Develop Bugs

[Q] Cyanogenmod on Note 10.1 (2014)?

Hello mates,
My question is if you know if the Cyanogenmod team is working or will work in one of the SM-P605 ROM.
Thank you very much!

Psycho Pufo said:
Hello mates,
My question is if you know if the Cyanogenmod team is working or will work in one of the SM-P605 ROM.
Thank you very much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIK at the moment there is no development, nor comments on plans for it. That being said, when you look at the Samsung lineup supported historically, it ought to get support at some point.
Also worth keeping an eye out for any OmniROM support in the future, which consists of a solid team of developers, including Chainfire. It will support S3 and Note II at some point, so perhaps more Samsung stuff will be added later. Note, that OmniROM will support multiwindow.

delanvital said:
AFAIK at the moment there is no development, nor comments on plans for it. That being said, when you look at the Samsung lineup supported historically, it ought to get support at some point.
Also worth keeping an eye out for any OmniROM support in the future, which consists of a solid team of developers, including Chainfire. It will support S3 and Note II at some point, so perhaps more Samsung stuff will be added later. Note, that OmniROM will support multiwindow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply!
I was waiting for the release of the new Nexus 10, but as it seems that Google has other plans I have considered purchasing a Note 10.1 2014 Edition.
The problem is that I prefer pure Android on Samsung adds layers, so my question about Cyanogenmod ROMS.
If not they hope the team OmniROM get something going.
Greetings Fellow.

Psycho Pufo said:
Thanks for the reply!
I was waiting for the release of the new Nexus 10, but as it seems that Google has other plans I have considered purchasing a Note 10.1 2014 Edition.
The problem is that I prefer pure Android on Samsung adds layers, so my question about Cyanogenmod ROMS.
If not they hope the team OmniROM get something going.
Greetings Fellow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was also waiting for the Nexus 10, I love my Nexus 7. The s-pen and multi-window convinced me to get this tablet though. So far I am very happy and use both features all the time. They are also the two most stable and well-designed features. Rest of Samsung's gimmicks I found pointless or too unreliable. I will try OmniROM as well if/when it comes out. Still need to sort out if the s-pen stuff will work just as well with OmniROM... but that is months away, at the moment we have root and the last bugs are being ironed out for the recovery, after that comes new ROMs and kernels I hope

Psycho Pufo said:
Thanks for the reply!
I was waiting for the release of the new Nexus 10, but as it seems that Google has other plans I have considered purchasing a Note 10.1 2014 Edition.
The problem is that I prefer pure Android on Samsung adds layers, so my question about Cyanogenmod ROMS.
If not they hope the team OmniROM get something going.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same boat. The third alternative I'm considering is Sony Xperia Tablet Z, which has slightly lesser specs (though it has better looks in my opinion) but is already supported by Cyanogenmod. Considering my current Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (GSM) was never fully supported by CM (i.e. no stable versions), I don't really want to buy a tablet before I'm reasonably certain CM will work well on it...

dsfdfsdfs said:
I'm in the same boat. The third alternative I'm considering is Sony Xperia Tablet Z, which has slightly lesser specs (though it has better looks in my opinion) but is already supported by Cyanogenmod. Considering my current Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (GSM) was never fully supported by CM (i.e. no stable versions), I don't really want to buy a tablet before I'm reasonably certain CM will work well on it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you make cm a requirement? Are other roms that have been fully de bloated etc and use a modified kernel, all that jazz, are they really that bad? Especially with an s pen...I may be wrong but I suspect that s pen useability would be sacrificed with a non tw rom

asaqwert said:
Why would you make cm a requirement? Are other roms that have been fully de bloated etc and use a modified kernel, all that jazz, are they really that bad? Especially with an s pen...I may be wrong but I suspect that s pen useability would be sacrificed with a non tw rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, my priorities are "stockness", UI customization (things like battery indicator, softbuttons, lockscreen shortcuts), stability (including a low amount of bugs), and Android version upgrades. While s pen is nice, its usability is an acceptable loss for me.
As for other more customized roms... As a Linux distribution and kernel developer myself, I believe a proper release process (including a long-ish stabilization period) and QA is a must on a project as large as Android roms to achieve a good level of stability, and CyanogenMod seems to be doing quite OK in those.
(I guess this doesn't apply that much to ROMs that are just minor modifications from manufacturer versions, since the possibility of regressions is much smaller on those)
I also don't care for specific kernel modifications or performance improvements etc. that much, the question I ask myself is "Why didn't the manufacturer do it like that in the first place?" or "Why doesn't CM do it?". If there's something I want that is missing from CM, I would submit it for inclusion in CM first, in which case it either gets merged in or refused (for a good reason, I'd hope). From what I've seen their policy has been reasonable and suited to my needs so far.

asaqwert said:
I suspect that s pen useability would be sacrificed with a non tw rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bingo!

Can't we do a pledge thing and hope someone would help make the note 10.1 2014 reach it into cyanogenmod? I would definitely pledge a fair amount.

dsfdfsdfs said:
Well, my priorities are "stockness", UI customization (things like battery indicator, softbuttons, lockscreen shortcuts), stability (including a low amount of bugs), and Android version upgrades. While s pen is nice, its usability is an acceptable loss for me.
As for other more customized roms... As a Linux distribution and kernel developer myself, I believe a proper release process (including a long-ish stabilization period) and QA is a must on a project as large as Android roms to achieve a good level of stability, and CyanogenMod seems to be doing quite OK in those.
(I guess this doesn't apply that much to ROMs that are just minor modifications from manufacturer versions, since the possibility of regressions is much smaller on those)
I also don't care for specific kernel modifications or performance improvements etc. that much, the question I ask myself is "Why didn't the manufacturer do it like that in the first place?" or "Why doesn't CM do it?". If there's something I want that is missing from CM, I would submit it for inclusion in CM first, in which case it either gets merged in or refused (for a good reason, I'd hope). From what I've seen their policy has been reasonable and suited to my needs so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't care about the S-pen, why even get this tablet at all!? There are a number of other tablets that while maybe lacking OTHER features than the active pen, but generally that's the specific feature that people get ANY of the Note series for.

cspradlin said:
If you don't care about the S-pen, why even get this tablet at all!? There are a number of other tablets that while maybe lacking OTHER features than the active pen, but generally that's the specific feature that people get ANY of the Note series for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason I got it was for multi windows only, and I'm sure with cyanogenmod we could come up with a mod for multi windows. This tab also has a beastly CPU and RAM which are other reasons I got this tab. I personally don't see using the pen much at all.

cspradlin said:
If you don't care about the S-pen, why even get this tablet at all!? There are a number of other tablets that while maybe lacking OTHER features than the active pen, but generally that's the specific feature that people get ANY of the Note series for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I wanted the super high resolution, and the Nexus 10 is now getting long in the tooth and not available with 4G or 3G (and no way I'd go Apple!)
The pen would work with Cyanogen anyway (it did on my previous Galaxy Note I), you just lose the advanced functionalities. Plain Android has support for pen input.

CM is good and I use it on my Galaxy S3. However the multiwindow features for me personally are too good to give up. I figured I wouldn't use CM unless there's a multiwindow mod for it, or something like Omnirom should come out for this. The only other S-pen feature from the air view I find useful is pen window. Everything else is just gimmicks it feels like.
However I would really like a knox 0x0 root method first for the P600 version...sad to say it might not even happen at this point

really want it

Currently No Cyanogenmod rom has supported Multi window, So your probably out of luck OP you will lose Spen and multi window with cyanogen multiwindow is part of the touchwiz framework if I remember Correctly
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I was about to invest money into CM because I really like the mod.. However now I read that S-Pen and multi window are not supported? As I just bought a Note 10.1 2014 Edition, I am interested to find a Mod that supports multi window and s-pen, can anyone point me in a direction? apart from having installed CM on my devices and the devices of some friends I have no idea about the mod world.
Thank you

God's Creator said:
I was about to invest money into CM because I really like the mod.. However now I read that S-Pen and multi window are not supported? As I just bought a Note 10.1 2014 Edition, I am interested to find a Mod that supports multi window and s-pen, can anyone point me in a direction? apart from having installed CM on my devices and the devices of some friends I have no idea about the mod world.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You people make no sense. Why spend $600 on the most advanced tablet on the market only to attempt to install a ROM that will wipe out all of its selling features to then try and spend several hours finding a way to get those features back? I enjoy CM on my S3 as much as the next guy, but on this tablet it just makes no sense! Wait for Google to refresh the nexus 10 if you need stock Android that badly.

@¿Will-it-Blend?
Many reasons, Ill list some of the important ones:
1. I like samsung (Im a shareholder)
2. The tab in itself is good, so when I can chose to have a good tab with no extra features or a ****ty tab with no extra features I chose the good one.
3. Should any of the modders ever be capable of implementing the extra gadgets I already have a tab that can handle them, if not I have a good tab that can do the same as the ****ty tab but with more style
I hope this answered your question to your satisfaction, sadly you didnt even try to answer mine. Im still interested if anyone knows of any mods out there that support the extra features and are as stable and clean as CM? Or any mod for that tab, as at this moment my tab is laying around unused since there is no CM version for it.

God's Creator said:
@¿Will-it-Blend?
Many reasons, Ill list some of the important ones:
1. I like samsung (Im a shareholder)
2. The tab in itself is good, so when I can chose to have a good tab with no extra features or a ****ty tab with no extra features I chose the good one.
3. Should any of the modders ever be capable of implementing the extra gadgets I already have a tab that can handle them, if not I have a good tab that can do the same as the ****ty tab but with more style
I hope this answered your question to your satisfaction, sadly you didnt even try to answer mine. Im still interested if anyone knows of any mods out there that support the extra features and are as stable and clean as CM? Or any mod for that tab, as at this moment my tab is laying around unused since there is no CM version for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't answer your question because there are none . Ommi ROM has a multi-window feature but I highly doubt they will support this device. It will be some time before CM even supports this device. I feel sorry for you that you feel the need to cripple your device but it will still be a good while before you even see CM and it incorporates the features the stock ROM offers and for it to be just as stable as well. And that's if AOSP ROMS incorporate these features at all.

About the multiwindow on CM thing, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but there's an xposed module that lets you use a feature similar to multiwindow.

Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 Google Play Edition

This tablet line has really sparked my interest but there are almost no roms (only cm11 that I see) and I'd like a nexus experience with physical buttons.
How long before we get some news on the GPE tab pro? Seems like that is what's holding back rom development for this line, correct?

kronikwisdom said:
This tablet line has really sparked my interest but there are almost no roms (only cm11 that I see) and I'd like a nexus experience with physical buttons.
How long before we get some news on the GPE tab pro? Seems like that is what's holding back rom development for this line, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's out for a very short range, thats why there are no roms so far. I dont think it will get a Play Store Edition :crying:

kronikwisdom said:
This tablet line has really sparked my interest but there are almost no roms (only cm11 that I see) and I'd like a nexus experience with physical buttons.
How long before we get some news on the GPE tab pro? Seems like that is what's holding back rom development for this line, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say that what is holding back ROM development is a complete lack of developers...
With my CM11 device tree repos, it should be relatively straight-forward for someone to build other source based ROMs. But, none have appeared.
Then there is the world of ROMs that are based on the stock ROM. We don't have anyone that has stepped up and made the standard debloated ROM. Sadly, that means that there probably aren't any people that know how to do that either.
That said, the hardware is great and I get to piggy-back on a lot of the work that Cyanogen does for the Note 3 which makes some of the hardware support very advanced. FWIW, I'm quite happy with my purchase.

As much as I love my 8.4, A black 32GB Google Play edition would pretty much require me to buy another :good:

crpalmer said:
I would say that what is holding back ROM development is a complete lack of developers...
With my CM11 device tree repos, it should be relatively straight-forward for someone to build other source based ROMs. But, none have appeared.
Then there is the world of ROMs that are based on the stock ROM. We don't have anyone that has stepped up and made the standard debloated ROM. Sadly, that means that there probably aren't any people that know how to do that either.
That said, the hardware is great and I get to piggy-back on a lot of the work that Cyanogen does for the Note 3 which makes some of the hardware support very advanced. FWIW, I'm quite happy with my purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I really wish I had the equipment and know-how to use your kernel and device tree and build SlimKat (my ROM of choice). Hopefully more folks will buy this tablet as time goes by, and we'll get some more talent in here. I did have a pm conversation with someone from the Slim team who expressed a little interest in the device, so fingers crossed.
From my Pro Tab 8.4

crpalmer said:
I would say that what is holding back ROM development is a complete lack of developers...
With my CM11 device tree repos, it should be relatively straight-forward for someone to build other source based ROMs. But, none have appeared.
Then there is the world of ROMs that are based on the stock ROM. We don't have anyone that has stepped up and made the standard debloated ROM. Sadly, that means that there probably aren't any people that know how to do that either.
That said, the hardware is great and I get to piggy-back on a lot of the work that Cyanogen does for the Note 3 which makes some of the hardware support very advanced. FWIW, I'm quite happy with my purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any chance your work will be submitted to be an officially supported Cyanogenmod device?
Or is it too much work to be a maintainer for a device.
Thank you so much for your work already.

Dazog said:
Any chance your work will be submitted to be an officially supported Cyanogenmod device?
Or is it too much work to be a maintainer for a device.
Thank you so much for your work already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My goal is to make it official when I have everything working. But, I have to finish it first... I already maintain one device so adding a second wouldn't be that big a deal.

I just couldn't hold out any long. Picked up the black on yesterday and WOW this screen is amazing. I'll be running CM11 from your thread by lunch, and will help to provide feedback over there. thanks!!

I was wondering why any root/rom discussion seems to only be focused on the 8.4; are there reasons the 10.1 isn't included (I realize less people seem to be getting the bigger tab). Looking to love my 10.1, as the 8.4 is too small for my reading needs. Thanks for any info!

djroese33 said:
I was wondering why any root/rom discussion seems to only be focused on the 8.4; are there reasons the 10.1 isn't included (I realize less people seem to be getting the bigger tab). Looking to love my 10.1, as the 8.4 is too small for my reading needs. Thanks for any info!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Two reasons. One, I have a tab pro 8.4... Two, the 8.4 is based on the snapdragon 800 (msm8974) processor which is very well supported on other devices. The 10.1 is an Exynos processor which is not well supported by source built android roms.

crpalmer said:
Two reasons. One, I have a tab pro 8.4... Two, the 8.4 is based on the snapdragon 800 (msm8974) processor which is very well supported on other devices. The 10.1 is an Exynos processor which is not well supported by source built android roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick and helpful reply. Pretty new to Android world, but I loved switching from my iPhone 5 to the Nexus 5 so much, and how easy it was to root, and add Franco and Gravity Box, that I jumped on the 10.1 to replace my iPad Air. Knew Nexus' were known for being easy to root, but didn't know about Samsung's Knox Warranty Killer! But still mostly pleased, and as I despise Apple's $200 for 64gb(- os) policy, love being able to carry around 3000 books, several movies, and 30gb of flac music.
Hopefully it will be safe to root soon.

Might buy D851: Looking for opinions

Hi folks,
I just dropped my Samsung S4 and cracked the screen. :crying: It still works, but it's time to move on. I never buy new / latest devices; instead I wait and buy last year's model from Swappa or the like, selling my old phone to partially subsidize the purchase. Looks like my S4 is going to the Boneyard.
What I've been looking for is a 2014 model, 5.5" screen, rootable/unlocked bootloader (I like custom ROMs :good: ), phone with a multicolor notification light and good battery. Was thinking to go up to Nexus 6 but it's just too big for me.
The LG G3 looks just about perfect. I've spent the last hour reading up on it. The T-Mo version should work fine for my AT&T service, and it comes unlocked, both SIM and Bootloader. Can any ATT users attest to the phone working well on that network? (EDIT: I googled a bit and found it works fine)
There seems to be plenty of development, though surprisingly I don't see a plain vanilla GPE 5.1.1 ROM out there. Most of the development I see seems to be around AOSP (I'm a fan of SlimROMs and have had good experiences with Dirty Unicorns too, been considering Bliss on other devices). Have I missed a very plain GPE (at least 5.1) compiled for the G3? Doing my research it looks like the latest OTA is still 20G (5.0.1), and it sounds like Marshmallow will eventually come out (I'm not sure I want it...). Would love to hear what the most plain GPE like 5.1 ROM is.
I'd love to hear any experience or recommendations... anybody get a G3 recently and wish they got something else, instead? Or is this a device we can all love for another year or so?
Thanks. I'm itching to pull the trigger and just need some encouragement, or possibly a conk on the head to look into some other phone.
One last question: how intense is the vibrate function on the G3? My S4 isn't strong enough vibrating, and I often miss calls and stuff when I'm in silent/vibrate mode. Looking for something a bit more attention getting if possible!
Marc

I dropped my note 3 for thus phone. Although it's rootable the g3 seems to be fragile when it comes to flashing roms if you don't know what you are doing. Not worse than the note 3 though ( ATT murdered that phone).

Thanks for the reply!
I've gone ahead and purchased the D851. It should arrive today, and I should have it set up later this week. Looking forward to it. I've bought an iCarez 0.2mm screen protector for it and am looking into bumpers/wraps to keep it minty.
I'm a bit concerned since there's no 5.1(.1) GPE ROM available, but many of the Dev'ed ROM options look attractive. I'm going to start by rooting the thing and subtracting bloatware. After that, we'll see... On the S4, the T-Mo boot animation was reason enough to flash a ROM. Loud and annoying.
I'm curious, are you stock, or have you flashed something (if so, which ROM)?
Again, thank you. I appreciate your reply.

I was practically in the same boat. I had a GS4 , but cracked the display, the actual display not the glass, and bought a G3. I replaced the front glass twice before that, its a very fragile phone. But otherwise I loved the S4 for the screen, the plain design, ROMs, expandable storage, and removable battery.
The G3 is very comparable to the S4, the screen I'd say is slight upgrade. You can barely notice 1440p vs 1080p, and I'd say its viewing angles aren't as good, but I still like it over my S4. I'm running paranoid android 5.1.1 on it now. Its similar to AOSP. If you liked the GS4 you'd probably like the G3 but it wasn't that great an upgrade. Still though, its logical to get the G3 if your S4 is broken as its pretty much an S4 with more up to date components and an LG logo on it.

Thanks for the input ! I did buy a G3 and will set it up this weekend. I will look into the ROM you mentioned too.
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using Tapatalk

I wish I'd seen this sooner. I'd have steered you clear of the G3. Biggest piece of garbage unless you're running boring stock. Even the CM team can't figure out how to make a stable ROM for it... And they've been at it for over a year! Bluetooth audio will never be right, Bluetooth LE will stop working altogether and you'll experience major network connectivity issues... All on day one and with any of the custom ROMs out there. It seems that the LG is so proprietary that nothing can control it aside from the boring, bloated, ugly and battery eating stock.

Aalendi said:
I wish I'd seen this sooner. I'd have steered you clear of the G3. Biggest piece of garbage unless you're running boring stock. Even the CM team can't figure out how to make a stable ROM for it... And they've been at it for over a year! Bluetooth audio will never be right, Bluetooth LE will stop working altogether and you'll experience major network connectivity issues... All on day one and with any of the custom ROMs out there. It seems that the LG is so proprietary that nothing can control it aside from the boring, bloated, ugly and battery eating stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the opinion, but I have to say I'm loving my D851.
I rooted it and installed TWRP straight out of the gate, so that I could make some changes I wanted to (such as uninstalling T-Mobile specific system apps, not needed for me on ATT), but I never even needed to change out the ROM. The phone works great on the stock ROM (minus a few things I manually debloated), and doesn't feel bloated or laggy. I didn't even bother to install the Cloudy ROM (debloated stock).
I did install the Google Now launcher, because I wasn't a fan of the stock UI. I like the things Google Now brings to the table and it cleaned up the UI.
After the first few days I stopped playing around with the phone because everything works great. Bluetooth to my car, no problem, great WIFI antenna and Cell receptivity as compared to my Galaxy S4. Nice screen, battery life is outstanding...
Loving the phone.

Can't disagree with Aalendi more. I've had the 851 for almost 18 months and running SR Lolly V6 - Final on it for the past 6 months. Works perfectly and even though I'm tempted from time to time to "upgrade" to another phone, I cannot find enough differences out there to warrant it. Android 6 is already emerging and I'm waiting to upgrade the ROM when I feel its almost glitch-free (which it's not at the moment. I think you made a fine decision. JM2C

Manual debloat?
I am sorta/kinda new to the ROM party and am able to install TWRP and flash/root my D851. However, I went back to the stock ROM because of Wi-Fi calling and more stable network connectivity than 3rd-party ROMS. My question to you is what do you mean by 'manual debloat'? Is that a function of TWRP or simply removing/disabling apps? Thanks.

Manual de-bloat refers to you being able to remove programs that carriers or manufacturers install on your phone when you first purchase it. Rooting your phone allows you to do this yourself.

Still a good buy?

Hi guys, I want you to ask if this tablet is still a good buy? I need it for drawing and can get a good one for 150 Euros. I know that there are no more updates, but it seems that some 7.1 Roms work good.
So...what do you say?

rob rich said:
Hi guys, I want you to ask if this tablet is still a good buy? I need it for drawing and can get a good one for 150 Euros. I know that there are no more updates, but it seems that some 7.1 Roms work good.
So...what do you say?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had it for close to 4 years now, and still find it difficult to get an upgrade. Tab S3 just doesn't seem worth the extra money - maybe S4 will.
The software is lollipop, but very functional and quite smooth after some debloating.
If it's a WiFi only model, there's a marshmallow touchwiz based rom by bonuzz which is highly rated.
Sent from my SM-N915G using Tapatalk

arbit12 said:
Had it for close to 4 years now, and still find it difficult to get an upgrade. Tab S3 just doesn't seem worth the extra money - maybe S4 will.
The software is lollipop, but very functional and quite smooth after some debloating.
If it's a WiFi only model, there's a marshmallow touchwiz based rom by bonuzz which is highly rated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your answer from the specs, I think it should do the job for some drawings. And good to know that the software available doesn't really suck thanks

You won't find anything better below 200 or better 300€, especially with a digitizer, and 4G is also not too common in tablets. And there are current LOS and RR roms good enough to serve as daily driver. Seems still not to be an issue that the SoC is only 32bits.

It's a good device, yeah, but since officially it got stuck on Android L, it's definitely started to lose support in software on the Play Store. Seems developers are defaulting to Android 6.0 as the compatibility watershed now. However, if you're OK with aftermarket ROMs, that's not a problem.

Buying a second S4 Mini for Pie! Opengapps or microG? Good AliExpress vendors?

Hello folks,
My I9195 has performed beautifully for the last couple of years, running CM and LOS. The phone is currently running the last official 14.1 build and works superbly well - honestly, I have no complaints! Thank you so much for your incredible work @arco68!
However, I'm keen to get back to trying the latest roms, and to also experiment with microG - perhaps this combination will allow even better battery life than I'm currently experiencing with LOS 14.1 + opengapps?
While my S4 Mini's hardware is still working well, it's a little battered and bruised from being dropped so many times. The screen is more-or-less perfect (one minor scratch), however the back case and silver edge surround is pretty badly chipped, revealing the gray plastic underneath. Rather than attempt to source spare parts and refurbish the device myself, I'm planning to simply purchase a second S4 Mini from AliExpress, and use this as a test device - maybe a daily driver once it improves.
I have a couple of questions:
- Is it still necessary to flash opengapps (nano being my preference) after flashing the OS (perhaps in order to get through installation without crashing?) - even if I intend to use gapps?
- Has anyone purchased an S4 Mini from AliExpress recently? If so, how much did you pay, and which vendor did you use?
- Am I crazy to consider buying another ~5 year old phone? Are there seriously no other compact devices with active rom development?
Thanks in advance!
James
x

Ciao James,
do you want to buy a S4 mini on aliexpress? How? I can see only spare parts, I think the production finished 4 years ago.
I'm also looking for a small android phone, not low quality, I think the only possibility is offered by sony and xperia compact serie.

Thank you for your reply.
Yes, AliExpress vendors sell plenty of spare parts, but there are also vendors selling complete phones:
https://www.aliexpress.com/premium/...Text=samsung+s4+mini&CatId=5090301&isrefine=y
I expect these are refurbished devices, rather than being brand new, however the S4 Mini I purchased from AliExpress a few years ago arrived in perfect condition - it looked like it had never been touched. If I can receive the same level of quality again, I will be very happy!
As you note, it seems only Sony is continuing to produce compact phones with good specifications. Before purchasing the S4 Mini, I strongly considered a Z3 Compact. The Sony has superior specs, but is a little bulkier than the Samsung. The recently discontinued iPhone SE is/was the perfect size and spec for me, however unfortunately it runs iOS instead of Android. :/
Cheers,
James
x

I've just swithed nougat to oreo. MicroG. I see no visible improvement. Only reason was continue of security updates.
There is no need to Flash GApps. Yesterday i tried flashing a S5 with GApps. Oh my GOD! Google did a complete take-over. I did a clean wipe in the middle of that update orgy. If you are used to GApps, the microG phone will feel naked for you. I recommend first steps with a second hand phone and Lineage4microG nougat.
Alternative to S4 mini, I only see Sony Z1 compact at the moment. MSe1969 does a good job in keeping security level of lolypop rom high.

Thanks for the reply!
Yeah, I guess I could try Lineage for microG first, as it would be the same Nougat rom I’m currently using, and therefore a good way to compare vs gapps. Could I just directly flash it over the top of my current LOS14.1 install...would it automatically remove/disable the opengapps?
Interesting that you reverted back to Nougat from Oreo. I read that Pie offers some performance improvements over previous versions, but perhaps that is not the case?
The other query I had was how app updates work with microG. Do you still receive notifications and prompts to update apps as they are released?
Cheers,
James
x

Just scrollred up. You would try microG for battery saving? I don't think that's worth the trouble. Only real benefit of leaving GApps is privacy.
A dirty flash is no good idea. Even if it would work: you keep your spyware setup.
There are many possible setups without GApps. Alternative or patched app sores have update mechanisms.
Performance plus of new androids? I update only to get security patches.

kurtn said:
Just scrollred up. You would try microG for battery saving? I don't think that's worth the trouble. Only real benefit of leaving GApps is privacy.
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Interesting comment. It was my understanding that the low-memory, minimalist footprint of microG was well-suited to older devices such as the S4 Mini. Noticeably improved battery life would be the goal.
kurtn said:
A dirty flash is no good idea. Even if it would work: you keep your spyware setup.
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There are some scripts to uninstall the existing Gapps.
Thanks!
James
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