#LineageOS #Official #R #ROM #Marlin
LineageOS 18.1 - OFFICIAL | Android 11 | Pixel XL (marlin)
Updated: 12/5/2023

▪️Download [677MB]
▪️XDA

Changelog:
• Updater: Show the correct percentage during package installation
• Updated translations
• Update Android TZDB from 2022g to 2023a [R]
• May 2023 Security Patch
• Source Changelog

By @npjohnson
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#crDroid #Unofficial #R #ROM #Sailfish #Marlin
crDroid 7.30 - UNOFFICIAL | Android 11
Updated: 13/05/2023

▪️Sailfish: Vanilla [708.3MB] | GApps [805.0MB]
▪️Marlin: Vanilla [716.7MB] | GApps [813.6MB]

Changelog:
• May 2023 Security Patch.

Notes:
• For GApps version the Google App had to be removed, so it's highly recommended to flash the GApps Add-on Magisk module to get full functionality.
• Magisk modules.

By @blckbear99
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Hidden Bugs #Blog
In the last post, I talked about the term "hidden bugs." The definition of this word is that it is a system issue that exists but hardly being spotted or found by anyone. It's just kind of irritating for those who wanted a working phone without issue but then one day you managed to find one which annoyed the experience, and I am one of those guys.

We know some people in the community just prefer trying something new, so they often switch ROMs and give their own reviews to it. The problem over here is, they don't stay for long and hence never really get to experience everything on the ROM. They are just basically entering a theme park but only playing stuff that got the most attention by the crowd. When you are entering a theme park, you usually want to make use of the ticket value so you will try to play everything, but then just to realise some of the attractions aren't great, this applied to the case for custom ROMs too. I heard people are saying it's very stable, but after trying it for myself, the experience just appears to be awful.

Basically this made me cut down the list of ROMs that I will use only to the few well-known ones. Despite all of that, depending on the device tree structure, it might contribute some additional issues to the device itself. I understand that bugs are everywhere, but at least it shouldn't affect the experience, random reboot is one of them. UI bugs usually originated from AOSP so we couldn't blame much, but that's fine, as long as you could understand and use the interface.

Anyway, I am just a little disappointed with my Pixel device since no matter where I go, the bugs kind of follow me. It never happened on any other device, but it's just this Pixel causing issues. I will just continue to track the Pixel's journey and see how it performs over time.

#News
Google can now delete inactive accounts

Starting from December 2023, Google can delete inactive Google Accounts if you haven't done any activity mentioned on their list.

Read more about it right here

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#crDroid #Unofficial #R #ROM #Sailfish #Marlin
crDroid 7.30 - UNOFFICIAL | Android 11
Updated: 17/05/2023

▪️Sailfish: Vanilla [708.3MB] | GApps [805.0MB]
▪️Marlin: Vanilla [716.7MB] | GApps [813.7MB]

Changelog:
• May 2023 Security Patch.
• Switched back to Stock+ kernel (I mistakenly built the two previous updates with LineageOS' kernel).

Notes:
• For GApps version the Google App had to be removed, so it's highly recommended to flash the GApps Add-on Magisk module to get full functionality.
• Magisk modules.

By @blckbear99
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat

Google Pixel with Android Pie #Blog
After facing the random reboot issue on Android 10, I decided to step back and check out Android Pie. I did get to experience it for a few weeks before I updated to Android 10, but that's about it. I didn't complain much at that time until I started to face small issues here and there once I updated. What's even worse is that I am unlucky getting a Verizon model, which ultimately made me decide not to get another Pixel anymore. I am being lucky this time as an exploit happened in July 2020, giving me the freedom to do anything I wanted.

After unlocking it, with no hesitation, I went to flash Android 10 ROMs and after trying out many of them, I just ended up on LineageOS for a few years, then later upgraded to Android 11 but got unsatisfied with it so downgraded back to Android 10. Just using it for a few months, I already started to face random reboot, and couldn't stand it any longer and ended up downgrading to Pie to check out how things are working out.

No need for wild guesses and you probably know what I had preferred to use, I went for the last official LineageOS 16.0 build. The most obvious stuff I missed will be a proper dark theme mode, so I had rather left it on light mode all the time just to make everything to be consistent. The whole system itself uses up less space and resources which is appreciated, and some minor Android 10 glitches that I found aren't here at all. And seems like Android 10 messed up the auto white balance for the front camera as this issue doesn't persist on Pie at all.

LineageOS 16.0 also has a lot of features compared to the latter one, and the animation is also nice. As expected, most applications work just fine and are still supported at the time of writing. I only missed out on the Recorder app as it required Android 10 or later but since I don't really use it, not a big deal for me. So far as I can tell, Android Pie is just better overall for the first generation Pixel.

I shouldn't care about this little bug but some system apps are using 35MB which made me though it's a skill issue at first, but then it's yet another bug in the build itself, the actual usage is less than that. Also I just realised Google removed uptime from Android Pie for no reason when I went to check for it, which makes me kind of disappointed, though there's a workaround to use terminal emulator applications to look for it but it's an extra effort to do so.

Other than that, everything looks good, but for some reasons, I just decided to step back further. I only just wish the phone could run without issue, I acknowledge there is no perfect world but I hope the stuff I care about is there and have no issues.

#LineageOS #Official #R #ROM #Sailfish
LineageOS 18.1 - OFFICIAL | Android 11 | Pixel (sailfish)
Updated: 24/5/2023

▪️Download [669MB]
▪️XDA

Changelog:
• May 2023 Security Patch
• Update Android TZDB from 2022g to 2023a [R]
• Updated translations
• Update Chromium Webview to 113.0.5672.132
• Source Changelog

By @npjohnson
Follow @Pixel1Updates
Join @Pixel1Chat

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Get the latest news from Google and join the development discussions.

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Get the latest updates for the Pixel 6 series and discuss custom software.

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.

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...

#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

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

Android 13 booted on Pixel XL courtesy of rootfan

#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
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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.

#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

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.

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! ❤️