I feel like I've outgrown Android Central

[EnthalpiousKitten]

So for a little backstory... My history with Android Central dates back to 2017 when I was still in high school. I was for years incredibly famous on here for the excellent technical explanations and help I'd give to everyone. IIRC, Belodion once told me I am one of the best members here. Of course all nice things came to an abrupt stop when I nuked my original account in 2020. Those of you who were on here back then probably (and unfortunately) remember me losing my mind over all kinds of stuff and getting into disputes about nasty political crap that I since cleared my head of, and that had no place on here. I came back some time later under my current username, but things just werent the same. I just never had anything to ask, some veteran members appear to have disappeared and such. I still lurk here, but the main reason aside from being busy and the aforementioned lack of worthwhile discussions is that the stuff I do with Android far surpasses what this forum was made for.

I nowadays spend a lot of my free time doing low level reverse engineering of Android apps and games to at least try to (with a few epic successes) modify them to my liking (something I'd rather not teach here cause it can easily be abused by bad actors for nefarious/illegal activities, and there are plenty of better places on YouTube and the internet in general to learn from). All the stuff one would discuss on this forum is simply way too basic for me, so aside from nostalgia and maybe exchanging a few replies with members who really liked me in my heyday on this site, I simply dont really spend much time on here. If I do have a question for something related to Android devices in general, it's usually some repair related stuff that nobody knows anyway lol.

It's kinda cool to see how 6 years ago I was on here asking dirt-basic phone related things myself, and now I likely have much more Android related technical knowledge that probably a large portion of the staff here. I've gotten to a point where some of my friends and acquaintances who work in high-up cyber jobs are begging me to teach them what I know (I would if I didnt suck at explaining madly complicated stuff like reversing .dex bytecode files found in APKs, lol).

TL;DR I basically outgrew this forum due to gaining a little too much technical knowledge and developing an out of control addiction to low level Android software reverse engineering... Will still lurk and occasionally reply to something for old time's sake though...

 

[B. Diddy]

Ever since rooting/ROMs became less common (or necessary), this forum has primarily been one for the general user, rather than the advanced tinkerer. As we often suggest, the forums at XDA-Developers.com are probably a better bet for the tinkerer, and as knowledgeable as you are, I'm sure you know of even more esoteric ones that I'm not aware of.

Enjoy your ongoing Android wizardry, but you're always welcome here!

 

[davidnc]

I may have seen you on AC before then. But that's a long time ago. I have been on AC since 2010.
As B. Diddy mentioned this is more of a general forum. But you may find some topics you may wish to engage in here with as well.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I understand exactly what you're saying. Even general users aren't going to be as active now that Android has matured and smartphones are commodities that everyone owns. Things were a lot different when the devices and the OS were new, and most people either didn't know anyone to ask or needed to tweak things to make devices functional for their needs. That's pretty much the case with all products like smartphones, computers, microwave ovens, refrigerators, TVs, etc.

Please do check in when you get a chance, since we like having you here. Good luck with everything else you're doing.

 

[spARTacus]

I don't see why advanced topics, questions, advice can't be posted here in AC. Most users (including myself) wouldn't really understand what's going on, but then again some would learn.

 

[rvbfan]

Me for one
I really haven't done much modding or dabbled with ROMs since my Nexus days. Just don't find the need, still, nice to refresh every once in a while.
Knowledge will set you free.

 

[EnthalpiousKitten]

Ever since rooting/ROMs became less common (or necessary), this forum has primarily been one for the general user, rather than the advanced tinkerer. As we often suggest, the forums at XDA-Developers.com are probably a better bet for the tinkerer, and as knowledgeable as you are, I'm sure you know of even more esoteric ones that I'm not aware of.

Enjoy your ongoing Android wizardry, but you're always welcome here!

XDA is not exactly the friendliest place and they have had problems with elitism. I have my places where I go to for learning what I need, although I'm not gonna link cause many of those places use these skills for some shady shenanigans and all the non-shady sources don't work for my learning style. Definitely gonna be lurking around here though.

 

[EnthalpiousKitten]

I understand exactly what you're saying. Even general users aren't going to be as active now that Android has matured and smartphones are commodities that everyone owns. Things were a lot different when the devices and the OS were new, and most people either didn't know anyone to ask or needed to tweak things to make devices functional for their needs. That's pretty much the case with all products like smartphones, computers, microwave ovens, refrigerators, TVs, etc.

Please do check in when you get a chance, since we like having you here. Good luck with everything else you're doing.

Yeah that too. I've noticed many average joes even know quite a lot now so there's not as many people to help with more serious problems anymore like there was in the past.

 

[mustang7757]

So for a little backstory... My history with Android Central dates back to 2017 when I was still in high school. I was for years incredibly famous on here for the excellent technical explanations and help I'd give to everyone. IIRC, Belodion once told me I am one of the best members here. Of course all nice things came to an abrupt stop when I nuked my original account in 2020. Those of you who were on here back then probably (and unfortunately) remember me losing my mind over all kinds of stuff and getting into disputes about nasty political crap that I since cleared my head of, and that had no place on here. I came back some time later under my current username, but things just werent the same. I just never had anything to ask, some veteran members appear to have disappeared and such. I still lurk here, but the main reason aside from being busy and the aforementioned lack of worthwhile discussions is that the stuff I do with Android far surpasses what this forum was made for.

I nowadays spend a lot of my free time doing low level reverse engineering of Android apps and games to at least try to (with a few epic successes) modify them to my liking (something I'd rather not teach here cause it can easily be abused by bad actors for nefarious/illegal activities, and there are plenty of better places on YouTube and the internet in general to learn from). All the stuff one would discuss on this forum is simply way too basic for me, so aside from nostalgia and maybe exchanging a few replies with members who really liked me in my heyday on this site, I simply dont really spend much time on here. If I do have a question for something related to Android devices in general, it's usually some repair related stuff that nobody knows anyway lol.

It's kinda cool to see how 6 years ago I was on here asking dirt-basic phone related things myself, and now I likely have much more Android related technical knowledge that probably a large portion of the staff here. I've gotten to a point where some of my friends and acquaintances who work in high-up cyber jobs are begging me to teach them what I know (I would if I didnt suck at explaining madly complicated stuff like reversing .dex bytecode files found in APKs, lol).

TL;DR I basically outgrew this forum due to gaining a little too much technical knowledge and developing an out of control addiction to low level Android software reverse engineering... Will still lurk and occasionally reply to something for old time's sake though...

Even the most advanced need a place to crash and just get away so always welcome here and if you could when around give some help or tips would be appreciated.

 

[Morty2264]

I totally get what you're saying! But feel free to stick around and give input and wisdom!

 

[RickMG]

Well I see what you mean, although I'm not that into the technical side of the phone that I still need help with so many items. I joined in 2010 and this forum was so great that if you asked a question you'd get 10 answers within the first hour. Now it can be days or never until you get one. But, I think the phones have gotten so much smarter themselves that they don't leave you too much to think about or need to know. I've had a few early Notes and then the S10+, S20+ and now the S23 Ultra. The Ultra is the first one I've ever had where everything switched over, including most passwords during the switch from the 20 to the 23. It took no time to setup whereas the others would be hours of reinstalling so much. I think that's why you feel that you've outgrown the forum instead of knowing that the phone has outgrown all of us.

 

[tismydroid]

I joined in 2012 and was also on other Android sites since 2010. I started my Android experience with the OG Droid. Back then Android was new and it was all about rooting & romming in your effort of trying to get the most out of your Android because your Android phone couldn't keep up with everything you wanted to do with it. Now rooting & romming isn't necessary. Phones can do pretty much everything that 90% of the population wants them to do. The value of AC for most (including myself) is sharing features of a new release, questions when things go wrong, curiosity if others are having the same experience with a problem, etc.

 

[igotsanevo4g]

The rooting and rom scene trending towards zero has totally changed the atmosphere as you'd expect.

Years ago (joined 13 years ago sheesh) I had spent countless hours helping folks here, writing up guides and keeping the forum clean/friendly. Forum was buzzing- really enjoyed it and made some friends I still talk to occasionally. I wonder if anyone on here that interacted with me is even around anymore.

But I still come back to the forums from time to time just to check things out. Writing some articles for AC would be fun though...

 

[davidnc]

I remember your username , I was a new member here in June 2010 . Waiting for my HTC Incredible to arrive which was my first android device. There was a shortage on AMOLED screens. HTC was purchasing them, from Samsung. Samsung was being stingy selling them.
There was more talk on rooting / and rom. My second phone was the old Moto X came around same time Incredible did. I Rooted and Rom them both. After I understood how to fix them if they got bricked.

 

[igotsanevo4g]

I remember your username , I was a new member here in June 2010 . Waiting for my HTC Incredible to arrive which was my first android device. There was a shortage on AMOLED screens. HTC was purchasing them, from Samsung. Samsung was being stingy selling them.
There was more talk on rooting / and rom. My second phone was the old Moto X came around same time Incredible did. I Rooted and Rom them both. After I understood how to fix them if they got bricked.

I remember the display shortage too haha. Man those were good times! I wonder if HTC will ever make a true flagship phone again, they seem to be into niche crypto/metaverse stuff now.

I'm going to be rooting and ROM'ing my pixel 4xl soon- security updates from google ended but still available if you flash a rom. Haven't done it in years, I wonder if I'll see a nice performance/battery boost too.

 

[mustang7757]

I remember the display shortage too haha. Man those were good times! I wonder if HTC will ever make a true flagship phone again, they seem to be into niche crypto/metaverse stuff now.

I'm going to be rooting and ROM'ing my pixel 4xl soon- security updates from google ended but still available if you flash a rom. Haven't done it in years, I wonder if I'll see a nice performance/battery boost too.

Would be nice to see HTC bring a flagship again

 

[EnthalpiousKitten]

Would be nice to see HTC bring a flagship again

I'd love them to make a new HD2. From a technical standpoint it's absolutely possible to make a device that in stock form meets the security law demands of states like California that were responsible for mandatory bootloader locking since 2016, but also not locked down to the point the user can't modify it (of course as always there would be a warning on the unlock screen that the user is at the mercy of the custom OS they install). Too bad I was a kid when the HD2 came out, didnt even have a phone back then. Would have loved to have experienced that phone and for years I've been obsessively bear watching modding videos people made about it over a decade ago. I'd love to se an ultra moddable phone like that again, but this time with official support for modding by HTC themselves.

 

[Joshua Luther1]

I bounce back and forth between this and Reddit. Reddit is more active but people there can be outright mean and rude.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I've been a member since December of 2012...11 years ago. Wow...doesn't seem like it's been that long. Android certainly has matured as an OS. Back then, you practically had to root in order to do many basic things you can do today. My first reason for rooting was getting rid of the apps that were baked into the ROM but not necessary /*Cough*/ FACEBOOK/*Cough*/...

All that being said, there is nothing wrong with trying to have a more technical style like posts. I am tempted to say that there were several attempts to get the Developer side of the forums going, all to no success. I'd guess XDA and Reddit are the go-to areas for that sort of thing, but as mentioned earlier, they aren't really friendly to new people.

When I was Ambassador Team Leader, those were the examples I would often use that I didn't want to see the Ambassadors taking. If those sites didn't want the new people posting...fine. We'll gladly accept new users. The idea was, everyone at some point in time was a beginner...Michael Jordan, Magnus Carlsen, Payton Manning...all were beginners at one point. The same could be applied to someone in coding/general smartphone knowledge.

But back to the original point....The OS has become mature enough to where it is pretty reliable overall.

 

[mustang7757]

I bounce back and forth between this and Reddit. Reddit is more active but people there can be outright mean and rude.

Thats why here at AC you wont run into mean or rude people , we give a good user experience.