Hi All, I purchased my Mi 6 like half a year ago, and I asked some questions with regards to this device back then (reference: https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-6/help/xiaomi-user-issues-actual-issues-t3703112 ) . I then gave up for some time, but would like to revisit some of my initial issues with the device.
DISCLAIMER: I am not very knowledgable on Xiaomi stuff, this is my first phone from them. I owned it for around six months and I still didn't root it... I just didn't see any _worthy_ rom to be installed. Please bear in mind, that although I am technically savvy and rooted all my previous phones always, I might sound as a total noob here since I didn't follow the scene very much.
At present, I have requested the unlock with Xiaomi, and they granted me the possibility to root the phone, but I haven't done so yet.
I am thus running on stock MIUI 9.5.6.0.(OCAMIFA). The Android is 8.0.0. OPR1.170623.027.
What I would like to achieve, is to get my Mi6 as close to current Pixel devices as possible. I understand that I could purchase the Pixel phone in the first place, but the price tag on them is too high..
(I am mostly interested in having the most recent version of Assistant available on my Xiaomi, and Pixel UI instead of MIUI)
I am unable to install Google Phone.
When I visit google store from PC, I can search for Google Phone, but can't install it. https://i.imgur.com/21fh9hq.png (and the reason why it's not compatible is not being disclosed). If I search google play store from the device itself, the app isn't even listed in the results. If I download any version of the Android Dialer app from APKMirror, and try to install - the installation would start, and then fail with a single message (App not installed https://i.imgur.com/gOolw3H.png ). I tried ARM, ARM64, both in NODPI and other DPIs, also, I tried app versions 19.0... and 20.0... from https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/google-phone/ . Always getting the same error.
What's interesting, is that I was able to install Google Messages, Google Contacts and any other google app without any problems, but I can't install the Phone app from google. I have also been able to install rootles-pixel-launcher from APK
I am left with the phone app from xiaomi, which is not integrated with Google Message / Contacts apps, and vice-versa.
I am looking for the clear up the following doubts:
1. Anyone experienced problem installing the Google Phone ?
2. Any idea how to further debug why I can't install Google Phone ?
3. Are you aware of any up-to-date rom giving me the pixel experience (The Pixel Experience thread has a lot of people askingn for updates - is it dead ?)
4. I start missing my LG Nexus 4, did I purchase the wrong device for what I am trying to achieve with it ? I start getting the feeling that I picked a phone with not enough scene going for it. Or is the scene in China?
Sorry for lengthy post, and appreciate any input.
cheers
You need to flasy Google Framework, then you can use googles apps like "phone"
Install any AOSP based rom, flash Gapps, root with magisk and search the download section for the 'Pixel 2 experience' module. I chose the last launcher, "new custom launcher"
Check if camera2api is enabled. It should be because of the pixel experience module but if it isn't yet download a magisk module for enabling it.
Check the Gcam threads on here for the recommended Gcam APKs and make sure to install Google photos too.
Last step is install the magisk module "Google framework" and installing the phone app etc. from the playstore.
After I followed these steps any AOSP based rom feels very pixel-like and Gcam even makes me think I actually bought one from time to time
Edit: I'm starting to think the pixel experience module actually has the framework included already as I currently don't have the framework module installed and I was able to download the phone app without any problems.
Good luck!
I'm thinking of buying a Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, and I want to install a quality open-source ROM on it since I don't want the Chinese or Google spying on me.
I've never installed a ROM before, and I don't think I really need any fancy features (except for basic smartphone things, like support for camera, flashlight, WiFi, Bluetooth, phone calls, audio/video recording and playback, GPS, etc.). I guess my only other requirement is that it can support something like aptX/aptX HD so I can use it with Bluetooth headphones and it won't sound like ass.
I've got some questions:
Do most ROMs generally tend to work with most phones? Can I just download some random ROM and have it work most of the time?
Are the 2 pages of ROM threads listed on this forum the only ones this phone can support? Or are these just the ROMs that forum users have tested it with? A lot of these ROMs I've never even heard of, and many are listed as [UNOFFICIAL].
Cyanogenmod has been discontinued, but could it still work on newer devices? There's projects like freecyngn which can remove propriety Google Analytics stuff from it, and I don't know if any similar tweaks exist for Cyanogenmod's successors.
What's a good resource for de-googled ROMs with no proprietary software? And which can support aptX/aptX HD or an alternative. And would hopefully actually work with the phone.
Sorry, someone is always out there listening, watching, monitoring and data mining - regardless of the OS eco-system. Learn to built your own and have fun. Good luck !
P.S. Stay away from smartphone, go back to a "dumb" phone. Find yourself a good old Motorola Startac classic or Sony-Ericson ... maybe. That is, if backdoors were not integrated at the chipset level.
Letitride said:
Sorry, someone is always out there listening, watching, monitoring and data mining - regardless of the OS eco-system. Learn to built your own and have fun. Good luck !
P.S. Stay away from smartphone, go back to a "dumb" phone. Find yourself a good old Motorola Startac classic or Sony-Ericson ... maybe. That is, if backdoors were not integrated at the chipset level.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not asking for a phone to go off the grid and hide in the amazon jungle with, but there's an obvious difference between an OS bloated with proprietary spyware garbage and an OS that's as barebones and open-source as possible. I want to make the best choice when it comes to what's installed on my smartphone, or as close as to the best choice as I can get.
I don't think programming is something I'll ever learn to do, let alone build my own OS. The best I can do is make a table with fancy text in HTML.
Let's start with your Google account if you want to stay under the radar - it's a given with Play Store, unless you feel comfortable going without it and sideload Gapps or manually install/update from APK mirror. A2 Lite is a good but entry level smartphone, don't expect nor realistic to count on extensive custom rom development.
You will need to learn and experiment to find out for yourself, start with rooting the A/B partition and installing TWRP, then select a ROM ... you will be flashing at least several of these to decide what work best for you. Read - there is plenty of comments, feedbacks and caution.
I run the stock Global rom, Android One - which is as close to "pure" without bloatware as it can be (having owned, used & played with probably 2 dozens+ smartphone in this decade) - and have no problems - unlike others and not eveyone is having issues with WiFi & bluetooth.
I run Lineage OS on the Huawei Honor 5X ... and there are custom roms that are barebone and/or need only minimal Gapps to be flashed (nano or pico) - it comes down to the question for you, what is your definition of spyware, proprietary or stock/OEM and preloaded. If you are paranoid, don't use it, disabled it, block it and change permission - IMHO, with Oreo & Pie roms - it will probably crippled your device badly.
Trust me, "they" all know where you've been and just left, approximate time spend and what you clicked. Give it a rest unless you have reasons to worry.
I don't know what I should download because I have no idea what would work with this phone. Online it says that Android One "only runs on certain smartphones", so probably not that. If Oreo/Pie stop working if you disable certain bloat, then I'm fine with using something older or even ancient, as long as it can function. And I'm probably going to be installing Play apps from APK mirror instead of the Play Store. What actually is the difference between that and sideloading? I thought when you installed an .apk from APK mirror it meant you were sideloading.
Again, my expectations for an OS are quite modest - basic smartphone features, along with the ability to use aptX/aptX HD or some other variants.
Can you link some de-googled and de-bloated ROMs I can choose from? I can't find any ROMs named "nano" or "pico" on the ROM section for this phone, or on Google.
dooshbagel said:
I'm thinking of buying a Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, and I want to install a quality open-source ROM on it since I don't want the Chinese or Google spying on me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Roms listed here are the ones you need, they are the ones for this phone. Successor of CM is LineageOS and people are happy with it. Being such a noob do your reading before you get into flashing, that prevents pulling too much hair. Mi A2 lite is a good phone.
Ah, avoid stock, it's a mess according to people who used it. I erased it as soon as I got the phone. I run AOSiP and am content with it.
On this phone you can also flash GSI systems (more reading), ArrowOS 9 worked just fine for me, others may be good too.
dooshbagel said:
I'm thinking of buying a Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, and I want to install a quality open-source ROM on it since I don't want the Chinese or Google spying on me.
I've never installed a ROM before, and I don't think I really need any fancy features (except for basic smartphone things, like support for camera, flashlight, WiFi, Bluetooth, phone calls, audio/video recording and playback, GPS, etc.). I guess my only other requirement is that it can support something like aptX/aptX HD so I can use it with Bluetooth headphones and it won't sound like ass.
I've got some questions:
Do most ROMs generally tend to work with most phones? Can I just download some random ROM and have it work most of the time?
Are the 2 pages of ROM threads listed on this forum the only ones this phone can support? Or are these just the ROMs that forum users have tested it with? A lot of these ROMs I've never even heard of, and many are listed as [UNOFFICIAL].
Cyanogenmod has been discontinued, but could it still work on newer devices? There's projects like freecyngn which can remove propriety Google Analytics stuff from it, and I don't know if any similar tweaks exist for Cyanogenmod's successors.
What's a good resource for de-googled ROMs with no proprietary software? And which can support aptX/aptX HD or an alternative. And would hopefully actually work with the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just try this https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-a2-lite/development/rom-barebones-lineageos-16-0-t3931121
celrau said:
On this phone you can also flash GSI systems (more reading), ArrowOS 9 worked just fine for me, others may be good too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is GSI? And I don't see ArrowOS 9 listed anywhere in this phone's forum section. Can I just download it anywhere from the internet and have it work with the A2 Lite?
dooshbagel said:
What is GSI? And I don't see ArrowOS 9 listed anywhere in this phone's forum section. Can I just download it anywhere from the internet and have it work with the A2 Lite?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GSI stands for generic system images but as I said, do your own reading on all these. ArrowOS is here and you will need AB. And no, you can't just download it from anywhere on the internet and have it work. Search for what treble and GSI are, how to flash them and so on. Theoretically GSIs are easier to deal with since you don't need to change slots (don't ask me what slots are, you have the internet) but they are generic and some features may not work. If this is too much for you there is a thread here about debloating the stock rom, maybe that's more in tone with your current level of experience.
dooshbagel said:
I'm thinking of buying a Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, and I want to install a quality open-source ROM on it since I don't want the Chinese or Google spying on me.
I've never installed a ROM before, and I don't think I really need any fancy features (except for basic smartphone things, like support for camera, flashlight, WiFi, Bluetooth, phone calls, audio/video recording and playback, GPS, etc.). I guess my only other requirement is that it can support something like aptX/aptX HD so I can use it with Bluetooth headphones and it won't sound like ass.
I've got some questions:
Do most ROMs generally tend to work with most phones? Can I just download some random ROM and have it work most of the time?
Are the 2 pages of ROM threads listed on this forum the only ones this phone can support? Or are these just the ROMs that forum users have tested it with? A lot of these ROMs I've never even heard of, and many are listed as [UNOFFICIAL].
Cyanogenmod has been discontinued, but could it still work on newer devices? There's projects like freecyngn which can remove propriety Google Analytics stuff from it, and I don't know if any similar tweaks exist for Cyanogenmod's successors.
What's a good resource for de-googled ROMs with no proprietary software? And which can support aptX/aptX HD or an alternative. And would hopefully actually work with the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trying to reply in a simplier manner than previous comments:
I come from the similar direction to yours. I am not a whistleblower, but I'm sick of all the data collection, all my moves logged on Google servers, all the synchronization and all the targeted ads.
For downloading apps you don't need to sideload, just use F-Droid + Aurora Store for Play Store.
LineageOS is the continuation of Cyanogenmod project.
The best you can find right now is this build of Lineage: https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-a2-lite/development/lineageos-16-0-xiaomi-mi-a2-lite-t3919060
Be aware that it has unofficial status by now and it's unclear if it's gonna change anytime soon. It means you have to put all your trust in the maintainer, plus it doesn't use official Lineage infrastracture for delivering updates etc. Also SELinux is not active, at least yet.
The phone itself I definitely recommend - cheap, 10+ hours of SOT, fast enough, camera is ok for random pic taking.
celrau said:
GSI stands for generic system images but as I said, do your own reading on all these. ArrowOS is here and you will need AB. And no, you can't just download it from anywhere on the internet and have it work. Search for what treble and GSI are, how to flash them and so on. Theoretically GSIs are easier to deal with since you don't need to change slots (don't ask me what slots are, you have the internet) but they are generic and some features may not work. If this is too much for you there is a thread here about debloating the stock rom, maybe that's more in tone with your current level of experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, cheers. What are the basic procedures if I lightly or horribly screw up something while I'm doing this? Resetting, etc.
Might I respectfully suggest that you brew a cup of coffee or tea or whatever beverage, sit back and do some serious reading. Maybe, buy this device first and/or play with something you currently owned to get a better feel of how flashing & other basics like ADB and installing of ADB works.
You will probably need to be comfortable using (Xiao)MiFlash to fix any possible soft/hard brick to recover it back to OEM stock condition. All of the above plus other suggested files, roms and tools on your PC, ready to do its part. I also agreed, perhaps, once you decide to buy this device - start with debloating the stock rom as a beginner, to see what all this is about - before freaking out in a panic about all those warnings & errors on the device's screen as it boot up.
dooshbagel said:
Alright, cheers. What are the basic procedures if I lightly or horribly screw up something while I'm doing this? Resetting, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the other guy is saying, best do some basic reading and install adb and fastboot on your computer, you will need them. If you stay with stock and just get rid of Google and friends (highly recommended for worm up) but **** up at some point and you can't boot or it bootloops, restart in recovery and reset. Or if you boot and something is not working but you have access to settings app, reset from there. Here, I'm doing your homework. DuckDuckGo is your friend.
dooshbagel said:
1-Do most ROMs generally tend to work with most phones? Can I just download some random ROM and have it work most of the time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the past years, unlike PC systems, a ROM was device specific and each supported device (of Cyanogenmod, let's say) was maintained by a dedicated developer. We still call it the same version of the said ROM, but each one has specific drivers files for its compatible device. It's still the case nowadays, and that's what you'll see in the ROM section of this device.
However, beginning from Oreo, google introduced a project called "Treble" that intended to separate the common Android System from the device specific files and driver's, by separating the classic system partition to a "vendor" partition, which contains all the hardware specific stuff, and a "system" partition containing a only generic universal Android system.
With this "Treble" project, a new type of ROMs emerged, called GSIs. These ROMs work on all Treble compatible devices (the Mi A2 lite included), and don't need to be maintained for each one. The Treble forum is here ; you'll find a more large selection with GSI ROMs, but I advice you to stay with the device specific ROMs on the Mi A2 Lite forum, which are more optimised for their specific device.
dooshbagel said:
2- Are the 2 pages of ROM threads listed on this forum the only ones this phone can support? Or are these just the ROMs that forum users have tested it with? A lot of these ROMs I've never even heard of, and many are listed as [UNOFFICIAL].
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As answered above, these are the specific ROMs especially developed for this device, they'll be the more adapted to the Mi A2 Lite.
UNNOFICIAL just means that the developer that buildt the ROM for this device isn't working directly with the team responsible of the ROM. (For example the CrDroid ROM being official, it's A2Lite version will be hosted in the CrDroid site, an unofficial one won't).
It can be an indicator of stability, but you may find a very stable and clean UNNOFICIAL rom.
Now almost all the ROM that you've seen in the list are based on LineageOS, itself the son of CyanogenMod. We'll come to this point now.
dooshbagel said:
3- Cyanogenmod has been discontinued, but could it still work on newer devices? There's projects like freecyngn which can remove propriety Google Analytics stuff from it, and I don't know if any similar tweaks exist for Cyanogenmod's successors
4- What's a good resource for de-googled ROMs with no proprietary software? And which can support aptX/aptX HD or an alternative. And would hopefully actually work with the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CyanogenMod project was going on like one week after it was discontinued, under the name of "LineageOS". Its 100% the same source and base, and the LineageOS team is the part of CM team that wanted to continue the CM rom developpement after their team split.
If you want a clean ROM with the basic features and independent from Google software, LOS is the more advisable. They provide their own version of all the basic feature apps (dialer, camera, music player etc) so that you don't need using Google software, and are in general VERY privacy axed, and have a centralised interface called Trust from which you can control what informations each app have access to.
Like I said above, almost all the ROMs (in the A2 Lite section) you'll see are based on LineageOS, adding customization features mostly. So if you just need the vanilla Android feature, with no obscure ROM additional software, and axed on privacy and security, I think LineageOS is your best shot.
The LineageOS 16build for this device is unnoficial but is fully buggless and regularly updated and maintained by a xda recognized developer.
Lastly, unrelated to you questions but you may need to read some "A/B devices - seamless updates" documentation, and carefully read the guides, or you risk bricking your device. (And possibly provide yourself with all the necessary stuff to unbrick your device, just in case)
Thanks GDFI, great post.
Alright bois, time for me to do some research then.
I built a custom version of LineageOS for personal use, with some built-in apps removed, patches for signature spoofing and some (mostly FOSS) apps included (microG, F-Droid, Lawnchair, etc.)
https://rarepepes.faith/lineage-16.0-20190606-UNOFFICIAL-daisy.zip
You can't really go full FOSS with any of the Android phones (Samsung S3 + Replicant ROM is as good as it gets), but you can minimize Google stuff on your device and filter network connections using apps like AFWall
Have fun!
You kids can try to Port "mokee os" ?
Hi, I recommend you to stay with AndroidOne OS.
I don't know why you want to change OS because Xiaomi still releasing security patch which is very important to protect your phone.
Custom ROM rarely update and maintain.
Not to mention in order to flash it, you need patient and time to learn the knowledge.
It is only suitable to go for custom ROM when Xiaomi not longer support Mi A2 Lite.
coolwei1 said:
Hi, I recommend you to stay with AndroidOne OS.
I don't know why you want to change OS because Xiaomi still releasing security patch which is very important to protect your phone.
Custom ROM rarely update and maintain.
Not to mention in order to flash it, you need patient and time to learn the knowledge.
It is only suitable to go for custom ROM when Xiaomi not longer support Mi A2 Lite.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obscurantism at its best :good:
When nobody use a custom rom, nobody will develope on this device. Ergo no stable custom rom in the end of service for mi a2 Lite
So I came back to the forum after 6 months and was pleasantly surprised by the number of custom roms available now. From the few (currently trending) threads I checked out, I see that either there are still some kind of bugs are still lingering or the dev abandoned the project or the thread was closed or ... I think you get the point. For this reason, I'd rather stick with the official stock rom but I never quite liked the bloatware (both mi and google) and google tracking. To maximise performance and battery life, I wish to clean my rom of all of these stuff or, if possible, install a pre-configured one.
I have some questions though:-
1. Best way to debloat?
Yes, I have tried adb uninstall command when I first got the phone but for some reason, that didn't work. I saw a recent guide on the forum for this purpose that I could try later.
2. Any experience with microG on MIUI?
I don't know if it's possible/working on MIUI roms since this is my first Xiaomi device.
3. Recommended custom ROM?
I may have missed out on all the good stuff during my absence. If you could recommend a rom you find the most stable and clean, even if it is AOSP, it would save me a lot of time.
Look, you are probably going to tell me that I could have done a bit more search on my own before posting here. The thing is, I have returned to the whole modding stuff after 4 years so lest I might break/mess up things, I deemed it more reasonable to ask here.
Hope someone sees this. Thank you.
You're looking for the exact same thing I did.
For me the solution was lineageos with microg, magisk, fdroid store + aurora store.
Lineageos has some minor bugs for me, as well as cameras not working properly.
Reason for most bugs in the most roms is probably that they are based on Android 10,
the devs will probably be able to solve all the bugs as soon as Xiaomi releases miui 12 for this device, which will be based on Android 10.
What you are looking for is probably miui EU rom.
You can easily debloat most of the unwanted sofware with "Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot tools".
Your problems with ADB probably has to do with SU priviligies.
If I remeber correctly you have to use Xposed framework in order to get microg running on miui, I could be wrong on this!
Hope this helps a bit!
SkogstaTarzan said:
You're looking for the exact same thing I did.
For me the solution was lineageos with microg, magisk, fdroid store + aurora store.
Lineageos has some minor bugs for me, as well as cameras not working properly.
Reason for most bugs in the most roms is probably that they are based on Android 10,
the devs will probably be able to solve all the bugs as soon as Xiaomi releases miui 12 for this device, which will be based on Android 10.
What you are looking for is probably miui EU rom.
You can easily debloat most of the unwanted sofware with "Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot tools".
Your problems with ADB probably has to do with SU priviligies.
If I remeber correctly you have to use Xposed framework in order to get microg running on miui, I could be wrong on this!
Hope this helps a bit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I am more inclined to use vanilla Android than MIUI. At least now I know my desired setup is within the realm of possibility. Will surely give LineageOS a try.
I apologise in advance if this is the wrong place to post this..
I recently got a Ulefone power armor 13 that I've been trying to to de-google, I've avoided smartphones for a long time due to concerns about tracking ect but I decided to take the plunge after seeing articles online about privacy focused google android alternatives.
The one I've really been trying to get to run is CalyxOS, I know it only officially supports a limited number of smartphones but there are some unofficial GSI ROMs of it. I really liked the idea of being able run both open source apps and google apps with spoofing, I know I said that I was trying to degoogle this phone but the simple fact is there are a few google apps I'd like to run if I can avoid the tracking.
Unfortunately I've only had dead ends and headache trying to to get them to install but I have had some luck getting AOSP GSI to install so I'd like to try something new.
Can anyone recommend a GSI rom that has either microg or some other way of spoofing google? Or alternatively a way of adding it to a AOSP GSI rom?
Many thanks for your time.
What do you mean by "spoofing Google"?
Spoofing may have been the wrong term to use, what I meant by "spoofing Google" was some means of allowing google apps run without my data getting back to them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read online microg does this by somehow creating a fake ID for the device. Now my laypersons understanding may have have got this wrong if I have I would appreciate it if you could point me in the direction of some reliable info?
If I understood everything correctly this would need to be used along side the Aurora store or a similar app store to get the full benefit of it.
Maybe a better way to phrase my request would have been are there any GSI roms that do the same thing as CalyxOS or is it possable to get something similar with a stock AOSP GSI image and adding microg to it myself?
Star_Eagle said:
From what I've read online microg does this by somehow creating a fake ID for the device. Now my laypersons understanding may have have got this wrong if I have I would appreciate it if you could point me in the direction of some reliable info?
If I understood everything correctly this would need to be used along side the Aurora store or a similar app store to get the full benefit of it.
Maybe a better way to phrase my request would have been are there any GSI roms that do the same thing as CalyxOS or is it possable to get something similar with a stock AOSP GSI image and adding microg to it myself?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if you had any luck or not. I thought I would follow up to this. I don't know why there's not much posting info on GSI ROM's. From what I've found there are ROM's available for what you are looking for. I did find some degoogled GSI ROM's even with or without microG preinstalled. If you need a list of some, I can provide you. I'm not sure they will work, but it is sometimes a trial and error. For the phone you listed you should be able to get some to work though.
Hi defcondoc
Thanks for taking th time to reach out to me, I currently have the phone running an Arrowos GSI ROM from the phhutson ROM list and so far its been ok for me though I would be REALLY happy to have list of other possible ROMS to play/tinker with. Afterall you never know what you might find unless you try new things.
If you have the time send me the list you have I would be really greatfull, I don't mind if they don'e have microg preinstalled at this point so long as its clearly marked that its not prinstalled.
Thanks again.