Updates for week commencing 19/DEC/2016 - a more personal note
This week I thought I would spill the beans about why we are at the stage we currently are at in terms of development. In simple terms, development for Uniquity up until this point has been hell. Development for the project started about 2 weeks before this thread was created, although plans have existed for several months before that. Around the time this thread was created, the majority of the work was done by one developer. Not mentioning any names, but for the sake of this, we'll call him Bob. At this stage the ROM was coming along well. Core parts of the OS were re-made to our specification, almost the entire system was themed, and we even had our own launcher (known internally as "Sylk"). If you all think back to about a month ago where things went quiet, that's where the problems came. The developer completely disappeared which was due to personal reasons, as we were told at least. What actually happened was that Bob stole all of our code, apps, source custom features and kernel. Although we don't know what he intends to do with this ROM, obviously our best guess is that he is going to release it as his own. I was seriously considering at this point just to scrap the whole project and forget it ever happened. However, due to the immense support we have all received, I decided to keep going and look for a new developer. That's where I found a guy named Haroon, who was completely willing to help & introduced me to the current development team, exactly what we needed to get back on track. This is the reason development has been reset (as some people figured out from the latest screenshots) and we have essentially had to build from the ground up, apart from a few applications & tweaks. Although this has been a huge set for us, we are determined that we will be back on track and are working as fast as we can to develop the best ROM we can.
Developers Still Wanted
Although we are very much on the right track, we are still short of app developers. Think you've got what it takes? We have a number of positions available including AOSP developer (we plan on migrating to AOSP sometime next month, depending on the alpha feedback), Launcher developer, and other application developers including clock, SMS, notes and Switchboard. If you apply, you will have to be ready to develop almost immediately and will be expected to work to deadlines and complete the tasks as given. Don't hold back, be part of something great. If you think you make a difference, email us at
[email protected]
Or message me here on XDA.
I hope the story provides some insight as to why this has all taken so long, and as always, I wish you all an awesome week and a merry Christmas!
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Updates for week commencing 12/DEC/2016 - A quick update
This week's going to be a quick one as we are all working hard on finalizing the closed Alpha build. We're finally ready to share some screenshots of where we're at for the latest INTERNAL build. This is NOT the same as the closed Alpha. Many changes will be applied before the release of that, they just haven't been published yet. Changes for the closed Alpha from these screenshots include: Font, updated theme, further optimizations, theme tweaks, new accent color & more.
No polls for this week as there is simply too much to do in terms of ROM finalization!
Hope you all have a great week!
Regards
-Alex
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Alpha builds Q&A
As the first alpha builds are nearly complete, here are the answers to some common questions you may have.
Q: What firmware version will I need to flash before installing Uniquity?
A: 3.5.5. - You should also be able to flash Uniquity after installing beta OOS beta 8.
Q: What features will be included in the Alpha builds?
A: The Alpha builds focus on Performance and stability. This means many features will be missing. These will be added in later builds.
Q: What Gapps package will I need to flash?
A: Minimal Gapps functionality is already included in the ROM. This means the play store will work straight out of the box.
Q: When will the source code for Uniquity be released?
A: This is something we are still discussing internally. It will likely be released shortly after the final ROM is out.
Q: Will OTA updates be available in the Alpha builds?
A: No. OTA is however being actively worked on and will be available by the final launch.
Q: How do I get an Alpha invite?
A: Alpha invites are given at random and are limited to 50 invites.
Q: How can I donate to help support the project?
A: Donation link will go live after the first alpha build is released. We feel it would be unfair to ask for donations before that stage.
Q: Can I take screenshots/video of the invite-only alpha builds?
A: Yes. Please do not however share the ROM or any parts of it.
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Updates & Poll for week commencing 05/DEC/16 - More transparency & an early Christmas present
Another week has passed and although a few hiccups earlier in the week, things are now back on track. Firstly I'd like to address all the recent negativity / criticism regarding our project & would like to take some time to share my views. To start, I will say that everybody is entitled to their own opinion and I respect that. If you don't like something about the project, you are more than entitled to leave your thoughts on it. However at the point that it becomes bashing just for the sake of doing so is where things start to become problematic. I realise we should have been more transparent of what is going on behind the scenes & why that may have raised some suspicions, however development takes time, as simple as that. It must be understood that we are doing some heavy tweaks and changes to the Android OS in order to create uniquity. However as the leader of this project, I take responsibility and would like to apologise for not being transparent enough about the whole thing. We want to be secretive, we want some of our features to be a surprise, but at the same time, I feel we have been a little too secretive and would like to say sorry, and will be updating you all more regularly from now on.
Now for a bit of good news for all of our fans. We know how excited and enthusiastic some of you are about Uniquity, and we are truly grateful. We got more of a response than we could have ever expected, and that's why we feel the time is getting close to let you have something to play around with. That's why I am announcing you will have your own build of uniquity (Nougat(public build 1a)) to play around with by Christmas! This build will be missing some of our features as they are simply not ready yet, but we feel we have to release something to keep our fans happy. I will post some screenshots and maybe even some videos in the coming days and weeks so you know what to expect, so keep your eyes peeled!
Bring on the polls!
Should AdAway be installed by default?
-YES
What position should the status bar clock take by default?
-CENTER
As always, have an amazing week and please don't hesitate to ask any questions regarding development or otherwise. I will do my best to answer.
Regards
-Alex
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Updates & Poll for week commencing 19 (21) /NOV/2016 - All about design
Firstly I would like to apologise for this post being released 2 days early. I will not be available on Monday, so I am releasing it now.
Starting with the most recent news, development has progressed on our applications and is now at a pace we would expect.
Mockups for all of our icons are now complete and we are eager to hear what you think. Don't like something? Tell us why and how we could improve it.
(Please disregard the gray stroke around the messaging icon, it's simply a compression issue)
& finally the Navigation bar
We feel its time to reveal our naming scheme for Uniquity. As most of you will know, Android follows an alphabetical naming scheme based on deserts.
In similar fassion, Uniquity's naming scheme will be based on fruit, starting with 1.0 - Apricot!
Now for the polls:
Should Aroma installer be integrated into our ROM while flashing? Or should we design our own to run after the setup process?
Poll closed - Winner = DRAW - Dev builds will use Aroma
Should the system font be left as Roboto, Or should we use our branding font (NOW light)?
Poll closed - Winner = Now light
We've added a couple of extra wallpapers for you guys to enjoy for this week (Once again, designed by morphicsn0w). Be sure to check back on Monday for a bonus surprise - We think you'll like what we have to show you
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Updates & Poll for week commencing 14/NOV/2016
It's been a busy week for all the members on the Uniquity project. We have learned from the community that although being a solid foundation, marshmallow will be a little dated by the time we release our final build. That's why as of now, we are officially working on Nougat builds internally. We are now aiming for our first final release to be based on 7.1. We are especially fond of the improved touch latency in this newest version of android. The downside of this jump in android versions comes with the system UI. We have had to (mostly) re-build what we have with the system user interface. Rest assured, it is still virtually identical to what we showed in the initial screenshots and will function as intended.
Now for the poll. Or polls, this time around. In order to speed up development, we have decided to run two polls per week.
Poll 1 week 2
In Uniquity, we are replacing the built-in display functionality of nougat with a more precise DPI scaler. Which DPI setting would you like to see enabled by default?
Poll closed - Winner = 401DPI
Poll 2 week 2
Should Uniquity have built-in root access?
Poll closed - Winner = Yes
As always, have a fantastic week ahead. We can't wait to hear your suggestions and comments. Enjoy the new wallpapers (Designed by Morphicsn0w).
Regards
-Alex
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UPDATE 9/NOV/2016
Huge thank you to our newest member of the team,
Shuuin for our new boot animation!
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Updates & Poll for week commencing 7/11/2016
After just 1 day of showing Uniquity to you, the response has been very positive and more than we could have hoped for. We would like to say a huge thank you to anybody that supports and will continue to support us. We are truly grateful.
As mentioned in the original post, we will be having weekly polls to decide which features & changes should be made to Uniquity. The first of these polls is as follows (Valid until Nov 13):
Which of the following icons should be used as the DEFAULT battery indicator icon? (Note - We plan on having all of these icons included with the final release and changeable at will, this poll is simply asking which should be enabled by default (after initial setup).
To vote, please copy and paste the following:
POLL CLOSED - The winning poll result is '#4 with percentage enabled'. Thank you to everyone that voted.
Remember, we are always open to suggestions and feedback, you don't have to wait for a poll to submit your feedback. Simply reply to this thread with your ideas.
As some people have asked for the wallpaper used through email, you can find our stock wallpaper attached (Designed by Morphicsn0w).
As always, have a great week, and don't hesitate to comment with your suggestions, queries and comments!
-Alex
