Related
Seems LG knows something Samsung doesn't? They say Google not allowing ui over lay on honeycomb at this time... Maybe vanilla 3.0 after all?
http://phandroid.com/2011/03/24/lg-says-google-wont-allow-custom-uis-on-honeycomb-samsung-says-huh/
Sent from my Tab using XDA Premium App
This is very interesting. Because Samsung was verrrryyyy careful to note that TouchWiz4.0 would be coming to "some devices" in "some markets". and wouldn't even hint at which those were.
Also it should be noted that they're calling TouchWiz4.0 a "UX" or User Experience, rather than a UI (User Interface). Although this is kinda stupid because they're re-skinning basic Honeycomb UI elements like the back/home/multitasking buttons and the entire settings menu, etc. Sounds like a UI more than a UX to me.
Sounds like they're going to try and develop TouchWiz4.0 and then fight Google on it. If anything, Google will push it back until they just include a few widgets and call it a day. I'm perfectly okay with this.
This sounds awesome btw, and I hope Google follows through with it. Its good for them to try and protect Android as a brand and keep it from getting bastardized by all the manufacturers and carriers.
You guys should remember that Samsung has previously squeezed through Google's rules. Google tried to stop Android from being put on tablets too early by not allowing GAPS (Google Apps, e.g. the Market) to be shipped on those devices, however there was an exception to this rule and surprisingly enough it was the original Galaxy Tab. I also believe the Notion Ink Adam had the market installed, but I don't know how they managed that one.
If what LG states is true, Samsung and maybe even other major manufactures like HTC do not have to follow this rule. I assure you, TouchWiz will somehow make it to these tabs somehow, Samsung seems to be special.
martonikaj said:
This sounds awesome btw, and I hope Google follows through with it. Its good for them to try and protect Android as a brand and keep it from getting bastardized by all the manufacturers and carriers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree. I think it would be great for Google to be firm footed about this. It's mainly the UI customisation that has caused so many manufacturers to cancel or postpone Android OS updates. I don't care if a manufacturer can produce a better UI than stock, I'd still rather have stock so that OS updates can be more timely.
Manufacturers can still customise the UI/UX somewhat via the application layer and their own widgets. Look at Launcher Pro for example.
I think Google need to create a supported mechanism for manufacturers to customise/skin/theme Android via official API calls. This gives manufacturers the differentiation they want and keeps everyone working ontop of official API calls.
Google should simply require that any modifications to the stock Android Experience be made "optional" by the manufacturers. Everybody wins.
RickBaller said:
Google should simply require that any modifications to the stock Android Experience by made "optional" by the manufacturers. Everybody wins.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. That way Samsung can advertise it all they want in promotional material etc., but there is a switch in the settings menu to turn it all back to stock. Maybe this will be Samsung's compromise, who knows. It sounds like Google would prefer if it was stock and no questions asked. Manufacturers can customize all they want with widgets and apps, just leave the OS stock!
What people don't realize is that as long as carriers have any part of the update process, you will always get updates late. Why do you think the iPhone has no carrier logo, no carrier apps, and all updates are through iTunes? Apple knows that carriers are slow as **** and mess up everything they touch.
ryude said:
What people don't realize is that as long as carriers have any part of the update process, you will always get updates late. Why do you think the iPhone has no carrier logo, no carrier apps, and all updates are through iTunes? Apple knows that carriers are slow as **** and mess up everything they touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I totally agree. Having firmware that toggles between stock and custom sounds like it will take even longer to release that the custom firmwares of today. The only way it could work is. If Samsung release them separately. Stock would be released first. They can then take as much time as they need to release their custom variant. That would be best of both worlds. Having said that I still think i'll be using home brew roms from xda as it will be tonnes better than what samsung produce.
Android should have a central repository like Ubuntu so it's always up to date on every device. Google made a mistake not doing something like that in the beginning. Now it's probably too late.
"An LG spokesperson." Yeah, dunno if I would actually believe this person. It's like asking a retail salesman at the store when the release date is for the new phone.
Also, do you guys really want to loose Touchwiz? Besides the rfs file system which is still yet unknown, I wouldn't mind Touchwiz if it includes all the codecs. The Vibrant was a beast of a media player right off the bat and if I get a tablet, I would want it to play anything from the get go. Although, the other topic posted a video saying the Touchwiz update would be optional so who knows.
DKYang said:
"An LG spokesperson." Yeah, dunno if I would actually believe this person. It's like asking a retail salesman at the store when the release date is for the new phone.
Also, do you guys really want to loose Touchwiz? Besides the rfs file system which is still yet unknown, I wouldn't mind Touchwiz if it includes all the codecs. The Vibrant was a beast of a media player right off the bat and if I get a tablet, I would want it to play anything from the get go. Although, the other topic posted a video saying the Touchwiz update would be optional so who knows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a good point about the codec support. What's involved with Samsung adding codec support? Is it a case of just having the codec files added to the Android OS or does it require native modules to be installed within the Android OS? I guess it's the UI elements I have the most issues with TouchWiz. Non-UI elements that enhance the phone such as additional codecs are a welcome benefit. They probably add hardly any extra time to incorporate into a stock Android OS release.
Techno79 said:
That's a good point about the codec support. What's involved with Samsung adding codec support? Is it a case of just having the codec files added to the Android OS or does it require native modules to be installed within the Android OS? I guess it's the UI elements I have the most issues with TouchWiz. Non-UI elements that enhance the phone such as additional codecs are a welcome benefit. They probably add hardly any extra time to incorporate into a stock Android OS release.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he's just saying that Samsung has more incentive to add in the codec support if they're going to customize with TouchWiz4.0.
Although I'd like to see them add the codec support either way considering they could use it as a huge selling point.
Some back story: Work is hot and heavy to get a few of these as we are looking to deploy a couple hundred across the enterprise. Well specifically upper management has narrowed the choices down to iPad, Surface or Nexus 10 as they want a closed infrastructure product, and with Android, closest we can get as Google isn't officially in the hardware business yet.
So Surface I've ruled out, at least RT OS as the closed infrastructure they so desire doesn't give me what I need, as in a JunOS Pulse client, Zenprise not available in the store.
iPad right now looks great, has all the 3rd party software I need and kiosk mode as the tablets are going to be utilized for a very specific reason and they want to lock out certain access/apps from the devices.
Which leads me to Nexus. I have come to terms that Zenprise MDM is not going to give me the granular control I need to lock out applications we don't want. Nature of Android. Samsung's SAFE would be wonderful, but obviously won't be bundled with the "pure google" Nexus. So I need to get a copy of the stock OS, strip all the apps I don't need and create a custom ROM and then push to these devices. I've had my management team standing on my back for 2 weeks now and am super bummed that there isn't a B&M store stocking on launch day as they did with the 7. So I've already purchased two from play and am hoping Walmart might get me one this week though doubt it.
TL;DR How can I get my hands on a copy of the stock OS for the 10 to start creating my ROM? Will I have to wait for someone more knowledgeable than me to strip from the device or will Saumsung/Google eventually have a place for me to DL. With the Asus Transformers it has been great as ASUS themselves offer all the tools needed on their website.
Also, taking suggestions from any with experience. I'm not in the modding scene personally other than as a consumer. (USe JBSourcery on my G'Nex with delight) So have been boning up on mod scene as I can and hope that process won't be too difficult. Thanks!
Well the actual stock image can be found here, however going about modifying this might be a PITA (note they are in .img form). Another option would be to create a custom build of Android but that might be a bit of work and a tad overkill.
Android 5.0 release date
Google has announced that its next developer conference - Google IO - will take place from May 15 to May 17 2013, a month earlier than 2012's June dates. Given that Google announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at 2012's IO conference, it's not unreasonable to expect to see Android 5.0 at this year's event On 31 January, a Google IO showing of Android 5.0 looked more likely when screengrabs of a Qualcomm roadmap were leaked, showing Android 5.0 as breaking cover between April and June 2013.
Android 5.0 phones
Rumours of a new Nexus handset started trickling in during the third quarter of 2012, as we reported on 1 October 2012. There was speculation that this phone would be sporting Key Lime Pie, but sources who spoke to AndroidAndMe correctly claimed that the handset, which turned out to be the Google Nexus 4 would be running Android Jelly Bean.
While the Nexus 4 didn't appear with a helping of Key Lime Pie, speculation that we reported on 21 January 2013 suggests that the Motorola X Phone is the Android 5.0-toting handset that will be revealed at Google IO. According to a post on the DroidForums website, the phone will also feature a virtually bezel-free, edge-to-edge, 5-inch display.
The same leaked Qualcomm documents cited above also made mention of a two new Snapdragon devices, one of which will be, unsurprisingly, a new Nexus phone.
Android 5.0 features
For 24 hours, it seemed as though the first kinda, sorta confirmed feature for Android 5.0 was a Google Now widget, which briefly appeared in a screenshot on the company's support forum before being taken down. As it was so hurriedly pulled, many people assumed it was slated for the big five-o and accidentally revealed early.
As it happened, the following day, on 13 February 2013, the Google Now widget rolled out to Jelly Bean.
So while we wait on Key Lime Pie features to be revealed and scour the web for more Android 5.0 news, TechRadar writer Gary Cutlack has been thinking about what we want to see in Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. Hopefully the new mobile OS will feature some of these things...
Performance Profiles
It's bit of a fuss managing your mobile before bed time. Switching off the sound, turning off data, activating airplane mode and so on, so what Android 5.0 really needs is a simple way of managing performance, and therefore power use, automatically.
We've been given a taste of this with Blocking Mode in Samsung's Jelly Bean update on the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Note 2 but we'd like to see the functionality expanded.
Something like a Gaming mode for max power delivery, an Overnight low-power state for slumbering on minimal power and maybe a Reading mode for no bothersome data connections and a super-low backlight.
Some hardware makers put their own little automated tools in, such as the excellent Smart Actions found within Motorola's RAZR interface, but it'd be great to see Google give us a simple way to manage states.
Another little power strip style widget for phone performance profiles would be an easy way to do it.
Better multiple device support
Google already does quite a good job of supporting serious Android nerds who own several phones and tablets, but there are some holes in its coverage that are rather frustrating.
Take the Videos app which manages your film downloads through the Play Store. Start watching a film on one Android device and you're limited to resuming your film session on that same unit, making it impossible to switch from phone to tablet mid-film.
You can switch between phone and web site players to resume watching, but surely Google ought to understand its fans often have a couple of phones and tabs on the go and fix this for Android Key Lime Pie?
Enhanced social network support
Android doesn't really do much for social network users out of the box, with most of the fancy social widgets and features coming from the hardware makers through their own custom skins.
Sony integrates Facebook brilliantly in its phones, and even LG makes a great social network aggregator widget that incorporates Facebook and Twitter - so why are there no cool aggregator apps as part of the standard Android setup?
Yes, Google does a great job of pushing Google+, but, no offence, there are many other more widely used networks that ought to be a little better "baked in" to Android.
Line-drawing keyboard options
Another area where the manufacturers have taken a big leap ahead of Google is in integrating clever alternate text entry options in their keyboards. HTC and Sony both offer their own takes on the Swype style of line-drawing text input, which is a nice option to have for getting your words onto a telephone. Get it into Android 5.0 and give us the choice.
A video chat app
How odd is it that Google's put a front-facing camera on the Nexus 7 and most hardware manufacturers do the same on their phones and tablets, yet most ship without any form of common video chat app?
You have to download Skype and hope it works, or find some other downloadable app solution. Why isn't there a Google Live See My Face Chat app of some sort as part of Android? Is it because we're too ugly? Is that what you're saying, Google?
Multi-select in the contacts
The Android contacts section is pretty useful, but it could be managed a little better. What if you have the idea of emailing or texting a handful of your friends? The way that's currently done is by emailing one, then adding the rest individually. Some sort of checkbox system that let users scroll through names and create a mailing list on the fly through the contacts listing in Android Key Lime Pie would make this much easier.
Cross-device SMS sync
If you're a constant SIM swapper with more than one phone on the go, chances are you've lost track of your text messages at some point. Google stores these on the phone rather than the SIM card, so it'd be nice if our texts could be either backed up to the SIM, the SD card, or beamed up to the magical invisible cloud of data, for easy and consistent access across multiple devices.
A "Never Update" option
This would annoy developers so is unlikely to happen, but it'd be nice if we could refuse app updates permanently in Android 5.0, just in case we'd rather stick with a current version of a tool than be forced to upgrade.
Sure, you can set apps to manual update and then just ignore the update prompt forever, but it'd be nice to know we can keep a favoured version of an app without accidentally updating it. Some of us are still using the beta Times app, for example, which has given free access for a year.
App preview/freebie codes
Something Apple's been doing for ages and ages is using a promo code system to distribute free or review versions of apps. It even makes doing little competitions to drum up publicity for apps much easier, so why's there no similar scheme for Android?
It might encourage developers to stop going down the ad-covered/freemium route if they could charge for an app but still give it away to friends and fans through a promo code system.
Final whinges and requests...
It's be nice to be able to sort the Settings screen by alphabetical order, too, or by most commonly used or personal preference, as Android's so packed with a huge list of options these days it's a big old list to scroll through and pick out what you need.
Plus could we have a percentage count for the battery in the Notifications bar for Android 5.0? Just so we know a bit more info than the vague emptying battery icon.
(Source)
Okay I wanted to drop this in about video chat. You say that Google doesn't have one right? Of I remember correctly Google talk has video.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda app-developers app
jlmancuso said:
Okay I wanted to drop this in about video chat. You say that Google doesn't have one right? Of I remember correctly Google talk has video.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This one is built in,you dont have to look for it and install it from 3rd party.
Diablo67 said:
This one is built in,you dont have to look for it and install it from 3rd party.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google talk has built in video chat, you don't have to install anything its preloaded on every android phone for as long as I can remember.
I like to break stuff!
-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
Google talk has built in video chat, you don't have to install anything its preloaded on every android phone for as long as I can remember.
I like to break stuff!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the gapps i ever installed didnt,but yes on a sense rom you can find it and maybe an official ICS or JB that is meant for a certain phone.So i should have reworded that.You are correct though.
Researchers at Bluebox Security have revealed a disturbing flaw in Android's security model, which the group claims may affect up to 99 percent of Android devices in existence. According to Bluebox, this vulnerability has existed since Android 1.6 (Donut), which gives malicious app developers the ability to modify the code of a legitimate APK, all without breaking its cryptographic signature -- thereby allowing the installation to go unnoticed. To pull off the exploit, a rotten app developer would first need to trick an unknowing user into installing the malicious update, but hackers could theoretically gain full control of a user's phone if the "update" posed as a system file from the manufacturer.
Bluebox claims that it notified Google of the exploit in February. According to CIO, Bluebox CTO Jeff Forristal has named the Galaxy S 4 as the only device that's currently immune to the exploit -- which suggests that a security patch may already exist. Forristal further claims that Google is working on an update for its Nexus devices. In response to our inquiry, Google told us that it currently has no comment. We certainly hope that device manufacturers do the responsible thing and distribute timely security patches to resolve this issue. Absent that, you can protect yourself by installing updates through the Play Store and Android's built-in system update utility.
Source:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/04/bluebox-reveals-android-security-vulnerability/
They ust read this here and on an Australian news website, news.com.au, they recommend;
So what can I do about this?
- Do not allow apps from unkown sources. To do this go to Settings, Security and untick "allow unknown sources".
- Well, the news isn't good. Until further notice, news.com.au recommends that you don't download any non-Google apps.
- Bluebox has recommended that users update their operating system to the latest version.
- Also, if you have any apps which store your personal information such as credit card or PayPal information (like eBay, Amazon or Etsy), you should remove this information immediately.
- Remove any personal information from your phone (do you have your credit card pin stored in your notes? Get rid of it)
Crap advice for majority of users I feel.
Most users will have 'unknown sources' off by default but they advise not download any non Google app even from the play market as mentioned elsewhere in article.
They say to update your phone, how easy is that to do when carriers and manufacturers don't release up to date firmware for phones..
That is fine for people like us that flash new Roms all the time but for normal folk it's not a viable solution.
I don't really think the threat is so great, going by those that report such though we all had better stop using android..
I am more concerned with apps using other apps permissions/data flaw
and google play update/install protocall being not encrypted/catchable and falsifyable.
Regarding what is stated in article, this was known almost day 1 which is why from beginning android said dont install non market stuff. And it has also been known crapware has entered market.
So all in all, its an obvious article.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
I totally agree baz77, this has been know for a very long time now. There are also quite a few apps in Play that are "crapware".
The issue has been fixed on Google's side and CyanogenMod (08/07 nightly and yesterday's security release CM10.1.1.)
Now, it is up to the OEMs to follow
I guess I got it wrong, it is a separate issue, glad the pros getting it fixed, they need to be applauded! Salute!
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
Hi -
As the title says, I'm a total Android noob. I tried a droid phone many years ago, but found it irritating and fiddly, and went with an iPhone. I'm no fan of Apple, but it works pretty good, and as long as I was able to jailbreak the phone, I was OK with it. I think the future of JB for iphone may well be at the end of the road. If I ever have to replace or reload my iphone, then I lose my JB & I'm locked into Apple's walled garden. Unacceptable, as then I lose my ad-block and other items that make the device tolerable.
Realizing that my current iPhone is very likely my last, I snagged a Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T580 to see if I could learn to live with Android. One of my biggest issues with Android is Google. I despise Google and avoid using Google & their services to the greatest extent possible. (Yes, I know, flames and criticism headed my way for saying that ).
I don't want anyone's cloud, mail or other services.; I have my own servers for caldav, mail and file services. I want a stripped down, unbloated, and ad blocking android experience that is as free as possible from google or 3rd party services.
I understand there are other images (Cyanagen, AOKP, etc) but I don't know enough about any of this yet to know what I'd be getting into there.
But as a start, following a guide found here on XDA, I have rooted the tablet, and using Titanium, removed a good bit of the bloatware. I notice that since rooting the tablet, there is a 6 - 8 second delay after entering the pin code and hitting OK before the tablet unlocks. Not sure what that's all about.
There's a lot to learn and a lot of mis-information out there. It's hard to find a straight answer. Any tips or info appreciated as I try and figure out how to get as close as possible to my goal.
kalart said:
Hi -
As the title says, I'm a total Android noob. I tried a droid phone many years ago, but found it irritating and fiddly, and went with an iPhone. I'm no fan of Apple, but it works pretty good, and as long as I was able to jailbreak the phone, I was OK with it. I think the future of JB for iphone may well be at the end of the road. If I ever have to replace or reload my iphone, then I lose my JB & I'm locked into Apple's walled garden. Unacceptable, as then I lose my ad-block and other items that make the device tolerable.
Realizing that my current iPhone is very likely my last, I snagged a Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T580 to see if I could learn to live with Android. One of my biggest issues with Android is Google. I despise Google and avoid using Google & their services to the greatest extent possible. (Yes, I know, flames and criticism headed my way for saying that ).
I don't want anyone's cloud, mail or other services.; I have my own servers for caldav, mail and file services. I want a stripped down, unbloated, and ad blocking android experience that is as free as possible from google or 3rd party services.
I understand there are other images (Cyanagen, AOKP, etc) but I don't know enough about any of this yet to know what I'd be getting into there.
But as a start, following a guide found here on XDA, I have rooted the tablet, and using Titanium, removed a good bit of the bloatware. I notice that since rooting the tablet, there is a 6 - 8 second delay after entering the pin code and hitting OK before the tablet unlocks. Not sure what that's all about.
There's a lot to learn and a lot of mis-information out there. It's hard to find a straight answer. Any tips or info appreciated as I try and figure out how to get as close as possible to my goal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My advice.
Ignore built.prop mods. I haven't seen any empirical evidence to prove it does what people say it does. Infact I've read more to say its bolony. However, I did find 3c toolbox improved my battery life on my Galaxy s5 with lineage os installed.
I managed to remove google from my android box. Use aptiode for an app store.
Download F droid,
Install newpipe YouTube client. Then ads are banished forever.
Install ad-away. Helps block ads on browser.
I use mi-explorer.
Don't use greenify or clean master they don't help.
With 3c toolbox and root you can remove a load of rubbish. My basic M8S runs really great with google removed.
I would recommend lineage OS, I have it running on 3 devices so far. I'm the nougat Aosp from this forum on my tab 10.1.