Quite a few of you must use Android devices so I figured I'd try and get some discussion going. Depending on how far you take customisation there can be a lot to talk about. Feel free to discuss anything from devices (phone, tablet, raspberry pi etc.) and accessories to ROMs and apps. My current project is turning my Galaxy S2 in to a mobile computer. I'm running the Resurrection Remix ROM and the new version includes the ability to dual boot two completely independent installations of Android. I cloned my main installation to the secondary, installed a patch which makes the user interface of Android treat the phone as a tablet (example of phone UI vs. tablet UI), which is much more suited to a large screen. I've also ordered an HDMI adapter, bluetooth mouse and keyboard, so I can turn any HDMI capable TV in to a quick Android PC with a restart. I can wait till the other bits get here so I can see how it feels to use. Some useful links for Android users (please feel free to suggest more): -Android official site -Engadget A great site for mobile device news in general, lots of Android content on here. -XDA Developers A huge site for Android news and help for users, including the most active device forums. Find your device in the list for discussions on accessories, custom ROMs and help/questions. -CyanogenMod Probably the biggest community version of Android, available across a range of devices and forming the base for many other device specific ROMs. -AOKP Similar to CyanogenMod, a cross platform community version of Android. Arguably better than CM on many devices, though it hasn't done as much to secure its image as a legitimate alternative to stock ROMs in the eyes on non-techies, as you can see even from the websites. I'll add more as I think of them/receive suggestions.
Android. Love it, on a Samsung Captivate right now, though not by choice... my laptop broke and is with my mother while I am in a hotel in Kansas. Anyways, I've been looking for good custom roms or whatever for my captivate since it decided to derp and never let me update the firmware to 2.2. Ever.
So you're stuck on 2.1, no flash support? EDIT: Looks like CM7.1 supports it, that's Gingerbread (2.3) and will support flash.
Well, I'm using a Toshiba Thrive with 3.2 Honeycomb. It does it's job for the price, but it still lacks to convenienceof its compititors. Also, to me, anything below 2.3 is crap. Edit: I do hope the people at Toshiba get their thumbs out their ass and make the Thrive compatible with ISC.
Well, I wont be able to flash it with any custom roms until I get my laptop back, so I have to deal with no flash support for a while longer. I was looking at CM7.1 and Serendipity 6.1, both look good.
Goathead: I'm pretty hooked on ICS now, but I agree that Gingerbread was still a solid version. Have toshiba announced any plans to update the Thrive to ICS? The hardware could certainly handle it, it's roughly the same specs as the Asus Transformer which runs it fine. Aschur: Do you know if Serendipity is based off the stock ROM or another one like CM/AOKP/AOSP? I used CM7.1 on my Galaxy S2 for a while and even though it wasn't a stable ROM it was still very useable and had great features.
I just learned that Toshiba plans to release the ISC update in 'Late Spring'. I'm definitely excited for that. I've been very pissed at Toshiba for a long time for their refusal to release any confirmation on wether or not ICS will be ported to the Thrive. Is the face unlock any good?
Gothead: that's cool. Face unlock is pretty gimmicky IMO, though some people seem to like it. Aschur: I know its gingerbread, but most device specific ROMs are built from a base rather than being built from the AOSP source code. They tend to either use the stock ROM from the device itself (in this case Samsungs Captivate ROM) or one of the community builds like CyanogenMod as a base.
I have a HTC Incredible S with Android (what I'm guessing is Gingerbread) 2.3.5. When it came to phones, I used to be a stout Nokia man, and nothing could change me. Since I've been using this phone however, I've never looked back. I love it, Android is awesome. I only wish my phone were Ice Cream Sandwich compatible, that OS looks awesome. Ok, I wish it were officially compatible with my phone. I looked it up and I can get it on there if I root my phone, but I don't really want to risk killing it but adding firmware to it.
Ouch, dude. I feel for ya. What was it? OK, so what do you ultimately want from this? Do you want to keep your current ROM (the version of Android that Samsung put on there, generally referred to as the Stock ROM) but just gain root access? This allows a few extra apps, and enables extra features in a few other apps (the Google Play Store description for some access will often say things like "root only" or "root needed for certain features" etc. Root also allows you to mess around with files in the root directory (hence the term root) which isn't really useful unless you're doing techy stuff and know what you're doing. Or are you looking to put a different installation of Android on there, generally known as Custom/Community ROMs? This is personally my favourite thing about Android, as I find that Stock ROMs are often a bit lacking and I prefer community builds. If you simply want to keep your current ROM but root it, try this link. If you'd like to put a custom ROM on there then check out this forum and pick one which sounds right for you, they generally have installation instructions within the ROM thread, but if you want any help with a specific installation then lemme know. I know you've probably heard this a thousand times before, but rooting/flashing a new ROM really isn't that risky if you take just 5 minutes to read around before you take the plunge. ICS really is fantastic, and the well made community versions are even better. I've flashed loads and loads of ROMs on like 5 different devices now, with a variety of different processes (flashing from recovery menus, via ADB and via Odin) and have never had an issue that I couldn't fix easily, and even then such issues are rare. Especially with HTCs which have notoriously poor battery life, a new ROM can really help with this. Basically, I can give you a ton of reasons why flashing a new ROM can make it feel like a new phone, is an easy process and is really low risk. But ultimately it's your phone and you've gotta go with your gut, if you're not comfortable flashing it then you shouldn't.
Yeah I'm mainly looking just to get the few extra features, but I'll definitely try out some of those custom ones. Thanks for the help!
Anybody know a good antivirus software for Tablets? This gives a general idea, but I want to know what people think is the best.
I'm an Android enthusiast, though I haven't felt a need to root/flash different ROMs yet. I have an Android Captivate running 2.3, and an Acer Iconia A500 running 4.03 ICS. Love my tablet, but I despise my phone. Only a few months til I can upgrade/get an awesome phone for free (birthday and contract date are the same, so every other year I get a new phone for the bday). I'm looking into the HTC One X for my next, but I could go with the SGS III. We'lll see.
Dude, I'm aware that I'm a massive Samsung fanboy, but S3>>>>>>>>>>>>>One X. Especially if you're sticking with Stock ROMs, since Samsung have really stacked the features with their latest ROMs, I consider that a massive leg up on HTC. You also get a removable (thus replaceable) battery, plus higher storage options (up to 64GB) and the real kicker: a MicroSD card slot which the One X doesn't have. HTCs also have famously bad battery life in comparison to other makes. I'm not sure how true this is of the One X since they're really going for a reboot of their reputation (and to be fair, the One X is ****ing sexy looking, part of said reboot), and to a certain extent I think this is down to how they build their ROMs, but either way I consider it a downside. Best anti virus for Android = no anti virus. Here is an article quoting one of the lead Android developers and explaining why this anti virus craze is retarded and unnecessary. The gist of it is that the user environment doesn't have the permissions within the system to run hidden lines of code and perform malicious actions, which is basically what viruses are. The only way that "unwanted" or malicious actions can be performed within Android is by an app with the relevant permissions (like those random little games or joke apps that inexplicably include permissions to read all your personal info, make calls and texts etc.). Anti virus will not stop this, as the app isn't technically doing anything wrong as far as the system is concerned. You accepted the app's permissions when you downloaded it, so the only thing you can really do is carefully look at the permissions that apps request when you install them. You can also get further apps (which aren't anti virus) that list the permissions of each app you have installed, making it easier to glance over a list and pick out things that look suspicious. But yeah, this anti virus thing is ridiculous. It's the task killer/memory management fiasco all over again. There's one thing you should most certainly consider, and that's Lookout Security. Ignore the anti virus functions (as in turn them off, keep the app as slim as possible) and just use the "find my phone" function. You only have to look around /r/Android to see plenty of stories by people who'v had their asses saved by installing this before they lose/have their phone stolen. I hate to recommend an app by a company that's perpetuating this anti virus nonsense, but there's no better "find my phone" app to my knowledge, so yeah. Also, the headphone jack on my S2 just broke, so I have to send it away for repair, not happy to be stuck on a crappy old Nokia for a week or two. But on the plus side I won a competition and got a little cash to drop on something fun. Decided to buy this. It's technically a set top box, but is basically just a tiny little PC running Android (and people have also hacked it to run Ubuntu) for £60. Having an Android device with 3 USB ports, VGA/HDMI/Component out, LAN, WiFi and a goddamn eSATA port on the top is just awesome imo. I'll try Ubuntu but I think I'm gonna push forward trying to get this Ice Cream Sandwich ROM that's going around working.
From what I've read and seen, The One X > than the SGS3 (Engadget is partial to the OneX). And I'm a fan of the SGS series, having the original Captivate. I'm also pretty partial towards those Qualcomm chips. They are definitely superior to all their counterparts. And while I did love my Captivate for about a year, Samsung really burned me with their lack of/super delayed updates. It was absurd. Out of the features between the two, the only one that concerns me is the removable battery. I have to remove the battery from my phone to reboot pretty often these days cause the Gingerbread update ****ed my Captivate up royally. Had to remove it just about a half hour ago, actually. Its multiple times a week lately. So that's definitely the one thing that Im concerned about with the OneX. But I figure if I don't have to put up with delayed-then-shitty updates from Samsung that screw with my phone, then maybe I won't have to worry about removing the battery. The camera is supposedly better on the OneX, but that's not a huge deal to me. And space isn't going to be an issue. I have a tablet that I use on breaks and lunches at work, and when I'm at home. Since I been using the tablet, my phone usage has gone WAY down, thus allowing me to delete a ton of apps I had on the phone that are just redundant now, freeing up a lot of space.