Going FOSS while on Fi possible? - Nexus 6P Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Previously on my HTC M8 I was exploring the possibility of going FOSS over Google Play Services and tested it out for a few weeks and honestly like it in a nutshell. In terms of translating this over to the 6P, particularly when using it over Project Fi, would it be possible? Given that you need Google Play Services to run the Fi app that enables you to swap networks and auto-connect via Google VPN to open networks on the go, which aren't that big of a deal for me since T-Mobile trumps Sprint and USC where I am, would going say GApps-less CM, Copperhead OS, or other barebone AOSP ROMs be possible while on the Fi network given all I'm using Fi for is a cheap alternative carrier service.

Considering the existence of FOSS alternatives to Play Services, did you ever experiment with this? How'd it go? I'm considering doing the same, also on Fi here.

Related

Looks like I'll still be on the heroc

Anyone else slightly disappointed with the nexus 4? I completely understand Google's logic behind gsm/hspa+ only. There is no cdma or LTE without working with carriers, and that means a locked device. I mean just look at the Gnex on sprint and verizion. It wasn't until around JB was announced that they brought the toro (Gnex on Verizion) back into AOSP support. The sprint GNex doesn't have AOSP support. So when Google wants to sell an unlocked phone which they can push updates too, using nearly all open source drivers, the only option is GSM and hspa+.
End game is unless Sprint decides to try and bring the Nexus 4 to their service, google won't do it. Thus I will just continue to use my hero and hope next year's Nexus device gets Sprint support.
Google could release it for Verizon as per FCC rules on the 700mhz C block, and Verizon would have to allow it on their network without any restrictions at all.
Personally I am going to move from Sprint to t-moile when I get the chance.

Anyone got google wallet working in the UK

Hello all has anyone got google wallet working yet or dose anyone know how to change the device ID and network code so we are able to get this working ?
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
General Disclaimer, I don't own an S4, and reside stateside, nor do I work for Google or any telco.
At the moment it doesn't look like non-American based accounts would be able to use Google Wallet. Even here in the States, not all NFC equipped devices can use Google Wallet because of Corporate decision made by three of the major four US Cellular Carriers (AT&T,a GSM carrier. T-Mobile, another GSM carrier and Verizon, a CDMA carrier), with the sole carrier officially supporting Google Wallet being Sprint (a Telco using CDMA).
One of possible problems right now may deal with the differing financial regulations that covers EuroZone in comparison to the US.
Sorry its not the most optimistic answer
Joe

Nexus 7 2013 4G LTE no way to manage Data plans

Google seems to not care about rest of the world with their devices, only the USA I guess.
I got myself a Nexus 7 2013 4G LTE from the USA to use here in Egypt and I've read numerous posts about it not supporting normal GSM phone calls with a lousy reason that it is a tablet not a phone. YEAH SURE, then why Samsung, Asus (own devices) and many others offer the functionality ?!
Anyways I said ok, I will use it only for Internet Data the realized even that is a pain to do.
Here in Egypt we use pre-paid SIM cards and that requires USSD functionality which Nexus 7 4G LTE lacks so every time I need to renew or charge my Data plan, I have to take the Nexus 7 out of the case, pop out the SIM card, pop it in my iPhone, renew/recharge, pop it out of phone and back into the Nexus 7. How convenient! .
Any way to fix that ?
I don't know about Egypt, but here in Australia, just about all PrePaid services can be recharged online. Instead of taking the SIM out, why not just use the one already in your iPhone, and recharge using the iPhone's browser?
r9800pro said:
Google seems to not care about rest of the world with their devices, only the USA I guess.
I got myself a Nexus 7 2013 4G LTE from the USA to use here in Egypt and I've read numerous posts about it not supporting normal GSM phone calls with a lousy reason that it is a tablet not a phone. YEAH SURE, then why Samsung, Asus (own devices) and many others offer the functionality ?!
Anyways I said ok, I will use it only for Internet Data the realized even that is a pain to do.
Here in Egypt we use pre-paid SIM cards and that requires USSD functionality which Nexus 7 4G LTE lacks so every time I need to renew or charge my Data plan, I have to take the Nexus 7 out of the case, pop out the SIM card, pop it in my iPhone, renew/recharge, pop it out of phone and back into the Nexus 7. How convenient! .
Any way to fix that ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. It's a tablet....not a phablet. It's not meant to be a phone intentionally. Other devices are... Because they intentionally make them that way.
2. It's sold as a USA device. This has nothing to do with Google not caring about anyone outside the USA. The model doesn't currently have all the support for international use. That's why it's currently only sold in the USA.
Yes it does stink. But I believe Google made it clear the limitations I would have outside the USA. Maybe an update will be released that will add some functionality that will help your situation.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
sola fide said:
1. It's a tablet....not a phablet. It's not meant to be a phone intentionally. Other devices are... Because they intentionally make them that way.
2. It's sold as a USA device. This has nothing to do with Google not caring about anyone outside the USA. The model doesn't currently have all the support for international use. That's why it's currently only sold in the USA.
Yes it does stink. But I believe Google made it clear the limitations I would have outside the USA. Maybe an update will be released that will add some functionality that will help your situation.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, all variants of the Nexus sold on the Australian Play Store as well as through various retailers. It's not a US exclusive.
iPWNtehNOOB said:
I don't know about Egypt, but here in Australia, just about all PrePaid services can be recharged online. Instead of taking the SIM out, why not just use the one already in your iPhone, and recharge using the iPhone's browser?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried charging online but for some reason when the SIM is in the Nexus 7, it won't work so I have to put the SIM in my iPhone first for either online or USSD charging. I think it has something to do with some network requests that is blocked or can't function on the Nexus 7
sola fide said:
1. It's a tablet....not a phablet. It's not meant to be a phone intentionally. Other devices are... Because they intentionally make them that way.
2. It's sold as a USA device. This has nothing to do with Google not caring about anyone outside the USA. The model doesn't currently have all the support for international use. That's why it's currently only sold in the USA.
Yes it does stink. But I believe Google made it clear the limitations I would have outside the USA. Maybe an update will be released that will add some functionality that will help your situation.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1-As I mentioned, I am ok with it not having a phone functionality but at least they should've made it fully functional with mobile data
2-Actually I've also tried Nexus 7 LTE EU model (from the UK) and it has the exact same issue and the only difference is 4G LTE frequencies that are a little bit different but it is not a problem because we still don't have 4G LTE coverage here and H+ is fast enough for me.
Many people complain about the same thing in Google forums but no official response yet
sola fide said:
1. It's a tablet....not a phablet. It's not meant to be a phone intentionally. Other devices are... Because they intentionally make them that way.
2. It's sold as a USA device. This has nothing to do with Google not caring about anyone outside the USA. The model doesn't currently have all the support for international use. That's why it's currently only sold in the USA.
Yes it does stink. But I believe Google made it clear the limitations I would have outside the USA. Maybe an update will be released that will add some functionality that will help your situation.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to challenge (1).
The fact is that the chip they use for mobile data IS a full phone chip. You can use it for voice calls or data. Similarly, it can support up to 7 bands in LTE and HSPA+. So this isn't a choice not to include - it's a choice to BLOCK a feature. This is the same with SMS. Worse, the LTE bands for Canada are 4 and 7 but we don't get the EU model - which supports those - we get the US model which only supports 4. Worse, the US model only uses 6 of the 7 bands. They *could* have include 4 & 7 on the US model, but didn't. So Canada kind of got the worst of both worlds.
If Google simply didn't include a phone app and left it up to you to find one, I'd be ok with this. Like you say - it's a tablet and Goog wasn't marketing it AS a phone, so no foul. But they went further and not only removed the API in the OS to support phone service, they blocked the chip. That's going somewhat farther than 'we didn't intend for this to be used to as a phone' to 'we're not going let you use this as a phone in any way, ever.' they actually had to put in EFFORT to prevent you from using it as a phone.
Something similar happened with SMS. In 4.3, you can use SMS, it's just poorly supported. They chose not to include the Messaging app and only put in minimal SMS receiving software. Kind of stupid because a lot of PAYG services let you top up using a text message. Still, as we found out - if you get the Messaging app from the Nexus 5, bingo - you get send and receive SMS.
But in 4.4 - they actually *removed* API to make this trick not work. That's not a casual thing. It's intentional.
It's one thing not to put in a feature that's not required when it takes effort to *add* it - it's quite a different thing to *block* a feature that would be there if you did nothing.
The whole idea of the Nexus line was 'pure Android'. These are supposed to be the 'hero' models that show what you CAN do with pure Android and let developers do what they want. Yet clearly, Google is intentionally blocking certain functions that would be there otherwise.
And some of us (myself included) think that kinda sucks.
As a non-American, I'm also going to challenge (2) just a bit...
Google makes money from everyone... not just Americans. They intentionally sell their products around the world and collect data from non-Americans to use to generate revenue. Europe alone has almost 500M people - more than the US. China and India together is almost 1.5B people. Those are rather large markets.
Yet consistently, Google suffers from the same 'country blindness' that other US companies have. If you're going to sell a product outside the US, you have to be aware of, and take into consideration the differences. What makes this ironic is that OUTSIDE the US, there's a lot of standardisation. For example, all of Europe uses GSM and has 2100MHz as their primary HSPA+ frequency. This means phones work everywhere. They use DVB-T for digital TV everywhere. The US (and sadly, Canada since we get dragged along for the ride) insists on using different tech. So the biggest carrier uses the antiquated CDMA system and other carriers use the incompatible TDMA system in order to prevent customers moving between carriers. You use ATSC for digital TV which almost no one else uses.
Google Glass is US only. So is Wallet. And Voice. What makes Wallet so odd is that the US is actually way behind the curve with chip and pin and NFC based payment systems. If they actually skipped the US and focused on Europe and Canada, they'd get further faster and might even help encourage US retailers to accept the technology. What makes Voice so odd is that other US companies that don't have their heads up their.. ahems... can provide World-Wide VoIP at nearly free cost NOW. I use MagicJack on my Android tablet (you know - to make phone calls that you're not supposed to do because it's not a phone), yet while my American friends can call ME for free - I can't call them (well not using Google Voice anyway).
Are there alternative? Yep. But that doesn't justify or rationalise away Google's bizarre choices. That's like suggesting that it's ok that the main bridge in your city collapsed because there's another bridge on the west side of the city.

Google Fi Carrier Switching?

I'm curious, I'm VERY new to the android world (My iPhone XS Max is still my primary)
I started with Androids about a year ago out of both boredom and a desire to learn.
So, I picked up a Pixel 2, then an LG V30, then S8, then S9, until I found the OnePlus 6. I was instantly hooked on the OnePlus 6, only replacing it with the 6T for the fingerprint reader in the screen. (I still have the 6 and 6T, all others were sold)
Anyway - Google Fi is intriguing to me, as I end up in areas were T-Mobile simply doesn't work. I would like the carrier switching, but I don't have a desire to switch back to a more expensive Pixel 3 XL, that really ONLY offers me the advantage of the carrier switching. Overall, I found the OnePlus 6/6T running Pie to be the cleanest experience.
So, my question - Does anyone feel that someone may be able to get the OnePlus phones to do the carrier switching? Or is this actually a hardware feature? I know nothing about how Fi works, so please excuse my ignorance.
Thank you in advance for any productive responses.
Alternatively, maybe I should just sell the 6 and 6T and pickup with 3XL?
intrusdave said:
Alternatively, maybe I should just sell the 6 and 6T and pickup with 3XL?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that automatic carrier switching is an integral part of Google Fi
Sent from my crosshatch using XDA Labs
---------- Post added at 12:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:25 AM ----------
Oops wrong. Only for fully supported phones.
Sent from my crosshatch using XDA Labs
Yes, I understand that. But the question was "Does anyone feel that someone may be able to get the OnePlus phones to do the carrier switching? Or is this actually a hardware feature?"
In other words, if the switching software based that may be able to be patched into the 6/6T, or is it a modem hardware feature exclusive to the official Fi devices?
intrusdave said:
Yes, I understand that. But the question was "Does anyone feel that someone may be able to get the OnePlus phones to do the carrier switching? Or is this actually a hardware feature?"
In other words, if the switching software based that may be able to be patched into the 6/6T, or is it a modem hardware feature exclusive to the official Fi devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was hopping this would be fully functional as Fi announced support for non Fi devices, but apparently network swapping is not going to work or work so well. See the write up for the explanation.
https://www.xda-developers.com/project-fi-samsung-oneplus-lg-moto-iphones/
looks to me like the one plus 6 is on there, so, the T might work as well.
contact google directly, and ask them, thats the best way to find out
Ugh, is no one actually reading the question?
I'm not asking if the phone will work with Fi, I'm asking if the carrier switching is does in hardware or software, and if it is software do the devs here feel that they may be able to port the carrier switching to the other supported phones?
ok, now I understand..
asking questions here makes people assume you are discussing the 6T, NOT project fi/android in general..
good luck
wase4711 said:
ok, now I understand..
asking questions here makes people assume you are discussing the 6T, NOT project fi/android in general..
good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything I read is that you would only be using T-Mobile. But since the 6t is dual SIM you can have dual service. I plan on getting a one plus 6t and using fi(TMO) for phone calls and texting and Unreal mobile (ATT) for Data. I am not sure if you can use VZW or Sprint for the second SIM but T-Mobile and AT&T is better in most cases than TMO and Sprint (no US Cellular in my area)
---------- Post added at 03:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:20 AM ----------
AsuraDas said:
Everything I read is that you would only be using T-Mobile. But since the 6t is dual SIM you can have dual service. I plan on getting a one plus 6t and using fi(TMO) for phone calls and texting and Unreal mobile (ATT) for Data. I am not sure if you can use VZW or Sprint for the second SIM but T-Mobile and AT&T is better in most cases than TMO and Sprint (no US Cellular in my area)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alternatively you can get a pixel 2 or 3 and project fi esim and an alternate SIM. Although it's only one SIM at a time. That way though you do get essentially 3 carriers to choose from for service
So I found if I could dial a code in my dialer for fi, with the Google Fi app installed and activated, and get "cannot switch carrier", all I had to do was clear data on my app and the dialer switch would work
It's on their site. When you choose the 6t it shows what's supported and what's not. See attached image
To answer your question, yes it appears to be a hardware problem. It is either that we don't have the cdma radios needed for sprint or el goog is playing favorites and only wants certain hardware to work for carrier switching between tmobile and sprint. I am not familiar with the us cellular required radios but it is likely the same el goog restriction in this case as well. My vote is that el goog is trying to get people to buy the officially supported devices for full functionality, they are becoming more and more just like all other carriers now, huh?
Either way I think I am switching back to fi now that the 6t is at least officially compatible for use on tmobile and I am almost certain that wifi calling will work where service is poor. I am on tmobile now and wifi calling works just fine, I made a 30 minute wifi call last night and worked perfectly.
So it's a software problem. Google will not release the software as part of an update included with every android release or they won't work with the manufacturer to update the partition responsible
raiderep said:
To answer your question, yes it appears to be a hardware problem. It is either that we don't have the cdma radios needed for sprint or el goog is playing favorites and only wants certain hardware to work for carrier switching between tmobile and sprint. I am not familiar with the us cellular required radios but it is likely the same el goog restriction in this case as well. My vote is that el goog is trying to get people to buy the officially supported devices for full functionality, they are becoming more and more just like all other carriers now, huh?
Either way I think I am switching back to fi now that the 6t is at least officially compatible for use on tmobile and I am almost certain that wifi calling will work where service is poor. I am on tmobile now and wifi calling works just fine, I made a 30 minute wifi call last night and worked perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OnePlus 6T has full support for T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and US Cellular. For Verizon and US Cellular, it also supports every CDMA Band.
For Sprint, it has every LTE Band and is missing one CDMA Band. Sprint doesn't allow unapproved devices on their network, and activation is tied to the device MEID unlike Verizon. There's no hardware reason why Fi can't allow at least LTE on both T-Mobile and Sprint. Perhaps the issue is that Sprint restricts them in some manner from using Fi on devices not in Sprint's database. Also Band 71 (T-Mobile) oddly doesn't work on Google Fi, so maybe it would lend credence to there being weird LTE Band restrictions for Fi's carrier agreements.
Well I am going back to tmobile, fi doesn't allow wifi calling and tmobile does so for me it is a no brainer. I still think that there is more going on here than just hardware issues but that's just my opinion. I mean, why is wifi calling not allowed on fi(tmobile) but it is on tmobile?
Not sure if you already switched back or if you are open to trying another service again, but i have been using Mint Mobile for a while now and love it. My monthly payment comes out to $24/Month with 5GB of data and an additional $10/1GB or $20/3GB.
Maybe https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cheekydevs.fiswitch can help for OP users?
hunterulmes said:
Not sure if you already switched back or if you are open to trying another service again, but i have been using Mint Mobile for a while now and love it. My monthly payment comes out to $24/Month with 5GB of data and an additional $10/1GB or $20/3GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does wifi-calling work with Mint Mobile??
Eta: Checked website and wifi calling is included, and 20 buck sale right now for 3 months 8gb a month...not bad for a test drive! I'm back on fi so I can pause it while I give it a go :
raiderep said:
Does wifi-calling work with Mint Mobile??
Eta: Checked website and wifi calling is included, and 20 buck sale right now for 3 months 8gb a month...not bad for a test drive! I'm back on fi so I can pause it while I give it a go :
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome dude! It is definitely worth it considering you save at least $40 from any other major carrier. Only thing it doesn't have is the visual voicemail but i never use it anyway so it doesnt bother me.
Hope it is as good for you as it has been for me.
hunterulmes said:
Awesome dude! It is definitely worth it considering you save at least $40 from any other major carrier. Only thing it doesn't have is the visual voicemail but i never use it anyway so it doesnt bother me.
Hope it is as good for you as it has been for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Visual voicemail is working for me with pixel experience ROM on project fi which shouldn't work on OnePlus 6T if I remember correctly.
You try that ROM yet with mint mobile?
Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

AT&T hasn't whitelisted the Pixel 4 yet? (RCS)

Just curious if anyone else knows when AT&T plans on whitelisting the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL for RCS. It's honestly pretty sad that they haven't already.
Carrier whitelist shouldn't be required any more as the recent updates to Messages and Carrier Services should connect you to Google's RCS servers instead of your carrier's servers. If you're still not seeing it make sure you have the latest versions of those apps.
This is the "RCS available to all US Android users" that has been all over the Android news sites lately.
Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

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