Android N

[techbeck]

So updated my Nexus 6p earlier to N.  I downloaded a TWRP flashable ZIP from XDA.  Things went flawlessly and N is fast.  Noticeable difference over MM.  When the factory images come out, will probably flash those

 

Few apps broke...Adway, ES File Explorer...but there were fixes online for those. 

[Skiver Veteran]

I was running the beta but was prompted this morning to update and the beta note is now gone so I assume this is the release version.

 

I'm struggling to remember what 6 was like now but I didn't notice anything majorly improved on my 5X

[tsupersonic]

Good God, why are you using ES File Explorer? Uninstall that ###### right away, it adds adware.

 

Questions for N users on Nexus 6P. How is battery life, and performance? I'm going on a 3 week vacation, and will have limited internet access (if patches do come out). I want a stable phone for media consumption and taking pictures. I want N, but I'm hearing mixed feedback...

[MikeChipshop Member]

12 minutes ago, tsupersonic said:

Good God, why are you using ES File Explorer? Uninstall that ###### right away, it adds adware.

 

Questions for N users on Nexus 6P. How is battery life, and performance? I'm going on a 3 week vacation, and will have limited internet access (if patches do come out). I want a stable phone for media consumption and taking pictures. I want N, but I'm hearing mixed feedback...

Battery life is improved for me on my 6P running 7.

 

Running 6, I'd get up at 6AM, do development work using it as a testing device (so quite a lot of screen time) then run Strava on it to track my cycles using GPS for a couple of hours, then more dev work in the afternoon and then it'd be on about 20%. With 7 i can keep it going till about midnight before the 15% battery warning comes up. Not sure about media consumption though as i don't really use it for that. 

[+Elі Subscriber²]

16 minutes ago, tsupersonic said:

Good God, why are you using ES File Explorer? Uninstall that ###### right away, it adds adware.

 

Questions for N users on Nexus 6P. How is battery life, and performance? I'm going on a 3 week vacation, and will have limited internet access (if patches do come out). I want a stable phone for media consumption and taking pictures. I want N, but I'm hearing mixed feedback...

I think battery consumption is about the same for me, perhaps even slightly better, but I haven't done any heavy usage on the phone since installing it yesterday night though,  I'm experiencing an issue on the Fi Network though where it cannot properly connect to Sprint's LTE and just connects to their 3G band so I must force my 6P to connect to the T-mobile network instead. 

[tsupersonic]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I will jump on the N bandwagon. I do have backup devices that I'll take on my trip if the 6P misbehaves. 

[Draconian Guppy]

1 hour ago, tsupersonic said:

Good God, why are you using ES File Explorer? Uninstall that ###### right away, it adds adware.

 

Questions for N users on Nexus 6P. How is battery life, and performance? I'm going on a 3 week vacation, and will have limited internet access (if patches do come out). I want a stable phone for media consumption and taking pictures. I want N, but I'm hearing mixed feedback...

i use it too  what are alternatives?

[tsupersonic]

Just now, Draconian Guppy said:

i use it too  what are alternatives?

I highly recommend Solid Explorer. IMO, it's superior to ES File Explorer (which I used to use in the past), and it's also worth getting the IAP for the premium/pro version if you decide to keep it. It's also gone on sale in the past for 50% off.

[techbeck]

5 hours ago, tsupersonic said:

Good God, why are you using ES File Explorer? Uninstall that ###### right away, it adds adware.

 

Questions for N users on Nexus 6P. How is battery life, and performance? I'm going on a 3 week vacation, and will have limited internet access (if patches do come out). I want a stable phone for media consumption and taking pictures. I want N, but I'm hearing mixed feedback...

Never had an  issue with Adware and ES. 

 

Performance is better on N over MM.  To early for me to tell battery life.  Probably give that a day or two before commenting.

[FloatingFatMan]

20 hours ago, tsupersonic said:

Good God, why are you using ES File Explorer? Uninstall that ###### right away, it adds adware.

**Citation needed.  I've been using it since if first came out, years ago. Never had any problems with adware, ever. Got any evidence about it installing adware?

[tsupersonic]

3 hours ago, FloatingFatMan said:

**Citation needed.  I've been using it since if first came out, years ago. Never had any problems with adware, ever. Got any evidence about it installing adware?

Link, but it did get removed. Still it's super shady and they lost my respect. I can understand ads in the app itself as a source of revenue. But, if you're going to hijack my lockscreen to display shady things, then I'm uninstalling that app. 

[FloatingFatMan]

Interesting... Never noticed that, thanks for the link.  Guess it's time to look for a replacement...

 

[George P Global Moderator]

Maybe i'm in the minority here but having now upgraded my Nexus 6P to 7.0, I have to say, I like the look of the notifications in 6 better than the new ones in 7.

 

Also, on a side note, I've been using Nova launcher for a few weeks now, it's solid, I like it, but I wonder if google will release their new "pixel launcher" for everyone to use who's on 7.0 or are they going to limit it to just the new Pixel phones?    Or maybe Pixel will come with an upgrade to 7.1 from what I've been reading online.

[Draconian Guppy]

3 minutes ago, George P said:

Maybe i'm in the minority here but having now upgraded my Nexus 6P to 7.0, I have to say, I like the look of the notifications in 6 better than the new ones in 7.

 

Also, on a side note, I've been using Nova launcher for a few weeks now, it's solid, I like it, but I wonder if google will release their new "pixel launcher" for everyone to use who's on 7.0 or are they going to limit it to just the new Pixel phones?    Or maybe Pixel will come with an upgrade to 7.1 from what I've been reading online.

Well, the notification seems to be the most disliked part of every android update every time

 

Also, isn't the pixel launcher .apk out there?

[George P Global Moderator]

2 minutes ago, Draconian Guppy said:

Well, the notification seems to be the most disliked part of every android update every time

 

Also, isn't the pixel launcher .apk out there?

It is, but it's unfinished, I think and you gotta side load.  I mean I'd like to try it but I don't want to go to that much trouble.   It'd be cool if they put it up in the play store when it's done.

 

I liked the notifications in 6 actually, they looked fine to me, don't know why google decided to ditch them and make it all blocky and square now, with no space between them.

[Semtex]

I hope to see this update for my Moto X Force!

[Steffan]

Google has released the OTA image for Nexus 6

 

https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/shamu-nbd90z-factory-92e7bb05.zip

[PGHammer]

CyanogenMod has started building CM 14 (the N-based iteration), which also includes an unofficial x86_64 iteration.  I'm keeping an ISO of it handy, though it's not as solid as their CM13 iteration - which is solid enough to be an alternative daily driver (if such can be said of any Android on PCs).  If I can be sure that the install would work on an SSD, I'll strongly consider 13 (or 14 properly unbugged) as a third OS, as 13 is actually quite usable.

[PGHammer]

On 9/26/2016 at 11:13 AM, George P said:

Maybe i'm in the minority here but having now upgraded my Nexus 6P to 7.0, I have to say, I like the look of the notifications in 6 better than the new ones in 7.

 

Also, on a side note, I've been using Nova launcher for a few weeks now, it's solid, I like it, but I wonder if google will release their new "pixel launcher" for everyone to use who's on 7.0 or are they going to limit it to just the new Pixel phones?    Or maybe Pixel will come with an upgrade to 7.1 from what I've been reading online.

I've moved to N (on the even older - as in FAR older - Galaxy Nexus); in fact, I'm on 7.1 (I can hear the disbelief - as in "How"?  The community strikes again; Unlegacy-Android has a 7.1 ROM out for most Nexus devices - including my older-than-mold GNex toro that is headed to Tracfone).  However, I'm using Microsoft Arrow as my launcher (same one I use on my tablet running Lollipop, oddly enough).

[PGHammer]

FOLLOWUP - 7.1 has given way to 7.1.1 - as in another community firmware for the older-than-mold Galaxy Nexus - specifically, PureNexus (which, as implied by the name, primarily targets Nexus devices) 7.1.1.  The tricks that 7.1.1 has up the sleeves include an inclusion - Pixel Launcher.  (Still wondering how they pulled it off.)  The rather slick trick is that PL is FAR from obvious in PN - first off, there are a crapton of included customizations you can make on the top, sides, and bottom (including to to how various notifications act - such as the carrier notification area - that itself can be edited, in case you want to "show off your MVNO" (or ANY MVNO or carrier other than the one you REALLY use - Tracfone for example uses the networks of T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, depending on location and device - so I have my notification area actually saying Tracfone - normally said area is blank).  Need to get to your hidden apps? Swipe up (the hidden apps are below the drawer); Google Now is a tab on the screen's left, while notifications are still at the top.  Multiple screens are still present - and still reachable from the right.  Hate Pixel Launcher?  You can still replace it (right now, I have Google Now Launcher backing it up); however, I'm finding a lot to like about Pixel Launcher (especially with all the ways that PureNexus allows customization - which also applies to how PL looks).  If you are running AOSP 7.1 (which I was), don't (as in do NOT) remove OR delete it before installing PN 7.1.1; instead, install PN as an upgrade from recovery (and without deleting cache either).  The rather odd reason behind my against-the-grain suggestion has to do with issues with the AOSP keyboard included with ALL versions of Google Apps for 7.1.x - the AOSP apk crashes when installed clean on this ROM; however, it works just fine in AOSP 7.1.0 Tuna (which preceded it) win nano, pico, OR Banks Dynamic  - however, PN installed clean causes all such GApp packs to crash during setup.  So instead of installing clean, install dirty.

[techbeck]

Looks like factory images are now posted for the Verizon 6p for 7.1.1....finally.

[PGHammer]

LineageOS 14.1 is out (UNOFFICIAL) for the Galaxy Nexus, and is OFFICIAL in the 13.0 iteration (the latter is on the official download page).  In both cases, you'll want pico versions of the GApps (7.1.1 for 14.1, and 6.0 for 13).

[+Warwagon MVC]

33 minutes ago, PGHammer said:

LineageOS 14.1 is out (UNOFFICIAL) for the Galaxy Nexus, and is OFFICIAL in the 13.0 iteration (the latter is on the official download page).  In both cases, you'll want pico versions of the GApps (7.1.1 for 14.1, and 6.0 for 13).

 

I installed it for the LG G3 vs985 and it really is very speedy.

[PGHammer]

I've moved forward to DirtyUnicorns 7.1.2 (with the same April updates pushed out via Google in their latest non-O developer build and included in the latest AOSP updates) - unfortunately, it also required some updates to GApps as well for clean installs.  The speediness of N is, in fact, the biggest surprise - and especially the speediness on old hardware.  (What have I repeatedly called the TI OMAP processor in my Galaxy Nexus - older than mold?  I definitely GET the age factor of the Galaxy Nexus; however, as has been the case with any OTHER OS update - or upgrade - for existing hardware - just when you think that the TI OMAP finally has hit a wall, the community finds a way to squeeze more out the old CPU than was supposed to be possible.  Unlike Windows (or even Linux distributions), community ROMs/firmware for Android devices IS tailorable for SOCs about which details are known, and the TI OMAP is arguably one of the oldest SOCs that have been continuously developed FOR - lest we forget, it was a SOC that was one of the original targets of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).