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Google Releases Android 4.1 Source Code 211

Posted by Unknown Lamer
from the getting-better-each-time dept.

Unlike previous releases, where months passed between Google announcing a new version and the code being released, Google has made good on their promise to release the source code to Jelly Bean in record time. Unfortunately, the gitweb instance on kernel.org is still down so you'll have to download the entire thing to take a peek. Hopefully the Cyanogenmod team will find time to start on a community enhanced version soon.

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Google Releases Android 4.1 Source Code More

Google Releases Android 4.1 Source Code

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  • Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Daetrin (576516) on Monday July 09, 2012 @10:31PM (#40598789)
    Is an option to add back the settings/menu button. I like having the settings always in a known and easy to reach place rather than depending on the app author to place it someplace convenient. And i wouldn't mind having the search button back either. Really the bottom button bar ought to be much more configurable than it is.

    • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:5, Informative)

      by oakgrove (845019) on Monday July 09, 2012 @10:34PM (#40598803)
      CM9 has that option so I would imagine CM10 will have it as well. You can also add a persistent Search button on the bottom if that's your thing. Not that you'll need it with the up gesture on Jelly Bean for Google Now.

    • Just use one of the many available widgets.

    • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

      by viperidaenz (2515578) on Monday July 09, 2012 @11:07PM (#40598963)
      I use cm7 on a defy and the menu button and search button work as expected.

    • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:5, Insightful)

      by AbRASiON (589899) * on Monday July 09, 2012 @11:11PM (#40598985) Journal

      MOD THIS GUY TO THE 'N TOP.
      TO.THE.TOP!

      I've been ranting about this for months, it's difficult to put into words my thoughts on this without sounding like a raving lunatic or a badly broken record.
      I am _sick_ of companies making stupid decisions with their user interfaces.

      Why on EARTH would we want a nice, consistent location for a button to now become a random location on the screen? and what makes them think three odd little dots represents 'settings' or 'menu' clearly? WHAT?

      I do not exaggerate when I say one of the PRIMARY reasons I switched from Apple to Android was the complete and utter logic of having nice, consistent buttons for routine functions. Back, menu, home seem logical to me. I also NEVER, EVER use the multi-task button, why would I? The OS handles it all perfectly for me, when I hit home it minimises the application (so to speak) and when I re-open the application, it's where I wanted it. Furthermore, holding down the home key (Samsung) seems logical to multi-tasking to me, not a dedicated button.

      I am extremely, extremely baffled and pissed off at this completely and utterly idiotic move and it's also one of the primary reasons I got the Galaxy S3, possibly one of the last Android phones with a logical button scheme.
      Sadly, I'm only one person whining about this but by god does the Google engineering group who decided on this change need a mighty fucking slap with the logic bat.

      • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:4, Interesting)

        by geminidomino (614729) on Monday July 09, 2012 @11:21PM (#40599033) Journal

        It's not just companies. Even FOSS projects are doing it.
        I ran GIMP 2.8 for a whole 20 minutes before I uninstalled and put 2.6 back.

        It's like there's some sort of computer programmer virus that makes you make idiotic un-usability decisions going around (pretty sure Ubuntu was patient zero)

        • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:3)

          by humanrev (2606607) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @02:37AM (#40599805)

          Could you be more specific? Is it because of the (optional) single-window mode in 2.8? The only reason I can stand to use GIMP now is BECAUSE of the single-window mode, but there's no reason to flame given it's still optional, and not even the default.

          Apart from that 2.8 seems to only have improvements and greater functionality from what I've seen, but I'd be interested to read what it has which got under your skin so I can either sympathize or deride you. :)

          P.S. Agreed with Ubuntu - Mint is the current distro of choice if I have to use Linux.

          • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

            by Ash Vince (602485) * on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @08:22AM (#40600957) Journal

            Could you be more specific? Is it because of the (optional) single-window mode in 2.8? The only reason I can stand to use GIMP now is BECAUSE of the single-window mode, but there's no reason to flame given it's still optional, and not even the default.

            Whereas I think that was the best feature they added the recent version. I think the single window mode is Gimp trying to make a grab for Photoshops market.

            When it comes to usability these things are very subjective, what one person thinks is an improvement another thinks is an annoyance. But then you also have some people who just whine whenever anything changes without giving the changes a chance but these people will always deny that is the case and rationalise their hatred somehow anyway.

        • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:3)

          by thegarbz (1787294) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @04:23AM (#40600155)

          It's not just companies. Even FOSS projects are doing it.

          Doing what, experimenting with changes in new major versions that may give them a boost in popularity as they introduce changes to usability which make the product easier to use?

          You've stated your opinion, now here's mine. GIMP 2.8 is usable, previous versions were a window management nightmare. Especially on dual monitors with tool palates disappearing and generally not acting like any other single application on my system. I like it. I like it a lot. Others seem to like it too. This is also the first version of GIMP I consider recommending to other less ... patient computer users.

          • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

            by geminidomino (614729) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @06:00AM (#40600481) Journal

            Doing what, experimenting with changes in new major versions that may give them a boost in popularity as they introduce changes to usability which make the product easier to use?

            No. Experimenting and then responding to users who say that the changes do NOT make it easier to use as if they were all GNOME developers.

              i.e. "Shut up, we know better than you do, and we don't care if you've been using it for 14 years, you should be using something else. Our target market are the people too dumb to pay attention to what they're doing." (Paraphrased from the actual response to criticism of the new Save/Export/Overwrite mess, but only slightly).

            I'm glad you like the new windowing. Considering I never mentioned it or even got the chance to mess with it, I'm not sure why you bring it up as if it's a counter to anything I said. At least 2.6 is usable, even if it does mean living with the crappy multi-window layout.

            • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

              by thegarbz (1787294) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @07:17AM (#40600687)

              Considering I never mentioned it or even got the chance to mess with it, I'm not sure why you bring it up as if it's a counter to anything I said.

              Given you're using GIMP as an example in a thread almost entirely focused on GUI elements, saying you don't like something about GIMP, and the most controversial feature of the new GIMP is it's GUI changes, maybe you should clarify next time ;-)

              But the point is still the same. Programmers don't intentionally try to drive use of their programs into the ground. If they are targeting dumb users there's a good chance that there's more potential to expand use in the dumb users category than the 14 years of experience category. Same argument for the Office ribbon. It goes against the grain, but for people who haven't used computers for 10 years they learn it quite quickly, and for people who have it's quite an easy concept to adapt. But hey let's demand menus for the next 50 years and not experiment with potential game changing creations.

              I wonder how we ever progressed beyond the CLI, but from what I can see there CLI has about as many hardcore fanatics as the Android menu button who insist the way they learnt is the best and only way.

              • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

                by cyber-vandal (148830) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @07:52AM (#40600831) Homepage

                Change has to have advantages that outweigh the inconvenience of the change. The ribbon doesn't have those advantages for existing users who have had to completely relearn a large part of their workflow for no improvement in productivity and with the loss of screen space.

              • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

                by geminidomino (614729) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @11:00AM (#40602093) Journal

                Given you're using GIMP as an example in a thread almost entirely focused on GUI elements, saying you don't like something about GIMP, and the most controversial feature of the new GIMP is it's GUI changes, maybe you should clarify next time ;-)

                I did, two posts further down the subthread. :)

                Programmers don't intentionally try to drive use of their programs into the ground. If they are targeting dumb users there's a good chance that there's more potential to expand use in the dumb users category than the 14 years of experience category

                Actually, in their own words (or, more accurately, Alexandre Prokoudine's)

                I've been monitoring teh interwebz closely regading v2.8 and the save/export change, and what I see is a consistently positive reaction from folks we are targeting: professional web designers, 3D artists
                etc.                 They don't even need the explanation why this change is useful: they already know it, it's how they expect things to work, and they welcome this change. So within our product vision apparently we are doing it right.

                The biggest bullshit of that is that everyone already knows what "professional web designers, 3D artists, etc." want.

                They want Photoshop. They use Photoshop. They're going to continue to use Photoshop so long as Adobe keeps putting out Photoshop.

                So they're crapping on their ACTUAL users for some delusional fancy that they're going to attract people away from the actual, professional package they've been using for years. Even if they're not TRYING to crater their project, I can't imagine a better way to do it.

      • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

        by Auroch (1403671) on Monday July 09, 2012 @11:23PM (#40599043)

        MOD THIS GUY TO THE 'N TOP. TO.THE.TOP!

        I've been ranting about this for months, it's difficult to put into words my thoughts on this without sounding like a raving lunatic or a badly broken record. I am _sick_ of companies making stupid decisions with their user interfaces.

        Why on EARTH would we want a nice, consistent location for a button to now become a random location on the screen? and what makes them think three odd little dots represents 'settings' or 'menu' clearly? WHAT?

        I do not exaggerate when I say one of the PRIMARY reasons I switched from Apple to Android was the complete and utter logic of having nice, consistent buttons for routine functions. Back, menu, home seem logical to me. I also NEVER, EVER use the multi-task button, why would I? The OS handles it all perfectly for me, when I hit home it minimises the application (so to speak) and when I re-open the application, it's where I wanted it. Furthermore, holding down the home key (Samsung) seems logical to multi-tasking to me, not a dedicated button.

        I am extremely, extremely baffled and pissed off at this completely and utterly idiotic move and it's also one of the primary reasons I got the Galaxy S3, possibly one of the last Android phones with a logical button scheme. Sadly, I'm only one person whining about this but by god does the Google engineering group who decided on this change need a mighty fucking slap with the logic bat.

        ... or install CyanogenMod and customize your settings yourself, and stop whining.

        • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

          by Daetrin (576516) on Monday July 09, 2012 @11:54PM (#40599169)
          Well to be fair, CM9 has apparently only been out for a couple weeks, and not everyone is aware of it (well, i wasn't at least till just now.)

          And even so, if you honestly feel that Google is going in the wrong direction with some aspect of the UI there's nothing wrong with speaking up about it instead of just saying "Well i've got what i want thanks to CyanogenMod and all the less technical users who are stuck with whatever Google decides can go suck it."

        • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2, Offtopic)

          by AbRASiON (589899) * on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @12:01AM (#40599207) Journal

          Why the (more expletives) should I damn well have to move to a non stock ROM just because of a foolish decision by Google?

          This move is going to frustrate 'normal' users who don't know how to mod and regardless if there's a way round it with Cyanogen, it's still a completely illogical decision.

          Ridiculous.

      • FYI, the official rationale: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @12:44AM (#40599375)

        http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2012/01/say-goodbye-to-menu-button.html

        • Re:FYI, the official rationale: (Score:2)

          by Tough Love (215404) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @05:55AM (#40600465)

          Is this rationale by the same idiot how thinks it's a good idea not to have a way to exit a program?

          Today a button on my G2 got bumped, result, a sound player playing a sound over and over again. So obviously I should just exit and it stops? Noooooooo. Instead my choices are: 1) force close 2) figure out the braindamaged UI on the sound player to pause the playback. And then... the app which I don't want running is just sitting there all ready to annoy me again. Force close. Sheesh. What drugs do they put in the iced tea in Mountain View anyway?

          • Re:FYI, the official rationale: (Score:3)

            by h4rr4r (612664) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @09:25AM (#40601313)

            Press the recent applications button, and slide the tile off the screen.

          • Re:FYI, the official rationale: (Score:2)

            by Rich0 (548339) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @11:15AM (#40602243) Homepage

            Well, you already got the knee-jerk Android reaction - just uninstall the app.

            If I followed this advice anytime an app annoyed me in some way I wouldn't be running any apps.

            You know what the response on Windows 3.1 used to be when an app hung the entire system due to a lack of strong process separation and pre-emptive multitasking? Uninstall it... And yet who considers a lack of those two characteristics to be a "feature" of a modern operating system (even android has those).

            I've said it elsewhere. Google has to start with the assumption that the only thing applications do is steal data and destroy the phone experience, but users still like to install them anyway, and manage them accordingly. Don't tell me that the app could steal my data - I knew it would do that before I installed it - KEEP IT FROM STEALING MY DATA. Yes, I know a contact manager needs access to my contacts, but maybe I want to use Facebook but NOT give it access to my contacts. Rather than trusting the checkbox in Facebook to work, why not just let the OS block it?

      • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @12:51AM (#40599421)

        Your points are valid from your perspective...

        My perspective, on the other hand:

        The multitasking button has become probably my most used, and I'm happy they made a dedicated button for it. Next most used is Home, and that's increased with Jelly Bean making long-press home bring up Google Now with a swipe up (which actually makes more sense to me than that being multitasking). Back is used enough as well, of course. I almost never use the menu button on the bottom any more, though. The only apps that I find any use for that is... well... Facebook, but I've given up on even dealing with the Facebook app... and... honestly, I'm perfectly happy without the menu or the search buttons dedicated on the bottom. It took a little getting used to, but I don't miss those buttons at all any more...

        Essentially, the new button configuration works better for me than the old button configurations ever did. I can understand it being more of a hassle for some people. That's essentially Google's thing though: the phone manufacturers can put whatever buttons they want on there and leave whatever buttons they don't off (hence CM9 allows you to fill the damn thing up with all 5 if you really want). The manufacturers are probably going to go to the ones that seem the most logical based on potential sales to put on there. Samsung thought it made sense to keep the menu button that people like yourself are so used to, so they did. And there you have it, you proved them right and bought the S3 for that reason. Maybe they'll do that with the S4 and beyond, and you can still keep your menu button and "logical button scheme". I'll stick to the new scheme that makes more sense to me. We'll both be happy (and I understand that's a big "if they go that way...").

      • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

        by bemymonkey (1244086) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @01:17AM (#40599525)

        Agree about the menu button, disagree about the multi tasking button. It's absolutely necessary if you want to move from one app to another _without_ going to your home screen, opening the app drawer and then scrolling to the other app. If you need to switch back and forth a few times, you'll be pulling your hair out by the time you're done...

        • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

          by AbRASiON (589899) * on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @01:33AM (#40599591) Journal

          I'm fine with both but very confused that multi-tasking got a dedicated button but menu didn't - it seems so completely and utterly backwards to me.

          • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:5, Informative)

            by bemymonkey (1244086) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @01:42AM (#40599627)

            If I remember correctly, the issue was that app developers were hiding vital functions behind the menu button, and there was no way to know whether the menu button actually worked on certain screens. Take the Android WiFi settings as a prime example - to enter the advanced WiFi settings, you had to press Menu and then Advanced, even though there was no indication to the user, and there is no menu as such (i.e. the menu button does nothing) in any of the other Android settings dialogs - how is the user supposed to know that he can access a whole other dialog by pressing Menu and hitting "Advanced"? The only way to find out (unless someone tells you) is to go through every single screen of a new app and press the menu button on each one, to see if a different menu pops up somewhere - and this really was the case on MANY Android apps... you'd get access to an entirely different menu from screen A than from screen B, and certain settings would only be available by pressing menu when already in the settings dialog - very confusing for end users.

            I do agree that they should have kept the menu button in the same place though. Maybe just make the backlight (on devices where applicable) only light up when there's actually a menu available... and a better icon would have been nice... but tbh - I don't think I could have thought up a better one...

            • Yes, it's exactly for that reason. The fact that the dots appear to wander randomly around the screen is irritating for sure, but is more a transitional period. They appear in the bottom bar if the app is not set to "target" the latest OS version. They appear in the top bar if the app has been ported to use the ICS/Honeycomb UI classes, and irritatingly, they can appear in BOTH places if the app is using a backport of the ActionBar class and has not set their API target version correctly. I've been told that there are some odd issues that can occur when you target the latest SDK, but I don't know if that's really true. Anyway, it's a bit of a mess, but as the backport libraries get improved and people work through the complexities of supporting both ICS+ and Gingerbread the dots will get more consistent with time, either appearing in the bottom bar for older apps that expect a menu button, or typically in the top right for newer apps that use an action bar.

              Having said all that, settings/menu buttons and even the back button are pretty inconsistent on iOS too, so it's not like this is an achilles heel or anything.

      • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

        by SurfaceMount (749329) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @02:53AM (#40599847)

        I am _sick_ of companies making stupid decisions with their user interfaces. Why on EARTH would we want a nice, consistent location for a button to now become a random location on the screen?

        Apple probably has a patent for "buttons in a consistent location on a device with round corners" so Android had to remove that feature to avoid spending years in court.

      • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

        by MrDoh! (71235) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @04:31AM (#40600189) Homepage Journal
        Agreed. As is, the back button makes sense, (and even better when it changes to shrink keyboard, it worked like that before, but it's good the UI shows it clearer now). A standardised location to move back, and if you really want to override it, well, there's ways to handle that in your own app (and have a 'are you sure' on the final back to close, with holding it down being a task kill override). The task switch functionality is duplicated from holding the home button down, so... why is there another button needed? Have it shown as the tooltips the very first time you log into Android, then don't worry about it. Press once, back to home. Press and hold, taskswitch menu. So... What does the taskswitcher need to be there for? I'd prefer this to be optional. Some settings to control the functionality/visibility of these buttons. I'd drop the taskswitcher, and have the menu button replace it.

      • Re:Number one thing i want from Cyanogen (Score:2)

        by s73v3r (963317) <s73v3r.gmail@com> on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @12:30PM (#40603329)

        If by "random location", you mean up in the top right corner, as part of the Action Bar, sure.

  • This is already a really fast phone with ICS, and the Samsung touches are actually pretty nice, but I want to remove the ChatOn service (I'm getting spam messages) and I want Jelly Bean. I'm assuming Cynaogen will give me that option before Samsung/Sprint goes.

    • Re:Samsung Galaxy S III (Score:3)

      by ozmanjusri (601766) <aussie_bob&hotmail,com> on Monday July 09, 2012 @11:15PM (#40599005) Journal

      There's a CM9/Jelly Bean ROM out already. It's not suitable for real use, but I don't think it'll take long.

      http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1737449 [xda-developers.com]

    • Re:Samsung Galaxy S III (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Mr0bvious (968303) on Monday July 09, 2012 @11:50PM (#40599147)

      Before Samsung? I'd say certainly. I'm still waiting for ICS on my Galaxy Tab 10.1 and JB is already out. I wouldn't be overly surprised if Cyanogenmod supported JB for the Galaxy Tab before Samsung roll out ICS.

      I know there are rumours of ICS being released for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 over July/August but I'm not holding my breath until I have it.

      But really Samsung why are you playing games with releasing ICS for us? I like your products, but your lack of willingness to provide timely updates makes me question if I will buy from you again. /rant

      • Re:Samsung Galaxy S III (Score:4, Informative)

        by oakgrove (845019) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @02:04AM (#40599709)
        I realize your money's already spent but the WiFi Motorola Xoom [android.com] is the only 10 inch tablet with AOSP support. Samsung should be ashamed of themselves for not updating your device in a timely manner but in the future, I'd at least have a peek at that page I linked before putting money down.

      • Re:Samsung Galaxy S III (Score:2)

        by thegarbz (1787294) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @04:30AM (#40600187)

        I like your products, but your lack of willingness to provide timely updates makes me question if I will buy from you again. /rant

        I've always been of the belief that it was Samsung's incompetence more than anything that prevents timely updates to a phone. For the most part there's not a single bit of Samsung software that I've looked forward to. About the best thing you can do is hope for Cyanogenmod support. The Galaxy S runs CM9 faster than any Samsung firmware ever did, and their official reason for not supporting ICS on the Galaxy S is that the device is too slow to run it ... riiiiiiiight.

        Samsung do make fantastic hardware though. I would recommend any future Android purchases are based on the quality of hardware and their ability to run Cyanogenmod more than any other advertised gimmicky feature.

        • Re:Samsung Galaxy S III (Score:2)

          by Psyborgue (699890) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @10:18AM (#40601677) Homepage Journal
          Same situation here. ICS is way faster than stock 2.1 on my Galaxy S (Vibrant). There's no reason it shouldn't be. It's GPU is faster than even the iPhone 4 and drives fewer pixels. Samsung just wants you to buy a new phone (which they bloat all to hell with their crapware). Next phone I buy will be a Nexus. I'm sick of this Manufacturer/carrier bullshit and I don't like running third party roms where the camera/gpu/wifi/gps/emergency dialing may or may not work correctly or at all.

  • No kidding (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Jethro (14165) on Monday July 09, 2012 @11:00PM (#40598915) Homepage

    CM9 just took sooo long. In fact the final release isn't out yet.

    I just couldn't resist and put Jellybean on my Galaxy Nexus. But CyanogenMod still has a few features that are not incorporated into plain Android, nor are there apps for them. Not that I could find anyway. For example I want the battery in the status bar to show a percent number (there are apps that add that, but IN ADDITION to the regular battery), and I /love/ the Volume-Button-Long-Press-Skips-Tracks. Very very very useful while jogging. Oh and the power widgets in the pull-down, way better than the Power Control Widget.

    CM9 took so long because they had to start from scratch. They are saying that CM10 should not be NEARLY as big a deal, so here's hoping!

  • Can't wait for AOSP roms for Galaxy S III (Score:2)

    by anethema (99553) on Monday July 09, 2012 @11:44PM (#40599119) Homepage
    On the american version of the Galaxy S III and there is only the crappy sense roms out, nothing standard android like CM9/10, AOKP, whatever. Development seems slower than usual despite the fully unlocked bootloader etc. Maybe this will help!

  • looking forward to it, and to the tablet (Score:2)

    by Speare (84249) on Monday July 09, 2012 @11:51PM (#40599151) Homepage Journal

    So if Google took over the "pole position" hardware release with the Nexus 7, and they also release the Jelly Bean source code, does that mean that they're going to be the cleanest, easiest platform to hack?

    I'm a bit worried now that I see that some of the media features won't be available on non-US devices; not because I'm overseas, but because that usually means the MAFIAA has some control over the hardware. I really want the little tablet, to replace my aging Nook Color. If it turns out there are bootloader lockin games being played, I'll be pretty much done with Android.

  • stupid repo script is broken (Score:3)

    by Skapare (16644) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @12:24AM (#40599287) Homepage

    It seems to make assumptions that are not valid, such as the host name being a valid RHS of email.

  • Google support of third party mods (Score:5, Insightful)

    by toejam13 (958243) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @12:35AM (#40599343)

    I am actually surprised that Google does not have a dedicated development team working in co-operation with an independent mod group such as Cyanogenmod.

    It is fairly clear that one of the greatest problems with Android is with version fragmentation. Mobile carriers have been very sluggish or outright hostile regarding major firmware upgrades on their handsets. It would be preferable for Google to ensure that carriers are contractually obligated to support OS upgrades for at least four or five years. But until that happens, throwing resources at the issue through a back door would be a nice thing.

    • Re:Google support of third party mods (Score:4, Interesting)

      by phantomfive (622387) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @01:33AM (#40599589) Journal

      It is fairly clear that one of the greatest problems with Android is with version fragmentation

      Is it really? As a mobile developer, I find that it's a simple problem to deal with by just coding to an older API. I haven't found any problem with it not being backwards compatible, and the older APIs are good enough for most things.

      A much bigger problem I've had is with different hardware platforms being different, with sometimes bizarre issues like the Kyocera Milano having a clock that goes backwards from time to time. This is a problem on iPhone too, but since there are fewer iphone platforms, it's easier...

      • Re:Google support of third party mods (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @02:52AM (#40599843)

        "As a mobile developer, I find that it's a simple problem to deal with by just coding to an older API."

        That's exactly the problem. People having to code with older APIs due to platform fragmentation means that new features of the OS have far lower adoption rates even for the devices that can handle them.

        • Re:Google support of third party mods (Score:2)

          by oakgrove (845019) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @03:04AM (#40599873)
          It's still not really that big of an issue though as most of the new APIs have compatibility libraries going back to version 2.2 of Android which covers over 95 percent of that market. And Android as of about 2.2 actually is pretty feature complete and still quite competitive with the competition so there isn't a whole lot devs have been clamoring for anyway. Users just want it to be smooth and trouble free and ICS/jellybean are delivering on that.

    • Re:Google support of third party mods (Score:2)

      by Ash Vince (602485) * on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @08:38AM (#40601029) Journal

      I am actually surprised that Google does not have a dedicated development team working in co-operation with an independent mod group such as Cyanogenmod.

      It is fairly clear that one of the greatest problems with Android is with version fragmentation. Mobile carriers have been very sluggish or outright hostile regarding major firmware upgrades on their handsets. It would be preferable for Google to ensure that carriers are contractually obligated to support OS upgrades for at least four or five years. But until that happens, throwing resources at the issue through a back door would be a nice thing.

      Every time you mention the word "carrier" in your post, I think you actually mean the company who produce the handset hardware. They are actually the people who neglect to release patches for old devices as they would much rather you went and bought a new device instead.

      It would be very hard for Google to obligate anything of the carriers as they have no business relationship with them. Google do have a business relationship with HTC, Samsung, Motorola, etc though so they could obligate them to release patches for old hardware although it may irritate the handset makers enough that they would move to Windows 8 instead.

      • Re:Google support of third party mods (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Andy Dodd (701) <atd7NO@SPAMcornell.edu> on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @10:03AM (#40601593) Homepage

        Wrong. It's pretty clear that the carriers are the major blocker for updates.

        For example, the Samsung Infuse 4G was originally released with Android 2.2. Canadian devices on Rogers received Gingerbread (Android 2.3) in late July/early August 2011. AT&T devices did not see Gingerbread until February 2012.

        The Samsung Captivate was nearly identical to the original Samsung Galaxy S. The similarities were enough that community developers were able to have the I9000 Gingerbread release fully functional within weeks of Gingerbread for the I9000 becoming available. The Captivate did not receive an official upgrade through AT&T for NINE MONTHS.

        The AT&T variant of the Samsung Galaxy S II (SGH-I777) is nearly identical to the international version (GT-I9100). As a result, there are only a handful of software differences required between the two handsets:
        1) Change the digital I/O settings for the audio chip to a different sample rate - this was included in the GT-I9100 source code release
        2) Change the keymap for the touchkeys - This was also included in the GT-I9100 source code release
        3) Unmap the GPIO line for the HOME key which doesn't exist on the device - This was missing from the GT-I9100 source code release, but took less than a week to identify and fix
        4) Swap the audio channels for the noise cancelling and main microphones - This took me a single Saturday to reverse engineer and fix

        Despite these minor changes, the AT&T ICS release was delayed for more than three months, and was of worse quality than some of the early I9100 ICS leak builds. In addition to poor battery performance, frequent crashes, and other bugs not present in the initial I9100 ICS release, the SGH-I777 official release contains a severe bug that can permanently damage the device's eMMC storage if the user performs a factory reset.

        If carriers didn't get in the way, the SGH-I777 would not exist - users would have received the GT-I9100 and would have received a high-quality ICS build in mid-March instead of an awful hackjob in late June.

    • Re:Google support of third party mods (Score:2)

      by Sloppy (14984) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @09:16AM (#40601259) Homepage Journal

      It would be preferable for Google to ensure that carriers are contractually obligated to support OS upgrades

      If Google had the power to do that, then nobody would want Android.

  • Not for Nexus S and Xoom (Score:5, Informative)

    by gparent (1242548) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @01:35AM (#40599599)

    The binaries for the Nexus S and Xoom are not available yet and won't be until the OTA update.

    I tried compiling AOSP with android 4.1.1r1 checked out, adding the 4.0.4 vendor proprietary files, putting it on my phone, then flashing the ICS kernel, but it did not work.

    Oh well. I'll be waiting.

    • Re:Not for Nexus S and Xoom (Score:2)

      by danceswithtrees (968154) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @09:51AM (#40601507)

      Here are directions from someone on the Android team: http://twitter.com/arubin/status/27808662429 [twitter.com]

      Kidding aside, I think Jobs was right on this one. Because phones are locked and drivers for the phone devices are difficult obtain, the closed vs open source OS is a moot point. Android might be open but there are real hurdles to updating the Android firmware on phones-- handset manufactures just don't want you to do it.

      I have a Virgin Mobile LG phone running Android 2.2. I am still waiting for the 2.3 upgrade promised sometime in 2010. I've thought about installing one of the cyanogenmod firmwares but the lack of support for all phone features gives me pause-- oh and the risk of bricking my phone. I like tinkering with electronics but I like my phone to phone.

      • Re:Not for Nexus S and Xoom (Score:2)

        by gparent (1242548) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @10:23AM (#40601717)

        I have to disagree with you. I'm trying to build an OS that wasn't released yet, with parts missing. It's my own damn fault if it's hard. If I had used the OTA (as I have done many times before), it would be a seamless process. Other manufacturers may make it hard but I don't buy from those manufacturers, period. I turned down a HTC Panache for a Nexus S because I knew what I was getting into. Average Joe might not know this, so I make it a point to tell it to people before they get a new phone.

        So while you're right about the situation, I don't find Apple any better.

  • Installation instructions? Where are they? (Score:3)

    by G3ckoG33k (647276) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @05:03AM (#40600279)

    I tried to find the installation instructions but could not find any on the CyanogenMod website. I found them on other sites but would rather find them next to the source.

    Anyone with a link?

  • As far as I know Android has massive issues with accessing the call voice stream. There have been bugs registered with hundreds of angry users yelling for better support for this.

    Take a look at this: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/media/MediaRecorder.AudioSource.html [android.com]
    There are VOICE_DOWNLINK & VOICE_UPLINK streams, but people accessing them get exceptions instead of working streams most of the time...

    Has JB improved that at all? I'll need to go test if my current phone has these streams working or not. And how about actually playing audio into the call? AFAIK old symbian phones had this.

    --Coder

    • Legality issues (Score:2)

      by coder111 (912060) <coder@rrmQUOTEail.com minus punct> on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @09:01AM (#40601147)
      Just a note regarding legality- Android phones are sold all over the world, and plenty of countries allow recording calls. Calls are recorded in US in plenty of instances as well- in case you are talking to a broker, your call is recorded. Managers/sales people, etc record calls often. Nokia symbian phones did have this feature, and they were legally sold in US.

      Answering machines also record calls all the time. Right now there is no possibility of implementing any of that on Android.

      There might be an issue with security- an app could intercept your calls and send them to some 3rd party, but right now calls are handled by a binary blob- baseband firmware, which can also be hacked and forced to intercept your calls, even though it's more difficult.

      --Coder

  • Unlike previous releases? Jesus Christ (Score:3)

    by Flipao (903929) on Tuesday July 10, 2012 @09:25AM (#40601317)
    The Honeycomb source wasn't released because it was a mess, it's been explained to death. Every other version had its source code released in record time.

  • ICS was announced on October 19, 2012.
    ICS source was released on November 14, 2012. LESS THAN A MONTH.

    In addition - the first device to actually RECEIVE ICS did not become available until NOVEMBER 17. Yes, that's right, source was released THREE DAYS BEFORE the first device to receive ICS became available.

Let's all show human CONCERN for REVERAND MOON's legal difficulties!!

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