Stock AT&T ROM w/o bloatware? - One (M8) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I've searched the forum threads, but not sure if I've found what I'm looking for, which is basically the stock AT&T Rom just without the 6,000 bloatware apps.
Does that exist?

I think most people here would consider once you start removing things, you've ventured out of "stock ROM" territory and into custom or at least "stockish" ROM territory. Reason being, what one person considers bloat, someone else might actually like. Although I'm with you, in that zero of the AT&T specific apps are remotely useful.
If you truly want something stock (but debloated) your best bet is probably to debloat yourself, although I'm sure you already know that.
The alternative is to look at the AT&T based custom ROMs like Skyfall or M8Rx and see if they meet your needs. Although, these still might be too "customized" based on what you are looking for. The ROMs mentioned are listed in my Index of the AT&T specific M8 forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2751432
For that matter, I wouldn't even limit myself to AT&T base, as in my opinion almost any other stock or custom ROM is better. Not only less bloat on many other carrier versions, but also things like WiFi hotspot (tethering) are not restricted (if you don't have a tethering plan).

redpoint73 said:
I think most people here would consider once you start removing things, you've ventured out of "stock ROM" territory and into custom or at least "stockish" ROM territory. Reason being, what one person considers bloat, someone else might actually like. Although I'm with you, in that zero of the AT&T specific apps are remotely useful.
If you truly want something stock (but debloated) your best bet is probably to debloat yourself, although I'm sure you already know that.
The alternative is to look at the AT&T based custom ROMs like Skyfall, M8Rx or NV and see if they meet your needs. Although, these still might be too "customized" based on what you are looking for. All the ROMs mentioned are listed in my Index of the AT&T specific M8 forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2751432
For that matter, I wouldn't even limit myself to AT&T base, as in my opinion almost any other stock or custom ROM is better. Not only less bloat on many other carrier versions, but also things like WiFi hotspot (tethering) are not restricted (if you don't have a tethering plan).
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Click to collapse
I agree with everything you're saying, thank you for the reassurance on what I thought. I'm using Skydragon now, and it's great and all, but once you see that changelog with what the dev changed it's like ugh...
I'll check out the other rom's you mentioned.

A lot of the sense based ROM's have the stock look an most use the aroma installer to to install them an let you pick what HTC and Google apps to install or remove.

Visual Voicemail alone is a good reason to use an AT&T base IMO
I'm using Skyfall, but there are several ATT base options now. However, you will need to make sure the ROM specifies ATT base and not just ATT compatibility (which practically any international base ROM has).

Related

[FLAME] Wtf do people have againt custom roms?!?

I don't get it. Noobs love stock for some reason. They call custom roms buggy and glitchy whilst they are on a non overclocked, battery eating, sense 2.1 ROM.
We must CONVERT them to the custom ROM side. I dont make roms for people to call them buggy without even. looking at them.
Feel free to share your views and flame here. The wildfire s modorator doesn't really care anyway.
Okay, I'll bite.
First of all, I'm not sure if "noobs love stock" is entirely accurate.
From what I've directly seen/heard, I'm actually experiencing the opposite. Newbs are coming out of the woodwork with their (perfectly adequate) WFS and saying "Hey, I heard there's a custom ROM for this thing! That sounds like hacking! Hacking is cool! Therefore, I want it!"
I don't think a lot of the "noobs" (I hate that word... we were all NOOBS at one point) fully understand what they will gain (and, more importantly, LOSE) by upgrading to a custom ROM. I don't think there's any custom ROM out there right now that makes my phone objectively better. Instead, what you get are custom ROMs that do a, b, and c better, but in the meantime they break features x, y, and z. It's up to you, the user, to decide if you can live with the trade-off and what features are honestly the most important to you.
You say, "They call custom roms buggy and glitchy" but I think that's because, generally, they are! Of the 15+ ROMs I've tested, a lot were simply buggy or glitchy. Almost all had at least 1 minor problem with them. In the end, it comes down to "can I live with this bug?"
You're right - no one should call your (or any) ROM "buggy" if they haven't actually tried it. That's just stupid. But I'm getting the impression that isn't the actual core of your complaint. You want to see everyone convert to a custom ROM. Well, I'm on board with that... but you gotta understand: the stock ROM is actually quite good. I will grant that it comes with too much bloatware. But the Sense UI is simply stunning and stable. Almost everyone I asked says they miss it (after upgrading to a custom ROM) and they simply "learn to live without it"). I don't want to learn to live without it. I want my Sense experience, minus all the bloatware, stable, and a decent battery life.
You complain about the stock battery life? But I find custom ROMs MUCH worse at handling the battery than the stock (all other settings being equal). Dunno why this is, but it just is.
In a nutshell, users will just have to decide for themselves.
If you create a grid, like I did (sorry I don't have the link handy, but it's on XDA somewhere) and compare each ROM side by side, one thing will become immediately obvious to you: while each ROM may excel in 1 or 2 features, no one ROM excels in ALL features. So, you're back to the user having to make a decision: what do I value more? And any time she has to do that, she won't be 100% satisfied with a custom ROM because she'll know, in the back of her mind, what perfectly useful function she had to give up in order to move to the new custom ROM.
If you need specifics, I'll give you specifics. But for now, I promise you that each custom ROM does at least one thing worse than stock.
- Anthony
---------- Post added at 09:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 PM ----------
p.s.
Lest I be regarded as "ungrateful", I just want to make it clear:
I am currently running a custom ROM and I am extremely grateful for all the chefs who cook us up these yummy things. I've expressed my gratitude several times across several threads. That, however, is not the issue here. The issue is that I still find myself having to learn to live with a deficit (or two) after upgrading to a custom ROM, as described in my above post.
I totally agree with "Tigger31337"...
btw I am using stock 2.3.5 which I have modified a little for my needs with some scripts and I am really happy with it...stock is stable for sure, I hope you new sense3.5 rom gets to where the stock is because i would like to support you and to use the better sense
Kind Regards
I think users who run custom roms are doing so because they like to tinker, not because they make their phones that much better.
I run CM7 but its got a bug with the camera flash and therefore makes it perhaps less better than stock, but I flashed it because this stuff interests me.
The majority of users want a phone to make calls, text and run a few apps and stock does that. Most users have no idea their phones can run custom roms and even less idea how to flash a rom.
As for bloatware, custom roms are guilty of this as well. Does CM7 need to come with a torch app built in :-0
Scott
scott_doyland said:
As for bloatware, custom roms are guilty of this as well. Does CM7 need to come with a torch app built in :-0
Scott
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I see what you are talking about with bloatware. That's why I keep my stuff from .sense in /data/app where possible, so users can uninstall if they wish.
Users can uninstall bloatware once their phone is rooted.
Hi, users can uninstall bloatware once rooted but I think its not too healthy for the system as often users don't know what is safe to remove.
Much better to put apps that can be uninstalled without causing any system instability into /data/app as mentioned above. That's a really good thing to do as it allows the user to know what they can safely uninstall.
Scott
My opinion
I also do love custom ROMs especially CM7 with its awesome settings and theme chooser.
Also debloated sense ROMs are good (who wants peep, stocks, all the crap from htc).
Now my opinion on the WFSDEV Team
Do they work together? I don't think so
The ACE team is a real team, they do massive work, CM9 and other great ROMS
The chat is empty, and never worked well
No CM9, will it ever come
I asked for help with a cwm zip (week ago), the team didn't even look at it
Massive flood of sense 3.5 ROMS, based on the port of 1 person.
This will make it very clear for users which rom to choose of course
I hope it will get better soon if not, I'm going to leave the DEV team, because now, not a proud member.
Henry_01 said:
I also do love custom ROMs especially CM7 with its awesome settings and theme chooser.
Also debloated sense ROMs are good (who wants peep, stocks, all the crap from htc).
Now my opinion on the WFSDEV Team
Do they work together? I don't think so
The ACE team is a real team, they do massive work, CM9 and other great ROMS
The chat is empty, and never worked well
No CM9, will it ever come
I asked for help with a cwm zip (week ago), the team didn't even look at it
Massive flood of sense 3.5 ROMS, based on the port of 1 person.
This will make it very clear for users which rom to choose of course
I hope it will get better soon if not, I'm going to leave the DEV team, because now, not a proud member.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very true. we need to re-think this. cm9 is a mess, as only one dev is making breakthroughs and he's gone on holiday or something.
*se-nsei. said:
very true. we need to re-think this. cm9 is a mess, as only one dev is making breakthroughs and he's gone on holiday or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I am making a "dev lounge" a.k.a. "job management system" however it needs work.

Help me choose my next ROM [T999]

T-Mobile Galaxy S3 (T-999). I'm currently running Frosty Jellybean v11.6, (R.I.P.) so I'm looking for a suitable replacement that is in active development.
I would say I have average to advanced skills (I usually Oden to stock before installing a new ROM)
Wifi Calling is a must, so CM and all non TouchWiz ROMs are out.
I tend to prefer "close to stock" ROMs but I won't rule out something more customized.
I generally don't overclock so those features are not important to me.
I typically install Google Wallet (replace the NFC drivers, installing the MoDoCo hacked wallet binary and then change the build.prop).
I need fairly good battery life (stock experience or reasonably close to it).
What do you suggest?
Sounds like WICKED v7 is what you want if you want near stock feel, and better battery. It performs well.
If you do not mind a tweaked UI, DarthStalker X.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
FreydNot said:
T-Mobile Galaxy S3 (T-999). I'm currently running Frosty Jellybean v11.6, (R.I.P.) so I'm looking for a suitable replacement that is in active development.
I would say I have average to advanced skills (I usually Oden to stock before installing a new ROM)
Wifi Calling is a must, so CM and all non TouchWiz ROMs are out.
I tend to prefer "close to stock" ROMs but I won't rule out something more customized.
I generally don't overclock so those features are not important to me.
I typically install Google Wallet (replace the NFC drivers, installing the MoDoCo hacked wallet binary and then change the build.prop).
I need fairly good battery life (stock experience or reasonably close to it).
What do you suggest?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The developers do this really cool thing now, which consists of putting a list of all features that are within the rom in the first post of the thread. Most of the time they even put screenshots so you can see what it looks like! It's a very good thing for deciding on a rom.
Want to know something else really awesome?! Our friend mt3g put together a resource bible that is stickied in the general section that lists all of the roms available, with short descriptions of what they are!
Towle said:
The developers do this really cool thing now, which consists of putting a list of all features that are within the rom in the first post of the thread. Most of the time they even put screenshots so you can see what it looks like! It's a very good thing for deciding on a rom.
Want to know something else really awesome?! Our friend mt3g put together a resource bible that is stickied in the general section that lists all of the roms available, with short descriptions of what they are!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, but that only tells you so much about a ROM. I generally read the first page or two and the last page or two of each ROM I am considering. What you don't get is an informed opinion from someone who is really using the ROM.
Frosty JB was my favorite and I'm still using 11.3.2. Shame development had to stop on it, but there's no reason you still can't use it. 11.3.2 has the stock kernel, 11.6 has the Xone kernel and is overclockable. Personally, I always loved how close to stock 11.3.2 is, so I continue to use that version.
Sent from my Frosty Jelly Beaned SGH-T999 via Tapatalk 2
Like TheLastSidekick said, the WICKED ROM series seems like the option you are looking for providing what you want. I have been using it since the ICS days and I haven't had a single complaint with it.
FreydNot said:
True, but that only tells you so much about a ROM. I generally read the first page or two and the last page or two of each ROM I am considering. What you don't get is an informed opinion from someone who is really using the ROM.
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Click to collapse
Sooooo reading the last couple pages of the rom thread doesn't give you an idea of people's opinion?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Try out the very new STABLE SlimBean 4.2.1 if you want something different!
Here's the link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2085828
Make sure you perform a clean install if you're coming from a different rom.
Cheers
Slim Roms are not TouchWiz. So will not have WiFi calling..
If I were you, I would go to the dev section and start mango around a few of them see which you like best. I would start with Wicked and Drastalker to begin with. If you're not satisfy, go to the next until you find your answer.
Don't believe what everyone says, follow your heart (hopefully you're not bias )
FreydNot said:
T-Mobile Galaxy S3 (T-999). I'm currently running Frosty Jellybean v11.6, (R.I.P.) so I'm looking for a suitable replacement that is in active development.
I would say I have average to advanced skills (I usually Oden to stock before installing a new ROM)
Wifi Calling is a must, so CM and all non TouchWiz ROMs are out.
I tend to prefer "close to stock" ROMs but I won't rule out something more customized.
I generally don't overclock so those features are not important to me.
I typically install Google Wallet (replace the NFC drivers, installing the MoDoCo hacked wallet binary and then change the build.prop).
I need fairly good battery life (stock experience or reasonably close to it).
What do you suggest?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. What they said. ^^^
That is the beauty of Nandroid. Try one, like it. Great. If not then Nandroid back to what you had/have. Only issue is that you can't Nandroid across build changes, meaning ICS to JB and then back to JB or 4.1.1/2 to 4.2.2 then back to 4.1.1/2. That would cause some partition issues. But since you know how to Odin, that is 80% of the cure for future problems.

[Q] Which ROM for me?

I know everyone hates these questions, I know best thing to do is to try them all. However This is a little different, because what I need is a ROM with a stable hotspot hack to compliment my unlimited tmobile plan. Also I am using the T999L lte model. I don't care much for bare un skinned roms, but open to anything if it has what is needed.
Try any of the AOSP Roms. All CM based Roms have inherent stable Tether.
Beyond that, I Really do not want this thread or question to become
"What's the best Rom out there ? " kind of discussion. What's good for one user's specific setup isn't good for someone else's setup or usage.
Perseus71 said:
Try any of the AOSP Roms. All CM based Roms have inherent stable Tether.
Beyond that, I Really do not want this thread or question to become
"What's the best Rom out there ? " kind of discussion. What's good for one user's specific setup isn't good for someone else's setup or usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's literally just regarding the ability to use hotspot. So it's more of a "which rom does that" kinda thread, lol. So any vanilla rom will have a working hotspot, and it will run off of my cell plan and not my hotspot plan?
From the moderator
Any of the AOSP, Slim, Carbon or Modded Stock will All do that for you you have to try them on your phone.... because the phones typically are built in 7 to 20 different countries not all are the exact same in the inside.
So the real answer what ever one works best for your phone.
This probably will get flamed as a "Best Rom" thread........ so in light of that.......... The THREAD IS CLOSED
Thanks ~~~ oka1

[Q] Best stock ROM

Hi,
I love my M8 but i love stock Android too. Some time ago i tested a few stock roms but they all had battery drain and things like that.
Is there currently a GOOD stock rom? Without sense etc?
Regards,
Dennis
dennusb said:
Hi,
I love my M8 but i love stock Android too. Some time ago i tested a few stock roms but they all had battery drain and things like that.
Is there currently a GOOD stock rom? Without sense etc?
Regards,
Dennis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock(Sense) without Sense?
You mean "vanilla" Android like on the Google Play Editions? Then you should look for a GPE ROM, like Skydragon some screenshots .
If not then I can't help, I only flashed one ROM and that was Viper. I just had to reply to figure out what you mean "Stock" (On HTC that includes Sense) yet it should not have Sense :cyclops:
BerndM14 said:
Stock(Sense) without Sense?
You mean "vanilla" Android like on the Google Play Editions? Then you should look for a GPE ROM, like Skydragon some screenshots .
If not then I can't help, I only flashed one ROM and that was Viper. I just had to reply to figure out what you mean "Stock" (On HTC that includes Sense) yet it should not have Sense :cyclops:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i mean vanilla... i'm sorry
Yes, some folks like to call AOSP "stock". Altough "stock" is rather ambiguous as this phone (at least the huge majority of its variants) comes "stock" from the factory with Sense.
There is not such thing as "best" ROM, and such questions (and anything similar like "favorite", "best performance", "recommended" etc.) are discouraged here. What is "best" depends a lot on your own personal preferences, and things like battery drain are going to vary drastically depending on how you use your phone. So any such recommendations would like have little actual value.
And any such threads would also be an insult to the devs that take their own free time to create these ROMs. If the devs posted them here, they must have considered them worthy of flashing; and its an insult to imply otherwise (as recommending one over another inadvertently does).
Just browse and look through the ROMs, pick one or a couple, and flash away and try them for yourself.
Moderator Information,
Under new forum rules, we now allow best rom threads. But we will be keeping an eye on these threads.
Many thanks,
Ghost
Forum Moderator
redpoint73 said:
Yes, some folks like to call AOSP "stock". Altough "stock" is rather ambiguous as this phone (at least the huge majority of its variants) comes "stock" from the factory with Sense.
There is not such thing as "best" ROM, and such questions (and anything similar like "favorite", "best performance", "recommended" etc.) are discouraged here. What is "best" depends a lot on your own personal preferences, and things like battery drain are going to vary drastically depending on how you use your phone. So any such recommendations would like have little actual value.
And any such threads would also be an insult to the devs that take their own free time to create these ROMs. If the devs posted them here, they must have considered them worthy of flashing; and its an insult to imply otherwise (as recommending one over another inadvertently does).
Just browse and look through the ROMs, pick one or a couple, and flash away and try them for yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's awesome that we can do some comparisons between ROMs now. Competition never hurt anyone, except maybe Apple but that's another story.
How does it go again? our critics are our friends, they show us our faults...
All the devs on here do an awesome job with whatever it is that they're doing, no reason any of them can't learn from the mistakes/successes of other devs and become even more great! But that's something that I always lived by anyways. I criticize a lot but that's fine, I'm my own biggest critic too, work, home doesn't matter. :good:
For me it's CleanRom for sure. Scott is very helpful and issues and requests are addressed very quickly. I have run it for years of numerous devices. Always fast, excellent battery, and no feature loss.
Might also have a look into Elix-R ROM, apparently it was quite good on Nexus 5 and the developer brought it to M8 recently, so also something to look into...
[ROM] Elix-R | V1.2.1 TETRA | 10/02| Fast | Elegant | Simple |
There's so many choices out there. I personally can't state which is better than which, I never ran any of them so =oP
HTC One M8 Android Development
In that case, sinless is best. In my opinion lol.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app

How customizable is this phone?

Hello guys!
I had experiences with several brands. I gave up Samsung due to the Knox Counter and Sony due to the DRM keys. The best experience so far I had with my late Nexus 5! How easy is to customize the HTC 10? I never had HTC's before. Regarding ease of customization, bootloader unlock and warranty how does it go? I am about to return an Axon 7 and maybe exchange it with a 10.
Thanks in advance!
gibawatts said:
Hello guys!
I had experiences with several brands. I gave up Samsung due to the Knox Counter and Sony due to the DRM keys. The best experience so far I had with my late Nexus 5! How easy is to customize the HTC 10? I never had HTC's before. Regarding ease of customization, bootloader unlock and warranty how does it go? I am about to return an Axon 7 and maybe exchange it with a 10.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming you have the Verizon model....Once you use Sunshine to S-Off this phone the world is your oyster. Great/robust dev community and help/support/guides to assist you through anything you want to do with your phone.
The combination of the above and that HTC makes what I think are the most gorgeous looking and well built phones...it's been a win win for me since my Thunderbolt lol
gibawatts said:
Hello guys!
I had experiences with several brands. I gave up Samsung due to the Knox Counter and Sony due to the DRM keys. The best experience so far I had with my late Nexus 5! How easy is to customize the HTC 10? I never had HTC's before. Regarding ease of customization, bootloader unlock and warranty how does it go? I am about to return an Axon 7 and maybe exchange it with a 10.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had a huge amount of devices, ( look at my sig and you'll see) and I've always come back to HTC, reason being is that they offer something a little different, but what's more they always have the most talented developers and the oldest serving, on XDA, Villain rom, etc, they always come up with the goods.
Not to mention that the root, unlocking of the bootloader and s-off (if you s-off) is reversible. Samsung is not, as it has an efuse chip as does the nexus too AFAIK.
There literally isn't anything you can't change on this device and with pretty much any other htc device, if you've had a htc before and gone on to something else, Sony or Sammy are good examples, you'll always be looking back over the fence, and when a new HTC comes out you'll just hate your current device, eg: I got rid of a six month old nexus 6P for this 10
Just unlock the bootloader, s-off if you must or want to, I believe that you can flash firmwares easier with it switched off, it's £20 so not great but it always works, install a custom recovery and flash away.
In terms of roms, Venom probably offers the most comprehensive list of tweaks and mods but LeeDroid is equally as good and as customizable, perhaps not with the length of venom tweaks but still great. Other roms I can guess are similar and when CM is completely fixed, well start seeing CM, AOSP and similar roms heading for us too.
In short, the answer to your question is a huge yes, I don't think I'll ever get another Samsung or Sony again, nothing wrong with them, they're just not for me and I'll miss HTC if I do.
Stripped, themed, ghostpeppered, and running like a bat out of hell....
.
bakemcbride21 said:
Great/robust dev community and help/support/guides to assist you through anything you want to do with your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope I can piggy-back off of this thread just a bit.
When you refer to the developer community for HTC, are you referring particularly to here on XDA-Developers, or in general everywhere? I'm thinking of getting an HTC 10, but I'm wondering the best/simplest way to keep it going with Android updates well past HTC's stated support period. I haven't done anything with my HTC Incredible S, but I'm looking to be a bit more proactive with my next phone. What are some of the more stable ROMs that you--or anyone else, for that matter--would recommend to keep this phone continually updated for years to come? Longevity is important to me.
SlowRain said:
I hope I can piggy-back off of this thread just a bit.
When you refer to the developer community for HTC, are you referring particularly to here on XDA-Developers, or in general everywhere? I'm thinking of getting an HTC 10, but I'm wondering the best/simplest way to keep it going with Android updates well past HTC's stated support period. I haven't done anything with my HTC Incredible S, but I'm looking to be a bit more proactive with my next phone. What are some of the more stable ROMs that you--or anyone else, for that matter--would recommend to keep this phone continually updated for years to come? Longevity is important to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long time Samsung user here. I got my US unlocked HTC 10 a few months ago. Best phone I ever had. Would not even consider an S7 in comparison.
The two primary Sense-based Roms for the 10 are Viper and LeeDroid. I've tried both and prefer Viper. I think that would be your long-term solution. Get an unlocked 10 if you can afford to for maximum flexibility and choice of service providers. Unlock the bootloader, S-Off, and flash Viper. You can't go wrong in my opinion.
BTW, this is just a general discussion thread. Each Rom, Kernel, recovery, etc etc have their own dedicated threads where you'll find in-depth info.
Aurelius99 said:
The two primary Sense-based Roms for the 10 are Viper and LeeDroid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are there any inherent advantages of a Sense-based ROM in terms of stability or ease of installation? Sorry for such a pedestrian question, but is there anything as simple as good ol' Nexus-style vanilla Android, or is that something that's even too easy to be asking about?
Thanks guys, still considering the 10. Now I am between the 10, 6P and Pixel XL. The painful fact is that I am currently with no phone. When I went to return the Axon, there were no 10s in stock at the store. The wait for the Pixel is just killing me! And to worsen things a bit, I just ran into a 128 GB Nexus 6P. I am a real sucker for OLED screens you, know? That is why I still didn't buy the 10.
SlowRain said:
Are there any inherent advantages of a Sense-based ROM in terms of stability or ease of installation? Sorry for such a pedestrian question, but is there anything as simple as good ol' Nexus-style vanilla Android, or is that something that's even too easy to be asking about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gawd, I could never go back to stock. Most people want a custom Rom firstly to get rid of all the bloatware installed by their service providers. Apps you'll never use, sitting there taking up space and even running in the background. Then there is the customizing you can do to set up your phone just how you want it. However, HTC has promised us that they will be providing us with a Rom upgrade to Android 7 in a couple of months and that Rom may be nice as-is. Bottom line - if you want maximum control over your 10, go custom. If stock meets your needs stay with that.
Aurelius99 said:
Gawd, I could never go back to stock. Most people want a custom Rom firstly to get rid of all the bloatware installed by their service providers. Apps you'll never use, sitting there taking up space and even running in the background. Then there is the customizing you can do to set up your phone just how you want it. However, HTC has promised us that they will be providing us with a Rom upgrade to Android 7 in a couple of months and that Rom may be nice as-is. Bottom line - if you want maximum control over your 10, go custom. If stock meets your needs stay with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry, I may not have been clear. I was asking about a Sense-based ROM vs. stock Android (not stock Sense). I'd like it as simple, stripped down, and Nexus-like as possible, but I don't know how much tinkering each modder does with their various ROMs. I also want a ROM from a modder who will support it down the road for several Android versions, but I seem to have an answer to that question already. What I don't understand yet is the likelihood of stock/vanilla Android running smoothly on the HTC 10. Is that what's being called AOSP, or is that something else entirely?
(For what it's worth, I'd be getting the international version, called the M10h, I believe.)
SlowRain said:
I'm sorry, I may not have been clear. I was asking about a Sense-based ROM vs. stock Android (not stock Sense). I'd like it as simple, stripped down, and Nexus-like as possible, but I don't know how much tinkering each modder does with their various ROMs. I also want a ROM from a modder who will support it down the road for several Android versions, but I seem to have an answer to that question already. What I don't understand yet is the likelihood of stock/vanilla Android running smoothly on the HTC 10. Is that what's being called AOSP, or is that something else entirely?
(For what it's worth, I'd be getting the international version, called the M10h, I believe.)
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AOSP is the Android Open Source Project. Yes, this is sometimes referred to as the "stock" Rom. Google provides the code base for the stock Rom. Various developers use this code base and then add their own code enhancements to produce an extended version of the stock Rom. Most custom Roms are Cyanogenmod-based. This is the company that has put their particular twist on the stock Rom. A Sense-based Rom is yet another enhanced version of the stock Rom. Both use the same AOSP code base and customize it in various ways and for various phones.
Some people actually do prefer the more standard stock Rom for various reasons. It is simpler and typically more robust for dealing with the limited and specific tasks it was designed for. A good custom Rom can be just as robust as stock in every way, but also allows the user to do much more with the phone. It can be overclocked to run much faster, have better audio, a highly customizable user interface, and so on.
Viper, on the Sense-based side, and Resurrection Remix on the Cyanogenmod-based side are both better than the stock Rom in my view and people using those Roms get many more updates to their Roms via the developers than stock Rom users do. Some developers are still producing custom Roms for the Samsung SII -- a very old phone that Samsung dropped support for years ago.
Check this out for the HTC 10:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-10/development/rom-21-02-viper10-1-0-0-tweaks-hub-t3379151
Aurelius99 said:
A Sense-based Rom is yet another enhanced version of the stock Rom. Both use the same AOSP code base and customize it in various ways and for various phones.
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Can I assume a Sense-based ROM will have a better chance of everything working properly (ie. camera, NFC, audio, etc.) since it's starting off with something further down the fork in AOSP designed specifically for the HTC 10? Or am I misunderstanding how ROMs work?
SlowRain said:
Can I assume a Sense-based ROM will have a better chance of everything working properly (ie. camera, NFC, audio, etc.) since it's starting off with something further down the fork in AOSP designed specifically for the HTC 10? Or am I misunderstanding how ROMs work?
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Haha, you're really doing your research.
Yes, a sense based ROM is less likely to have bugs, however bugs are usually listed in the OP of every rom thread. A matured AOSP ROM won't have anything broken, but things may not work as well or as intended by HTC.
I think sense based is the way to go with this device, lots of good features HTC has developed that work well with the phone like the camera application and blinkfeed. Not to mention the polished look of the phone in general and the underrated theme store, it just works well together. You'd lose all of that with AOSP, not so much key features not working.
BadUsername said:
Haha, you're really doing your research.
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Yes. It's my most annoying characteristic, according to my wife. Now I just have to find a developer who keeps things simple & stable, and who will support it until 2021.
Thanks for your replies. And I apologize to gibawatts for hijacking this thread a bit. I hope it was still useful for you, too.
Did you guys decide?
It's still $150 off, which assisted me in my decision to go from the Nexus 5 to the htc 10 (and a nice, even doubling for us OCD types).
My short answer: the htc 10 is ever-so-slightly less customisable than the Nexus 5; I've installed everything on it that I had on the Nexus (SuperSU, Xposed, Gravitybox, Xprivacy, AdAway, etc.). N-ify works on it.
My only "issue" so far is that GravityBox can't remove the Calculator and Extreme Power Saver quicktile htc put there..real fine points here. (I've only had the thing 2 days, so there may be more but no show-stoppers for a purist like me). Sense 8 is more like an alternative launcher than an overhaul like TouchWiz or old versions of Sense. Wife likes it (coming from her N5/NovaLauncher) and I'm giving it a whirl.
Manual firmware updates would be the only caveat AFAICT but that is still better than what I had with N5: OTAs broke and I just never installed them due to lack of interest...not a habit I want to carry with me, however. My point being that the Nexus 5 was actually more of a hassle to me to update than what this seems like it would be (though I've not tested it yet but there's much discussion on the procedure here).
Wife is attached to OLED (SIII had a wonderful display) but she likes the htc 10 display and did not like the N5 display.
I love the feedback you guys got/gave here. This here is a model XDA thread.
I would just like to add that HTC's Sense ROM is quite bare-boned compared to other non-Nexus OEMs. Compared to the Axon, it'll look almost like a Nexus device.
Everyone else pretty much covered the other important things. I'd like to point out that CM/AOSP/Vanilla ROMs for the HTC 10 are still a bit down the road and they still need quite a bit of work, so when you get it, expect to either stay with Sense, or Sense-based custom ROMs for at least the next few months. No complaints on that from my side. Even if you do eventually flash CM/AOSP/Vanilla ROMs, I'll wager that you'll end up downloading some of HTC's apps, like Camera, Gallery, and Music. They blow away vanilla Android apps and 3rd party alternatives.
samisax said:
Compared to the Axon,...
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ZTE being mod-hostile turned me off to them; they have to establish a solid history of unlock/mod-friendliness for me to even look at them. (No, a press release stating that they would, in the future, answer questions from CyanogenMod folks to develop their ROM doesn't win me over in any way whatsoever.)
I surmised that the OnePlus 3 was too customised to be considered a Nexus spiritual successor (it was the phone I wanted to like/buy). Really, they only need to make good hardware and just use already-made AOSP and spend dev time getting drivers and such primo to have a winner (and with lower overhead) rather than trying to reinvent the wheel that nobody will want. It's like they're trying to sorta be Nexus and sorta be Sense/TouchWiz/et al but is there really a market for that? Is there really no market for Nexus? (I dunno...the Pixel thing has me befuddled and the no-more-Nexus thing has me ferhoodled.)
So, yeah, I'm liking the htc 10, which, being both funny and sad, I didn't even look at. My wife mentioned it and the $150 off, so we took a look and got'em. (I was still soured by my Evo 3D experience that led me to use then-Best Buy's 30-day return policy)
One more tid-bit I neglected to mention earlier: I'm glad I got the unlocked/dev version...no issue getting official RUUs all official-like, officially. I don't ever want to deal with "carrier" stuff.
P.S. Good to know about the camera, gallery, and music apps. Those are important to my wife (I'm happy with those being "functional" but also happy to just have the same software between us..easier to maintain and to answer her questions).

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