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Why is it that there isn't just one version of android that will install on all phones? I mean, you can install windows on any pc regardless of spec and it automatically finds drivers for internal parts and makes them work? why can't this be done for android? would be miles easy for developers if you could just take a rom from say a dell streak and put it on say a galaxy s and vice versa, seems ****ing retarded to me that this isn't the case with android? Love my streak and android as a whole, but would be so much easier if the updates were dependant on the companies that made the phone and were just dependent on when google updates the software!!
Alexanderbooth said:
Why is it that there isn't just one version of android that will install on all phones? I mean, you can install windows on any pc regardless of spec and it automatically finds drivers for internal parts and makes them work? why can't this be done for android? would be miles easy for developers if you could just take a rom from say a dell streak and put it on say a galaxy s and vice versa, seems ****ing retarded to me that this isn't the case with android? Love my streak and android as a whole, but would be so much easier if the updates were dependant on the companies that made the phone and were just dependent on when google updates the software!!
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Haha, first of all, are you genuinely serious? I loved the os of the ps3 why cant I have that on my xbox 360, come on mate, really. If that was the case, then we would probably just need 1 type of phone with every release of android software, example iphone.
Android allows people to have a nice choice of phones from different manufacturers.
I personally, think android is 10 times better than any other simply because of the control the users have, we can purchase an android phone and customize the hell out of it to our liking, yet you have no choice to jailbreak an iphone to have half the options android users get out the box.
Sent from my Dell Streak using xda premium
Yes in a perfect world that would work, "one OS for any phone" but the truth of the matter is that it is a driver issue, and manufacturers want to make a profit. There are too many different manufacturers of components and not all of them are compatible with each other, get out dated or don't meet recommended minimal specs. Example is trying to put Windows 7 on a P2 machine. Maybe it will install, but you are not going to get much if any of the benefits of the new OS. Or if you put win 7 on a Mac. Sure it will work, but it is not going to be on a machine that it was designed to run on spec wise. Believe me, I wish it was that simple, but unfortunately it is not. We can dream though.
It has a lot to do with the drivers, unless every phone was identical internally (or each generation identical internally) there are no drivers for that specific device.
PCs are much more standardized when it comes to hardware working with drivers. Most important components like video/audio/ I/O have standard fallback modes and their specific drivers. That's why you can install windows or linux or whatever on a system and at least expect it to boot and most of the stuff to work. They have generic drivers that will do the minimum required for it to function, but not much more.
From a user perspective drivers are much more diffucult with regards to *nix then with windows, this is especially true with regards to android (as it uses the linux kernel)
Windows has standardized (as in they have published the specs and adhere to it) driver frameworks and spend a good deal of testing time making sure 3rd party drivers will remain reasonably compatable. Usually it goes smoothly enough when releasing a new standard, when it goes bad you get what happened with vista where the drivers were the main cause of instability. Most of the time you can use drivers written for win 95 on win7 x86 and there's still a fair chance it might STILL work depending on how well the driver was written (this is a gross oversimplification, there's an entire class of win 9x drivers that wont work, but the other class will).
With linux driver compability is much less clear cut, many important drivers are available as source, and it's very possible (but requires a fair deal of planning ahead) to build a pc and only use source code drivers.
If something is only available as binary drivers you're at the mercy of the manufacturer to keep it updated and working.
This is why android is so difficult to roll out timely updates. The kernels in 2.2 are very different from 2.3/3.x and rewriting the drivers for it is what accounts for ~90% of the work (assuming your device is powerful enough to update in the first place)
The full driver sourcecode isnt often made available for android devices, so you either have to spend time writing your own or attempting to adapt the binary drivers to make it work. This is what is happening with streakdroid 2.x
The other critical point is that the bootloader must be willing to load 3rd party code.
There's a fair amount of devices that have had android ported to them because they were:
1) Able to load 3rd party code (either by hacking the bootloader or it allowing it on it's own)
2) They either had comparable drivers or were willing/able to write their own
3) There were enough devs to take the time to accomplish this in the first place
4) Android is open source so it's possible to write your own drivers in the first place (techinally all you might need is the driver sdk, but no mobile os has only a driver sdk available, it's either all or nothing)
Being open source has absolutely nothing to do with being able to install it on any device.
Winmo 6.5 is closed source (sorta, it's somewhat like shared-source) but it's just as easy to port over. But there's little to no interest to porting it to new devices.
Win8/arm might be like how windows is on the pc IF they keep drivers the way they are. If ms decides to incorporate them the way linux does it wont be any different then what android is experiencing now (though it's kinda unlikely, windows has always loaded drivers as seperate modules, and they're likely actively paying attention to that with win8)
I will just add that in my very humble opinion the OP wasnt by NO MEANS asking a dumb question (and it would rule to have standardized drivers for phones)
(and btw, great writeup manii. this might as well fit in some android related blog.)
markdexter said:
Haha, first of all, are you genuinely serious? I loved the os of the ps3 why cant I have that on my xbox 360, come on mate, really. If that was the case, then we would probably just need 1 type of phone with every release of android software, example iphone.
Android allows people to have a nice choice of phones from different manufacturers.
I personally, think android is 10 times better than any other simply because of the control the users have, we can purchase an android phone and customize the hell out of it to our liking, yet you have no choice to jailbreak an iphone to have half the options android users get out the box.
Sent from my Dell Streak using xda premium
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Click to collapse
O M G!!! android fanboys!! your worst than apple fanboys, when did I even mention the iphone or what makes android so good? or installing other peoples software on to other hardware, I'm only talking about android and its phones you turn everything into android is better than ios blah blah blah blah blah!! Shut the **** up and go to another thread!!
The other people in the thread, yeah I kinda knew it was down to driver issues, but I didn't think it was that complex. Android imo is the best os I've ever experience in my life, even better than windows 7. But for me, I actually think the only 1 draw back the os has, is the fragmentation of the updates. Is this possiblity of one android os to work on all android phones, so you can just download the update.pkg from google and just install it on any android phone, or is this something that was never intended and because of how its developed its to late to go back and change this? or is it something google has in the pipeline?
Alexanderbooth said:
O M G!!! android fanboys!! your worst than apple fanboys, when did I even mention the iphone or what makes android so good? or installing other peoples software on to other hardware, I'm only talking about android and its phones you turn everything into android is better than ios blah blah blah blah blah!! Shut the **** up and go to another thread!!
The other people in the thread, yeah I kinda knew it was down to driver issues, but I didn't think it was that complex. Android imo is the best os I've ever experience in my life, even better than windows 7. But for me, I actually think the only 1 draw back the os has, is the fragmentation of the updates. Is this possiblity of one android os to work on all android phones, so you can just download the update.pkg from google and just install it on any android phone, or is this something that was never intended and because of how its developed its to late to go back and change this? or is it something google has in the pipeline?
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Click to collapse
Well I am glad Alexander cleard that up. I totally see now tht he was referring to one android update for all "android" phones. Which in theory, would be nice and possibe be the solution to so mny segmented releases.
Android fanboy?? Grow up, first of all I wont as you say **** off to another thread, you didnt get my point, but thats ok I can tell by your answer and generally by your original question that your not that bright, thats ok buddy.
I own an iphone 4, to run apples os I have to own an apple product (the phone) which for me is too small, I would like a bigger screen, so im stuck.
With android different manafacturers are in competition for what the people want and offer a huge variety of phones. Yes its a bit of a pain in the arse to install custom roms on them but once you know how its pretty easy.
At the end of the day to have one os that would go on any phone would be nice but then really whats the point in having a whole bunch of different phones. I like the way android is, I own as I said a earlier an iphone 4 and a dell streak, I find myself using the dell more, simply because I can make it my own.
Also ....me fanboy, you said you like android better than windows...the most popular os al over yhe world.
Sent from my Dell Streak using xda premium
Rico ANDROID said:
Well I am glad Alexander cleard that up. I totally see now tht he was referring to one android update for all "android" phones. Which in theory, would be nice and possibe be the solution to so mny segmented releases.
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Yeah I know, coming from having the dell streak, and only having one upgrade while I've had the phone, I just can't understand why phone manufacturers go to all this trouble creating there own version of android when they could easily outsource this part of the phone to Google. I'm sure it would also make it easier for app developers to make there app work on all android phones. Seems so strange to me growing up with windows and being able to just buy a new pc and just get your windows cd out and bosh on windows, and it works. Does anyone know if this will ever happen or do the phone manufacturers want to have there own version of android, so they can fill it with there own apps?
To me even if they did still want there own versions of android, they should still give you the option of returning to stock android and just going to google for the update.
markdexter said:
Android fanboy?? Grow up, first of all I wont as you say **** off to another thread, you didnt get my point, but thats ok I can tell by your answer and generally by your original question that your not that bright, thats ok buddy.
I own an iphone 4, to run apples os I have to own an apple product (the phone) which for me is too small, I would like a bigger screen, so im stuck.
With android different manafacturers are in competition for what the people want and offer a huge variety of phones. Yes its a bit of a pain in the arse to install custom roms on them but once you know how its pretty easy.
At the end of the day to have one os that would go on any phone would be nice but then really whats the point in having a whole bunch of different phones. I like the way android is, I own as I said a earlier an iphone 4 and a dell streak, I find myself using the dell more, simply because I can make it my own.
Also ....me fanboy, you said you like android better than windows...the most popular os al over yhe world.
Sent from my Dell Streak using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Your saying I'm not bright, but your comment to my original question had no relevance to what I was asking at all, you didn't even slightly attempt to answer what I had asked.
I am sorry but we won't get android wave, it is not a popular device and people are happy with only bada.
For sure !
Bada is a good OS but Android is even better.
And it is always a pleasure to have a dual boot device and to switch between OS.
I'm outta here. having just got a Sony Ericsson ray which is roughly equivalent in hardware terms I've discovered a wonderful new mobile life where the OS really works.
random lagging totally not present on android 2.3.4. on BADA this is still present and there are even random crashes (insufficient memory). I've seen Android baulk when doing Facebook + Google navigation + music + just pictures. when returning to the home page some icons take a second or two to fill. that's it.
Web browser : woah! at last a browser that properly handles full desktop sites complete with flash. even chatroulette works! oh and it doesn't forget passwords too.
gps : hot lock in under 10 seconds EVERY TIME
cold fix in under 1 minute using agps. around 3 minutes without data. admitted the phone probably has a more recent chipset but then I've seen a Samsung galaxy S work nearly as well, why not the wave!?
navigation : Google navigation built in. perhaps this is a gadget so I tried igo and sygic.. no stuttering whatever. finally a phone with gps that just works without worrying if it has crashed or is still stuttering at the last junction. Why does bada stutter whereas android doesn't and on similar hardware?!
oh the apps! enough said
Customisation on android is unbelievable. hey I think I'll swap out the keyboard for something better, no problem! Samsung please unlock the OS.
and on a final note, I video skyped my family today using the phone. Samsung, unlock voip now or better dump BADA and give the wave a well deserved android rom please.
Thank you and goodbye BADA.
A lesson in how not to do it.
The project has failed because of pig headedness and neglect. People asking the questions they where told not to, leading to developers getting irate and walking away (this however, is something which any developers must face with a grin and bare it so they don't have any excuse either). In my opinion the Wave community don't deserve Android on their devices.
Sorry if I've offended anyone with this but i have been following this section for many months and over that time the above has become painfully obvious to me.
I hope the developers involved go off to be successful with projects on other devices.
All the best.
While the project could've been handled better, I wouldn't say it has failed yet. Rebellos and Oleg are still working on it AFAIK.
Hope to get android rom for Wave soon! Thank you developers! We only use normal phone for Call/Msg features but we need more than that with a smart phone. Bada is not so bad but i think samsung must do so much to improve it, apps, memories manage etc...
tydaikho said:
Hope to get android rom for Wave soon! Thank you developers! We only use normal phone for Call/Msg features but we need more than that with a smart phone. Bada is not so bad but i think samsung must do so much to improve it, apps, memories manage etc...
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Click to collapse
Trust me on this, they won't, but I've been using it like you, the dual boot isn't much of an inconvinience to me. The only problems I've had are lack of 3G, accelerometer and some apps not working due to Froyo/Filesystem.
I've got round all the other problems ^^
Are you kidding me? We can't reaching Android level because of you and you-like HUMANS. Please stop demotivating us and get the hell out of here...
Yeah i'm looking forward for it patiently ^^
what a silly and useless thread... closing this is the only sensefull thing about stuff like that.... i does not help anyone-.- demotivating developers is the only effect of threads like that
all said. i'm in for android on wave2.
well,
sitting in a chair for 10 hours daily... working on some IT **** is making me suffocate.
BADA has no release of v2.0 for my region and i'm stuck with v1.2.
im just a jughead.. a lazy bastard who wants to have fun with this new toy called S8530.
I hope all the devs round here help each other and do some real cool things with their brains.
all said. i'm in for android on wave2.
It's a shame that this excellent hardware cannot yet run Android complete with modem chip drivers. I am still waiting for android on Bada as I have a number of people around me who like me have been decieved my BADA. If I can help, please feel free to contact me on the forum
p.s. I point out that I'm by no means a dev but I'm capable of flashing firmwares on my GT8500.
no, sold it!
The Wave isn't as good as you think. I hated the pentile screen, the round edges that made it slip out of my hands all the time, the ****ty OS and the small screen.
Bought the HD2 and it is a whole different class. Sorry guys, but the bada phones are literally cheap crap. The OS is at least as important as the hardware. Bada is crap, no matter what you say.
Get an Android smartphone, you'll be much much happier!
433Mhz said:
Get an Android smartphone, you'll be much much happier!
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Click to collapse
I think that this thread have to be closed, it is not the spirit of xda.
All member sould support all developments as it is the goal of xda.
Also the hardware of the Waves are really good ,and as you said the os is very important, porting android will make of the Waves a wonderful device.
By buying a new device and to tell all the xda community that you think that the Waves phones are crap you just actually said that you are weak (for the xda community).
I can say I've now given up waiting.
I'm tired of the Wave, it's boring me and I can see no Android port coming around anytime soon. I have the resources to buy a new phone, hopefully going to be a Tegra 3 monster.
I will make sure the damned thing does all I want this time!
I respect the work that the people here at XDA are doing, but I think even they know this will never be finished, I guess it's a learning curve.
I tried to get some interest built up and succeeded in some ways, but oh well.
Bada is dead, but wave is superb!
Ok, i want an android phone with basically same specs with wave and in any case hardware call buttons and not touch. I cannot find anything like that!
Hey all,
I am switching frm BB to android and am quite excited for it. I ordered note for at&t frm amazon.com for 200$$...seems to be a good price.
Now being completely new to the android world and to the world of rooting, flashing, etc. I would appreciate some help or opinions.
After reading various forums and threads, the first things I will do after getting my device is to root it. I will use rootgalaxynote dot com for that.
Next comes upgrading to ICS. This is where I am confused. There are so many versions, how do you guyz figure out which one is the best or the latest. It was soo easy in blackberry, there was a linear numbering system where 7.1 is better than 7.0 and so on. But in adroid, there are sooo many different names like onlyone, noteworthy, cm9, saurom...how to choose one and which one is the latest ?
Next, I have to enable free tethering to my laptop. I had this app on my BB from tether.com, but I don't know which app to use on Note and how to make it work. Any help will be highly appreciated.
Lastly, it would be gr8 if you could let me know what more to do to make my note more useful and efficient with good signal strength and battery life. Also recommendations for the must-have apps would be great.
Thank you.
2bnoted said:
Hey all,
I am switching frm BB to android and am quite excited for it. I ordered note for at&t frm amazon.com for 200$$...seems to be a good price.
Now being completely new to the android world and to the world of rooting, flashing, etc. I would appreciate some help or opinions.
After reading various forums and threads, the first things I will do after getting my device is to root it. I will use rootgalaxynote dot com for that.
Next comes upgrading to ICS. This is where I am confused. There are so many versions, how do you guyz figure out which one is the best or the latest. It was soo easy in blackberry, there was a linear numbering system where 7.1 is better than 7.0 and so on. But in adroid, there are sooo many different names like onlyone, noteworthy, cm9, saurom...how to choose one and which one is the latest ?
Next, I have to enable free tethering to my laptop. I had this app on my BB from tether.com, but I don't know which app to use on Note and how to make it work. Any help will be highly appreciated.
Lastly, it would be gr8 if you could let me know what more to do to make my note more useful and efficient with good signal strength and battery life. Also recommendations for the must-have apps would be great.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off...Welcome.
All of the names you listed are ROMs. They all run on the latest ICS leak 4.0.4. But since you're new to android, Id recommend stock ICS.
The latest ICS leak is called UCLE2. If you want to try it out stock ICS first before flashing roms, you need to download the ICS UCLE2 leaked "tar" file. http://www.ponack.net/designgears/leaks/SGH-I717UCLE2_74A55FA71D15964F9EC9E9489B34DE4E.exe
Be sure to download this file from your computer, not your phone.
I ffound some instructions on how To do it. Make sure you READ it atleast 5 times before actually doing it. ALSO, Be sure to have all the files you need before attempting. If you get confused, search it up on XDA...as most people have already posted it. If not, don't hesitate to ask.
http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...-i-finally-did-sgh-i717ucle2-ics-4-0-4-a.html
-Once you go NOTE, you'd say 4 inches a Joke
-iOS = inspiring Outdated Software
i'll just copy/paste this from another thread as it applies here.
jpoirier587 said:
I would have to advise waiting a while.
1. Keep in mind what it means to root a phone. You are giving yourself the highest access and control priveleges on your devise and remaining at that privelage level from here on out. In the IT world this is actually a huge nono for security. Look at what you are downloading. What does the app want for permissions? Why does a live wallpaper need full network access ? Why does it need to be able to keep the phone from sleeping? Malware for android is on the rise but a rooted phone is by far the most vulnerable. With android, the security of our devises rests on us not being brain dead like iFail users. In return we get nearly unlimited potential on what can be ran on our phones.
2. People forget that this is xda DEVELOPERS. If you are expecting a 100% polished and refined product without hickups here and there then you are in the wrong place. Yes the roms are fantastic. We have some real talent working on the galaxy note but don't expect the moon.
3. Don't start trying to root and flash until you are comfortable with the terminology that gets tossed around. If you don't know what CWM stands for then you haven't studied enough. Guides to accomplish flashing and rooting exist but trying to follow along with no concept of what is going on can lead to a lot of frustration if not disaster. If you don't understand why you need to do something, don't do it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
i know you're eager but enjoy your stock rom for a while. also you may not appreciate the responses you will get asking these most basic of questions. all of them have answers easily available in these subforums either by browsing or the search function. those questions have been answered 1000+ times so dont be suprised when no one jumps to give you the answers. this is xda DEVELOPERS (i.e. advanced users) not Noobs 'r Us. have fun learning as we all did.
I bought a Meizu MX4 MT6595 OCta Core model M641 Flyme OS 4.0.2U , Thought it would be great purchase. It seems I was unprepared for how new this phone is and the lack of information on how to optimize it for a US user. I cant update the OS to the Newer version of Flyme OS , though I would prefer to replace the OS with something US friendly. ALso cant install anything because the package installer crashes with everything. I have purchase protection on the phone for one more week, should I just return the phone? Or will their be ROM's available soon to replace FLyme? I like to learn technology is it possible for a novice to learn how to hack a phone and port an available ROM onto a Chinese phone? Or is this something extremely difficult and time consuming? Really just looking for some advice from the informed/ knowledgeable.
lj26ft said:
I bought a Meizu MX4 MT6595 OCta Core model M641 Flyme OS 4.0.2U , Thought it would be great purchase. It seems I was unprepared for how new this phone is and the lack of information on how to optimize it for a US user. I cant update the OS to the Newer version of Flyme OS , though I would prefer to replace the OS with something US friendly. ALso cant install anything because the package installer crashes with everything. I have purchase protection on the phone for one more week, should I just return the phone? Or will their be ROM's available soon to replace FLyme? I like to learn technology is it possible for a novice to learn how to hack a phone and port an available ROM onto a Chinese phone? Or is this something extremely difficult and time consuming? Really just looking for some advice from the informed/ knowledgeable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
China devices are the worst to learn on as there is no kernel source for the device and moat avoid these devices. So you will have to take it on yourself if you want something. Yes it is time consuming and will have a learning curve.
Just got the phone and love it..
You should be able to update Flyme by finding 'upgrade' in your app drawer, but even after the upgrade its just a bit better.
The most current version is 4.0.3i
Not a big fan of Flyme ,I find it very buggy.
Im hoping for a cm rom of some sort. Would love to see something like the version on the onePlus .
LTE works with Rogers and Bell in Canada..
I like the phone as well I have tried the button in the panel to upgrade click it says android settings com has stopped, tried turning it off and upgrading from zip with zip stored in root directory, got nothing. Tried 4.0.3A ,4.0.3i, 4.03U also and everytime it says corrupted. My firmware version is 4.0.2 U . Tried lots of different ways to try and get google services on it and nothing happens. SOme apps from the app store installed like facebook and evernote. So kinda of feeling a little silly about purchasing this phone because the price vs hardware was spectacular. But I cant get everything I want to use on it. Looking for maybe some trouble shooting from experienced users or reassurance that i didnt just make a retarded mistake purchasing a phone i wont ever be able to use an i should just wait until developer community tackles these problems. Though dont know if that will matter if I can never update the thing. I am using windows 8 could could that be causing issues with upgrading my phone over the wire? Or should I try a .bin file ?
lj26ft said:
I like the phone as well I have tried the button in the panel to upgrade click it says android settings com has stopped, tried turning it off and upgrading from zip with zip stored in root directory, got nothing. Tried 4.0.3A ,4.0.3i, 4.03U also and everytime it says corrupted. My firmware version is 4.0.2 U . Tried lots of different ways to try and get google services on it and nothing happens. SOme apps from the app store installed like facebook and evernote. So kinda of feeling a little silly about purchasing this phone because the price vs hardware was spectacular. But I cant get everything I want to use on it. Looking for maybe some trouble shooting from experienced users or reassurance that i didnt just make a retarded mistake purchasing a phone i wont ever be able to use an i should just wait until developer community tackles these problems. Though dont know if that will matter if I can never update the thing. I am using windows 8 could could that be causing issues with upgrading my phone over the wire? Or should I try a .bin file ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate to say it but your gonna be out of luck. Developers dont touch these devices. They seldom follow the GPL or have unlocked bootloaders and as they are mainly sold in China which doesnt have agreements set up with google in alot of places it is really a pain to get google services running. We have a forum for it but it has been long dead.
zelendel said:
I hate to say it but your gonna be out of luck. Developers dont touch these devices. They seldom follow the GPL or have unlocked bootloaders and as they are mainly sold in China which doesnt have agreements set up with google in alot of places it is really a pain to get google services running. We have a forum for it but it has been long dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well ill definitely try returning it then go with something a little closer to home. The Hardware vs price sucked me into buying it . What is a good deal on a phone right now? XDA developers favorite phone ? easiest to learn best one to modify. In hindsight probably should have tried finding this forum first rather than after I put money down on a phone but live and learn.
Give this a try.. crap...not letting me post a link...
google 'upgrading flyme to 4.0.3i' and the first link will give you some clear instruction and alternatives to get you going
Hi everyone,
I can't find a satisfactory answer on my favorite search engines, so I thought I'd come here and ask. Sorry if this question has already been put on the table, carved, sliced and gobbled, I couldn't find trace of it in the forum's search engine either.
My phone's a Leagoo T5c that will forever be stuck on Android 7.0, it seems, because the OEM has already lost interest, and because its SoC makes it difficult, if not downright impossible, to find a suitable custom ROM.
The latest ROM I could find and install on this phone goes back to August of 2018 (no-no, no typos), and its Security Update is even one month older (July 2018).
My question is in the title: Is it possible to install Security Updates without reinstalling/updating/upgrading the firmware itself, like you would in, say, Windows or any other OS, I presume?
UglyStuff said:
Hi everyone,
I can't find a satisfactory answer on my favorite search engines, so I thought I'd come here and ask. Sorry if this question has already been put on the table, carved, sliced and gobbled, I couldn't find trace of it in the forum's search engine either.
My phone's a Leagoo T5c that will forever be stuck on Android 7.0, it seems, because the OEM has already lost interest, and because its SoC makes it difficult, if not downright impossible, to find a suitable custom ROM.
The latest ROM I could find and install on this phone goes back to August of 2018 (no-no, no typos), and its Security Update is even one month older (July 2018).
My question is in the title: Is it possible to install Security Updates without reinstalling/updating/upgrading the firmware itself, like you would in, say, Windows or any other OS, I presume?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With android 10 were introduced Google play security updates that lets you received security updates (not all of them unfortunately, some requires to upgrade) without updating the full OS. You can't do it because you're stuck with the wrong Android version
Hopefully you won't have any issues with hacking but consider buying a new phone when you'll get a chance
Security updates get rolled out as OTA by OEM/Carrier if they consider it's necessary. You can't force it. Theoretically, all Android smartphones should get around two years of security updates. However, the reality is often very different.
The Leagoo T5c is a small-budget phone what was sold for 99 USD - so more or less a disposable item. You cannot expect OEM/Carrier to have any interest in providing updates for such a phone.
Thank you both for your explanations. I understand that Android works differently when it comes to updating itself, mostly because Google isn't the only party to have a voice in the chapter; still, it's unnerving to see that the end-user is more or less captive anyway.
It kinda defeats the very purpose of an open-source OS, to have to wait for an OEM to release (or not) an update, when you could install the patches yourself.
As for buying another phone, well, as soon as I've got the dough, I will, believe me. Not because I'm dissatisfied with this one, but because I don't like the idea of totting around with a phone that hasn't seen a security update in over two years.
I'm also seriously considering moving to Ubuntu Touch, though there again, my phone's exotic platform could be problematic. Custom ROMs seems to be as complicated an avenue as others, too.
All in all, Android isn't what they sold me: It's not secure, it's not "free", it's just another way to make you shell out bucks for new hardware every couple years.
Android is just iOS without the eye-candy, you ask me...
UglyStuff said:
Thank you both for your explanations. I understand that Android works differently when it comes to updating itself, mostly because Google isn't the only party to have a voice in the chapter; still, it's unnerving to see that the end-user is more or less captive anyway.
It kinda defeats the very purpose of an open-source OS, to have to wait for an OEM to release (or not) an update, when you could install the patches yourself.
As for buying another phone, well, as soon as I've got the dough, I will, believe me. Not because I'm dissatisfied with this one, but because I don't like the idea of totting around with a phone that hasn't seen a security update in over two years.
I'm also seriously considering moving to Ubuntu Touch, though there again, my phone's exotic platform could be problematic. Custom ROMs seems to be as complicated an avenue as others, too.
All in all, Android isn't what they sold me: It's not secure, it's not "free", it's just another way to make you shell out bucks for new hardware every couple years.
Android is just iOS without the eye-candy, you ask me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android isn't iOS precisely because you can break free from your OEM by flashing a custom ROM. You can develop one for almost any device as long as the OEM releases the kernel source code. And most OEM do (expect for some very unknown phones).
Custom ROMs like GrapheneOS are made to free you from google Services and are truly privacy oriented. And all of that is possible because Android is open source.
Trust me, the Android community has always worked actively to counter aging of their devices (including me).
Just buy a phone with a solid community behind and you'll be able to keep it up to date a looong time
Raiz said:
Android isn't iOS precisely because you can break free from your OEM by flashing a custom ROM. You can develop one for almost any device as long as the OEM releases the kernel source code. And most OEM do (expect for some very unknown phones).
Custom ROMs like GrapheneOS are made to free you from google Services and are truly privacy oriented. And all of that is possible because Android is open source.
Trust me, the Android community has always worked actively to counter aging of their devices (including me).
Just buy a phone with a solid community behind and you'll be able to keep it up to date a looong time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you in principle, but if I must take an example: I have this Early 2006 MacBook Pro with a Core Duo CPU that precludes me from even installing Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" on it, because the CPU is 32-bit-only, and Lion requires a 64-bit CPU.
The machine itself works very well, albeit a bit slowly, but then it's got only 2 GB of RAM and a 120-GB SSD. When I got fed-up with OS X applications not updating/upgrading and Firefox addons not installing because my copy of Firefox was too old, I partitioned the SSD, installed rEFInd as boot manager, and installed Zorin 15.2 (now 15.3) Lite 32-bit.
I now spend more time on the Linux side of this Mac than on the OS X side, and updating/upgrading it is a breeze, either via the dedicated application or in Terminal. I know there'll be an end-of-the-line there too, someday, but at least I'll keep using this Mac until it truly dies on me, not when Apple tells me it's dead.
This, for me, is the very essence of open-source: Not just the fact that it's free, but that you can revive an old machine and keep it running long after Apple et al have decided that it had gone the way of the dinosaurs.
The same doesn't apply to Android, alas. Here, you must have a compatible SoC/chipset/what-have-you, a Treble-compatible device, you must have this, you must have that...
In the end, only a fraction of Android users really get to enjoy everything their device has to offer for as long as they choose; the others just pop into the nearest phone store, be it brick-and-mortar or cyber, and must produce their credit card.
My question was as much a challenge to myself as anything else. I would really like to learn how Android works, but the tutorials and articles I've found here and there are all a bit cryptic.
That's why I'm regularly prowling this forum, I guess.
"Hunting high and low", as the song goes... :laugh:
yep, good question but google & manufactures are in it for the moola not the users 2 yr old phone.
hiitsrudd said:
yep, good question but google & manufactures are in it for the moola not the users 2 yr old phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't I know it! It's true that even budget phones have decent specs nowadays, still, why dump a perfectly functioning phone simply because you can't update/upgrade the software?
I understand Google's rationale, of course: They invest tons of money year after year after year to keep the whole boat afloat, and they need a steady income. OK. Still, to not be able to keep your phone ***safe*** is a no-go for me.
I'm seriously beginning to think about installing Ubuntu Touch on the device. I think I'm going to try that next weekend.
I'll probably come back here with my eyes red, asking for help in unbricking my phone, though.
Stay tuned! :good:
A followup, if you are mindful of your own security it's conceivable to get more usage of that android. I don't use a banking app, but if need be use a good browser( thats updated of course) And update all often used apps via playstore. I'm still running Oreo on my phone. FYI you iOS ppl need to do critical updates asap