I wanted to throw this one out here because XDA likely hasn't looked into this one yet. Best Buy is offering the Tracfone Wireless ZTE Cymbal Android FlipPhone for $50 (on Tracfone's website, it's $100). I had it shipped to my house and it arrived today, so I wanted to give my thoughts.
It ships with similar specs to the LG K3/K4 models. Snapdragon 210 CPU, 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM, expandable microSD (32GB) slot. Touchscreen is 3.5 inches (low resolution), it has two speakers AND two microphones, a physical keypad (FLIP PHONE), a headphone jack, and a modest battery for its size. The OS is Stock Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. There's also an external display for clock. Because it's a CDMA phone, it has an MEID for 3G and an LTE SIM for 4G. It MUST be activated through Tracfone or used with some kind of Mobile Hotspot.
The device features physical Android keys (Home, Back, Recent), a camera key, mute key, messaging key, favorite app key, D-Pad with center button, and a backspace/C key. I swapped the launcher with NOVA Prime and mapped the home key to the app drawer. Because of the small screen, I made it so desktop is 4x5, but app drawer is 3x4. Arrow keys can then be used to navigate, or you can touch the screen directly.
The internal antenna is wicked powerful. Most phones do not get signal at my house, yet this phone can occasionally detect VZW's 3G network while inside. More crazy is that the internal GPS includes something called IZat and gets a lock-on while indoors. I have rarely seen a phone do that. This phone does have a proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor, though the latter isn't the best. I disabled Auto-brightness because the phone was changing brightness to often for my liking. That said, the backlight is really bright even at low settings.
That said, there are a few things I am not liking. The messaging key does not map to your default messaging app. It goes to the stock messaging app, no exceptions, even if you select a different app like Hangouts as the default. Additionally, the physical keyboard modes aren't exactly the best laid-out. You have your legacy modes, but instead of using the 1 key for symbols, you use the * key and navigate a small menu on the screen. There's also a "T12" mode which is similar to T9 though requires you to select the word using the center button every time before hitting space. I'm still trying to figure out if that can be modified.
Thankfully, you can also install touchscreen keypads like Google Keyboard or use the included TouchPal keyboard. Its layout is not too bad for a 3.5 inch screen, but it kind of defeats the purpose of using a physical keypad. I would say the only advantage of having it is being able to dial a number without having to open the dialer app. Plus, if you press the Green (call) key from the home screen, it takes you to your contacts list.
All in all, it was a great way to implement Android flip phones into the North American market, but I don't know if I would use this as a daily driver just yet. I still have my Moto G4 Play running Lineage 14.1, and I need that for work anyway (certain apps would not do well on the ZTE). But for $50, this phone gives my Moto a serious run for its money.
I picked this device up on discount as well.
It's far more phone than I expected for the money, that is for sure. It would be great to see a software update to at least 6.0, but I doubt it will happen.
I think the only thing missing from the device is a convertible style hinge. being able to flip the screen around and close the clamshell would be really amazing.
All in all, punching above its $50 weight class.
I was looking at this online today. I'm on AT&T though so while there are some "unlocked" offered online, I'm not sure it would work with my sim card. This is really the kind of thing I am hoping for though, a blast from the past that can slip into my pocket and still do Android. I wonder if you can play Pokemon Go on it...
To bump up this thread, I bought mine at local K-Mart recently for $49.99, had been hoping to run across one of these. It's a great little phone for the money I paid, considering it's features and appearance. I could see this type of phone being tweaked into a great daily driver. The speaker is pretty clear and surprisingly loud. My eyes aren't what they used to be, but the screen is clear and bright. It's a budget phone, but it's a great one. I currently use it with my Safelink account (via Tracfone) and it seems to get good cellular reception (verizon 4g LTE towers), as I stay in my underground basement most of the time, working on Computers and such. I want to get another just to experiment on with a custom launcher and some other apps. I'm curious if it can be rooted, and if it would even be worth it if it can. It's a pretty cool phone, hope to see more phones similar to it soon here in the US...
Unlock zte cymbal t tracfone ,it's not prompting for unlock code with diff sim triedd
Phone Fan said:
To bump up this thread, I bought mine at local K-Mart recently for $49.99, had been hoping to run across one of these. It's a great little phone for the money I paid, considering it's features and appearance. I could see this type of phone being tweaked into a great daily driver. The speaker is pretty clear and surprisingly loud. My eyes aren't what they used to be, but the screen is clear and bright. It's a budget phone, but it's a great one. I currently use it with my Safelink account (via Tracfone) and it seems to get good cellular reception (verizon 4g LTE towers), as I stay in my underground basement most of the time, working on Computers and such. I want to get another just to experiment on with a custom launcher and some other apps. I'm curious if it can be rooted, and if it would even be worth it if it can. It's a pretty cool phone, hope to see more phones similar to it soon here in the US...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can anyone help plz
Hi,
FYI, in case anyone is interested, QVC has these for sale for like $49.98 incl 1 year and 1200 mins on Tracfone.
I found that while I was searching for a backup battery for the one I bought my wife (from bestbuy - I messed up and paid more for that one !).
Anyway, beware though. It does not seem possible to buy just the battery anywhere nowadays (as of Aug 2017 anyway).
Jim
Zte Cymbal T Root and Battery
jimcpl said:
Hi,
FYI, in case anyone is interested, QVC has these for sale for like $49.98 incl 1 year and 1200 mins on Tracfone.
I found that while I was searching for a backup battery for the one I bought my wife (from bestbuy - I messed up and paid more for that one !).
Anyway, beware though. It does not seem possible to buy just the battery anywhere nowadays (as of Aug 2017 anyway).
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeh anyone know if a tracphone can be rooted? I also looking for batteries.
unlock help
anyone know how to unlock this tracphone
mkollersms said:
I wanted to throw this one out here because XDA likely hasn't looked into this one yet. Best Buy is offering the Tracfone Wireless ZTE Cymbal Android FlipPhone for $50 (on Tracfone's website, it's $100). I had it shipped to my house and it arrived today, so I wanted to give my thoughts.
It ships with similar specs to the LG K3/K4 models. Snapdragon 210 CPU, 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM, expandable microSD (32GB) slot. Touchscreen is 3.5 inches (low resolution), it has two speakers AND two microphones, a physical keypad (FLIP PHONE), a headphone jack, and a modest battery for its size. The OS is Stock Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. There's also an external display for clock. Because it's a CDMA phone, it has an MEID for 3G and an LTE SIM for 4G. It MUST be activated through Tracfone or used with some kind of Mobile Hotspot.
The device features physical Android keys (Home, Back, Recent), a camera key, mute key, messaging key, favorite app key, D-Pad with center button, and a backspace/C key. I swapped the launcher with NOVA Prime and mapped the home key to the app drawer. Because of the small screen, I made it so desktop is 4x5, but app drawer is 3x4. Arrow keys can then be used to navigate, or you can touch the screen directly.
The internal antenna is wicked powerful. Most phones do not get signal at my house, yet this phone can occasionally detect VZW's 3G network while inside. More crazy is that the internal GPS includes something called IZat and gets a lock-on while indoors. I have rarely seen a phone do that. This phone does have a proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor, though the latter isn't the best. I disabled Auto-brightness because the phone was changing brightness to often for my liking. That said, the backlight is really bright even at low settings.
That said, there are a few things I am not liking. The messaging key does not map to your default messaging app. It goes to the stock messaging app, no exceptions, even if you select a different app like Hangouts as the default. Additionally, the physical keyboard modes aren't exactly the best laid-out. You have your legacy modes, but instead of using the 1 key for symbols, you use the * key and navigate a small menu on the screen. There's also a "T12" mode which is similar to T9 though requires you to select the word using the center button every time before hitting space. I'm still trying to figure out if that can be modified.
Thankfully, you can also install touchscreen keypads like Google Keyboard or use the included TouchPal keyboard. Its layout is not too bad for a 3.5 inch screen, but it kind of defeats the purpose of using a physical keypad. I would say the only advantage of having it is being able to dial a number without having to open the dialer app. Plus, if you press the Green (call) key from the home screen, it takes you to your contacts list.
All in all, it was a great way to implement Android flip phones into the North American market, but I don't know if I would use this as a daily driver just yet. I still have my Moto G4 Play running Lineage 14.1, and I need that for work anyway (certain apps would not do well on the ZTE). But for $50, this phone gives my Moto a serious run for its money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, you mentioned that you installed hangouts and the NOVA prime launcher, i've been trying to install apps on this phone and wasnt able too, i tried via apk files and via ADB and wasnt succesfull,
if you can please advise
Thanks!
lazer7598 said:
Hi, you mentioned that you installed hangouts and the NOVA prime launcher, i've been trying to install apps on this phone and wasnt able too, i tried via apk files and via ADB and wasnt succesfull,
if you can please advise
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i tried rooting it and wasn't successful either
I just tried turning on the 'Show surface update' option under 'Developer Options'. The screen flashes randomly even if I just keep the screen on without touching or doing anything with the phone.
I have a Xperia T2 Ultra, and if I try the same thing, the screen will only flash if I touch the screen, it doesn't flash the screen randomly like the ZUK Z2 does.
Is it happening to everyone on Stock Nougat ROM or just me? I am mainly concerned with the touch sensitivity of the phone, cause sometimes I feel, I'm missing out some screen swipes.
Any advice or suggestions?
I don't think the 'Show surface updates' setting is actually intended to show when the screen is touched. I believe it is used to indicate when the content of the screen changes; for example it might flicker if one of the icons in your statusbar changes like mobile/Wi-Fi signal strength or the clock. I guess the option you're actually thinking about is the one which says 'Show taps' under the Input heading, which displays a spot on the screen when the display panel is touched. (I don't know whether this is available in ZUI since i'm running AEX 4.5)
P650SE said:
I don't think the 'Show surface updates' setting is actually intended to show when the screen is touched. I believe it is used to indicate when the content of the screen changes; for example it might flicker if one of the icons in your statusbar changes like mobile/Wi-Fi signal strength or the clock. I guess the option you're actually thinking about is the one which says 'Show taps' under the Input heading, which displays a spot on the screen when the display panel is touched. (I don't know whether this is available in ZUI since i'm running AEX 4.5)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the reply. Whatever you said makes complete sense. But the issue is, I have got few Android phones running kitkat, lollipop and marshmallow, these devices only shows surface update on statusbar area if I don't touch the screen. In Z2's case it flashes the complete screen randomly and frequently, I tried leaving it in settings, a picture opened in full screen etc, but same result.
I don't mind if it's a bug with the ROM, I can flash a custom ROM. But if it's caused by a hardware issue, mostly related to touch, then I'm planning to send the device back for repair or replacement. Just going to be 1 week since I bought this device.
Any suggestions?
sixth.pr1m3 said:
Thank you for the reply. Whatever you said makes complete sense. But the issue is, I have got few Android phones running kitkat, lollipop and marshmallow, these devices only shows surface update on statusbar area if I don't touch the screen. In Z2's case it flashes the complete screen randomly and frequently, I tried leaving it in settings, a picture opened in full screen etc, but same result.
I don't mind if it's a bug with the ROM, I can flash a custom ROM. But if it's caused by a hardware issue, mostly related to touch, then I'm planning to send the device back for repair or replacement. Just going to be 1 week since I bought this device.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think there's anything to be worried about. I actually upgraded to a new phone today, and so flashed the Indian version of ZUI (2.5.104 ST) back onto my ZUK Z2 in preparation for selling it on Gumtree. (Which is the British equivalent of Craigslist, for those in the US) I had chance to test what you were talking about and sure enough, the same thing happens on mine; where the entire screen will occasionally flicker even with an image displayed in fullscreen, so that the statusbar icons are hidden. So unless you are noticing any actual problems whilst using the device, I don't believe there's anything to be concerned about at this stage.
P650SE said:
I don't think there's anything to be worried about. I actually upgraded to a new phone today, and so flashed the Indian version of ZUI (2.5.104 ST) back onto my ZUK Z2 in preparation for selling it on Gumtree. (Which is the British equivalent of Craigslist, for those in the US) I had chance to test what you were talking about and sure enough, the same thing happens on mine; where the entire screen will occasionally flicker even with an image displayed in fullscreen, so that the statusbar icons are hidden. So unless you are noticing any actual problems whilst using the device, I don't believe there's anything to be concerned about at this stage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for checking it out for me, really do appreciate it. Was getting increasingly worried about this issue. You are a lifesaver. Thank you again :highfive:
The point of this post is to express how nice the phone is and help people on the fence considering buying this in 2019. During my research I saw many people struggling to decide.
Well the phone came in today. Still waiting on my Type C so I can actually change stuff on it.. but good news is it came shipped with 7.1.2.
Performs great, screen looks great. Tested with Sony MDR-v6 (63 ohm) and Beyerdynamic DT 770 (80 ohm) and sounds great. Don't have higher impedance headphones to test with. Wifi speeds 4x faster than what I get on my Nexus 5. I have 1Gbps down and 50 Mbps up internet and the router is a NETGEAR Nighthawk R7300. On the Nexus 5 over 5Ghz I get about 100 Mbps down and 50 up and on the V30+ I'm getting about 400 Mbps down and 50 up.
It had 21% charge out of the box and I was able to get it to 32% in 8 minutes on my old RAVPower pack ... new 15W charger is coming with the Type C cable shipment on Friday. That's much faster than my Nexus 5 would charge AND this battery is higher capacity. Battery life so far also seems amazing.
I found out the other night I can't run AnTuTu on Nexus 5 anymore.. that's sad. I did run it on the V30+ though. Possibly better score once I put on US998 instead of the Sprint garbage they loaded onto it but if anything I'm sure it's within margin of error anyways.
I bought the phone here and took advantage of an eBay coupon which gave me 15% off, ultimately dropping the price of the phone to $238.
Since I tested things in the diagnostic menu from the dialer (5689#*998#) as well as various functions throughout the phone everything seems to work fine so far. The communication between the seller and I was excellent and shipping was fast. The phone has 0 blemishes or scratches on it and 0 defects from what I've been able to test and observe so far. Without a SIM card I obviously can't test a few things but I doubt there will be issues. The point here is that the experience with this seller was great and they sent a legitimate device in condition as described.
The purpose of all this testing is to confirm the eBay seller, monstertechbids, sold me what was advertised...
What I tested:
Service Menu - Auto Test (including Proximity Sensor test)
Display Check Test (Also the one from AnTuTu which features more colors)
Motion Sensor Test
Loopback Test
Touch Draw Test - Manual
Tested front and rear cameras the normal way
Tested fingerprint reader the normal way
Tested FM tuner the normal way (WOW, haven't heard actual FM in so long lol)
Confirmed the normal way that vibration/sound works
Speaker and headphone jack/HiFi DAC tested the normal way
Tested NFC pairing with my Sony MDR-1RBT
Tested Bluetooth by connecting it to my headphones (Sony MDR-1RBT), computer (ASUS BT-400) and bluetooth speaker (Original Oontz Angle)
I can't test OTG/HDMI because I lack the necessary hardware and can't test the barometer because.. well.. I lack the ability to change air pressure.
It came in a bunch of bubble wrap inside a box and didn't have anything else (which was what was explained in the listing, so that's fine). It didn't have the little plastic on the screen that you peel off. Other than that, it looks like a brand new, out-of-the-box phone.
As far as default (at least on Nougat) ROM experience I love that it has restart option built in to the power button already. That's one of the main reasons I flash custom ROMs. There was never a way on the Nexus 5 for as long as I can remember to have that functionality without something deep like a ROM. An app shortcut wasn't good enough for me . Anyways, one thing that has bugged me so far is the app drawer having a scrolling left/right page system instead of the kind that just endlessly scrolls down but I know this can be changed with a launcher (and possibly with the built-in options but I haven't dug too far since I'm going to be switching the ROM anyway).
The other thing that bugs me, but I think I can adapt to, is the "CLEAR ALL" button to clear out apps. I had a button in my custom ROM on Nexus 5 (Nougat crDroid) for this but it was one I could set on the left or right and was a small circular button. The "CLEAR ALL" button is right where I tend to swipe naturally to remove a single app from the list so I end up hitting the button by mistake.
I think people who came from a Nexus 5 are the type of people who would buy this phone now, due to the great ratio of specs to price... which is arguably the main thing which made the Nexus 5 so appealing in the first place. The ratio is even larger here... you get so much for the money because this phone isn't meant to be so cheap. The Nexus 5 costed me $350 + tax/shipping in 2013 and this phone in 2018 costed me $238 total. It's been 5 years so tech tends to get cheaper to obtain, yes... but still.
Attached Images:
Image of AnTuTu result for LS998 Nougat posted. Will test again when US998 Oreo is flashed.
Image of GeekBench result for LS998 Nougat posted. Will test a gain when US998 Oreo is flashed.
Image of GeekBench result for Nexus 5 Nougat posted. Can't do AnTuTu because it doesn't support the phone anymore, sadly.
Image of SpeedTest by Ookla result on Nexus 5 Nougat crDroid and V30+ LS998 Nougat stock (I took one test immediately after the other but the new phone had the wrong time set).
Post-conversion benchmarks here
s0lidsneak said:
The point of this post is to express how nice the phone is and help people on the fence considering buying this in 2018. During my research I saw many people struggling to decide.
Well the phone came in today. Still waiting on my Type C so I can actually change stuff on it.. but good news is it came shipped with 7.1.2.
Performs great, screen looks great. Tested with Sony MDR-v6 (63 ohm) and Beyerdynamic DT 770 (80 ohm) and sounds great. Don't have higher impedance headphones to test with. Wifi speeds 4x faster than what I get on my Nexus 5. I have 1Gbps down and 50 Mbps up internet and the router is a NETGEAR Nighthawk R7300. On the Nexus 5 over 5Ghz I get about 100 Mbps down and 50 up and on the V30+ I'm getting about 400 Mbps down and 50 up.
It had 21% charge out of the box and I was able to get it to 32% in 8 minutes on my old RAVPower pack ... new 15W charger is coming with the Type C cable shipment on Friday. That's much faster than my Nexus 5 would charge AND this battery is higher capacity. Battery life so far also seems amazing.
I bought the phone here and took advantage of an eBay coupon which gave me 15% off, ultimately dropping the price of the phone to $238.
Since I tested things in the diagnostic menu from the dialer (5689#*998#) as well as various functions throughout the phone everything seems to work fine so far. The communication between the seller and I was excellent and shipping was fast. The phone has 0 blemishes or scratches on it and 0 defects from what I've been able to test and observe so far. Without a SIM card I obviously can't test a few things but I doubt there will be issues. The point here is that the experience with this seller was great and they sent a legitimate device in condition as described.
it looks like a brand new, out-of-the-box phone.
As far as default (at least on Nougat) ROM experience I love that it has restart option built in to the power button already. That's one of the main reasons I flash custom ROMs. There was never a way on the Nexus 5 for as long as I can remember to have that functionality without something deep like a ROM. An app shortcut wasn't good enough for me . Anyways, one thing that has bugged me so far is the app drawer having a scrolling left/right page system instead of the kind that just endlessly scrolls down but I know this can be changed with a launcher (and possibly with the built-in options but I haven't dug too far since I'm going to be switching the ROM anyway).
I think people who came from a Nexus 5 are the type of people who would buy this phone now, due to the great ratio of specs to price... which is arguably the main thing which made the Nexus 5 so appealing in the first place. The ratio is even larger here... you get so much for the money because this phone isn't meant to be so cheap. The Nexus 5 costed me $350 + tax/shipping in 2013 and this phone in 2018 costed me $238 total. It's been 5 years so tech tends to get cheaper to obtain, yes... but still.
[/LIST]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congratulations on your new phone! You'll love it even better after updating to Oreo (better camera, other improvements) and rooting where you can flash or install various mods. You are right that this has AMAZING battery life.
I also owned two 2013 LG Nexus 5 (for me and my wife) and then owned three 2014 Moto Quark (a.k.a. Droid Turbo/Moto Turbo/Moto Maxx). I bought the Moto Quarks to replace the LG Nexus 5 as it was basically a "Moto Nexus 6" but in better 5.2" size. (Google had two Nexus 6 prototypes as late as mid-August 2014, and went with the larger size for actual Moto Nexus 6 while the smaller one became the Moto Quark. Any number in the Nexus phones was generation, not screen size.)
I loved the Nexus 5 and Moto Quark phones . The 5" Nexus 5 was cutting edge for its day with 1080p display, Qi wireless charging and latest Snapdragon and 2GB RAM. The 2014 Moto Quark added to that by going to 5.2" OLED 1440p QHD, Qi wireless charging, 64GB internal storage, latest Snapdragon and 3GB RAM! After keeping that for three years, for my next phone I didn't want to DOWNGRADE and lose features. I'm not going to give up Qi wireless charging and 1440p QHD after having those since 2013 and 2014! If I buy a phone, it's going to have premium features I can be proud of. (*cough* OnePlus)
I researched relentlessly through 2017, marking off about a dozen different phones as they failed to live up to my needs/expectations. LG G6 was one such phone. The LG V30 was not even on my radar when I started that thread in early 2017 -- but by the end of the year, I realized it was the perfect phone on my checklist. (Galaxy Note 8 came in close 2nd, but was too large for my taste.) As a result of that research, besides me and my wife NINE other people I know personally (relatives/friends) own this V30 phone.
Now, in early 2019 the V30 series is still about the best phone out there.
LG V30/V30+
1440P OLED (537 ppi)
Qi wireless charging
3.5mm headset jack
Quad DAC
IP68 dust/water resistance
rear camera OIS on normal lens - plus 120 degree wide angle lens
superfast fingerprint sensor
64GB (V30) or 128GB (V30+) internal storage
microSD port for additional storage
bootloader unlock and root
no notch
Show me another phone with all those features?
I have Settings screenshot suggestions with Google Photos link in that thread and my KDZ threads. Everyone has their own preferences, but there's so many deep (almost hidden) menus on this device it's easy to overlook some useful toggle (like the lock screen weather animations). And with root, I've been able to enable them all -- not just the two LG has as default.
I've also enabled call recorder and installed this excellent combination mod.
@s0lidsneak
Glad you are enjoying. Still a great phone for the money. Your only problem is that you should have been using it as early as may!
Regarding wifi speeds, my converted v30+ only sees ~150mbps download speeds. I'm also on gigabit internet with fast routers and wireless AC. I never really used the phone on nougat and I'm curious if it's a bug in the Oreo build for US998 that causes the slowdown. In fairness, I don't know who needs speed any faster than 150mbps anyways but it's always kind of annoyed me. Maybe there's a bug in the network stack on us998 Oreo.
ChazzMatt said:
Congratulations on your new phone! You'll love it even better after updating to Oreo (better camera, other improvements) and rooting where you can flash or install various mods. You are right that this has AMAZING battery life.
I also owned two 2013 LG Nexus 5 (for me and my wife) and then owned three 2014 Moto Quark (a.k.a. Droid Turbo/Moto Turbo/Moto Maxx). I bought the Moto Quarks to replace the LG Nexus 5 as it was basically a "Moto Nexus 6" but in better 5.2" size. (Google had two Nexus 6 prototypes as late as mid-August 2014, and went with the larger size for actual Moto Nexus 6 while the smaller one became the Moto Quark. Any number in the Nexus phones was generation, not screen size.)
I loved the Nexus 5 and Moto Quark phones . The 5" Nexus 5 was cutting edge for its day with 1080p display, Qi wireless charging and latest Snapdragon and 2GB RAM. The 2014 Moto Quark added to that by going to 5.2" OLED 1440p QHD, Qi wireless charging, 64GB internal storage, latest Snapdragon and 3GB RAM! After keeping that for three years, for my next phone I didn't want to DOWNGRADE and lose features. I'm not going to give up Qi wireless charging and 1440p QHD after having those since 2013 and 2014! If I buy a phone, it's going to have premium features I can be proud of. (*cough* OnePlus)
I researched relentlessly through 2017, marking off about a dozen different phones as they failed to live up to my needs/expectations. LG G6 was one such phone. The LG V30 was not even on my radar when I started that thread in early 2017 -- but by the end of the year, I realized it was the perfect phone on my checklist. (Galaxy Note 8 came in close 2nd, but was too large for my taste.) As a result of that research, besides me and my wife NINE other people I know personally (relatives/friends) own this V30 phone.
Now, in early 2019 the V30 series is still about the best phone out there.
LG V30/V30+
1440P OLED (537 ppi)
Qi wireless charging
3.5mm headset jack
Quad DAC
IP68 dust/water resistance
rear camera OIS on normal lens - plus 120 degree wide angle lens
superfast fingerprint sensor
64GB (V30) or 128GB (V30+) internal storage
microSD port for additional storage
bootloader unlock and root
no notch
Show me another phone with all those features?
I have Settings screenshot suggestions with Google Photos link in that thread and my KDZ threads. Everyone has their own preferences, but there's so many deep (almost hidden) menus on this device it's easy to overlook some useful toggle (like the lock screen weather animations). And with root, I've been able to enable them all -- not just the two LG has as default.
I've also enabled call recorder and installed this excellent combination mod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I was really blown away at how good the Nexus 5 was, especially at the price.. for that year. I'm not particularly very "into" smartphones but I knew enough to realize how good a deal it was... especially considering the priority Android updates and pure Android experience as well as the fact it worked on Sprint/T-Mobile/ATT.
I also always relentlessly research anything but more so for expensive/long-term purchases like a phone. I also came across the G6 first then found the V30 and realized there's no point in buying the G6 when the V30 exists .
I also really like the 537 ppi. I already thought the ppi was nice on the Nexus 5 but wow, this is even better. Qi charging is a big deal for me too. I don't want to hassle with finding a plug when I'm really tired, I just want to set the phone down on the nightstand. Additionally, before the Nexus 5 I Owned an LG Optimus Q (Straight Talk) and the USB port became damaged (unable to recognize a cable was attached) so I thought it would be nice to avoid having to connect and disconnect a cable so frequently. I don't think Volta cables were a thing back then either.
I'm not as big on cameras in phones as the average person which I understand is funny because I just bought a V30+ but I think without the cameras it's still a great phone for the price and it doesn't hurt having better camera abilities than the Nexus 5 had anyways so I'm fine with it. I actually think people are a bit too concerned when it comes to smartphone cameras, in general...
I agree the fingerprint sensor is fast but I don't really have anything to compare it to since I haven't ever used one before... but I did see some people comparing it in videos before I purchased.
The internal storage is great, coming from the Nexus 5 which had like 12-13 GB after ROM. I noticed the LS998 had 19.95 GB of "system storage" being taken up on the 128 GB but even then it's not a problem with how much space there is PLUS the fact it has the SD slot the N5 didn't have.
Bootloader unlock and root is a big deal to me as well. I don't like the concept of paying for a phone just to be told that I can't do what I want with it, especially something so common that many things depend on.
I'm indifferent on the notch as I've never used a phone with one in real life.
I'm not aware of another phone with that specific feature set combination or with many of those at this price. Plus it can be used on all networks, which I think is great, even if I dislike Sprint and T-Mo.
I did see your settings screenshots link before and I may check it out once I determine which email address I want to expose on Google =).
WOW that call recorder looks really cool. I like that it's built-in to the dialer. I've never seen anything like that. I bookmarked that page, thank you. All the usual options require setting them up to auto-record or digging through apps to find it and record and they tend to often be buggy or poor quality (from my experience). Speaking of that, glad I don't live in California anymore. Like you, I'm in a one party consent state ;D.
The Magisk Module looks interesting too, bookmarked.
I noticed some default setting was enabled in the phone to connect to random WiFi connections.. I thought that was a bit odd lol...
bacon612 said:
@s0lidsneak
Glad you are enjoying. Still a great phone for the money. Your only problem is that you should have been using it as early as may!
Regarding wifi speeds, my converted v30+ only sees ~150mbps download speeds. I'm also on gigabit internet with fast routers and wireless AC. I never really used the phone on nougat and I'm curious if it's a bug in the Oreo build for US998 that causes the slowdown. In fairness, I don't know who needs speed any faster than 150mbps anyways but it's always kind of annoyed me. Maybe there's a bug in the network stack on us998 Oreo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why May specifically?
You did connect to the 5 Ghz band right? I haven't tested 2.4 Ghz but 5 Ghz is faster with the drawback of reduced signal penetration. You seem like you know this, but just in-case. I'm also curious how things may or may not change when going to Oreo and also excited to finally get to try Oreo for the first time.
Regarding who needs what speeds, I've been saying for a while actually I find it silly that people care about extremely high network speeds from their carrier. If there were reasonable caps set to everyone's device I think it would be possible for these companies to offer better and/or cheaper service and/or advance things faster, allowing for an overall better experience sooner for consumers. I just don't see the reason people need THAT MUCH speed on a cellphone when things aren't even large enough to reach those speeds most, if not all of the time. Not to mention, depending on where they're downloading from they may not be able to even take advantage of such speeds.
s0lidsneak said:
Why May specifically?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's when the WTF bootloader unlock exploit was discovered. Until then only very few V30 could be rooted with an official LG bootloader unlock code -- which was difficult to get even for the two eligible models (lots of requirements: receipts from authorized retailer, IMEI and DEVICE ID which had to match LG database of eligible phones, registered LG account, etc.) I explained in the instructions.
WTF lets anyone unlock their bootloader, no need for permission from LG.
@ChazzMatt - I didn't know your "settings images" were just the normal settings.. for some reason I thought it was something else.. my mistake.. It's cool you posted it but I'll definitely look through those myself. I actually enjoy setting all the things up..
Anyways I made a log of everything I did (not a guide, just a documentation of any issues I ran into during this experience). Hopefully it's thorough and I missed nothing, but I was a bit distracted and going from room to room as well.. trying to get things working properly because I did have a few issues. However, all issues that I did have revolved around the inability for my computer to recognize the phone while the phone was in bootloader mode. I was able to successfully do everything from another computer. Trying different USB ports on my own PC (USB 2 and 3, front and rear panel) as well as the other identical cable that came with the one I ordered didn't work. I have no other Type C cables in my reach.
I noticed by the way that either Android 8 or Android 8 specifically for the V30 has Facebook and Instagram installed by default -- how disgusting
@forgiven90 - maybe this will help resolve whatever issues you had?
As a re-cap the phone I purchased was the LS998 V30+ from monstertechbids on eBay...
Powered OFF the phone
Held VOLUME UP and plugged in USB cable to enter download mode
ran LGUP from this post
Flashed US99810c_03_1216.kdz in PARTITION DL mode using LGUP
Clicked "Select All" then "OK" and clicked "Yes" on partition change warning
At this point I noticed the phone's screen was black and every 5 or so seconds for a brief moment (half a second or less) the well known "broken android" icon would appear and underneath in white text was "no command". I ignored this and proceeded.
Initiated master reset as explained here
Skipped everything possible for initial Android setup and confirmed software version of US99810c with security patch from December 1, 2017
Powered OFF the phone
Held VOLUME UP and plugged in USB cable
Flashed US99820b_03_0524.kdz in UPGRADE mode using LGUP
"Error: ox4, Not support cross model download LS998 to US998"
Closed LGUP and attempted to flash again thanks to this post
"Error: ox4, Not support cross model download LS998 to US998"
Closed LGUP, unplugged and REBOOT the phone (back to normal boot) using VOLUME DOWN and POWER keys (pressing/holding power didn't work)
Held VOLUME UP and plugged in USB cable to enter download mode THEN ran LGUP and attempted flash again
"Error: ox4, Not support cross model download LS998 to US998"
Flashed US99820b_03_0524.kdz in PARTITION DL mode using LGUP thanks to this post
Clicked "Select All" then "OK" which resulted in the successful flash of US99820b_03_0524.kdz
Maybe whether or not we must choose PARTITION DL rather than UPGRADE for a successful flash of Oreo US998 is dependent on which KDZ we choose to flash? (Again, I was using US99820b_03_0524.kdz)
Skipped everything possible for initial Android setup and confirmed software version of US99820b with security patch from May 1, 2018
Put the phone in Photo Transfer Mode after enabling developer menu, OEM unlock and USB debugging
"adb devices" confirms connection after allowing the computer through the phone's prompt
"adb reboot bootloader" successfully boots to bootloader
Here's where I run into issues.
"fastboot flash unlock new_unlock.bin" resulted in "< waiting for any device >"
Tried multiple USB2 and USB3 ports on the front and rear of my PC and the other identical cable that came in the mail today, which I ordered specifically for this phone
Was initially using my old, leftover installation of ADB (15 second installer here on XDA) but also tried removing adb from the environment variables (to ensure I was using the ones I was about to try instead of the one I had already installed years ago) and using Google Minimal ADB and Minimal XDA ADB.
My old ADB installation had a slightly different error (technically) of "< waiting for device >" (basically same thing)
None of these ADBs are able to list/see devices once the phone is in bootloader
Selected "Power Off" from phone and it left bootloader and did a normal boot instead of powering off
Confirmed OEM unlock and USB debugging is enabled and tried again but resulted in same error
Connected to another PC and allowed the PC on the phone for USB debugging
Successfully flashed new_unlock.bin and unlocked the bootloader
Due to distraction I forgot to type "fastboot reboot" and disconnected the phone or something, so I held power and volume down until the phone reboot
Skipped everything possible for initial Android setup and made sure OEM unlock was not available after enabling developer menu
"adb reboot bootloader"
"fastboot flash recovery twrp.img" (Using this version)
Resulted in this error: "FAILED (status read failed (Too many links))"
Tried another USB port and it successfully flashed TWRP to the recovery partition
"fastboot boot twrp.img" resulted in the phone booting into normal boot instead of TWRP
Tried using a boot to recovery app, forgetting IT REQUIRES ROOT :silly:
Got TWRP-3.2.3-7-default.img instead of the one I was using and tried flashing it to recovery partition and now it boots into TWRP just fine
Swiped to allow modifications then backed up system partition (I don't have a microSD so I transferred it through USB to the computer)
Factory Reset
"Wipe Data", "Format Data" then typed "yes" and proceeded
Got the mount errors mentioned in the instructions so I reboot to recovery via TWRP as instructed
Swiped to allow modifications then repeat step from 2 bullet points ago. Worked this time!
As instructed, reboot to recovery again. Swiped to allow modifications
Mounted the device to transfer the backup to the computer, but for some reason it booted into the normal boot mode so I switched it from Photo Transfer Mode to File Transfer Mode
Took the opportunity to place Magisk-v17.3.zip, no-verity-opt-encrypt-6.0.zip and lg-rctd-disabler-1.0.zip onto the device
Unlocked developer menu again and enabled USB debugging while also allowing the PC through phone's prompt
"adb reboot recovery" then swiped to allow modifications
Flashed Magisk, encryption disabler and root check disabler
Reboot to system
Installed a root checker and it required an update to Google Play Services to work, which I allowed and it still would not detect a rooted device
Ran Magisk and was invited by prompt to update Magisk Manager (I accepted) and update Magisk to version 18 (I declined)
Clicked on the SafetyNet Check and it was successful
Tried root check again and it successfully displayed as rooted, immediately
Great, now that's all done and hopefully people will see the potential issues by looking through that story of my journey converting the LS998 to US998, unlocking the bootloader, rooting the phone, etc...
@ChazzMatt
My questions:
Is it okay to allow the Magisk app to update Magisk to version 18?
Was it ever discovered how to remove or "remove by replacing with a blank image or something else" that nag screen about the bootloader being unlocked?
If I use LGUP to flash a KDZ I don't need to clear any caches or re-flash Magisk? This is important because I don't know why I can't access the phone in it's bootloader state on my PC and I can't always use that other PC.
I saw a post but can't find it anymore about how to remove the factory installed apps we don't want on the phone (I think it was via adb). Any idea on this?
For now I'm going to try to nandroid with TWRP and attempt a KDZ flash of the latest Oreo version via LGUP. After this I'll try putting in those Magisk modules for call recording and the other things.
EDIT: Well I tried using the reboot to recovery app and it presented me with the broken droid and "No command" text but this time it's not blinking on intermittently... it's stuck there. I tried using adb to reboot to recovery and it results in the same "No command" screen.
s0lidsneak said:
@ChazzMatt - I didn't know your "settings images" were just the normal settings.. for some reason I thought it was something else.. my mistake.. It's cool you posted it but I'll definitely look through those myself. I actually enjoy setting all the things up..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The settings are screenshots of MY settings on Nougat. The Oreo settings are similar, so I haven't taken the time to go through them again...yet.
1) they show all the settings choices, some of which may be hidden to the average person if they don't know there's sub-menus inside of sub-menus.
2) they show all my choices, which of course are BEST.
s0lidsneak said:
@ChazzMatt
My questions:
Is it okay to allow the Magisk app to update Magisk to version 18?
Was it ever discovered how to remove or "remove by replacing with a blank image or something else" that nag screen about the bootloader being unlocked?
If I use LGUP to flash a KDZ I don't need to clear any caches or re-flash Magisk? This is important because I don't know why I can't access the phone in it's bootloader state on my PC and I can't always use that other PC.
I saw a post but can't find it anymore about how to remove the factory installed apps we don't want on the phone (I think it was via adb). Any idea on this?
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Yes. In fact tonight, I finally edited WTF to recommend Magisk 18.
2) There is a way to replace the unlocked bootloader graphic using the "raw_resources" from another variant, but can be dangerous. Someone bricked their phone doing it. Just leave it be.
3) Uhmm... let's clarify. I think you are asking about stock firmware TWRP flashable zip, not stock KDZ? You can flash US998 20F stock firmware flashable zip via TWRP. It's the KDZ in TWRP flashable form. You do need to clear caches and re-flash Magisk before rebooting.
4) You can use Titanium Backup to freeze (recommended) or completely uninstall factory installed apps. In some cases you have to convert them from "system apps" to "user apps", then can remove them.
ChazzMatt said:
The settings are screenshots of MY settings on Nougat. The Oreo settings are similar, so I haven't taken the time to go through them again...yet.
1) they show all the settings choices, some of which may be hidden to the average person if they don't know there's sub-menus inside of sub-menus.
2) they show all my choices, which of course are BEST.
1) Yes. In fact tonight, I finally edited WTF to recommend Magisk 18.
2) There is a way to replace the unlocked bootloader graphic using the "raw_resources" from another variant, but can be dangerous. Someone bricked their phone doing it. Just leave it be.
3) Uhmm... let's clarify. I think you are asking about stock firmware TWRP flashable zip, not stock KDZ? You can flash US998 20F stock firmware flashable zip via TWRP. It's the KDZ in TWRP flashable form. You do need to clear caches and re-flash Magisk.
4) You can use Titanium Backup to freeze (recommended) or completely uninstall factory installed apps. In some cases you have to convert them from "system apps" to "user apps", then can remove them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was asking if I can avoid using TWRP and clearing cache by using the KDZ and flashing the latest OREO version via LGUP.
Right now though I'm stuck on the "No command" screen every time I try to get into TWRP.
s0lidsneak said:
I was asking if I can avoid using TWRP and clearing cache by using the KDZ and flashing the latest OREO version via LGUP.
Right now though I'm stuck on the "No command" screen every time I try to get into TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand that error message. You are not seeing the TWRP menu? You need TWRP. Maybe try to reinstall it? Be sure to swipe that you give it permission to be writable, to make changes to your system. Otherwise if you reboot without that, it's not really installed and you end back with stock recovery and you see the green android. I'm confused exactly what you are seeing.
Yes, you CAN install 20F the hard way -- through dev patched LGUP, but then you need to do exactly the same steps as before with the no root, no encryption files, and then Magisk. This is if you do not have TWRP installed.
Here's the change log for US99 20F.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78585952&postcount=358
ChazzMatt said:
I don't understand that error message. You are not seeing the TWRP menu? You need TWRP. Maybe try to reinstall it? Be sure to swipe that you give it permission to be writable, to make changes to your system. Otherwise if you reboot without that, it's not really installed and you end back with stock recovery and you see the green android. I'm confused exactly what you are seeing.
Yes, you CAN install 20F the hard way -- through dev patched LGUP, but then you need to do exactly the same steps as before with the no root, no encryption files, and then Magisk. This is if you do not have TWRP installed.
Here's the change log for US99 20F.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78585952&postcount=358
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it never boots to TWRP. I'll post a pic from my Nexus 5 of the screen for you.
TWRP was working fine and I haven't done anything on the phone besides confirm that root works. To flash TWRP I need to get access to that other computer or figure out why my computer can't see the phone when the phone is in it's bootloader. Unless there's some other way to install TWRP...
And okay, after I get TWRP working I'll be glad to use that to flash the latest Oreo version lol.
See attached picture of error. I can't get the camera to focus at all but the top thing is the typical green android with his compartment open and a red triangle symbol sticking out and the thing at the bottom is white text that says "No command"
s0lidsneak said:
No, it never boots to TWRP. I'll post a pic from my Nexus 5 of the screen for you.
TWRP was working fine and I haven't done anything on the phone besides confirm that root works. To flash TWRP I need to get access to that other computer or figure out why my computer can't see the phone when the phone is in it's bootloader. Unless there's some other way to install TWRP...
And okay, after I get TWRP working I'll be glad to use that to flash the latest Oreo version lol.
See attached picture of error. I can't get the camera to focus at all but the top thing is the typical green android with his compartment open and a red triangle symbol sticking out and the thing at the bottom is white text that says "No command"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, you don't have TWRP installed on your phone. You've been booting to TWRP via the copy on your PC. Call it "temp" TWRP.
In the WTF INSTRUCTIONS, that's why there's a statement confirming TWRP is actually installed.
You're not the first this has happened with. Reinstall TWRP, boot to TWRP, make sure you've allowed it to be writable. Then rebooting TWRP from within TWRP menu.
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
ChazzMatt said:
Yeah, you don't have TWRP installed on your phone. You've been booting to TWRP via the copy on your PC. Call it "temp" TWRP.
In the WTF INSTRUCTIONS, that's why there's a statement confirming TWRP is actually installed.
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point, I didn't even catch that.. I mean that I didn't catch the fact I was only ever using it with the "boot" command in ADB.
Well then for whatever reason, it was failing to flash TWRP to the phone.
I'm removing everything for Android from Device Manager and USBDEVIEW and I'll try installing things fresh for the V30+ only and see if I can access the phone via ADB during bootloader state. EDIT: Yeah, still won't access phone during bootloader from ADB.
RESOLVED issue not being able to see the phone from fastboot
First you must boot into bootloader with cable connected via ADB. Next you need to install the USB driver from Google, found here by right-clicking the Android entry with the warning symbol on it in the Device Manager and clicking "Update Driver Software" then "Browse my computer", "Let me pick..", "Show All Devices..." then "Have Disk" and select the INF file from the google drivers.
I still can't get the phone to boot with the NEW TWRP which I linked a few posts up in the log of my journey, but the version ChazzMat linked (TWRP-3.2.3-7-default.img) works fine.
I'm picking up in the WTF guide where you leave off after booting into TWRP and will do all that stuff over again. Oddly, it didn't give me the option to swipe to allow modifications this time on first boot but after rebooting to recovery once again (due to mount errors) it did present the option.
After booting into Android, Magisk app claimed it wasn't installed for some reason and offered a download of version 18, which I just flashed. I downloaded it and went back into recovery (this time "adb reboot recovery" is working properly) and flashed it from TWRP once again as well as no-verity-opt-encrypt and lg-rctd-disabler.
Now I reboot into system again and Magisks properly reports that it is installed. Funny because how did the app get there if I didn't flash anything? Obviously I did. SafetyNet check works again too.
So finally I'll backup Android 8.0 with TWRP, Magisk, RCTD disabler and no verity opt in it's stock state then proceed to flashing the latest Oreo version via TWRP.
EDIT: US99820f and Magisk 18 successfully flashed. Is there any changelog for these different versions of Android we're adding?
s0lidsneak said:
EDIT: US99820f and Magisk 18 successfully flashed. Is there any changelog for these different versions of Android we're adding?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
change log:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78585952&postcount=358
s0lidsneak said:
Yes, I was really blown away at how good the Nexus 5 was, especially at the price.. for that year. I'm not particularly very "into" smartphones but I knew enough to realize how good a deal it was... especially considering the priority Android updates and pure Android experience as well as the fact it worked on Sprint/T-Mobile/ATT.
I also always relentlessly research anything but more so for expensive/long-term purchases like a phone. I also came across the G6 first then found the V30 and realized there's no point in buying the G6 when the V30 exists .
I also really like the 537 ppi. I already thought the ppi was nice on the Nexus 5 but wow, this is even better. Qi charging is a big deal for me too. I don't want to hassle with finding a plug when I'm really tired, I just want to set the phone down on the nightstand. Additionally, before the Nexus 5 I Owned an LG Optimus Q (Straight Talk) and the USB port became damaged (unable to recognize a cable was attached) so I thought it would be nice to avoid having to connect and disconnect a cable so frequently. I don't think Volta cables were a thing back then either.
I'm not as big on cameras in phones as the average person which I understand is funny because I just bought a V30+ but I think without the cameras it's still a great phone for the price and it doesn't hurt having better camera abilities than the Nexus 5 had anyways so I'm fine with it. I actually think people are a bit too concerned when it comes to smartphone cameras, in general...
I agree the fingerprint sensor is fast but I don't really have anything to compare it to since I haven't ever used one before... but I did see some people comparing it in videos before I purchased.
The internal storage is great, coming from the Nexus 5 which had like 12-13 GB after ROM. I noticed the LS998 had 19.95 GB of "system storage" being taken up on the 128 GB but even then it's not a problem with how much space there is PLUS the fact it has the SD slot the N5 didn't have.
Bootloader unlock and root is a big deal to me as well. I don't like the concept of paying for a phone just to be told that I can't do what I want with it, especially something so common that many things depend on.
I'm indifferent on the notch as I've never used a phone with one in real life.
I'm not aware of another phone with that specific feature set combination or with many of those at this price. Plus it can be used on all networks, which I think is great, even if I dislike Sprint and T-Mo.
I did see your settings screenshots link before and I may check it out once I determine which email address I want to expose on Google =).
WOW that call recorder looks really cool. I like that it's built-in to the dialer. I've never seen anything like that. I bookmarked that page, thank you. All the usual options require setting them up to auto-record or digging through apps to find it and record and they tend to often be buggy or poor quality (from my experience). Speaking of that, glad I don't live in California anymore. Like you, I'm in a one party consent state ;D.
The Magisk Module looks interesting too, bookmarked.
I noticed some default setting was enabled in the phone to connect to random WiFi connections.. I thought that was a bit odd lol...
Why May specifically?
You did connect to the 5 Ghz band right? I haven't tested 2.4 Ghz but 5 Ghz is faster with the drawback of reduced signal penetration. You seem like you know this, but just in-case. I'm also curious how things may or may not change when going to Oreo and also excited to finally get to try Oreo for the first time.
Regarding who needs what speeds, I've been saying for a while actually I find it silly that people care about extremely high network speeds from their carrier. If there were reasonable caps set to everyone's device I think it would be possible for these companies to offer better and/or cheaper service and/or advance things faster, allowing for an overall better experience sooner for consumers. I just don't see the reason people need THAT MUCH speed on a cellphone when things aren't even large enough to reach those speeds most, if not all of the time. Not to mention, depending on where they're downloading from they may not be able to even take advantage of such speeds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, im on 5GHz AC 1900MBPS capable router. The better halfs iPhone XS Max gets ~450mbps.
I am responding to this thread to add the the latest 'F' build for the US998 has increased my download speed to 250mbps. So, it seems that this is software related on LGs end. I guess we are slowly improving.
ChazzMatt said:
change log:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78585952&postcount=358
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see that you found that on LG's Korean site.. I get it now why there's no on-going changelog for past and future versions.
What I've done since last post:
Ran new benchmarks (going to make another reply so I can link directly to those in OP instead of making people read this huge reply)
Put on AdAway
Moved over all my authenticators from old phone (latest Blizzard Authenticator doesn't work for some reason but version 2.2.2 did)
Put on and customized Nova Launcher and an icon pack
Setup all Android settings that I could without a SIM
That AnxiousV30 module for Magisk didn't work (tried in TWRP as well)
Put on GCam, Google Dialer and Contacts, Google Sans & YouTube Vanced (everything seems to be working fine)
TiBackup requires purchase to freeze apps (I thought I remembered it going pay-to-use but maybe I just stopped using it in KitKat because it locked out features and I didn't want to/couldn't buy it)
Instead of TiBackup I just used ADB's shell to disable facebook, instagram, photos, play videos, play music, music widget, quick help, quick help services, google sheets & google slides, File Manager, LG Health, LG Mobile Switch, LG smartworld (yes, I backed them up)
I prefer MX Player and BlackPlayer for videos and music, respectively
Setup Battery Charge Limit to charge phone to 81% then stop, then start charging if phone goes below 51%. 81% instead of 80% because it reports as 1% under the amount I told it to stop at once it stops. The purpose of this is to prolong battery longevity.
Enabled all lockscreen weather effects
Added a Gboard theme pack
Added call recording version of stock phone app
Questions:
Screen protector recommendations?
Oreo seems to have removed Swype. Is that the case? If so, why lol?? Did people not like that or was Google just being Google? I've installed the Google keyboard for now but I'm wondering if there's a way to get that ".com" button back into the keyboard but keep everything else the same.
I would search for this but there are so many creative names people use for this so what I'd like is something that mimics the behavior of the notification LED on the Nexus 5. I want something that will, at the very least have a little dot on the screen that lights up and the ability to customize the color based on which app the notification came from as well as behavior such as blink, breathe, etc... Another interesting idea is to have a glow around the border of the screen as the notification light. The idea is to be able to see the phone's notification light at an extreme angle or across the room and know the origin of the notification without waking the phone.
On my Nexus 5 using 7.1.2 on crDroid I was able to set DND mode from the dragdown bar just like on this one. However, I was able to determine FOR HOW LONG I can set DND. I think this is a change from Nougat to Oreo, but I'm unsure. Is there a way I can do that? The Nexus 5 had options to set it until I turn it off, until my next alarm or until a specified amount of time (see attached image). I found an app called DND Timer, but it's in 24-hour time and must be run separately as an app (plus some other inconveniences).
Sometimes the phone doesn't request SU privileges. I have to manually enable certain apps in Magisk. It happened with TiBackup. Any ideas on what's going on here?
Is there a way to have more increments for volume sliders? This doesn't work.
Is there a way to add in a modified power button menu to have reboot to recovery and bootloader appear in addition to a regular restart or power off? I don't care if the skin is different on the options.
Is there a way to not have to enter the pattern unlock code on first unlock after a phone boot?
Is there a way to get notifications to wake the screen? Glimpse Notifications does this but causes the phone to often be unresponsive to unlock attempts.
How can I disable the camera shutter sound on the stock camera app? There's a Magisk module that doesn't work and another one that also disables the screenshot sound (which I want enabled).
How can I get a battery indicator number inside of a circle representing the charge level of the battery? I ONLY want the number inside the circle and for the circle to also be representative (like Cyanogenmod was) which is how my Nexus 5 was setup. I don't want multiple battery indicators, like what I've seen in apps that add a battery indicator. Will resolve this when I purchase Flat Style Bar Indicators.
Is there a way to hide the carrier label? Resolved with Flat Style Bar Indicators via Xposed.
I can't replace the LGInCallUI.apk through root browser because it says "Changing permissions was not successful. Please note that some file systems do not allow permission changes.". I also tried in TWRP but can't find the proper system directory using that. Asked for help in that thread. I installed File Explorer Root Browser and it worked flawlessly.
Any gallery app recommendations? I dislike the default gallery and dislike the "Photos" app. I may go back to Gallery KK if there's nothing good I can find. Nevermind, turns out you have to hit "delete" and then you're able to multi-select.. just a bit backwards compared to before.
Is there a way to disable the "share via" thing that searches for devices when I click the share icon? Oops, found that setting under "connected devices > sharing panel".
How can I hide the NFC logo at the top without disabling NFC? Used SystemUI Tuner for this.
How can I change clock position at the top, as well as whether to display date/seconds and how to display them as well as capitalization/size settings? I resolved this with Flat Style Bar Indicators via Xposed.
How do I remove screen sharing and file sharing from the quick settings menu? Found it in the settings menu of the quick settings menu.
What is "US GPS config" from the AnxiousV30 Magisk module? Figured it out, extracted gps.conf from module and replaced stock file then set perms to 644.
Since making this post I've tried dotOS and AOSPExtended and for various reasons like stability and features I disliked them. Went back to stock for now. This is only further encouraging me to want to do these edits manually. I don't need most of the features of those ROMs anyways. Though I don't really like having to have multiple apps to do these little things so I'm still interested in a ROM and may try dotOS again as well as some others.
Additionally, I found out I can't setup Google Pay due to Xposed... so I turned off Xposed and setup Google Pay but they said I have to go use my card or go to a bank physically to verify so I'll skip it for now. This is more reason to find a good ROM as my card expires soon anyways and I can do that later.
See OP for pre-conversion Nougat benchmarks.
See attached images for post-conversion Oreo benchmarks.
bacon612 said:
Yes, im on 5GHz AC 1900MBPS capable router. The better halfs iPhone XS Max gets ~450mbps.
I am responding to this thread to add the the latest 'F' build for the US998 has increased my download speed to 250mbps. So, it seems that this is software related on LGs end. I guess we are slowly improving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder why you're getting 250 Mbps but I'm getting 400+. You said your wife/gf gets about 450 so I guess you have the speed available. I still get 400+ on Oreo, just like on Nougat before converting the phone.
Maybe QoS is in effect and hurting the LG?
ChazzMatt said:
The settings are screenshots of MY settings on Nougat. The Oreo settings are similar, so I haven't taken the time to go through them again...yet.
1) they show all the settings choices, some of which may be hidden to the average person if they don't know there's sub-menus inside of sub-menus.
2) they show all my choices, which of course are BEST.
1) Yes. In fact tonight, I finally edited WTF to recommend Magisk 18.
2) There is a way to replace the unlocked bootloader graphic using the "raw_resources" from another variant, but can be dangerous. Someone bricked their phone doing it. Just leave it be.
3) Uhmm... let's clarify. I think you are asking about stock firmware TWRP flashable zip, not stock KDZ? You can flash US998 20F stock firmware flashable zip via TWRP. It's the KDZ in TWRP flashable form. You do need to clear caches and re-flash Magisk before rebooting.
4) You can use Titanium Backup to freeze (recommended) or completely uninstall factory installed apps. In some cases you have to convert them from "system apps" to "user apps", then can remove them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey any reason why my sprint phone converted to US998 using US99820b_03_0524.kdz...its restarting itself in the first android setup. While im skipping all the setting it just reboots.
kventura said:
Hey any reason why my sprint phone converted to US998 using US99820b_03_0524.kdz...its restarting itself in the first android setup. While im skipping all the setting it just reboots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This question is not relevant to this thread. You should ask in the Frankenstein thread. I already answered you in the WTF thread, where you asked the same question.