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Well I'm gonna get straight to the point. Cyanogenmod has downgraded the camera on my Galaxy S4. Photos are significantly noisier and overall lacking in the photo department. I went to Best buy to compare a stock S4 to my CyanogenMod S4 and right there and then my worries were confirmed. Is there any way to keep cyanogen mod and get back the awesome camera quality of the stock S4? The camera downgrade is really getting on my last nerve.
It was the CyanogenMod installed through the play store BTW..
You got a few options
1) ditch CM all together, and use a GPE rom. This is AOSP built by samsung and google. It does not have any of the issues CM has.
now.. some "RDs" on this site insist that the GPE edition roms are TW based, simply because they use the same kernels - this is not true. An adroid 4.3 kernel will work on a 4.3 rom, be it touchwiz, or aosp, and same with Android 4.4
I personally run VirginROM 2.5.4 with a custom kernel that is not allowed on XDA, and my stability is 100%, battery life lasts about 2 or so day with moderate use, and audio/video (what there kernels are known for) rock. These kernels do not overclock, but excel over others that do overclock when it comes to performance.
2) compile the focal camera app yourself and deal with all the CM issues, flaws, and "hybrid" merges...
3) purchased/download a 3rd party app from the google play store
shadowcandy said:
Well I'm gonna get straight to the point. Cyanogenmod has downgraded the camera on my Galaxy S4. Photos are significantly noisier and overall lacking in the photo department. I went to Best buy to compare a stock S4 to my CyanogenMod S4 and right there and then my worries were confirmed. Is there any way to keep cyanogen mod and get back the awesome camera quality of the stock S4? The camera downgrade is really getting on my last nerve.
It was the CyanogenMod installed through the play store BTW..
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Click to collapse
First off, no kidding. This did not need a new thread to be discussed. There are literally a thousand posts abotu camera quality with CM ROMS on the various S4 variant forums. Any search at all would have shown you the answer. Here's an example with posts from less than a week ago that explains this throughly.
Second, if this gets on your last nerve, get rid of CM and return to stock. This is the price of using CM. The camera isn't as good. Complaining about it and acting like CM owes you a better camera is downright rude to the CM team who gives you their ROM for free out of a desire to give a gift to the world. They don't owe you a thing.
The short version to your question abotu getting the CM camera back is simply no.
The long version is...
The issue with the camera in AOSP ROMS is that the stock TouchWiz camera has all kinds of proprietary software driving it. That software is built into different parts of the rom and absolutely requires the TouchWiz framework to run. (Which is also proprietary). You can't just pull the APK out of TouchWiz and install it on AOSP.
So there is no way to get the stock TW camera to run on any AOSP rom.
This means that any other app that is using the camera is using generic software to run the camera hardware. This leaves out the ability to do things that the TW software was specifically written to do like crisp auto focus and color depth and all those goodies that make the TW camera better. All that software was written specificly for the S4 hardware.
The Cyanogen camera or the Google stock camera is just an app using generic software not written specificly for this phone's camera hardware. That's no different than ANY other camera you can find on Google Play. They are ALL using generic software.
As a result, none of them are every going to be as crisp as the TouchWiz camera software. They almost all still take a really good picture with this phone, and many give various effects you might enjoy, but if you are looking the actual stock camera app that takes a higher resolution, better focused picture than the CM camera, you're not going to be able to do it.
Even with all that, the S4 camera hardware with CM camera software It's still better than most other phones on the market.
At the end of the day, it's not a camera that makes phone calls. It's a phone that has a camera in it. If photography is that big of a deal to you, you're never going to be happy with anything other than a true SLR. There's nothing wrong with that, mind you. But please stop complaining about the quality of the free ROM that har dworking developers put together in their spare time and gave to you as a gift with no questions or strings atatched.
Well Said !!
I appreciate the way you explained. :good:
Skipjacks said:
First off, no kidding. This did not need a new thread to be discussed. There are literally a thousand posts abotu camera quality with CM ROMS on the various S4 variant forums. Any search at all would have shown you the answer. Here's an example with posts from less than a week ago that explains this throughly.
Second, if this gets on your last nerve, get rid of CM and return to stock. This is the price of using CM. The camera isn't as good. Complaining about it and acting like CM owes you a better camera is downright rude to the CM team who gives you their ROM for free out of a desire to give a gift to the world. They don't owe you a thing.
The short version to your question abotu getting the CM camera back is simply no.
The long version is...
The issue with the camera in AOSP ROMS is that the stock TouchWiz camera has all kinds of proprietary software driving it. That software is built into different parts of the rom and absolutely requires the TouchWiz framework to run. (Which is also proprietary). You can't just pull the APK out of TouchWiz and install it on AOSP.
So there is no way to get the stock TW camera to run on any AOSP rom.
This means that any other app that is using the camera is using generic software to run the camera hardware. This leaves out the ability to do things that the TW software was specifically written to do like crisp auto focus and color depth and all those goodies that make the TW camera better. All that software was written specificly for the S4 hardware.
The Cyanogen camera or the Google stock camera is just an app using generic software not written specificly for this phone's camera hardware. That's no different than ANY other camera you can find on Google Play. They are ALL using generic software.
As a result, none of them are every going to be as crisp as the TouchWiz camera software. They almost all still take a really good picture with this phone, and many give various effects you might enjoy, but if you are looking the actual stock camera app that takes a higher resolution, better focused picture than the CM camera, you're not going to be able to do it.
Even with all that, the S4 camera hardware with CM camera software It's still better than most other phones on the market.
At the end of the day, it's not a camera that makes phone calls. It's a phone that has a camera in it. If photography is that big of a deal to you, you're never going to be happy with anything other than a true SLR. There's nothing wrong with that, mind you. But please stop complaining about the quality of the free ROM that har dworking developers put together in their spare time and gave to you as a gift with no questions or strings atatched.
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why on earth did they not launch this phone with Kitkat?
anyway I have a question regarding Oppo's software support, is it good? will they quickly update Find 7 to Kitkat? I have heard that Oppo's software are rather somewhat unreliable, is it true?
about Color OS, is it good? is it full of bloatwares or not? how deep is the customization?
will Find 7 have official Cyanogenmod support? how about other custom ROMs?
thanks for answering!
Oppo listen very much to their user base and they will update it to KitKat. You can flash other roms to Oppo using their stock recovery, they're partnered with CyanogenMod so Cm roms should run well on their devices.
As for other custom roms, it depended on if the Dev want to develop for it or not, if you purchase a Find 7 for them, they probably will. Hint: Take a look at the Find 5 and N1 development section.
sent via tapatalk
The oppo stock recovery flashes CM. OPPO are developer friendly,they even got OMNI Mediatek sources for the R819 (not an easy feat Mediatek are NOT willing)
They did not launch with kitkat because they are still adding features (ColorOS 2.0). They do that. If you are concerned about latest android version get on a custom rom like CM from the start,because OPPO don't move up the Android version until the previous ROM is stable enough to discontinue. The ROM itself is quite nice for a manufacturer skin,not bloated at all,and has some nice features built in you really miss if you go custom,but some people just hate the colorfulness so to each their own.
Allanitomwesh said:
The oppo stock recovery flashes CM. OPPO are developer friendly,they even got OMNI Mediatek sources for the R819 (not an easy feat Mediatek are NOT willing)
They did not launch with kitkat because they are still adding features (ColorOS 2.0). They do that. If you are concerned about latest android version get on a custom rom like CM from the start,because OPPO don't move up the Android version until the previous ROM is stable enough to discontinue. The ROM itself is quite nice for a manufacturer skin,not bloated at all,and has some nice features built in you really miss if you go custom,but some people just hate the colorfulness so to each their own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you say I can just use CM from the start even without proper official version? how? which version?
nap007 said:
Did you say I can just use CM from the start even without proper official version? how? which version?
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Click to collapse
CM will probably have builds out within a month of release...
My concern with running CM on this phone is, will it lose features? Like the 50MP super zoom mode?
Yes you'll most likely lose SuperZoom and Maxxaudio with any AOSP ROM. You'd need stock based for that.
Allanitomwesh said:
Yes you'll most likely lose SuperZoom and Maxxaudio with any AOSP ROM. You'd need stock based for that.
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Click to collapse
what? but didn't n1 retain it's features with cyanogen?
and can't you just install specific phones apps to get it's features?
Yes, because CM built the phone with OPPO,far as I know,they're making the OnePlus One ATM. So yeah, it'll be like on Find 5 most likely.
seriousneo said:
CM will probably have builds out within a month of release...
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Click to collapse
I haven't heard any news regarding a Cyngn partnership for the Find 7.
Remember, after last year's events, when talking about CM, there are really two different entities which are semi-connected:
CM - the original CyanogenMod open source software project. The Find5 was originally maintained by community members who were solely involved on this side of things. All of that team left for Omni as a result of the Focal relicensing fiasco (This is why the Find5 never saw official CM10.2)
Cyanogen Inc - Referred to from here on in this post as "Cyngn" - The corporate entity created by some of the Cyanogenmod leads
Cyngn was partnered with Oppo for the N1 so that Cyngn could gain experience with taking a device through GMS (Google Apps) certification. There has been little to no CM community involvement with the N1 - it's a purely Cyngn affair. All community efforts on the device are focused on other projects (Oppo sent preproduction N1s to people involved with CodefireXperiment, Omni, Paranoid Android, and a few others)
Cyngn is currently partnered with OnePlus to focus on their launch device. They aren't even putting much effort into the N1 now if you read any of the user reviews. (Both official 10.2 updates are full of bugs, and CM11 has had broken location services for two months now with not a single word from the development team.)
So the support of the Find7 by CyanogenMod is unknown and indeterminate. It will likely involve community effort if it happens, but all "community" contributors with current Oppo devices are working on other projects. Omni support is HIGHLY likely, I would not be surprised if, like the Find5 and N1, it proves to be one of Omni's best supported devices. CodefireXperiment and PA support are also highly likely (Actually I'd say pretty much guaranteed in the case of CFX, Oppo and Anders get along as well as the Omni team gets along with Oppo). (While PA usually focuses on Nexus devices, there usually have been exceptions for Oppos due to Oppo providing excellent support to Aaron from PA.)
Its the best phone out without a doubt right now .. Might even beat all new HTC one .. It's a no compromise phone .. Except speakers idk if they are good or bad .. Also you can choose your own software oppo skin or cm(later) and paranoidandroid. I'm very impressed .
returning to the color os talk, do you think it will be a long time before oppo move to kitkat based color os?
and as I asked before, is it true regarding color os instability and incompatibility with common android apps?
and I'm glad if Paranoid Android will indeed come to Find 7!
nap007 said:
returning to the color os talk, do you think it will be a long time before oppo move to kitkat based color os?
and as I asked before, is it true regarding color os instability and incompatibility with common android apps?
and I'm glad if Paranoid Android will indeed come to Find 7!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About the apps yeah,there was a thing about Lightflow not working,but its usually a one app thing,especially if it works by identifying the phone,mostly coz OPPO is so unique. As a plus ANY Chinese app works without a hitch when they give other manufacturers incompatibility issues
Omni is confirmed,Maxwen is getting a Find 7.
Unless i'm wrong ColorOS 2.0 should be kitkat.
CHlCKEN said:
Its the best phone out without a doubt right now .. Might even beat all new HTC one .. It's a no compromise phone .. Except speakers idk if they are good or bad .. Also you can choose your own software oppo skin or cm(later) and paranoidandroid. I'm very impressed .
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Click to collapse
Well I would consider the battery a moderate compromise. 3k mah is not really sufficient for a 5.5" 2k screen. I was really hoping for 3500mah or more.
I'm wondering how the screen compares to the Note 3 OLED screen. The Note 3 has an extra .02", extra 200mah, but Samsungs OLED's aren't as efficient as SLCD's.
The batt life is the defining factor here for me and I would assume a great many others. If HTC can deliver on this, they'll take a good few percent of the upgrade market. Damn Sony for not bringing their Z2 to the US. It would dominate the tech-savvy market completely.
last time I heard the screen use new low power tech so let's wait for a review first before calling the battery is a flop.
mhl, hdmi?
Does anyone know of any video output port on this device such as HDMI or MHL or any other?
Wyzco said:
Does anyone know of any video output port on this device such as HDMI or MHL or any other?
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likely not but during the unveiling they used a find 7 to output audio using huge cable, maybe it was just a huge stereo cable though.
I heard the lower-end version Oppo Find 7a is better than Oppo Find 7 in many sectors, like screen, performance, etc. I really hope that Oppo equips this phone with that brilliant touch-less voice command just like on Moto X. It's gonna be really awesome for this phone. In fact, i think all of the new phones in 2014 should also have this feature. I mean, the real touch-less voice control when the phone is still locked. Unlike Google Nexus 5's "Ok Google" voice control that can only be used when the phone has been unlocked.
nap007 said:
likely not but during the unveiling they used a find 7 to output audio using huge cable, maybe it was just a huge stereo cable though.
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Click to collapse
Really??? You're telling me about Audio output?
Every phone has that! Smh
nap007 said:
likely not but during the unveiling they used a find 7 to output audio using huge cable, maybe it was just a huge stereo cable though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Supports a bunch of wireless outputs
DLNA and Miracast off the top of my head,and Wifi Display
I have asked this question elsewhere but didn't get an answer so I'm trying here.
I've had 3 generations of Samsungs and I really want to switch to something different, possibly the LG G3. What would really convince me is if I could reasonably anticipate a rock solid AOSP ROM for it at some point in the future. I'm sick of Samsungs bulky and laggy Touchwiz, and I've fallen in love with the pure Google experience that AOSP roms offer; but while they work OK on the Samsung, they suffer from a drop in quality and performance because I am told Samsung drivers are not open source and they have to use open source alternatives.
I've noticed that LG have an open source code distribution page with software for phones on it. Now I'm no developer, so the question I am asking is - do LG release their code open source? And does this mean that original developers are able to drive the LG hardware properly? What were AOSP roms like for the G2?
astralbee said:
I have asked this question elsewhere but didn't get an answer so I'm trying here.
I've had 3 generations of Samsungs and I really want to switch to something different, possibly the LG G3. What would really convince me is if I could reasonably anticipate a rock solid AOSP ROM for it at some point in the future. I'm sick of Samsungs bulky and laggy Touchwiz, and I've fallen in love with the pure Google experience that AOSP roms offer; but while they work OK on the Samsung, they suffer from a drop in quality and performance because I am told Samsung drivers are not open source and they have to use open source alternatives.
I've noticed that LG have an open source code distribution page with software for phones on it. Now I'm no developer, so the question I am asking is - do LG release their code open source? And does this mean that original developers are able to drive the LG hardware properly? What were AOSP roms like for the G2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the aosp builds for the g2 are pretty stable..it only took them a few weeks to sort them out but i just wish they offered a google edition like many companies are doing with their devices like the m8..s5..etc
hello00 said:
the aosp builds for the g2 are pretty stable..it only took them a few weeks to sort them out but i just wish they offered a google edition like many companies are doing with their devices like the m8..s5..etc
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I found one or two aosp builds for my Galaxy S3 that I would describe as 'stable' in that they don't crash or lock up - but the audio quality using an open source driver is noticeably poorer, and that affects using the phone, audio messages, music playback, and video recording/playback - to the point that it just wasn't acceptable to me. My camera would always crash on aosp roms too.
So I'm still interested to know if original developers have access to the source code for for the G3 hardware - because if I'm paying for a 13mp laser guided camera, I want it to still function as it should under any rom I put on it!
astralbee said:
Thanks for the reply. I found one or two aosp builds for my Galaxy S3 that I would describe as 'stable' in that they don't crash or lock up - but the audio quality using an open source driver is noticeably poorer, and that affects using the phone, audio messages, music playback, and video recording/playback - to the point that it just wasn't acceptable to me. My camera would always crash on aosp roms too.
So I'm still interested to know if original developers have access to the source code for for the G3 hardware - because if I'm paying for a 13mp laser guided camera, I want it to still function as it should under any rom I put on it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was also wondering about this. On the Htc one xl the aosp camera was significantly worse than the sense one.
Is there any way to know if when the g3 gets aosp there will be any driver issues? The g3 on paper seems absolutely fantastic but the possibility of no aosp or aosp with less functionality is terrifying to me.
I wish there was a GPE version of the G3.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
astralbee said:
Thanks for the reply. I found one or two aosp builds for my Galaxy S3 that I would describe as 'stable' in that they don't crash or lock up - but the audio quality using an open source driver is noticeably poorer, and that affects using the phone, audio messages, music playback, and video recording/playback - to the point that it just wasn't acceptable to me. My camera would always crash on aosp roms too.
So I'm still interested to know if original developers have access to the source code for for the G3 hardware - because if I'm paying for a 13mp laser guided camera, I want it to still function as it should under any rom I put on it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I THINK a lot of code is shared from these manufacturers but camera stuff may not be on that list . Just got the LG G3 yesterday and i don't like it at all besides the camera , finding it kinda laggy in comparison to N5 ( if u use the resents button a lot u'll notice ) and its not the same build quality as my G2 , feels cheaper to me . I'm a fan of AOSP, all my devices have some form of it, this G3 may be going back to the store for a new M8 its pretty easy convert to full GPE . and i love my M7
hello00 said:
the aosp builds for the g2 are pretty stable..it only took them a few weeks to sort them out but i just wish they offered a google edition like many companies are doing with their devices like the m8..s5..etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where can I download the AOSP builds for g3? If they don't exist, where will I go to find them when they do exist?
Thanks!
distancesprinter said:
Where can I download the AOSP builds for g3? If they don't exist, where will I go to find them when they do exist?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They don't exist yet. From what I understand the boot loader hasn't even been unlocked yet. I guess there are people working on it tho. As far as where you can find the builds, they'll be here on XDA, either in the Android Development section of this G3 forum, or in the carrier specific G3 sections (which have yet to be created).
Never mind, I guess they just created the carrier threads.....
Like in the topic, which is better? CM have better performance but marshmallow is better cuz it have dual window, qslide etc.
I dont know :/ write advantages and defects of both, PLEASE!
Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk
CM13 IS Marshmallow you i... also, CM13 has multiwindow too. None of them has "defects". They both work great. They work so great infact that it's no longer a question of functionality but rather a question of preference.
patryk.kecik said:
Like in the topic, which is better? CM have better performance but marshmallow is better cuz it have dual window, qslide etc.
I dont know :/ write advantages and defects of both, PLEASE!
Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean CM vs LG Stock? Currently stock. CM13 still has a lot of bugs + way worse camera (in terms of functions)
davebugyi said:
You mean CM vs LG Stock? Currently stock. CM13 still has a lot of bugs + way worse camera (in terms of functions)
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Click to collapse
Except, it doesn't have "a lot of bugs". It has "some" bugs, most of which you won't even notice, as any ROM out there has, even official OEM ones. The camera is a non-issue as you can easily find apps in the Play Store that have even more functionality than LG's stock camera app.
nitrous² said:
Except, it doesn't have "a lot of bugs". It has "some" bugs, most of which you won't even notice, as any ROM out there has, even official OEM ones. The camera is a non-issue as you can easily find apps in the Play Store that have even more functionality than LG's stock camera app.
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Click to collapse
Well I tried it a week ago exactly. That build had more than just "some bugs". App wise you are right, there is Proshot and Camera FV-5. But you mean CM13 now also has a working laser focus, spectrum sensor and long exposure for the camera?
What about qslide? Is it available on cm 13? And which camera app is better than lg stock camera or cm13 camera? And what about lg apps? I mean calendar, smart notice, quick remote. Its important for me.
Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk
I you don't care about camera quality: CM13 all the way. But if you care, forget CM13. Camera it's just horrible. Photos with horrible quality, not so many options, strange ratio, etc.
I've tried CM13 one day after use stock MM for almost a month (the seven version) and returned to stock because camera.
I completely agree. CM 13 is an amazing project but I think that is a little bit unfair put a young project devolped by a guy or two VS the stock one that starts from completely different conditions.
At this stage of development there is no contest simply because CM 13 has a lot of bugs and no real optimizations focused on G4 only.
All that said what I hope is to have in the future someone that works on a custom kernel cause what I see in the past is that custom ROM works perfectly only on Nexus devices but custom kernel could really improve stock experience in terms of fluidity and battery life without losing features that comes only with stock ROM (e.g. camera or dual window).
I would have 5.1 or Android 6.0 over CM 13 any day. I use quick circle case so dont want to lose awesome feature to give up
Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk
I was wondering if anyone has experience using the above custom ROM? The homepage is in Russian and I haven't been able to find out much more about it other than the fact that some people really seem to like it.
If anybody is running the ROM I would be interested in opinions. Is it worth flashing instead of using stock MIUI? Any problems using it in English or compatibility issues with US phone service?
I haven't unlocked my bootloader yet but have permission. I'm trying to figure out if there is a custom ROM worth flashing that offers some advantages over stock. My original plan was to flash LOS but some people seem to be experiencing bugs.
Any info on MIUI PRO (or even a different recommendation) would be appreciated.
I can't complain about performance on stock which is blazing fast but I do miss Google Smart Lock.
jhs39 said:
I was wondering if anyone has experience using the above custom ROM? The homepage is in Russian and I haven't been able to find out much more about it other than the fact that some people really seem to like it.
If anybody is running the ROM I would be interested in opinions. Is it worth flashing instead of using stock MIUI? Any problems using it in English or compatibility issues with US phone service?
I haven't unlocked my bootloader yet but have permission. I'm trying to figure out if there is a custom ROM worth flashing that offers some advantages over stock. My original plan was to flash LOS but some people seem to be experiencing bugs.
Any info on MIUI PRO (or even a different recommendation) would be appreciated.
I can't complain about performance on stock which is blazing fast but I do miss Google Smart Lock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would actually also appreciate any information on this ROM. I have used LineageOS, MIUI Stable, Developer, Nightly Beta, EpicRom, RR but not this one solely because the site is Russian as you stated. Would love a bit more info...Figured I'd reply to this in hope to revive it.
As for LineageOS, you might as well try it out now. The third release (most recent one) has had a LOT of fixes and optimizations done to it.
I've been using it for more than one Xiaomi phone and I think it's a great rom. Very fast, smooth, without lag and with an excellent battery life. It also has a face unlock and other settings that you can't find in other roms...I try Epic Rom,Xiaomi Eu,Lineage...
I don't know about US phone service because I'm from Europe...not from Russia but I use Miui Pro without problems or fear also if they are from Russia
Try it:good:
3o3ulka76 said:
I've been using it for more than one Xiaomi phone and I think it's a great rom. Very fast, smooth, without lag and with an excellent battery life. It also has a face unlock and other settings that you can't find in other roms...I try Epic Rom,Xiaomi Eu,Lineage...
I don't know about US phone service because I'm from Europe...not from Russia but I use Miui Pro without problems or fear also if they are from Russia
Try it:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I shall look into it. What kind of modifications/differences are there compared to the stock MIUI?
For example you can encrease at 6 number of toggles... double tap where do you want to wake up or turn off the screen...choose the colour the battery when is 100% or 80%...etc
MIUI Pro has had very bad battery backup for me
I switched to Mi-Globe ROM
Kaji said:
Would actually also appreciate any information on this ROM. I have used LineageOS, MIUI Stable, Developer, Nightly Beta, EpicRom, RR but not this one solely because the site is Russian as you stated. Would love a bit more info...Figured I'd reply to this in hope to revive it.
As for LineageOS, you might as well try it out now. The third release (most recent one) has had a LOT of fixes and optimizations done to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried LOS. I was excited at first to have stock Android back but then I experienced issues with poor call quality and my mobile data reception became erratic so I ended up going back to MIUI Global with the MI Flash tool and not paying close enough attention allowed it to lock my bootloader again.
My skepticism about MIUI PRO goes beyond the Russian website. There is no information about the ROM in English anywhere I could find. The only review on YouTube is in Hindi. None of the Xiaomi threads on XDA, Google+ or Reddit has information about the ROM. I know Xiaomi phones are primarily sold in China and India but that doesn't really explain why there seems to be no information anywhere about the ROM.
But the fact that the ROM is based in Russia does seriously concern me. I had an issue with Kaspersky Anti-virus (which used to be first rate) not flagging Russian malware on my computer. And that happened a full year before Russian hackers helped Trump become president. Using a Russian operating system on a phone just doesn't seem like the smartest idea.
If you try MIUI Pro post what you think of it.
jhs39 said:
I tried LOS. I was excited at first to have stock Android back but then I experienced issues with poor call quality and my mobile data reception became erratic so I ended up going back to MIUI Global with the MI Flash tool and not paying close enough attention allowed it to lock my bootloader again.
My skepticism about MIUI PRO goes beyond the Russian website. There is no information about the ROM in English anywhere I could find. The only review on YouTube is in Hindi. None of the Xiaomi threads on XDA, Google+ or Reddit has information about the ROM. I know Xiaomi phones are primarily sold in China and India but that doesn't really explain why there seems to be no information anywhere about the ROM.
But the fact that the ROM is based in Russia does seriously concern me. I had an issue with Kaspersky Anti-virus (which used to be first rate) not flagging Russian malware on my computer. And that happened a full year before Russian hackers helped Trump become president. Using a Russian operating system on a phone just doesn't seem like the smartest idea.
If you try MIUI Pro post what you think of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said my friend, and kudos for using the flash tool....just feels so much more..genuine. Can't say I haven't accidentally locked my bootloader too but that's how we learn.
I found the LOS to be, well, an absolute stock experience. But like you and I'm sure many others, it just isn't at the point where it should be used as a daily driver. I'm currently running the 11th of May beta but honestly has more bugs than LOS at this stage so will be reverting back to the latest official developer ROM from the MIUI site (fastboot ver of course).
Gave this MIUIPro some extra thought and seeing as though it sounds very limited in extras (you can mod the number of toggles in the quick settings with packages already available on XDA if you wished to do so) I'll stick with builds straight from Xiaomi.
Sorry for the let down
Kaji said:
Well said my friend, and kudos for using the flash tool....just feels so much more..genuine. Can't say I haven't accidentally locked my bootloader too but that's how we learn.
I found the LOS to be, well, an absolute stock experience. But like you and I'm sure many others, it just isn't at the point where it should be used as a daily driver. I'm currently running the 11th of May beta but honestly has more bugs than LOS at this stage so will be reverting back to the latest official developer ROM from the MIUI site (fastboot ver of course).
Gave this MIUIPro some extra thought and seeing as though it sounds very limited in extras (you can mod the number of toggles in the quick settings with packages already available on XDA if you wished to do so) I'll stick with builds straight from Xiaomi.
Sorry for the let down
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I was thinking about trying the MIUI Developer ROM. Is it stable enough to use as a daily driver? I looked at posts about the beta but that seemed to be to buggy for me. I value stability since I'm using the Mi Mix 2 as my main phone. That wasn't my original plan but the signal reception is so superior to my Essential PH-1 I couldn't justify using it daily instead even though there are many things that I prefer about that phone.
Maybe LOS for this phone will get better eventually but that was what I kept telling myself when I had an OP5. I hated the stock OS but after trying every custom ROM that existed I found only 1 Nougat ROM (Viper) and 1 Oreo ROM (Phoenix) that I considered good enough to use as a daily driver. I'm not a programmer but I think the quality of custom ROMs has gone down the toilet because they are almost always being made now by people who don't use the phone as their daily driver. The only non-OOS ROM made by a developer who actually used the OP5 daily was Phoenix and you could tell the difference the developer actually using the phone made.
Cyanogenmod was the first custom ROM I ever used that always had bugs, probably because they were trying to be compatible with as many phones as possible. My experience with LOS on 2 previous phones has been exactly the same. I love that they are trying to bring stock Android to phones that don't have it but I wish they were doing a better job.
jhs39 said:
I was thinking about trying the MIUI Developer ROM. Is it stable enough to use as a daily driver? I looked at posts about the beta but that seemed to be to buggy for me. I value stability since I'm using the Mi Mix 2 as my main phone. That wasn't my original plan but the signal reception is so superior to my Essential PH-1 I couldn't justify using it daily instead even though there are many things that I prefer about that phone.
Maybe LOS for this phone will get better eventually but that was what I kept telling myself when I had an OP5. I hated the stock OS but after trying every custom ROM that existed I found only 1 Nougat ROM (Viper) and 1 Oreo ROM (Phoenix) that I considered good enough to use as a daily driver. I'm not a programmer but I think the quality of custom ROMs has gone down the toilet because they are almost always being made now by people who don't use the phone as their daily driver. The only non-OOS ROM made by a developer who actually used the OP5 daily was Phoenix and you could tell the difference the developer actually using the phone made.
Cyanogenmod was the first custom ROM I ever used that always had bugs, probably because they were trying to be compatible with as many phones as possible. My experience with LOS on 2 previous phones has been exactly the same. I love that they are trying to bring stock Android to phones that don't have it but I wish they were doing a better job.
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Hey man. I had been using Developer builds up until now and I can tell you they are easily stable enough for daily use. I cannot confirm this is 100% correct but I'm fairly sure Developer ROMs are just the in-between ROMs where all the minor adjustments happen. The change logs have all included things like "Improved system stability", "removed unnecessary files for [insert app here]" etc. So you never know, they could actually be more stable than any of the "Stable" releases you've used so far, you'll have to be the judge of that. I don't travel much, nor do I require any very advanced function of Android at this stage so for sure there could be something I've missed but I have never had a force shut-down, lack of signal, graphical bug or force-close of app with any of the developer builds.
I never owned a OP5 but I did have a OP3 and OP3t which I used FreedomOS on both but eventually came around to LineageOS only because they all seemed about as optimized as eachother. I'm all for custom MIUI ROMs if they are going to actually improve on something but at this stage all they do is debloat which can be done by anyone and add a few features which actually make the system less stable and battery hungry. My plan is to try the occasional Beta to see what new features Xiaomi is bringing to the table, stick with the latest developer the rest of the time, and when they finally make a stable I'm happy with then stick with that until the next wave of software upgrades is due.
How is the Essential by the way? Apart from the signal. Never met anyone who owned one.
Kaji said:
Hey man. I had been using Developer builds up until now and I can tell you they are easily stable enough for daily use. I cannot confirm this is 100% correct but I'm fairly sure Developer ROMs are just the in-between ROMs where all the minor adjustments happen. The change logs have all included things like "Improved system stability", "removed unnecessary files for [insert app here]" etc. So you never know, they could actually be more stable than any of the "Stable" releases you've used so far, you'll have to be the judge of that. I don't travel much, nor do I require any very advanced function of Android at this stage so for sure there could be something I've missed but I have never had a force shut-down, lack of signal, graphical bug or force-close of app with any of the developer builds.
I never owned a OP5 but I did have a OP3 and OP3t which I used FreedomOS on both but eventually came around to LineageOS only because they all seemed about as optimized as eachother. I'm all for custom MIUI ROMs if they are going to actually improve on something but at this stage all they do is debloat which can be done by anyone and add a few features which actually make the system less stable and battery hungry. My plan is to try the occasional Beta to see what new features Xiaomi is bringing to the table, stick with the latest developer the rest of the time, and when they finally make a stable I'm happy with then stick with that until the next wave of software upgrades is due.
How is the Essential by the way? Apart from the signal. Never met anyone who owned one.
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It's a nice looking phone. Great build quality and excellent QHD screen. It's smaller than other phones I've owned over the past 5 years bit doesn't feel like a small screen phone because of the high screen to body ratio. It's much more comfortable to handle than the Mi Mix 2 although I'm getting used to this one. It's not as smooth or snappy as the Mix 2. But the weak signal reception is a big problem. I used it on T-Mobile (erratic signal), AT&T (poor signal), Sprint (poor signal) and Verizon (very good signal). Unfortunately Verizon's MVNO (Straight Talk) is way more expensive than the ones available for T-Mobile so it made more sense to use a different phone than pay a higher cell service bill every month just so I could keep using the Essential. I should have returned it for a refund but fell in love with it which was why I tried every network. I'm just using it as a backup with very cheap T-Mobile. The signal at home is crap but since WiFi calling works it doesn't matter.
Maybe I'll try the dev ROM then. Thanks for the info.
Kaji said:
Hey man. I had been using Developer builds up until now and I can tell you they are easily stable enough for daily use. I cannot confirm this is 100% correct but I'm fairly sure Developer ROMs are just the in-between ROMs where all the minor adjustments happen. The change logs have all included things like "Improved system stability", "removed unnecessary files for [insert app here]" etc. So you never know, they could actually be more stable than any of the "Stable" releases you've used so far, you'll have to be the judge of that. I don't travel much, nor do I require any very advanced function of Android at this stage so for sure there could be something I've missed but I have never had a force shut-down, lack of signal, graphical bug or force-close of app with any of the developer builds.
I never owned a OP5 but I did have a OP3 and OP3t which I used FreedomOS on both but eventually came around to LineageOS only because they all seemed about as optimized as eachother. I'm all for custom MIUI ROMs if they are going to actually improve on something but at this stage all they do is debloat which can be done by anyone and add a few features which actually make the system less stable and battery hungry. My plan is to try the occasional Beta to see what new features Xiaomi is bringing to the table, stick with the latest developer the rest of the time, and when they finally make a stable I'm happy with then stick with that until the next wave of software upgrades is due.
How is the Essential by the way? Apart from the signal. Never met anyone who owned one.
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Programming on OnePlus phones has gotten way worse since the OP3/3T days. Oxygen was programmed by a team in Europe back then. But to save money OnePlus fired the European programmers and transferred the ROM to the Hydrogen team in China. That's when the coding started to go completely to hell.
Software engineers in China and India analyzed the OnePlus version of Oreo and reported that a lot of the code was actually Nougat. They also said the coding overall was very sloppy and unprofessional.
If you follow software devs on their Telegram channels (outside of XDA) it doesn't take long to discover that the poor programming on OnePlus phones is a running joke with many of them.
Running a custom ROM doesn't completely fix the problem either because the custom ROMs still need to use OnePlus firmware which is a mess.
OnePlus phones are so poorly programmed there is no way to use TWRP safely unless you decrypt the data on your phone and keep it permanently decrypted.
jhs39 said:
Programming on OnePlus phones has gotten way worse since the OP3/3T days. Oxygen was programmed by a team in Europe back then. But to save money OnePlus fired the European programmers and transferred the ROM to the Hydrogen team in China. That's when the coding started to go completely to hell.
Software engineers in China and India analyzed the OnePlus version of Oreo and reported that a lot of the code was actually Nougat. They also said the coding overall was very sloppy and unprofessional.
If you follow software devs on their Telegram channels (outside of XDA) it doesn't take long to discover that the poor programming on OnePlus phones is a running joke with many of them.
Running a custom ROM doesn't completely fix the problem either because the custom ROMs still need to use OnePlus firmware which is a mess.
OnePlus phones are so poorly programmed there is no way to use TWRP safely unless you decrypt the data on your phone and keep it permanently decrypted.
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You make me really appreciate the fact I chose my Mi Mix 2 over the OnePlus 5t. Coming from the OnePlus 3T it was a difficult decision but I'm glad I made the switch.
Honestly this is the first I've heard of this but that's so bad, they are becoming one of the most popular high end smartphone manufacturers and they struggle to make solid, secure advancements in their software which can potentially lead to massive breaches of privacy via exploits.
Actually I remember not too long ago, wasn't there a big issue where users could access root from within the hidden developer settings of the OS? Without even an unlocked bootloader.
Gotta love that this is an entirely different topic from what this thread was made for.
Kaji said:
You make me really appreciate the fact I chose my Mi Mix 2 over the OnePlus 5t. Coming from the OnePlus 3T it was a difficult decision but I'm glad I made the switch.
Honestly this is the first I've heard of this but that's so bad, they are becoming one of the most popular high end smartphone manufacturers and they struggle to make solid, secure advancements in their software which can potentially lead to massive breaches of privacy via exploits.
Actually I remember not too long ago, wasn't there a big issue where users could access root from within the hidden developer settings of the OS? Without even an unlocked bootloader.
Gotta love that this is an entirely different topic from what this thread was made for.
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For whatever reason tech sites in the United States allow themselves to be shills for OnePlus. Reviews for the latest OnePlus device frequently sound more like shameless promotion than honest analysis because they often are. OnePlus solicits reviews in exchange for free phones and places the reviews on accommodating tech sites. I received an invitation to apply for a free OnePlus 6 phone and help to influence tech buyers. To apply OnePlus wanted a full length sample review of a tech product I already owned. The people who submit the most professional sounding reviews get the free phones and send their reviews to OnePlus. OnePlus then cherry picks those submissions and publishes the reviews it likes on various tech sites.
Pretty much the only two places you can get accurate information about OnePlus phones is on Telegram and Reddit.
Here's what happened with spyware in the 8 months I had an OP5. Someone discovered that a system process in Oxygen was secretly transmitting a lot of detailed user information to servers in China. This was separate from the User Experience Program that owners could opt out of.
An explanation of how to disable the spyware process was published and when asked to comment OnePlus promised to remove the spyware.
Nothing was done at all until the next scheduled monthly update. It appeared that OnePlus removed the spyware but it was discovered that OnePlus instead changed the name of the spyware process and that it was still transmitting the same user information to servers in China.
OnePlus apologized again but still left the spyware functioning until the next scheduled monthly update.
Shortly after it was discovered that an app in Oxygen allowed anyone with physical access to a OnePlus phone to unlock and root it by connecting it to a computer. OnePlus claimed that it was a Qualcomm test app that had been accidentally left on the phone. There actually was such an app but when Qualcomm examined the app found on OnePlus phones they said it definitely wasn't theirs.
It took OnePlus two months to remove the app from Oxygen.
Then in December a new type of spyware was discovered in an Oxygen beta build for the OP3/3T--a clipboard app that was transmitting contents to a server in China. OnePlus insisted that the clipboard app wasn't spyware but was actually a feature intended for its Chinese customers even though OnePlus sells virtually no phones in China.
Also in mid November OnePlus started to receive reports that customers who used their credit cards to make purchases on the official OnePlus site were seeing unidentified charges on their accounts. OnePlus didn't shut down credit card processing on its website until January. By that time over 40,000 OnePlus customers had their credit card information stolen.
OnePlus is not a good company so the fact that American tech sites continue to shill for them is nauseating.
I'm definitely much happier with my Mix 2 than I was with the OP5. This isn't a perfect phone but it's very good for the cost. The OP5 had crummy build quality and felt like cheap junk.
I tried MIUI Pro for a couple days. I wasn't all that impressed with it. MIUI Pro is less smooth and fluid than the latest official Global Dev Build despite having almost all of the Xiaomi MIUI apps removed.
The default keyboard is from Sony Experia for some reason. The only added feature than I personally found worthwhile was the expanded boot menu.
These are the other differences I noticed:
1) There is a smart network function that allows you to choose a specific type of network connectivity when making or receiving phone calls. You can have the phone switch to a specific network type and also automatically shut off WiFi, data or Bluetooth when on a call.
2) Menu options to change the system font and animations and their speed.
3) Built in charging alarm that would have been way more useful if you could customize the low charge/full charge values.
4) Option to use LTE instead of 4G in status bar as well as more options to disable/enable icons that appear there.
5) Three status bar settings (stock, aosp & IOS) that sound promising but all they did was change the arrangement of the status bar icons.
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting. The Google Play Store comes pre-installed but nothing else--not even the Google app. That makes setting up Google Assistant with voice commands much more of a hassle but it's doable--the menus to make that happen in MIUI Pro aren't intuitive but that's probably because it's based on the China ROM.
It's also more of a hassle to get Google apps working properly in MIUI Pro compared with Official Global because you need to download everything from the Play Store and also manually grant the permissions for each app.
Since there are very few pre-installed apps you do have more free storage but I expected the ROM to be way faster and smoother since it's so stripped down. Performance of the ROM definitely isn't bad but for some reason it's inferior to stock.
Even though I chose English as the install language a couple of notifications came up in Russian. What they said I don't know.
I also don't know if any spyware or malware was written into the OS.
I missed stock after using MIUI Pro for just a few hours but ran it for 2 days anyway to give the ROM a fair chance.
I could see someone running MIUI Pro on a device where there was no official global ROM but it didn't do much for me.