Google Pixel with Android Oreo #Blog
Since I am not satisfied with Android Pie as there is some stuff which annoyed me, I went to Oreo. At first, I actually wanted to daily drive the stock ROM instead, but then got unsatisfied as it lacked some features I use on a daily basis.
Google never allowed users to use the LED indicator as a way to check your battery charging progress. Oh boy, when I first got this phone, I literally first criticised the lack of the feature, like no other phones I owned ever did this to me. It is an easy way for me to know when my phone is going to be fully charged, but without that I have to turn on the screen every single time. Too bad nowadays devices are starting to remove the indicator for a bezel less experience, but some at least still included it to tell you whether you have notifications or your phone is charging or not.
So yeah, I have to go back to LineageOS just specifically for that feature. There isn't even a Magisk module which adds the functionality, sadly. Anyway, the system runs even lighter, which is an expected and welcome benefit. Running Android Oreo felt like I am running a flagship, at least it could run more tasks at the same time and heat up slower or less. System boot up time is also less than 20 seconds if we ignored the bootloader warning screen.
By downgrading to Oreo, this time I lost access to further more applications, farewell Google Camera 7, and I am forced to use an older version of it, and over here Night Sight is missing, RIP. Daylight photos are amazing and I don't use Night Sight often, I guess I could suffer without it. No other apps are being missed out this time and all of them are still supported, except one which I used to fix all the media files for an organised view in the Gallery app, it is only updated for Android Pie & later operating system, anyway the old version works and serves the purpose.
Then there's one system feature I missed: the battery percentage on the ambient display, meaning it's an extra effort to check for the percentage if I wanted to without pressing the power button of the phone. The screen brightness isn't as flexible as in the later versions, you have to enable adaptive brightness in order to adjust to a lower brightness level, which kind of sucks. Another issue but the impact isn't large, while rebooting or shutting down the device, before the screen finally goes black, it will hang there for a few seconds. And if you are wondering about camera failure, it's still there, as usual.
I am more than happy to use it on the Pixel, as long as it doesn't cause further issues. Actually after many days of hoping around, I just end up on the latest Android Oreo build built by Google. I just wanted this Pixel to have a home where it could just live in safely without any issue, just like how any other Android phone will do, though it has to sacrifice some of the available features on later version of the operating system and accept the limitations it has.
Since I am not satisfied with Android Pie as there is some stuff which annoyed me, I went to Oreo. At first, I actually wanted to daily drive the stock ROM instead, but then got unsatisfied as it lacked some features I use on a daily basis.
Google never allowed users to use the LED indicator as a way to check your battery charging progress. Oh boy, when I first got this phone, I literally first criticised the lack of the feature, like no other phones I owned ever did this to me. It is an easy way for me to know when my phone is going to be fully charged, but without that I have to turn on the screen every single time. Too bad nowadays devices are starting to remove the indicator for a bezel less experience, but some at least still included it to tell you whether you have notifications or your phone is charging or not.
So yeah, I have to go back to LineageOS just specifically for that feature. There isn't even a Magisk module which adds the functionality, sadly. Anyway, the system runs even lighter, which is an expected and welcome benefit. Running Android Oreo felt like I am running a flagship, at least it could run more tasks at the same time and heat up slower or less. System boot up time is also less than 20 seconds if we ignored the bootloader warning screen.
By downgrading to Oreo, this time I lost access to further more applications, farewell Google Camera 7, and I am forced to use an older version of it, and over here Night Sight is missing, RIP. Daylight photos are amazing and I don't use Night Sight often, I guess I could suffer without it. No other apps are being missed out this time and all of them are still supported, except one which I used to fix all the media files for an organised view in the Gallery app, it is only updated for Android Pie & later operating system, anyway the old version works and serves the purpose.
Then there's one system feature I missed: the battery percentage on the ambient display, meaning it's an extra effort to check for the percentage if I wanted to without pressing the power button of the phone. The screen brightness isn't as flexible as in the later versions, you have to enable adaptive brightness in order to adjust to a lower brightness level, which kind of sucks. Another issue but the impact isn't large, while rebooting or shutting down the device, before the screen finally goes black, it will hang there for a few seconds. And if you are wondering about camera failure, it's still there, as usual.
I am more than happy to use it on the Pixel, as long as it doesn't cause further issues. Actually after many days of hoping around, I just end up on the latest Android Oreo build built by Google. I just wanted this Pixel to have a home where it could just live in safely without any issue, just like how any other Android phone will do, though it has to sacrifice some of the available features on later version of the operating system and accept the limitations it has.
Google Pixel with Android Nougat #Blog
Before I settled on stock Android Oreo, I decided to downgrade further as there seems to be some files management issues. I know this sounds weird but apparently Files by Google ain’t working well, like deleted files still appeared as it is still there. Ultimately this makes me decide to go back and experience the first ever release build for the Google Pixel, launched with Android Nougat 7.1.0.
Most applications are still supported, in fact most have a minimum requirement of Android Marshmallow these days, so still not something to worry about. The Google Search application has been discontinued though, but experiences are mostly the same and no missing features as of this writing. Google Camera is being downgraded further to version 4 but it’s similar to the latter version anyway, and it of course, still takes good pictures in daylight. Basically the processing has remained unchanged over these years, just more features are added and Night Sight is the only one that I think is the best one implemented.
The good ol’ storage management tool, I missed having the option to clear all cached data at once, though it’s pretty much useless to do this stuff as phones these days are capable of handling this part themselves. The boot animation animates four colorful dots which represent Google's logo color, cool to have but as Oreo managed to boot up the device much quicker, it actually kind of makes sense to remove it. I kind of got a cringe feeling with the power up sound which is something phones in the past used to include, but fortunately Google gave you the option to disable it. Not many things to mention besides all of these, as it is similar in many ways with Android Oreo.
Actually the issue that is mentioned earlier still exists on stock ROM, but then, it’s just considered a third-party application on the phone, so I just decided to uninstall it to avoid further annoyance while I have already flashed the Android Oreo factory image. I am too lazy to switch back to LineageOS this time and things probably work better over here I guess, so the final decision is made.
I really hope this is the last time I will switch ROM for this phone. Android Oreo, as mentioned in the last post, is totally still usable and supported by most apps till today, so I see no issue that it can continue to be a daily driver for many years to come without updating. Too bad something isn't going too well on the other side...
Before I settled on stock Android Oreo, I decided to downgrade further as there seems to be some files management issues. I know this sounds weird but apparently Files by Google ain’t working well, like deleted files still appeared as it is still there. Ultimately this makes me decide to go back and experience the first ever release build for the Google Pixel, launched with Android Nougat 7.1.0.
Most applications are still supported, in fact most have a minimum requirement of Android Marshmallow these days, so still not something to worry about. The Google Search application has been discontinued though, but experiences are mostly the same and no missing features as of this writing. Google Camera is being downgraded further to version 4 but it’s similar to the latter version anyway, and it of course, still takes good pictures in daylight. Basically the processing has remained unchanged over these years, just more features are added and Night Sight is the only one that I think is the best one implemented.
The good ol’ storage management tool, I missed having the option to clear all cached data at once, though it’s pretty much useless to do this stuff as phones these days are capable of handling this part themselves. The boot animation animates four colorful dots which represent Google's logo color, cool to have but as Oreo managed to boot up the device much quicker, it actually kind of makes sense to remove it. I kind of got a cringe feeling with the power up sound which is something phones in the past used to include, but fortunately Google gave you the option to disable it. Not many things to mention besides all of these, as it is similar in many ways with Android Oreo.
Actually the issue that is mentioned earlier still exists on stock ROM, but then, it’s just considered a third-party application on the phone, so I just decided to uninstall it to avoid further annoyance while I have already flashed the Android Oreo factory image. I am too lazy to switch back to LineageOS this time and things probably work better over here I guess, so the final decision is made.
I really hope this is the last time I will switch ROM for this phone. Android Oreo, as mentioned in the last post, is totally still usable and supported by most apps till today, so I see no issue that it can continue to be a daily driver for many years to come without updating. Too bad something isn't going too well on the other side...
#LineageOS #Official #R #ROM #Marlin
LineageOS 18.1 - OFFICIAL | Android 11 | Pixel XL (marlin)
Updated: 12/6/2023
▪️Download [675MB]
▪️XDA
Changelog:
• Updated translations
• Update Chromium Webview to 114.0.5735.61
• June 2023 Security Patch
• Source Changelog
By @npjohnson
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat
LineageOS 18.1 - OFFICIAL | Android 11 | Pixel XL (marlin)
Updated: 12/6/2023
▪️Download [675MB]
▪️XDA
Changelog:
• Updated translations
• Update Chromium Webview to 114.0.5735.61
• June 2023 Security Patch
• Source Changelog
By @npjohnson
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat
Final Decision & The Complaint #Blog
The operating system update mechanism kind of sucks but it is what it is. Older operating systems are just as well usable, but companies mostly focused on their latest releases so they usually discontinued the older one and made them become vulnerable to security issues over time. They actually could keep it updated but as less and less users are using it, it’s just not worth the time doing so. Basically old is gold but we have to take care of it with extra cautions. Anyway, just after going back to Oreo for a day or two, I just decided to leave the phone in hibernation, as this phone is about to face some of the worst nightmare soon: hardware failure. I have been talking about the camera failure that has happened to me all this time, and sometimes I had to kill the camera service in order to use it again,
One day, it decided to freeze after doing so. I went to search online and people said it's more like a hardware failure, which frightens me for a sec. I have no other choice but to backup everything and migrate them onto my daily driver if I want this phone to be alive in the future. By doing this, I lost access to a great camera. Actually it is also the only reason why I had continued to use it for several more years. Other than that, this phone is giving me a lot of headache, as Android Pie and later on with stock ROM is where things start to go wrong on the Pixel, kind of disappointed when it's a clean stock Android experience.
People praised the Pixel lineup as one of the best smartphones, I hope that's true for all the later generations, at least that's not the case for Pixel 4 and earlier models, which we see people reporting camera issues mostly. Software defines how a person uses and experiences the phone, but if hardware decided to fail, how would one experience the software in the first place? If I had to choose between two cameras, one with long-lasting hardware that takes average quality photos and videos and one with amazing camera performance but the hardware only lasts for a few years time, or even worse, it might break earlier, I would rather just go for the first one. If you are rich, you may ignore it since you could just somehow upgrade every year for the latest features and most likely won’t care about longevity issue.
Among all the phones I have used before, Pixel is the first ever phone to have a camera that is dying off over time. I don’t know how many first generation Pixel will continue to survive over time, at least the first few iPhone generations models seem to be doing well on many people’s hands, probably because it’s not used frequently or what, so the lifespan is extended, I don’t know though. Samsung phones released in the early 2010s are also holding up well, and meanwhile many Pixels haven’t surpassed five years old and it’s already starting to beg for death. Is this a sign that Google actually designed the phone not to last long, and yet another reason why they could sell their phones for their lower price? No one knows for sure, at least for the time being.
The motive of me getting a Pixel is just purely the hype from the custom ROM community, which discusses mostly stock Android experience, with some replicating the Pixel UI. It’s not bad on the surface of course, until you will eventually realise as the device approaches the end of support, it runs into more issues, even though it only has a few set of features. This somehow made me feel that a custom ROM on a random mid-range phone could have better experience than a flagship phone that came with stock Android out of the box, at least that’s with the case for the Pixel 1 series. “The best camera I ever had and yet the worst I ever owned.” ~ P
The operating system update mechanism kind of sucks but it is what it is. Older operating systems are just as well usable, but companies mostly focused on their latest releases so they usually discontinued the older one and made them become vulnerable to security issues over time. They actually could keep it updated but as less and less users are using it, it’s just not worth the time doing so. Basically old is gold but we have to take care of it with extra cautions. Anyway, just after going back to Oreo for a day or two, I just decided to leave the phone in hibernation, as this phone is about to face some of the worst nightmare soon: hardware failure. I have been talking about the camera failure that has happened to me all this time, and sometimes I had to kill the camera service in order to use it again,
One day, it decided to freeze after doing so. I went to search online and people said it's more like a hardware failure, which frightens me for a sec. I have no other choice but to backup everything and migrate them onto my daily driver if I want this phone to be alive in the future. By doing this, I lost access to a great camera. Actually it is also the only reason why I had continued to use it for several more years. Other than that, this phone is giving me a lot of headache, as Android Pie and later on with stock ROM is where things start to go wrong on the Pixel, kind of disappointed when it's a clean stock Android experience.
People praised the Pixel lineup as one of the best smartphones, I hope that's true for all the later generations, at least that's not the case for Pixel 4 and earlier models, which we see people reporting camera issues mostly. Software defines how a person uses and experiences the phone, but if hardware decided to fail, how would one experience the software in the first place? If I had to choose between two cameras, one with long-lasting hardware that takes average quality photos and videos and one with amazing camera performance but the hardware only lasts for a few years time, or even worse, it might break earlier, I would rather just go for the first one. If you are rich, you may ignore it since you could just somehow upgrade every year for the latest features and most likely won’t care about longevity issue.
Among all the phones I have used before, Pixel is the first ever phone to have a camera that is dying off over time. I don’t know how many first generation Pixel will continue to survive over time, at least the first few iPhone generations models seem to be doing well on many people’s hands, probably because it’s not used frequently or what, so the lifespan is extended, I don’t know though. Samsung phones released in the early 2010s are also holding up well, and meanwhile many Pixels haven’t surpassed five years old and it’s already starting to beg for death. Is this a sign that Google actually designed the phone not to last long, and yet another reason why they could sell their phones for their lower price? No one knows for sure, at least for the time being.
The motive of me getting a Pixel is just purely the hype from the custom ROM community, which discusses mostly stock Android experience, with some replicating the Pixel UI. It’s not bad on the surface of course, until you will eventually realise as the device approaches the end of support, it runs into more issues, even though it only has a few set of features. This somehow made me feel that a custom ROM on a random mid-range phone could have better experience than a flagship phone that came with stock Android out of the box, at least that’s with the case for the Pixel 1 series. “The best camera I ever had and yet the worst I ever owned.” ~ P
Google Pixel 1/XL | Updates
Photo
Android 13 booted on Pixel XL courtesy of rootfan
XDA Forums
[UNOFFICIAL] LineageOS 20 for the Google Pixel XL
lineage-20.0-20230815-UNOFFICIAL-marlin.zip
lineage-20.0-20230609-UNOFFICIAL-marlin.zip
Disclaimer: This is an experimental build making use of a 4.4 kernel port. While everything has worked...
lineage-20.0-20230609-UNOFFICIAL-marlin.zip
Disclaimer: This is an experimental build making use of a 4.4 kernel port. While everything has worked...
#LineageOS #Unofficial #A13 #ROM #Marlin
LineageOS 20.0 - UNOFFICIAL | Android 13 | Pixel XL (marlin)
Updated: 9/6/2023
▪️Download
▪️XDA
Changelog:
• Experimental release with 4.4 kernel port
Known issues:
• SElinux is permissive
• Data and time reset to build date on boot
• USB PD testing untested
• Its likely you'll have to reboot after installation for VoLTE to work
By rootfan
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat
LineageOS 20.0 - UNOFFICIAL | Android 13 | Pixel XL (marlin)
Updated: 9/6/2023
▪️Download
▪️XDA
Changelog:
• Experimental release with 4.4 kernel port
Known issues:
• SElinux is permissive
• Data and time reset to build date on boot
• USB PD testing untested
• Its likely you'll have to reboot after installation for VoLTE to work
By rootfan
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat
A weird thought on smartphones #Blog
Every time I set up a ROM on my phone, I always have a guilty feeling in my mind, like why did phones exist? Yes, the phone brings us a lot of convenience, and without it, how would you connect with the world? Yes, I appreciated the existence of smartphones, it is helpful, but then, I didn't like something about it.
As you should know, I have a Pixel device, but recently it is facing a camera failure issue (at least it’s not permanent, for now). And looking forward to other Pixel devices, the latter generation is having the same issue but it's happening for more people, followed by the next one and another. Then Pixel 4 & 5 having their back case and screen separated, Pixel 6 camera bar defected, and Pixel 7 having their power & volume buttons dropping off, like seriously. And when it comes to reviews, many praised it as easy-to-use and somehow the best phone of the year, and for multiple times.
When we bought a phone, we wanted it to last as long as possible, and due to the large demand of phone releases from multiple manufacturers, the reviews are mostly just two weeks of usage before the phone is released to the public. At least we get an idea of how well the phone does in its initial stage, but rarely we see anyone out there doing a review for their phone even after using it for years. That's where the manufacturer could start to play dirty in this part, but not in an obvious way of course.
Pixel just seems to be a suitable example for this case. Online reviews said it was good, running clean software etc. but if hardware decided to fail, how could we use it? Google even faced a lawsuit where there was an audio IC issue for the 1st generation of Pixel after years being launched, and that's just one of the many issues users faced.
After all, even though tech reviewers praised it as the best smartphone or whatever, not many people still decided to buy it, as the market share showed. Monthly security update, a software without additional bloatware, easy to use, tech geek & reviewers appreciated it, but what about the normal users out there? Many other OEMs are able to understand it and aim specifically at this part, the productivity section. Google is actually lacking behind a lot at this part though they did try, and this will be continued in the next blog.
Every time I set up a ROM on my phone, I always have a guilty feeling in my mind, like why did phones exist? Yes, the phone brings us a lot of convenience, and without it, how would you connect with the world? Yes, I appreciated the existence of smartphones, it is helpful, but then, I didn't like something about it.
As you should know, I have a Pixel device, but recently it is facing a camera failure issue (at least it’s not permanent, for now). And looking forward to other Pixel devices, the latter generation is having the same issue but it's happening for more people, followed by the next one and another. Then Pixel 4 & 5 having their back case and screen separated, Pixel 6 camera bar defected, and Pixel 7 having their power & volume buttons dropping off, like seriously. And when it comes to reviews, many praised it as easy-to-use and somehow the best phone of the year, and for multiple times.
When we bought a phone, we wanted it to last as long as possible, and due to the large demand of phone releases from multiple manufacturers, the reviews are mostly just two weeks of usage before the phone is released to the public. At least we get an idea of how well the phone does in its initial stage, but rarely we see anyone out there doing a review for their phone even after using it for years. That's where the manufacturer could start to play dirty in this part, but not in an obvious way of course.
Pixel just seems to be a suitable example for this case. Online reviews said it was good, running clean software etc. but if hardware decided to fail, how could we use it? Google even faced a lawsuit where there was an audio IC issue for the 1st generation of Pixel after years being launched, and that's just one of the many issues users faced.
After all, even though tech reviewers praised it as the best smartphone or whatever, not many people still decided to buy it, as the market share showed. Monthly security update, a software without additional bloatware, easy to use, tech geek & reviewers appreciated it, but what about the normal users out there? Many other OEMs are able to understand it and aim specifically at this part, the productivity section. Google is actually lacking behind a lot at this part though they did try, and this will be continued in the next blog.
#LineageOS #Official #R #ROM #Sailfish
LineageOS 18.1 - OFFICIAL | Android 11 | Pixel (sailfish)
Updated: 24/6/2023
▪️Download [667MB]
▪️XDA
Changelog:
• June 2023 Security Patch
• Updated translations
• Update Chromium Webview to 114.0.5735.131
• Source Changelog
By @npjohnson
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat
LineageOS 18.1 - OFFICIAL | Android 11 | Pixel (sailfish)
Updated: 24/6/2023
▪️Download [667MB]
▪️XDA
Changelog:
• June 2023 Security Patch
• Updated translations
• Update Chromium Webview to 114.0.5735.131
• Source Changelog
By @npjohnson
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat
The not so good things about stock Android #Blog
We already knew that all Android skins are based off the AOSP source, and because Google owned the platform, they could do whatever they wanted and release it in their way, just like how Chromium browsers do. Whenever they released it as the final product, they just do some minor tweaks to make it look good, repackage it and lastly release it to their users, which is what we considered as stock Android with Google's skin on top. Anyway, we will just call it stock Android in the rest of the text below.
In the last blog, we mentioned that Google Pixel has not been the choice for most people out there, and one part to blame is the stock Android it included out of the box. Not to say the experience isn't good, but it's lacking features people wanted. We know a phone can do a lot of things, and we don't want the system to run so badly that it couldn't do the task you wanted it to. Most OEMs are able to nail this part and at the same time, include more productivity features to ease the job.
Just use One UI as an example, you could open multiple apps at the same time, whereas in stock Android you could only do two at most with the split screen feature and some apps don't even support it. You could also view weather, call people, snap the screen right away with the edge panel, meanwhile stock Android got none of those. Chinese OEMs also did something over at this part but sadly most of them are only available for their Chinese firmware variants, which mostly benefit China mainland users. Anyway, some of them did try to bring them to the global users, and one of them includes seamless sync between desktop and mobile devices, so you could transfer files back and forth easily, without the need of a wired connection. When you check back at Google, there are no such things at all.
Writing until here, I am just amazed at how Google is so lucky to have a large cut of the browser market share, but looking back at Android, they lost. Yeah, this isn't something to compare as Google didn't decide to sell their devices worldwide, but despite that, the countries where they sell in didn't see any major growth, even though they have lowered their prices to somewhere at the upper mid-range segment. Clearly those aren't something the majority of the people had wanted because it's lacking something they wanted or some issues made them refuse to get one.
Besides productivity, many teens out there care about their photos & videos being good so they can share it out with their friends, and clearly there's only one option for that, iPhone. As more and more kids started to grow up, they started to acknowledge iPhone can take good photos & video anywhere while their Android phones don't, which lead them to persuade their parents to get one for them, and explained why the market share has been growing for Apple and not the others recently, despite their phones being expensive. And recalling back the productivity part, Apple also nailed it, and it's probably the best among all. Not going to lie but if prices weren't a barrier for me, I would have been using an iPhone since the early days.
Clearly what people wanted from a phone is they wanted their tasks to be done in the most efficient way possible, and stock Android obviously lost this part. Most people won't care about updates, the clean software or whatever, if it lacked the stuff they wanted, they won't choose it.
We already knew that all Android skins are based off the AOSP source, and because Google owned the platform, they could do whatever they wanted and release it in their way, just like how Chromium browsers do. Whenever they released it as the final product, they just do some minor tweaks to make it look good, repackage it and lastly release it to their users, which is what we considered as stock Android with Google's skin on top. Anyway, we will just call it stock Android in the rest of the text below.
In the last blog, we mentioned that Google Pixel has not been the choice for most people out there, and one part to blame is the stock Android it included out of the box. Not to say the experience isn't good, but it's lacking features people wanted. We know a phone can do a lot of things, and we don't want the system to run so badly that it couldn't do the task you wanted it to. Most OEMs are able to nail this part and at the same time, include more productivity features to ease the job.
Just use One UI as an example, you could open multiple apps at the same time, whereas in stock Android you could only do two at most with the split screen feature and some apps don't even support it. You could also view weather, call people, snap the screen right away with the edge panel, meanwhile stock Android got none of those. Chinese OEMs also did something over at this part but sadly most of them are only available for their Chinese firmware variants, which mostly benefit China mainland users. Anyway, some of them did try to bring them to the global users, and one of them includes seamless sync between desktop and mobile devices, so you could transfer files back and forth easily, without the need of a wired connection. When you check back at Google, there are no such things at all.
Writing until here, I am just amazed at how Google is so lucky to have a large cut of the browser market share, but looking back at Android, they lost. Yeah, this isn't something to compare as Google didn't decide to sell their devices worldwide, but despite that, the countries where they sell in didn't see any major growth, even though they have lowered their prices to somewhere at the upper mid-range segment. Clearly those aren't something the majority of the people had wanted because it's lacking something they wanted or some issues made them refuse to get one.
Besides productivity, many teens out there care about their photos & videos being good so they can share it out with their friends, and clearly there's only one option for that, iPhone. As more and more kids started to grow up, they started to acknowledge iPhone can take good photos & video anywhere while their Android phones don't, which lead them to persuade their parents to get one for them, and explained why the market share has been growing for Apple and not the others recently, despite their phones being expensive. And recalling back the productivity part, Apple also nailed it, and it's probably the best among all. Not going to lie but if prices weren't a barrier for me, I would have been using an iPhone since the early days.
Clearly what people wanted from a phone is they wanted their tasks to be done in the most efficient way possible, and stock Android obviously lost this part. Most people won't care about updates, the clean software or whatever, if it lacked the stuff they wanted, they won't choose it.
Eid Mubarak!
Wishing you and people around you a joyous and blessed Eid al-Adha. May this special occasion bring happiness, peace, and prosperity to your lives. May your sacrifices be accepted and rewarded abundantly.
As we gather with loved ones and partake in the festivities, let us remember the true essence of Eid al-Adha—the spirit of sacrifice, compassion, and gratitude. May your acts of kindness and generosity inspire others and spread joy within our communities.
Wishing you a memorable and blessed Eid, filled with cherished moments and togetherness.
- from the Pixel 1 Updates team! ❤️
Wishing you and people around you a joyous and blessed Eid al-Adha. May this special occasion bring happiness, peace, and prosperity to your lives. May your sacrifices be accepted and rewarded abundantly.
As we gather with loved ones and partake in the festivities, let us remember the true essence of Eid al-Adha—the spirit of sacrifice, compassion, and gratitude. May your acts of kindness and generosity inspire others and spread joy within our communities.
Wishing you a memorable and blessed Eid, filled with cherished moments and togetherness.
- from the Pixel 1 Updates team! ❤️
Regarding Which Operating System To Use #Blog
Manufacturers provide updates to your device so you get access to the latest feature & security improvement. Over time, the operating system gets heavy as it is bundled with more applications & services that are also growing in size, and the phone starts to run slower than before, as it starts to struggle. Hence on the other side, some people prefer to stay on older versions of the operating system to keep the fluidity going, but at the same time, applications slowly phased out support for old operating systems.
I don't know why I didn't just straight up think of writing this but instead wrote the last two blogs first. Anyway, I guess I found the actual reason which has been bothering me while I am setting up ROMs (but not really yet…). The operating system version, should we even bother about getting the latest Android version while the older ones are still working?
This isn't really tough to answer after all, for most people it's recommended to just update to the latest available operating system for the device of course. And regarding the first generation Pixel device, the last update for the device is Android 10 and the build is just buggy right off the surface, I had recommended users to just use Android Pie instead at this point. By doing this, you had then missed out on the dark theme feature.
I can't believe it but the Pixel is the first device I have ever questioned about downgrading due to the issues that have appeared on later Android versions, actually Pie is good to use but something is missing and annoyed me, so went all the way back to Oreo. Downgrading did make it run smoother and also provided a much more stable experience, but some applications that you used to use might not be supported.
Anyway, in my opinion, if you are daily driving the device, you should opt for the latest stable operating system available, for the Pixel case that will be Android Pie. As a secondary device, depends on you, if you use it frequently then a later version of the operating system is preferrable, otherwise you may go for the older one if you want the device to run better. So yeah, if you wanted to downgrade, then you had to figure out how to unlock the bootloader of the device, otherwise you are just stuck on the later version of the operating system forever.
Manufacturers provide updates to your device so you get access to the latest feature & security improvement. Over time, the operating system gets heavy as it is bundled with more applications & services that are also growing in size, and the phone starts to run slower than before, as it starts to struggle. Hence on the other side, some people prefer to stay on older versions of the operating system to keep the fluidity going, but at the same time, applications slowly phased out support for old operating systems.
I don't know why I didn't just straight up think of writing this but instead wrote the last two blogs first. Anyway, I guess I found the actual reason which has been bothering me while I am setting up ROMs (but not really yet…). The operating system version, should we even bother about getting the latest Android version while the older ones are still working?
This isn't really tough to answer after all, for most people it's recommended to just update to the latest available operating system for the device of course. And regarding the first generation Pixel device, the last update for the device is Android 10 and the build is just buggy right off the surface, I had recommended users to just use Android Pie instead at this point. By doing this, you had then missed out on the dark theme feature.
I can't believe it but the Pixel is the first device I have ever questioned about downgrading due to the issues that have appeared on later Android versions, actually Pie is good to use but something is missing and annoyed me, so went all the way back to Oreo. Downgrading did make it run smoother and also provided a much more stable experience, but some applications that you used to use might not be supported.
Anyway, in my opinion, if you are daily driving the device, you should opt for the latest stable operating system available, for the Pixel case that will be Android Pie. As a secondary device, depends on you, if you use it frequently then a later version of the operating system is preferrable, otherwise you may go for the older one if you want the device to run better. So yeah, if you wanted to downgrade, then you had to figure out how to unlock the bootloader of the device, otherwise you are just stuck on the later version of the operating system forever.
My Fear On Gadgets #Blog
Ever since my computer's hardware disk broke, I am just afraid of electronic gadgets these days. I am afraid all this stuff decided to break one day and all the data vanished in just one snap. And this leaves me with a permanent fear that everything on your device is just temporary. And yeah, this is yet another blog post related to my thoughts while setting up a ROM. When you wanted to flash a new ROM, you had to format your device and you had to backup everything to somewhere else, most of the time that had to be a computer.
Portable gadgets like smartphones ease many people's lives, but more and more people are getting addicted as they spend more time using them, especially teens. It used to be me but no longer as I find this stuff to be boring now, and I just wanted to have a normal life without too much digital stuff surrounding my life.
I still didn't understand why but I lost interest in digital stuff, especially files that are just store locally on the device. Since the incident, I split my data across multiple devices so if one breaks, I won't lose everything at least. The only reason I had to use electronic gadgets was to access the Internet world. Communicating with friends, watching videos, and writing such a blog post won't be possible without it, but to get access to all of these, an electronic gadget is a must.
I have no other choice but to continue use one, and billions of other people are also forced to learn using it even though they might not be interested. On my phone, I just uninstalled those which I felt were extraordinary, and currently I am left with less than 30 user applications which is a new record for me. People wanted more internal storage to store more files and install applications whereas I am just trying to use as least as possible.
I guess this is the actual reason why I had those weird thoughts on smartphones, which also made me publish a few more blog posts on it, and finally lead the storyline till here. This also made me want to depend less and less on it, and probably one day get out of it, but it's just unlikely at this moment. We will see how the future progresses anyway. I guess I am probably the only one to have this in my mind, but I would be happy to hear your thoughts on this and whether something similar happened on your side.
Ever since my computer's hardware disk broke, I am just afraid of electronic gadgets these days. I am afraid all this stuff decided to break one day and all the data vanished in just one snap. And this leaves me with a permanent fear that everything on your device is just temporary. And yeah, this is yet another blog post related to my thoughts while setting up a ROM. When you wanted to flash a new ROM, you had to format your device and you had to backup everything to somewhere else, most of the time that had to be a computer.
Portable gadgets like smartphones ease many people's lives, but more and more people are getting addicted as they spend more time using them, especially teens. It used to be me but no longer as I find this stuff to be boring now, and I just wanted to have a normal life without too much digital stuff surrounding my life.
I still didn't understand why but I lost interest in digital stuff, especially files that are just store locally on the device. Since the incident, I split my data across multiple devices so if one breaks, I won't lose everything at least. The only reason I had to use electronic gadgets was to access the Internet world. Communicating with friends, watching videos, and writing such a blog post won't be possible without it, but to get access to all of these, an electronic gadget is a must.
I have no other choice but to continue use one, and billions of other people are also forced to learn using it even though they might not be interested. On my phone, I just uninstalled those which I felt were extraordinary, and currently I am left with less than 30 user applications which is a new record for me. People wanted more internal storage to store more files and install applications whereas I am just trying to use as least as possible.
I guess this is the actual reason why I had those weird thoughts on smartphones, which also made me publish a few more blog posts on it, and finally lead the storyline till here. This also made me want to depend less and less on it, and probably one day get out of it, but it's just unlikely at this moment. We will see how the future progresses anyway. I guess I am probably the only one to have this in my mind, but I would be happy to hear your thoughts on this and whether something similar happened on your side.
#LineageOS #Official #R #ROM #Marlin
LineageOS 18.1 - OFFICIAL | Android 11 | Pixel XL (marlin)
Updated: 12/7/2023
▪️Download [675MB]
▪️XDA
Changelog:
• Updated translations
• Update Chromium Webview to 114.0.5735.196
• July 2023 Security Patch
• Source Changelog
By @npjohnson
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat
LineageOS 18.1 - OFFICIAL | Android 11 | Pixel XL (marlin)
Updated: 12/7/2023
▪️Download [675MB]
▪️XDA
Changelog:
• Updated translations
• Update Chromium Webview to 114.0.5735.196
• July 2023 Security Patch
• Source Changelog
By @npjohnson
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat
Stock Android On All Devices #Blog
In the custom ROM communities, we just see people complaining about other OEMs having heavy modifications to the Android operating system and making it more demanding to run on devices with weak specifications, and yeah, that's a truth with smartphones these days. More trackers, more bloatwares, more features, you name it, and not to mention the operating system and applications get heavier, but then what if every Android OEM just decided to release their phone with the stock Android looks?
You might think this is much more unified to represent the Android operating system, which I will agree with, and people won't get confused by it. The only thing they could advertise would be on the hardware itself, software wise they would just repeat whatever Google has made off the shelf, which will hardly attract users I had said. I had to say it's something good that OEMs decided to innovate instead of letting it be just stock Android, with skins even older versions of Android looks modern, though that now hardly happens with devices these days.
Android would have been a failure if every OEM decided to release their builds in its original form. In fact, OEMs that release phones with stock Android included didn't see any major success in any countries, all sales are dominated by other manufacturers with other skins on top. If you have been reading the blog posts here, then you would know that people wanted a working phone which gets the job done in the most efficient way possible, which stock Android lacks to provide. Apple is actually doing a great job at this part but other OEMs came up with appealing solutions and making it available for a lower price, which attract users to use their products, and that's how Android has been dominating the smartphone market.
Actually Android One would be a prime example that people don't want stock Android even though they are clean in design, Android Go still manages to survive as low-income countries rely on that, but other than that stock Android is pretty much still at a stage where it doesn't provide enough values for the market. If people had eagerly wanted it, many would have started to buy it from overseas even though it isn't available in their countries officially.
There are still a lot of stuff to be improved on stock Android before it becomes something the whole world starts to like. They had to specifically aim at what the people want, not what they want. Customisations won't attract many, but breaking features which increase productivity will for example. Apple got seamless integrations across devices, Samsung have DeX, Chinese OEMs have their own solution for linking device to computer software, and meanwhile Google thinks that everyone will use their products and because it's accessible from the web, they won't do anything to improve the experience for stuff that aren't accessible from the web. Google has to learn their lesson if they want stock Android to be a success.
I almost struggle to write one such blog post after being affected by the custom ROM communities. Stock Android is good, it's lightweight, clean and simple to use, but at the same time lacking productivity features which people care about, so multiple options exist in the market is not a bad sign, and it's Android skins from other manufacturers which help bring in the large portion of market share to the Android operating system.
In the custom ROM communities, we just see people complaining about other OEMs having heavy modifications to the Android operating system and making it more demanding to run on devices with weak specifications, and yeah, that's a truth with smartphones these days. More trackers, more bloatwares, more features, you name it, and not to mention the operating system and applications get heavier, but then what if every Android OEM just decided to release their phone with the stock Android looks?
You might think this is much more unified to represent the Android operating system, which I will agree with, and people won't get confused by it. The only thing they could advertise would be on the hardware itself, software wise they would just repeat whatever Google has made off the shelf, which will hardly attract users I had said. I had to say it's something good that OEMs decided to innovate instead of letting it be just stock Android, with skins even older versions of Android looks modern, though that now hardly happens with devices these days.
Android would have been a failure if every OEM decided to release their builds in its original form. In fact, OEMs that release phones with stock Android included didn't see any major success in any countries, all sales are dominated by other manufacturers with other skins on top. If you have been reading the blog posts here, then you would know that people wanted a working phone which gets the job done in the most efficient way possible, which stock Android lacks to provide. Apple is actually doing a great job at this part but other OEMs came up with appealing solutions and making it available for a lower price, which attract users to use their products, and that's how Android has been dominating the smartphone market.
Actually Android One would be a prime example that people don't want stock Android even though they are clean in design, Android Go still manages to survive as low-income countries rely on that, but other than that stock Android is pretty much still at a stage where it doesn't provide enough values for the market. If people had eagerly wanted it, many would have started to buy it from overseas even though it isn't available in their countries officially.
There are still a lot of stuff to be improved on stock Android before it becomes something the whole world starts to like. They had to specifically aim at what the people want, not what they want. Customisations won't attract many, but breaking features which increase productivity will for example. Apple got seamless integrations across devices, Samsung have DeX, Chinese OEMs have their own solution for linking device to computer software, and meanwhile Google thinks that everyone will use their products and because it's accessible from the web, they won't do anything to improve the experience for stuff that aren't accessible from the web. Google has to learn their lesson if they want stock Android to be a success.
I almost struggle to write one such blog post after being affected by the custom ROM communities. Stock Android is good, it's lightweight, clean and simple to use, but at the same time lacking productivity features which people care about, so multiple options exist in the market is not a bad sign, and it's Android skins from other manufacturers which help bring in the large portion of market share to the Android operating system.
Forwarded from Google Pixel Hub
#Updates #Android
SDK Platform Tools r34.0.4 has been released!
Release date: July 2023
Changelog (adb):
• Propagate -a (gListenAll) when adb forks an adb host server (previously, the flag only worked for adb -a server nodaemon)
• Faster root and unroot
• Reland Flag(env) guarding clear endpoint (device) feature for OSX usb start.
Changelog (fastboot):
• Mac: remove retries on invalid IO iterator (flashing failure with LIBUSB_TRANSFER_CANCELLED)
• Windows: fix "Sparse file is too large or invalid" when using "flashall"
• All platforms: fix "ANDROID_PRODUCT_OUT not set" when using "update"
Download:
Windows | Mac | Linux
Follow @PixelHubUpdates
SDK Platform Tools r34.0.4 has been released!
Release date: July 2023
Changelog (adb):
• Propagate -a (gListenAll) when adb forks an adb host server (previously, the flag only worked for adb -a server nodaemon)
• Faster root and unroot
• Reland Flag(env) guarding clear endpoint (device) feature for OSX usb start.
Changelog (fastboot):
• Mac: remove retries on invalid IO iterator (flashing failure with LIBUSB_TRANSFER_CANCELLED)
• Windows: fix "Sparse file is too large or invalid" when using "flashall"
• All platforms: fix "ANDROID_PRODUCT_OUT not set" when using "update"
Download:
Windows | Mac | Linux
Follow @PixelHubUpdates
#LineageOS #Official #R #ROM #Sailfish
LineageOS 18.1 - OFFICIAL | Android 11 | Pixel (sailfish)
Updated: 24/7/2023
▪️Download [664MB]
▪️XDA
Changelog:
• July 2023 Security Patch
• Update Chromium Webview to 114.0.5735.196
• Updated translations
• Source Changelog
By @npjohnson
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat
LineageOS 18.1 - OFFICIAL | Android 11 | Pixel (sailfish)
Updated: 24/7/2023
▪️Download [664MB]
▪️XDA
Changelog:
• July 2023 Security Patch
• Update Chromium Webview to 114.0.5735.196
• Updated translations
• Source Changelog
By @npjohnson
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat
Blog inspirations #Blog
This is a Pixel channel, and of course, we try to keep on topic with all of the posts on this channel. To be honest, I never thought of writing this much but because the Pixel on my side decided to cause more issues over time, I guess I will just share it out and see if anyone out there got into similar issues. Too bad the community is constantly shrinking over time and obviously, not everyone with a first generation Pixel acknowledged the channel’s existence or probably decided to follow. Originally when I first started to write, the scheduled post was supposed to stop by late April but later got extended as I write more, now all the way till today.
One flexible thing about blog posts is that opinions never get outdated, and you could write something early and post it later one day, it will still feel like a fresh new post by the author. Before even writing all this stuff, in the past while the Pixel was still having the bootloader being locked and bad battery life, I just rant a lot about it in my mind, and even have those posted in the group chat. Definitely not something many would care about but many of these opinions have been there for quite some time, and I could rewrite them into detailed blog posts but not feeling like doing so as the hype had faded over time.
Nothing is perfect, I can understand this clearly. I have been using both Redmi and Pixel for the past few years, and Redmi is known for its buggy stock software which I totally agree with, but the good thing is modifying the software is free of charge, so you can improve the experience by doing so. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel, is already famously known for the hardware issues, especially camera failure on older generations models, and repairing the hardware costs money, and it’s also not guaranteed that you will not see any issues in the future.
Imagine having a phone that has a faulty camera which just randomly stops working at the moment when you want to capture some memories, and that had happened to me a few months ago while I was still using the Pixel. Redmi might not be that great when it comes to the camera department, at least it still gets to capture something, better than nothing. This is also something I had mentioned in the blog where I was talking about the retirement of my Pixel device due to freezing issues.
I don’t know if I should thank the Pixel for being part of the journey or not, but it led to this channel creation, the larger community, all these opinions and also changed the way I think about smartphones, which was first discussed back in the first blog post. I am actually impressed with those people who managed to write multiple paragraphs and published it as one blog post, while I try to keep it short over here so you guys could briefly read through my texts. Anyway if you have been quietly reading all of these blogs, I appreciate you taking out one minute or two to give it a read every week, though I get nothing but at least I am writing to someone out there. Thanks for the support anyway.
This is a Pixel channel, and of course, we try to keep on topic with all of the posts on this channel. To be honest, I never thought of writing this much but because the Pixel on my side decided to cause more issues over time, I guess I will just share it out and see if anyone out there got into similar issues. Too bad the community is constantly shrinking over time and obviously, not everyone with a first generation Pixel acknowledged the channel’s existence or probably decided to follow. Originally when I first started to write, the scheduled post was supposed to stop by late April but later got extended as I write more, now all the way till today.
One flexible thing about blog posts is that opinions never get outdated, and you could write something early and post it later one day, it will still feel like a fresh new post by the author. Before even writing all this stuff, in the past while the Pixel was still having the bootloader being locked and bad battery life, I just rant a lot about it in my mind, and even have those posted in the group chat. Definitely not something many would care about but many of these opinions have been there for quite some time, and I could rewrite them into detailed blog posts but not feeling like doing so as the hype had faded over time.
Nothing is perfect, I can understand this clearly. I have been using both Redmi and Pixel for the past few years, and Redmi is known for its buggy stock software which I totally agree with, but the good thing is modifying the software is free of charge, so you can improve the experience by doing so. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel, is already famously known for the hardware issues, especially camera failure on older generations models, and repairing the hardware costs money, and it’s also not guaranteed that you will not see any issues in the future.
Imagine having a phone that has a faulty camera which just randomly stops working at the moment when you want to capture some memories, and that had happened to me a few months ago while I was still using the Pixel. Redmi might not be that great when it comes to the camera department, at least it still gets to capture something, better than nothing. This is also something I had mentioned in the blog where I was talking about the retirement of my Pixel device due to freezing issues.
I don’t know if I should thank the Pixel for being part of the journey or not, but it led to this channel creation, the larger community, all these opinions and also changed the way I think about smartphones, which was first discussed back in the first blog post. I am actually impressed with those people who managed to write multiple paragraphs and published it as one blog post, while I try to keep it short over here so you guys could briefly read through my texts. Anyway if you have been quietly reading all of these blogs, I appreciate you taking out one minute or two to give it a read every week, though I get nothing but at least I am writing to someone out there. Thanks for the support anyway.
Forwarded from Google Pixel Hub
#News
Pixel Hub is now on Twitter!
We've created a Twitter account! Feel free to follow us if you want to stay updated with the latest Google-related news on your feed!
Follow us at twitter.com/PixelHubUpdates and stay in the loop with the latest leaks, releases, and news from Google and Android.
- from the Pixel Hub team ❤️
Pixel Hub is now on Twitter!
We've created a Twitter account! Feel free to follow us if you want to stay updated with the latest Google-related news on your feed!
Follow us at twitter.com/PixelHubUpdates and stay in the loop with the latest leaks, releases, and news from Google and Android.
- from the Pixel Hub team ❤️
1st Generation #Blog
Not a blog on my opinions but just a reminder to everyone here. A lot had probably forgotten about it but first generation products are usually valuable in the future, just like how the first iPhone did right now. Be proud as you own one of the most recognisable and valuable products in the coming years.
Anyway what I wanted to point out is that you guys should keep the device with you if you still have it, regardless whether it's functional or not. This is not an ordinary device, but it marked the starting point of the Pixel device. The launch of Google Assistant, Seamless Updates, Project Treble, unlimited backup in Google Photos and so much more, all started with the device called Google Pixel.
The Snapdragon 821 is just making the device look worse at this point, as it basically could turn the device into a portable stove, heater. Only if it could launch a year later, but then we have to face camera issues. Time has passed and that's what we got, hope Google could make their devices last-long further in the coming future.
Nothing really much to say here, and I know this is boring to repeat, but if anyone wants to write and publish a blog post, you are welcome to do so. Just tell us you wanted to write and we will help you post it onto the channel.
*Originally scheduled to be send at last week, but Telegram was down for a moment at that time probably, just a wild guess.
Not a blog on my opinions but just a reminder to everyone here. A lot had probably forgotten about it but first generation products are usually valuable in the future, just like how the first iPhone did right now. Be proud as you own one of the most recognisable and valuable products in the coming years.
Anyway what I wanted to point out is that you guys should keep the device with you if you still have it, regardless whether it's functional or not. This is not an ordinary device, but it marked the starting point of the Pixel device. The launch of Google Assistant, Seamless Updates, Project Treble, unlimited backup in Google Photos and so much more, all started with the device called Google Pixel.
The Snapdragon 821 is just making the device look worse at this point, as it basically could turn the device into a portable stove, heater. Only if it could launch a year later, but then we have to face camera issues. Time has passed and that's what we got, hope Google could make their devices last-long further in the coming future.
Nothing really much to say here, and I know this is boring to repeat, but if anyone wants to write and publish a blog post, you are welcome to do so. Just tell us you wanted to write and we will help you post it onto the channel.
*Originally scheduled to be send at last week, but Telegram was down for a moment at that time probably, just a wild guess.