Related
I downloaded the p8 user manual, but can't find anything about camera metering modes like matrix/center/spot metering.
Owners of P8 units... Does this camera have the option to select metering modes? Thanks a lot!
If you open the camera app > access the hamburger menu (≡ at top right) > select Professional - you get various finer settings to adjust. This may be what you're referring to.
Would also be worth trying a few third-party camera apps, some of which offer readily available manual options (not hidden deep within various menus), & more features & improvements over the stock android camera app. Not sure what links I'm allowed/not allowed to post, so just do a Google search for 'best android camera apps' (or similar). If you find any really good/useful ones, do let us know if you can.
GaT7 said:
If you open the camera app > access the hamburger menu (≡ at top right) > select Professional - you get various finer settings to adjust. This may be what you're referring to.
Would also be worth trying a few third-party camera apps, some of which offer readily available manual options (not hidden deep within various menus), & more features & improvements over the stock android camera app. Not sure what links I'm allowed/not allowed to post, so just do a Google search for 'best android camera apps' (or similar). If you find any really good/useful ones, do let us know if you can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. Can you please tell me which settings are available in the Professional mode? I am specifically looking for the Matrix/Center/Spot-metering functions, so you have better control on how the camera "sees" the light.
I know that the FV-5 camera app has Matrix/Center/Spot-metering modes. But are these only available when the P8 hardware supports this?
Right, I'm with you now. It looks like it does support metering functions (No way to check for quality though, is there? Or, do you know how?)
I made a screenshot (see below) of the various 'pro' functions in the P8's default camera app, & also of the installed FV-5 app's metering options.
Let me know if you need any more info/screenshots.
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GaT7 said:
Right, I'm with you now. It looks like it does support metering functions (No way to check for quality though, is there? Or, do you know how?)
I made a screenshot (see below) of the various 'pro' functions in the P8's default camera app, & also of the installed FV-5 app's metering options.
Let me know if you need any more info/screenshots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your detailed info, very nice of you.
Yes it seems it does have light metering options. The strange thing is, in the meantime i emailed to Huawei directly and they said it didn't have the modes...
And is your device non-rooted? How do you like your pics from the P8. People in reviews complained about inconsistency of the picture quality. Do you recognize that?
No problem (got some time on my hands). Wow, it seems Huawei support are rubbish with such things!
Yes, my device is non-rooted (so far!). Pics are best I've ever had on a phone (although my older phones' cameras were ordinary). No, I don't find any inconsistency with quality, although some patience & a steady hand helps a great deal (I'm sure a tripod would be even better).
As photos are so important to you & if the P8's camera seems ordinary to you (from what you've heard/read so far), you should perhaps consider a Huawei P9/P9 Plus, or another brand/model especially known for its excellent camera.
Anyway, have a look at a few independent reviews of the P8 camera before making up your mind:
Notebookcheck (very detailed, camera review begins from about a third down the page)
ePhotozine (photography website, so hopefully know what they're talking about)
The Huawei P8 camera - my experiences so far (Smartcam Club) (a phone-camera enthusiast site by the looks of it)
Edit: Full res shots from 3rd review above available at Flickr - very impressive, obviously taken by someone who knows what they are doing!
GaT7 said:
No problem (got some time on my hands). Wow, it seems Huawei support are rubbish with such things!
Yes, my device is non-rooted (so far!). Pics are best I've ever had on a phone (although my older phones' cameras were ordinary). No, I don't find any inconsistency with quality, although some patience & a steady hand helps a great deal (I'm sure a tripod would be even better).
As photos are so important to you & if the P8's camera seems ordinary to you (from what you've heard/read so far), you should perhaps consider a Huawei P9/P9 Plus, or another brand/model especially known for its excellent camera.
Anyway, have a look at a few independent reviews of the P8 camera before making up your mind:
Notebookcheck (very detailed, camera review begins from about a third down the page)
ePhotozine (photography website, so hopefully know what they're talking about)
The Huawei P8 camera - my experiences so far (Smartcam Club) (a phone-camera enthusiast site by the looks of it)
Edit: Full res shots from 3rd review above available at Flickr - very impressive, obviously taken by someone who knows what they are doing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reviews and photos, i will take a close look at that. I'm still using my "old" Galaxy S2. The problem is my battery dies 2 times in a day. And there are no original batteries available anymore, only bad copies. I bought 3 and all of them are bad. I still use my first original battery now. I always liked the S2 camera, not too bad... And as photography is my hobby i always had a way to make a "basic" photo better.
But now we are almost 4 years later, the camera's have certainly improved. I was choosing between the Moto G4 plus, Samsung S5 neo, LG G4 and Huawei P8. All are in my budget range from 300 euro's.
The LG G4 suffers from a bad bootloop problem, so that one is a no go for me. The Huawei P8 had most options and now i know it has also manual metering options, it will be my main choice.
How's the battery time of the P8? If you use the phone often, will it last a day? And my last question, if you turn of the phone, and then on again, will it remember the camera settings? For example EV compensation, white balance and so?
Thanks again for answering.
Yesterday i went to a Vodafone shop to see the P8. The strange thing was, when i went into the camera-settings, i didn't see the professional mode, like you send me in the picture. Or did that change through a software update?
Ok, I understand well where you're coming from now. You want a good-excellent camera with metering/finer functions, but also on a budget. And a phone with reasonably good battery life.
The P8 camera's 'pro' setting appears to work for a set time - if the camera is not accessed or used for 15 min, it automatically returns to its default setting. Just accessing the camera app keeps it going for 15 mins further - one doesn't have to take a shot to keep it going. Completely closing the camera app, or restarting/switching on the phone afresh (from off) doesn't seem to have any effect - the pro setting remains unchanged - so here again, time seems to be the only factor. In other words, if the pro setting is enabled, then the phone switched-off for longer than 15 min, the camera will automatically revert to its default setting. I haven't found a way to lock the setting, although a third-party camera app may have this feature.
About the absence of the pro setting in the phone you looked at, did you check what Android version the phone was running on? If older than Marshmallow, it most likely won't be there - see this video. So, hopefully this is the only reason for its absence in the shop's phone.
If the phone is kept constantly on as normal, only average/medium use gives me a full day's battery. Once setup, there's an easily accessible, inbuilt 'Ultra battery' setting which I use when the phone is not going to be being used for a while. This extends battery life quite well, & allows in/out calls & texts. This setting is also very easy to exit whenever needed, & reverts the phone back to normal mode (full functionality) in a few seconds.
On the downside, the phone doesn't support fast-charging, so even using a fast-charger (FC) makes no difference (got this info from reviews, so quickly changed my mind about getting a FC). Charging the P8 for an hour equates to 30-35% of added battery power. By contrast, a FC used with a compatible FC-phone, can usually add ~60% battery power in an hour.
GaT7 said:
Ok, I understand well where you're coming from now. You want a good-excellent camera with metering/finer functions, but also on a budget. And a phone with reasonably good battery life.
The P8 camera's 'pro' setting appears to work for a set time - if the camera is not accessed or used for 15 min, it automatically returns to its default setting. Just accessing the camera app keeps it going for 15 mins further - one doesn't have to take a shot to keep it going. Completely closing the camera app, or restarting/switching on the phone afresh (from off) doesn't seem to have any effect - the pro setting remains unchanged - so here again, time seems to be the only factor. In other words, if the pro setting is enabled, then the phone switched-off for longer than 15 min, the camera will automatically revert to its default setting. I haven't found a way to lock the setting, although a third-party camera app may have this feature.
About the absence of the pro setting in the phone you looked at, did you check what Android version the phone was running on? If older than Marshmallow, it most likely won't be there - see this video. So, hopefully this is the only reason for its absence in the shop's phone.
If the phone is kept constantly on as normal, only average/medium use gives me a full day's battery. Once setup, there's an easily accessible, inbuilt 'Ultra battery' setting which I use when the phone is not going to be being used for a while. This extends battery life quite well, & allows in/out calls & texts. This setting is also very easy to exit whenever needed, & reverts the phone back to normal mode (full functionality) in a few seconds.
On the downside, the phone doesn't support fast-charging, so even using a fast-charger (FC) makes no difference (got this info from reviews, so quickly changed my mind about getting a FC). Charging the P8 for an hour equates to 30-35% of added battery power. By contrast, a FC used with a compatible FC-phone, can usually add ~60% battery power in an hour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for your kind and detailed explanation. Great that you tried the options yourself.
About the version of Android i tried in the shop... I have no idea. How can you see what version of Android is installed?
But if an old version is installed, will it have the camera pro-mode if i upgrade to the 6.0 Android with 4.0 Emui? (See link: http://huafirmware.com/huawei-p8)
Was your device standard with the camera-pro mode installed when you bought it?
You can check which Android is installed in Settings > About phone > Android version.
Also make a note of the 'Build number' in the above screen - it'll be something like GRA-L09C432B200. From this we can usually determine which Marshmallow (Mm) build number you can directly update to if you choose to manually update (more about this when the time comes).
The camera was so much better than any phone I'd ever owned that I didn't bother to look for finer adjustments initially. Also, I updated to Mm almost immediately after getting the phone. But even then, I'm almost certain the pro settings only appeared after the Mm update. So yes, once you update to Mm, they'll be there.
Hello, i went to the shop again today. I played around with the camera again and looked up the serial codes of the phone. I took a picture of it.
Huawei GRA-L09
GRA-L09V100R001C652B120
I am so looking forward to this camera. Hope you can help me out with an optional update when i receive the phone.
That's good to hear. Did you forget to check the Android version? No problem as B120 (last 4 characters of build number) is definitely Lollipop.
B120 cannot be manually updated to the latest Mm firmware (probably B370), so before a manual update, it's recommended to check for an OTA one from within the phone itself at the following locations whilst connected to the internet (use your Wi-Fi connection, not data, as sometimes these downloads can be quite large):
Settings > Update > Check for updates
HiCare app > Me tab > Check for updates
HiCare app > Service tab > OS Upgrade Early Adopters
Click here if you need to download & install the Huawei HiCare app.
Thanks again. I checked the Android version, it's 5.0. I will probably order the P8 next week. I will try to update it through the unit itself. I have no wifi myself, so i will go to a public place to update it. After that inititial update, is it possible to update automatically to 6.0 or do you have to manually update it?
The initial OTA update may be to Mm (6.0) directly, but most likely not the latest build (B370).
Hey Hawker17, how are things going? Did you buy the phone? Update went ok? Camera working well?
Anyway, just came across this xda-thread today which I thought you may be interested in to showcase your clicking abilities: [PHOTO] Show your best P8 shots
Hello GaT7, i'm in the house again. My phone and camera are working great, but i still don't have the pro options. I'm still on the stock version B222. However, when i click update or try to update through the hi-care app, it says there are no updates available... Do you have any ideas?
Hawker17 said:
Hello GaT7, i'm in the house again. My phone and camera are working great, but i still don't have the pro options. I'm still on the stock version B222. However, when i click update or try to update through the hi-care app, it says there are no updates available... Do you have any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Hawker17, good to hear from you again.
That's one strange build number, but you're not alone: Update on Android 6 Build Nr B222
The op didn't return to say if he was able to solve it or not with the downgrade to B200 suggestion offered.
If he returns to say it has worked, do not follow the suggestion to update to B380 mentioned there as it was not official. Instead from B200, update to B370 next & then finally to B382.
----------------------
Btw, some time later I found what could be the camera's possible 'difference in quality' that some others have been talking about when updating from Lollipop to Mm. I had to downgrade to Lollipop B200 temporarily once (when an update went wrong) & was able to record the following differences:
GaT7 said:
Hi Hawker17, good to hear from you again.
That's one strange build number, but you're not alone: Update on Android 6 Build Nr B222
The op didn't return to say if he was able to solve it or not with the downgrade to B200 suggestion offered.
If he returns to say it has worked, do not follow the suggestion to update to B380 mentioned there as it was not official. Instead from B200, update to B370 next & then finally to B382.
----------------------
Btw, some time later I found what could be the camera's possible 'difference in quality' that some others have been talking about when updating from Lollipop to Mm. I had to downgrade to Lollipop B200 temporarily once (when an update went wrong) & was able to record the following differences:
Thanks for your reply. I immediately registered at the German site to ask him personally. I hope to hear from him and will post the answers here.
I also emailed Huawei Netherlands, why i couldn't update from B222 to 370. He said there are simply no updates available... but i know there are updates to B370 and like you said even 380/382.
If i am able to downgrade to B200, is it possible to update to B370 through the telephone (the software update) or via the hi-care app?
Good point you showed about the Image Stabilization. Do you remember which one was the wrong version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not right, as both B370 & 382 are available - also both should come through via std OTA: Settings > Update.
If B370, doesn't come through, in say 10 days (& if you can wait that long), then it's easily manually updateable via the 'full B370 update' link I provided above.
It's recommended to further wait for B382 via OTA only, as forum posters have been providing only the OTA part of the update so far & not the full update (as they did for the B370), which is required for proper flashing.
B380 is the one that was not officially released (leaked really), which I've already mentioned not to install in my previous post.
I'm on B130 and I'm not sure if we get that Update. If anyone has an information, please let us know!
PIC-LX9C432B130
Gesendet von meinem PIC-LX9 mit Tapatalk
About Oreo - I Don’t Know, but if you want update to the latest ROM (PIC-LX9C432B150/151) you need to use FF https://forum.xda-developers.com/tools/general/huawei-firmware-finder-team-mt-t3469146
EMUI 8.0 for PIC-AL00 - PIC-AL00C00B311
EMUI 8.0 not only brings you the latest version of Android (8.0), it's also boosted with a lot of great features and improvements to make your device more intuitive, faster and safer. We highly recommend updating now.
Recommended level: ★★★★★
● Smarter
Smart recommendations anticipate the services you need and give you timely suggestions. HiVoice can check your system, and search for settings at your command. And HiBoard lets you track your packages and manage bookmarked articles with ease.
● Faster
AI-based optimizations deliver greater stability, fluidity, and speed. The system boots faster, videos are more fluid, and image thumbnails load in a flash.
● Safer
Updates to TrustSpace, Find my phone, and PrivateSpace offer greater payment security, more robust system and app security, and enhanced privacy.
New ways of interacting
● Adds a feature enabling you to add 3D dynamic images to Magazine unlock images. Enjoy images from different angles.
● A new floating Navigation dock lets you perform frequently-used operations from anywhere on the screen.
● Newly added home screen shortcuts let you quickly access the app features you use most frequently. Simply touch and hold an app icon to display a shortcut menu.
● Enjoy exclusive preloaded theme.
Smart features
● HiTouch lets you quickly isolate keywords from onscreen text and get links to related services such as restaurants, hotels, movies, and more. Simply hold two fingers on the text to generate keyword and service cards.
● HiVoice communicates with you more fluidly and understands you better. Use simple voice commands to enable or disable features such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, or ask for information about the status of your device (Voice commands only available in Chinese).
● Smart tips recommend you faster and smarter ways to operate your phone, appearing in specific usage scenarios and responding to your usage habits.
● HiBoard (accessed by swiping right on the home screen) now features a Save for later feature that lets you save social media posts and news articles as cards for later reading.
● HiBoard now features an Instant access feature that lets you access frequently used services in a single step. Make QR code payments, hail a taxi, or make a restaurant reservation with ease.
● HiBoard now features delivery cards that you can use to keep track of your packages. Get onscreen collection prompts when you approach parcel lockers.
Enhanced security
● The PrivateSpace menu has been optimized, making it easier to create a PrivateSpace on your device. Files can now be moved between the MainSpace and PrivateSpace with ease.
● TrustSpace now provides protection for more than 500 apps.
● Find my phone now lets you track your phone's movements and extend its battery life to increase your chances of retrieving it.
Higher efficiency
● Contacts and Email now let you sync the career details of your LinkedIn contacts.
● Settings has been redesigned for clearer and more intuitive organization. Voice commands can now be used to search for and change settings.
● Gallery now features a recycle bin that retains deleted photos for up to 30 days. Accidentally deleted photos can be restored with a single touch.
● Phone Manager has been simplified to make managing your device easier. Standard cleanups are faster and deep cleanups more thorough.
● Recorder now features speech-to-text conversion.
● Your device can now connect to two different Bluetooth devices simultaneously, such as a band and a car.
1. Automatic time zone uses location information to set a time zone when Location information is enabled.
2. Due to the redesign of Settings, the location of certification logos, legal information, and regulatory information (if applicable) has been altered.
3. To improve your experience, Smart notifications will be updated when you are connected to Wi-Fi. You can disable auto-updates in Settings.
1. This update will not erase your personal data, but we recommend that you back up any important data before updating.
2. Some third-party apps that are not compatible with Android 8.0 may function incorrectly after the update. It is recommended that you update these apps to their latest versions in HiApp.
3. This system version can be rolled back to the official version of EMUI 5.1 using HiSuite. Rolling back the system version will erase your personal data. Please back up your data in advance. For more information, please contact the customer service hotline.
4. If you encounter any issues, you can go to HiCare, Huawei Club, or call the official helpline at 400-830-8300 or 800-830-8300 (landline).
5. Your home screen layout may be rearranged slightly.
Hi guys...so, is there some news about how Oreo is doing with the Nova 2 device?
Got Update yesterday
Hey there, i got Android 8.0.0 on PIC-LX9 via OTA yesterday
Everything works fine.
Roborootomat said:
Hey there, i got Android 8.0.0 on PIC-LX9 via OTA yesterday
Everything works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello...I have the same model but I m living in Europe...where are you from?
In Germany
Shurykan said:
Hello...I have the same model but I m living in Europe...where are you from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I am from Germany
Greetings!
Hi...
My actual version is PIC-LX9 but the phone was originally a PIC-AL00...so I don't know witch version I should install on the phone for the update by Firmware Finder..... HELP !
Thanks
Roborootomat said:
Hi,
I am from Germany
Greetings!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello...so...Are you happy with Oreo? is it good? is it better? How is the camera?
Thanks !
Shurykan said:
Hello...so...Are you happy with Oreo? is it good? is it better? How is the camera?
Thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything works fine.
I can use the Nova about 3 days without charging.
Camera got, from my point of view, a litte bit poorer.
Roborootomat said:
Everything works fine.
I can use the Nova about 3 days without charging.
Camera got, from my point of view, a litte bit poorer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I choose this phone over the Honor 8 because of the camera.....!
Since is very difficult to obtain information about this model, I really don't know if it's just a feeling that you've got about the camera or it's really poorer...it's what happened to Honor 6x after updating to Nougat...
Why are you feeling that the camera is poorer....?
Shurykan said:
I choose this phone over the Honor 8 because of the camera.....!
Since is very difficult to obtain information about this model, I really don't know if it's just a feeling that you've got about the camera or it's really poorer...it's what happened to Honor 6x after updating to Nougat...
Why are you feeling that the camera is poorer....?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems like, that the Pictures at bad light conditions, are more poor then before the Update.
At good weatherconditions, the Pictures are really good (like before)
Macro Picutes are also good.
Roborootomat said:
It seems like, that the Pictures at bad light conditions, are more poor then before the Update.
At good weatherconditions, the Pictures are really good (like before)
Macro Picutes are also good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too bad... It's a deal-breaker for me.... ??
Is it possible to perform a rollback?
Shurykan said:
Too bad... It's a deal-breaker for me....
Is it possible to perform a rollback?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know, if a Rollback is possible....
I've been running OldDroid's OpenKirin for Honor 8 on my US (C567) Mate 9 for a few days and I'm very happy with it. It fixed the main bugs I've experienced with EMUI 8 since the Oreo upgrade. Those bugs include widgets not updating after a half hour even when exempted from battery optimization, some apps not working (e.g. US Topo, a GPS hiking app, that was battery-optimized to stop even when exempted from battery optimization), and EMUI's favoring its own launcher over third party launchers like Nova, sometimes to the point of crashing. Then there were irritants like apps that I don't use that couldn't be removed, EMUI lockscreen wallpaper whose magazine no longer updates. If I wanted to be tightly controlled, I'd buy an iphone.
So with Wirmpolter's patient help, I took the plunge and installed AOSP, specifically OldDroid's OpenKirin for the Honor 8. This is a treble-based OS, with some specialization for the Kirin processor. I've written an installation guide aimed at a relatively inexperienced installer:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=76231795&postcount=23
All of my major and minor frustrations with EMUI have been resolved. All my apps work. All the hardware works (although I have to turn off the equalizer to get music to play through the headphones). The camera and video work great. Battery life is good. You can install without replacing the stock recovery, which is good because if you don't touch the stock recovery, it is pretty much always possible to unbrick your phone.
If you are eyeing a new phone or thinking about rolling back to Nougat because of your dissatisfaction with Oreo/EMUI 8 on the Mate 9, then I'd suggest trying OpenKirin. It worked for me.
Hi! Does the headphone jack work with 3rd party music players and video players like say VLC? I have a lot of music on my SD so will the app be able to read it? Also, compared to stock EMUI how would you rate battery life?
Thanks, looking forward to this.
Although, not willing to be a guinea pig at the moment. Hoping some others will try this out and give some feedback. Definitely, need a fully functioning camera, including video.
Works with VLC
Vankata1 said:
Hi! Does the headphone jack work with 3rd party music players and video players like say VLC? I have a lot of music on my SD so will the app be able to read it? Also, compared to stock EMUI how would you rate battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VLC works with headphones -- I use VLC, though my main music player is Music Folder Player Full, which also works with headphones. (If you carry a lot of music organized into folders, check it out.) Neither app can see the SD card, so you would have to move music to the main storage with the Files program in order to access it with VLC. I carry about 10GB of music, so I copy all of it onto main storage. Again, to make the headphones work, I use Simple Tiny Equalizer to turn off the equalizer. You can do this in app, too.
I'm finding battery life about the same, possibly a bit worse. I used to end a day with about 30% remaining, and now I end it with 20%. Small sample. I might be using it more intensely, though, or EMUI's aggressive battery management that disables widgets and apps may have saved some battery.
As an aside, VLC can see my local network, like a Windows PC. I can play music and videos at home from my NAS. I didn't know Android could do this.
Guinea pig
vijer said:
Thanks, looking forward to this.
Although, not willing to be a guinea pig at the moment. Hoping some others will try this out and give some feedback. Definitely, need a fully functioning camera, including video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My willingness to be a guinea pig was very much influenced by (1) having a pretty great backup phone (ZTE Axon), which I set up first and used during the process and (2) the time I was spending looking at new phone announcements and reviews, gearing up to ditch my phone. But I like the Mate 9 -- fast, big battery, big screen, fantastic camera, headphone jack -- and I don't really want to start carrying a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle around. There was nothing wrong with the phone except EMUI 8.
prestonmcafee said:
My willingness to be a guinea pig was very much influenced by (1) having a pretty great backup phone (ZTE Axon), which I set up first and used during the process and (2) the time I was spending looking at new phone announcements and reviews, gearing up to ditch my phone. But I like the Mate 9 -- fast, big battery, big screen, fantastic camera, headphone jack -- and I don't really want to start carrying a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle around. There was nothing wrong with the phone except EMUI 8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Mate 9 is the best phone I have owned so far and I am considering the Mate 10. I hate the pro version, don't like those long skinny screens.
EMUI 8 is okay (I don't access settings often and I don't have any issues using Nova Launcher), but I would like to get rid of some of the locked in software (Duo, Facebook App Manager, Email, Gboard, Google, Google Play Movies/Music, Hi Care, HiSuite, Huawei Home, Huawei Mobile, Music, Notepad - a lot can be disabled but why not just allow deletion?) and I would really like to use OpenGapps Pico. But I really need to access my ExtSd from PowerAmp and Moon+Reader, so that is the real deal breaker.
Are you able to use OpenGapps? Does the vanilla Oreo come with Google's bloatware too?
OpenGapps
vijer said:
The Mate 9 is the best phone I have owned so far and I am considering the Mate 10. I hate the pro version, don't like those long skinny screens.
EMUI 8 is okay (I don't access settings often and I don't have any issues using Nova Launcher), but I would like to get rid of some of the locked in software (Duo, Facebook App Manager, Email, Gboard, Google, Google Play Movies/Music, Hi Care, HiSuite, Huawei Home, Huawei Mobile, Music, Notepad - a lot can be disabled but why not just allow deletion?) and I would really like to use OpenGapps Pico. But I really need to access my ExtSd from PowerAmp and Moon+Reader, so that is the real deal breaker.
Are you able to use OpenGapps? Does the vanilla Oreo come with Googles bloatware too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you on the long, skinny screens. I carry my phone in my shirt pocket most of the time, and it just barely has its center of gravity below the top edge of my pocket. Any taller and it will fall out even more frequently.
EMUI occasionally asked to replace Nova, and would crash if I added a EMUI widget to the homescreen. I hadn't realized how many apps couldn't be removed. For me, Facebook App manager is especially awful as I'm not on FB and FB track non-users, e.g. through the Like button on third party websites.
Not all the Gapps were embedded but some were. I think I had to add Gmail but Play, Google (search app), Chrome etc were present. It appears I can't uninstall the Google search app. (Of course, with the phone rooted, I can.) OpenKirin is not a vanilla AOSP in that way.
Did you try/can you try viper4android? ive been trying to get it working on emui8 and have had no luck.
really wanting to switch to aosp
viper4android
KitsuneUK said:
Did you try/can you try viper4android? ive been trying to get it working on emui8 and have had no luck.
really wanting to switch to aosp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reviews are too negative, especially claiming popups, for me to try this. I'm not saying that the reviews are accurate as they often are not. But I've had to hard reset sometimes to remove a pernicious app, and this one isn't worth the risk. Sorry.
A cleaner version of android is more likely to run any app that didn't come from the phone manufacturer.
prestonmcafee said:
I'm with you on the long, skinny screens. I carry my phone in my shirt pocket most of the time, and it just barely has its center of gravity below the top edge of my pocket. Any taller and it will fall out even more frequently.
EMUI occasionally asked to replace Nova, and would crash if I added a EMUI widget to the homescreen. I hadn't realized how many apps couldn't be removed. For me, Facebook App manager is especially awful as I'm not on FB and FB track non-users, e.g. through the Like button on third party websites.
Not all the Gapps were embedded but some were. I think I had to add Gmail but Play, Google (search app), Chrome etc were present. It appears I can't uninstall the Google search app. (Of course, with the phone rooted, I can.) OpenKirin is not a vanilla AOSP in that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya, I remember having an issues with one or two widgets, but then I decided I didn't want all that stuff and just made three widgets using KWGT widget maker and I haven't had any issues since, except occasionally the music pause/start doesn't respond.
I was able to remove many apps, but those I listed, and most of those can be disabled. Still, would rather have a clean ROM.
Some of these app issues are Google changes. I used to use ROM Toolbox Pro to remove apps but Google made them remove the feature. I think Google is trying to force more apps like Chrome and Search on us. I don't use the Gmail app, instead I use AquaMail which is a superior interface and I have 7 email accounts that it manages.
Did you try installing OpenGapps? I did on the Huawei Oreo and it installs but then the phone boot loops. I used the pico version which has the bare minimum Gapps. Don't know if the issue is the way Huawei made the ROM or if this is a Google change.
Anyway, the biggest issue is the limited support for the external SD card. Maybe a future update will resolve that issue.
I'll definitely update when OldDroid does, at least fairly quickly, and report if the next version improves the SD card. I'm doing all right with it just as a source of backup files.
I found another advantage of OpenKirin. I didn't get google maps directions over bluetooth in car (an Audi) since updating to Oreo/EMUI 8. I'm not sure why. I tried deleting and re-adding the connection, which didn't fix it, and music and telephone calls played fine over bluetooth, so it wasn't the bluetooth connection. Now bluetooth directions work perfectly, as well as music and calls (which did before).
I took the plunge and flashed OpenKirin - it's decent, limited bloat, but I just can't live with the external SD card access problem. Hopefully, OpenKirin developers will work on it.
vijer said:
I took the plunge and flashed OpenKirin - it's decent, limited bloat, but I just can't live with the external SD card access problem. Hopefully, OpenKirin developers will work on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How's the performance? I tried Phh-Treble, RROS and Lineage OS, this last two are for the Honor View 10, all of them work, can read external SDCard but all of them have performance issues, when you are heavy using the phone, switching from app to app, copypasting things, taking photos, etc., the phones lost all kinds of smoothness that seems to have when you just flash it.
IOmega666 said:
How's the performance? I tried Phh-Treble, RROS and Lineage OS, this last two are for the Honor View 10, all of them work, can read external SDCard but all of them have performance issues, when you are heavy using the phone, switching from app to app, copypasting things, taking photos, etc., the phones lost all kinds of smoothness that seems to have when you just flash it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I can't answer your question. I have too much on my external SD to live without it. 300 ebooks 2000 mp3s 400 videos several hundred images
Camera app can't see the storage
Root explorer can't see the storage
PowerAmp can
QuickPik can't
Moon+Reader cant
VLC can't
So after fiddling with it for a while I went back to MHA-L29 8.0.0.368
I haven't noticed any performance issues after about a week of uptime. I don't game, though, so may not stress the system like some do.
vijer said:
Sorry, I can't answer your question. I have too much on my external SD to live without it. 300 ebooks 2000 mp3s 400 videos several hundred images
Camera app can't see the storage
Root explorer can't see the storage
PowerAmp can
QuickPik can't
Moon+Reader cant
VLC can't
So after fiddling with it for a while I went back to MHA-L29 8.0.0.368
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I know that bug, experienced it in Phh-Treble, hopefully is easy to fix and it was fixed on Phh-Treble, so it'll be soo fixed on this OpenKirik AOSP, what matters most to me is performance
prestonmcafee said:
I haven't noticed any performance issues after about a week of uptime. I don't game, though, so may not stress the system like some do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess it deservers a try-
I finally took the dive and installed this on my primary device last night.
Ran into one issue: apparently, Huawei pulled the unlock request page offline. All of the available links to it that I could find went to a 404 page. (DC Unlocker to the rescue, I guess.)
In any case:
No issues with headphones. A few minor graphical glitches with the volume control panel and similar things but that's about it.
Magisk gets Google Pay and other SafetyNet demanding apps working, AdGuard doesn't mysteriously stop running because of overly aggressive memory management, dual SIM functionality seems fine.
45 minutes SOT, 92% remaining. No performance issues of note, aside from the minor graphical glitches feels smoother than EMUI did.
Update: I found something that gets rid of the graphical glitches, which (so far) seems to have a negligible effect on performance. Turn on GPU rendering profiling to be output to adb, all of the weird scrolling and clipping glitches go away...
GPU Rendering
irony_delerium said:
I finally took the dive and installed this on my primary device last night.
Ran into one issue: apparently, Huawei pulled the unlock request page offline. All of the available links to it that I could find went to a 404 page. (DC Unlocker to the rescue, I guess.)
In any case:
No issues with headphones. A few minor graphical glitches with the volume control panel and similar things but that's about it.
Magisk gets Google Pay and other SafetyNet demanding apps working, AdGuard doesn't mysteriously stop running because of overly aggressive memory management, dual SIM functionality seems fine.
45 minutes SOT, 92% remaining. No performance issues of note, aside from the minor graphical glitches feels smoother than EMUI did.
Update: I found something that gets rid of the graphical glitches, which (so far) seems to have a negligible effect on performance. Turn on GPU rendering profiling to be output to adb, all of the weird scrolling and clipping glitches go away...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a "Profile GPU rendering" under developer options, defaulted to Off, with two other options: On screen as bars, and "In adb shell dumpsys gfxinfo". Is the latter what you mean by output to adb, or am I missing something? I hadn't noticed glitches, other than occasionally missing half of the first line of text in some reading apps. With the in adb setting, I was unable to replicate that glitch, but it doesn't happen often, so could be unrelated.
When I choose "In adb shell dumpsys gfxinfo" and then restart, it returns to off.
prestonmcafee said:
I have a "Profile GPU rendering" under developer options, defaulted to Off, with two other options: On screen as bars, and "In adb shell dumpsys gfxinfo". Is the latter what you mean by output to adb, or am I missing something? I hadn't noticed glitches, other than occasionally missing half of the first line of text in some reading apps. With the in adb setting, I was unable to replicate that glitch, but it doesn't happen often, so could be unrelated.
When I choose "In adb shell dumpsys gfxinfo" and then restart, it returns to off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The latter is what I meant. The glitches I keep seeing are:
1) The volume panel, when it's opening and closing, seems to lose it's edges. As soon as the animation is complete, of course, it returns to normal.
2) In Chrome, at least, when scrolling through a select box, the edges of it seem to stick (top and sides).
I've seen a few others, mostly in the same vein. It usually looks to be as though a scrollable view isn't clipped correctly by the underlying driver, and turning on profiling causes it to render strictly.
I'm not surprised that it turns itself off at reboot, I haven't rebooted this since I got everything installed on it.
irony_delerium said:
The latter is what I meant. The glitches I keep seeing are:
1) The volume panel, when it's opening and closing, seems to lose it's edges. As soon as the animation is complete, of course, it returns to normal.
2) In Chrome, at least, when scrolling through a select box, the edges of it seem to stick (top and sides). .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I replicated 1) and that your fix works. I had noticed some scrolling artifacts in Firefox, but don't seem to be able to replicate them at the moment. But then, I notice scrolling artifacts on laptops, too. I'll leave it set to adb.
I got the Android O for my Samsung Galaxy tab S3 here in india. Update size is around 1123 MB.
New features are
1. Experience 9
2. Doldy Atmos enhancements
3. New options to play sound of a particular app on a particular device. Ex : if u have connected a Bluetooth speaker, now u have the ability to select only YouTube audio to be played on Bluetooth speaker.
4. Live messages
5. New notification icons and app icons( I guess part of experience 9 home)
6. Multiple clock faces and colours for clock in lock screen.
That's the S9/S9+ wallpaper. Is that on the device after Oreo or did you put it on your tablet? And if it comes with Oreo is it live like on the S series?
Are there themes? I really really want to have black theme all over instead of blinding white
Well this is my experience:
-Changes mentioned by kmdshoyaib in op
-No themes of course (and i wasn't expecting that)
-The overall experience is smoother than nougat but I have to say many lags and delays specially in samsumg keyboard, and third party apps menus are still there (I did a clean install and factory reset)
-I feel a better response time to S-pen (maybe a placebo effect)
-Other things including batter life needs more time!
how to root T820 oreo?
galaxy4mylife said:
That's the S9/S9+ wallpaper. Is that on the device after Oreo or did you put it on your tablet? And if it comes with Oreo is it live like on the S series?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Live messages is now available on Tab S3 oreo.
Other than that, I feel the tablet way more responsive now. Reacts faster when playing around with different apps.
Samsung Pass now requries secure screen lock to work with autofill of usernames and passwords. Fingerprint is still a must with Samsung Pass, but in addtion a screen lock also is needed.
Sent from my SM-T825 using Tapatalk
I got it yest night in India too. agree with all the above comments, but disappointed by 1 thing; no change in the SNote/Samsung Notes fiasco
The Dolby Atmos is awesome. I played a song in the dead of the night and, mighty impressed with the improvement. The output from the speakers also had improved. Good thing the AKG speakers have been used and getting a good workout!
Greetings from India, received Oreo update today, and now tab s3 supports VOLTE. Jio VOLTE calls are working now.
And battery life is better?
Enviado desde mi LG-H990 mediante Tapatalk
Supports it adoptable storage or do I have to hack again?
galaxy4mylife said:
That's the S9/S9+ wallpaper. Is that on the device after Oreo or did you put it on your tablet? And if it comes with Oreo is it live like on the S series?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that is just the static wallpaper I downloaded from Android authority.com
It would have been a charm if Samsung included s9 live wallpapers with the update
View attachment 4510149
Greetings from China...
The s pen translate app also got an update and now it works just like galaxy note 8.
It can translate from Chinese and Japanese now. It can also translate sentences and currency.
My tablet is currently in for repair so have not had a chance to look at the update personally only watched some videos on YouTube about it I was wondering if anyone could have a look and find out if there's a way to change the resolution to save power yet as I do a lot of typing and office work on my tablet and I was looking for a way to down the resolution to 720 p to save a ton of power and was wondering if this has been added with the Oreo update.
Maybe it's because I am a brand new Tab S3 user and updated almost immediately. But all the apps in Play Store that I already paid for are showing up as unpaid. Here is my post about it. Help is appreciated!
Battery life has been fine for me since I got the update yesterday.
corb06 said:
Live messages is now available on Tab S3 oreo.
Other than that, I feel the tablet way more responsive now. Reacts faster when playing around with different apps.
Samsung Pass now requries secure screen lock to work with autofill of usernames and passwords. Fingerprint is still a must with Samsung Pass, but in addtion a screen lock also is needed.
Sent from my SM-T825 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updated last night. The process was easy and error free. The changes are really minor, not anything to write home about. In any case, as Android matures, I would not expect substantial changes from one version to a newer one.
poetryrocksalot said:
Maybe it's because I am a brand new Tab S3 user and updated almost immediately. But all the apps in Play Store that I already paid for are showing up as unpaid. Here is my post about it. Help is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to login on a pc to your google account to validate the issue.
On your tab, try to wipe cache, following this steps:
1. Turn off your tab.
2. After that press and hold the Volume Up + Home + Power button for a couple of seconds.
3. Now you should be in the expected mode.
4. You can navigate here by using Volume buttons and select options "wipe cache" by using the Power key.
If this solve your issue don´t forget leave feedback to help other mates.
lukesellwood2 said:
My tablet is currently in for repair so have not had a chance to look at the update personally only watched some videos on YouTube about it I was wondering if anyone could have a look and find out if there's a way to change the resolution to save power yet as I do a lot of typing and office work on my tablet and I was looking for a way to down the resolution to 720 p to save a ton of power and was wondering if this has been added with the Oreo update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You even hear of punctuation?
My dear experts,
how downgrade this beautiful tablet to Android 7 Nougat ?????
WRITE, WRITE WRITE also in Italian.
Niki da Trani said:
Android 7 Nougat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download Odin3 for Windows PC
Downlaod latest firmware of Nougat 7.0 from 2018 for your region Italy named PDA/AP version T820XXU1ARA2
Downlaod instractions
Downlaod How to flash your Samsung phone?
Hello!
I just wanted to know if this phones' software have ads anywhere in the UI? If yes, is there an option to opt-out?
Secondly, I've heard Xiaomi phones are notorious for having stock apps that ask for unwanted permission to function (eg: calculator wanting to access contacts etc.), is this one a victim of that?
Also does the stock os has an option to disable gesture based navigation and use on-screen navigation bar instead?
Finally, does it come with 3rd party keyboard(like swiftkey etc.) out of the box, or how is the built-in one in terms of privacy? Was it known for data gathering in the past?
If you have the device in hand, please do check these things and let me know. Are there anything else that I should be aware of, like known issues? I am not planning to flash custom roms or modify deeply.
Thanks in advance.
@n1troV I have been using my M3 for more than one month, I hope that I have answered all your questions.
1. ads anywhere in the UI?
Yes, in all Xiaomi system apps, you have to go through the settings in each of them and choose to trun off "Recommendations", to disable ads for each app.
2. unwanted permission
The calculator in MIUI does not require any permissions, in the settings, the Storage permission is listed, but denied, the calculator can still be used without the permission. There are a lot of pre-installed Google apps. The dialer, messages, and contacts apps are also from Google.
(Edit: The Taiwanese version uses the original MIUI dialer app and messages app)
3. option to disable gesture based navigation
Yes, it can be changed in the settings, please see the screenshot below.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
4. 3rd party keyboard
Yes, it came with Gboard pre-installed, you can install a different keyboard, if you do not want to use it. By default, Gboard sends analytics data back to Google, but that can be disabled in the settings.
I am using the stock MIUI ROM, and the fingerprint unlocking was very slow when I got the phone, but after getting two system updates, now the unlocking speed is faster.
If possible, I suggest that you can use Szaki/XiaomiADBFastbootTools (can be downloaded from GItHub) to debloat the phone with adb, to remove some unwanted system apps like MSA , WMService, Analytics, Chrome and other Google apps.
I used the phone for navigation several times, and the GNSS accuracy is about 4m, it is usually enough, but sometimes if another road is too close, the maps app thinks I am on the other road.
By default, VoWiFi is not enabled on this phone, but it can be enabled by disabling carrier check, using the code *#*#869434#*#* in the dialer.
If privacy is important to you, you can use a private DNS service like AdGuard DNS or NextDNS to block unwanted connections.
The phone is not perfect, but it is still a good phone for its price. If you want to have more RAM and an ultra-wide-angle camera, you can take a look at Redmi 9T, it has almost the same hardware, but it's better, and its price is the same as or similiar to M3's price, depending on which country you are in.
You can ask me if you have any other questions about the phone.
Thank you very much! You've answered pretty much all of questions I had and then some. I was unaware of the sluggish fingerprint sensor and inaccurate GPS, neither of which are dealbreakers to me, personally.
I've considered 9T too, I actually dig the design language of that one abit more than M3 and there's a slight bump in performance too. It's significantly more expensive compared to the m3 where I live though.
By the way, have you tested read/write performance of the ufs storage on the m3? If you have some free time, please do run passmarks' disk benchmark utility and share some screenshots along with the storage capacity.
Moreover, are there any noticeable lags/frame drops in the UI, delays in app opening? I am not expecting ~$150 phone to perform like ~$1000 flagships but I'd like to know what the general user experience is like.
And thanks for the tips on secure DNS. I was thinking of implementing pihole for network-wide ad-blocking, will look into private DNS services too.
Thanks again for taking your time to write a well-detailed reply, cheers!
@n1troV It takes about 2 seconds for the phone to open an app, I have tested with different apps. I think it's acceptable for the price.
My previous phone had SD625 chip, and M3 has SD662 chip, after changing to M3, I feel that M3 is a lot faster.
There is one thing I forgot to mention, this phone has dual speakers, but when I tried it the bottom speaker is a lilltle louder than the top speaker, I think when I watched review videos of M3, someone also mentioned this problem.
I will test the storage speed tomorrow when I have time.
n1troV said:
If you have some free time, please do run passmarks' disk benchmark utility and share some screenshots along with the storage capacity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Below is a screenshot of passmark.
(Edit: The phone has 4GB of RAM, but passmark only shows 3GB)
I have the 128GB version, so the storage is UFS 2.2, the SD card I use is Kingston Canvas Select Plus 32GB.
I also have another screenshot of the CIT mode, it shows the hardware information of the phone.
To show you what it feels like to open apps and to scroll through Google Play on the phone, I have recorded a video using the built-in screen recorder, it is in the attached zip file.
Thank you! The ufs storage performance was abit underwhelming though. Have you had an emmc 5.1 based phones in the past? I suppose those chips perform about the same in benchmarks. In fact, having ufs based storage is one of the main reasons I've considered m3 hoping it would help sustain good overall ui performance/snappiness although that does not seem to be the case here.
As for the muffled earpiece speaker; I guess i can pass on that since even higher end phones suffer from the same issue likely due to the fact that there isn't much space in phones with edge-to edge displays and camera hardware to fit a better speaker.
Does this phone support streaming off of popular platforms? There used to be a requirement of some codecs or something along those lines to support drm enabled streaming out of the box iirc, can this one do?
Lastly; if you're in the market for sub $200 phone and m3 and 9t are not your options, what would be your next best pick? Just curious.
@n1troV Previously, I had used two different Redmi phones, both with emmc storage, and they have Snapdragon 435 and Snapdragon 625 chips.
After start using my M3, when I transfered files from my laptop to the M3 using a USB cable, it still took a long time, the speed of transfering files from PC does not feel any faster than my previous phones that have emmc storage. I think this is because the phone only has a USB 2.0 port.
The phone supports Widevine L1 DRM certification, so it can play DRM content at the maximum quality.
I have not played any DRM content on it, but the "DRM Info" app shows that the security level is L1.
I already got used to XIaomi's MIUI, since I used two Redmi phones previously, I would only choose a phone that is made by Xiaomi, this is why I bought the M3.
Before I bought the M3, I had thought about buying other phones that are made by Xiaomi, including Redmi Note 8T (It is not sold in where I live), Redmi Note 9 Pro (It supports NFC, but it is too expensive), and Redmi 9.
When I decided to buy a new phone, because the Redmi phone I was using (Redmi 6 Pro) had GPS issues, last year, I went to XIaomi's website again, and saw that there was a new phone called POCO M3, and I compared its specs with Redmi 9.The specs of M3 are a better than Redmi 9's, except that the CPU of Redmi 9 has better performance, and Redmi 9 has a wide-angle camera. So I decided to buy the M3, since I don't take photos often, and I don't play mobile games.
After using the M3, I feel that the side-mounted fingerprint sensor is a lot more convenient than the rear-mounted fingerprint sensors that my previous phones have, with the side-mounted fingerprint sensor, it's easy to unlock the phone even when it is on the table.
Excellent! I'm relatively new to the world of android phones and almost everybody here is pushing big-name-brand phones despite them having worse specs purely for the brand recognition (I suppose?) I've come to conclusion that M3 offers good value/performance for the price you're paying, not without its fair share of shortcomings though. That's to be expected, I guess.
Thanks for saving me lot of time not having to search answers for each questions I had. It certainly helped getting answers directly from an owner of the mighty M3.
That usb 2.0 bottleneck situation is understandable though. There are $1k devices on the other side of the pond still utilizing usb2 protocol, so yeah.
I mostly agree with your argument on fingerprint sensor placement except I personally prefer rear-mounted sensors mostly due to the fact that those got large surface area to work with and tends to be more accurate and quick. Usually your index finger sits there so its only natural to unlock the device as you pick it. Only downside is not able to unlock when device is on table.
Side mounted sensors on the other hand solve that issue but depending on the placement, it might be hard to reach specially on big phones. Having a hole cut on the side of the frame shouldn't help in terms of structural rigidity either. Eitherway I'd pick any capasitive implementation over gimmicky in-display sensor in a heartbeat.
@n1troV I just remembered that I could also do a read/write speed test on my old phone (Redmi 4X), it has LPDDR3 RAM and emmc 5.1 storage, the screenshot below shows the test results of Redmi 4X.
(POCO M3 has LPDDR4X RAM)
Since you have not used Xiaomi phones before, I think you need to know that Mi and Redmi phones have the original MIUI launcher, and the MIUI launcher does not have an app drawer, but POCO phones only have the POCO launcher, it has an app drawer, and cannot be disabled.
I have tried to install the MIUI launcher on my M3, but it could not be installed, so the only ways to install MIUI launcher on POCO phones are installing a custom ROM, or root/installing a magisk module.
Hmm it turns out ufs based storage is still significantly faster, at least on the reads.
You brought up an interesting point on the launcher, does M3 use swipe up gesture to launch app drawer or it has an option to have that dedicated grid style icon?
I don't dig the stock icons/ui elements on the above mentioned phones though. As long as a 3rd party launcher can be installed with unread counts reliably shown without random crashes, it should be fine.
I've had friends who used Mi phones in the past that I got to have some hands on time with (can't recall the exact model names), most of them were either android go/one devices though. Miui based phones were from 2016-17 so I'm sure alot has changed since then.
EDIT:
I might consider flashing custom rom as my last resort option, specially if I found stock apps constantly phoning home. Preferably a privacy focused rom (graphene/lineage?) with bare essential apps and 3rd party store (aurora?) minus the google stuff. That is only if services like realtime notifications are unaffected. Also there's a steep learning curve as I've not done any of this before
@n1troV The POCO launcher uses the swipe up gesture to open the app drawer, if you do not want to have an app drawer, there is a 3rd party launcher called Lawndesk, it can be installed and used on M3, and it can show unread counts after giving it the notification access permission.
Other 3rd party launchers can also be installed on the phone, but almost all of them have app drawers.
I had unlocked the bootloader of the phone and installed Magisk on it before, but it was difficult to update the phone with Magisk installed, so I reinstalled stock MIUI ROM and relocked the bootloader with Mi flash tool.
I am currently using NextDNS on the phone, because it is customizable, below is a screenshot showing blocked connections to Xiaomi. I have disabled all analytics options in the M3's system settings, I have also removed (debloated) all system apps that are related to analytics or system ads, but the phone still 'phones home'.
I still prefer using the stock ROM and POCO launcher, at least I have blocked those connections with NextDNS.
cbw said:
if you do not want to have an app drawer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey that's not what I mean. Remember before the swipe up gesture was a thing, there used to be an icon on the bottom row of the home screen that opened app drawer on tap? I was wondering if such option is present on M3 to use drawer icon instead of swipe up.
cbw said:
I have disabled all analytics options in the M3's system settings, I have also removed (debloated) all system apps that are related to analytics or system ads, but the phone still 'phones home'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, this is the kind of stuff that bothers me. You went through all the trouble navigating deep in system settings and opting out, yet it does sh!t like this in the background. In the screenshot you've attached, you seem to have narrowed down results to the requests made to domains that contain "mi" in it. Who knows what else its pinging
It's impractical for average user to go through each and every request phone is making as there is probably hundreds if not thousands of them. I really do believe that if you opted out of something it should not be pinging servers over the web period. Privacy is becoming a bigger and bigger problem every day yet most people ignore it entirely. I doubt average user would know or care about such sketchy behaviors of their "personal" devices.
tl:dr Probably not the best for privacy, at least not out of the box.
n1troV said:
there used to be an icon on the bottom row of the home screen that opened app drawer on tap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
POCO launcher does not have that option, but there is a small arrow that can be clicked to open the app drawer.
I have found a 3rd party launcher called Apex Launcher, it still has the old Android icon for opening the app drawer, but I think the old version (3.3.3) of it is better than the current version.
n1troV said:
you seem to have narrowed down results to the requests made to domains that contain "mi" in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to do it, because I also use other apps, and browse websites, so if I didn't do it, it would show a lot of domains, including the ones used by other apps and websites.
For browsing websites on the phone, I suggest that you can install an extension called ublock origin, but most mobile browsers don't support extensions. Kiwi Browser and Firefox Android (There is also a fork called Iceraven, it supports more extensions compared to Firefox) support extensions, so you can install extensions on them for privacy.
n1troV said:
Who knows what else its pinging
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have just restarted the phone, cleared the log in NextDNS, and stopped using the phone for 25 minutes, I have only opened NextDNS's website with Kiwi Browser, below is a screenshot of NextDNS's log.
Thanks for the update on stock launcher and possible third party options.
cbw said:
I also use other apps, and browse websites, so if I didn't do it, it would show a lot of domains, including the ones used by other apps and websites.
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I understand that. Embedded trackers within apps is whole another story. I was more concerned about OS telemetry that cannot be disabled. There is no guarantee that the phone is pinging domains only have "mi" in it.
cbw said:
I suggest that you can install an extension called ublock origin, but most mobile browsers don't support extensions. Kiwi Browser and Firefox Android (There is also a fork called Iceraven, it supports more extensions compared to Firefox) support extensions, so you can install extensions on them for privacy.
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I am also aware that the mobile firefox has somewhat limited extension support. However adding more and more extensions doesn't exactly help with browser fingerprinting. In fact it makes matters worse as you stand out more compared to the "default" ff installations. uBo is my go to addon for adblocking on computers, will definitely have that on phone as well.
cbw said:
I have just restarted the phone, cleared the log in NextDNS, and stopped using the phone for 25 minutes, I have only opened NextDNS's website with Kiwi Browser
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I suppose you're logged into google account and has sync enabled? I mean still its imperfect way to track ALL the requests phone is making specially when its on standby, and for such small period of time. Unless its connected to pi-hole or some sort of firewall/nw analyzer all the time, there's no way you can tell whats going on
n1troV said:
I suppose you're logged into google account and has sync enabled?
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Yes I have enabled sync for my Google account. With DNS, I could not find a better way to track the requests, because DNS cannot tell which requests are coming from a specific app.
I have installed AdGuard to filter requests on my phone (with local VPN method), and I will post screenshots of blocked requests later.
These are the blocked requests.
Xiaomi Cloud (and Cloud Backup), Xiaomi Service Framework, and System Apps Updater can be uninstalled using Szaki/XiaomiADBFastbootTools.
It is possible to use Android Debug Bridge (adb) to uninstall Google Play Services, but I do not know if it is safe to do it.
After searching online about uninstalling the Mi Account app, I found this.
https://gist.github.com/Biswa96/81fe477079fa5279f7cfd7b98d5519c7
Do not uninstall com.xiaomi.account if you've already logged in MI account.
You will get "This device is locked" message and won't be able to unlock it!
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Hey, thanks for saving the day, again! I'm so glad the first person to reply to my thread happens to be somewhat privacy conscious.
cbw said:
I could not find a better way to track the requests, because DNS cannot tell which requests are coming from a specific app.
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Exactly! Unfortunately same thing applies for network activity monitors. Pi-hole seem to have a decent dashboard, probably 3rd party hardware firewalls too.
cbw said:
uninstalling the Mi Account app
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I'm not planning to log into any third party services. Probably not even google on setup wizard.
I was wondering, is there a way to sandbox apps in android? As in you could isolate app data from one another and have full control over each app as to whether it's getting access to internet/gps and whatnot. I heard Shelter does this, not sure how that works exactly.
Unrelated to privacy: does the stock launcher has option to "lock homescreen grid"?
n1troV said:
Shelter
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It will cause bootloop in MIUI.
I also saw this in Shelter's description.
Some vendor / custom ROMs may have a broken implementation that may cause crashes and even bricking of your device. One such example is MIUI from Xiaomi.
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If I want to test apps without installing them on my phone, I use a virtual machine app called "VMOS Pro", it works well on my M3, but it sends analytics data to several servers, and there is no option to disable that.
By the way, POCO launcher also sends data to two different severs, "api.accelerator.intl.miui.com" and "api.ad.intl.xiaomi.com", so you might want to avoid using it, POCO launcher can be uninstalled using adb or XiaomiADBFastbootTools.
n1troV said:
does the stock launcher has option to "lock homescreen grid"?
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Yes.