this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024

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A little rant about the Android operating system (mstdn.social)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/android

21 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A little rant about the Android operating system
@android
Everyone felt weird when I said I was using custom ROMs. Most of them haven't heard about anything beyond stock android. I wrote a blog trying to normalise it.
https://text.tchncs.de/czars-blogs/custom-roms-and-my-phone

#Android #OpenSource #Privacy #Linux

top 21 comments

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[–] Quackdoc 35 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Do we really need to be so constantly cringy about it? Yes, custom ROMs are great. I run one. Lots of other people run one. They're great. Don't get me wrong. But you have to realize most people simply don't care for one, Most vendors also don't really support their phones well under GSI, so things like camera and stuff like that hardly ever work properly.

In a lot of cases, it is quite a bit of work to get a custom rom flashed and have it working well. The technological skill gap between most people who will run an Android phone and even enthusiasts who will so much as think about installing a custom ROM is so massive that you may as well be a hacker to them.

[–] Zerfallen 13 points 4 months ago (2 children)

For me it's 100% about banking or payment apps that won't run if they detect a custom ROM or root. Otherwise i would consider the effort worth it, if only to free the device from the manufacturer's limited update commitment.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

Ironically, I have to root every time I install a ROM just to bypass the detections 🤦‍♂️

[–] Quackdoc 3 points 4 months ago

I do absolutely agree that this sucks. However, most people don't actually need this. Yes, it's very convenient, but I found that pretty much all banking apps, at least for people I have helped support, offer a web client anyways that's just as good. It's only missing things like NFC tap payment.

Of course, don't get me wrong. A lot of solutions don't offer web UIs, and that sucks. But we can't force everyone to be a not shitty developer Sadly.

I also do really miss tap payments with my phone. It's really nice just taking my phone when I go shopping and maybe $20 in cash. Not needing to worry about my car or anything else.

[–] Boeddabart 12 points 4 months ago

While i agree and support a lot with what you are saying / trying to do, i'm not sure this is the right way to reach people. I'd say keep your blog going, but try find some nicer words and images and such (not the Anonymous kind of stuff..). The content comes off a little... strange (the word 'cringy' in the other comment was kinda wellplaced too), i hope you anderstand.

And i'm afraid most people won't be reached at all unless other ROMs are more (easier) available, like being pre-installed on devices you buy in stores.

Wished i could be of help in any way, i like your intentions and input!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago (1 children)

google is asshole

[–] Quackdoc 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Out of all the people you could blame, you literally chose to blame the single least affected party here. Google has actually taken great strides to make custom ROMs as easy as humanly possible without stepping on the toes of vendors.

Google does a lot of stuff people should hate, but this is not one of them.

[–] siftmama 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Google has actually taken great strides to make custom ROMs as easy as humanly possible

I guess that is besides:

slowly, but surely, stopping development of many AOSP core apps in favour of their own proprietary apps.
ensuring many of their apps are basically unusable with a custom ROM
making it so easy for app devs to block custom ROMs

Dunno, but that's all Google stuff.

[–] Quackdoc 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I highly disagree with this assessment.

First, addressing your first point. Yes, they are stopping development of some core AOSP apps, but we are talking about apps which have had very good, oftentimes way better, alternative FOSS applications anyways. I really don't see this being an issue at all.

For the second and third part. Google can sometimes do this with their core apps. Sometimes I suppose but GAPPs works on pretty much any custom ROM I've ever tried it on. Whether it be open gaps or microg. If you're talking about things like Google Play Certification and safety net, I also disagree there. It's a tool that Google provides if application devs don't want to use it they don't need to. Many devs DO want it. That's not Google's fault.

Application developers want, and sometimes need this level of security. Regardless of what anybody says, attestation is indeed a critical part of security.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm not talking about ROMs I'm talking about google.

[–] Quackdoc 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

why post it on an android post then? go to degoogled or something.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

because Android is google? it's supposed to be this Grand unified ecosystem, Google apps on a Google operating system on a Google phone, but anytime you have an issue with one of them, they all blame every other department so nobody helps you. Google has been hiding accessibility features behind paywalls since Android 11 as well.

[–] Quackdoc 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

can you give a few examples of the a11y issues that don't have at least somewhat well known alternatives that work more or less the same way?

Personally I run android completely without gapps or even aurora store, the only proprietary apps I do actually use is discord my retarded router's only method of accsessing the settings, eero app

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm afraid I don't understand the question. are you asking if you can work around the broken multitasking feature? the only way you can do that is by cracking apps so that they'll play in the background

[–] Quackdoc 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

what's broken about multitasking? It's working fine for me on Android 14. I use split view and desktop mode fairly often without issues, any specific applications that are broken?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

you used to be able to navigate around the lower screen as if it were your phone screen with the top screen just minimized. now, the two apps that you haven't split screen are tied together when you hit the recents button or the home button.

[–] Quackdoc 1 points 4 months ago

ah I see, I personally don't use more then two windows at the same time unless I'm on desktop mode (with free form windows) so the change for me was a welcome feature.I never thought it a problem, but I can see how it would be now for others. It would indeed be nice if they configured the behavior

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Depends on the circle of people you're talking to... I'm not buying any phone without custom ROM support. And haven't done so in ages. I know several other people who've used LineageOS, GrapheneOS or Calyx at some point. I wouldn't say it's normal, but definitely not a unicorn encounter either. Just embrace it. You're a hacker now. Maybe this is a good thing. (Most certainly.)

I feel I should also say, times changed. Back in the day it was either impossible to run a Custom ROM because of some locked bootloader. Or it'd run perfectly smooth. Sometimes you'd be running a ROM of some 15 yo because that's the last person supporting that device. Today some things have changed. Security works differently. Lots of people use things like NFC payment that doesn't work that well without stock. More and more stuff has moved into the proprietary Google services. Cameras have become super complicated and AI enhanced. Running a Custom ROM feels very different from what it was 8 years ago. If you own one of the well-supported devices anyways. Because that was always an issue.

[–] Zak 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I wish this stuff was a little more mainstream. Part of it is simply self-interest: there would be more unlockable devices and fewer app developers trying to block their apps from running on third-party ROMs if more people ran them.

Part of it is I think that would be a better world. Big tech would have a bit less power. Devices would last longer.

[–] reddit_sux 6 points 4 months ago

It was a lot more mainstream in the early days of android. When the companies used to lock internet tethering, you had to root to benefit from it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Flashing a custom ROM is an arcane process, most up to date documentation is hidden in chat apps and if you miss a step, you risk boot-looping your device with no chance of recovery or warranty.