this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
133 points (98.5% liked)

Android

17641 readers
158 users here now

The new home of /r/Android on Lemmy and the Fediverse!

Android news, reviews, tips, and discussions about rooting, tutorials, and apps.

πŸ”—Universal Link: [email protected]


πŸ’‘Content Philosophy:

Content which benefits the community (news, rumours, and discussions) is generally allowed and is valued over content which benefits only the individual (technical questions, help buying/selling, rants, self-promotion, etc.) which will be removed if it's in violation of the rules.


Support, technical, or app related questions belong in: [email protected]

For fresh communities, lemmy apps, and instance updates: [email protected]

πŸ’¬Matrix Chat

πŸ’¬Telegram channels / chats

πŸ“°Our communities below


Rules

  1. Stay on topic: All posts should be related to the Android OS or ecosystem.

  2. No support questions, recommendation requests, rants, or bug reports: Posts must benefit the community rather than the individual. Please post to [email protected].

  3. Describe images/videos, no memes: Please include a text description when sharing images or videos. Post memes to [email protected].

  4. No self-promotion spam: Active community members can post their apps if they answer any questions in the comments. Please do not post links to your own website, YouTube, blog content, or communities.

  5. No reposts or rehosted content: Share only the original source of an article, unless it's not available in English or requires logging in (like Twitter). Avoid reposting the same topic from other sources.

  6. No editorializing titles: You can add the author or website's name if helpful, but keep article titles unchanged.

  7. No piracy or unverified APKs: Do not share links or direct people to pirated content or unverified APKs, which may contain malicious code.

  8. No unauthorized polls, bots, or giveaways: Do not create polls, use bots, or organize giveaways without first contacting mods for approval.

  9. No offensive or low-effort content: Don't post offensive or unhelpful content. Keep it civil and friendly!

  10. No affiliate links: Posting affiliate links is not allowed.

Quick Links

Our Communities

Lemmy App List

Chat and More


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Greetings, Android aficionados! πŸ“±πŸ‘‹

Today, let's take a moment to get to know each other better. We'd love to know:

  • Which Android devices are you currently using?
  • What do you love most about them?
  • What do you dislike?

Whether you're rocking the latest flagship or cherishing a reliable budget device, we want to hear about your experiences. Share the brand, model, and any standout features that make your phone shine. Who knows, you might inspire someone to discover their next Android companion! πŸŒŸπŸ’¬

Remember, let's keep the conversation friendly and inclusive. Everyone's perspective is valuable, no matter the device they use. We're here to celebrate the diversity within the Android ecosystem and learn from each other.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Fairphone 3

Likes: The community, closest modern analog to the Galaxy S5 (my previous device), ability to open, configuring fast charge/PD speed, good custom ROM support, can be flashed with full Linux (PostmarketOS)

Dislikes: Android OS in general. The newer versions have removed so much capabilities that used to be present. I've got some features and feeling of ownership back by rooting, but it's honestly a sad sign of things to come IMO. Stuff is being watered down, removed or restricted to appeal to the masses.

[–] duffer 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

What things are you missing from old Android versions?

I had a realisation recently that I haven't had the requirement to root and customise my FP4. I don't have a terminal app and I've probably forgotten the majority of the ADB commands I used to use!

Maybe I'm just being assimilated into the Google/android eco-system.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Most users don't need to root their device TBH, the stock experience is perfectly fine for the overwhelming majority of people. The ecosystem generally works too, but I personally don't really want to depend on it, given Google's track record of shelving good products, and some of their behaviors I find intrusive.

My few main complaints would be...

  • Apps can no longer be moved to an SD card easily
  • The changes made to the file storage API has made accessing SD card data much slower, so things like map apps and games take much longer to load if they have stored their data there (FP3 is 64GB, installed a 512GB sd card, so most apps tend to use the SD card if I haven't manually)
  • Developers disabling ADB backups for their apps, making it difficult to migrate apps and data to a new device using something like Helium Backup (Google's cloud-based solution works, but only transfers data for apps that save them to Google's cloud. For all other apps just the application itself is transferred)
  • Call recording is no longer a thing, only system-level apps can do that now (root required)
  • Google moving my photos to the new device without asking first - I find it kind of creepy TBH, especially when the previous device doesn't have Google Photos or save photos to Google's cloud. On older Android versions this wasn't a thing
  • Some changes were made in Android 12/13 to fingerprint scanner requirements, and sadly it is no longer possible to authenticate into most banking apps on the FP3 after updating the OS. This change will likely affect all FP owners in the future, as Google's certification prevents the scanner from being used in secure contexts after its manufacturer drops support

By rooting, I have...

  • Scheduled backups to the SD card, allowing me to rollback an app+data if an update breaks something (this has saved me a few times already πŸ˜…)
  • Slowed down my fast charge speed from 13W to around 2.5W, I still boost it back up if I'm in a hurry
  • Charging stops at 91% (Most phones have this in the settings, however the FP3 doesn't)
  • Syncthing uses root access to get around some limitations (I forgot what these are exactly, I think it's the ability to watch the SD card for file changes)
  • Disabled/removed google apps that I don't want (root not needed, this can also be done over ADB)
  • Disabled location access for the remaining Google apps... until they force-pushed a Play Services update to hard reboot the device when you do this
  • A few more things that I can't recall at the mo. Generally I don't interact with root functionality on a daily basis, it's handled in the background by the apps that use it