Nougat

I've been using CyanogenMod for years on a variety of phones. I've always had good luck with it. When Google announced that the Nexus 5 wasn't going to be updated to Nougat I decided to do it on my own.

I did my research and decided to do the upgrade between Christmas and New Years.

Then I saw this on 12/24/16: Cyanogen is shutting down all services and nightly builds on December 31st

Bummer.

But then I saw this on 12/28/16: CyanogenMod Is Dead, and Its Successor is Lineage OS

It was going to take Lineage a while to get up to speed but the CyanogenMod blood line was going to survive.

I had time over the holidays so I went ahead and flashed the final nightly of CyanogenMod Nougat. It worked fine.

As I had done previously I had to unlock the bootloader, flash TWRP using Fastboot, flash the CyanogenMod ROM and then the nano OpenGApps. I'm getting pretty comfortable with this.

By mid-January LineageOS had a nightly for the Nexus 5.

To migrate from CyanogenMod to LineageOS (LOS) I had to flash an "experimental" version of LOS and then the signed LOS ROM.

Just as with CyanogenMod this all went well.

The great folks at LineageOS are cranking out "nightlies" for the Nexus 5 every week. There isn't yet an "official" ROM for the Nexus 5 but the "nightlies" have been rock solid.

They have even gotten SafetyNet to run cleanly.

This means that Android Pay works fine.

The Over The Air (OTA) updates to LineageOS have started working and I've OTA updated each week.

Battery life seems generally unchanged from the OEM Marshmallow. I swapped from the PRIV to the Nexus 5 for a week or so but went back when I felt like the camera was much poorer than the PRIV.

Third Gingerbread

First I installed CyanogenMod's Gingerbread on my Nook Color. Then I installed CyanogenMod's Gingerbread on my HP TouchPad. AT&T had promised last July that they were going to update the Captivate with Gingerbread. They released the update in a very low profile announcement last week.

The timing for me was perfect. I had dropped my Captivate and shattered the Gorilla Glass. I returned it to Samsung for replacement. When I got it back they had done a factory reset (which I expected) so it was an opportune time to upgrade. Samsung has published a straightforward set of instructions. Like the upgrade to FroYo the upgrade requires connecting the phone to a PC using Kies. While the FroYo upgrade took about an hour, the Gingerbread upgrade took 25 minutes which included the automatic upgrade of Kies.

Here's the result.

The AT&T Gingerbread's Notification panel is visually crisper than CyanogenMod's but still lacks the swipe to dismiss of CM7.

The Captivate seems quicker but that may be because of the factory reset rather than Gingerbread although some of the Nook Color's performance improvement was attributed to Gingerbread. My early take on battery usage is that it is better but I also wonder if this is as much due to the factory reset as Gingerbread. We'll see. Here's what the battery looked like after about half a day.

The GPS on this Captivate had always worked well but now seems to be even better. It gets a lock in just a few seconds every time. I ran AngryGPS (more in a second) and the first fix (inside the house) took 50 seconds. Subsequent fixes took around 15 seconds. This screen capture is from a "hot" start session of AngryGPS.

Ok, AngryGPS. To get the above embedded app running go to the Dialer and enter *#*#3214789650#*#*.

I had an odd problem with Screen Capture Shortcut. When I searched the market for it it said that it wasn't compatible with the Captivate. Then it flashed for a second showing the "Install" button. I quickly tapped it and it installed!

The other oddity (and a nice one) is that I get a Force Close from the AT&T Tethering Manager. The upside of this is that this is the service that blocks Android's built-in mobile AP capabilities. Without the Tethering Manager this works fine! I'm not going to look too hard for a fix.

3 Months

You'll remember that the closing line in my HP TouchPad Clearance post was "Now let's see how long it takes to get Android on it." It took 3 months.

Cyanogen has been hard at work on putting CyanogenMod 7 (Gingerbread) on the TouchPad. In mid-October they released an Alpha entitled "'lower your expectations edition." I began following the thread on the Rootzwiki forum.

This week they released Alpha 2 known as the "don't link directly to the files edition." I was ready to jump at that point.

Being that it is an Alpha, it is not as straightforward as putting CM7 on the Nook Color.

There is a youtube video that guides you but unfortunately doesn't really show everything. I found a post in their forum that had more step-by-step and used it as well.

The install came off without a hitch. The step where you run their ACMEinstaller took longer than I expected (and much longer than on the video) but just sit back and let it run.

From that point forward it's pretty much the same as the Nook Color. You need to go to Settings->CyanogenMod settings->Display->Automatic backlight and check "Enable Light Decrease". And go to Settings->ADW Launcher->Screen -> Desktop Columns. Set to 8 for more space on the Launcher screen.

There are still lots of issues outstanding but they haven't been a problem to me. People are reporting problems with Wi-Fi. The only problem I've had is connecting to a second Wi-Fi network. I had to reboot for the TouchPad to see it. In response I set Settings->Wireless & network->(menu) Advanced->Wi-Fi sleep policy to Never.

Others report Sleep of Death (SOD) where the TouchPad won't wake up from sleeping. Seems to be a lesser problem in Alpha 2 but one recommendation is to set Settings->CyanogenMod settings->Performance->CPU settings->Available governors to ondemandtcl.

The Android Market works fine. I can't get Swype to work yet and haven't played with my Bluetooth keyboard.

There's a list of apps and their status here.

The current version of Google Docs for Android is 1.0.4. It seems to presume that if the device is a tablet that the operating system must be Honeycomb. I downloaded an 1.0.20 apk from here.

Even the media that I had loaded on the TouchPad made it over to Android and play perfectly.

Here's what it looks like (remember it's a 1024x768 screen).

And just to prove it's on the TouchPad.

KitKat for Everyone

After I got the Moto X, I got brave about flashing the Skyrocket. As usual I went looking to CyanogenMod.

With my new bravado, I looked at the unofficial CyanogenMod Android 4.4 (CM 11). The TeamChopsticks group hasn't released an Alpha since December 2013 but they keep building nightlies so I went with the latest nightly (cm-11-20140514-NIGHTLY-skyrocket.zip). Why not?

The release notes are here. As is typical Step 1 is an understatement.

1. YOU MUST USE THIS RECOVERY OR YOU WILL SOFT BRICK: Install CWM >6.0.3.7for Skyrocket

Look carefully at that referenced file (recovery-skyrocket-6037.zip). ".zip" is the crucial part.

The reason is that the standard recovery won't let you flash a new recovery so you have to use ODIN. There's the catch. ODIN won't flash .zip files.

Here we go again. It would really be nice if Step 1 discussed the intricacies of that.

A little Google searching and I turned up this that describes how to install CWM (ClockWorkMod Recovery) on the Skyrocket. That works like a charm and it takes longer to read it twice as it demands than it does to perform the flashing of the recovery.

But there's a catch. The recoveries referenced in that post aren't the ones that are referenced in the Release Notes.

I wasn't the only one lost in the wilderness. I found this post that asked the question and got a good answer.

You can only flash the zip in a custom recovery. If you don't have a custom recovery you need to install it with Odin. You'll need a .tar.md5 recovery file to flash in Odin.

Nothing is ever simple. So I used ODIN to flash twrp_2.7.0.0_skyrocket_vincom.tar.md5. I used TWRP to take a nandroid backup of the Skyrocket's 4.1.2 and copied it to my laptop via USB. That was the longest step in the whole process, about 20 minutes. While connected I copied the recovery-skyrocket-6037.zip, the CM 11 ROM and the gapps package to the root of my internal SD card.

Then I used TWRP to flash recovery-skyrocket-6037.zip.

I already had the required radio so I restarted in CWM recovery did the wipe as instructed. Then I just flashed the the ROM and gapps in sequence and rebooted.

BINGO! KitKat. My boot only took a few seconds.

While this isn't hard, there has to be a more direct way to get there.

Anyway, now I'm off!

Since I use Google Backup and Restore, all my apps started downloading and installing. I sat back and watched them for an hour or so and began playing with it.

I have to say that it is awesome.

So now, Google Now Launcher, Google Camera, ...

Now all my Android devices are KitKat.

But what do I do with the Moto X?

OnePlus One Doesn't Add Up

I saw my wife staring at her iPhone 4S the other day. I asked her what she was doing. She was reading an e-book on the Kindle app. Lord help her eyes!

This rekindled (pardon the pun) my quest to move her to Android. The new OnePlus One seemed like a good idea: big, fast, pretty, CyanogenMod ...

So I went to eBay and bought an invitation. Currently you can only get the black 64GB model.

It came in a couple of days. I had already been talking it up to her. She wasn't excited but didn't push back.

When it got here it was a different story. She didn't want to transition from iOS.

I knew what was good for me so I let the OnePlus One sit there for a few days. Still no movement.

I posted that I had one for sale on eBay, Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. I got a nibble from a former co-worker who had been playing with one at work.

We worked out a deal and we swapped phones - the OnePlus One for an unlocked 16GB iPhone 5S.

Seemed perfect.

Until she saw it. Her reaction was "The screen is so small." After I climbed down off the ceiling ...

The transition was easy. Well, as easy as anything is that involves iTunes. AT&T was very helpful giving me a new nano-SIM without activating it. Then when I was ready I just called them and it worked. Thanks!

I haven't exposed her to TouchID yet. LTE and 5GHz 802.11n are both nice. And it's light and thin.

Device

Apple iPhone 4S

Apple iPhone 5S

OnePlus One

DESIGN
Device type	Smart phone	Smart phone	Smart phone
OS	iOS (7.x, 6.1, 6, 5.1, 5)	iOS (7.x)	Android (4.4.4, 4.4) CyanogenMod 11S UI
Dimensions	4.54 x 2.31 x 0.37 inches (115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm)	4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 inches (123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm)	6.02 x 2.99 x 0.35 inches (152.9 x 75.9 x 8.9 mm)
Weight	4.94 oz (140 g)	3.95 oz (112 g)	5.71 oz (162 g)
Body material	Glass	Aluminium

DISPLAY
Physical size	3.5 inches	4.0 inches	5.5 inches
Resolution	640 x 960 pixels	640 x 1136 pixels	1080 x 1920 pixels
Pixel density	326 ppi	326 ppi	401 ppi
Technology	IPS LCD	IPS LCD	IPS LCD
Colors	16 777 216	16 777 216	16 777 216
Touchscreen	Multi-touch	Yes	Multi-touch
Features	Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Oleophobic coating	Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Oleophobic coating	Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Scratch-resistant glass

CAMERA
Camera	8 megapixels	8 megapixels	13 megapixels
Flash	LED	Dual LED	Dual LED
Aperture size	F2.4	F2.2	F2.0
Focal length (35mm equivalent)	35.00 mm
Camera sensor size	1/3.2"	1/3"	1/3.06"
Features	Back-illuminated sensor (BSI), Autofocus, Touch to focus, Digital image stabilization, Face detection, Geo tagging	Back-illuminated sensor (BSI), Autofocus, Touch to focus, Digital image stabilization, Face detection, Burst mode, Digital zoom, Geo tagging, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Panorama	CMOS image sensor, Autofocus
Camcorder	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps), 1280x720 (720p HD) (120 fps)	3840x2160 (4K), 1280x720 (720p HD) (120 fps)
Features	Digital image stabilization	Digital image stabilization, Picture-taking during video recording
Front-facing camera	0.3 megapixels VGA	1.2 megapixels	5 megapixels

HARDWARE
System chip	Apple A5	Apple A7 with 64-bit architecture	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 8974-AC
Processor	Dual core, 800 MHz, ARM Cortex-A9	Dual core, 1300 MHz	Quad core, 2500 MHz, Krait 400
Graphics processor	PowerVR SGX 543MP2	PowerVR G6430	Adreno 330
System memory	512 MB RAM	1024 MB RAM	3072 MB RAM
Built-in storage	64 GB	64 GB	16 GB

BATTERY
Talk time	14.00 hours
Stand-by time	8.3 days (200 hours)
Talk time (3G)	8.00 hours	10.00 hours
Stand-by time (3G)		10.4 days (250 hours)
Capacity		1570 mAh	3100 mAh
Not user replaceable	Yes	Yes

MULTIMEDIA
Music player
Filter by	Album, Artist, Genre, Playlists	Album, Artist	Album, Artist, Playlists
Features	Album art cover, Background playback	Album art cover, Background playback	Album art cover, Background playback
Speakers	Earpiece, Loudspeaker	Earpiece, Loudspeaker	Earpiece, Stereo speakers
YouTube player	Yes	Yes	Yes

INTERNET BROWSING
Browser		Safari
Built-in online services support	YouTube (upload)	YouTube (upload), Twitter	YouTube (upload), Picasa/Google+

TECHNOLOGY
CDMA	800, 1900 MHz
GSM	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
UMTS	850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz
FDD LTE		700 (band 13), 700 (band 17), 800 (band 18), 800 (band 19), 800 (band 20), 850 (band 5), 900 (band 8), 1700/2100 (band 4), 1800 (band 3), 1900 (band 2), 1900 (band 25), 2100 (band 1) MHz	700 (band 17), 1700/2100 (band 4), 1800 (band 3), 2100 (band 1), 2600 (band 7) MHz
TDD LTE			2300 (band 40), 2600 (band 38) MHz
Data	HSDPA 14.4 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, EV-DO Rev.A	LTE, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS	LTE, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS
Micro SIM	Yes		Yes
nano-SIM		Yes
Positioning	A-GPS, Glonass	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
Navigation	Yes	Turn-by-turn navigation	Yes

CONNECTIVITY
Bluetooth	4.0	4.0	4.1
Wi-Fi	802.11 b, g, n	802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz	802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz, ac
Mobile hotspot	Yes	Yes	Yes
USB	USB 2.0	Yes	USB 2.0
Connector	Proprietary	Proprietary	microUSB
Features	USB charging	USB charging	Mass storage device, USB Host, USB charging
Other	TV-Out, Computer sync, OTA sync	TV-Out, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync	NFC, DLNA, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync

OTHER FEATURES
Notifications	Music ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Flight mode, Silent mode, Speakerphone	Music ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Flight mode, Silent mode, Speakerphone	Haptic feedback, Music ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Flight mode, Silent mode, Speakerphone
Additional microphone/s	for Noise cancellation	for Noise cancellation, Video recording	for Noise cancellation
Sensors	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Fingerprint ID	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass
Hearing aid compatibility		M4, T4
Other	Voice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recording	Voice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recording	Voice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recording

AVAILABILITY
Officially announced	04 Oct 2011	10 Sep 2013	23 Apr 2014

SHOPPING INFORMATION
Accessories	Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic, Dock Connector to USB Cable, USB Power Adapter, Documentation	Apple EarPods with Remote and Mic, Lightning to USB Cable, USB Power Adapter, Documentation
MSRP price			$ 299