at least 2 other very good and stable Roms with lots of mods for the Ultra.
ATN Rom and VN Rom.
just noticed this thread about gsis on the s23 range : https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/how-to-gsi-on-s23-ultra.4564249/#post-88279455 (seems to be interesting)
(also noticed a discussion on installing other gsis on the xiaomi 13 : https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/xiaomi-13-gsi.4572035 )
seems to be interesting to me ... maybe I ll buy an S23 to try (I saw a used one that was not too expensive) but maybe I am not avanced enough to succeed
pierro78 said:
seems to be interesting to me ... maybe I ll buy an S23 to try (I saw a used one that was not too expensive) but maybe I am not avanced enough to succeed
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Nice, i was mainly interested in LineageOS/for development to get going on something like the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (sm8550) chipsets, if only we can get a flagship from today in the best possible software package which is where i won't settle for anything less than LineageOS. Not in any case, no matter how good the stock ROM is - it's about freedom, control, privacy & security - where in LOS everything is opensource and auditable (as opposed to OEM.. you don't know what may be running and how secure it is). Not to speak of even faster security patch levels than from any vendor. I also believe you won't feel the true power of your high end hardware until you're running an OS that's practically as clean as AOSP, such as LOS. It's like people dont know any better, and that raw performance (flagships..) offsets your perception anyways.
Since this topic, i've set my gaze on a new device with the same chipset (sm8550) as the Galaxy S23 range - the Motorola Edge 40 Pro, a flagship.. even if chaptsand (as per https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/lineageos-progress.4582781/) can pull it off for Galaxy, i found a way to kickstart the effort for Moto Edge 40 Pro as well, by sponsoring it and bringing a few devs together. If you're interested in that effort, read some comments before and after this one: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-motorola-edge-30-dubai.4536169/post-88509185, and it still has to be moved into its own topic. But if that gets accomplished and for Galaxy it doesn't turn out well, at least ill have something to recommend to anyone that wants LineageOS on a latest tech flagship. For those that think like me, and won't ever settle for less.
mxz55 said:
Since this topic, i've set my gaze on a new device with the same chipset (sm8550) as the Galaxy S23 range - the Motorola Edge 40 Pro, a flagship.. even if chaptsand (as per https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/lineageos-progress.4582781/) can pull it off for Galaxy, i found a way to kickstart the effort for Moto Edge 40 Pro as well, by sponsoring it and bringing a few devs together. If you're interested in that effort, read some comments before and after this one: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-motorola-edge-30-dubai.4536169/post-88509185, and it still has to be moved into its own topic. But if that gets accomplished and for Galaxy it doesn't turn out well, at least ill have something to recommend to anyone that wants LineageOS on a latest tech flagship. For those that think like me, and won't ever settle for less.
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thanks ! very interesting and generous from you !!
but I must say I am more interested in a hardware with a "flater" screen than the Edge 40 Pro.
an inconvenience with the S23 is that you are losing OTA with stock rom if you root it ( https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-unlock-bootloader-root-magisk-samsung-galaxy-s23/ )
so, unless there is some AOSP rom with updates for the S23, it seems safer to me to go for the Xiaomi 13 (after I had a look at this guide : https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...bootloader-root-flash-twrp-flash-rom.4538433/ ) ... or maybe I ll go for the Poco F5 pro 12/256 as it should start with an early bird price of 499E tomorrow, although it s an SD 8+ gen 1 instead of an SD 8 gen 2 (oh it will be 479E with the 20E coupon on https://ams.event.mi.com/fr/poco-f5-series-product-launch ) ...
good luck !