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As an end-user having my last four phones as Xiaomi's that get upgraded to LineageOS upon their replacement as the primary phone, this affects me in an indirect

As an end-user having my last four phones as Xiaomi's that get upgraded to LineageOS upon their replacement as the primary phone, this affects me in an indirect fashion: I bought Xiaomi's because they were popular for custom ROMs, and their popularity was based on decent hardware for a decent price with a boot loader that's unlockable without too much hassle. Once the bootloader unlock becomes a hassle, fewer developers will want to touch them, so their popularity for hobbyists will decline, therefore their sales will decline, leading to even further decreasing popularity amongst developers. It'll be interesting to see how much difference it makes to sales, but Xiaomi will no longer be a preferred brand for me to consider. Pixels seem to be great for custom ROM compatibility, but they're ridiculously expensive even on the second hand market. Motorola might be the new go-to.

karambanoonoo 2y ago
But they don't make LOS for new Xiaomi phones for a long time now, though? Unless you want some shady rom made by some rando from xda.
- BLKNSLVR 2y ago
  I have one with "Pixel Experience" and one with 'PixelOS". Both of which, by my understanding, are built on top of unofficial Lineage OS releases - but I might be way off base.
  - patrakov 2y ago
    Pixel Experience was not based on LineageOS. And Pixel Experience is dead and unsupported now. While there is no official direct successor, EvolutionX offers a comparable feature set.
arresin 2y ago
It’s one per year and the stated reasons are fair enough. Even if you get a new phone every year it’s business as usual.
- BLKNSLVR 2y ago
  Yes, that doesn't really affect me as an end user, but I think it disproportionately would affect developers. If it makes their lives harder then they'll avoid. I think the stated reasons are bullshit. Unlocking the bootloader isn't a process your regular customer base is performing, so it will only affect the hobbyists. They're basically stating they don't want the hobbyist community anymore. And maybe that's a bit harsh given they're just dropping from three per year to one per year, but why? How much of a difference to their stated reasons* will the change from three to one make? I think it's just the tightening of a screw that's intending to squeeze out an element they no longer want. (Or maybe it's to satiate an untrusting US government, to delay their own Huawei-ing) *Reasons stated in the article are assumptions and haven't come directly from Xiaomi.
  - nindalf 2y ago
    > disproportionately would affect developers Developers of what? If it affected every software developer out there, then yeah this is a major issue. But it's a small subset of developers - mobile developers. Actually, a smaller subset - the ones on Android, not iOS. And even smaller than that - not the ones who develop apps in Kotlin (what we see on the Play Store), but the ones who hack in C++ on AOSP. Every community likes to imagine that it is disproportionately large and powerful and influential (unless being tiny is a flex) and the ROM community is no different. To put it in perspective, the size of the LineageOS install base is 1.5 million, which is 0.05% of the total Android install base - 3 billion. To claim that this community will make any difference to the vast majority of normies who just want to use WhatsApp, TikTok and their bank app - it's a bit delusional if I'm honest. And to somehow tie this to the US government, that's full on tinfoil hat conspiracy mongering. You cannot be serious.
    - BLKNSLVR 2y ago
      Totally understand the size of the install base for LOS. As someone else said, their target market is SE Asia. Where I am, Xiaomi is pretty much an enthusiast / hobbyist only brand.
    - 2y ago
urronglol 2y ago
That loss of 1000 or so users will really affect them I am sure. Got to remember HN and hacker culture is an echo-chamber.
- BLKNSLVR 2y ago
  That's always a valid point, and I'm going to say 'but', but it's a 'but' without a lot of conviction: But, in Australia at least, it's not super easy to buy a Xiaomi. I have to go looking for them. Samsung is synonymous with Android, it's Apple or Samsung that people say, not Apple or Android. People still look at me sideways when I say it's a Xiaomi (or Poco). Australia isn't really a market that acts as any kind of leading indicator though.
  - urronglol 2y ago
    So exactly the point. Not their target market is it. SE Asia they are practically the number one selling phone with OPPO. And a minority (and I mean minority, perhaps a low thousands) will be wanting custom roms.
    - chii 2y ago
      It sucks that companies have so successfully trained an entire generation (or more) of people who treat their phone (and computer too) like an appliance. hardly anyone would be tinkering their phone to make the hardware do more than the default applications. The same is happening (or is already happened) to cars.
      - krisoft 2y ago
        I'm not sure if it is the companies who "trained" anyone that. I think it is more correct to say that many wants that and companies recognised this desire and are offering what the costumers want. The companies do this simply because this is the way to grow their market. For every single person who finds enjoyment in twiddling with their tools, there are hundreds who just want the thing to work and get on with other things in their life.
trallnag 2y ago
What are you using these secondary phones for? Mine just collect dust in a drawer
- BLKNSLVR 2y ago
  One acts as a backup for my primary phone, I keep them as basically a mirror of each other as much as possible in case the primary gets stolen or broken. That same one, or a different one, gets used as my 'house' device on WiFi only, so that my primary phone's battery gets used less and is therefore less likely to need charging if and when I need to leave the house. I have one as a semi-hardware cryptocurrency wallet that can go online if necessary, but primarily is offline. I also used to use one GPS spoofing in Pokémon Go - I actually found the intellectual challenge of getting it working far more satisfying than the actual act of playing Pogo 'remotely'. But I'm a couple of years 'sober' now and have no desire to regress. I've also used a phone or two as webcams / security cameras. Permanently plugged in, but with the app ACCA (requires root) which limits charging to within certain battery percentages to minimise the chances of spicy pillows.

karambanoonoo 2y ago

But they don't make LOS for new Xiaomi phones for a long time now, though? Unless you want some shady rom made by some rando from xda.

BLKNSLVR 2y ago
I have one with "Pixel Experience" and one with 'PixelOS". Both of which, by my understanding, are built on top of unofficial Lineage OS releases - but I might be way off base.
- patrakov 2y ago
  Pixel Experience was not based on LineageOS. And Pixel Experience is dead and unsupported now. While there is no official direct successor, EvolutionX offers a comparable feature set.

arresin 2y ago

It’s one per year and the stated reasons are fair enough. Even if you get a new phone every year it’s business as usual.

BLKNSLVR 2y ago
Yes, that doesn't really affect me as an end user, but I think it disproportionately would affect developers. If it makes their lives harder then they'll avoid. I think the stated reasons are bullshit. Unlocking the bootloader isn't a process your regular customer base is performing, so it will only affect the hobbyists. They're basically stating they don't want the hobbyist community anymore. And maybe that's a bit harsh given they're just dropping from three per year to one per year, but why? How much of a difference to their stated reasons* will the change from three to one make? I think it's just the tightening of a screw that's intending to squeeze out an element they no longer want. (Or maybe it's to satiate an untrusting US government, to delay their own Huawei-ing) *Reasons stated in the article are assumptions and haven't come directly from Xiaomi.
- nindalf 2y ago
  > disproportionately would affect developers Developers of what? If it affected every software developer out there, then yeah this is a major issue. But it's a small subset of developers - mobile developers. Actually, a smaller subset - the ones on Android, not iOS. And even smaller than that - not the ones who develop apps in Kotlin (what we see on the Play Store), but the ones who hack in C++ on AOSP. Every community likes to imagine that it is disproportionately large and powerful and influential (unless being tiny is a flex) and the ROM community is no different. To put it in perspective, the size of the LineageOS install base is 1.5 million, which is 0.05% of the total Android install base - 3 billion. To claim that this community will make any difference to the vast majority of normies who just want to use WhatsApp, TikTok and their bank app - it's a bit delusional if I'm honest. And to somehow tie this to the US government, that's full on tinfoil hat conspiracy mongering. You cannot be serious.
  - BLKNSLVR 2y ago
    Totally understand the size of the install base for LOS. As someone else said, their target market is SE Asia. Where I am, Xiaomi is pretty much an enthusiast / hobbyist only brand.
  - 2y ago

urronglol 2y ago

That loss of 1000 or so users will really affect them I am sure. Got to remember HN and hacker culture is an echo-chamber.

BLKNSLVR 2y ago
That's always a valid point, and I'm going to say 'but', but it's a 'but' without a lot of conviction: But, in Australia at least, it's not super easy to buy a Xiaomi. I have to go looking for them. Samsung is synonymous with Android, it's Apple or Samsung that people say, not Apple or Android. People still look at me sideways when I say it's a Xiaomi (or Poco). Australia isn't really a market that acts as any kind of leading indicator though.
- urronglol 2y ago
  So exactly the point. Not their target market is it. SE Asia they are practically the number one selling phone with OPPO. And a minority (and I mean minority, perhaps a low thousands) will be wanting custom roms.
  - chii 2y ago
    It sucks that companies have so successfully trained an entire generation (or more) of people who treat their phone (and computer too) like an appliance. hardly anyone would be tinkering their phone to make the hardware do more than the default applications. The same is happening (or is already happened) to cars.
    - krisoft 2y ago
      I'm not sure if it is the companies who "trained" anyone that. I think it is more correct to say that many wants that and companies recognised this desire and are offering what the costumers want. The companies do this simply because this is the way to grow their market. For every single person who finds enjoyment in twiddling with their tools, there are hundreds who just want the thing to work and get on with other things in their life.

trallnag 2y ago

What are you using these secondary phones for? Mine just collect dust in a drawer

BLKNSLVR 2y ago
One acts as a backup for my primary phone, I keep them as basically a mirror of each other as much as possible in case the primary gets stolen or broken. That same one, or a different one, gets used as my 'house' device on WiFi only, so that my primary phone's battery gets used less and is therefore less likely to need charging if and when I need to leave the house. I have one as a semi-hardware cryptocurrency wallet that can go online if necessary, but primarily is offline. I also used to use one GPS spoofing in Pokémon Go - I actually found the intellectual challenge of getting it working far more satisfying than the actual act of playing Pogo 'remotely'. But I'm a couple of years 'sober' now and have no desire to regress. I've also used a phone or two as webcams / security cameras. Permanently plugged in, but with the app ACCA (requires root) which limits charging to within certain battery percentages to minimise the chances of spicy pillows.