The Future of Android Community Development 

(and why RootJunky isn’t rooting)

What is the future of android development when it comes down to the Android community and forums like XDA developers? Here are some of my thoughts on this matter. I have been in the Android community for many years now and have seen lots of new and exciting ideas and mods for Android. Lets walk through some of these awesome developments.

Root

Root access on your Android device can be compared to having admin rights on a Windows computer. When you get your phone or tablet from the store, you are just a user and can’t access anything deeper in the settings; you can’t even delete apps you don’t want. This is why we want root access on your Android devices.  However, even this process has become very  difficult for many users since the manufacturers and carriers have locked down the bootloaders on many devices.  In order for a phone with a locked bootloader to get root access, a developer has to find some kind of exploit in Android or in the device itself. As time has passed, this is getting harder because every time an exploit is found, Google creates a patch for it. This is a good thing for security, but really bad news for users with locked bootloaders.

NOTE: Many Developers that have started in the Android community have been picked up by Google and other companies and can’t research find these exploits for the community anymore.

Roms

A rom is a operating system replacement that normally adds many new features to your device, but can sometimes take away features as well. There are many roms to choose from depending on your device.  Some of the most popular are: CyanogenMod, Alliance, AOSP, AOKP, ViperRom, and OmniRom.  These are well supported and work great. That being said, once you install them most will remove some or all of the custom features that come with your device. There are many roms that have very bad development and can cause major problems like camera and wifi not working. Some of the best roms to install are stock based roms with just some mods added. These stock roms will be fully functional and can add great features to your device.

Recovery

Recovery is a major need for android development.   It is used to flash rom mods, and many times to get root access. TWRP and CWM recovery are both great and development is solid on them. But to install either you need an unlocked bootloader or some kind of exploit. Safe Strap is a recovery that doesn’t require an unlocked bootloader, but it does need root access to install.  Unfortunately, the developer behind it has moved on to other things.

Bootloader

Many manufacturers like Motorola, HTC, LG, Huawei and Samsung have programs you can follow to unlock the bootloader on your devices.  This is nice, however, they are very limited to a special list of devices. Some Manufacturers even leave their bootloaders unlocked to start. This makes development much easier, but also makes the devices much less secure.

Mods

Mods are probably my favorite part of Android development because they only add to your device experience. Mods like Xposed framework and theme engines are among some of the greatest. But, here again, most mods require root access to use and many even need custom recovery.

Community Development

Development for Android has become harder every time a new Android version is released. Every release brings new features and new challenges for the dev to figure out.  For example,  Dalvik changed to Art run time environment.   Tools that a developer previously used don’t work anymore and new tools have to be created. Most Developers in the Android community work on these awesome exploits and mods in their free time which makes development a little weak at times, but who can blame them. After all, development for the Android community is free of charge.

Summary

At this point, you may be asking yourself “why is he covering all of these points just to talk about the future of android community development?”  In conclusion,  Google has made many advances in their Android operating system that have improved the functionality, performance and added many features that have come from the community.  Features such as flash light toggles, permissions per app, and Themes engines being added by manufacturers ( and I think Google very soon). Many of the reasons that I rooted my phones, are now offered with stock Android or by the manufacturer. There are also tons of awesome apps on the market that let you mod your device without even needing root such as launchers, icon changers and themes for those launchers. Unless you are actually a developer, the need to root and unlock your bootloader has diminished these days; at least when it comes to the new flagship devices.   Older devices stop getting ota updates and need development in order to keep them up to date and running smoothly. I have a confession to make…. I haven’t used root access on any of my daily driver devices in over 6 months. The need for root on your devices just isn’t there anymore. On many older devices with slow hardware or lacking features, I can understand it and even back it, but on the new stuff there’s no need. Yes, you heard that right: Rootjunky isn’t rooting LOL. Rooting a device that doesn’t need it has become a real headache. Every time you root a device that is running lollipop or above you change the system files to do it and that messes up ota updates. So now you have root, but are stuck on a old android version once a ota is released, that just doesn’t make sense. Like I said earlier, the idea is to add features and updates, not stop them. The future that I see is one with less and less community development because Google and manufacturers are pushing out ota updates faster. As much as I love the Android community, I am happy to see Google stepping up their game and taking amazing ideas from the community and adding them into stock Android.

What are your thoughts on the future of Android community development?  I would love to hear them.

RootJunky out