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Hey there, everyone.
I'm just looking for some advice. I've been using my Verizon Samsung Fascinate since November, and for the most part have been a very happy user. Ever since I installed a Gingerbread-based ROM, I have been extremely happy with both the device's performance and new features (nothing says cool like the Old TV Shutoff animation). Lately, I have been wanting to try my hand at modifying and packaging my own Android ROMs for the Fascinate. Obviously, I have never done something like this before, so I'm looking for some advice.
I've been programming in Java for over a year now and I'm very familiar with the language as a whole. I've used it in various programming competitions through school along with building some applications and tools for the company I'm currently interning with. Right now, I feel that I have the basic programming skills required to look through code and understand what the logic behind it is (at least I hope).
My question for you all is this: should I jump right in and start poking through the AOSP code, or would it be more beneficial for me to start off as an Android App Developer, slowly working my way into Android hacking? I have some ideas for potential apps (which I'll probably end up developing regardless, but at a later date), so if it would be more beneficial to just develop apps, I certainly have a basis for my ideas.
Any personal stories/recommendations would be excellent. Thanks in advance for any/all answers!
You're a power user. Can the honor 5X keep up? Rate this thread to express how "healthy" the development scene is for the honor 5X. A higher rating indicates available root methods, kernels, and custom ROMs.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Hoping for more love to be given to this KIWI devices
How can there be any development for Android 6.0 without the gorram Sources and Binaries. Honor is still holding out, saying they need to beta-test their proprietary ****e. Somehow I kind of doubt that we'll see official Marshmallow/EMUI4.0 before the friggin' year is up.
jadephyre said:
How can there be any development for Android 6.0 without the gorram Sources and Binaries. Honor is still holding out, saying they need to beta-test their proprietary ****e. Somehow I kind of doubt that we'll see official Marshmallow/EMUI4.0 before the friggin' year is up.
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I am a beta tester and I would guess another month or so. Software is pretty close. So patience, they aren't holding out. They have actually been very forthcoming and helpful to folks here at XDA.
I hope someone with knowledge about kernels would step up and create a custom kernel so that we can overclock and optimize.
Developement is below average. To compare, my HTC HD2 had excellent custom roms available, my Samsung Galaxy Note I had a fair ammount of roms available with most functionality working properly. The Honor 5X currently has no rom with all the basic hardware working (mainly the fingerprint reader). Whatever the reason is, I can say that currently you should not buy this device if you want a custom rom as your daily driver.
Check the custom roms section if you want to see the recent developements. Check out the CyanogenMod roms, since all the others are based upon that AFAIK. If there is still stuff listed as not working (hardware) then wait a little longer or go for another device if you want to have custom roms.
Do not agree with KoeWaffle at all, with exception of fingerprint. Good choice of main custom roms, does not matter if cm based, that can be used as daily drivers... way better than stock!
Sent from my KIW-L21 using Tapatalk
nrpetonr said:
Do not agree with KoeWaffle at all, with exception of fingerprint. Good choice of main custom roms, does not matter if cm based, that can be used as daily drivers... way better than stock!
Sent from my KIW-L21 using Tapatalk
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All current custom roms are CM based. There is pretty much 1 custom rom with many variations available. The device has been out for less than half a year, so it is really not a surprise nor an attack to this community.
This phone offers a slick design and a fingerpint sensor as major selling points. One of it is not working. How does it offer more than a similar phone from another brand then? Despite what others may think of it, I personally really like the fingerprint sensor and do not want to sacrifice it for a more vanilla experience (plenty of other phones offering that from the get go at a lower price). People should just be mindful of it. If they want a different software experience with the samd phone it is just not ready yet...
KoeWaffle said:
All current custom roms are CM based. There is pretty much 1 custom rom with many variations available. The device has been out for less than half a year, so it is really not a surprise nor an attack to this community.
This phone offers a slick design and a fingerpint sensor as major selling points. One of it is not working. How does it offer more than a similar phone from another brand then? Despite what others may think of it, I personally really like the fingerprint sensor and do not want to sacrifice it for a more vanilla experience (plenty of other phones offering that from the get go at a lower price). People should just be mindful of it. If they want a different software experience with the samd phone it is just not ready yet...
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I for one wouldn't say development is "below average". What would you consider average, for starters? The 5X was, as you said, released quite recently, and we already have bootloader unlocking, TWRP, and root access available as additional options here in the forums, not to mention a (small, ok, but still) number of different custom ROMs including CyanogenMod. To me, there's really not many other "important" things beyond this, except for custom tweaks for every model (the Honor has some as well).
Really, the only "big thing" we'd be missing here on regards to modding would be an easy Xposed install - I say easy because many users have already got it, but afaik it's not a simple flashable .zip but system file editing as well. Not a big deal for a truly tech-savvy person like those who roam the XDA forums, though.
I'm not arguing the selling points; it's true, the fingerprint sensor was a major differentiator considering this phone's market range and price, and many phones have followed the (its?) example. But then again, it's just one feature, and it's already been mentioned multiple times that its implementation is close in time.
I wouldn't advise people to get another phone just because of a lack of fingerprint support on custom ROMs or a kind-of difficult Xposed installation. That is, unless they want to get another phone for like, a month, before coming back and buying the 5X - lol!
Of course, not an attack, just my humble opinion.
ElBerretin said:
I for one wouldn't say development is "below average". 1 What would you consider average, for starters? The 5X was, as you said, released quite recently, and we already have bootloader unlocking, TWRP, and root access available as additional options here in the forums, not to mention a (small, ok, but still) number of different custom ROMs including CyanogenMod. To me, there's really not many other "important" things beyond this, except for custom tweaks for every model (the Honor has some as well).
2 I'm not arguing the selling points; it's true, the fingerprint sensor was a major differentiator considering this phone's market range and price, and many phones have followed the (its?) example. But then again, it's just one feature, and it's already been mentioned multiple times that its implementation is close in time.
3 I wouldn't advise people to get another phone just because of a lack of fingerprint support on custom ROMs or a kind-of difficult Xposed installation. That is, unless they want to get another phone for like, a month, before coming back and buying the 5X - lol!
Of course, not an attack, just my humble opinion.
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1 - Maybe a poor choice of words, what I am implying is the availability of complete and sound roms is below my average experience (that being the HTC Leo / HD2, DesireHD and N7000). In due time we might see complete custom roms, but that time is not now and I do not think we can say yet whether it will happen for sure (the developers are not paid to do this).
2 - It has been close for months now, they're waiting on Huawai to release the sources. Some say the sources have already been released but I haven't checked them out myself. For now it is not available and thus I say the available roms are incomplete.
3 - I would, if they want to buy a phone now and have a custom rom as a daily driver (/w all functionality) then it just isn't ready yet. Most people want a custom rom to get rid of the EMUI completely. And no, once you buy that other phone you probably stick with it. So if you want a more vanilla Android experience and don't care about the fingerprint sensor, pick the cheaper phone.
KoeWaffle said:
1 - Maybe a poor choice of words, what I am implying is the availability of complete and sound roms is below my average experience (that being the HTC Leo / HD2, DesireHD and N7000). In due time we might see complete custom roms, but that time is not now and I do not think we can say yet whether it will happen for sure (the developers are not paid to do this).
2 - It has been close for months now, they're waiting on Huawai to release the sources. Some say the sources have already been released but I haven't checked them out myself. For now it is not available and thus I say the available roms are incomplete.
3 - I would, if they want to buy a phone now and have a custom rom as a daily driver (/w all functionality) then it just isn't ready yet. Most people want a custom rom to get rid of the EMUI completely. And no, once you buy that other phone you probably stick with it. So if you want a more vanilla Android experience and don't care about the fingerprint sensor, pick the cheaper phone.
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1-Now that's something I can agree with
2-The sources were released iirc, but as you said developers are not paid for this so it's a game of wait and see
3-I would suggest people give EMUI a try for a while after buying the phone. It's not like I love it, but come on; the specs aren't anything out of this world, I know that, so if you so desperately want a custom ROM that you can't wait for a day- just get another phone, don't even consider the Honor 5X, or any phone that comes with a skin for that matter. Besides, the wait makes it more worthwile imo, how can you know how much better a ROM is than EMUI if you haven't actually run EMUI to begin with? Again, just my opinion...
update
not happy with honor..... and dont even know if update comes or not think like jst making fool.......
using honor 5x and 6p from last 4 months have got any update even security patch in honor while in 6p it comes every month...... wer saying that we will get update of android 6.0 in last may but its naw june and no responce.................
disappointed
Matter of opinion, I respect yours and fully agree with huawei ****ty update policy. At least they open bl and share some sources,which are, at least on qualcomm based huaweis, usable to some extent. I have different opinion on development strength, I see no problem with using crpalmers base (cm) for other ROMs as it working well w/o bugs mentioned by u. The last real things that are to be fixed are fingerprint (on the way,fixed by surdu petru ) and HDR mode on camera.
Sent from my KIW-L21 using Tapatalk
Lol, where r good old times when LEO development started and bricks and following recoveries of thosr were daily practice
Yes, huawei update policy is...
Sent from my KIW-L21 using Tapatalk
i was kinda afraid of development due to the fact that it is an honor device,bt now am happy that it has official cm13 and other cm based roms.
Very premium feeling phone for the price range, good features. Don't care that much for EMUI though, it's a bit iPhone-y and limited.
CM12 and CM13 ROMS are well represented here, and hope to see some Nougat/CM14 love here soon
Good support considering its huawei
A lot of ROMs hère so one for every taste.
If you are flasholic, you can get drunk with your honor5x : )
Sent from my KIW-L21 using XDA-Developers mobile app
im a flashaholic!!
I made more than 10 ROMs. I hope that's good for everybody.
I'll have the chance to buy this phone for 160€. Normally I investigate around if the community enjoys the phone if there's development for it in custom roms and what's the status on the bootloader but it's getting complicated.
From what I've heard, Huawei stopped offering the chance for unlocking the bootloader for its phones, it is still possible with this one? If yes, completely? Can we do whatever we want or are we limited? I've browsed and seen treble support for it, is it working well? If you are using a P20lite with a treble rom, what works and what doesn't for you?
I'll still be looking for info to my own questions and even more but if you have some spare minutes, own the phone and have the answers I'm looking for, care to help please?
If it's worth it? For that price and as of right now, definitely yes. It's a well built phone for the price, the glass on the back is a bit bad of course in terms of durability but allows for better network possibilities which plastic does not. In terms of ROMS and recoveries the phone already has them which at this time is amazing, although development always depend on the true developers that stay up to date and that give their best to keep projects up to date.
Boot loader is a problem as of right now for those who have no key to unlock it. There is some paid software that can do it like Funky Huawei and others...Although I think Huawei might change it or find a better solution to developers trying to develop some ROMS to their phones. Huawei only does this because of security since Android is full of vulnerabilities and they are not risking to lose against other companies like Apple.
Once you have a boot loader unlock code, yup you are free to do anything on your phone
As for the treble ROM's, in my humble opinion I think they have a lot to evolve right now due to bugs (talking in general, not only for our device), I think they are good alternatives to normal ROM's though, simpler to install and smoother.
What works and doesn't work you can see it at github, I can give you a link for a treble ROM created by phhusson developer at github https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/releases/tag/v108, look on the issues tab if you have any issues yourself. I personally love his work.
Resuming, it's still a perfect deal since the phone only launched a few months ago at 400 euros.
Although if you want full control of your phone and at the same time receive a lot of updates I honestly recommend Nokia - Android One phones
You probably already know but, don't let Chinese phones fool you, their build quality sucks, they might have more a bit powerful but after 1 or 2 years it's dead
Cheers,
AS
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...
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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
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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.
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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
Hi,
When I read the questions and guides, it seems the Surface Duo can be unlocked and rooted pretty easily.
So I was wondering why there is no custom ROM for this device which is, by all means, not perfect (it has a lot of flaws) but that I consider as at least a refreshing attempt to dig out of the "one glass rectangle touch screen" that we're now used to for years.
Is it beacause there's no love for the device ?
Or is it because Microsoft released absolutely no sources for the internal hardware ?
If there's anyone willing to try, I can offer build server to do it...
And contacts in a community to help iron out problems...
Regards.
Microsoft has indeed released the sources of the internal hardware, or, at the very least, some of it. I don't really know how to determine whether or not all of the drivers are included with the kernel source code. But they do have this kernel source code hosted on GitHub, under a combination of MIT, Apache, and GPL licensing, as well as full instructions on how to build the kernel. The instructions are located at microsoft/surface-duo-oss, and the scripts end up downloading from other microsoft/surface-duo-oss-* repositories. I've not actually tried to build this myself, and I'm not sure what you actually end up with afterwards, whether it is just a kernel, or if it also includes AOSP, and whether or not this can be included in the process of generating another distribution such as Lineage. But, I think this should at least be some information that can be used to at least start the process assuming anyone with existing experience is interested in starting this.
I have seen it expressed elsewhere that one reason people have not created a custom ROM is that android 10 does not have native support for multiscreen devices, while android 11 does. Meanwhile, Microsoft has only released android 10 for the device, and this includes the surface-duo-oss scripts as well, but that there is plans here soon (late September) by Microsoft release android 11 for the Surface Duo.
Fingers crossed! Looking forward to a robust desktop mode and multiple external monitor support like the regular Surface Pro does
Basically a phone that acts like a Surface PC when you dock at home or at work so you can actually work from the device like a normal Surface laptop and then fold and put it in our pockets when we're done working
I know this is an older post but I sure wish someone would go ahead and give me the dummy guide to flash their custom rom!! If anyone needs a duo that thinks they can make it happen I have a spare one..... The left screen is glitching in and out tho.