Develop Bugs

Back at it again

Hello all! I've just purchased a s6 edge plus from T-Mobile. I've been with Apple for the past few years and I wanted something refreshing. So I want to know is there a root for the phone with me just having an ota upgrade(5.1.1) ?? Will it trip the Knox counter and what features do or don't work when you root it? Again I'm just looking for a quick rundown for rooting as I have been out of the Android game for a couple years. Ok thanks for your help

re: rooting
anxxxious8701 said:
Hello all! I've just purchased a s6 edge plus from T-Mobile. I've been with Apple for the past few years and I wanted something refreshing. So I want to know is there a root for the phone with me just having an ota upgrade(5.1.1) ?? Will it trip the Knox counter and what features do or don't work when you root it? Again I'm just looking for a quick rundown for rooting as I have been out of the Android game for a couple years. Ok thanks for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there is root, and you will trip knox if you decide to root, however tripping knox
has nothing to do with the phones performance, speed or compatiblity.
Also tmobile will not check to see if knox has been tripped in case you need to
return the phone for exchange or warranty.
If anything rooting will enhance the features and there will be more applications, utilities
and other stuff which only work if the phone is rooted.
You will not loose any existing features or options by rooting the phone.
If you done an OTA update to 5.1.1 that's great, the rooting method for these
new phones work just fine whether the phone has the original firmware or
the updated 5.1.1 firmware installed.
Good luck,
Have a great day!

I haven't rooted my S6 Edge+ because I like Samsung Pay too much.
Once knox is tripped, Samsung Pay won't work

Misterjunky said:
Yes there is root, and you will trip knox if you decide to root, however tripping knox
has nothing to do with the phones performance, speed or compatiblity.
Also tmobile will not check to see if knox has been tripped in case you need to
return the phone for exchange or warranty.
If anything rooting will enhance the features and there will be more applications, utilities
and other stuff which only work if the phone is rooted.
You will not loose any existing features or options by rooting the phone.
If you done an OTA update to 5.1.1 that's great, the rooting method for these
new phones work just fine whether the phone has the original firmware or
the updated 5.1.1 firmware installed.
Good luck,
Have a great day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanx that pretty much answered everything i need to know! i have rooted the phone and im having no issues
edouble312 said:
I haven't rooted my S6 Edge+ because I like Samsung Pay too much.
Once knox is tripped, Samsung Pay won't work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah i saw that it didnt work. im not too bothered by that though. when i had the iphone i didnt use apple pay that much so its not a big of a deal. how is samsung pay??

Samsung Pay is the best platform yet!!
anxxxious8701 said:
thanx that pretty much answered everything i need to know! i have rooted the phone and im having no issues
yeah i saw that it didnt work. im not too bothered by that though. when i had the iphone i didnt use apple pay that much so its not a big of a deal. how is samsung pay??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung Pay is nothing like apple pay or even android pay, it works everywhere and very reliably. The only drawback is that only a few financial companies are on board at this time. However, I do not carry a wallet at all anymore which is a great plus in my life. Now if only my car would not require a key I would be totally free to only have to remember my phone when going anywhere.

I've been so happy with my phone I haven't needed to root. Plus I like Samsung Pay as well.

vvveith said:
Samsung Pay is nothing like apple pay or even android pay, it works everywhere and very reliably. The only drawback is that only a few financial companies are on board at this time. However, I do not carry a wallet at all anymore which is a great plus in my life. Now if only my car would not require a key I would be totally free to only have to remember my phone when going anywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will love to see you using it in a gas station or parking meters.

Use it at most gas stations already.
Yakuzahi said:
Will love to see you using it in a gas station or parking meters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't have any problems at most gas stations, but some just don't have a strong enough magnetic reader to allow phone to penetrate. In these cases, I have to go inside the store and prepay for gas, small inconvenience.

Is rooting worth it on thid phone?

Hey, I was thinking about rooting but I can't seem to find the cons for rooting the note 7.. I know that when rooted, Knox is tripped and you can't pay with your phone + your warranty is gone, but are there any other reasons why you shouldn't root your Samsung?
Edit - the title is meant to say 'this' not 'thid'.

As of now you can root without tripping Knox on the SD820 variant but it's not worth it. You lose so much and gain so little. The warranty will be OK but you still lose the ability to use a lot of apps, such as Samsung pay as you mentioned. The best I got out of it was fully removing apps with titanium and AdAway. Without root I use ez disabler and Adguard.

It really depends on what you'll be doing with the phone. If you're gonna wanna try out different ROMs or kernels then obviously you'll need to root. If there's certain root apps you've used befire which you think you may do again, obviously you'll need root.
Personally, I don't tend to root these days for any other reason than Xposed. Even if I don't use many, or even any modules, I root in advance so I haven't gotta do it when I want to use them. With how good phones are these days though, there's less and less reasons to root
Sent from my HUAWEI GRA-L09 using XDA Labs

KidCarter93 said:
It really depends on what you'll be doing with the phone. If you're gonna wanna try out different ROMs or kernels then obviously you'll need to root. If there's certain root apps you've used befire which you think you may do again, obviously you'll need root.
Personally, I don't tend to root these days for any other reason than Xposed. Even if I don't use many, or even any modules, I root in advance so I haven't gotta do it when I want to use them. With how good phones are these days though, there's less and less reasons to root
Sent from my HUAWEI GRA-L09 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xposed for note7 yet? Im getting my note7 in a week.

masaforce said:
Xposed for note7 yet? Im getting my note7 in a week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some xposed modules are working.

KidCarter93 said:
Personally, I don't tend to root these days for any other reason than Xposed. Even if I don't use many, or even any modules, I root in advance so I haven't gotta do it when I want to use them. With how good phones are these days though, there's less and less reasons to root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's true, I am mainly interested in the extra customisation of things like the lock screen and tweaks to improve the phone. Coming from iOS I always jailbroke so not having root makes me feel like I'm missing out, but I probably don't really need it.

hnrykw said:
Yeah that's true, I am mainly interested in the extra customisation of things like the lock screen and tweaks to improve the phone. Coming from iOS I always jailbroke so not having root makes me feel like I'm missing out, but I probably don't really need it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it comes to customising the lock screen there's a bunch of apps that could probably do what you're looking for. Have a search around XDA and the Play Store and I'm sure you'll find something you like.
About tweaks to improve the phone, it's not really something that's needed (at least from my brief usage of the Note 7 so far). I'm not in a position to tell you whether you have to root or not though so crack on if you feel like it :good:
One of the good things with Android is that you can already do more right out of the box than you can with a jailbroken iPhone
Sent from my Huawei P8 using XDA Labs

Should i root my s10+ now or wait?

Recently had the oneplus 6 and was so easy to root ..should i root this phone and if i do how do i get the latest otas installed after root?

Why would you want to root it. I always rooted my phone up to s9 plus. I think now Samsung software is polished enough that we gain no benefit by rooting the phone.

muhammadshais said:
Why would you want to root it. I always rooted my phone up to s9 plus. I think now Samsung software is polished enough that we gain no benefit by rooting the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Adaway for starters.
And a plethora of others.
Still just the tip of the iceberg.
Don't use any of the so called secure features, payment, health, et al. Never used them and never will.
AMEX FTW!
The biggest issue with the one way trip is when it comes time to sell. You can return to stock but even on a non rooted, stock device those aforementioned apps that the new owner may want won't work on a 0x1 device.

cpufrost said:
Adaway for starters.
And a plethora of others.
Still just the tip of the iceberg.
Don't use any of the so called secure features, payment, health, et al. Never used them and never will.
AMEX FTW!
The biggest issue with the one way trip is when it comes time to sell. You can return to stock but even on a non rooted, stock device those aforementioned apps that the new owner may want won't work on a 0x1 device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plenty of options for ad blocking on non rooted devices now so that's not really a reason anymore.

And none of them have the convenience of AdAway. Particularly when other VPNs are required and you have first disable the vpn ad blocker. And don't get me started on AdHell. LOL

cpufrost said:
And none of them have the convenience of AdAway. Particularly when other VPNs are required and you have first disable the vpn ad blocker. And don't get me started on AdHell. LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to disagree. there are ways to block ads on an unrooted phone. ever tried adguard? they have vpn, proxy method etc.
You're not using nay secure payments but samsung pay is becoming one of the fastest growing payment option. You really wanna void your warranty, stop receiving OTA updates all this?
If you ask me - please don't root your s10+.. it's a powerful device where you can customize it without rooting. Yes, I do agree, you will not get 2-3 root advantages like titanium and few other customizations. But think of the pros, cons. Nowadays you can use it without rooting and with a lot of customization.

kevinireland11 said:
Recently had the oneplus 6 and was so easy to root ..should i root this phone and if i do how do i get the latest otas installed after root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dare you

Every phone before S10 I had rooted, since HTC DesireHD and S10 is my first phone which will not :good:
...but you know, do what you want to do.
Sent from my SM-G973F using XDA Labs

If you use a third party launcher like Nova etc. I don't see the benefit in rooting that once existed. Just about all of the things mentioned can be managed without root.

Root is giving a lot of options like titanium bu/adaway/greenify/viper/freeze system apps and a LOT more.

sam20e said:
Have to disagree. there are ways to block ads on an unrooted phone. ever tried adguard? they have vpn, proxy method etc.
You're not using nay secure payments but samsung pay is becoming one of the fastest growing payment option. You really wanna void your warranty, stop receiving OTA updates all this?
If you ask me - please don't root your s10+.. it's a powerful device where you can customize it without rooting. Yes, I do agree, you will not get 2-3 root advantages like titanium and few other customizations. But think of the pros, cons. Nowadays you can use it without rooting and with a lot of customization.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Adguard isn't free and it slows wifi throughput. Speedtests dropped from 600-700Mbps up/down to 150-160 last time I checked. Not a fan of that.
Next, there is no warranty out of the box on Exynos. It's buy at own risk, period. So no argument there.
And OTAs. That's kind of a joke considering it's May and the (official) security update is March 01. The unlocked versions in the USA are slow to get (official) updates.
But we're talking about just root, right?
Typically, I only unlock the bootloader to install a custom rom. No matter how good the factory OS is, they just simply cannot touch a custom rooted rom. It's better out of the box now compared to touchwiz days, yes. But still not as good.
Is it worth the hassle? To some no. It really depends on what you want to do with your spare time I suppose.

True true
muhammadshais said:
Why would you want to root it. I always rooted my phone up to s9 plus. I think now Samsung software is polished enough that we gain no benefit by rooting the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah man i think im gonna stick to completly stock unless some magical app comes out that requires magisk lol

XDA says Root is a Hoot which is always fun to Boot! ???

muhammadshais said:
Why would you want to root it. I always rooted my phone up to s9 plus. I think now Samsung software is polished enough that we gain no benefit by rooting the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bp328i said:
Plenty of options for ad blocking on non rooted devices now so that's not really a reason anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cpufrost said:
And none of them have the convenience of AdAway. Particularly when other VPNs are required and you have first disable the vpn ad blocker. And don't get me started on AdHell. LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sam20e said:
Have to disagree. there are ways to block ads on an unrooted phone. ever tried adguard? they have vpn, proxy method etc.
You're not using nay secure payments but samsung pay is becoming one of the fastest growing payment option. You really wanna void your warranty, stop receiving OTA updates all this?
If you ask me - please don't root your s10+.. it's a powerful device where you can customize it without rooting. Yes, I do agree, you will not get 2-3 root advantages like titanium and few other customizations. But think of the pros, cons. Nowadays you can use it without rooting and with a lot of customization.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree with all that there is minimum benefits to root nowadays. I only see using twrp to do backup as the key benefit. Anyway, this is my personal opinion. Anyone can have others.
As for ad blockers, i use "Block This". Its low battery consuming and uses VPN. Free too. But please remember to whitelist your google translate or else you cannot download offline language packages.
I tried adguard before. Its good for ad blocking but uses a bit more battery.

I haven't rooted a Samsung phone since the s8. I rooted mostly for customization and Samsung has more options than most. I use Adhell for ad blocking and between the theme app, good Lock and Nova I can make my phone sign??? Yeah. I'm good. No rooting required.
Sent from my SM-G975W using XDA Labs

Yeah I've found absolutely no reason to root my 10+ . adguard works just fine without root. Plenty of customization options available already. Very pleased with my experience so far.

Viper and fonts are my reasons to root. Couldn't live without Viper. Audio sounds like crap without it.

I’m very happy without root...other than Viper everything else is customized including fonts ....
iPhone X

rooted every phone till s8
now I got s10plus and I do not want to root either
Nowadays you have quite everthing (adhell and app disabler do a ggreat job). Only thing It bother me is I do not have titanium backup anymore
May I ask you why Viper is so important?

I haven't rooted since my Note 4. It turns into a black hole of fiddling with the phone for what I think is very minimal gain. Since I have less free time at this point in my life I just prefer to use my phone as it was meant to be used which is to make my life easier.
YMMV of course.

Question Will you be unlocking BL/Rooting

Just out of curiosity. I know in most cases it isn't needed anymore but I've been on phones with locked BLs for about 3 years now so I might end up unlocking mine just to tinker around a little bit. Assuming we will be able to of course.

Right now I would say no - don't see a reason to. But I don't even know if I'll get this phone for sure I love tinkering with phones though. So on second thought If I do buy it, then I'll probably end up unlocking & rooting it at some point.

Root ofc, but who would need custom ROMs on a Pixel with 5 years of software updates?

xLexip said:
Root ofc, but who would need custom ROMs on a Pixel with 5 years of software updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, I haven't been able to run a custom ROM in 3 or 4 years so I'm behind the times lol. Not sure if there are still any features left in ROMs that stock doesn't have. Some folks just like the feeling of being on something custom. But yeah, I can totally see people just rooting in current times for AdAway and stuff like that.

On this topic, any idea if we'll be able to root and unlock the bootloader since it'll be the new tensor chip? I'm asking because on Samsung devices I remember being able to unlock only the Exynos and not Snapdragon, and I may be asking something silly here. Thanks!

If possible to unlock new chip, then I will root this badboy! Happy Flashing

xLexip said:
Root ofc, but who would need custom ROMs on a Pixel with 5 years of software updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
5 years of security updates, not software

This time I've said no but if there is a healthy custom scene then it will be a consideration.
The trade off will be having to see what we lose in unlocking the bootloader and rooting.

DinarQ8 said:
5 years of security updates, not software
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Security updates are also software updates imo.
And Google doesn't just merge the android revisions, they still push some tweaks and fixes afaik.

I will not. I retired my 3XL this spring because I got a free Note 20 Ultra. So no root on it. The only thing I was rooting for was ad blocking and with Brave the few ads I get in apps don't bother me.
With Magisk Hide gone away I don't want to lose my banking apps and such.
FWIW I hate Sammy's software. Drives me crazy.

If the security chip somehow doesn't make it much harder, then sure I'll continue with AdAway and some free tethering. Otherwise, I've made my peace with it. Will grit my teeth and deal with these VPN ad blockers.

TonikJDK said:
I will not. I retired my 3XL this spring because I got a free Note 20 Ultra. So no root on it. The only thing I was rooting for was ad blocking and with Brave the few ads I get in apps don't bother me.
With Magisk Hide gone away I don't want to lose my banking apps and such.
FWIW I hate Sammy's software. Drives me crazy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in this same boat. I feel like I had a Google phone for years.. going from the Nexus line to Pixel and then have the 1XL, 2XL, 3XL and didn't continue to buy because they started making a mid-range device... well now they're back to making a high end phone, but I switched to the S21 Ultra.. Sammy software (One UI) I am not a fan of.. I do miss the simple and clean stock android software, but samsung/vzw has done a good job of getting me the monthly updates, the camera and phone in general is phenomenal.. will be hard to leave this phone especially with no magisk hide

TonikJDK said:
I will not. I retired my 3XL this spring because I got a free Note 20 Ultra. So no root on it. The only thing I was rooting for was ad blocking and with Brave the few ads I get in apps don't bother me.
With Magisk Hide gone away I don't want to lose my banking apps and such.
FWIW I hate Sammy's software. Drives me crazy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've been running Sammy devices the last 3-4 years waiting on Google to put out something like the P6. I'm so ready to get back on the Pixel train.

batpoil said:
On this topic, any idea if we'll be able to root and unlock the bootloader since it'll be the new tensor chip? I'm asking because on Samsung devices I remember being able to unlock only the Exynos and not Snapdragon, and I may be asking something silly here. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it can be unlocked/rooted, then I plan to buy. If not, I'll have to reconsider. I realize nowadays there's smaller need to flash, but it's kinda a hobby of mine and I like being able to tinker with my device

darbylonia said:
If it can be unlocked/rooted, then I plan to buy. If not, I'll have to reconsider. I realize nowadays there's smaller need to flash, but it's kinda a hobby of mine and I like being able to tinker with my device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the XDA spirit!

znel52 said:
Just out of curiosity. I know in most cases it isn't needed anymore but I've been on phones with locked BLs for about 3 years now so I might end up unlocking mine just to tinker around a little bit. Assuming we will be able to of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love to tinker too! Kills the boredom.

batpoil said:
On this topic, any idea if we'll be able to root and unlock the bootloader since it'll be the new tensor chip? I'm asking because on Samsung devices I remember being able to unlock only the Exynos and not Snapdragon, and I may be asking something silly here. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is one hell of a good question. Totally forgotten about the new chip!!

The only reason why I have flashed all my pixels was ad blocking. Nowadays, do you think DNS blocking like dns.adguard.com is good enough to achieve the same result or hosts based blocking is still the king?
I'm using Firefox with ublock origin, so that takes care of the websites, so there's just apps that remain.
Of course now Google is using it's own chip and it remains to be seen if it's a good thing or bad. Some people say it's a good thing, because in theory Google can now provide longer support, since drivers have always been the main issue.
Also lately Google has been making noises about upstreaming Android kernel changes with the eventual goal of just straight up using mainline kernel and modulizing the drivers. That will open possibilities way beyond rooting, more ROM variety, etc.

BL unlocked and root before opening the box.
Under no circumstances I will own a phone (or a computer, for the shake of it) that sends any data to servers of Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and the likes.
Cloud is just the marketing shiite to refer to someone else's computer.
Therefore I need root to remove all the crap, to do backups against my own computers, to have a proper firewall that blocks domains and IPs of unwanted servers, and so on.

To date,
Google has always allowed bootloader unlocking on their devices so I do hold out hope that they won't be making a change of tradition there.
They have been pushing OEMs and parts suppliers like Qualcomm to keep updated support for their products and part of that is contributing to providing source (AOSP). Further, as stated above, they are looking to eventually get on mainline Linux kernel if possible and have been going down that road for several years now.
Also let's not forget that Google makes it mandatory to release kernel sources for devices. It's just that not all OEMs comply and Google has never really enforced it for anyone else.
It's just my guess, but I think they will release all the sources and allow bootloader unlock. It would be a pretty massive change in rhetoric otherwise and massively hypocritical if they stopped now.

Best options to degoogle G980F?

Hello all! I have a galaxy s20 g980f stock with oneui 4 beta 1. What are my options to get rid of as much as possible bloatware, de-google, de-samsung etc.? im aware of adb debloating, but it has certain lmitations like knox. so what else? Custom rom? Which one is most debloated and 100% functional?

and1ronik said:
Hello all! I have a galaxy s20 g980f stock with oneui 4 beta 1. What are my options to get rid of as much as possible bloatware, de-google, de-samsung etc.? im aware of adb debloating, but it has certain lmitations like knox. so what else? Custom rom? Which one is most debloated and 100% functional?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
De-bloating is subjective: one man's bloat is another man's treasure. Moreover, aggressive debloating tends to result in broken functionality and it is time consuming to track down the removed package that causes a failure.
Custom ROMs vary greatly in objectives and quality. At the end of the day, the only way you will get exactly what you want is to roll your own.

sjevtic said:
De-bloating is subjective: one man's bloat is another man's treasure. Moreover, aggressive debloating tends to result in broken functionality and it is time consuming to track down the removed package that causes a failure.
Custom ROMs vary greatly in objectives and quality. At the end of the day, the only way you will get exactly what you want is to roll your own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I cant agree here. I assume there is a common meaning for debloating - getting rid of all preinstalled software that has spying and advertising functions, and replacing it with analog functional software without spying and advertising parts. For example i uninstalled samsung keyboard and replaced with one of foss options.
Now the main and only problem I got is that i was not able to find official detailed explanation of each stock package - over 400 of them. Do you now where this can be found?

and1ronik said:
Well, I cant agree here. I assume there is a common meaning for debloating - getting rid of all preinstalled software that has spying and advertising functions, and replacing it with analog functional software without spying and advertising parts. For example i uninstalled samsung keyboard and replaced with one of foss options.
Now the main and only problem I got is that i was not able to find official detailed explanation of each stock package - over 400 of them. Do you now where this can be found?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly my point. I actually like the Samsung Keyboard. That said, if you *really" want every last piece of invasive software off, you will likely be better served with LineageOS or some other close descendant of AOSP. For what it's worth, one of the most invasive pieces of software on just about any stock device is Google Play Services. However, without it, most of the Google apps won't work, and plenty of other apps downloaded from the Play Store will have issues too.
The closest I've seen to a list of stock packages I've seen is this: https://docs.samsungknox.com/CCMode/G980F_R.pdf. It doesn't provide descriptions though.
As you encounter .apk files in the firmware package, here's an easy way to determine the package name from the occasionally less than informative file name:
Bash:
aapt dump badging file.apk | grep -Po "^package: \Kname=\'\S+?\'"
Attached is the list of bloat specs I used when building my image for the G986B culled from a variety of sources. It should serve as a useful starting point.

Try florisboard from f-droid, i personally found it perfect. But off course I understand your point, it is common too. I go radical, i deleted google play, framework and all google apps, i simply do not use any soft that requires google, for me its an affordable price for privacy and freedom.
By the way for debloating I am using AppManager from Muntashirakon, in ADB mode. I see the packages there, but no description, so yeah its a hit or miss. But there is an option to disable, then you see what happens and if problems you enable it back. Pretty decent, but not perfect. I wish I could root at least, but i guess need to wait for full A12 firmware and a matching TWRP recovery. Currently device is running on A12 Oneui 4 beta1.
Thanks a lot, I was going to ask you for this, where to start putting together own rom!!
Wondering, why are Calyx and Graphene roms not getting much attention here on XDA? And linux phones deserve some, even though they're technically not XDA..
The g980f in subject I just happen to have, if i would have to buy a phone now I wouldn't consider Samsung at all for the restrictions. Few months ago I disabled Samsung Pay Services - phone got locked irreversibly. I called Samsung and only option they offered is hard reset. Lost some sweet stuff with it and will never go Samsung again.

and1ronik said:
Try florisboard from f-droid, i personally found it perfect. But off course I understand your point, it is common too. I go radical, i deleted google play, framework and all google apps, i simply do not use any soft that requires google, for me its an affordable price for privacy and freedom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That keyboard actually looks pretty good. That said, I don't have the patience to fully cut Google/Samsung out of my life.
and1ronik said:
By the way for debloating I am using AppManager from Muntashirakon, in ADB mode. I see the packages there, but no description, so yeah its a hit or miss. But there is an option to disable, then you see what happens and if problems you enable it back. Pretty decent, but not perfect. I wish I could root at least, but i guess need to wait for full A12 firmware and a matching TWRP recovery. Currently device is running on A12 Oneui 4 beta1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know that you need an Android 12-based TWRP, but you definitely need a compatible version of Magisk. Modding is generally a lot harder when you're on the bleeding edge, and is further complicated by the fact that you can't roll back the bootloader; you'll never find me on the latest build. It looks like there is a Android-12 compatible Magisk Canary build but I haven't tried it yet.
and1ronik said:
Wondering, why are Calyx and Graphene roms not getting much attention here on XDA? And linux phones deserve some, even though they're technically not XDA..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because the Android phone market is too fragmented. Any custom ROM is available for at most a handful of the hundreds of actively marketed devices in the Android ecosystem.
Of course the bigger question is why we even need the abomination of an OS that is Android. In short, we don't: Sharp was already selling its Zaurus line of Linux PDAs 20 years ago. Google, however, decided it needed to insert itself into the mobile market, and the rest is history.
and1ronik said:
The g980f in subject I just happen to have, if i would have to buy a phone now I wouldn't consider Samsung at all for the restrictions. Few months ago I disabled Samsung Pay Services - phone got locked irreversibly. I called Samsung and only option they offered is hard reset. Lost some sweet stuff with it and will never go Samsung again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung's "security" practices are obnoxious, though at least in the US, the carriers share plenty of blame for phones being locked down. That said, I have yet to find to find hardware that is more compelling--the lack of a SD card slot is a deal breaker.

By the way i am on beta oneui 4, and i'm not going to update to full A 12 yet, so I keep an option to go back to 11 anytime, and there I can go custom rom or root at least.
And the lack of sd card in pixels is the only thing holding me from switching too.. but very little, im actually going to get a pixel 5 as parallel to the s20. Lack of SD card can be partiality cured by cloud storage. I guess its less inconvenience comparing to struggling with samsung's bs..
From what i see online, pixels have widest rom options, Calyx, Graphene, e/OS, so I can experiment and see what works best for me.