OnePlus Rom Update: CM12S YNG1TAS17L

So a new OnePlus ROM update is available, and I of course downloaded it instead of waiting for the OTA.  Besides I would probably have to wait a few days for the update, better to check out what is new.

The main "selling" point for the updated ROM was the OK ONEPLUS.  Well hate to break the news but I could not get that to work.  OK Google still works.  But OK OnePlus, not so much.  And just to make sure it was maybe a bad training I retrained my phone for my voice a second time.

Same issue, does not work from sleep, nor when its on.  I guess I will go back to using OK Google when I need something.   As for everything else the following updates are said to be included:

Pulled from the OnePlus Forums:

1) "OK ONEPLUS" Voice command is included..
2) Google Services upgraded to 7.3.29 (Thanks @VinceCgto)
3) [FIXED] Messaging app crashing on boot (Thanks @VinceCgto)
4) [FIXED] OTA fails due to encryption (Thanks @VinceCgto)
5) [FIXED] Improve Theme engine (Thanks @Mike9966)

I might switch over to nightlies to see if there is a new things on there.  I am still glad I jumped from KitKat to Lollipop, but there is nothing that jumps out that makes it stand out from the standard Lollipop build, and I guess that is what it supposed to be.

There were rumors that this update will also help with battery drain, so I will keep my eyes on this.  Now I would like to see the update for 5.1.1 for OnePlus come out.

CM12 on my Galaxy III (d2ATT)

After watching a thread over at XDA for about a month now, I decided to take the plunge and update my now aging phone to 5.0

Currently you have to download both the ROM, and the GAPPS, and every time you update the ROM you will need to update the GAPPS file.  I downloaded the latest of each of these, with the ROM at 12/25 and GAPPS from 11/09 for 5.0.

The download was easy as was the update (I used Clockwork Recovery) as that is what has been on my phone forever.  The suggest to use TWRP, but figured I would try out with Clockwork.

At the moment it is at the upgrade screen, optimizing apps 100 out of 195.    It was already stated in the thread but the initial update will take a long time.  If I remember correctly it is going from DAVLIK to ART so that alone will take a long time.

After about 15 minutes the phone is ready to use, next is to try the apps, which seem to load quicker then when I was on KitKat.    All my apps are already updated to the newest version, so there was not much waiting on that side of things.    The main app issue is the camera which does not work, but this is a known issue with the CM12 for d2ATT, having been mentioned in the forum post.  But they mention that you can use a few different camera apps.

So far the phone seems to run quicker, battery currently sitting about about 70%, so will see how long the battery lasts with minor use.  I did not notice any difference making phone calls with or without blue tooth, also used Pandora without a hitch.    I do like the Material Design once again, as I think I stated that when I upgrade the Nexus 7.  Which I am still waiting for my Nexus 7 (2012) to be updated to 5.0.2, looks like it might be happening soon, but I will just wait for the OTA.

So far minus the camera, it looks like it could be a daily driver, and I guess that is what I will be using it for till I get my next phone (which might be this week)...OnePlus..

App Review: CyanDelta

After installing CM10 on my Galaxy SIII, I wanted to check out the newest app out there called CyanDelta. Basically this app is used to download CM10 updates for your phone, but unlike ClockWorkMod, or BBQTools this only downloads what is called a Delta file.

A Delta file is just the changed files in the ROM itself, and it averages about 10 megs, unlike the normal rom which is around 160 megs.  This cuts down on the bandwidth used, and the space used on the phone for updates.

From what I understand CyanDelta creates a file based off your last known good ROM, and from there daily it downloads a Delta file.  From there it recreates the ROM from the one last night adding the Delta file information.  Now that you have a new nightly ROM, you reboot into recovery and start in the install.

Now I have the unlimited plan on my phone so data usage is not such a big deal for me, but for others this is a great app to use.  It is very simple to install and was able to get it up and running in seconds with no problems.

The one question I have about the program is that it shows that you can add a second zip file to the program to install on reboot.  I tried to add the Google Apps but it would not let me.  I may have been doing it wrong as the GAPPS was in my download folder, maybe it needs to be in the CyanDelta folder, will try that next time.

Updating devices to CyanogenMod 10

I have a Captivate and Kindle Fire sitting around that I wanted to jump up to Jelly Bean for quite a while.  Tonight I decided to take that leap.  The Captivate was running CM9 previously so I just did was download CM10 and Google Apps for JB onto the phone, and then proceeded to do a Factory wipe and load CM10.

I don't use the Captivate anymore as a daily driver but I am pleased by the speed/smoothness that CM10 brought to the plate.  It is currently running 4.1.2, and with the new CM10 nightlies they added the ability to download and update your system right from the android settings.  I plan to use this as an IP phone with Groove IP, and will see how that works for the near future.

My second device was the Kindle Fire, this also was running some modded version of CM9 for a while.  Again wanting the newest and greatest I set out looking for CM10 or some variant for the Fire.  I found one dev by Hashcode who was doing the Kernel work on the fire, and have been following his release's for a little while.

The other day I upgraded to HashCode's CM10 variant for the fire, and it also shows a smoothness that was not present in the original Fire.  This rom is not able to be downloaded directly through the settings page as the Captivate, but its not hard either.  Just have to go to a different website and download the rom.  Once again you also need the Google Apps for Jelly Bean.   The install was pretty much identical to the Captivate, so no use restating.

My current daily driver is the Samsung Galaxy S III and I have kept it rom free for about a month now, but getting that itch to install CM10.  I keep saying to myself Jelly Bean will be out shortly for the S3, and then everything will be fine. More then likely even when JB comes out for the phone if I have not already updated it to CM10, it will be shortly there after.