I feel super awkward and a bit embarrassed to ask this question, but I'm asking for help from this community (see last 2 or paragraphs for ask if you want to skip the boring details) and I think I need to explain briefly why to define my ultimate goal and why I even have to ask rather than sift through searches and assemble the steps/versions I need, etc.
My 22 year old daughter died recently (unexpectedly). I obviously want to preserve everything I can of hers, but I'm not firing on all cylinders mentally. I was able take her ThinkPad and virtualize it to my ESX system and also yank and clone the physical drive for safe keeping. But even doing that took me a while (which it shouldn't, that's kind of what I do for a living - I should be able to do that in my sleep, but it took 3 days and a lot of screaming). I was able to access her google accounts, facebook accounts, etc. and preserve a ton of stuff from there.
Ultimately while I would want to do with her phone the same thing I did to her notebook - preserve it virtually so I could examine it without fear of changing/modifying anything, but I don't think the product exists that allows me to virtualize an existing Android phone with apps and everything intact into a PC environment. I think I could install a whole new Android emulator in Windows, but that's not probably what I want.
I had just given her a Samsung S5 SM-G900T running on Ting for her birthday about 2 weeks before she died. It was unlocked but unrooted, it's rare that I would do nothing to the phone prior to giving it to her - but I pretty much just turned it on and handed it over with no custom ROM or anything - mostly because I was pressed for time the day of her party and it was shipped late.
When I got it back from the police a few say ago (they held it for 2 months) and charged it and turned it on 2 days ago, it upgraded from Lollipop to Marshmallow 6.0.1 (baseband is PE1), which was apparently pending. I don't know if that complicates things. It pissed me off, though. I have copied off local photos off and videos and already took control of her Google and Facebook accounts as I mentioned.
My slightly confused brain tells me normally I might install TWRP or CWM and make a NAND backup and copy it off someplace and at least have a restorable copy of her phone. I haven't done much of this sort of thing with phones for a year or two, I don't know what's changed in the latest OS versions and beides, plus I sort of "lose it" a bit, especially going through her personal things.
I'm not an idiot, I'm just not all here, yet. I'm asking if someone can please give me steps to safely preserve an image of her phone (IE, install TWRP or CWM using specific version xxx, etc., using Odin version xxx, etc.) - If I can virtualize it, too, I'd love to know what product does that, but again, I don't think I can.
I don't know why I feel the need to do these things, I just do.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Bump. Somebody please help this fellow. This is too important for me to try advising him, I don't know enough.
So even though half my brain is addled, I did some more research and found out a few interesting things, should anyone care to try this. I found there are a couple of open source tools built for android forensics:
Open Source Android Forensics Toolkit
https://sourceforge.net/projects/osaftoolkit/
Santoku
https://santoku-linux.com/about-santoku/
And there are commercial products, , like NowSecureForensics, some (if not most) built on the toolkits I just mentioned. Another is the painfully ironically named (for me, anyway) Autopsy.
This interesting website verified (to me anyway) that rooting the phone and changing access is still fundamentally sound forensically:
http://freeandroidforensics.blogspot.com
And it confirmed there is no way (yet) to truly "virtualize" the phone entirely (unless you are the manufacturer and you have some proprietary software).
For a "live" example virtually, the best you can do is install an Android emulator and restore an ADB backup of an app. This obviously may or may not work if the app is very hardware dependent. But for a simple program it might work fine.
So in addition to rooting my daughter's S5, installing TWRP, and backing it up, I also got my daughter's HTC One M7 to finally power up, and I rooted it and installed TWRP for backup purposes as well. Many of the forensic tools I mentioned will then report from the standard TWRP backups, with no risk to changing the phone. Some want to look at the phone themselves, even offering to root them, which I find more risky.
I haven't found any one tool to fully provide what I need, you need a Windows PC, a Linux PC (or VM), one or more toolsets (each comprised of other toolsets) and then a lot of time/will to really piece together things. I haven't completed the examinations - even typing is harder now for some reason, but should anyone else need this sort of thing (hopefully for different reasons than mine), the above info is a good start.
Hello!
TL/DR version:
How do I ultimately gain complete control over my own phone?
Android version 6.0
SecPatch 2016.03.01
Kernel 3.10.49
Build MRA58K
Software US37510b
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 210
Long version:
For various reasons, I decided I needed a pocket portable Android computer, and a cell phone seemed to be the best option open to me. In researching for what would suit my needs and budget, I discovered the local U.S. Cellular store was having a penny promotion for the LG K8 US375 prepaid. Did some research, and decided it was a good deal for seeing if a phone works for my needs, as I don't care about the phone part.
It has been a headache. I am used to PCs. I knew it would have a reserve amount of storage for system files, but I wasn't expecting 50%. Then I installed the programs to do what I wanted, and was left with 500MB left. This won't do. Got a bargain on a PNY 32GB Class U3 SD card, and installed it. I then discovered I had to manually move files to it, only partial data would be moved, and only certain programs would move at all. I tried to find a way to set it to be a default install location like a second hard drive, but found nothing. Best I could come up with is adoptable storage. Which appeared to be disabled on the phone. I would also like to remove files I don't want or need. I talked it over with an online tech from LG, and he basically said I needed to root the phone.
I have spent two weeks, and I don't even want to know how many hours researching here & elsewhere how to do this. I keep coming up with dead ends. Either the method doesn't work for Marshmallow, doesn't work with LG, doesn't work for this kind of LG phone, is known to brick/bootloop the phone, requires programs that have been removed from the links provided, or required unlocked bootloader. Finding how to unlock the bootloader has been about as fruitful as rooting.
I am done researching. I have lost too many nights being sucked into the project to the point I am rereading the same threads without realizing it. I have 21 bookmarks regarding how to do this, and the best I have is a method for unlocking adoptable storage on a Sony phone with the brief mention that it worked on someone else's K8. I haven't felt this overloaded with tech information since I crammed for the A+ cert test. (I did not pass) I know I need to do this manually, I have unlocked dev commands, picked up adb/fastboot, poked around a bit, and I think I can get to the point where I would have a clean boot. Like installing a new OS after formatting on a PC. It's everything that comes after that I am lost on. Please advise.
mageofthesands said:
Hello!
(...) Please advise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not everything can be root.
Try asking the thread Lg 2-3g Tool 9.21 Update. LG G5, ...
Hi,
I, like many others, got forced onto Android 11. I have a lot of problems with it. With or without root. The most annoying of which is the wifi aggressively dropping/changing. Bluetooth failures. Volume drops that don't return to normal, forcing a reboot to fix. Clock and background/screen saver problems. System UI crashing. Keyboard freezing and lagging on certain sites with textareas. I used my phone without root for a couple days after the forced upgrade and all of these issues were present with or without magisk modules.
I'm interested in going back to Android 10 and blocking the a11 OTA in Hosts.
I'd like to get some help with a couple things. I'd like to make a FULL flashable backup of my current device as is. Just in case I mess something up, I can get back to this current state as worst case, very easily. Do I use the MSM tool and copy something? Do I boot twrp and push something over? Please advise the safe and smart way to get right back to a 1:1 of current install. I want to be very sure about this part.
After I know which way I can safely get back to current state, can I use the MSM tool to wipe and flash an older build of Android 10? Or is it a problem after being on 11 because of some restrictions (partitions, RO, twrp no mount) somewhere?
If I can get back to an older build of Android 10, I have a couple options (grayhat and httpcanary) to monitor the traffic to see what we need to block in Hosts for sure.
I'm open to other suggestions also. Someone in the root thread said they proactively tried to disable some services around update and it was still forced on them.
OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren TMobile
Android 11.0.1.2HD61B
(Carrier unlocked, bootloader unlocked, magisk root)
Thanks for any help
Disable the T-mobile update app or ask them to disable it on their end, they can.
Backup all critical data by direct file transfer and verify... just in case.
There's no way to do a full nandroid backup, e.g. restoring things exactly back to how they are now. Best you can do is use the app Swift Backup to backup app data/settings along with Google's backup and OP's backup app.
As for OOS11, have you tried resetting back to stock (factory reset while running OOS11)? Chances are you just have some leftover things from OOS10 that didn't play well with the upgrade. So before you abandon OOS11, try that first (factory reset from stock recovery). Make sure you've copied any backups to your PC first. If the issues come back after restoring your backup from Swift Backup or from Google or OP, then you need to find out exactly what app(s) are causing issue or just start from scratch.
As for the MSM Tool, it will restore you back to OOS10 just fine on its own.
Lastly, the OTA updates are downloaded from https://android.googleapis.com
For example, the url for the latest OTA to go from latest version of OOS10 (10.0.43) to first version of OOS11 (11.0.1.2) was
https://android.googleapis.com/packages/ota-api/package/45ba72b0b2f7c643a09d2d0875459cd01b8db998.zip
I pulled that from the update log. So blocking
https://android.googleapis.com/packages/ota-api/*/
in AdBlock or other hosts file app should do the trick. It may still see an update available, but it will definitely continue to fail when trying to download it.
But try OOS11 clean (after a factory reset). I bet all your problems will go away. I have exact same phone, not a single issue on OOS11, bootloader unlocked, latest version of Magisk.
starcms said:
There's no way to do a full nandroid backup, e.g. restoring things exactly back to how they are now. Best you can do is use the app Swift Backup to backup app data/settings along with Google's backup and OP's backup app.
As for OOS11, have you tried resetting back to stock (factory reset while running OOS11)? Chances are you just have some leftover things from OOS10 that didn't play well with the upgrade. So before you abandon OOS11, try that first (factory reset from stock recovery). Make sure you've copied any backups to your PC first. If the issues come back after restoring your backup from Swift Backup or from Google or OP, then you need to find out exactly what app(s) are causing issue or just start from scratch.
As for the MSM Tool, it will restore you back to OOS10 just fine on its own.
Lastly, the OTA updates are downloaded from https://android.googleapis.com
For example, the url for the latest OTA to go from latest version of OOS10 (10.0.43) to first version of OOS11 (11.0.1.2) was
https://android.googleapis.com/packages/ota-api/package/45ba72b0b2f7c643a09d2d0875459cd01b8db998.zip
I pulled that from the update log. So blocking
https://android.googleapis.com/packages/ota-api/*/
in AdBlock or other hosts file app should do the trick. It may still see an update available, but it will definitely continue to fail when trying to download it.
But try OOS11 clean (after a factory reset). I bet all your problems will go away. I have exact same phone, not a single issue on OOS11, bootloader unlocked, latest version of Magisk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for the detailed reply.
My main reason for rooting my phone is to have full speed tethering. If that worked, I would try a reset. Since it doesn't, it's a good excuse to go back to 10 on its own for me.
No simple method for a full nandroid backup is going to slow me down. I need to go thru my apps and make sure I don't forget about anything important for a reset or a downgrade.
Do you have any hypothesis on why they forced Android 11 so hard?
During the time I wrote this message, my wifi switched networks a half dozen times. When this first started after the force to a11, I thought it was strange because I wasn't rooted and any modules shouldn't have been affecting anything. They're only added props (for the tethering module anyway). I don't have the Qualcomm crash others are reporting but maybe something in the new settings are related and causing both problems, theirs and mine.
Do you have multiple APs within reach of your phone? I've tried to disable/enable different connection options in the wifi settings and handoff settings. Nothing seems to help. It wants to drop me off my AP to any closer AP, constantly. Which is particularly annoying because I'm constantly in ssh sessions and that closes them. I can avoid that somewhat by forgetting the other APs near me so it tries to stay connected to just one but I shouldn't have to do that. I never had an issue before the update. In fact, I was actually really happy with how stable Android 10 was for our device.
Appreciative said:
Thanks so much for the detailed reply.
My main reason for rooting my phone is to have full speed tethering. If that worked, I would try a reset. Since it doesn't, it's a good excuse to go back to 10 on its own for me.
No simple method for a full nandroid backup is going to slow me down. I need to go thru my apps and make sure I don't forget about anything important for a reset or a downgrade.
Do you have any hypothesis on why they forced Android 11 so hard?
During the time I wrote this message, my wifi switched networks a half dozen times. When this first started after the force to a11, I thought it was strange because I wasn't rooted and any modules shouldn't have been affecting anything. They're only added props (for the tethering module anyway). I don't have the Qualcomm crash others are reporting but maybe something in the new settings are related and causing both problems, theirs and mine.
Do you have multiple APs within reach of your phone? I've tried to disable/enable different connection options in the wifi settings and handoff settings. Nothing seems to help. It wants to drop me off my AP to any closer AP, constantly. Which is particularly annoying because I'm constantly in ssh sessions and that closes them. I can avoid that somewhat by forgetting the other APs near me so it tries to stay connected to just one but I shouldn't have to do that. I never had an issue before the update. In fact, I was actually really happy with how stable Android 10 was for our device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly I can't help. OOS11 made my phone even better than it ever has been. No exaggeration. And not a single bug or even issue. They probably saw the same results on their test phones and pushed it really hard because they knew people had been waiting a very long time for it.
That's why I really think you have some trash left behind from your OOS10 install that made the upgrade to OOS11 go crazy. Once you get your backups done, please try a factory reset on OOS11 and don't restore any Google or other backups and just see if you have any issues. It could all be due simply to needing a "fresh install"
Edit: As for high speed tethering, is that accomplished with a Magisk module? If so, it probably needs the tiniest change in directory names/path to be compatible with OOS11, just like the boot and shutdown animation modules
Edit2: And yes, my phone can see at least 15 APs while at home. Never have any trouble connecting via 802.11ac on 2.4 or 5ghz at home, and never had any trouble with other random hotspots.
You've got some OOS10 settings/junk/leftovers interfering with OOS11. Not trying to sound like an idiot TMobile tech, but in this case you do need to factory reset and I bet all issues go away.
starcms said:
Honestly I can't help. OOS11 made my phone even better than it ever has been. No exaggeration. And not a single bug or even issue. They probably saw the same results on their test phones and pushed it really hard because they knew people had been waiting a very long time for it.
That's why I really think you have some trash left behind from your OOS10 install that made the upgrade to OOS11 go crazy. Once you get your backups done, please try a factory reset on OOS11 and don't restore any Google or other backups and just see if you have any issues. It could all be due simply to needing a "fresh install"
Edit: As for high speed tethering, is that accomplished with a Magisk module? If so, it probably needs the tiniest change in directory names/path to be compatible with OOS11, just like the boot and shutdown animation modules
Edit2: And yes, my phone can see at least 15 APs while at home. Never have any trouble connecting via 802.11ac on 2.4 or 5ghz at home, and never had any trouble with other random hotspots.
You've got some OOS10 settings/junk/leftovers interfering with OOS11. Not trying to sound like an idiot TMobile tech, but in this case you do need to factory reset and I bet all issues go away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you. I don't think you sound like the robot techs either. Yes, it can be accomplished with a magisk module. Which I first tried to edit like the animation modules. When that was unsuccessful, I did it manually by creating/editing props. The tethering provision and dun props. I even tried them in combination with another apn using only ipv4.
Some other phones report the module still working in Android 11 so I was hopeful it was just a path adjustment or that manual would work. It's still likely it could be done but I have to balance how long someone with more experience to bring a solution might take, with how long I can get by with this 600kbps throttle. I have kids and having internet (capable of YouTube, 600kbps doesn't cut it, especially on multiple devices) available for long car rides is really helpful after they're tired of playing Eye-Spy
Appreciative said:
I believe you. I don't think you sound like the robot techs either. Yes, it can be accomplished with a magisk module. Which I first tried to edit like the animation modules. When that was unsuccessful, I did it manually by creating/editing props. The tethering provision and dun props. I even tried them in combination with another apn using only ipv4.
Some other phones report the module still working in Android 11 so I was hopeful it was just a path adjustment or that manual would work. It's still likely it could be done but I have to balance how long someone with more experience to bring a solution might take, with how long I can get by with this 600kbps throttle. I have kids and having internet (capable of YouTube, 600kbps doesn't cut it, especially on multiple devices) available for long car rides is really helpful after they're tired of playing Eye-Spy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Post the Magisk module for high-speed tethering and I'll take a look at it. It'll either be really simple to get it working on OOS11...or not lol.
All credit to the authors and yadda yadda.
There's another one floating around.
In this one, I changed it to be /product/ but didn't have success.
If you do have success on a11 with it, that'd be cool. I can find out if a reset will clear up these other issues I have or not
Hello everyone, I'm in a similar situation though I was wondering if it might be a different problem.
So I bought a 7TPro Mclaren off Ebay and for the last year, it's worked fine. the phone came factory unlocked, with zero issues connecting to Telus (my Canadian provider). Last month my phone force-updated itself to android 11, and nothing but bad things have happened since. screen frame-rate tanks randomly, apps are slow, battery's tanked, the works.
After resetting the cache 3 or 4 times and still having issues, I reset the phone to factory, stock settings, but the phone still performs poorly Maybe because I re-added all my apps and pictures via Oneplus backup? either way, I'm very fed up with how the phone has been especially the battery, so I've been looking into downgrading back to Android 10, but it seems that the Tmobile variant has trouble doing that (i.e. no simple menu option).
Should I try downgrading to Android 10 again and not bothering with a backup? I don't have too much to lose as of right now so I don't mind resetting it again, but if restoring all my pictures via backup is what's causing the issue I'm willing to do that. Should I make another Oneplus backup before I do this, or should I back up the data to my PC first? I find it very irritating that T-mobile forced this update so I will try and block the upgrade in my hosts but I'm worried that won't work because I don't plan to root my phone and block the hosts files.
Any tips or help would be appreciated!
DhoomLard said:
Hello everyone, I'm in a similar situation though I was wondering if it might be a different problem.
So I bought a 7TPro Mclaren off Ebay and for the last year, it's worked fine. the phone came factory unlocked, with zero issues connecting to Telus (my Canadian provider). Last month my phone force-updated itself to android 11, and nothing but bad things have happened since. screen frame-rate tanks randomly, apps are slow, battery's tanked, the works.
After resetting the cache 3 or 4 times and still having issues, I reset the phone to factory, stock settings, but the phone still performs poorly Maybe because I re-added all my apps and pictures via Oneplus backup? either way, I'm very fed up with how the phone has been especially the battery, so I've been looking into downgrading back to Android 10, but it seems that the Tmobile variant has trouble doing that (i.e. no simple menu option).
Should I try downgrading to Android 10 again and not bothering with a backup? I don't have too much to lose as of right now so I don't mind resetting it again, but if restoring all my pictures via backup is what's causing the issue I'm willing to do that. Should I make another Oneplus backup before I do this, or should I back up the data to my PC first? I find it very irritating that T-mobile forced this update so I will try and block the upgrade in my hosts but I'm worried that won't work because I don't plan to root my phone and block the hosts files.
Any tips or help would be appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear that.
Do fresh installs for the apps.
Do direct file transfers to/from the PC for all other critical data. "Restore it all" apps can fail miserably and are hard to verify the data they supposedly stored.
11 is a mess but this might help... or not.
DhoomLard said:
Hello everyone, I'm in a similar situation though I was wondering if it might be a different problem.
So I bought a 7TPro Mclaren off Ebay and for the last year, it's worked fine. the phone came factory unlocked, with zero issues connecting to Telus (my Canadian provider). Last month my phone force-updated itself to android 11, and nothing but bad things have happened since. screen frame-rate tanks randomly, apps are slow, battery's tanked, the works.
After resetting the cache 3 or 4 times and still having issues, I reset the phone to factory, stock settings, but the phone still performs poorly Maybe because I re-added all my apps and pictures via Oneplus backup? either way, I'm very fed up with how the phone has been especially the battery, so I've been looking into downgrading back to Android 10, but it seems that the Tmobile variant has trouble doing that (i.e. no simple menu option).
Should I try downgrading to Android 10 again and not bothering with a backup? I don't have too much to lose as of right now so I don't mind resetting it again, but if restoring all my pictures via backup is what's causing the issue I'm willing to do that. Should I make another Oneplus backup before I do this, or should I back up the data to my PC first? I find it very irritating that T-mobile forced this update so I will try and block the upgrade in my hosts but I'm worried that won't work because I don't plan to root my phone and block the hosts files.
Any tips or help would be appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try another factory reset on OOS11 but don't restore any backups including Google app backups and see if problem still persists. Don't even bother logging in with your Google account at first. Just see if issues are fixed.
Morning b4 coffee rant:. I'm so tired of hearing this, TMobile/OnePlus didn't "force update" anyone's phones any more so than Google or any other manufacturer. This is my first OnePlus phone, probably will be the last because of all the serious quirks in rooting and just horrible software engineering by OnePlus and I want to throw it thru the window sometimes, but that's half from me screwing with it lol. Anyway, so I'm not OnePlus's biggest fan, but they didn't do crazy by releasing OOS11. That's how updates work...People had been (rightfully) been expecting it for a long time. And I don't have a single issue with it.
My battery life is much worse also. I blame it on the constant/aggressive wifi changes.
starcms said:
Try another factory reset on OOS11 but don't restore any backups including Google app backups and see if problem still persists. Don't even bother logging in with your Google account at first. Just see if issues are fixed.
Morning b4 coffee rant:. I'm so tired of hearing this, TMobile/OnePlus didn't "force update" anyone's phones any more so than Google or any other manufacturer. This is my first OnePlus phone, probably will be the last because of all the serious quirks in rooting and just horrible software engineering by OnePlus and I want to throw it thru the window sometimes, but that's half from me screwing with it lol. Anyway, so I'm not OnePlus's biggest fan, but they didn't do crazy by releasing OOS11. That's how updates work...People had been (rightfully) been expecting it for a long time. And I don't have a single issue with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They did force the update. There was no further postponement available. It's not cool that we have to jump thru hoops to take an OTA but the full version upgrade ignores root woes and forces itself to install. I don't mind jumping the hoops, so long as it's consistent.
I've never had this force update issue on any previous device. I've been able to ignore it indefinitely, and if rooted, need to do a manual intervention to take the OTA. I was in the middle of doing something when my phone shut down and installed a11.
This isn't my first OnePlus device. It is my first carrier tied/coupled OnePlus device. And will definitely be my last carrier coupled phone. I want to give OnePlus another chance. I had the 8 Pro and it was lackluster to say the least. I found a great medium with this device. It offered similar specs, 5G, good build quality at a reasonable price.
It may be true that other manufacturers force updates on some devices but it wasn't true for me with the Nexus or Pixel phones I had. Or my previous OnePlus device (5T/8P).
A lot of us are intentionally choosing OnePlus for the root and ubl friendliness with good specs.
I don't think anyone is saying A11 shouldn't be offered, it should be of course. It just shouldn't be forced and the safety net we thought we had to prevent that, was also swallowed up.
Give OnePlus another chance, this phone is not the typical OnePlus experience I've come to love. Or maybe this is the new OnePlus... I'm gonna give them another shot.
As a side note to this, my wife wanted the Samsung s21, coming from a OnePlus device. She is very disappointed with the s21 in just about every aspect other than the picture quality. Oppo and OnePlus are merging, I'm not even sure where to go after OnePlus
Appreciative said:
My battery life is much worse also. I blame it on the constant/aggressive wifi changes.
They did force the update. There was no further postponement available. It's not cool that we have to jump thru hoops to take an OTA but the full version upgrade ignores root woes and forces itself to install. I don't mind jumping the hoops, so long as it's consistent.
I've never had this force update issue on any previous device. I've been able to ignore it indefinitely, and if rooted, need to do a manual intervention to take the OTA. I was in the middle of doing something when my phone shut down and installed a11.
This isn't my first OnePlus device. It is my first carrier tied/coupled OnePlus device. And will definitely be my last carrier coupled phone. I want to give OnePlus another chance. I had the 8 Pro and it was lackluster to say the least. I found a great medium with this device. It offered similar specs, 5G, good build quality at a reasonable price.
It may be true that other manufacturers force updates on some devices but it wasn't true for me with the Nexus or Pixel phones I had. Or my previous OnePlus device (5T/8P).
A lot of us are intentionally choosing OnePlus for the root and ubl friendliness with good specs.
I don't think anyone is saying A11 shouldn't be offered, it should be of course. It just shouldn't be forced and the safety net we thought we had to prevent that, was also swallowed up.
Give OnePlus another chance, this phone is not the typical OnePlus experience I've come to love. Or maybe this is the new OnePlus... I'm gonna give them another shot.
As a side note to this, my wife wanted the Samsung s21, coming from a OnePlus device. She is very disappointed with the s21 in just about every aspect other than the picture quality. Oppo and OnePlus are merging, I'm not even sure where to go after OnePlus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can block OTA a couple different ways. I've done it for over 5 years with AT&T, no root needed.
My 10+ is still running happily on Pie.
Appreciative said:
A lot of us are intentionally choosing OnePlus for the root and ubl friendliness with good specs.
Oppo and OnePlus are merging, I'm not even sure where to go after OnePlus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xiaomi/Redmi/Poco meets the root and ubl friendliness. In some countries, they still have warranty coverage after unlock bootloader.
Good specs or not is vague between different phones.
Check XDA Xiaomi category and see the reply and thread count. It's to some point a sign of better price to the specs.
Use GSMarena to compare the spec.
Appreciative said:
Give OnePlus another chance, this phone is not the typical OnePlus experience I've come to love. Or maybe this is the new OnePlus... I'm gonna give them another shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, OnePlus hasn't been typical OnePlus in well over a year. Look how slow updates are now even for their latest non-carrier flagships beginning around 7T time (and can start to be seen as early as the 6T).
Appreciative said:
As a side note to this, my wife wanted the Samsung s21, coming from a OnePlus device. She is very disappointed with the s21 in just about every aspect other than the picture quality. Oppo and OnePlus are merging, I'm not even sure where to go after OnePlus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oppo and OnePlus are merging, like you said, so won't they still continue producing flagship phones at a manic rate, like Samsung? At least Samsung has gotten much better with the speed of OTA updates, while OnePlus has tanked.
We're guaranteed Android 12 for our phones. Let's see how long it takes for us to get it, probably more than a year after I make this post. The 6T is still waiting for OOS11.
To be honest, receiving the 8 Pro was disappointing. I had the pixel 2xl and it's the only thing I've returned in a decade. I got the 5T for half the price and couldn't believe how amazing that phone was. It's still alive and crack free. I put it through a lot.
Getting the 8 Pro, I knew it was $1k but I expected a lot. I was disappointed. I liked it but not $1k-liked-it. And I realized then, that maybe OnePlus had already ended their founding principles. I was most disappointed that nothing about the 8P was pushing the envelope. The 5T was breaking the envelope and the 6 was doing big moves with giant storage and ufs3 speed. After that, partially because of how well the 5T was made, I didn't follow what they were doing. I didn't need to. Now we are at OP9 and you may be right that 'that oneplus' isn't here anymore.
I did look at some oppo devices. I knew that's the parent/sister company to OnePlus and would find similar features. It just worked out that the 7T Pro 5G dropped right after I got the 8P and I traded back.
I guess I got spoiled
Appreciative said:
To be honest, receiving the 8 Pro was disappointing. I had the pixel 2xl and it's the only thing I've returned in a decade. I got the 5T for half the price and couldn't believe how amazing that phone was. It's still alive and crack free. I put it through a lot.
Getting the 8 Pro, I knew it was $1k but I expected a lot. I was disappointed. I liked it but not $1k-liked-it. And I realized then, that maybe OnePlus had already ended their founding principles. I was most disappointed that nothing about the 8P was pushing the envelope. The 5T was breaking the envelope and the 6 was doing big moves with giant storage and ufs3 speed. After that, partially because of how well the 5T was made, I didn't follow what they were doing. I didn't need to. Now we are at OP9 and you may be right that 'that oneplus' isn't here anymore.
I did look at some oppo devices. I knew that's the parent/sister company to OnePlus and would find similar features. It just worked out that the 7T Pro 5G dropped right after I got the 8P and I traded back.
I guess I got spoiled
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That's one reason I got this phone, OnePlus's prices are thru the roof. And no, I don't want any Nord crap. I want a flagship phone at a reasonable price. Got my 7T Pro 5G Mclaren for $500 brand new from eBay the day after the OP8/Pro launched. I just couldn't justify spending $1000 on a phone and I never will.