Database Users

[Q] Android Development Phones: worth the investment?

All
Newbie posting here. Apologies in advice for a misplaced or repetitious post.
Could the forum weigh in on the pros and cons of the Android Development phones (Android Dev 2 and Nexus One)?
Are they worth the money?
Do they significantly improve productivity?
Do they give a sense of the types of errors we would have with different phones (cross-device errors)?
Thanks!
Cheers, S

The only reason I bought the Nexus one was to deal with HTC's disaster they called multi-touch. Other than that, I own devices based on resolution to make sure everything fits every screen. The actual adp phones aren't necessary.

I don't think it's important to have an 'official' developer phone.
What I've found with my nexus is that it's buggier than most production phones because google don't put the same amount of polish in.
Probably waste time trying to fix issues that appear on the nexus that most other phones won't have.

I had ADP1 but as next phone I bought SGS and I believe that it is better option if you are not hacking ROMs.
In our country you lose warranty if you change ROM on regular phone. I believe that for dev phones this is not true. So this is probably major difference between official dev and stock phone.
Tom
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I do most of my testing on a standard non-rooted HTC desire. I also use the emulator to test different resolutions.
I just don't see what benefit a developer phone really gives you.

The benefit to me is no crappy, bloated U.I's like Sense/Touchwiz etc and the promise of first in line for OTA updates.

DirkGently1 said:
the promise of first in line for OTA updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea the 'promise'. If google were really looking out for developers the nexus one would have had gingerbread the day it was released with the nexus s

athornz said:
Yea the 'promise'. If google were really looking out for developers the nexus one would have had gingerbread the day it was released with the nexus s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sigh @ this. Google is a business. Google has a new phone that is exclusively Gingerbread. Put two and two together. You would also keep the Nexus S exclusive for a bit to try to make more sales.
It's time to upgrade from your Nexus One to the Nexus S

If you already have an android phone than I wouldn't worry about it because you can test your apps on the emulator to test for different screen sizes, and then use your phone for more accurate testing in terms of performance

Yes and no.
Yes. Android should work the way it should on Dev phone so in theory, if it work on a dev phone, it should work on ALL android phones.
No. You can get by with the emulator. It works pretty well.
IRL situation. We write app for people. You're going to have to test it on more than enough devices. Trust us. We hate Samsungs. But guess what? We have 2 of them to test because when things works on one phone, they may not on others.
Go with general devices. But if you want to get by cheap, get a HD2. Put android on it. That way you can test stock 2.2, 2.3 and sense crap.

XOOM or the Ipad (Game Programming)

I might be getting the Xoom this Sunday when it goes on sale, but was also looking at the Ipad. I mean which is a better choice right now, since googles announcement about pulling the OS. If you are a developer can't you just program a particular appear for what is already available (Game Apps, New UI, etch)
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

here we go again...
what do you mean by 'pulling the os'?
they're not removing honeycomb at all, theyre just not releasing the AOSP as of yet.

aohus said:
here we go again...
what do you mean by 'pulling the os'?
they're not removing honeycomb at all, theyre just not releasing the AOSP as of yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry, but I was just asking a question, I don't know what AOSP is. I am all for Android and Android development, the main reason for the post was to get opionions on the two devices aforementioned.
I just wanted to hear other opinions on the two devices.

Please use the search button, this has been done so many times in the last 2 weeks, probably 5 threads a day. If you can't find what you need there then come back and ask SPECIFIC questions please.
This is the equivalent of walking into a room full of strangers (say a motorola store in this case) and yelling, "I don't want to contribute at all, but could you all tell me all of the arguments for or against buying a xoom?"

I have the Xoom and I love it! I don't have the IPad but I use it before and didn't really like it. It's basically a big IPod. The IPad have way more apps than the Xoom right now but I really don't download a lot of apps.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

Bauxite said:
Please use the search button, this has been done so many times in the last 2 weeks, probably 5 threads a day. If you can't find what you need there then come back and ask SPECIFIC questions please.
This is the equivalent of walking into a room full of strangers (say a motorola store in this case) and yelling, "I don't want to contribute at all, but could you all tell me all of the arguments for or against buying a xoom?"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will indeed use the search button next time, I just thought asking this question wouldn't cause so much written sarcasm. If you look at the number of post I have posted you can very well see that I am totally new here.
The title off the board said Motorola Xoom, so I thought I would post my question here, since I will be shelling out around 600 dollars Sunday.
So if I am doing something wrong here I apologize. I thought XDA was a friendly community...........

el_bori1 said:
I have the Xoom and I love it! I don't have the IPad but I use it before and didn't really like it. It's basically a big IPod. The IPad have way more apps than the Xoom right now but I really don't download a lot of apps.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks el_bori for your input, most appreciated.

For a developer, or anyone with a modicum of computer expertise, you HAVE to go Android. There's a lot of things Android does better, just usually with one or two extra steps involved. If you have computer expertise, the Xoom will far surpass anything you could possibly do with an iPad.

here is my advice.
right now, google's tablet market is a nascent industry. its just starting to take off.
if you want to get into all of the tablet goodness right now, i suppose iPad 2 is the way to go, especially if you're into gaming.
i'm not much of an 'app person'
I'm more of a 'web browser' and power 'flash' user, so the xoom fits my needs more so than the iPad.
if you want to go heavy into gaming (as a consumer) then iPad2 is a better fit as the GPU on there is more powerful than tegra2, and there are more games on iOS than android market.

Sh8key said:
I will indeed use the search button next time, I just thought asking this question wouldn't cause so much written sarcasm. If you look at the number of post I have posted you can very well see that I am totally new here.
The title off the board said Motorola Xoom, so I thought I would post my question here, since I will be shelling out around 600 dollars Sunday.
So if I am doing something wrong here I apologize. I thought XDA was a friendly community...........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's fine, just read rule #1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/announcement.php?a=81
In fact, read them all

Lack of development

I'm disappointed that there isn't much development going on for the Thrive. I'm also curious as to why? I bought one after doing major comparison between all the tablets available and I chose this one because of the specs, size and of course, capabilities. My friends have other tablets, such as the Acer 500 and I rooted it last night for him and it's nowhere near the speed of my Thrive.
I guess I'll just have to wait it out but damn, I want a new ROM on this already. Just having it rooted isn't enough to take advantage of even a fraction of the capabilities this thing has.
Regards,
rast4man

rast4man said:
I'm disappointed that there isn't much development going on for the Thrive. I'm also curious as to why? I bought one after doing major comparison between all the tablets available and I chose this one because of the specs, size and of course, capabilities. My friends have other tablets, such as the Acer 500 and I rooted it last night for him and it's nowhere near the speed of my Thrive.
I guess I'll just have to wait it out but damn, I want a new ROM on this already. Just having it rooted isn't enough to take advantage of even a fraction of the capabilities this thing has.
Regards,
rast4man
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of developers having the device. I think if I had one I would probably be putting something together - but I have the Transformer - and no time at the present.

There has been ROM development, just not here.
Google thrive forums to see.

xciton said:
There has been ROM development, just not here.
Google thrive forums to see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did and not too impressed with what I've seen. I think there are what, 3 ROMS available? I'm going to keep this but get the Acer A500 I think since it has tons of development right now.
Thanks for the replies!
Regards,
rast4man

I was in the same boat so to say my first choice was the thrive I happily bought it after much consideration of other tablets on the market at the time .. once I got home I enjoyed the speed and the thrives native apps but I went to XDA to se what was popping and nothing lol a dead tablet on the development front.so I tried the Asus liked the screen but didn't want to pat $160 u.s. for USB and extra battery life so i bought my Iconia and ill tell ya what I freaking love it besides some problems with Gameloft apps but usb HDMI micro SD I'm happy and amazing veiwing angles!
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

Well I have the thrive and it is rooted and has a OC Kernel and Dalepl's stock rom, am I sorry that it does not have some great rom on it, NO it is quite functional and is twice the tablet of any Acer Iconia, and just to be clear I HAVE HAD a Acer Iconia, Motorola Xoom and the Almighty Samsung and all lasted less than a week before returning them, have had my thrive since release and could not be more pleased, and all of the substandard tabs are gone!!!!

I waited in line on black Friday for the Asus transformer because it has a large development scene, but they ran out and I ended up with the Toshiba for $30 more. I've got to day, for what I paid, the Toshiba is cool, but I wish I could get some cyanogen on here.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

same here. Love the size and Honeycomb. Have a Samsung galaxy tab 7" and wanted something bigger and newer. Made the mistake of upgrading to 3.2.1 and was hoping the great minds of XDA have figured out how to downgrade to root. Kind of disappointed on the development but maybe we weren't the only ones who went to buy the Transformer and ended up with the thrive. Only time will tell.

Don't know why this thing isn't more popular. Just got mine the other day. So far I love the fact that I can plug in the dongle from my computers wireless keyboard and an hdmi cable to my big screen tv, pair it to a wii remote and have at it. Absolutely awesome!
Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk

There is a lot more for it but not on this Forum, I would just say Google the thrive and the other forum will come up in search results and yes there is plenty of Development going on. I cannot put the forum's name here because they will just delete the name if not my complete post.

Yeah, I'm a recovering rom-flasher myself, and I was initially kind of bummed out at the fact that there are not dozens of choices for ROMs, but then I got to asking myself "Why?"
I have Cyanogen 7 on my HTC LEO, and I can flash a new version every week if I want, or if I get tired of that, there are many other ROMS I can choose from. But for the Tablet, I'm looking for a stable portable platform to read forums, e-books, maybe play a few games. The Thrive fills that bill, and the hardware is more versatile than most other tablets out there. I rooted the stock 3.1 ROM so I could use Titanium Backup and nmap, and I don't think I'll upgrade until Ice Cream Sandwich comes out, if then. 3.2 seems to be mostly for 7" tablets so it doesn't interest me much.
I see that there are other ROMS on those "unmetnionable" forums, but I've learned over the years to trust the developers and forums at XDA so I don't really want to take a chance elsewhere.
That's my two cents' worth and if you don't agree, I applaud you - enjoy flashing whatever you can find - it's a lot of fun, and I will continue to do so on my HTC phone, but not on my tablet. Just my opinion.
Walt

I wish you had one
jerdog said:
I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of developers having the device. I think if I had one I would probably be putting something together - but I have the Transformer - and no time at the present.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish you had one jerdog. If I could I'd buy you one myself. I just picked one up online for $307 shipped out the door. It's a 16gb model.
Charles

I think it will be picking up speed soon. Compared to other tablets on the market right now, spec wise, the Thrive is pure ownage! I still have mine and use it frequently. I'm cool with just having it rooted for now so we'll see what happens in the future for development.
Regards,
rast4man

ceabbott2 said:
I wish you had one jerdog. If I could I'd buy you one myself. I just picked one up online for $307 shipped out the door. It's a 16gb model.
Charles
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL - if I had the money I would buy one myself too!

jerdog said:
LOL - if I had the money I would buy one myself too!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dropped mine last night and cracked the screen on the bottom. It still works perfect and the crack doesn't even get in the way when using it. Wanna' buy it cheap?
Regards,
rast4man

rast4man said:
I dropped mine last night and cracked the screen on the bottom. It still works perfect and the crack doesn't even get in the way when using it. Wanna' buy it cheap?
Regards,
rast4man
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL - nope. Thanks though!

walts said:
Yeah, I'm a recovering rom-flasher myself, and I was initially kind of bummed out at the fact that there are not dozens of choices for ROMs, but then I got to asking myself "Why?"
I have Cyanogen 7 on my HTC LEO, and I can flash a new version every week if I want, or if I get tired of that, there are many other ROMS I can choose from. But for the Tablet, I'm looking for a stable portable platform to read forums, e-books, maybe play a few games. The Thrive fills that bill, and the hardware is more versatile than most other tablets out there. I rooted the stock 3.1 ROM so I could use Titanium Backup and nmap, and I don't think I'll upgrade until Ice Cream Sandwich comes out, if then. 3.2 seems to be mostly for 7" tablets so it doesn't interest me much.
I see that there are other ROMS on those "unmetnionable" forums, but I've learned over the years to trust the developers and forums at XDA so I don't really want to take a chance elsewhere.
That's my two cents' worth and if you don't agree, I applaud you - enjoy flashing whatever you can find - it's a lot of fun, and I will continue to do so on my HTC phone, but not on my tablet. Just my opinion.
Walt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well then you will lose out because the Thrive on XDA will soon be dead and those of us on the other forum will have everything we want on our tablets and thank god that crap cyanogen is not on the thrive!!!!

Performance! But....
I have purchased two of these devices.... One 16G and one 8G. Both ate verymooth and perform very nicely.
Even though Im enjoying the units, I still believe that there should become level of focus on these units. Toshiba now has these units up to V3.3 and have things locked down tightly. Though I believe they did a nice job on the stock ROM, I still believe there should be a root option to admonisyer my personal device. I also believe that the collective brain trust of XDA could produce a ROM that shows the true capability of this hardware platform.
One of the coolest features of the 10.1 inch units is that it has a user replacable battery! How cool is that??
Im not a programmer and barely qualify as a script kiddie in this day of age. So like others on this forum, I have to wait for those with the knowledge and motivation to provide the future path and direction.

dalepl said:
Anyway, glad another developer is on line. I think this is the best overall tablet around. So lets make sure it is. I hope you will be doing custom work, we need someone to do that for individuals that like custom ROMs. Take care.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree! This tablet rocks. I've have had the Kindle Fire, Acer A100, Nook Tablet, and now this and I love it. I will be doing some custom work.

Great! Custom work is what we need to round off this thing. Do you do kernel work by chance?
I have the Thrive 10.1" and Thrive 7" and if you have looked at my work, I mainly keep it stock. That is what I like and I have a lot of people who like that. If you need base ROMs, feel free to download and use mine.
By the way, sorry if you thought you affended me. Was not wanting you to think that. Just wanted you to know why I do what I do and where. Cheers

[Need Supports][X-Play Section]Whats going to happen to The Play Section?

Hey guys, i've been here quite a while. And nowadays people keeps coming in with question that've been probably answered and a lot of dev seem to hav lost their interest in developing this phone.:banghead:
I really wonder who's gonna help us with our problem. And i sriously don't think the play moderator could handle everything here by themself. I obviously don't hav enough on me to be of any use to help this community.
So what're we gonna do when all the devs are gone?? Who's gonna provide us the things that we may need?? Where would we go to when we're lost in developing??
I'm really bump up with everythings that been going on with this device. All the news, the stories, the gossip, article, blog etc. Everything that this device had offered when it 1st appear had already been top off by some dual/quad core tegra 3 1gb/2gb ram device.
So the real Q is how long does this section's gonna last...

sdojoin said:
Hey guys, i've been here quite a while. And nowadays people keeps coming in with question that've been probably answered and a lot of dev seem to hav lost their interest in developing this phone.:banghead:
I really wonder who's gonna help us with our problem. And i sriously don't think the play moderator could handle everything here by themself. I obviously don't hav enough on me to be of any use to help this community.
So what're we gonna do when all the devs are gone?? Who's gonna provide us the things that we may need?? Where would we go to when we're lost in developing??
I'm really bump up with everythings that been going on with this device. All the news, the stories, the gossip, article, blog etc. Everything that this device had offered when it 1st appear had already been top off by some dual/quad core tegra 3 1gb/2gb ram device.
So the real Q is how long does this section's gonna last...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry. As I see, the developers are still crazy about Xperia Play and they prefere it to GS3 because of GAMEPAD.
This section is not gonna die.:good:

Yeah i also noticed that. The play does not have the community that it deserves. But my play just died and since i am on exchange year in taiwan right now i cant send it to sony. But phones are cheap here so i just bought a xperia sola. Problem solved. I miss gamepad though.
Sent from my MT27i using xda app-developers app

Dude, for example take a look at the X8 section.
The phone came out in Summer 2012 and has 180MB RAM (~90 of which is usable) and it has a HUGE community.
Over 400 ROM's, and has fully working Jelly Bean , how may I ask?, new developers come along.
But may be a slightly different story here

Just enjoy our magnificent devs whilst they are still there, Cosmicdan Wedgess sechko Markphyton rocks and our god pax make the play work at it's best!
Sent from my R800i using xda app-developers app

I think it is time up for this device, Cyanogenmod team said they stopped supporting Snapdragon S1 devices, I think that's what the Play uses. At least we had CM7 and CM9 stable which both run great, we will get a CM10 port too from FXP. Overall the device is limited by the performance. Sony isn't going to upgrade this model, just have to hope another company will create something similar for us, but I'm not interested in tablets with controller.

Well, my xperia play recently broke and im getting a new one. I had a choice of S3, but i chose the play. Because its unique and wont die.
HOPEFULLY

CyberScopes said:
Well, my xperia play recently broke and im getting a new one. I had a choice of S3, but i chose the play. Because its unique and wont die.
HOPEFULLY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wise option :good:

I'm hoping more will join this thread to asses their needs of the Play section. Just so we'll know what're n how many are still interested in this section. Hopefully to get more than 50 users/members to tell us n re-asure us that this section is gonna last. Coz this "may be" my last device. As my twins needs more financial attention than my interest in gadgets. I lov this phone. Just want to keep it up to date as possible. Hoping to get more n any kinds of supports from users/members to keep this section alive.
"Live hard and Die Well"

I'm not sure if this section is gonna last much more time. I think the Xperia Play is indeed an awesome phone but it just wasn't made for the android hardcore user. I used to theme my phone so much and to change Rom every two days. Now with this phone I don't do either if those things. Anyway I can't imagine myself with another device
Sent from my R800i using xda premium

[Q] Find 5 questions before purchase

Hello you all
mods, feel free to move our delete my post if you feel it's in the wrong section
I am planning to buy the find 5, but I want to be sure this is the right buy for me. I know the performance is awesome and the screen is one of the best or there, so +1 for those, but now for development support. I see there it's a fresh new cm10.1 so that seems ok but are you developers going to keep this phone for a long time? The price tag is pretty hefty for me and I want to keep the phone for a few years. Any change for long term development here? With android 5, and up support? Fast kernels?
Thank you so much
Sent from my HTC Desire C

Phenziox said:
Hello you all
mods, feel free to move our delete my post if you feel it's in the wrong section
I am planning to buy the find 5, but I want to be sure this is the right buy for me. I know the performance is awesome and the screen is one of the best or there, so +1 for those, but now for development support. I see there it's a fresh new cm10.1 so that seems ok but are you developers going to keep this phone for a long time? The price tag is pretty hefty for me and I want to keep the phone for a few years. Any change for long term development here? With android 5, and up support? Fast kernels?
Thank you so much
Sent from my HTC Desire C
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ask Oppo, but they might not guarantee it, or go back on their word
eg: motorola promises android update, then reneges on it
developers do porting on their free time, if you want to guarantee something (like having Android version x), do it yourself........ bootloader is unlocked - you can install anything you want on it

paperWastage said:
ask Oppo, but they might not guarantee it, or go back on their word
eg: motorola promises android update, then reneges on it
developers do porting on their free time, if you want to guarantee something (like having Android version x), do it yourself........ bootloader is unlocked - you can install anything you want on it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I wasn't really talking about oppo itself, more of xda support
Sent from my HTC Desire C

Phenziox said:
Yeah I wasn't really talking about oppo itself, more of xda support
Sent from my HTC Desire C
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as I said, devs work on this on their free time
no dev will tell you: "I will work on this forever and not sell it.. if it breaks, i'll get a new one to continue support"...
if you want android 5.x, learn how to port

paperWastage said:
as I said, devs work on this on their free time
no dev will tell you: "I will work on this forever and not sell it.. if it breaks, i'll get a new one to continue support"...
if you want android 5.x, learn how to port
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. So far, I see myself as far less likely to wind up in the "OMFG I HATE THIS DEVICE AND I AM SICK OF DEALING WITH IT" category like all of the Exynos4 CM maintainers did.
That said, if I get spread too thin, the device might receive less attention in the future.
A lot depends more on Qualcomm than on Oppo.

Entropy512 said:
Yup. So far, I see myself as far less likely to wind up in the "OMFG I HATE THIS DEVICE AND I AM SICK OF DEALING WITH IT" category like all of the Exynos4 CM maintainers did.
That said, if I get spread too thin, the device might receive less attention in the future.
A lot depends more on Qualcomm than on Oppo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you got that right
The exact reason why I was planning to skip on the s3
And to be clear, I wasnt trying to demand support, just asking whether it was there or not
And I saw the full source code was available so this seems like a good source to learn development xD
Thank you
Sent from my HTC Desire C

Security setting FC
Security setting FC

Oppo has been great about getting the find it developers hand. They have given out almost ten free devices. So there will be Roms, not as much as a nexus but a few. Again in the long term support won't be as good as a nexus but it uses a qualcom chip so support is easy, not nexus easy but second best. I say it will be supported as long as the nexus four dependent on binary issues.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2