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Can one "downgrade" a normal android to go? Would be interesting to see what it does to your battery runtime, for people like me, who use their phones mainly fo

by bebna 9y ago

Can one "downgrade" a normal android to go? Would be interesting to see what it does to your battery runtime, for people like me, who use their phones mainly for different forms of text messaging, some news browsing and some once in a while google maps routing.

StudentStuff 9y ago
Doubtful, this seems to just be another soon to be orphaned Android variant (like Android One). Uninstalling Google Play Newsstand and most of the other Google Crapware should get you close, perhaps replace Google Play Services Framework with microG to save a few hundred megs of space?
- Grazester 9y ago
  Go apps are stripped down version of their normal counterpart. These stripped down versions are smaller in size and maybe be optimized for slower internet services. Android Ones is still going well in places like India but Google usually has a say in what hardware is used on Android One phones as they push the updates for these devices. With Android Go any hardware can be used.
  - StudentStuff 9y ago
    > Go apps are stripped down version of their normal counterpart. They're slightly smaller, but the update model is still a total mess. You can never uninstall the baked in Google Apps, and updates are extremely bulky (basically storing a 2nd copy of each Google app). > Android Ones is still going well in places like India The #1 & #2 non-Apple phone manufacturers are totally uninterested, and Xiaomi (the current Android One leader) is effectively banned from India after spying on millions. Nokia, the #3 phone manufacturer (excluding Apple), is showing tepid interest in Android One: https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/25/hmd-android-one-nokia/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/25/hmd-android-one-nokia/ But yet they're also bringing back FirefoxOS since low performing Android devices at high price points aren't pushing great volume: https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/26/kaios/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/26/kaios/ > With Android Go any hardware can be used. Sounds like a great way to orphan a device with no software updates!
    - toast0 9y ago
      The hope for running Android go versions on a nicer phone isn't to save space (nice phones have plenty) or make updates not suck (that's unlikely to change), it's that the experience might be faster because it's doing less.
    - bruceb 9y ago
      >Xiaomi (the current Android One leader) is effectively banned from India after spying on millions. How are they banned? they have the best selling phones in India. They now beating Samsung https://www.neowin.net/news/xioami-trumps-samsung-in-indian-smartphone-market-share https://www.neowin.net/news/xioami-trumps-samsung-in-indian-...
    - billfruit 9y ago
      I don't think Xiomi is banned in India, they are still available.
bsimpson 9y ago
There's an open bug in Chrome to put it in Go mode on regular hardware (crbug.com/747143). Not sure if that would help though. The performance constraints on low-end hardware are different than on others. For instance, you want as many layers as possible on regular hardware (so transitions are smooth). However, those layers eat up RAM that low-end hardware can't afford.

by bebna 9y ago

StudentStuff 9y ago

Doubtful, this seems to just be another soon to be orphaned Android variant (like Android One). Uninstalling Google Play Newsstand and most of the other Google Crapware should get you close, perhaps replace Google Play Services Framework with microG to save a few hundred megs of space?

Grazester 9y ago
Go apps are stripped down version of their normal counterpart. These stripped down versions are smaller in size and maybe be optimized for slower internet services. Android Ones is still going well in places like India but Google usually has a say in what hardware is used on Android One phones as they push the updates for these devices. With Android Go any hardware can be used.
- StudentStuff 9y ago
  > Go apps are stripped down version of their normal counterpart. They're slightly smaller, but the update model is still a total mess. You can never uninstall the baked in Google Apps, and updates are extremely bulky (basically storing a 2nd copy of each Google app). > Android Ones is still going well in places like India The #1 & #2 non-Apple phone manufacturers are totally uninterested, and Xiaomi (the current Android One leader) is effectively banned from India after spying on millions. Nokia, the #3 phone manufacturer (excluding Apple), is showing tepid interest in Android One: https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/25/hmd-android-one-nokia/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/25/hmd-android-one-nokia/ But yet they're also bringing back FirefoxOS since low performing Android devices at high price points aren't pushing great volume: https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/26/kaios/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/26/kaios/ > With Android Go any hardware can be used. Sounds like a great way to orphan a device with no software updates!
  - toast0 9y ago
    The hope for running Android go versions on a nicer phone isn't to save space (nice phones have plenty) or make updates not suck (that's unlikely to change), it's that the experience might be faster because it's doing less.
  - bruceb 9y ago
    >Xiaomi (the current Android One leader) is effectively banned from India after spying on millions. How are they banned? they have the best selling phones in India. They now beating Samsung https://www.neowin.net/news/xioami-trumps-samsung-in-indian-smartphone-market-share https://www.neowin.net/news/xioami-trumps-samsung-in-indian-...
  - billfruit 9y ago
    I don't think Xiomi is banned in India, they are still available.

bsimpson 9y ago

There's an open bug in Chrome to put it in Go mode on regular hardware (crbug.com/747143). Not sure if that would help though. The performance constraints on low-end hardware are different than on others. For instance, you want as many layers as possible on regular hardware (so transitions are smooth). However, those layers eat up RAM that low-end hardware can't afford.