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AOSP isn't dead, but Google just landed a huge blow to custom ROM developers (www.androidauthority.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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TL;DR

  • Google has made it harder to build custom Android ROMs for Pixel phones by omitting their device trees and driver binaries from the latest AOSP release.

  • The company says this is because it’s shifting its AOSP reference target from Pixel hardware to a virtual device called “Cuttlefish” to be more neutral.

  • While Google insists AOSP isn’t going away, developers must now reverse-engineer changes, making the process for supporting Pixel devices more difficult.

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[–] 15 points 1 year ago (6 children)

or a brand whose phones support their requirements other than google.

Wasn't Graphene's "selling point" for long being that nothing but Pixels can match their reqs? I don't see why any current band would want to make it easier for them, and I also don't see new brand significantly entering the market.

Graphene boiled themselves in their own frogpan.

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  • [–] 28 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    This is not a selling point but rather a unfortunate but comprehensible circumstance. Nexus and later Pixel phones have not been anything more than reference hardware without significant sales until the Pixel 6. Google has been a software company that has greatly benefited by android being an "open" platform you could contribute to and use their services on.

    The App / Cloud ecosystem has gained a lot of competitors, so Google is doing their best to reverse this course of action by pulling more and more functionality out of AOSP into Play services and now into Cuttlefish. We can only wait and see how other phone manufacturers react to this.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    We can only wait and see how other phone manufacturers react to this.

    Honestly, it's obvious how they will react. After all, they'd have to pass a certification process if they want to be able to ship Google stuff.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Nah, you have it backwards. GrapheneOS didn't choose Pixels for any reason other than they're the only acceptably secure devices out there. I can't imagine they want this to be the case.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    That still sounds like choosing to me. Like, if your project requirements are so strict that it only works on the mornings of a Tuesday that falls in a prime number day that has a blue moon and where there are no ATP tennis matches going on (all pre-existing things you have no vote on), maybe you should re-evaluate if you actually want your proyect to have a viable audience.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Is it really so outlandish to want my phone to be unbreakable by cops?

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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago

    In this year of 2025? No. But it still is basically setting oneself for failure from the perspective of Graphene, IMO. Like, the strongest protection in the world (assuming Graphene even is, which is quite a tall order statement) is useless if it only works on the mornings of a Tuesday that falls in a prime number day that has a blue moon and where there are no ATP tennis matches going on. Everyone else is, like, living in the real world, and the uniqueness of your scenario is going to go down the drain once your users get presented with a $5 wrench, or even cheaper: a waterboard. Because cops, let alone ICE, are not going to stop to ask you if they can make you more comfortable with your privacy being violated.

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