Reply With QuoteLove it Bob although you lost me just after 'I admit it'...
if only....
I admit it. I'm an inveterate tinkerer. This is one of the reasons I like Android. One can tinker. Another is familiarity. I'm reasonably familiar with linux (been using it since 1993). All in all, I think that Android is the least bad of the available options. However, I know that tastes differ. When my wife wanted to get a smart phone, I said that I would get her whatever she wanted, whether Android, Apple or whatever. (She went for a Samsung.)
In any case, I tinker. However, after a bout of intense tinkering, one finds that one doesn't need to do as much, and has the results one likes. For example, I build my own Android instance of a custom Android ROM: LineageOS. I built one last night. The total amount of work I had to do for a new version was type "build_lgg5" at the console. This downloaded updated bits of the system ROM, built it, signed the ROM and system apps with my private keys, and transferred the new ROM to the OTA (over the air) update system on my LAN. All while I slept and dreamed. This morning, there was a notification on my phone that an update was available. To install it, I simply had to tap the notification and tap "yes" when asked whether I wanted to install. After things are set up, little effort is required to keep things going. (And, I am not a programmer.)
The tinkering bit went earlier. Some was a bit tedious, admittedly. I stripped the Google stuff out of it. A portion of this was easy, just refraining from installing the Google system. Some of the network location stuff was a bit more difficult. I mostly use real GPS on the phone, but had to strip the standard AGPS stuff, which relies on Google network location, to use something local to the phone. Standardly, the only outside connections I have are to the IMAP email push notification (k-9 mail) and to my private cloud for data/calendar/contacts (Nextcloud). I use Nextcloud to keep all my devices and desktops in sync.
The upshot is a pretty clean system. It is nice to have choices.
Best wishes,
Bob
Last edited by rfrazier; 2nd November 2018 at 11:48.
Love it Bob although you lost me just after 'I admit it'...
if only....
I was a bit of a tinkerer once using Cyanogen on some older phones, which I believe closed down and is now Lineage OS. Since I bought my Motorola G6+, which is running Oreo 8.0.0 I'm not inclined to root it and will be updated to Pie soon.
I admire your skills Bob though 😊
My level of tinkering is changing the wallpaper and setting the alarm. I returned to Android last year after a few years of Apple.
I have Google Pixel 2 for which there is no photos gallery and all photos upload to Google Photos. I usually prefer photos being on the phone and online and so have some reading to do. If it involves anything like your post, then I give up!
It is too bad that it is difficult to have local pictures. Google wants all data to pass through their hands.
I'm not suggesting that everyone/anyone tinker as much as I do. As I said, tastes vary. I like having the choice, however. Roughly, I like the possibility of being more in control, if I want. I really, really, don't like the attitude that you will take what we give you and be happy with it. ;)
Best wishes,
Bob
Nice read as always Robert. I have the new Pocophone F1 and it's fine as it is but will root etc in a few years.
I have a 2012 Nexus 7 wifi which was so slow, I ended up flashing SlimKat and putting a custom Kernel. However I noticed Lineage OS has a ROM which is compatible with the old Nexus. Do you reckon it will speed up the old tablet to being more useable?
Only so much you can do with old devices and modern apps that trade CPU speed for optimized code. However, in addition to having it on my phone, I have LineageOS on my 2012 Samsung Note II, 2012 B&N Nook HD, 2012 B&N Nook HD+, 2013 Samsung Note 8, and 2014 Samsung Tab S 10.1, and they all work reasonably well. The Nooks are pretty underpowered, so one (small Nook HD) I use for a bedside alarm/music thingie, and the other (large Nook HD+) for reading PDFs and the like. The Samsung's have aged better. I think it might be worth giving LineageOS a shot on the Nexus.Originally Posted by Ventura
Best wishes,
Bob
This is the biggest, biggest issue with Android at the moment. With new rules splitting the Play Store and and Google products it would be nice for another OS to emerge that is built on Android that isn't Google that comes to compete. Admittedly a lot of Google products are rather useful, but there are other options - though without a play store things become a bit more difficult (and stuff like banking apps also become an issue....)
Hopefully its not someone like Samsung who decide to do it, their UI/UX is a bit pants
I too am an inveterate Android tinkerer. It all started with the legendary HTC HD2.....
(Which I still have).
Thanks Robert
Me too.
I've tried not to drink too much before bed and that seems to help.
On a more serious note, I like the customisation you're doing Bob. Ethically and philosophically, it makes more sense to me than paying to be part of a benevolent dictatorship where the tribe is more important than the individual.
Which some... er... tech majors (can't think who) seem to encourage.
There are other places that you can download instead of google play but admittedly i just stick with play myself which silently installs a new version regularly. :(
(I have updates set to manual.)
Addons detector keeps coming up with google play installing yet another version without permission :(
I've always wanted to go the step and build/compile a rom for my phone. There must be a fair bit of prep before going build!?
Unless you are making changes to the ROM, building LineageOS is pretty straight forward. As I said, I'm not a programmer. Also, it is part of the charter of LineageOS to provide build instructions for every device they support. Well done them!
lineageos.org -> wiki -> <your device> > build guide
Best wishes,
Bob
I used to be a serial flasher but I found the benefits of custom ROMs became fewer, and the disadvantages (like breaking Knox on Samsungs) became greater.
I don't miss the cold sweats every time I bricked my phone.
Hats off to the OP, it’s posts like this that remind me how little I know about so many things!
^ Wonderful!
Best wishes,
Bob
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