I'm not liking Android very much

[Fred Bloggs]

You sure he's not a permie?

Well done NLUK. Since August last year, I have indeed been employed.

[SlipTheJab]

Well done NLUK. Since August last year, I have indeed been employed.

What! Feed him to the Pigs Errol!!

[d000hg]

Ah, OK. Being able to remove the OEM cr@p is my main issue. But perhaps when the next OEM update came along it would reinstall it gain?

I think once you reinstall plain Android on your phone it won't have any reason to detect new versions of OEM software.

[Fred Bloggs]

I think once you reinstall plain Android on your phone it won't have any reason to detect new versions of OEM software.

Thanks, that's not quite how I understood it. I understood that rooting the phone would allow me to remove all the OEM cr@p leaving only what I wanted behind. But the next update would put it back on though? I agree that a better solution would be downloading and installing a vanilla android installation if such a thing exists. However, that would be way beyond my comfort zone at the moment.

[Fred Bloggs]

What! Feed him to the Pigs Errol!!

What? I've already been burnt at the stake, fed to the pigs as well? Sheesh.

[sal]

Thanks, that's not quite how I understood it. I understood that rooting the phone would allow me to remove all the OEM cr@p leaving only what I wanted behind. But the next update would put it back on though? I agree that a better solution would be downloading and installing a vanilla android installation if such a thing exists. However, that would be way beyond my comfort zone at the moment.

It won't reinstall the OEM crap as nothing in the new ROM is configured to talk to your carrier servers for updates. The downside is that you have to manually install future updates for that ROM.

Or at least that's how it worked 3-4 years ago when last i had to deal with a crapdroid phone.

[d000hg]

Android doesn't have a built in "please update" feature these days? How do phones sold running stock Android work then?

[original PM]

As far as I understand it it seems to be the actual phone manufacturers which will push and android update which has been designed for the phone in use.

SO older phones do not get new updates - think I am on v5 - and not expecting an update to 6 or 7.

My brother does a lot of rooting his phones to get the most recent android updates

and often he breaks his phone.

In general though there is very limited new stuff in each upgrade - and rarely if ever anything which is a must have unless you are a really niche user.

[VectraMan]

It's not really "stock Android"; it's still a particular build tied to a particular device that has to be rolled out by the manufacturer. It's only stock in the sense of not having added crap.

I have a Moto G which is mercifully almost crap-free, and before that had a Nexus S. Also have a Nexus 9 tablet, so I get exactly what you're saying. The first Android phone I had was the old Orange Sanfrancisco which was miles better once rooted and Cyanogen installed, but since then I've stuck to things that are as pure Android as possible.

[sal]

It's not really "stock Android"; it's still a particular build tied to a particular device that has to be rolled out by the manufacturer. It's only stock in the sense of not having added crap.

This. Or at least this for the average Joe, where you download/install a ROM/Update with Android pre-configured with drivers, kernel etc. for your particular hardware. For unrooted device the only way to update is to wait for the headset manufacturer/carrier to release an update which is recognised by your OS and allowed to be installed.

Since a lot of headset manufacturers can't be arsed to make all the builds, verifications and support for new Android releases on all older headsets (and it's in their interest to sell you a new headset), there are helpfull people like the XDADevelopers bunch that take upon themselves to do that task and then publish the results (ROMs) for everyone to use at their own risk.

Since your original OS is locked down it won't allow you to install 3rd party ROMs/Updates you first need to obtain root access to your phone allowing you to wipe the existing OS and install one of the custom ROMs.

And this is what put me off Android (while attracting many others). I do enough tinkering of IT "stuff" as part of my job, don't want to be forced to do the same with my phone. Not to mention it becomes unreliable as often enough ROMs are full of bugs, so dropped calls, poor reception/battery life are everyday risks.