Hello
So I wake up from a long sleep away from the world of custom roms, and I started to wonder about a few topics.
The first one being, is it worth it to change my actual phone, an old i9506. I came with this answer; maybe, when I won't be on budget.
Truth is for now, it is sufficient for my needs, except it sometimes runs out of RAM, out of memory (when I use my SD too much like an USB, 32Go is not sufficient), and lags a little in sms conversations that I don't want to delete (good or practical memories should be accessible without having to "flash" a backup, that's not possible with most sms backup application I know) but it is mostly OK.
My other options would be to buy a modular phone, as I am not one who change his phone every six months (as you can expect by reading that I still have the S4).
But ARA (https://atap.google.com/ara/), and other that you can see here (https://phonebloks.com/development) are not ready yet.
And G5 and moto Z are not modular as I expect it to be.
So I'll stick to my S4, with it's removable SD and battery, which are things I won't surrender for any flagship (and again, the G5 might have this, but it's not really something I would trade my S4 for, as it is pretty poor for a flagship, from reviews).
My second current is privacy and security. Back in the days I was really in touch with ROM/App news, I tried to get more control over my phone and tested a lot of solutions but I came to the following conclusions:
-I don't want to buy one of those silentwhispers or zenith/copperhead/whatever phones that you can't install anything on, I am careful choosing my apps, and sometimes, you can need to install the app of a shop or a friend, and you won't have much to fear from these (or you have, but I mean, sometimes you have to be flexible, so even being careful using approved app and checking permissions and so on, you have to be able to do it).
-You can't depend on stock roms which contains hardware and software bugs that never get corrected (Samsung and its SD card reading problems that drain battery forever; security flaws that took many android editions to be corrected when they should be corrected even in the current one, instead of changing only latest version to force you to change hardware if you feel concerned...).
So you have to go for alternate projects. AOSP, Cyanogen or Lineage, AOKP, you name it. Some would say now CM is not trustful anymore, I'll let it to expectation.
-App control apps are usually not holding their promises. Even with root and apps for rooted deviced, Things that say they will prevent the huge pain in the ass of those damn apps that wake up when not asked for miserably fails, antiviruses from great companies that say they will shut down apps display animations mimicking them doing it, but you can see in the task manager the apps are well alive (and you still have to get into the interface to force close them one by one), firewalls may work (it was my only not disappointing experience) but they take time to set up and usually you have to pay for that granularity that make things usable on a day to day basis; and I am not sure anyway that google and so on have no means of circumventing this because of integrated "pathways"; things that control permissions are pain to use and break applications most of the time (and while I don't want something like Gmaps to read my external storage, I need the function to move, and I don't know of real alternatives), and attempts to get some advanced software to have functions on board instead of communications/processing within the cloud don't impair the app capacity to store data to transmit it to its masters once you use internet.
-I only sticks to Gapps because I can't find alternative that are good enough but I am pissed of by the data mining that you can't opt out, and i'm not from the tinfoil hat brigade out there, but I think that gives too much power to people that might become ill intended (or whose commercial practices end up including data they should not have access to, think insurance and so on), or that might lose data to ill intended persons like hackers (think Yahoo and so on).
I was tempted by a project like Replicant, but it doesn't support my device and building it is out of my reach, I have no experience in rom modding or programming, so while I can code a little, the process seems too complex for me not breaking my device (and even if something doesn't go wrong, i will still have to code some alternate firmware and that's clearly beyond my Java level without spending it enough time for my device to break from old age)
So, good fellows of XDA, what are your thoughts?
-I never tested the xposed framework and xprivacy, but is it really working (considering what I said about app permission management)?
-Is there other apps in this framework or independent from it which would make me able to reach or approach my goal of having better control on my device? (especially for automatic wake up apps, permissions and firewall. heard of lighting wall but not sure it is the best I could find)
-What are good alternatives to Google apps (especially for maps, translation, vocal commands)?
-What are the other ROM projects oriented toward privacy that I would have missed and that might be compatible with S4? Or at least, a rom including some security, privacy features, and good patches (I know CM had stagefright corrected... not sure about others).
-What can be an alternative for S4 that have removable battery and additional storage (and RAM/camera and screen at S4 level, not expecting much more), can receive custom roms and may be compatible to such projects?
-What would be your advices?
Final note: I am not in the idea of having a "secret agent phone" with unsoldered mic and camera and so on, I want something practical, but I am fed up with the fact that I can't control what apps are doing, which is abnormal in my view. If I buy a game or utility, I want it to play/work with, not stealing my data not related to the game (it is ok to measure players/workers performance, not to look at what they read, browse on the net, listen and so on, or even more serious, reading their messages and collecting these!). I even wondered if programming a system alternative to android would be a solution, but let's say it, I have not the time, ressource and knowledge for it (even if It would end making me a hero for some people out there), and the third is the most lacking (as stated above, I can't even start to build something a little special on my phone).
Thanks a lot for your help
Related
I need help. I spent a week on vacation in Ireland and my little Ralphie let me down. I blush as I write this, but I was actually thinking about the dark side; …the fruit whose name we shall not mention. Talk me off the ledge.
Here is what happened.
I was on the 6 hour flight and decided to play with the phone a bit out of boredom. It was locked up.
No problem soft reset. Continued to lock-up.
No problem, PIM Backup, Hard reset. Then the keyboard would not switch to ABC from 123.
No problem, switch to another SIP. It would hold the change; it kept switching back to the ROM default. No problem, just use the hardware keyboard. A couple of great days in Ireland and it was time to take a quick phone pic to send home. Camera would not work; missed the moment. Fiddled with it a bit, could not get it to work.
No problem, hard reset and try again. Camera works now, keyboard seems to have fixed itself, but phone turns off randomly.
No problem, flash another ROM I have on my storage card. Everything works now except the phone. It has a signal for 5 minutes, then no signal for 5 minutes, over and over.
No problem, switch to manual network selection, could not access the settings.
No problem, hard reset. Works fine now. Ready to take a quick picture at a golf outing where I did not lug my Nikon around. Phone has turned itself off again, missed the moment. Time to surf up some quick directions, IE locks-up.
No Problem, switch to Opera, takes forever to load, my sister already has the directions on her damn iPhone before opera even loads. Crap ..my sister of all people.
So almost every time my cool phone was called into service, it let me down. This was an unusual run, but I spent more time fixing my phone than using it. In 7 days, 2 ROMS, 3 hard resets and more soft resets than I can count. Back home and it’s time to flash a new ROM. I am not defecting and certainly don’t want to open the “just go buy your damn iPhone” discussion: I’m just venting a bit. It just occurred to me that having a ton of great features that only work sometimes, is almost like not having them at all.
I’ll be quiet now.
Doug M.
Here is the advice - keep this great phone, but don't use any of the cooked ROMs, just use the latest official HTC WWE ROM (in combo with 1.12.25.19 radio) - no bugs at all. Every single feature works like a charm - camera, GPS, keyboard, hardware keyboard, Opera, messaging etc. I have never ever seen any bug with that ROM, and I'm using it extensively for months. Cheers
Well, the HTC WWE 5.05.405.1 stock ROM is not bug free but it certainly exhibits considerably less problems.
I always keep the stock NBH on my SD Card on the off-chance that I need to fall back. Now that I have gotten into the habit of compiling my own ROM using the 6.1.21051 kitchen, I've not run into a need to use it - but it's always there just in case, like Linus van Pelt's security blanket.
... sounds like chef'ing might be in your horizon.
hilaireg said:
Well, the HTC WWE 5.05.405.1 stock ROM is not bug free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting. What bugs have you found so far? I cannot recall any of them, at least I'm sure that there are no serious problems. And I'm using all the features - so called "power user".
Most of these items are easily addressed with some tweak or other and some of the issues are carrier compatibility related, so all-in-all it's as stable a ROM as one can possibly expect. A few I've experienced:
- Dropped calls
- SMS not delivered
- Volume too low
- Some applications will not install
- In-call blanking of display; PITA when using VoiceMail
- Poor design for phone security lock; two different ways, should only be one with/without security code
[BEGINSOAPBOX]
I'm Old Sk00l customer service.
I'm of the mindset that a company should not release a product that has not gone through a complete and formal quality assurance process. Further, if there are settings that are known to require tweaking or adjustments, an interface should contain these options to make it easy for the customer to change them.
I've heard every excuse in the book: can't be done, time to market, we'll fix it when the customer finds it, acceptable risk, it's a fault on the <insert partner names here> end of the code, blah blah blah; and quite honestly, I disagree with all of them as the message is the same:
Strive for mediocrity.
Please don't misunderstand my next statement, I welcome sites like XDA (and others) and my involvement here, hopefully proves that. That said, sites like XDA wouldn't be required if companies were more concerned about their customers, less concerned about share-holder dividends, and held the <insert partner names here> accountable for fixing issues promptly.
[/ENDSOAPBOX]
Sorry Doug, didn't mean to hi-jak the thread.
hilaireg said:
Most of these items are easily addressed with some tweak or other and some of the issues are carrier compatibility related, so all-in-all it's as stable a ROM as one can possibly expect. A few I've experienced:
- Dropped calls
- SMS not delivered
- Volume too low
- Some applications will not install
- In-call blanking of display; PITA when using VoiceMail
- Poor design for phone security lock; two different ways, should only be one with/without security code
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first two are radio or carrier related, not ROM's fault. I have had these problems maybe 2 times in several months, but I know exactly who to blame - my carrier. I know that 'cause I work for them , and both times there was a major network overload. You're right about the volume - I've solved that first day I bought Raph, so I forgot it. However, I don't think it's a bug - they did it on purpose so that's the "feature". I think they wanted to avoid possibility of damaging hearing of customers and also distortion.
Regarding last 3 bugs, I have never had problems with installing apps, and I think there were about 1000 programs I've tried so far; I'm not using voice mail; Never had problems with security lock. All in all, this is the most stable (smart)phone I have ever used, and I've used many Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Siemens etc. phones.
No disagreement with the stability statement; and as my previous post indicated ... most issues can be addressed via a workaround (tweak). Just wanted to ensure that Doug was aware that it isn't going to be the perfect ROM either.
Seems like we have a common history for phone usage; I've been with Rogers longer than I've been married, and that's been a LONG time - no disrespect to my significant other, so i've gone through quite a few phones.
@dwmackay:
Bummer dude! After many many days of studying our current set of tools and the way they interact with things, I think there are a number of minor to medium severity issues that need to be addressed, I feel at least one or two of these could be lending help towards making a cooked rom unstable.
I hope to be able to re-code some of these tools soon (time, i wish i had more!)
Much coding is in my future!
Boyz,
Thanks for the replies. Sorry to dump, just a frustrating trip. It seems like a good idea to keep a stock ROM on my storage card. Maybe I'll use NATF 4.7 as my backup ROM. That seems to be the best balance of features and stability.
I realy like 6.5, but I am realy for it to have predicatable behavior.
Da_G,
No extra work on my behalf. You do more than enough for all of us. I greatly appreciate your considerable contribution to this community.
Doug M.
I actually had a similar experience on a work trip (totally my fault). To cut a long story short, be careful about using pim.vol to restore yout pim info. I had pim.vol cooked into my rom, but I flashed a version that was a day or two old. I had new contacts, and instead of backing them up and restoring them with pimbackup, I over-wrote the cooked-in pim.vol with a fresh one from my sd card. Any time I touched the contact tab, it sent manila into a never-ending boot cycle (I did several hard. resets and a re-flash before I realized my error). It took me a while to figure out what I was screwing up, and was really frustrating.
Hello there.
I'm having problems with my Android device and I'm very frustrated with it so far...
My device is a Motorola Moto G. I've updated it to the latest Android version available (4.4.2), however, I'm experiencing some serious problems; the most important atm is the alarm.
I am using the volume button to snooze the alarm, because imho it's more convenient. However, yesterday the volume button just didn't work for some reason. I had to unlock the screen for it to work, then it started working again with the screen locked. Today the same thing happened, I had to unlock the screen to snooze the alarm using the volume button, then I could snooze it again without unlocking, however, it just 'stopped' by itself, I don't know if the volume button somehow turned the alarm off. I didn't even touch the screen, so it's a bug or something. I've always been using a cell/smartphone to wake up and never had any problem.
Also, this device freezes a lot and I've never experienced that before in any cell/smartphone. It also seems the device must be turned on for the alarm to work; it's not that important for me, but still a 'downgrade' from my previous device. Another thing that really annoys me is that you can't even change the volume without playing the sounds... if you want to set a very loud volume in the middle of the night there's no way other than waking everybody up. Additionally, I would like to be able to somehow record a call, but none of the apps works with this device.
I don't think the alarm problem is a hardware fail or defective device, it seems to me the software is somehow bugged. There's no Cyanogenmod for this device yet (mine is dual chip) and even if it were available, It seems some apps doesn't work with it (like Sygic).
I don't know how I should proceed and I apologize in advance if my question is too 'basic' for a developers forum, but I didn't want to post on the other popular 'user' forums because I've seem many threads where the moderators were just talking nonsense proving that they don't even know how to turn on an Android device, including the extreme case of a newbie asking about some permissions who was somewhat 'burned at the stake' by the moderators and veteran members while he was right all the time, so if the moderators and veterans don't have a clue on what's an Android device I'm surely not reliant to post there. On the other hand all the (/most) posts here on XDA Devs always get correct and helpful replies.
I don't know if I should try downgrading the OS to 4.3 or if there's something else I could try. I don't know if it's possible that the latest update was somehow 'badly flashed'. It doesn't seem very likely to me.
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
B_Szabo said:
Hello there.
I'm having problems with my Android device and I'm very frustrated with it so far...
My device is a Motorola Moto G. I've updated it to the latest Android version available (4.4.2), however, I'm experiencing some serious problems; the most important atm is the alarm.
Another thing that really annoys me is that you can't even change the volume without playing the sounds... if you want to set a very loud volume in the middle of the night there's no way other than waking everybody up. Additionally, I would like to be able to somehow record a call, but none of the apps works with this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try downgrading to 4.3 ,apparently the 4.4 update has many issues.
for changing the volume download a proper sound management app.
abhi101 said:
try downgrading to 4.3 ,apparently the 4.4 update has many issues.
for changing the volume download a proper sound management app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply,
However, after Googling and contacting motorola, it seems there's no way of downgrading (without rooting the device) .
The alarm problem is getting worse, today for some reason when the alarm was ringing, instead of the alarm screen, the default lock screen appeared, the volume buttons didn't work also, so there was no way to snooze the alarm, I had to turn it off in the configs and get out the bed like 1 hour earlier than usual.
Isn't it possible that the problem is some kind of flashing fail when I've updated the OS? I highly doubt everyone is having this problem... Isn't there a way of reinstalling the OS?
Also, the hardware isn't very good. It seems of good quality in appearance but after only a couple of months the battery isn't lasting as it used to. motorola support is simply horrendous in my country, there's no support at all. I don't even know why there's a warranty if in practice that means absolutely nothing.
I'm thinking about buying an alarm clock, preferably a german-made one that I can trust... It's outrageous though. I never thought I would need an alarm clock again.
Worst purchase ever. I'm thinking about getting back my cheapo Samsung Galaxy Pocket Plus that I gave away. It wasn't as comfortable as this motorola but it surely did work and the apps were much better, I thought they were all standard Android apps but it ended up they are from Samsung, in 99% of the cases you can long hold the stuff to pop a menu of actions, for example, hold a contact for a menu on editing/deleting/etc. hold a number on a message for a menu on adding-contact/adding-number-to-contact/etc. It was very intuitive and straightforward. The apps in this motorola are exactly the opposite, holding the finger on stuff never do anything and most times not even tapping stuff does anything. It's a pain to use its cumbersome and confusing interface. Only for adding a simple contact I take more than 10 times the time I've used to take to add a contact on my cheapo Samsung phone.
I thought the phone would be good specially in terms of software because motorola is "a Google company" but I was completely wrong. It seems Google is going to sell motorola, perhaps not even they were believing the products were good after all. In any case, I'm never buying motorola again.
Also, there are lots of topics on the poor quality/limitations of stock Android apps and the unanimous solution is to install better apps from Google Play, in the end it's quite a mess because most/some stock apps can't be disabled and their services will continue to run, along with some others from 3rd party that should in fact substitute them. If the stock apps are so poor, there should be a way to completely disable them all imho, or even better, perhaps they could just ship high-quality opensource apps instead of the terrible stock ones.
So far I'm very frustrated. If I could get my money back I would surely get a Blackberry or Samsung device. I don't really care about games and it seems that's what made android so popular, the cornucopia of awful (seriously, 99% of the games on Google Play are of extremely bad quality) games full of sneaky ads and that needs every permission possible to run. That permission thing is another one that doesn't really works. It should work but most apps ask for a lot of permissions that doesn't make any sense and the users don't seem to care much.
Sorry for the rant, thanks for your help.
Hello there.
I'm just posting here to let you know that I've unlocked the bootloader, downgraded to 4.3 and now the thing works perfectly. Plus I've discovered the battery problem AND a poor signal AND cal recording not working were because of the faulty update also! I must inform also that it seems the problem only occurs in dual chip versions and I've already downgraded the system for a friend of mine who was having the same problems, so, if you have the dual chip version, please don't upgrade it to kitkat! You'll get a nonworking OS and will be forced to ditch your warranty to use your phone in a sane way again. It seems the support for the dual chip version was dropped already because the single chip one (which was usable after the update) have received other updates after 4.4 to fix minor bugs, but the dual chip which is totally broken and unusable didn't receive any.
Having to circumvent the normal conditions and lose your warranty to have an usable device proves that motorola (and google by consequence) have the responsibility of a kid.
The downgrade didn't fix the problem with browsing files from the computer though, for that specific problem I'm going to open another thread as it seems android related.
In general the Android community is not very good, it's full of what I suppose are kids, wanting to help but only disrupting any chance to solve the issue. The IRC channel is specially unhelpful. Unless your question is "where do I plug the other end of the cable" or "how do I turn on my device" chances are you won't get any actual help and by the answers you can see the people there don't have a clue on anything. Probably it's full of <10yo kids. At least in mental terms . The XDA however, seems to be an exception, actually standing out from the lots of unhelpful forums and chats out there. In this topic I didn't receive many replies, but it's better this than receiving a lot of moronic replies like I would have received in IRC or other forums.
Thank you.
I'm sitting here in bed recovering from a minor surgical procedure (seriously minor, so don't get distracted) and decided to spend some quality time with the TrueSmart in conjunction with my Sony Xperia Z1s. Like many of you, I waited 6+ months for my device (apologies to those *still* waiting - I feel your pain). What I'm *not* certain of, is how many people here were looking at the TrueSmart as a serious training watch. For me, that was as or *more* important than the propeller-head functions of being a real Android device. There *were* some things related to safety and long-range excursions (such as traveling out of range of cell towers and running a BT-connected satellite communication device) but that was more of the nice-to-have variety, as I do that kind of adventure travel once or twice per year. My main use case is regular weekly training on the bike, in the gym and in the pool. The TrueSmart seemed perfectly suited to this, while being an "all-day wearer" and much more versatile than task-specific training watches.
Then it happened - you all know the drama around the IPx7 rating. Omate went from showing demo videos of Laurent stepping out of the pool with his device and later posting that the watch is "IP67+" - indicating higher resiliency versus the standard -- to abandoning the water resistant aspect of the device completely. This is more than an academic/marketing issue for me. This is a major design goal failure in my view, and it's pretty much a deal-breaker for my central use case for this device. So it is with some trepidation that I put any more effort into this device than it takes to update the firmware and post it for sale on eBay/Amazon/whatever.
What kept me interested? ...the work of Lokifish Mars, Daniel Ortiz, Kurt Huwig, Dee's Troy, Cyril Preiss and others... including some serious discussion in this forum about improving the water resistance of the device. That's all pretty heartening stuff. But at the end of the day it comes down to how it's suited to *my* use - even if the goals change, so I set about to put both Lokifish's and Dee's ROMs on my TrueSmart and try them out. I started with Runkeeper and Ride with GPS, and found both to be beyond acceptable - nearly exceptional. I had brought my bike into my bedroom before my surgery (set up on a trainer from my days when I was recovering from knee surgery last year) and was already beginning to fit the TS onto the handlebars in a way that I could use the camera "facing forward" with Ride with GPS - to be able to grab snapshots as I go along my route. Pretty. Freaking. Cool. I expected the Runkeeper app to look/perform well - but RWGPS was a pleasant surprise. And even though the screen is small, it's much brighter/more readable than the screen of my Sony Zperia Z1s in daylight. This encourages me greatly.
Then I started to look into Cyril Preiss's "SWApps" suite, and things got REALLY interesting. I grok the concept of a companion device versus a standalone device that plays well with others at arm's length. I've done quite a bit of work in mobile tech, and even have an inkling of how things work "on the metal". Both approaches have their uses, but I always thought of *my* use case as being in the standalone-without-a-SIM variety, since I was generally looking for capture of training data with occasional Wi-Fi tethering/sync of that data back to the web apps. So the "tell me why my pocket is buzzing" aspect of companion usage never really felt that compelling to me. That has somewhat to do with the fact that unless I'm expecting contact I just let chatter go to voice mail/inbox/whatever and clear it later. With all of that said, Cyril seems to have done something I never thought anyone would bother to do - split the difference between the two functional core cases for wearables, and perhaps create a super-set of those roles while doing so in a fairly elegant manner. It makes a really strong case for the TrueSmart - at least in *my* mind. Because of this, I started to seriously re-think my purpose for the TS, from focusing on it as a glorified training watch to something that really covered many more bases.
Enter Sony.
[cue Taiko drums]
When I made the switch from the iPhone 4S, it was to the Sony Xperia Z. I really liked it. In fact I *loved* it. One of the things I really enjoyed about the device (other than it was a fairly well-executed Android platform) was the water-resistance that allowed me to keep it by the edge of the pool. "Why?" you ask? Good question. Right now I swim with a Polar FT1 armband and coded HRM strap (their GymLink protocol transmits/receives at 5kHz which goes through water). Every few laps I pause to take a picture of the FT1. Later I go through the images and record the timing/heart rate measurements to create a graph of my performance. Yup - OLD SCHOOL DATA COLLECTION. It actually took a bit of work to get the phone to STAY THE F*CK ON and leave the device running, so I could just pick it up, take a snap and get back to paddling. But yeah - I'm nerdy about data like that. Some people collect baseball cards. Whatever. So I upgraded to the Z1s essentially for Android 4.3 and BTLE. This allowed me to capture cycling data from the cadence meter by Topeak (Panobike - highly recommended) and HRM data while in the gym using the Polar HR7 (also highly recommended). Awesome, right? Well, I'm getting tired of spending more time processing the data from my swims that the actual amount of time I spend in the pool (this is partly because I'm really not that strong of a swimmer yet, but I digress). So I really, really want to be able to get seamless data into *a* device that can just record/correlate the data and I can get on with my day. Is that too much to ask?
Evidently so... but I'll stay with the Sony saga for a bit longer.
So I'm working with Lokifish's ROM, connected to the Z1s via Wi-Fi tethering. SWApps is cool - like - really cool. I'm beginning to think this is going to work... until it doesn't. Bear in mind, I don't know what the Z1s "thinks" is data as in "oh, you need the Internet through me? Let me get that for you..." versus device-to-device chatter via Wi-Fi that doesn't require outside connection - but the Z1s seems to think that it can shut down its HotSpot tethering functionality completely when it thinks there's no traffic for ten minutes. I mean, I get it - this is a strategy to save the battery, but when you turn that 'feature' off you run head-long into a battery drain issue. I happen to believe this is lazy/sloppy programming in T-mobile's Wi-Fi management stack, but that's based more on my experience with T-mobile than knowledge of the Sony Xperia line.
And to be honest I'd like to have the watch *just run* for a few days in this mode when needed. I don't mind heavy (or nearly complete) drain of the device while it's doing data capture during training. But when it's just a watch - why turn it into a focus/distraction by burning down the power source so far you're spending more time plugging and unplugging it from the charger than clearing notifications? So, what to do? Why, try Bluetooth tethering of course. Seems logical, right? Run the watch in "airplaine" mode, so so need for (relatively) battery-draining Wi-Fi, and the bandwidth limitations of Bluetooth is not so much of an issue in this case. This is device comms, not Netflix, right? So, easy-peazy-lemon-squeezy I put Dees_Troy's BT ROM on the device and set about to tether it to my Z1s...
"What's that? I can't do that? But I just read on a web page that all I have to do is go to the HotSpot management page and enable the Bluetooth tethering option, right? I'm sorry, what? As of Android 4.3 Sony has disabled Bluetooth tethering for anything but their own devices?"
Seriously. This is "classic" Sony, and by that I mean the Sony *I* knew when I first started working for them back in 2003. The Sony *I* knew refused to put a product they owned (Sonic Foundry's Vegas, probably the best video editor on the Windows platform) in lieu of a product they did *not* own (Pinnacle software, a company that doesn't exist any more - which tells you all you need to know). This is the same Sony that told Steve Jobs to go screw himself when he suggested they might do well to put his OS on Sony machines (doh!). This is the same Sony that decided to create a horribly designed music service years after iTunes, when they had multiple chances to jump in before Jobs created the market - and now that application/platform doesn't exist any more (which again is all you really need to know about that). I could go on - BUT - when I took a look at the Xperia line, I saw a Sony mobile device group that was interested in participating in open-source, showed an inclination to respond positively to notes from outside developers, and generally was more open and participatory in nature. I thought "well, they must have finally grown up"...
Then today I see the same old Sony, closing down their features to only be available on other Sony products. (cue the sad trombone) What I guess happened, and I'm pretty certain of this, is that some empty-shirt exec saw the spike in sales of the Xperia phone line, and then saw that the tablet sales were flat and said "Hmmm, I bet if we do 'tighter integration' with our phones and tablets that we'd sell more to our phone users" and promptly ordered the lock-down of BT tethering on their phones. I'm not a conspiracy nut - I've actually been in meetings where Sony execs have intentionally knee-capped their own products in order to look like they're "doing something" without actually doing anything. Adding by taking away is the kind of failure at basic math that only a huge company like Sony can manage for so many years. I'm sure that same person is being considered for CEO of the company some day.
Believe it or not, it even gets better, or worse depending on your perspective. I'm pulling Dee's ROM and the connection keeps failing. Mind you, I tether via WiFi through my phone because I get really solid 4GLTE data rates to/from the device because I'm basically line-of-site with the tower nearest me. That, and the other 'dedicated' Internet services are pretty weak, and it's a no-brainer for most situations. However the ROM download is at 143MB and I look down at my phone to see the "SONY" logo on the front screen - it was restarting. I picked up the device and it was hot, and I mean HOT. Not so much that I needed to drop it but enough that I wondered if I had placed it somewhere it had picked up ambient heat from an outside source. Nope. This is all Sony's doing. So I try a few more times, each with progressively more aggressive temperature management. I put the phone in the freezer for a minute (yup, you read that right) and then brought it back out, set up the HotSpot and started to download the ROM again. And again the Z1s reset itself (with no warning) as the ROM got to about 180MB. Damn.
I put my hand under the Z1s and found that a spot above the NFC chip on he back panel as just as hot as it was before. The rest of the phone felt cool as a cucumber. So I did the freezer again, this time for a few minutes - and brought with it a gel pack that had been sitting behind a pack of ice cubes since I recovered from my knee surgery. I used that as a 'pillow' for the Z1s, and started the process once more. And the phone failed yet again, with little or no residual heat near the NFC chip. So now I'm starting to get really frustrated - because this is a major hardware issue that's not related to the environment. I've done file up/downloads before with fairly sizable assets - video and audio files for projects (my latest was the "Incredibly Fit" video series for FerrignoFIT - you can find demos on YouTube and Vimeo) and this *never* happened to me before. And then it dawned on me - I was using Wi-Fi both directions. On my large studio computer I always connect via USB tether, because that machine is never online unless I'm moving a file (or doing an update, etc). I thought to myself "nah - this can't be true" so I connected the phone to the laptop via USB without chilling it down, set everything up and started the the file download once again.
BOOM! Downloaded it without a hitch.
So here we have what I consider to be a major design flaw - one device making one connection to the Internet and moving a file a few hundred MB in size - causing the device to restart without warning. The mobile hotspot functionality is supposed to handle up to ten devices. I have a hard time believing that either Sony and/or T-Mobile didn't test this to the point of seeing that failure that occurs early and often. It's kind of astonishing, really. I can understand a fledgling company like OMate dropping the ball (to a point) but two large companies like Sony and T-Mobile missing something like this? What's the point of T-Mobile holding back updates for six months if their device/infrastructure is going to crash their devices at the first sign of solid throughput? Sony made a bad design choice, and T-Mobile was lazy and stupid for allowing it on the market with such fragile capability. But at least the Z1s actually water-proof.
I don't want to look like I'm giving OMate a pass on their other failures with the TrueSmart. It's easy to point to their most glaring failure - to live up to their specs, as they spent a great deal of time prancing around about how design is more than a department. Well, I have news for Laurent Le Pen, supply chain is more than making sure the paperwork is signed. Maybe some of the glaring deficiencies in the casing/hardware will get sorted, but you still have to deal with Mediatek. That failure is probably the most problematic for me when looking at Omate. Given that Laurant Le Pen's background is supposed to be in supply chain, his failure to properly evaluate and actively manage a partner is a cardinal sin. There may have been Herculean efforts to correct that, but the results have left everyone wanting - especially those here who have thrown so much "good money after bad" in trying to compensate for those failures. Maybe this isn't the end of that story and they pull a rabbit out of a hat with this device. Maybe it all gets corrected with the *next* TrueSmart, whatever that might be. But one thing I know for sure, I'll never put money in one of these projects again, and Kickstarter/Indiegogo can thank Laurent Le pen for that. They're welcome to "fail forward" as much as they can afford, but it won't be with any more of my money.
As for whether I'll continue to manage the failure of the TrueSmart with my time, that remains to be seen. I see a LOT of talent here - and see certain folks pulling back while others are still pouring it on. I wish I could be more optimistic. But even with that, I may keep the TrueSmart and continue to use it as a high-consumption Wi-Fi tethered device, and who knows - maybe I'll throw a SIM in it and leverage more of the SWApps features. If the aftermarket waterproofing effort comes to fruition I may actually get back to my core use case. But then again, as I've said nearly every place I've decided to enter the conversation, I'm much more likely to just go to the real pros in this arena - Polar or Garmin, and just make the move to a wearable that won't remind me of its status as an unwelcome distraction.
The one thing I'm *certainly* going to do is take this Z1s back to T-Mobile and get either an HTC One M8 or Samsung S5. That's one failure that can be handled with relative ease.
Quick update - just replaced the Z1s with an HTC One M8 and it is a freakishly nice device. Thank you, Sony.
So - another update: I decided to reverse course and hold on to the TrueSmart. I've added a SIM and picked up the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 that T-Mobile was pimping out. I know they've got me by the nads on data plan, but that's the cost of doing business.
Aside from the garden-variety uses, I'll be taking Cyril Preiss' "SWApps Link" through its paces. I'll still end up with a V800 when they come out, but I'll have to find a way to manage multiple wrist-worn devices. Maybe I should have been born with more arms like Lokifish. ?
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
A team and I have been working on a medical product for the last year and we are figuring out the best way to deploy the project. We all have app building experience but none of us have ever built a ROM before, so we wanted to consult a forum of experienced Devs (you guys) to see if what we have in mind is actually feasible before we invest too much time/energy/resources on this particular path.
In short, the device is a wearable EKG machine that detects seizures, so far we have been able to successfully predict seizures in clinical trials and allow users 1-2 minutes of advanced warning. The EKG part and the algorithm are already working. What we are looking for now are phone calling, messaging, and bluetooth capabilities - which has us (at least me), looking to android.
First and foremost, we do believe that this system will save lives as early as the end of this next year, so any and all help will be greatly appreciated. We are finally coming down the homestretch and we just need a little help/guidance for getting us past the finish. So thank you again.
We want to create something that high risk seizure patients can wear on their arm . This will be an EKG machine and an android device rolled into one, the total size will be about the size of a credit card and about a half inch thick. My plan is to disassemble and strip an android device leaving only the board, battery, radio antenna, and Bluetooth antenna (no screen) and then combine that with the EKG machine.
The initial device that we choose is the LG-MS659 as it is small, lightweight, 2500 mah battery, LTE capable, and running Android Version 4.1.2 (more on that in a second)
So here are the questions we need answered.
1. Will Android work without the use of a screen from start to finish? We literally cant have dialogs anywhere that can prevent or pause the use of the system. We cant have fresh install screen prompts or the visual use of a custom recovery. So is it possible to load a CR, install the ROM, and use the ROM without any user interaction what so ever?
2. The reason we chose 4.1.2 is because once a device is plugged into a computer, there isnt an "allow this computer" dialog. Are there ways around this on Android, or is it just built into Android and we are correct in trying to use 4.1.2 instead? (4.1.2 was the last Android version before the hidden menu and the security prompt was introduced)
3. We would like to delete and uninstall all services and applications not relating to GPS, BT, and Network (Calling/Messaging) including the display drivers, and just run everything from the ADB shell prompt. How feasible is this?
4. Ideally we would like to make the system twice as battery efficient as the S5/S6 Ultra Power Saving Mode, giving us at least 14-21 days of battery time (Samsung claims 12-15). How feasible is this?
5. Where are we going to run into the most trouble?
6. What about this might not be viable?
7. If you were to building this, what would you do? We are primarily looking at Android as they are LTE/Bluetooth/Messaging/Call ready out of the box. They also come with a Li-ion battery and we can easily build apps that can utilize the aforementioned technology without starting from scratch or building our own libraries (no wheel inventing required).
Again, we really appreciate any help we can get on this matter - we are no experts, but we are hoping a few of you are.
- Z
Hey, happy New Years everyone.
I wanted to bump this as we are still looking for answers - If anyone can answer any of the above questions it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You
Hi all. First post here, but I have been reading a few thigs all over the place for some time and think this is a great place and resource, and every Android user should be directed this way. I'm not, however, a big fan of Google. I currently have an iPhone (don't hit me), but will be switching to an Android (as yet undecided which model, Sony XZ1C seems complicated for rooting due to DRM issues which I understand can be fixed now, OP 5T / 6) in the near future as the battery is not long for this world.
I got the above watch for Xmas, and I was wondering if there is a way of running it without the use of any Google services? A read around the wider web suggests that Asteroid OS can't be installed as it has no data out pins, but I have enabled developer options and there is an option to allow debugging over wifi. Can I therefore root the device over wifi and remove the need for the play store? There are a few standalone apps that would suffice for what I want to be able to use it for to be honest.
My biggest concern with rooting it over wifi is that it resets everything, loses the wifi connection and I then have no way to restabish the connection or send commands if it gets stuck somewhere. I think my wife might be a bit annoyed if I brick my Xmas present! I really do like this watch as well, a very nice looking watch that's a bit different to the offerings from the phone manufacturers.
Any thoughts on this greatly appreciated. Having looked around the web, I think I'll either be going for Sailfish or Lineage once I get an Android device.
Have a great day all and I'm looking forward to becoming more involved on these wider fora over the comings months.
All the watch and the OS is built around Google. This is not Android, WearOS communicates to the phone, tracks fitness, weather, manages battery and everything through Google Services.
And why would you remove them?
Sorry but even if you find the way to remove Google (by voiding warranty), the watch wouldn't work anymore as it should.
P.S. with WiFi debug you can only do debug, no root.