231–240 of 658 posts
Not saying that everything else is bad, but one thing that strikes me is how much they have run out of interesting things now that they had to use fillers[1] like: Tooltips Support for tooltips (small popup windows with descriptive text) for views and menu items. Normally, this would be relegated to a git changelog in the support library. But this is on the global marketing landing page. I like to imagine a fictional…
Android has really been annoying me lately. Maybe I didn't care before but now that I can't root my phone I am forced to deal with it. Still can't disable or customize to stupid "share" menu that puts you one click away from accidentally sending something to a stranger you contacted once on sms or facebook messenger or email. Still can't revoke certain permissions from apps (like vibration). There is zero reason why…
Project Treble is the most important thing in this release >The biggest change to the foundations of Android to date: a modular architecture that makes it easier and faster for hardware makers to deliver Android updates. With any luck, this will end the huge security/update problem Android has. Right now an update is dependent on the chip manufacturer's drivers, then the OEM adding them to the ROM with their custom "…
I remember many years ago when a few carrier and chipset execs stood up on Google I/O stage and announced a new program to ensure Android devices get updated quicker. Nothing came out of that. The proof here will be when they ship. Thankfully, 'Google Play Services' and distributing more and more services through the Play Store is a step in the right direction.
Google remembers that too, and this change allows Google to bypass those same execs when pushing out updates. The HAL layer will not change from version to version, meaning no driver support will be required from the OEM for new Android versions.
I have an HTC One M8 which I purchased in summer/fall of 2015. The phone works great but it makes me sad that I am still on Marshmellow and the phone is no longer supported. lately I have been been wishing there is a way I can just run some version of linux like debian/fedora on my phone and be able to run apt-get update and upgrade (or yum) as updates are released. IIRC it cost $600, and technically it does more tha…
I've been running it on a few phones. Zero issues so far, the install procedure is trivial once you do it once, it self-updates and the changelogs are clean.
> that makes it easier and faster for hardware makers to deliver Android updates. They still don't get it. Google as the OS vendor should update all phones and NOT the hardware makers. Hardware manufacturers can still update their special features on the side after an OS update got deployed but I want that the OS and its core become updates directly and only from Google. Why is this so hard?
Google doesn't want to bear the cost of testing and releasing updates for all of the hardware. Most Android manufacturers barely manage to break even (or outright lose money) trying to sell and support Android hardware. (Samsung makes money, most others don't.) Blaming the OEMs for your security issues is free.
The only way for Google to do what Microsoft does is to close source Android and ship the OEM's binaries of the OS image that they cannot modify.
I have an HTC One M8 which I purchased in summer/fall of 2015. The phone works great but it makes me sad that I am still on Marshmellow and the phone is no longer supported. lately I have been been wishing there is a way I can just run some version of linux like debian/fedora on my phone and be able to run apt-get update and upgrade (or yum) as updates are released. IIRC it cost $600, and technically it does more tha…
Every time someone asks me advice for "I have a 2-year $600 phone which is not updated" I simply suggest of installing LineageOS. I've been running it on a few phones. Zero issues so far, the install procedure is trivial once you do it once, it self-updates and the changelogs are clean.
> I really wish there was a more stable channel to be on, though.
Having nightlies installed automatically on your phone is creepy. So far nothing bad has happened, though :)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It depends what we're talking about. Specifically with ARM processors, it isn't trivial to add drivers separate from your OS deployment. Microsoft DOES work with (and update) third party hardware directly for Windows 10 Mobile devices. And this is true for their third party phones from HP, Acer, etc. as well. (Note, I have a Windows Mobile device from 2014, and I still receive the latest security fix on Patch Tuesday…
> ARM processors, it isn't trivial This is what they tell us for decades. You can just disable parts of an SoC if no driver is available. This is just an architectural decision Google is not willing to address. And ARM reference designs from a handful of manufacturers are not that different.
So you want Google to ship updates where parts of the hardware just stop working? That sounds fucking awful, no thanks.
And yes ARM's ecosystem has largely still not standardized on self-discover or self-configuration because they have no incentive to. They just hardcode whatever configuration they need and call it a day.
>Google Play Protect: > Working to keep your device and data safe from misbehaving apps by scanning over 50 billion apps per day, even the ones you haven't installed yet! Also known as anti-virus.