While I was away...

[Insomaniac10]

Hi all.

I'd like to welcome myself back to the Android community after taking a 1.5yr hiatus. I switched to Blackberry for a couple of personal reasons, but I went into it knowing I would be back here eventually

So I picked up my Galaxy S6 from Sprint today, and the first thoughts that entered my mind after I turned my phone on were "Root, Roms, Kernels, Themes...I've missed all of it so much!"
I used to be a heavy flasher, and even dabbled in some modding back in my Android days. It's going to take me a short while to get back into the swing of it - but I am still plenty confident to start flashing away.

So I hopped on our XDA Sprint S6 forum here ready to be punched in the face with the overwhelming amount of content, and I was absolutely shocked to see how little development is happening with this device. Actually, shocked is an understatement. I remember XDA development forums always being absolutely littered with Roms and kernels (it was up to you to sift through the crap, of course) - there was never any shortage of flashing/modding material. So, especially with a flagship device like this, you could say that I am a tad bewildered.

Since I've been away from the community for a considerable amount of time, I wanted to ask if there's any particular reason for this? Is there something about the phone's hardware that is holding things back? Something to do with the Sprint variant? Have all the devs moved to a new forum? What gives?

Anyway, it's still nice to be back. Smell ya later, Blackberry :good:

 

[prototype7]

The main issue is lack of dev support for the Exynos processor, which is basically only used by Samsung and isn't as well-documented as the Qualcomm processors most other Android phones have. We get the sh*t end of the stick even more with Sprint, both because it's a CDMA carrier while the majority are GSM so that's what most of the devs make kernels for, and the partition layout is different for Sprint devices, so it takes a bit of work to port stuff. That said, I'm not entirely sure why more of the ROMs/kernels for other S6 variants aren't available for the Sprint version, it doesn't seem to me like it would be too difficult to make it work for us. If anyone else has any insight on that I'd love to hear it.

 

[Saafir]

The main issue is lack of dev support for the Exynos processor, which is basically only used by Samsung and isn't as well-documented as the Qualcomm processors most other Android phones have. We get the sh*t end of the stick even more with Sprint, both because it's a CDMA carrier while the majority are GSM so that's what most of the devs make kernels for, and the partition layout is different for Sprint devices, so it takes a bit of work to port stuff. That said, I'm not entirely sure why more of the ROMs/kernels for other S6 variants aren't available for the Sprint version, it doesn't seem to me like it would be too difficult to make it work for us. If anyone else has any insight on that I'd love to hear it.

I have read that Samsung won't be going back to Qualcomm processors. So with them pushing forward with their Exynos, it's just a matter of time.

 

[KennyG123]

Another thing killing development on Samsung devices is the 2 largest US carriers have locked down the bootloader making any non-stock ROM or kernel impossible to flash. So many developers gave up on Samsung. There will be less support for Sprint devices as it needs CDMA device support. T-Mobile will be able to use international ROMs, but not Sprint.

 

[JoeFCaputo113]

I have read that Samsung won't be going back to Qualcomm processors. So with them pushing forward with their Exynos, it's just a matter of time.

They actually are for the S7 so whatever you read is wrong!

 

[Saafir]

They actually are for the S7 so whatever you read is wrong!

Being that it is MONTH's away, we shall see. The only documentation I find saying that for S. Korean models anywho

 

[JoeFCaputo113]

Being that it is MONTH's away, we shall see. The only documentation I find saying that for S. Korean models anywho

http://www.sammobile.com/2015/09/07/samsung-reportedly-the-first-oem-to-test-snapdragon-820/

 

[Saafir]

http://www.sammobile.com/2015/09/07/samsung-reportedly-the-first-oem-to-test-snapdragon-820/

"rumored" doesn't mean they WILL use it

 

[JoeFCaputo113]

"rumored" doesn't mean they WILL use it

I'm willing to bet anything that they do use it. Especially if it's as good as they say.

 

[hayabusa1300cc]

I think this every time I click into this forum. Things aren't lively in the Samsung camp and I've belonged to this camp since the Epic. It's sad how dead it is.

At least for myself I can say, with the more freedom and performance these days, I don't have need to root.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

 

[Saafir]

I think this every time I click into this forum. Things aren't lively in the Samsung camp and I've belonged to this camp since the Epic. It's sad how dead it is.

At least for myself I can say, with the more freedom and performance these days, I don't have need to root.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Been with Sammy a long time myself. First device was the Galaxy Captivate. This has been by far the slimest range of development I've ever seen lol

 

[hayabusa1300cc]

Been with Sammy a long time myself. First device was the Galaxy Captivate. This has been by far the slimest range of development I've ever seen lol

Technically my first Samsung was the Instinct, but we won't elaborate on that lol. Best times in the threads was the S1-S3. But I agree, hell the G3 had way more attention. I don't even have this phone anymore but I hang in here more cause the other subforum is useless.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

 

[wvebert]

Technically my first Samsung was the Instinct, but we won't elaborate on that lol. Best times in the threads was the S1-S3. But I agree, hell the G3 had way more attention. I don't even have this phone anymore but I hang in here more cause the other subforum is useless.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

I had that phone too! For about 8 days. That thing froze up worse than Buffalo in a blizzard. They pushed that out way too fast.

Sent from my SM-G925P using XDA Free mobile app

 

[edlee]

My hayday of flashing was epic 4g touch (aka s2), I flashed something every day on that device, then a little bit less on s4, then even less on s5, and now I'm completely stock on s6. I really wish there would be a way to get stock on latest ota without tripping Knox

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk