Database Users

No Custom ROMs on WP8 Devices

Hi I wanted to buy a wp8 device but after reading this article I gave up buying a wp8 device. Because no custom roms is a deal-breaker for me. So looks like its not possible to unlock wp8 devices for now but I don't know is it gonna be in the future. I'm asking because I don't know how unlocking process works because I never used a wp device. I know how android system works but I have no idea about wp devices. So if you guys can explain if it can be done in the future or why we will never be able to unlock wp8 devices. :good:
Edit: Its no longer a deal-breaker for me I thought unlock was important as much as jailbreak on iphone and root on android. But thanks for helping me realise wp devices do not need unlock
Edit2: I bought a lumia 920. You guys were right wp is awesome. Only things I am missing from android is file explorer, rotation lock and notifications.

Yes you definitely dont know much about WP. You never used one, but you know that custom ROMs are dealbreaker for you. Nice.
Just to let you know, custom roms are not important at all in WP. They dont bring much improvement, far less than in android.

martan1981 said:
Yes you definitely dont know much about WP. You never used one, but you know that custom ROMs are dealbreaker for you. Nice.
Just to let you know, custom roms are not important at all in WP. They dont bring much improvement, far less than in android.
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You can be right, custom roms means a lot on android and jailbreak means a lot for iphone. So I thought unlock is important like jailbreak/root. But if not, I'm definitely gonna buy a wp8 Thanks for the info about roms. I want to ask, can we install local apps like we can do at android without unlocking?

Windows Phones do not need custom ROMs, because all the mess that's happening on base ROMs for android is not present, which is why custom ROMs exist for android in the first place, and not because of customization or whatever else then less enlighten users use ROMs for.

mcosmin222 said:
Windows Phones do not need custom ROMs, because all the mess that's happening on base ROMs for android is not present, which is why custom ROMs exist for android in the first place
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Click to collapse
Er, custom ROMs aren't "needed" anywhere.* They exist because developers have an itch for some feature or bugfix not available in stock - in other words, they have something that improves over stock in some way. Perhaps you should read the feature lists of some WP custom ROMs.
No possible improvements over stock is not a good thing no matter how you spin it. That said, I think the OP is overreacting calling it a "deal-breaker". Well, it depends on what you're looking for in "jailbreaking". This jailbreak feature, for one, won't be available.
*Edit: You know this because the users of custom ROMs are always in the vast minority.

Something that needs improvement is messed up in my books sooo....
Yeh the Op is kinda exaggerating with the deal-breaker though.

mcosmin222 said:
Something that needs improvement is messed up in my books sooo....
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As I've just pointed out, improvement is not needed. On the other hand, is improvement improvement? Why, yes.

thebobp said:
Er, custom ROMs aren't "needed" anywhere.* They exist because developers have an itch for some feature or bugfix not available in stock - in other words, they have something that improves over stock in some way. Perhaps you should read the feature lists of some WP custom ROMs.
No possible improvements over stock is not a good thing no matter how you spin it. That said, I think the OP is overreacting calling it a "deal-breaker". Well, it depends on what you're looking for in "jailbreaking". This jailbreak feature, for one, won't be available.
*Edit: You know this because the users of custom ROMs are always in the vast minority.
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Click to collapse
Bite your tongue, sir: custom roms are practically necessary for android. Stock ROMs have faulty GPS drivers, crapware, bloatware, SPYWARE even. I have a friend who bought a low end android phone from sprint. Two mistakes: being on sprint and going low end on android. It's getting better, but android is a huge resource hog, and having all the carrier crap on there makes it worse. My friend's phone is quite literally unusable; it locks up very often. Even after I hard reset it for him. On android, stock is [probably] ALWAYS bad.
WP8 however.... I have a custom ROM for my WP7 device, but everything I've done with the custom ROM is natively supported in WP8. So I guess I could live with a stock WP8 ROM. The only thing I'd be missing out on is free tethering.
Carriers, if you charge for tethering... **** you.

^ in your opinion.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

link68759 said:
Bite your tongue, sir: custom roms are practically necessary for android. Stock ROMs have faulty GPS drivers, crapware, bloatware, SPYWARE even. I have a friend who bought a low end android phone from sprint. Two mistakes: being on sprint and going low end on android. It's getting better, but android is a huge resource hog, and having all the carrier crap on there makes it worse. My friend's phone is quite literally unusable; it locks up very often. Even after I hard reset it for him. On android, stock is [probably] ALWAYS bad.
WP8 however.... I have a custom ROM for my WP7 device, but everything I've done with the custom ROM is natively supported in WP8. So I guess I could live with a stock WP8 ROM. The only thing I'd be missing out on is free tethering.
Carriers, if you charge for tethering... **** you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Free tethering? My experience tells me that only the Dell Venue Pro is incapable of wi-fi tethering because of the chipset. The carriers have disabled the feature but a lot of phones can be interop unlocked and have the feature enabled. Heck, the Quantum requires little effort since it has an onboard reg edit tool. Google be thy friend.

Amazing! (And incredibly stupid!)
This will eventually flood this forum with unhappy users, wishing to mod their devices...after having seen their cool AOS counter parts.

Nothing to mod it works out of the box. I dont even see a point in current custom roms wp7.5..just few added apps & unlocked for piracy (ok "homebrew")

Hacking is by definition something that should be impossible.
Hacking is based on using some unpredicted exploit to workaround security.
If today we knew that Custom Roms would be going to be possible on WP8 then Microsoft could fix the exploit.
Don't blame Microsoft for this of course, you know most (I did not say every) people wants to unlock their phone to sideload pirated apps.
That's simply the truth. This is what happens all around me on iPhone and Android ecosystem.
Now the real question is : how much interesting (or clever) is speaking about the existence of exploits on something you don't even own/know ?
Articles like the linked one looks nothing more than a big flame to me, and this topic is no different.
P.S. It is really funny to find out some users are particularly attracted by this kind of topic, isn't it?

You realize that the place you're posting to caters to the small percentage of people who want / use any flexibility afforded them, right?
The elegance of a closed system (relatively speaking) is the stability you can accomplish. This is the apple model to a tee, and for most people it's fine.
BUT, flexibility is where windows the traditional OS, Android, and Linux shine. There are always optimizations that can be done, always tweaks, custom apps galore. Android ROMs have spoiled us, masses be dammed.
Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk 2

dragonide said:
Hacking is by definition something that should be impossible.
Hacking is based on using some unpredicted exploit to workaround security.
If today we knew that Custom Roms would be going to be possible on WP8 then Microsoft could fix the exploit.
Don't blame Microsoft for this of course, you know most (I did not say every) people wants to unlock their phone to sideload pirated apps.
That's simply the truth. This is what happens all around me on iPhone and Android ecosystem.
Now the real question is : how much interesting (or clever) is speaking about the existence of exploits on something you don't even own/know ?
Articles like the linked one looks nothing more than a big flame to me, and this topic is no different.
P.S. It is really funny to find out some users are particularly attracted by this kind of topic, isn't it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has began.

I actually am for Custom ROMs. Sorry, but Devs sometimes just do a better job at things. A Interop Unlocking and Custom ROMs made my Trophy a heck of a lot more enjoyable to use.
And I disagree with all the lock downs MS has in place. Email, messaging clients, browsers, keyboards. We are all stuck with one version. No chance to use versions a Dev could provide that would give us more options and features. Sometimes, Devs just do things better. The MS locked apps I listed, among others, can all be improved upon. Rather than waiting or hoping MS does more to improve them, itd be a lot nicer to have options of 3rd party devs.

lugi93 said:
Nothing to mod it works out of the box. I dont even see a point in current custom roms wp7.5..just few added apps & unlocked for piracy (ok "homebrew")
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Click to collapse
So WP8 has a file explorer?

lugi93 said:
Nothing to mod it works out of the box. I dont even see a point in current custom roms wp7.5..just few added apps & unlocked for piracy (ok "homebrew")
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that I have WP8 I no longer have custom ROMs, and here's a list of things I'm missing.
-Being able to back up and restore isolated storage (aka game saves and apps with braindamaged devs who don't export to skydrive)
-Setting goddamn custom notification sounds.
-Enabling internet sharing on AT&T
-Bluetooth file transfer for unsupported files
-USB Video out
And the biggest thing was updates to the latest build (7.8), because you either have to wait years to get the stupid thing, or you just never get it. WP8 seems to have solved that issue, but it's a big thing for 7.x
There is significantly more homebrew than apps that can be pirated too... So no, WP8 is not perfect out of the box yet.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express Pro

IMHO there is stil need for custom roms with WP8. This system for many might need to be changed. For example (I had Lumia 920 but beeing annoyed I've sold it) People Hub. I had Facebook account and LinkedIIn configured and connected with Microsoft Account. Hopefully People Hub allows me to display only those people from my Outlook Account with photos of them from LinkedIn or Facebook. That's good. Where is the problem - mail app which seems not to use People Hub filtering and after I've started writing somebody's email it was trying to suggest me all of the people from my linkedin and facebook. Facebook is a toy for me, email is a tool for work. I dont's wanna havve facebook contacts in my email. What's more - I don't wan't to see non skype contacts on my skype list. How to solve it ? Only custom rom may help with modified People Hub service.

dansus72 said:
So WP8 has a file explorer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you're not being sarcastic, and really asking- i'm taking no offense of malice either way, just answering
no, there is no file explorer. this is hotly debated over and over again as to wether its a needed feature or just a 'gimmie' app on other platforms. some even argue that a file explorer on wp8 makes it insecure. whatever.
i'm seeing fewer and fewer posts here on xda pertaining to wp. even the extremely optimistic wpcentral forum is turning a little more 'real' since MWC turned into a nokia-only festival for wp.
anyway, i'm getting sidetracked. hope i answered your question nicely

[Q] What Happened to this phone?

Let's be honest to ourselves here guys, out beloved Moto X Style was officially released in September which means this phone has now been out for at least 3 months and while all the effort that has since been put in this devices by key developers and people from day 1 up till now is very much appreciated and will continue to be appreciated, the development of this device compared to most flagships has been slow motion.
I am just trying to understand what the hell went wrong with this phone that made it end up with such super slow motion development, as when I originally bought the device I was thinking this phone would be at least in the top 20 most active phones on XDA development wise.
It had so much going for it, easy root, easy unlockable bootloader, a pretty much almost complete stock version of android, kernel sources released and motorolas good track record of updating their flagship phones in a timely manner and good hardware to accompany the great bloatware free stock software and a cheap price compared to some other flagships from other companies such as Samsung and Sony
With all this in mind I thought developers would flock to this device and we would have a massive development forum with loads of options between custom roms, mods, themes and other tweaks etc
But this is far from the case and I know the Nexus 6P being released probably had something to do with it, Still this should have been at least in top 20
At first I thought when Android 6.0 MM will be released development will increase then we needed the kernel sources as that was apparently not enough, then we had kernel sources but apart from 1 or 2 roms showing up being in alpha stages nothings changed too much.
This is such a disappointment to say the least.
If only I could understand why this is happening maybe something could be done to fix this or increase the development of this phone, I dont know maybe get some developers from the nexus 6p forums on here some how ...
Any ideas why this has happened and if anything can be done to increase development?
IS THERE ANY WAY WE AS A COMMUNITY CAN GET MORE DEVELOPERS TO WORK ON THIS DEVICE?

djsynth said:
If only I could understand why this is happening maybe something could be done to fix this or increase the development of this phone, I dont know maybe get some developers from the nexus 6p forums on here some how ...
Any ideas why this has happened and if anything can be done to increase development?
IS THERE ANY WAY WE AS A COMMUNITY CAN GET MORE DEVELOPERS TO WORK ON THIS DEVICE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's due to a combination of factors, such as :
1) The popularity of the phone/ manufacturer. These figures show Lenovo/Motorloa in 5th place for sales, having a 3.7% market share in Q3 2015
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
3) With phones getting more expensive, more people are put off from unlocking their bootloader due to warranty issues
4) I'm no longer convinced about the benefits of custom ROMs - seems a lot of the time they break more things than they fix. Maybe a lot of other people now think the same.
5) Some apps, for example ones for mobile banking or subscrition TV & Video, will not work with a rooted phone.
In the past I've had various phones from various manufacturers, and I'd say if you get your kicks from installing custom ROMs, then buy a Nexus.

When i had the one plus one there were so many roms that was a brain storm... I prefer some and reliable roms than a plethora where you get confused!!!

2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4) I'm no longer convinced about the benefits of custom ROMs - seems a lot of the time they break more things than they fix. Maybe a lot of other people now think the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO you hit the nail on the head. I love this phone. I had the MXPE 2014 as well, was not a fan. Also owned the original, Loved it.
This MXPE has been great in imo, the lack of development has not been disappointing to me. The stock rom is really pretty good, there are minor tweaks that can be done but most can do these on their own.
I used to be a flash-aholic, but like @GretaLewd has stated...custom roms tend to break things. I'm more in favor of kernel development. But how many different kernels can you have? One way or another they'll be the same.
I also own a Nexus 6P, but my MXPE is my go to device.
I see users complaining about this phone constantly, I really don't think it matters what phone you put in the hands of those users...they would still find fault and complain.
Motorola and Lenovo did good by this device, I just hope they keep up with incrementals for a while.

Isn't the 64bit cpu reason because it takes more work to get cm/aosp roms?
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Good thread. Would love to hear more thoughts
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Ordered the device today. Hope slow development doesn't disappoint me on this device, as others have stated...

I have been using this device for 2 months now. I am happy with it an didn't face a single issue. I can do a little bit tweaking myself using Xposed.
So far the slow development doesn't bother me.

Only buy a device for what it can do out of the box, not what you hope it will be able to do with additional modding and development... Nothing else is guaranteed!
As it stands I'm very happy with my rooted stock Style, not need for custom roms.

chrisund123 said:
Only buy a device for what it can do out of the box, not what you hope it will be able to do with additional modding and development... Nothing else is guaranteed!
As it stands I'm very happy with my rooted stock Style, not need for custom roms.
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Click to collapse
That's a good way to approach Android phones I suppose but I believe
it's still nice to buy a phone that's great out of the box and good development wise, usually flagships tend to have good development and then the mid range and low end phones tend to get smaller developments but I guess there's an exception to everything.

patt2k said:
Isn't the 64bit cpu reason because it takes more work to get cm/aosp roms?
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that's the reason since 64 Bit has been the standard since Lollipop and pretty much all the flagships have a 64bit cpu since the beggining of 2015 but that doesn't stop other development forums from flourishing.

GretaLewd said:
I think it's due to a combination of factors, such as :
1) The popularity of the phone/ manufacturer. These figures show Lenovo/Motorloa in 5th place for sales, having a 3.7% market share in Q3 2015
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
3) With phones getting more expensive, more people are put off from unlocking their bootloader due to warranty issues
4) I'm no longer convinced about the benefits of custom ROMs - seems a lot of the time they break more things than they fix. Maybe a lot of other people now think the same.
5) Some apps, for example ones for mobile banking or subscrition TV & Video, will not work with a rooted phone.
In the past I've had various phones from various manufacturers, and I'd say if you get your kicks from installing custom ROMs, then buy a Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your break down on your thoughts of the subject and I must admit you've mention some very valid points here especially Point 1,2 and 5 but I think out of all of these its Point 1 and 2 that are the most significant, I suppose Motorola have a really small market share explains the lack of adoption between developers when comparing to some of the more prominent manufacturers such as samsung.
and The Android Stock OS has improved significantly within the past couple of years adding some new features that previously people had to root their phones to acomplish such as full app permission controls and backing up app data which google does for you now.

You need to follow development before buying a device these days. i.e. always wait at least 1-2 months. If you follow the development forums you would get an idea if developers are interested in said device or not. I for one, bought it right after I found out that AICP (CM12) rom was being developed. I was interested in running CM13 instead of other AOSP variations. And before I got the device the first (almost daily driver) builds were already uploaded.

Once cm is solid quite a few roms will pop up. Won't be long now.

Official MM has only been out for our phone for a little over a month. give it some time it may pick up. either way it's still an awesome phone out the box... and as stated above, once CM13 is stable im sure we'll see some of the other custom ROMs that are based off it.

GretaLewd said:
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a great point, but I'd like to add that this is especially applicable to our MXPE. We're really close to stock as it is, so there's little motivation to go ROM to debloat like there is on Samsung, LG, and similar phones. On the flip side, we have a lot of really neat features (active display, approach, accelerator gestures, voice controls) that we would lose if we went ROM.
For me, these two points combine, leaving me with little motivation to ROM my phone, especially since I can could get most of the advantages of CyanogenMod with something like GravityBox, which will allow me to keep the Motorola features (I'm currently unrooted because of the warranty, but I'll be rooted in the future for sure) . Of course, these are my own personal opinions, but I suspect that they reflect at least some of the mindset of this community.

I agree with others, that custom roms are often more trouble than they're worth. The only reason to use them these days is if your device isn't going to be updated to the latest version of Android.

Ever since moto introduced 99% stock android + moto display, roms have been entirely unnecessary for me. I used to rom my phones to gain greater flexibility + customizability. Now that I have stock android + Xposed, I doubt I will ever flash another custom rom again.

I'm still waiting for custom super roms that will make this device best in the market. Why can we have a rom with 1080p display, tweak kernel with better control for heating issue for overall battery life and speed?
Sent from my XT1575 using XDA Free mobile app

The biggest issue is that developers don't support devices they don't own. With the launch of the nexus 6 (not the 6p) most developers got it and had no need to update to a y newer devices.
Also to the comment that all flag ships are 64 bit this is not the case. If you look the most popular devices as far as developers are concerned are non 64 bit.
Also as android matures you will see less and less roms. As it will be come harder. There are very few real development teams. Most are just kitchen sink roms. A base with tons of cherry picks and a new name. Nothing even worth looking at twice. But more developers are closing up the source of their projects because of these types of roms.
To be honest most users have no point in flashing roms. Only those that like the development side of it will continue to mod roms and flash things.

Pixel 2: To root is moot...?

I've been reading posts on this forum for some weeks now and have a question/discussion of sorts I'm hoping relevant users can reason out for me.
A substantial segment of Google Nexus/Pixel users are people who hate bloatware and OEM skins. That's fair enough. What I don't quite understand however, is why some/many of these users seek to root the Google products and install custom mods.
By that standard, what exactly is wrong with using any random OEM phone if the things that are so undesirable can be removed via root anyway? For example if one criticizes Samsung for TouchWiz/Samsung Experience, why not remove it with a custom rom? It's like the real problem is the name Samsung itself.
I'm not opening this line of inquiry to try and insult anyone for reference, rather I'd like to understand the thinking behind (my) confusion. At face value however, it kind of seems like there are people who absolutely must have a Google device because Google "made" it, not because they actually want Google's Android experience.

TokyoGuy said:
I've been reading posts on this forum for some weeks now and have a question/discussion of sorts I'm hoping relevant users can reason out for me.
A substantial segment of Google Nexus/Pixel users are people who hate bloatware and OEM skins. That's fair enough. What I don't quite understand however, is why some/many of these users seek to root the Google products and install custom mods.
By that standard, what exactly is wrong with using any random OEM phone if the things that are so undesirable can be removed via root anyway? For example if one criticizes Samsung for TouchWiz/Samsung Experience, why not remove it with a custom rom? It's like the real problem is the name Samsung itself.
I'm not opening this line of inquiry to try and insult anyone for reference, rather I'd like to understand the thinking behind (my) confusion. At face value however, it kind of seems like there are people who absolutely must have a Google device because Google "made" it, not because they actually want Google's Android experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's easier to root a pixel/Google device over a Samsung device. If you get the SD variant and root it you lose Sammy pay permanently, not to mention battery is capped at 80%. Most phone companies deny warranty for root, Google doesn't. (Think one plus doesn't either). Another bonus is if one day I'm tired of rooting my 2 xl I can just get the latest Android version. That's not the same with most other phones after a year.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Another thing is the custom ROM support. Google actually releases sources that are able to be used by developers to make custom ROMs, where as Samsung doesn't release/release the most up-todate sources. Leaves developers with nothing to work with.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I can only speak for myself but my routine with every new phone includes these and others I'm forgetting in no particular order...
Root, TWRP, custom kernel, custom Rom, theme, viper, titanium backup, change to default Wi-Fi calling. Lux, others.
Some of the features i desire:
Full strength vibration
Unlock phone with fingerprint after reboot
Kill wakelocks
Center clock
Complete nandroid backups
Backing up apps with data in TBU
Removing camera sound (available stock now)
Advanced reboot menu
Color profiles
I definitely see rooting as a necessity for me.

Viper4android is a must for me so I root.

ADDS!....ADDS!....ADDS!
Fonts
TiBu
KCAL
V4A
Kernel control
Wake locks
Just because I can
Oh....and ADDS!
That's why I root :good:

I use Root for many of the above! It's a XDA addiction!!

Most us phones now come locked tighter than a virgin. The bootloaders use to be unlockable with most carriers unfortunately that is not the case anymore. I will never buy another Samsung phone as long as I live because of the bootloaders being locked. Google phones are easily unlockable as they are geared towards developers and it makes things easier for them having root.

I've been away from Samsung for a few years now. I guess Safe-strap is no more?? Man there was some mad skills on the S5 verizon forum. Lol

CyberpodS2 said:
I've been away from Samsung for a few years now. I guess Safe-strap is no more?? Man there was some mad skills on the S5 verizon forum. Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Safe-Strap was flippin awesome on the S5! I still have mine as a backup with all kinds of good stuff on that bad boy. Thanks for the memory! :good:

TokyoGuy said:
I've been reading posts on this forum for some weeks now and have a question/discussion of sorts I'm hoping relevant users can reason out for me.
A substantial segment of Google Nexus/Pixel users are people who hate bloatware and OEM skins. That's fair enough. What I don't quite understand however, is why some/many of these users seek to root the Google products and install custom mods.
By that standard, what exactly is wrong with using any random OEM phone if the things that are so undesirable can be removed via root anyway? For example if one criticizes Samsung for TouchWiz/Samsung Experience, why not remove it with a custom rom? It's like the real problem is the name Samsung itself.
I'm not opening this line of inquiry to try and insult anyone for reference, rather I'd like to understand the thinking behind (my) confusion. At face value however, it kind of seems like there are people who absolutely must have a Google device because Google "made" it, not because they actually want Google's Android experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting a google device does not void the warranty.

TokyoGuy said:
I've been reading posts on this forum for some weeks now and have a question/discussion of sorts I'm hoping relevant users can reason out for me.
A substantial segment of Google Nexus/Pixel users are people who hate bloatware and OEM skins. That's fair enough. What I don't quite understand however, is why some/many of these users seek to root the Google products and install custom mods.
By that standard, what exactly is wrong with using any random OEM phone if the things that are so undesirable can be removed via root anyway? For example if one criticizes Samsung for TouchWiz/Samsung Experience, why not remove it with a custom rom? It's like the real problem is the name Samsung itself.
I'm not opening this line of inquiry to try and insult anyone for reference, rather I'd like to understand the thinking behind (my) confusion. At face value however, it kind of seems like there are people who absolutely must have a Google device because Google "made" it, not because they actually want Google's Android experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because I don't want to have to fight with questionable hacks to unlock the bootloader, and I don't want to have to depend on someone else (who probably doesn't know what they're doing) to help out with writing the software that isn't being provided as AOSP needed to make the device fully functional.
I want a no-hacks UNLOCKED device that is PROPERLY supported by AOSP. No 2-bit mickey mouse code that crashes and randomly reboots.

Who the hell wants to pay for a device to have it come loaded with crap you never asked for or wanted??? Not me. Who wants to run these heavily modified launchers with extensive frameworks that slow down your device??? If you pay for something shouldn't you have full control of said item??? The bloatware over the years has become unbearable and the storage usage keeps increasing year by year it's insane that you cannot uninstall Facebook without root on 95% of these devices. I don't care 1 single bit about Facebook and most of the other crapware they attempt to push upon us. Google gives you options for a pure AOSP experience. I am glad I stuck with the pixel I almost passed it up because of poor customer service from Google but this device is everything I want and need. Fastboot is essential to me. I went from the s6 edge with an unlocked bootloader to the S7 edge and that absolutely sucked. The only option was package disabler or using the engineer bootloader to obtain root. It sucked so bad the kernel would chew right through the battery in no time flat I had no choice but to roll back to stock and disable things. I cannot imagine going back to that it was terrible. The thing that burns my bridge is the US variants only came without an unlock method the international variants we're easily unlockable. I will never buy another Samsung phone ever they suck.

Very Less DEVS

If i knew that this phone pixel xl has a very few ROMs and MODs i wouldn't really buy it, i prefer oneplus phones... it's just disappointing

driss.sadok said:
If i knew that this phone pixel xl has a very few ROMs and MODs i wouldn't really buy it, i prefer oneplus phones... it's just disappointing
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Click to collapse
7.x seems like it was a real challenge for developers with the a/b partitions etc. Hoping the 8 treble improvements will help that situation out. The Sony theming engine already has helped me via substratum.
Still I'm thinking the stock room hasn't given me any reason to move. In general the deviations from AOSP I like.
But yes, sure isn't a Nexus 5.

I think it's down to the price. I see no reason to buy this to Dev on over any other device Pixel just isn't value for money and nowhere near as popular as some of the other devices out there

People griping about "Very Less DEVS" certainly won't improve the situation. Thread reported to mods. If you want to complain, at least use the right forum.

I'd rather have "very less" stable quality software rather than the trash I see in some of the custom roms.

Android has matured a significant amount since the EZroot days of the Droid 1 days to the point where the OS already comes from factory with the customization that people used custom ROMs for.
That, plus the frequency of monthly updates and the need for the rom developer to keep up with the monthy updates PLUS incorporating new ways to circumvent the safetynet check has made modifying less sought after.
I'm pretty sure the majority of people people that rooted and ran ROMs were for the purpose of increasing functionality and not solely for the purpose of saying "I modified my phone".
Placebo init.d scripts and build.prop days flooded the "developer" community for some time until people caught up with it. If a company could incorporate ways to increase speed and battery life without losing functionality, wouldn't you think they would do it so they can have an edge against their competition?
So I ask, what are you looking for in a custom rom that isn't available right now?

ChongoDroid said:
I'd rather have "very less" stable quality software rather than the trash I see in some of the custom roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to agree. I am running rooted stock and have all the mods I need with great battery life. I get the need for some people wanting to run custom roms for missing options from the stock rom, but with custom roms also comes with bugs.

Yea when I originally purchased this last year I figured the dev community would be huge. Don't get me wrong I appreciate the awesome ROMs we have just thought it would be a bigger scene. Seeing as how the phone is very expensive and if you want an unlocked bootloader you have to buy it through Google it makes sense (yes some Verizon models could be unlocked before updating). In general I still love the phone and it's by far better than anything I've had before. I don't upgrade phones often because I always wait for very good deals (Pixel for $140 new) so I'll likely have this for years.

ins5736 said:
People griping about "Very Less DEVS" certainly won't improve the situation. Thread reported to mods. If you want to complain, at least use the right forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK U but i think this forum is the discussion too, so it's the right place to complain.. i wasn't complaining only for mods, roms too ... i think u get my point

scottjal said:
7.x seems like it was a real challenge for developers with the a/b partitions etc. Hoping the 8 treble improvements will help that situation out. The Sony theming engine already has helped me via substratum.
Still I'm thinking the stock room hasn't given me any reason to move. In general the deviations from AOSP I like.
But yes, sure isn't a Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have substratum and i am always on swiftblack, i'm getting bored so can u please link the sony one ? hahahaha i think our phone is only limited in stock system.

richii0207 said:
Android has matured a significant amount since the EZroot days of the Droid 1 days to the point where the OS already comes from factory with the customization that people used custom ROMs for.
That, plus the frequency of monthly updates and the need for the rom developer to keep up with the monthy updates PLUS incorporating new ways to circumvent the safetynet check has made modifying less sought after.
I'm pretty sure the majority of people people that rooted and ran ROMs were for the purpose of increasing functionality and not solely for the purpose of saying "I modified my phone".
Placebo init.d scripts and build.prop days flooded the "developer" community for some time until people caught up with it. If a company could incorporate ways to increase speed and battery life without losing functionality, wouldn't you think they would do it so they can have an edge against their competition?
So I ask, what are you looking for in a custom rom that isn't available right now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i agree with u, and concerning your question i would say that if we can have a different room rather than the stock i would be happy, i used to have, nexus5, N6, N5x, N6P, 1+1 and 1+3.. i always look for something really different than the stock android, like miui or flyme os.. or at least a rom with plenty of features. i am just get bored to have always the same stock system as there is no other cutom oreo rom. i'm not a professional and i never tried to coock some here but i always change and flash my phone and even my family and friends phones . pixel xl is amazing especially with software updates and google things, even the camera app is the best so far and we recently have this new option of "AR STICKERS"... but i am bored that this phone doesn't really make me work on it.
i hope u get the message

aholeinthewor1d said:
Yea when I originally purchased this last year I figured the dev community would be huge. Don't get me wrong I appreciate the awesome ROMs we have just thought it would be a bigger scene. Seeing as how the phone is very expensive and if you want an unlocked bootloader you have to buy it through Google it makes sense (yes some Verizon models could be unlocked before updating). In general I still love the phone and it's by far better than anything I've had before. I don't upgrade phones often because I always wait for very good deals (Pixel for $140 new) so I'll likely have this for years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what u said is exactly what i meant by making this post, and honestly this phone is the best so far, i just expected more devs on it as it's a huge phone especially a google phone.

To the OP,
It's been pretty clear for some time that there aren't many rooms for the Pixel XL: are you sure that you really could not have known this before you got one?
I'm not that bothered that there isn't much development: less is more, there's less necessity than a few years ago and the pace of updates and safetynet make this a more intensive task (as mentioned by others). I have root and only use this for very specific features like adblocking.
I've had 3 OnePlus phones (2, 3 & 5) and each generation of Nexus/Pixel (bar two: GNex and N6... I had the Pixel 2 but returned it as faulty). A number of the roms/mods for 1+ are attempts to replicate Nexus/Pixel features, with the rest fairly pointless shortcuts and 'features' of little value (and often already accessible through an app). Substratum does most all you need for theming, and xposed (apparently almost ready for Oreo as the biggest jump was to Nougat) takes care of much of the other stuff.

driss.sadok said:
well i agree with u, and concerning your question i would say that if we can have a different room rather than the stock i would be happy, i used to have, nexus5, N6, N5x, N6P, 1+1 and 1+3.. i always look for something really different than the stock android, like miui or flyme os.. or at least a rom with plenty of features. i am just get bored to have always the same stock system as there is no other cutom oreo rom. i'm not a professional and i never tried to coock some here but i always change and flash my phone and even my family and friends phones . pixel xl is amazing especially with software updates and google things, even the camera app is the best so far and we recently have this new option of "AR STICKERS"... but i am bored that this phone doesn't really make me work on it.
i hope u get the message
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you may have bought the wrong phone if u expected that you were going to need to be replacing the ROM... IMHO, none of the custom ROMs are going to be better optimisized, and its just a fact that none will be utilisizing the latest new android features, being as they are always months behind Google's releases....
custom roms tend to be far better suited for older phones, EOL devices, etc...
you can still get a ton of customizations on the stock ROM, but it comes down to custom kernels, launchers and root apps that can modify the ROM, etc....
I'm curious, what are the compelling features that u need out of rom that u can't get on stock?

driss.sadok said:
THANK U but i think this forum is the discussion too, so it's the right place to complain.. i wasn't complaining only for mods, roms too ... i think u get my point
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The mods must agree with me, not you. Enjoy complaining in the correct forum.

kboya said:
To the OP,
It's been pretty clear for some time that there aren't many rooms for the Pixel XL: are you sure that you really could not have known this before you got one?
I'm not that bothered that there isn't much development: less is more, there's less necessity than a few years ago and the pace of updates and safetynet make this a more intensive task (as mentioned by others). I have root and only use this for very specific features like adblocking.
I've had 3 OnePlus phones (2, 3 & 5) and each generation of Nexus/Pixel (bar two: GNex and N6... I had the Pixel 2 but returned it as faulty). A number of the roms/mods for 1+ are attempts to replicate Nexus/Pixel features, with the rest fairly pointless shortcuts and 'features' of little value (and often already accessible through an app). Substratum does most all you need for theming, and xposed (apparently almost ready for Oreo as the biggest jump was to Nougat) takes care of much of the other stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I miss Xposed. So. Freaking. Much.
But not enough to to go back to nougat lol

Last Xposed report was almost ready for Oreo.. a few weeks back

Thank u guys, i know my subject is annoying, but i think i am just addicted to changing all time, and to this forum too lol. but if really Xposed comes to nougat, that would help my sickness

I have had no urge to install a custom ROM or even a kernel since I got the Pixel XL (right after release). Besides my being annoyed by Google putting the search bar on the bottom of the home launcher page and making it non-deletable or even movable, I have been totally happy with bootloader unlocked and rooted stock. My only development frustration is the moving target that the TWRP devs seem to be chasing and the SuperSU transition. I am liking Magisk so far, but I had got used to Chainfire's apps and have a hard time accepting this change LOL.

2nd hand Pixel XL's will swell the user base
liam_davenport said:
I think it's down to the price. I see no reason to buy this to Dev on over any other device Pixel just isn't value for money and nowhere near as popular as some of the other devices out there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheaper 2nd hand XL's will make this phone more popular - I just got mine for £340 and am very pleased with it. (I should be as my previous phone was a Nexus 4 which I loved and nurtured for over 4 years!)
Having said that I'm on 8.1 stock unlocked but not yet rooted.
I'm waiting to see what Project Treble will bring.

why less custom roms

hii learned people
why now a days less ans less custom roms?. say it for samsung etc. look at our one plus no stable custom roms. i have a fear that after some years our xad must be irrelevant which i really dont want. the best place. i am asking from my heart. other than my profession i used to spend more time on xda before. now a days its becoming less. whch makes me very sad.
thank you
regards
dr.mouli

ayurmouli said:
hii learned people
why now a days less ans less custom roms?. say it for samsung etc. look at our one plus no stable custom roms. i have a fear that after some years our xad must be irrelevant which i really dont want. the best place. i am asking from my heart. other than my profession i used to spend more time on xda before. now a days its becoming less. whch makes me very sad.
thank you
regards
dr.mouli
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have Resurrection Remix that is stable

There's a few stable OP 8 series Roms. I don't quite understand what you are going on about.

sir
FreshlyBaked 420 said:
There's a few stable OP 8 series Roms. I don't quite understand what you are going on about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the amount of custom roms are getting lesser and lesser every day. we dont even have stable twrp of our one plus. rooting is getting difficult day by day. are we heading for ios scenario
thank you

ayurmouli said:
the amount of custom roms are getting lesser and lesser every day. we dont even have stable twrp of our one plus. rooting is getting difficult day by day. are we heading for ios scenario
thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes custom Roms aren't what they used to be. There's still options though. We do have stable TWRP on A10, A11 is going to take time. Not everything happens overnight. Rooting isn't hard either really.

The overall OS have improved a lot...

ayurmouli said:
hii learned people
why now a days less ans less custom roms?. say it for samsung etc. look at our one plus no stable custom roms. i have a fear that after some years our xad must be irrelevant which i really dont want. the best place. i am asking from my heart. other than my profession i used to spend more time on xda before. now a days its becoming less. whch makes me very sad.
thank you
regards
dr.mouli
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can thank the dynamic super partition as the culprit behind this.
This is the real underlying cause of very few custom roms. It's also the cost of the device. many people can't afford a thousand bucks.

yes
Burt Squirtz said:
You can thank the dynamic super partition as the culprit behind this.
This is the real underlying cause of very few customer roms. It's also the cost of the device. many people can't afford a thousand bucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly the base of android os is open source but slowly we are reaching for the closed eco system. unfortunately

ayurmouli said:
exactly the base of android os is open source but slowly we are reaching for the closed eco system. unfortunately
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right. I'm flashing roms since my galaxy S1. Ive never had a phone without custom rom. But nowadays stock roms starting to be better an better. Even MIUI is a great rom if you debloat it a lot! Today I'm only rooted with a custom kernel. I don't want to miss OEM feature and just want to have a stable rom! And with OxygenOS we have it!

There are ROMs and there is root, we really don't need twrp.
Root is extremely easy, as is unlocking the bootloader.
Personally I'm not a fan of the dual slot system, I think it just confuses the crap out of people, but what can you do.
I'm coming from a Huawei p20 pro. If you think it's bad here, just check out the "development" over there, and they were thriving not so long ago, now it's just as dead as death over there.
(They actually made a development section for the p40 Pro lol why? )
We'll have development for some time yet and will more than likely be root and development for many years to come.
Plus the developers we have here, a lot of them are self taught so why wait for someone else to do it for you?
Make yourself a ROM..
I've done it before (many moons ago) its a great feeling making a ROM you made yourself that boots, of course if it's a non OOS ROM you'll need twrp but that'll come in due course.
I agree in part that development has declined but we should be grateful for what we do have, which is more than a lot of other devices..
I think partly with 1+ it's because the OS is already pretty damn good, plus OnePlus haven't exactly made it impossible for us to mod things..

I also look at another flagship phone that released this year, almost low to none custom ROMs.

Yes thx, I've been on pixels for the last few years & always on a custom rom. I got kona soon as I could and have been loving it. While I have used magisk modules and custom kernel, this is the first time in a really long time that I've stayed on the stock os. The os has came a long way and am thankful to have kona and wouldn't change it for nothing. I've really enjoyed this device so far. Anyway thanks for sharing and just thought I'd share my thoughts.

ps000000 said:
I also look at another flagship phone that released this year, almost low to none custom ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye I've done the same, even the pixel seems lacking.
Are we looking at it wrong though? I mean back on the HTC devices I've owned sure I did a tonne of flashing but I usually settled on 1 or 2 ROMs and we do have more than that here, so do we have what we need rather than what we want?
Lol I'm sure we'd all prefer the latter, I would too, but it's something to think about, I mean Paranoid Android is here, sure it's had less updates than an rtx 3090 but it's here

To add to what others are saying... Cooking a ROM is a very time consuming project. Not a lot of people want to spend the time on it anymore. When I first got a smart phone, it was an HTC touch diamond. Windows phone OS. Back then, tons of people were learning to create custom ROMs and mods for them. That has slowly dwindled over time. On Android, ROMs were mostly created to get AOSP ported to most devices. Nowadays, all phones have custom hardware that needs a factory ROM to be useful. AOSP is not very desirable as it is the most basic form of Android with only basic functionality for mostly Pixel phones. Most people are now only concerned with using a debloated stock ROM and rooting for modules etc. This is the norm. I don't think it will change. It is what things have evolved into over time.

Also we can install treble ROMs can't we?
I've talked about this before.
There should be dedicated sections for functional treble ROMs where common issues can be laid bare so they can at least be worked on with specific device owners.
Asking a question about your own device in a treble thread seldom gets an answer.
AFAIK we'd need twrp unless Fastboot can be used? Not sure, have only managed to get one treble ROM to boot back on the p20 pro when I had it unlocked.
Most of it worked if memory serves..I'll give them a whirl next time I Bork my system or i get bored and will make a thread detailing which ones work.

i will never go for huawei
dladz said:
There are ROMs and there is root, we really don't need twrp.
Root is extremely easy, as is unlocking the bootloader.
Personally I'm not a fan of the dual slot system, I think it just confuses the crap out of people, but what can you do.
I'm coming from a Huawei p20 pro. If you think it's bad here, just check out the "development" over there, and they were thriving not so long ago, now it's just as dead as death over there.
(They actually made a development section for the p40 Pro lol why? )
We'll have development for some time yet and will more than likely be root and development for many years to come.
Plus the developers we have here, a lot of them are self taught so why wait for someone else to do it for you?
Make yourself a ROM..
I've done it before (many moons ago) its a great feeling making a ROM you made yourself that boots, of course if it's a non OOS ROM you'll need twrp but that'll come in due course.
I agree in part that development has declined but we should be grateful for what we do have, which is more than a lot of other devices..
I think partly with 1+ it's because the OS is already pretty damn good, plus OnePlus haven't exactly made it impossible for us to mod things..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
never allow us to open boot loader. u cant even root. i sold p30 pro after using it for 3 months. i always come back to android because we can root. other wise iphone is better in all the departments and it has value also. but if android is same as ios i.e closed eco system then who needs it. we do flashing etc because its fun. as a doctor this things makes me feel; good because i do something (rooting etc) which is beyond my profession. which is fun and entertaining

ayurmouli said:
never allow us to open boot loader. u cant even root. i sold p30 pro after using it for 3 months. i always come back to android because we can root. other wise iphone is better in all the departments and it has value also. but if android is same as ios i.e closed eco system then who needs it. we do flashing etc because its fun. as a doctor this things makes me feel; good because i do something (rooting etc) which is beyond my profession. which is fun and entertaining
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I couldn't disagree more.
Point being the OS even without root is still better, still more open and content is still better.
Think Apple TV Vs Shield TV Pro, I can play Wii, GameCube, Dreamcast, arcade, neogeo, SNES, megadrive, Atari, Amiga, spectrum commodore, Amstrad, pc engine, pc games, Android games, can watch any movie, listen to any music, connect any controller (multiple controllers) wired or wireless, have it as a searchable Nas drive in my network, watch IPTV through it.
Apple TV can be used for apps like Netflix, that is it.
No file manager, no emulators, nothing.
iOS is not better than Android, not even close, maybe the camera and that's due to singular hardware.
Also Huawei/ honor devices DID allow bootloader unlocking, I know this as I unlocked my p20 pro they stopped it in July 2018 and then reopened it briefly in late 2018, nothing since.
Before this time it was always open, they partnered with XDA to promote their devices and then when they gathered ground they pulled the rug out from underneath everyone's feet, Huawei are slime, they deserve to be hit financially.
Anyone who bought a p30 or p40 is either not bothered about rooting or doesn't want the latest and greatest hardware (Mali GPU is horrific, Kirin is a joke)
If anyone does buy Huawei, they're contributing to the problem as they're still giving money to a company who went against everything that Android stands for.
There is literally no point of there being a P40 forum or P30. It's not even Android in my eyes.
The only way that will reverse is if people stop buying from Huawei/honor, if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem.
Going back to Apple, the only device I like from them is their MacBook Pro simply for it's trackpad as I love the features it offers, but as an OS? No I'm always the phone nor OSX can cut it Vs Windows/Android..
And would you pay £2,500 for the privilege of using their trackpad? No I'd rather buy a top gaming rig.
It'll always be this way, Jesus iOS just got widgets lmfao,, welcome to 2007 Apple, haha.
And you think is better? You must be joking.