Android 2.1 Finally Makes It To Droid 132
MrSmith0011000100110 writes "The lovely people over at AndroidCentral have broken the announcement that Android 2.1 is finally coming to the Motorola Droid, with actual proof on Verizon's Droid support page (PDF). I don't know about my Droid brethren, but I'm pretty excited to see the new series of Android ROMs for the Droid phone that are based on a stock Android 2.1. As most of us know, the existing 2.1 ROMs can be buggy as hell and either running vanilla 2.1 or a custom ROM; but this phone is still a tinkerer's best friend."
I am quite happy! (Score:5, Insightful)
And no, I won't root it. Not because "I'm scared", but because I don't mess around with my primary device (I have a G1 and a ATT Tilt (HTC Tyan II) that are both rooted). If something goes wrong, I want the ability to drive directly to Verizon and get a new device without worry about "Crap, it's still rooted, let me get home and try to unroot it before taking it in"... Plus, I rely on it for daily use. So if for some reason it bricked, I'd be up the creak without a paddle...
Re:Help... (Score:4, Insightful)
A blog link that answers your question. If you target 1.5, you will cover 99%+ of the users with Android phones. The best bet is to decide what features your app needs. Then target the lowest API version that allows for that.
Re:I am quite happy! (Score:3, Insightful)
Has anyone noticed how bad it is, that you have something that is supposed do be an open source Linux-based phone, and you don’t even have root access right out of the factory?
Even worse, not only do you have to root it with a hack, but you are also supposed to feel bad about it when returning it for broken hardware (which has nothing to do with modded software)?
Sorry, but how can you stand something like that? I would never buy it, or be very very pissed. ;)
My Linux phone had root. I installed my own software, and various other packages. And it’s not only OK with the vendor. No, it’s even expected.
(I’m not going to say which one, so I don’t sound like a retarded fanboi. But it’s pretty obvious which one it is, since it’s as far as I know the only one.
Re:I am quite happy! (Score:3, Insightful)
I understand your sentiment, but let's be honest here for a second. If you want support, the best way to go about it is using "approved" versions of the software. I love Linux, but it makes it hard for a company to support. Now, they could insist on nandroid backups of the OEM system in order to support phones with root, but that's yet another system they have to support. For instance they could say, "Do with it what you like, but before returning it to the store for repair, run this to restore the default configuration."
Hell, back when I did PC support, most OEMs insisted on this for even Windows builds. I'm sure we all remember the Packard Bell/Compaq/etc. system restore discs. They were more to ensure that the software wasn't the problem and it truly was a hardware issue. Most of them don't even help you today with Windows builds unless they are factory stock.