Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
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Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
1–10 of 221 posts
Re: Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
#2Title could just be "Google deprecates open source Dialer and Messages apps". But yeah, this is hardly a surprise, almost every app Google had on Android used to be open source and nearly all of them have been replaced with proprietary variants over time.
Re: Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
#3This is the kind of shit I thought could theoretically happen and it was one of the reason I got rid of Android a few years ago and got a PinePhone when my smartphone died. I've been counting on the Linux mobile ecosystem to develop so we have an good alternative to Android and iOS.
It's not there yet. I need my phone to be reliable and IMHO, it would need to reliably let me place an emergency call if I ever needed it. It's not yet the case. For now, I'm using my first phone, which is not a smartphone, and the PinePhone serves the smartphone-specific needs I have on the go like look something up on the internet or display a map. Which is already something.
The Linux mobile ecosystem has greatly improved though, I still have hope that it'll be usable in a few years.
Re: Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
#4Title could just be "Google deprecates open source Dialer and Messages apps". But yeah, this is hardly a surprise, almost every app Google had on Android used to be open source and nearly all of them have been replaced with proprietary variants over time.
Just another step towards Ubuntu or another proper linux distro to take over the phone space.
Re: Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
#5Most custom ROMs don't seem to use the AOSP dialer anyway. I've mostly seen forks with some nice features Google's dialer still lacks (call recording, for one).
AOSP hasn't been a useful Android distribution for years. Luckily, you can make it useful through third party apps like the Simple apps: https://www.simplemobiletools.com/
Re: Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
#6Title could just be "Google deprecates open source Dialer and Messages apps". But yeah, this is hardly a surprise, almost every app Google had on Android used to be open source and nearly all of them have been replaced with proprietary variants over time.
Just another step towards Ubuntu or another proper linux distro to take over the phone space.
Ubuntu actually pioneered the domain with Ubuntu Phone, and then abandoned it. It's been taken over by UBPorts, a community effort, with Lomiri for it's graphical environment. I don't know these much, as I think they don't let you run regular Linux apps.
There are many linux mobile distributions, I think the most mature / widespread ones are Mobian, PostmarketOS and Manjaro. And UBPorts of course.
Mobian has been upstreaming most of its work to Debian proper, which is cool. I'm using Mobian but there's not much Mobian-specific stuff remaining. I think they nailed the development model.
Re: Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
#7Most custom ROMs don't seem to use the AOSP dialer anyway. I've mostly seen forks with some nice features Google's dialer still lacks (call recording, for one). AOSP hasn't been a useful Android distribution for years. Luckily, you can make it useful through third party apps like the Simple apps: https://www.simplemobiletools.com/
if QKSMS still exists, it seems like a good replacement for the messaging app. That's what I used when I used Android a few years ago.
Re: Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
#8Very interesting article that talks about the progression of Google's closed source app alternatives: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/googles-iron-grip-on...
I always thought that sure, they're deprecating old apps for the closed source Google version, which sucks, but at least AOSP still comes with barebones versions.
But now AOSP, a mobile phone operating system, will come without calling and texting ability? How can Google even do that? These apps, old as they may be, can also still serve as useful reference points for making your own OEM-branded app.
Re: Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
#9How can you call Android an open source mobile OS anymore given even these basic functions will be dropped?
Re: Google is about to make life more difficult for custom ROM fans
#10Most custom ROMs don't seem to use the AOSP dialer anyway. I've mostly seen forks with some nice features Google's dialer still lacks (call recording, for one). AOSP hasn't been a useful Android distribution for years. Luckily, you can make it useful through third party apps like the Simple apps: https://www.simplemobiletools.com/
Yeah, my first thought after reading the article was something like, "so I guess everyone will have to start grabbing phone/SMS apps out of F-Droid now". Annoying, but not that big of a deal, and I suspect the replacements will be better anyways. Worst case, the community and/or individual ROMs just fork the old AOSP versions, which has happened before as Google abandons things.