Database Users

The state of Android homebrew.

When the G1 came out it was the only Android powered device so modding it worked for everybody. And it was just one brand, HTC, so this forum was a one stop destination for modding our phone.
However, things have changed, now there are multiple phone with incompatible hardware from different manufacturers. Now a custom rom made for the G1, won't work on a DROID for example and vise versa. This complicates things quite a bit.
Right now Cyanogen mods are the best thing for our G1 and maybe the best thing for Android as a whole. I'm used to the build in tether capability and apps to SD and compcace and the other perks of a modded rom. But if I wanted to upgrade my phone, I would lose it all.
There are no Cyanogen mod for anything other than G1 and myTouch phones as far as I know and if I were to upgrade to DROID, I would lose root, lose tether, lose apps to SD, lose everything about my phone that makes it my phone.
Everything I wrote may not be facts, I don't really know what goes on at other forums, but I know that we don't have roms build to run on the DROID and we don't have them built to run on the HERO hardware, it's all for G1 and myTouch, and it seems to me that if I don't ha.ve on of those phones, I lose everything.
I do understand that this forum is for HTC devices which DROID and a few other's are not which is why I don't see homebrew for them. Is there a another website similar to this that supports all Android hardware?
These are thoughts that have been running through my head lately. If I am totally wrong here, please let me know.

I would say check out websites such as androidcommunity.com, androidandme.com, phandroid.com. The developers might not be on there but you can probably find links to where there are custom roms for the phones.
And you are right about different phones having different development oppurtunities. I thought about this today and realized that the next android phone I get not only has to be what I want but also be a popular phone that will attract developers such as cyan, maxisma, jac, manup and everyone else. My best guess and hope is that it will be a snapdragon android handset, hopefully for T-Mobile USA.

What we'll end up having to do is pick our phones based on it's community support and what kind of home brew is available for it.

The reason I love the G1 is the fact that it's rooted and has a large community. This phone is the best on the market, all things considered, because the rooted OS allows so much.
If and when the Droid is rooted, when a GSM version is released, and when it has T-Mo's 3G bands, I will move to it. But all those may not happen for another year or more. If you haven't played with a Droid yet, do so. Incredible speed and the best screen I have ever seen on a phone. Till then, G1 all the way.

The man is right, we have a problem on the dev side.
I think though, once 2.0 gets standard, we'll only need root for a few things like tethering and setting the CPU clock. Really cyanogen's only advantage is optimization, but once 2.0 and snapdragon rolls around, who cares? We'll always want to tinker, but it won't eclipse getting the phone you want.
The big problems right now are that the market isn't getting what it needs. Nothing compares to the HTC widgets, yet instead of cloning them on the market, we try and run a ROM that doesn't even work on our phones! We still don't have BT in Hero and it may just never happen.
2.0 will be what we need as a base, but the market needs our help now.

I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..

alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but this thread is not about who has the best rom.
The point is, when you get a new Android phone, your rom of choice won't be available for it. So what do you do?

alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we all get it already, YOU are dwang's biggest fan
But, to stay on topic. My G1 is the first HTC device I've ever owned and I've only discovered XDA since I've had it, and I think that because of the community involvement here and the custom roms that have come out, I will definitely lean towards another HTC phone when I look for my next upgrade, and it will definately be an android phone.
Also another thing to look at is the availability of the phones that are out to actual dev's. Unless people are donating phones, I doubt everyone can just run out and pick up all the latest devices, and network restrictions/preferences that come along with them.

I think the easiest solution is as follows:
1. Find the dev you like best.
2. Find the phone you like best.
3. Buy phone you like best.
4. Buy/Create a donate link to get said dev the same phone.
Assuming said dev doesnt turn around and craigslist the phone you bought him/her, you have (hopefully) ensured said dev will migrate and develop on your favorite hardware.
Not the best solution but probably the most reliable.

alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously dude, are you going to diss me in every thread? What do you even contribute to this community? I've not received any patches or even logs of the "problems" you claim.

cyanogen said:
Seriously dude, are you going to diss me in every thread? What do you even contribute to this community? I've not received any patches or even logs of the "problems" you claim.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For real.
Alec, you're like the little annoying brother that no one wants to be around.
Grow up, let your balls drop, and enjoy your phone, your life, and whatever rom you want.
But, you don't have to go around dissing well-respected devs.

The Droid hasn't been out long enough for a community to gather around it. Many of the Android big names are waiting to get GSM versions before tinkering.
Also, remember that the HTC Dream was in circulation well before it launched last year. The Android development phone is identical to the Dream, with the only difference being some swish art on the back cover. The hardware and software were free-flowing long before it landed in our hands. In contrast, the Droid was a much more secretive launch; we've only just got Eclair source code, and the SDK was kept under wraps by a non-disclosure agreement (probably to conceal the nuclear bomb that is Google Maps Navigation).
I find the cracking of the Droid to be inevitable. The poor thing is going to be broken just as much as our Dreams were. Just give it time.
As for ROMs being available over a span of phones, I'm not sure that's even a good idea. Android variants like XROM, cyanogenmod, The Dude's ROM, yadda yadda... they're all about maximising the capabilities of the Dream. Not the Droid, the Dream. Adding in features that the hardware can support, changing CPU frequencies, Apps2SD, all that jazz. Droid ROMs will be built around adding in core features, like Apps2SD, and whatever else the Droid has tucked away. Likewise, speed optimisations may not be portable between phones, as what gives the Dream a boost may hinder the Droid.
For me, features of a ROM are not the best part of homebrew Android builds. The best part is being able to upgrade your phone outside of the carrier's say-so. If T-mobile have no plans to push Eclair to Dreams, I will install it myself. I am not tied down by the say-so of a room full of suits three thousand miles away. If T-mobile don't include an app that I like, such as the IM app or the Amazon MP3 store (which T-mobile UK don't), I can get ROMs with them myself. If a carrier would rather I didn't tether without paying for my bandwidth twice, I can do it anyway, so long as I'm not an idiot.
You may have guessed that I have a very dim view of cell carriers.
With root, we are free to do as we like. This is the real killer feature of homebrew, and the Droid will benefit from it too.
Anyway...
dwang said:
I want to acknowledge cyanogen, daproy, cyrowski, loccy, and alla for their contributions to the android community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems dwang himself has a much higher opinion of the man than a certain other someone.

AthlonBoy said:
The Droid hasn't been out long enough for a community to gather around it. Many of the Android big names are waiting to get GSM versions before tinkering.
Also, remember that the HTC Dream was in circulation well before it launched last year. The Android development phone is identical to the Dream, with the only difference being some swish art on the back cover. The hardware and software were free-flowing long before it landed in our hands. In contrast, the Droid was a much more secretive launch; we've only just got Eclair source code, and the SDK was kept under wraps by a non-disclosure agreement (probably to conceal the nuclear bomb that is Google Maps Navigation).
I find the cracking of the Droid to be inevitable. The poor thing is going to be broken just as much as our Dreams were. Just give it time.
As for ROMs being available over a span of phones, I'm not sure that's even a good idea. Android variants like XROM, cyanogenmod, The Dude's ROM, yadda yadda... they're all about maximising the capabilities of the Dream. Not the Droid, the Dream. Adding in features that the hardware can support, changing CPU frequencies, Apps2SD, all that jazz. Droid ROMs will be built around adding in core features, like Apps2SD, and whatever else the Droid has tucked away. Likewise, speed optimisations may not be portable between phones, as what gives the Dream a boost may hinder the Droid.
For me, features of a ROM are not the best part of homebrew Android builds. The best part is being able to upgrade your phone outside of the carrier's say-so. If T-mobile have no plans to push Eclair to Dreams, I will install it myself. I am not tied down by the say-so of a room full of suits three thousand miles away. If T-mobile don't include an app that I like, such as the IM app or the Amazon MP3 store (which T-mobile UK don't), I can get ROMs with them myself. If a carrier would rather I didn't tether without paying for my bandwidth twice, I can do it anyway, so long as I'm not an idiot.
You may have guessed that I have a very dim view of cell carriers.
With root, we are free to do as we like. This is the real killer feature of homebrew, and the Droid will benefit from it too.
Anyway...
It seems dwang himself has a much higher opinion of the man than a certain other someone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You seem to have almost got my point but not quite. Of coarse DOID doesn't need Cyanogen MOD specifically. But would you buy an Android phone if there weren't a mod that lets it do the things that we are used to and have only become available by modding? Apps to SD, tethering, themeing?
Sure DROID might get all these things though a custom rom but we won't see it on this website. The problem is that things will get too spread out and hard to find with all these new hardware options.
What would be nice is a rom that works on nearly every Android device that just adds root access to the phone and some basic universal packages like A2SD and tethering etc. That way you can buy any Android device you want and still have these basic privileges.
Do you think something like that would be possible?

Pinesal said:
You seem to have almost got my point but not quite. Of coarse DOID doesn't need Cyanogen MOD specifically. But would you buy an Android phone if there weren't a mod that lets it do the things that we are used to and have only become available by modding? Apps to SD, tethering, themeing?
Sure DROID might get all these things though a custom rom but we won't see it on this website. The problem is that things will get too spread out and hard to find with all these new hardware options.
What would be nice is a rom that works on nearly every Android device that just adds root access to the phone and some basic universal packages like A2SD and tethering etc. That way you can buy any Android device you want and still have these basic privileges.
Do you think something like that would be possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beats me, man. I'm not a developer. But I think it's unlikely.

For the DROID (and other/future android phones) is Apps2SD really necessary? The only reason why we need it on our phones is because of the pathetic amount of internal space the G1 has, the same goes for Swap Partitions etc.
As long as people buy the phone there is always going to be someone who is smart enough to work on rooting it IMO. And even without root what do you really lose? The only things I think I would really miss are Wireless Tether and Bluetooth File Transfer (Which I THINK is in 2.0 anyway).

I'm not buying a new phone until it's rooted and Cyanogen has it too.

My biggest requirement for any android phone..and any cell phone in general is the keyboard. I bought the G1 because of the keyboard and lucked out with the high number of developers available for it. I didn't find this place for several months during the time when the grandfather of the G1 mod program was still active =) JF!. I enjoyed all the modding and updating because I personally feel that the phone is, well mine. And I should be able to do what ever I want with it. I had picked up the V3C Razer because it could play MP3's. I get it home and then discover that the Verizon Nazi's completely locked down that feature so you where forced to use their service at an additional cost. Of course the motorola dev/repair/store software allowed us to get in a enable the various features that Verizon required to be locked. I also love the Aps2sd. No matter what phone you have, the internal memory will never be enough. And with the Cliq supporting 32gig sd cards, a full keyboard, and NOT verizon was enough for me. I'm patient and confident it will be rooted eventually. If not, I still have my G1 and I still do Cyanogen updates and play around with it. And when my contract is up with Tmob(renewed for the Cliq), I'll see who has the next most popular rooted phone with a keyboard and switch over. I just really hate people telling me how to use a device I own. Its like going to McDonalds and having them dictate what condiments to put on my BigMac and Fries, and then telling me I can only eat it a certain way and which hand to use. If Cyanogen was down with the Cliq, or interested in it. I may be willing to ship him my phone to see what he can come up with.
As far as a universal O/S for all phones, isn't that just the core Android software with specific drivers provided by each manufacturer and custom UI? There should be a way to make 1 O/S for all android phones, then have update packs with the drivers and UI enhancements and add-ons for each android phone released? Not sure of the SPL locks though. Thats a bit beyond me. But i wouldn't think it would be to hard to run Cyanogen on the Cliq or droid provided the correct drivers and such where bundled with it. Kind of like slipstreaming a service pack into a bootleg Windows OS . Each phone eventually has to release the source code which contains the drivers for that phone. Thats how we get the Cliq's OS onto the G1, should work the other way around too. Sounds easy, but Cyanogen's Rom should run on my Cliq, provided the drivers are slipstreamed into it for the Cliq...right? Only problem is root.. :/ hehehe

and there he flames again...alec.baldwin, no one has the problems you have with cyanogen's latest. actually, lets delve into this...what exactly are your "problems" with 4.2.5? PLEASE, answer this question so cyanogen can dutifully fix the "problems" you are having.
You might check out some of the Q/A threads to first learn how to properly flash cyanogen's ROM. It is slightly different than Dwang's because Cyanogen uses the legal method. In fact, check out www.cyanogenmod.com and you might find a ton of useful info on getting cm to work on your phone.
Best of Luck,
njuncos
P.S. Cyanogen, mad props on once again reaching over a million thread views on your latest. Now you own 3 of the top 4 most viewed threads of all time in Dream Android Development!

Motorola Cliq Android 2.1 Update? Help!

Hi to everyone on this forum,
I'm here to ask for help!
I'm a Motorola Cliq owner, it's called Dext here in UK. Basically Orange reduced this phone in UK and it's selling like hot cakes and I'm sure it sells decent around the globe. It’s a mid-range phone with physical qwerty keyboard.
It uses the Android 1.5 version! Even though it's only 8 months old Motorola are refusing to confirm the Android 2.1 Eclair update. Here is the official Motorola forum where there are many complaints from us customers wanting the 2.1 update. Read on after the first couple of pages to see the complaints: [turns out I can't post links because I'm new, you can go to Motorola support pages and click on Motorola Cliq to see]
I'd like to know if you can help us out since you're such a kind community! Can you help us root this phone and put the Android 2.1 or even the 2.2 update to it when the Manufacturer (Motorola) and network carriers (Orange) are letting us down? Much appreciated. Mani.
Edit: Motorola have locked the official support thread because of the complaints about it! You can still view the thread though.

Hi, there is no release date for 2.1 on Dext (this means Cliq outside US), on the other hand there is release date for 2.1 on Cliq, that is Q2 2010 (from what I recall).
So far for US Cliq there's a 1.4.8 radio release and I think in UK there is only 1.3.20, so latest releases are not compatible, however you can root your phone with a compatible version and look for a custom ROM (like Handler's that include flash!!).
Take a look at this forum, it's for CLIQ/Dext and there is a lot of info.
http://www.modmymoto.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=399

Thanks cortinag but that Website is pointless for getting a newer version of Android, it only seems to have firmwares from other countries...
Can anyone please tell me the difficulties of porting the Android 2.2 Froyo to the Motorola Cliq/Dext? I'd like to know this since it uses quite a popular CPU and has a good amount of ROM and RAM. This should mean porting is made easier right?
You can see the spec below:
Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 MHz processor
1 GB storage, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM

There is no theoretical problem getting 2.1 on the dext. However, you'd probably have more luck getting 1.6 running as there's more of a chance backporting the 1.5 drivers for the phone's hardware (cpu is just one component); at least you'd get 2X as many apps available in andro store. A good starting point would be one of the CM roms. The phones are relatively easy to root, instructions @ unlocker. Only unusual feature is with motoblur hooking quite deep into the system, tbh, I'd love a blur free rom for the dext/cliq. Blur is just memory hogging garbage imho. Our biggest problem is that until one of the Devs purchases a dext/cliq (unlikely now as it is pretty much obsolete and you can get a much better phone for the money) there's no one to develop the ROM.
The small business I manage IT for has 2 WinMo, 6 iPhones and 5 androids, one of them a Dext. The obsolete os on it has been a pita for me ever since our marketer came back from UK with one. Moto doesn't look like they are going to upgrade it, none of the blur phones look likely to; they just push the dates back and back, stonewalling on the forums. Our employee has chosen to switch to an iPhone. Sweet, makes my life easier; another person turned off Android by Motorola's arse-hattery.

consolation said:
There is no theoretical problem getting 2.1 on the dext. However, you'd probably have more luck getting 1.6 running as there's more of a chance backporting the 1.5 drivers for the phone's hardware (cpu is just one component); at least you'd get 2X as many apps available in andro store. A good starting point would be one of the CM roms. The phones are relatively easy to root, instructions @ unlocker. Only unusual feature is with motoblur hooking quite deep into the system, tbh, I'd love a blur free rom for the dext/cliq. Blur is just memory hogging garbage imho. Our biggest problem is that until one of the Devs purchases a dext/cliq (unlikely now as it is pretty much obsolete and you can get a much better phone for the money) there's no one to develop the ROM.
The small business I manage IT for has 2 WinMo, 6 iPhones and 5 androids, one of them a Dext. The obsolete os on it has been a pita for me ever since our marketer came back from UK with one. Moto doesn't look like they are going to upgrade it, none of the blur phones look likely to; they just push the dates back and back, stonewalling on the forums. Our employee has chosen to switch to an iPhone. Sweet, makes my life easier; another person turned off Android by Motorola's arse-hattery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. Perfect and well-informed answer/advice. Although not pertinent to me, I must say thank you for taking the time out to help people who are new to this or just learning.

There is one tool called Scout by gsmserver.com I have used it in the USA and flashed my cliq to the 2.1 works flawless and with more features notebly free FM Radio, activating your cliq with out the carrier internet service - awesome

[Q] about kernels and devs

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I did search and found nothing:
I had an Inc. before, and traded to the X for the screen, and physical buttons which I like.
However, as we all know the X blows in comparison to the Inc. in terms of development; so I have to ask since I'm trying to decide what to do:
1) Is the kernel responsible for preventing us from things like notification toggles, notification recent apps, etc... ?
2) When Gingerbread/Ice Cream comes out, are we pretty much at moto's will w/o being able to modify the kernel?
3) What are the chances of seeing CM6 on the X specifically? I'd love to see it, but am no longer hopeful I guess
4) I saw that ccvp (or something like that) was able to hijack moto's init. Is this pretty much dead, or is there still work for it?
I don't really care that birdman stopped dev work on the X (he was responsible for a lot, i know) but will tear if more devs switch to other phones.
Any Ideas?
Again, sorry if all this was already covered.
P.S. I have programming, and Java experience so I WAS thinking to start trying to do some sort of cracking on this myself, but too afraid to brick my only phone

dreamersipaq said:
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I did search and found nothing:
I had an Inc. before, and traded to the X for the screen, and physical buttons which I like.
However, as we all know the X blows in comparison to the Inc. in terms of development; so I have to ask since I'm trying to decide what to do:
1) Is the kernel responsible for preventing us from things like notification toggles, notification recent apps, etc... ?
2) When Gingerbread/Ice Cream comes out, are we pretty much at moto's will w/o being able to modify the kernel?
3) What are the chances of seeing CM6 on the X specifically? I'd love to see it, but am no longer hopeful I guess
4) I saw that ccvp (or something like that) was able to hijack moto's init. Is this pretty much dead, or is there still work for it?
I don't really care that birdman stopped dev work on the X (he was responsible for a lot, i know) but will tear if more devs switch to other phones.
Any Ideas?
Again, sorry if all this was already covered.
P.S. I have programming, and Java experience so I WAS thinking to start trying to do some sort of cracking on this myself, but too afraid to brick my only phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The inability to boot a custom kernel is the one and only roadblock to full custom ROMs like Cyanogenmod. And while I would never say 'never', I would not count on a hack showing up soon. Just go check in on the Milestone people (same bootloader)
Having said that, I would encourage you to go look at what's being done in the dev subforum. Roms like Tranquility, Apex, Zapx and the early Rubix roms are very solid, but removing much of the blur stuff.
Most recently, Fission & Rubix 1.0 are building just about the entire base from AOSP, using almost none of the motorola blur overhead.
Also, hacks have been recently released to overclock the processor.
All in All,there are certainly some limitations imposed by the kernel situation, but there is also still quite a bit happening.

I'd also like to add that it is virtually impossible to truly brick the DX now since the official OTA 2.2 SBF has been leaked.
The only thing we don't have on the DX is custom kernels. However, with all we do have at our disposal, I don't really care at all. I can fully theme, overclock, use all the root apps, etc...
I don't know whether or not the DX will get Gingerbread. It certainly is a possibility. However, I will be upgrading to the newer device designed for Gingerbread. When I say this, I mean a phone that's display can do 1024 by 720 resolution. Also, many of the top-end upcoming phones are going to have autostereoscopic 3D displays. Did I mention that many Gingerbread phones will have dual-core CPUs and GPUs with graphics which rival the PS3 and xBox 360? Well, they will
Remember, Verizon is going to probably do the same thing they did with the DX. They will let people get the 2-year account renewal price for the best upcoming phone even if you just renewed your 2-year contract this year. If someone renewed their contract with the DX and got it for $199, they will be able to do the same thing in December/January with the top-end Gingerbread phone most likely for $199 too

[Q] Likelyhood of development on Razr M?

Greetings, programs! Well my question is not likely something anyone could have a definitive answer for - but I welcome any opinions or ideas. I don't want phone that is locked up against tinkering, but the current "price" of this phone is so tempting. Just about everything I've read tells me I'd really love this phone - the only thing holding me up is my expectation that there will be little to no development done with this phone.
I see that the bootloader seems to have been successfully unlocked? Now that this is the case I wonder if it's likely to be something anyone puts work into as far as developing ROMS/kernels. I'm not expecting Nexus-level activity, but even the hope of something might help me make up my mind (or I may just get a GNex). Thanks,

Merman1983 said:
Greetings, programs! Well my question is not likely something anyone could have a definitive answer for - but I welcome any opinions or ideas. I don't want phone that is locked up against tinkering, but the current "price" of this phone is so tempting. Just about everything I've read tells me I'd really love this phone - the only thing holding me up is my expectation that there will be little to no development done with this phone.
I see that the bootloader seems to have been successfully unlocked? Now that this is the case I wonder if it's likely to be something anyone puts work into as far as developing ROMS/kernels. I'm not expecting Nexus-level activity, but even the hope of something might help me make up my mind (or I may just get a GNex). Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The boot loader is unlockable for the dev edition RAZR m and as for development, safe strap has been released and cm10 alpha has been released. I have no doubt that in the future, more will come out. If ur attracted to this phone, then I highly suggest you get it because of the size and specs.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium

jarzy00 said:
The boot loader is unlockable for the dev edition RAZR m and as for development, safe strap has been released and cm10 alpha has been released. I have no doubt that in the future, more will come out. If ur attracted to this phone, then I highly suggest you get it because of the size and specs.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree with jarzy00 i am coming from evil land apple and this phone feels nice and compact replacing my i4 LMAO
Razr i, Razr M and Razr M XT905 (Future release for Euro market maybe) are one of the few phones left standing with this kind of small foot print.
ever one else moved on to larger screens. And the specs aren't too shaby =)

Ok, I see. My experience with Moto phones are limited, but do I have it right that using the bootstrap method you can flash custom ROMS, but custom kernels are a no go? Still waiting till I make a decision, but every bit of info helps.

Coorect Bootstrap allow you to load that Beta CM10.
(There isn't much support on that yet)
And no custom kernels unless you have the Dev edition
There are AU Edition, US Edition, Dev Edition, And the i (Intel), there are plans for a EU Edition which will be GSM only
Either get it and hand in tight, or look for a DEV

Merman1983 said:
Ok, I see. My experience with Moto phones are limited, but do I have it right that using the bootstrap method you can flash custom ROMS, but custom kernels are a no go? Still waiting till I make a decision, but every bit of info helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure how far development is on Safestrap for the M, but it will allow custom kernels on locked devices using kexec. The version for the Droid 3 (which has a locked bootloader) allows a 3.x kernel to be run instead of the factory 2.6.x kernel in order for better ICS and newer compatibility. Unless Motorola has patched this kexec bypass then it should be possible to implement on the M.

Thanks guys for this thread. I was possibly looking at this phone, but I don't want to end up with the same situation we had with the bionic. I think I'll skip it until Moto wises up and unlocks the bootloaders.

If you really want some development here, look at the donate thread for getting nytro a razr m so he can develop for the retail version. In terms of safestrap, you could potentially get modify a custom rom. It just takes one rom to iron out the major bugs and people can start deriving from it.

i dont think moto will ever get smart with bootloaders, which is sad because they make quality phones, with unlocked bootloaders i dont think id ever buy another brand. but regardless, we have stable safe strap, just isnt a big flagship device, its not a new phone and with all the new better phones that are cake to unlock, this phone is just looked over and left in the dust, aside from a few very good devs we have working to give us some stuff to play with, we wont see much.

ROM development and tweaks?

It is my understanding that the development of ROM for this phone may be limited since it won't be available in the US. Right now, I'm wondering if there's anything we could do to try to jump start development? I don't have enough knowledge to develop anything on my own but maybe I could supply data using my Moto X Play? I know enough to install stuff like TWRP without bricking the phone. Anyway, at least, we don't have to suffer the atrocities of an ugly skin like TouchWiz since Motorola adopted a bare to the bone attitude with its firmwares. I also heard that these Motorola phones will be among the first to receive an official Marshmallow update.

I'm in the same boat. I don't know what's all involved with custom kernels or anything, but would love to see how we could tweak our phones.

It's being released over there as a droid variant is it not?
Sent from my Vodafone Smart ultra 6 using Tapatalk

On Verizon, which is quite different from a cellular radio standpoint (not to mention good luck getting the bootloader unlocked (I'm sure Verizon won't let you use Moto's unlock tool)