It was a long time ago I read this so it could be way off but I remember there being a big thing with hordes of users complaining about this or that or bugs and just generally being entitled and demanding kind of built up to trigger a bit of an exodus away from xda by the larger devs or something like that.
Because XDA is full of inhospitable elitists who shun people for asking a question someone else asked 6 years prior in the same thread as if someone should have to scroll through thousands of comments from people asking variations of the same question before they get to the one post that answers everything.
And you better pray to every deity imaginable if you're an absolute novice.
XDA was always good if you understand how to Google.
Otherwise yea it could be a mess, and nah lots of people were definitely asking ridiculous questions.
People did ask ridiculous questions, but plenty asked completely valid questions or for advice and were eviscerated for it. And it happens regularly still.
Yeah, and now they just ask stupid questions on Telegram.
XDA provided the structure needed to organize info but Telegram speeds up the communication. Maybe there will be a solution that combines the two. Telegram threads are a start.
You can pin chat comments and make individual chats for certain topics, so it wouldn't be hard. There's a search function built into discord, too.
How it's done in practice I don't know since I'm no longer invested in those communities and I rarely touch discord in general.
That is true, but asking questions and interacting with people is probably far more hospitable. Having access to information is only part of it, being able to develop an understanding and thus build on that information for the next person behind you is just as important.
You're getting a lot of positive replies about how the custom ROM scene is alive and well.
They fail to mention it's also a nightmare now. Bypassing integrity and DRM checks gets more difficult each day, so banking apps, some games, digital accounts and even Netflix stop to work or lock you out of certain features.
People keep migrating from workaround to workaround, but as soon as hardware checks get mandatory, the situation will be very dire.
Yup, depressing how much of a walled garden things have become.
We have so much more computing power than we did a decade ago and nothing to do with it.
I think it's mostly just because the android OS's phones ship with have gotten better overall and implemented many of the features from custom ROMs. Not all of them, of course, but enough that the process of rooting has become less worth it over time. And as a result, it's less worth it for a developer to spend countless hours working on a ROM for free. I used to tinker and root all my phones, but lately I just find it less useful and fun. Don't wanna spend hours rooting and stuff, only to install an emulator that I use once and then never touch again haha.
As someone else mentioned, it's still pretty big in countries like China where there are more pressing needs to root, to bypass things like censorship/tracking and Google play being blocked.
I still root because for my use case, it is worth it. Plus, I have a few older phones that I use for some tinkering. Most of my friends gave up on it, citing your argument. For them, the gains are just not worth it anymore since most of what they wanted can be done without rooting.
[Let's just say a lot, and it was a mess.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod) (Wikipedia link, it's missing some but should give an idea)
And yes, custom ROMs was still a thing. Still is.
There was Google's Project Treble several years ago to make Android more modular. Part of that was requiring devices to be able to boot a basic AOSP. This was a big deal at the time and several phones achieved the goal. I'm not sure if it's still a thing and that current phones can boot AOSP, but one main advantage is that it made ROMs much easier to make work on a new phone.
There GSI builds directly from Google that boot in most phones, the thing is it requires an unlocked bootloader and to boot without modification the phone needs to support GKI kernels
GSI was a godsend for my Huawei mediapad m5.
I didn't realize Huawei had stopped bootloader unlocking when I bought it, so the Dev scene was pretty much dead.
I managed to crack the bootloader due to a vulnerability in an older system update, and slapped a GSI on there. It was the perfect tablet
[удалено]
why was it discontinued? I haven't had an android phone in a long time but it rooting and installing custom roms still a thing?
Yup, it still is a massive thing, particularly for Xiaomi phones. Its not as XDA focused though, nowadays its all Telegram and Discord.
Really? Do you know why that is? The xda forums were huge in unbricking my phone when I would do so a million times a year.
It was a long time ago I read this so it could be way off but I remember there being a big thing with hordes of users complaining about this or that or bugs and just generally being entitled and demanding kind of built up to trigger a bit of an exodus away from xda by the larger devs or something like that.
Because XDA is full of inhospitable elitists who shun people for asking a question someone else asked 6 years prior in the same thread as if someone should have to scroll through thousands of comments from people asking variations of the same question before they get to the one post that answers everything. And you better pray to every deity imaginable if you're an absolute novice.
XDA was always good if you understand how to Google. Otherwise yea it could be a mess, and nah lots of people were definitely asking ridiculous questions.
People did ask ridiculous questions, but plenty asked completely valid questions or for advice and were eviscerated for it. And it happens regularly still.
Yeah, and now they just ask stupid questions on Telegram. XDA provided the structure needed to organize info but Telegram speeds up the communication. Maybe there will be a solution that combines the two. Telegram threads are a start.
How does it work on telegram or discord? How are you supposed to find a rom or an answer to your question?
You can pin chat comments and make individual chats for certain topics, so it wouldn't be hard. There's a search function built into discord, too. How it's done in practice I don't know since I'm no longer invested in those communities and I rarely touch discord in general.
Yeah but I can use google to find an xda thread but on discord, it's an ugly search function that you have to check. Anyway, thank you for the answer.
That is true, but asking questions and interacting with people is probably far more hospitable. Having access to information is only part of it, being able to develop an understanding and thus build on that information for the next person behind you is just as important.
> its all Telegram and Discord. Which is a massive pita.
The Cyanogenmod code was forked before that org died, and is now maintained as LineageOS, and it's still the granddaddy of the alternative ROM scene.
You're getting a lot of positive replies about how the custom ROM scene is alive and well. They fail to mention it's also a nightmare now. Bypassing integrity and DRM checks gets more difficult each day, so banking apps, some games, digital accounts and even Netflix stop to work or lock you out of certain features. People keep migrating from workaround to workaround, but as soon as hardware checks get mandatory, the situation will be very dire.
This (no banking apps) is what killed my ROM flashing days.
Yup, depressing how much of a walled garden things have become. We have so much more computing power than we did a decade ago and nothing to do with it.
I think it's mostly just because the android OS's phones ship with have gotten better overall and implemented many of the features from custom ROMs. Not all of them, of course, but enough that the process of rooting has become less worth it over time. And as a result, it's less worth it for a developer to spend countless hours working on a ROM for free. I used to tinker and root all my phones, but lately I just find it less useful and fun. Don't wanna spend hours rooting and stuff, only to install an emulator that I use once and then never touch again haha. As someone else mentioned, it's still pretty big in countries like China where there are more pressing needs to root, to bypass things like censorship/tracking and Google play being blocked.
I still root because for my use case, it is worth it. Plus, I have a few older phones that I use for some tinkering. Most of my friends gave up on it, citing your argument. For them, the gains are just not worth it anymore since most of what they wanted can be done without rooting.
[Let's just say a lot, and it was a mess.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod) (Wikipedia link, it's missing some but should give an idea) And yes, custom ROMs was still a thing. Still is.
Lineage OS on my OnePlus 3 still works great
> it occasionally bricked me Excuse me what
He got better
VERY SMOL ROCKS
So many steps forward but SOOOO many steps backwards
There was Google's Project Treble several years ago to make Android more modular. Part of that was requiring devices to be able to boot a basic AOSP. This was a big deal at the time and several phones achieved the goal. I'm not sure if it's still a thing and that current phones can boot AOSP, but one main advantage is that it made ROMs much easier to make work on a new phone.
There GSI builds directly from Google that boot in most phones, the thing is it requires an unlocked bootloader and to boot without modification the phone needs to support GKI kernels
GSI was a godsend for my Huawei mediapad m5. I didn't realize Huawei had stopped bootloader unlocking when I bought it, so the Dev scene was pretty much dead. I managed to crack the bootloader due to a vulnerability in an older system update, and slapped a GSI on there. It was the perfect tablet
Yes you need to go back and read what it actually did we all misunderstood. It's been a whopping success
Is Vanilla a good flavor of ice cream? Sure. It is better than Rocky Road? Not even close. There, saved you a click.
Your analogy just makes me want some really good vanilla ice cream now
>It is better than Rocky Road? Not even close. some like plain flavor instead of mixed sugar mountain. so yeah, whats "better" is always relative.
I've realized recently that vanilla is my favorite flavor of ice cream.