So my wife's Kindle Fire has logged about 4 hours of use since LAUNCH day. Most of that use has been just me keeping it updated so it runs smoothly when she DOES decide to pick it up.
Turns out she prefers reading on the e-ink kindle. She also forgets that her Fire is also a tablet. I catch her using one of the iPads (mine and my daughter's) every once in a while so I think she would use it if she thought of it as a tablet more.
My thought is to flash it w/ ICS or Jellybean as an experiment to see if it's the software or the size/form factor that keeps her from using it.
The results of the experiment will decide whether or not I have to blow more $$ or not . If she starts picking it up, it's a win because she gets a tablet and I keep my $$ intact. If she doesn't, then I will have to buy a new iPad eventually (for me) and give her mine . For the money, I at least will get a new iPad AND a rooted and flashed Kindle Fire, so I guess I win either way .
Three paragraphs later, here's the question. Where to start? I am no stranger to rooting/flashing (did it w/ my Evo and a couple of old tablets all the way back to Nokia Tablets). I just want to reap some of the benefit of the community having a huge head start on this w/ trials and errors. Are there any obvious pitfalls I should avoid when first embarking on this?
Otherwise, I will be scouring XDA later this afternoon for threads on flashing the Fire, Discovering which ROM to use always seems to be enjoyable. I just want to get to the point of being able to do so w/ any catastrophic errors up front!
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
Hey Scott,
I just have a bit of advice when it comes to flashing your kindle. First of all: the easiest, maybe only way to root now is using the Kindle Fire Utility:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1399889
Use KFU to flash TWRP and FFF (recovery and bootloader)
From there you can use TWRP to flash a ROM just like you did with your phone. Make sure you wipe before you flash, and make a backup. I would suggest you use one of the ICS ROMs for your wife because Jellybean is not yet really ready for people who are not familiar with the dev process. It is smooth and stable but there are a lot more modifications for the ICS ROMs and she probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway. Personally I like the AOKP ICS ROM because it allows you to change the soft keys to your personal liking, including replacing the menu button that was removed in ICS.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1614004
Of course, If you wanted you could always just side load Go Launcher Ex to the kindle to give it a more tablet-y feel without having to root, but it is much more clean to load an ICS ROM.
Thank you for the info. Time to play...
*edit***
Worked like a charm. Thank you!
Related
Hey guys I am a serious beginner to the android world. I just upgraded to the Nexus from a Blackberry. I am looking to root and add a rom to get the best performance from my phone. I have looked at a lot of threads and websites but because of my newness to this world, some of the instructions are not clear to me. I have a Mac and just want some step by step instructions that I can understand so I won't do anything wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
mrmajor247 said:
Hey guys I am a serious beginner to the android world. I just upgraded to the Nexus from a Blackberry. I am looking to root and add a rom to get the best performance from my phone. I have looked at a lot of threads and websites but because of my newness to this world, some of the instructions are not clear to me. I have a Mac and just want some step by step instructions that I can understand so I won't do anything wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will offer my opinion and you can do with it what you will.
First off I have no information about how, specifically, you root with a Mac.
Secondly, my advice is think hard about why you want root. I started rooting back with my HTC EVO and it was pretty cool - until the problems started. When I say problems, I should probably say bugs. I tried several roms and most were pretty good but all had their shortcomings, random reboots, force closes, etc. I finally ended up with Cyanogenmod (arguably the best rom out there) but even then I had problems. No autofocus in in video, no HDMI out and something else I can't put my finger on now - but really annoyed me.
In short, rooting is kind of a give and take between fun stuff and more bugs - IF you are using custom roms which most everyone does. The factory roms are written by the guys who make the phones and the custom roms are written by guys who are reverse-engineering the hardware/software so expect some problems. (Cyanogenmod even had a list of things that didn't work on their webpage). The Nexus is stock AOSP so the roms may be better but there is still the issue of custom kernels, radios, etc. If you don't get it JUST RIGHT you can have compatibility and stability problems.
My Nexus is still stock and is waiting for the official 4.0.4 OTA (over the air) update. It runs much more stable than my EVO with Cyanogenmod (or any other rom). If you want the best performance and don't NEED any of the functionality of root I'd personally just keep it stock. I've thought about rooting again, but ultimately I don't really need it. My friend switched from iOS to Android and rooted but kept having reboot issues on a couple roms and ultimately restored to stock and was fine. Same story with another friend who is currently (read: STILL) using a gen1 Droid.
Don't get me wrong, rooting is great - if you will really use it. But I wouldn't root just for the hell of it unless you don't mind the hassles.
YMMV
Good luck!
chjade84 said:
I will offer my opinion and you can do with it what you will.
First off I have no information about how, specifically, you root with a Mac.
Secondly, my advice is think hard about why you want root. I started rooting back with my HTC EVO and it was pretty cool - until the problems started. When I say problems, I should probably say bugs. I tried several roms and most were pretty good but all had their shortcomings, random reboots, force closes, etc. I finally ended up with Cyanogenmod (arguably the best rom out there) but even then I had problems. No autofocus in in video, no HDMI out and something else I can't put my finger on now - but really annoyed me.
In short, rooting is kind of a give and take between fun stuff and more bugs - IF you are using custom roms which most everyone does. The factory roms are written by the guys who make the phones and the custom roms are written by guys who are reverse-engineering the hardware/software so expect some problems. (Cyanogenmod even had a list of things that didn't work on their webpage). The Nexus is stock AOSP so the roms may be better but there is still the issue of custom kernels, radios, etc. If you don't get it JUST RIGHT you can have compatibility and stability problems.
My Nexus is still stock and is waiting for the official 4.0.4 OTA (over the air) update. It runs much more stable than my EVO with Cyanogenmod (or any other rom). If you want the best performance and don't NEED any of the functionality of root I'd personally just keep it stock. I've thought about rooting again, but ultimately I don't really need it. My friend switched from iOS to Android and rooted but kept having reboot issues on a couple roms and ultimately restored to stock and was fine. Same story with another friend who is currently (read: STILL) using a gen1 Droid.
Don't get me wrong, rooting is great - if you will really use it. But I wouldn't root just for the hell of it unless you don't mind the hassles.
YMMV
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is good info but... There are other reasons to root a device other than just running custom ROMS such as the ability to use Titanium Backup (for backing up your apps / device), AD Free (for getting rid of ad's in free apps) along with other great apps that you can only use when your device is rooted.
I am running a custom ROM and you are correct, I have / had some bugs with it so in this case for a NOOB the OP may be best to stay stock for the time being but there are other reasons to root.
OP - All I can say is READ, READ, READ and the READ SOMEMORE... Good luck and welcome to ANDROID!!!
As a fellow noob/semi noob I can highly recommend using youtube instead of text guides if available. There are a surprising amount of video guides that are alot easier to follow..
For me the posibility to do full and partial backups of my phone is the main reason i rooted.
yiannisthegreek said:
This is good info but... There are other reasons to root a device other than just running custom ROMS such as the ability to use Titanium Backup (for backing up your apps / device), AD Free (for getting rid of ad's in free apps) along with other great apps that you can only use when your device is rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. He mentioned rooting for performance so I assumed he meant he wanted to use a custom rom/kernel/radio. I rooted mostly for roms (HTC Sense, sigh) and tethering but titanium backup was awesome (although less useful if you don't switch roms every week lol). Adfree was alright but I don't notice much of a difference. Overclocking was fun, too - but except for benchmark scores I didn't notice much of a difference either.
If I root again it will be stock ASOP and only for tethering --- but only if I can find a 100% stock rom with just the carrier-tethering-tracker file removed.
Klippetop said:
As a fellow noob/semi noob I can highly recommend using youtube instead of text guides if available. There are a surprising amount of video guides that are alot easier to follow..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1!
Youtube videos are much nicer than written guides. Just watch and follow along step-by-step seeing how everything is supposed to go.
I actually made a how to video for the nexus s 4g on a Mac. And did it the same way on my galaxy nexus. Only thing u would have to do different is make sure u type in the right clockwormod recovery image but here's the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m3ypr4J5Gc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
You couldn't really pick an easier phone to root, I would do a lot of reading before having at it though. I was able to find a guide fairly quickly by doing a google search. I would link it but apparently I'm still a noob myself.
root causes random reboots?
LOL
I found this method to be the easiest, at least for me.
I was in the same situation a couple weeks ago, didn't know a thing about rooting but now I'm flashing custom roms and testing kernels
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1352413
good luck and have fun
Firstly, just use the device. Get used to Android before trying everything else. For all you know it might do exactly what you want it to without rooting.
If, after a week or 2 of using it, you want to explore rooting then read the rooting guides available online or in the Dev forum. Then give some ROMs a try! Better to find out for yourself which work for you than asking for a recommendation as what works for one user might be **** for another.
Also, learn how to use adb and fastboot as they'll come in handy in future (not enough people have any idea what to do). Try and do things manually as opposed to using one-click tools so you have the confidence to know what you're doing
UPDATED:
As of right now I still have yet to add a custom rom. I was wondering since a little bit of time passed and priorities have changes slightly, which current rom (running ICS or JB for Kindle Fire) is the fastest (or smoothest running) while maintaining a decent battery life.
Current Wish List:
- ICS or JB (I have JB on my Razr M so I don't necessarily need it. Whichever performs best with the below wish list works for me.)
- Maintains closest to stock battery life
- No problems playing Netflix or the like (I understand the Amazon Instant Video app won't work)
- Smooth and fast. (Doesn't need to be the fastest as battery life will win out on this for me)
When I choose one to finally use, are there good step by step guides I can follow for installing a custom rom? Rooting couldn't have been simpler, but I'm aware that installing a custom rom is a little more work.
ORIGINAL:
So I rooted my Fire a couple months ago now and am happy I did so. However I have grown more interested in possibly installing a custom ROM and noticed that the options are plentiful. I have bookmarked plenty of possibilities including CM7 and gedeROM. But I have been increasingly interested in possibly upgrading to a Jellybean ROM. Being somewhat uninformed as to what it is that I am looking for exactly here are some of the things that I would like if possible in a Custom Rom and maybe someone can direct me as to which one may work the best for my needs:
- Stability. I don't know if there is a pretty stable Jellybean ROM currently. But things like being able to rotate the screen and just general Android functions present.
- No charging problems. (For some reason my stock Fire cord no longer charges my Kindle.. yet it still charges my cellphone. Now using a blackberry playbook charger for the Fire that works great and is considerably longer than the stock Fire cord.)
- No problems playing Netflix. Video and entertainment are top priorities.
- Possibly a deal breaker. Would really like to be able to play Amazon Prime videos. I'm able to play them rooted through the use of RootKeeper currently, but have my doubts if RootKeeper would work as it does now, with a custom rom.
- Would love to be able to use Photoshop Touch, but from what I have read this probably isn't possible with a Kindle Fire
- I realize battery life may not be what it is right now, but I would like a semi-decent battery life if at all possible.
There may be some other things I'd like that I can't think of right now but those are some of the ones that I have kept in my mind. I may not even really need Jellybean and there may be an option that makes more sense for me right now, but it would just be nice to be running on the most updated Android version and wouldn't mind some of it's features like Chrome. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Just shopping around!
No prime on anything but modaco using ota root keeper TWA_priv's cm10 is the most frequently updated , video all good, charging good, stable highly...you won't be disappointed...
Thepooch said:
No prime on anything but modaco using ota root keeper TWA_priv's cm10 is the most frequently updated , video all good, charging good, stable highly...you won't be disappointed...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh that sounds great! Gonna check it out! I didn't think it was possible to keep Prime on any of the custom roms. But TWA_priv's CM10 sounds pretty nice thanks so much! Is there any kind of workaround for Prime? Like, going to the Prime website on the browser?
Jersey846 said:
Oh that sounds great! Gonna check it out! I didn't think it was possible to keep Prime on any of the custom roms. But TWA_priv's CM10 sounds pretty nice thanks so much! Is there any kind of workaround for Prime? Like, going to the Prime website on the browser?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard a little talk about using a browser but dunno if any had success kinda doubt it chrome is very nice on it tho
Thepooch said:
I heard a little talk about using a browser but dunno if any had success kinda doubt it chrome is very nice on it tho
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a similar question and just reread my own thread and someone had mentioned dual booting. Is this something that is easy and viable? Or is it something more for the more advanced users?
Dual booting is advanced.
Dual-booting meaning able to run Amazon's native rom as well as a custom rom? If that was possible and allowed me to keep access to the Amazon Instant Video app, then I would go for it.
Jersey846 said:
So I rooted my Fire a couple months ago now and am happy I did so. However I have grown more interested in possibly installing a custom ROM and noticed that the options are plentiful. I have bookmarked plenty of possibilities including CM7 and gedeROM. But I have been increasingly interested in possibly upgrading to a Jellybean ROM. Being somewhat uninformed as to what it is that I am looking for exactly here are some of the things that I would like if possible in a Custom Rom and maybe someone can direct me as to which one may work the best for my needs:
- Stability. I don't know if there is a pretty stable Jellybean ROM currently. But things like being able to rotate the screen and just general Android functions present.
- No charging problems. (For some reason my stock Fire cord no longer charges my Kindle.. yet it still charges my cellphone. Now using a blackberry playbook charger for the Fire that works great and is considerably longer than the stock Fire cord.)
- No problems playing Netflix. Video and entertainment are top priorities.
- Possibly a deal breaker. Would really like to be able to play Amazon Prime videos. I'm able to play them rooted through the use of RootKeeper currently, but have my doubts if RootKeeper would work as it does now, with a custom rom.
- Would love to be able to use Photoshop Touch, but from what I have read this probably isn't possible with a Kindle Fire
- I realize battery life may not be what it is right now, but I would like a semi-decent battery life if at all possible.
There may be some other things I'd like that I can't think of right now but those are some of the ones that I have kept in my mind. I may not even really need Jellybean and there may be an option that makes more sense for me right now, but it would just be nice to be running on the most updated Android version and wouldn't mind some of it's features like Chrome. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Just shopping around!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1778010
---------- Post added at 10:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 PM ----------
guangzhouboy said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1778010
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is a good rom.. download change to galaxy.zip.. and gapps.. this allows apps that a galaxy nexus would have..(so chrome) awesome and works on my KF
The Linaro one suggested above is horrible had so many problems with it. I love Jandycane
Jelly Bean Tablet Edition aka Project Jandycane
I use a older version of dolphin browser and a older version of flash on TWA_s latest ROM and I can go on the website and watch prime videos
---------- Post added at 12:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:22 AM ----------
dlepp22 said:
The Linaro one suggested above is horrible had so many problems with it. I love Jandycane
Jelly Bean Tablet Edition aka Project Jandycane
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But jandycae hasn't been updated in a month and a half and the Linaro one (twa_s is probly the most stable and updated one there is besides hash codes of course(;
Opinions vary, I guess. I've had nothing but good experience with twa_priv's CM10/SGT7/Linaro ROM.
x-y-no said:
Opinions vary, I guess. I've had nothing but good experience with twa_priv's CM10/SGT7/Linaro ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I read, twa_priv's was one of the simplest, cleanest, best working roms out there. It was the main rom I was/am considering.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda app-developers app
As of right now I still have yet to add a custom rom. I was wondering since a little bit of time passed and priorities have changes slightly, which current rom (running ICS or JB for Kindle Fire) is the fastest (or smoothest running) while maintaining a decent battery life.
Current Wish List:
- ICS or JB (I have JB on my Razr M so I don't necessarily need it. Whichever performs best with the below wish list works for me.)
- Maintains closest to stock battery life
- No problems playing Netflix or the like (I understand the Amazon Instant Video app won't work)
- Smooth and fast. (Doesn't need to be the fastest as battery life will win out on this for me)
When I choose one to finally use, are there good step by step guides I can follow for installing a custom rom? Rooting couldn't have been simpler, but I'm aware that installing a custom rom is a little more work.
Uhhm no its easy use the flash method for other rom http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1923010 pick something new or updated in the jelly bean section http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1859851 everything works Im using sgt7 by twa_priv but all the new ones are good. Jump in and get you're feet wet.
Hey there!
i'm pretty new to modding android and recently got an A101 from a colleague - i think still one of the two best devices in the 7" format with only the Huawei Medipad providing the same functionality.
Anyway, i'd love to try something new and am already rooted with ZeroNull's method wich worked like a charm. Now that i've read many threads in this forum the past week i'm a little bit concerned about some things. First of all, when i'm in stock recovery my power button isn't working, so i cannot make any input besides selecting the menu-entries. Is it likely the case, that i would be facing this issue when installing a custom recovery? Since TWRP has a touch gui i shoudn't be aware of this, right?
Further A101 specific questions i wanne be 100% sure of, since there's no A101-Forum:
- i'm fine with installing bootloaders like TWRP or CWM made for the A100?
- aswell ZeroNull's unlock bootloader method?
- which custom ROM's do support 3G? I'm thinking about pio_masaki's Jellytime Sosei, his CM10 build, or KEBBERSROM...(?)
rather an ubuntu related question:
Am i fine with installing the packages: android-tools-adb & android-tools-fastboot or do i need the full - Android-SDK?
The most important thing for me is to get rid of acers bloadware, so i'm planning to install TWRP followed by a nandroid backup and kiling them softly *fingerscrossed*
running StockRom: Acer_AV0141_A101_1.015.00EMEA_DE
VolkerPfosten said:
Hey there!
i'm pretty new to modding android and recently got an A101 from a colleague - i think still one of the two best devices in the 7" format with only the Huawei Medipad providing the same functionality.
Anyway, i'd love to try something new and am already rooted with ZeroNull's method wich worked like a charm. Now that i've read many threads in this forum the past week i'm a little bit concerned about some things. First of all, when i'm in stock recovery my power button isn't working, so i cannot make any input besides selecting the menu-entries. Is it likely the case, that i would be facing this issue when installing a custom recovery? Since TWRP has a touch gui i shoudn't be aware of this, right?
Further A101 specific questions i wanne be 100% sure of, since there's no A101-Forum:
- i'm fine with installing bootloaders like TWRP or CWM made for the A100?
- aswell ZeroNull's unlock bootloader method?
- which custom ROM's do support 3G? I'm thinking about pio_masaki's Jellytime Sosei, his CM10 build, or KEBBERSROM...(?)
rather an ubuntu related question:
Am i fine with installing the packages: android-tools-adb & android-tools-fastboot or do i need the full - Android-SDK?
The most important thing for me is to get rid of acers bloadware, so i'm planning to install TWRP followed by a nandroid backup and kiling them softly *fingerscrossed*
running StockRom: Acer_AV0141_A101_1.015.00EMEA_DE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cwm and twrp are recoveries, not boot loaders, and are fine for the 101, no worries there. Everything for the a100 works for the 101 except the Roms, a100 ROMs on a101 kills 3g. You lose 3g, period. Cm10.1 I had some experimental 3g stuff in there but I never heard back on that.
Maybe I'll see about adding it to cm10.
Sent from my HTC DNA
pio_masaki said:
Cwm and twrp are recoveries, not boot loaders, and are fine for the 101, no worries there. Everything for the a100 works for the 101 except the Roms, a100 ROMs on a101 kills 3g. You lose 3g, period. Cm10.1 I had some experimental 3g stuff in there but I never heard back on that.
Maybe I'll see about adding it to cm10.
Sent from my HTC DNA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats too bad to hear but i was expecting this. Just thaught that CM10 could have 3G functionality since some friends are using cyanogen on their phones. And since Sosei lacks of GPS it's not an alternative for me either. After all i convinced my wife to buy the a101, so that we can use it as navigation aswell ;P
well well, i really would appreciate the 3G Feature in your CM10, but i dont wanne hassle so - just if you have time for it of cause.
greetings and thanks so far
VolkerPfosten said:
Thats too bad to hear but i was expecting this. Just thaught that CM10 could have 3G functionality since some friends are using cyanogen on their phones. And since Sosei lacks of GPS it's not an alternative for me either. After all i convinced my wife to buy the a101, so that we can use it as navigation aswell ;P
well well, i really would appreciate the 3G Feature in your CM10, but i dont wanne hassle so - just if you have time for it of cause.
greetings and thanks so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can have 3g just fine, I've asked a few times for the 3g ril files from 101 users wanting me to build for them, they always vanish and I never hear back about it.
A100 just had its rotation for builds last night / this morning so it'll come up again sometime between wed-fri I think. Been looking at updating the black bean build and maybe adding AOKP as well, I'll use them for testbeds. I may go ahead and just do an extra day on the A100 and see about getting a potential 3g build up for you.
Side note, sosei will use gps if you use the newer cm10 boot.img.
Current rotation is:
Nexus 7 holds priority as I've been invited to Team Sorcery as their N7 dev.
Toshiba Thrive 4.2 development, 4.1.2 updates and kernel work (voodoo sound) comes second as they've been extremely generous to me.
Droid DNA aosp porting as the device was pretty much donated
Slight GNex work as needed, rare
A100 is bottom/last as I don't own one, luckily fixes from the thrive usually directly move over to the A100
Other devices I don't own.
I have a few things planned for the A100 for some nice updates and releases to jeep you guys in a variety of ROMs, like AOKP and some updates to the cm9 kernel I use.
Sent from my Nexus 7 - JBSourcery 4.5
pio_masaki said:
It can have 3g just fine, I've asked a few times for the 3g ril files from 101 users wanting me to build for them, they always vanish and I never hear back about it.
A100 just had its rotation for builds last night / this morning so it'll come up again sometime between wed-fri I think. Been looking at updating the black bean build and maybe adding AOKP as well, I'll use them for testbeds. I may go ahead and just do an extra day on the A100 and see about getting a potential 3g build up for you.
Side note, sosei will use gps if you use the newer cm10 boot.img.
Current rotation is:
Nexus 7 holds priority as I've been invited to Team Sorcery as their N7 dev.
Toshiba Thrive 4.2 development, 4.1.2 updates and kernel work (voodoo sound) comes second as they've been extremely generous to me.
Droid DNA aosp porting as the device was pretty much donated
Slight GNex work as needed, rare
A100 is bottom/last as I don't own one, luckily fixes from the thrive usually directly move over to the A100
Other devices I don't own.
I have a few things planned for the A100 for some nice updates and releases to jeep you guys in a variety of ROMs, like AOKP and some updates to the cm9 kernel I use.
Sent from my Nexus 7 - JBSourcery 4.5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats of cause comprehensible, since these iconias are quite old, right. And if i didnt needed the (3g)/hdmi (looking forward for ubuntu for android) i guess i would have baught an Nexus 7 aswell. However, in two weeks i got an exam and i'm investing way too much time right now in reading about all that stuff here so if you could direct me were to read about this 3g ril files or tell me how i can find them on the mashine i'll send it to you. I've read something about the build.prob but no mentions about 3g, cellular or ril or whatsoever in it. Also a "find" gave me nothing.
Unfortunately i have to read some annoying §&"/%§ now but i've set up the email notification now.
greetings
Wipe -> Flash -> Test... Wipe -> Flash -> Test ... The Neverending Story!!!
I took some time to return back to pure stock Android to see what I was missing from the great custom roms. From the minute your first boot completes, two things happen: You feel comforted as you know that everything works as expected. You feel the stability and safety as your phone probably won't play any weird tricks to you. But as you go through your settings, pulling down your notification panel or pressing the power menu (and probably a million other things!) you see that all the extra things you were used to are not there. Confusion is the next thing to occur as you may indeed like the polished look and safe playing - ahhh, the original firmware on your device -, but you would definately like your phone to do more things.
Most of us, like to make the most of our devices. So we try custom roms, kernels, radios, themes...the list is endless...to find the golden rule in order for our phone to look and perform the best possible. Developers come up with new and innovative ideas most of the time and testers try their mods in order to provide feedback for things to get better. This is a nice thing and I guess this is called evolution or progress, name it what you like. It's an addictive process for both ends, especially for devs as the joy of making something work the way they pictured it to be, is the most rewarding thing in the world and for the end user the joy of helping devs out and by having the latest and the greatest is a reason to make their day.
But let's get focused on the end user. Wiping and flashing...wiping and flashing...it's a vicious circle man! Everybody's searching for the holy grail, the ultimate rom for their device. But guess what...YOU'LL NEVER GONNA GET IT! Why? Concerning custom roms and as the updates are very frequent, even if you have flashed a version with the minimum bugs possible, the next one will probably have an annoying or critical bug. So either you wait for an update or you start searching for a rom similar to the one you use in order to avoid a certain issue. So as you guess, this is a neverending road trip! And the truth is that after a year or two flashing a million of things on your phone, your device gets old and you probably thinking of upgrading to a newer model. Which of course you need to try it's true potentials, so you will start testing things again... What you realise is you as the end user, you never trully enjoy your phone as it has become a "lab rat", constantly under testing.
So what's the "cure" for you? You can spend some time flashing all different kinds of roms and kernels. When it comes to roms, look for the features that you think suits your needs the most and will be used on a daily basis more or less. I know that a million other features might seem cool to you but if you are not gonna use them they are useless to you. The truth is that we are living in a world were more is better but you need to focus on what is really useful to you. Do not forget that the more the features on a rom, probably the more the possibility of issues to occur or the more the battery consumption. So look for something that is not extremely overloaded with all mods available outhere. Look more for stabiltiy and a little less for performance.
To end this...by doing the above, you already provided feedback on devs the time you were trying things, so you helped them improve their work, and by settling down to a specific rom, you will start enjoying your phone and you'll have a device that suits your daily needs. In the end, even if you still haven't got that, you will need to settle down on something. Otherwise you are doomed to play a role in the "Neverending Story" movie!!!
I got my GN on Oct 16th, played with it on stock ROM for a couple of weeks, then 4.1.2 came out so decided to root it and install Paranoid Android 2.54 on Nov 8th...
Running/loving it since.
No theme, just tablet mode.
Of course I've also customized things more to my likings:
Flash player
4.2 swipe keyboard
S4 gallery/camera
Nova launcher
Pie pro
Easy eyes
Llama
Lag fix
For me it's just Flash -> Test -> Flash -> Test, haven't done any wiping since the last few months and I can run a multitude of different ROMs (MIUI excluded) fine. If there are something that FCs constantly, I just clear its data.
I only test out different ROMs when I'm in the mood. When it's just the usual daily routine I use CM 10.1 nightlies since, in my opinion, they are one of the more reliable ROMs. CyanDelta also makes the whole process a lot easier. If I'm going somewhere without internet access for more than a few days, I slap CM 10.1.2 on my GNex and it's ready to go.
Running CM hasn't caused me any issues so far (like not being able to make a call, or GPS suddenly fails to work). I prefer the constant flashing rather than staying on the same firmware for weeks.
True. Personally I've settled with stock Google image since 4.1.1 came out and I use my spare time elsewhere then OCD'ing over "omg new nightly". Using the phone can be more fun.
Just wanted to say, thanks for getting The Neverending Story theme song in my head. lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FM-ZkTTLMA
Besides getting a new phone lol!
I'm currently running CM11 by ggow (who is a genuine Android god! Awesome work! You rock!) and to be honest it's the most stable experience I have EVER had with CM across tens of devices I've used it for.
However recently I've had to sell quite a few of my devices to help pay bills during a career transition. Now the Fire Phone has became my daily driver solely because of how cheap the hardware is (resell value isn't that high, it has fantastic hardware, plus I got mine for free when I used to work for at&t), and although CM11 is so damn stable with phenomenal battery life; I have began to notice how often I use apps that utilize the stock camera... Like Snapchat & depositing checks through my bank app.
I have a backup of my rooted 3.5.1 installation, but before I go back I just had a few questions that maybe someone else here has ran into or has had experience with.
What's the most optimal way of running snapchat to your experience?
Should I upgrade my Fire OS or keep it at 3.5.1? I want permanent root, and I plan on tweaking it w/ xposed to manipulate the interface to be as close to a stock Android/AOSP experience as possible. However it is quite outdated. Is battery life better on newer releases? Is permanent root possible on newer releases? Or is 3.5.1 the best version to stay on for tweaking/flashaholic purposes? Would restoring my 3.5.1 backup break my Safestrap recovery at all?
Do Google Play Services break all the time still for those of you using Fire OS?
I've read many threads and different boards/reddit trying to find answers and what other users are doing, but I wanted to get a little dialog going about this and maybe hear from users with experiences.
Sent from my Fire Phone using Tapatalk
Unfortunately, no custom ROM for the Fire Phone can use those apps (i.e. snapchat, some scanner apps). The problem is not the ROM itself, there is no source code available for the custom HAL(Heuristic ALgorithmic), so the cause for all those apps not working properly is located "deeper". You may have to go back to stock Fire OS. Sorry. You should have Fire OS 4.6.6 for best experience.