samsung proprietary android OS

maumau

maumau

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if samsung go for this will they become like apple where you can only use their hardware with their software?

i've read that the basic android OS is modified for HTC, LG, Samsung etc so is it not the same software on all devices? i've also read but don't understand that samsung products use android with their own software "on top"???? what's that all about? can their software be removed and you're left with ordinary android?

it's a worry that we might land up locked into a specific manufacturer because of their software - or will that never happen?
 
There can never be a proprietary version of Android. Android is open-source software, and once it is open-source, it will always remain so.

What Samsung, HTC and the other OEMs have done, is to add their own customisations to vanilla (original) Android. I am not sure if these are proprietary, or are also released as open source, but they don't break Android. They provide you with extra features, and in some cases, useless junk and other unncessary bloatware.

You can root almost all Android devices, and load a custom ROM onto it. This could be vanilla Android, or any other compatible ROM.

So no, once you're on Android, you don't have to be worried about being locked into a particular manufacturer, unless you dig their customisations and proprietary apps so much that you don't see any other choice but to stick with them.
 
All Samsung, HTC, LG and the other manufacturers do is add their own apps and own launcher. Android is Android.

There is no 'proprietary' Android. :)
 
genetic said:
There is no 'proprietary' Android. :)
Click to expand...
Yes all same versions of Android start off from the same base source code, but due to the amount of modification/augmentation the OEMs are implementing (much of it closed source), there are practical differences from a functional perspective. You cant for instance take Samsung's Email client (.apk) and run it on another version of Android, as it relies on a proprietary sw framework Samsung overlays on the base OS.

Also the source code & implementation at the driver level (HAL) can result in performance variances. So from an end-user perceptive the OEM variants don't have exactly the same functionality or look/perform the same.
 
So basically the core OS is open source BUT the individual apps are proprietary.
 
Well by that logic iOS is just as open source as Android since it's based on Darwin/FreeBSD and simply runs a proprietary layer on top.

You are either open or you are closed, end of story.
 
Hi folks,

got a new samsung s4 mini on upgrade, found many Vodafone apps preinstalled on the Jellybean os. Does anyone have contact to get the original jellybean android OS. I would like to reinstall without anything to do with Vodafone.
 
Saajid said:
There can never be a proprietary version of Android. Android is open-source software, and once it is open-source, it will always remain so.

What Samsung, HTC and the other OEMs have done, is to add their own customisations to vanilla (original) Android. I am not sure if these are proprietary, or are also released as open source, but they don't break Android. They provide you with extra features, and in some cases, useless junk and other unncessary bloatware.

You can root almost all Android devices, and load a custom ROM onto it. This could be vanilla Android, or any other compatible ROM.

So no, once you're on Android, you don't have to be worried about being locked into a particular manufacturer, unless you dig their customisations and proprietary apps so much that you don't see any other choice but to stick with them.
Click to expand...

Well it boils down to GPL and other licences used. Android as the OS can not be proprietary but nothing stops OEM's from branching the OS and make so under a new name. Obviously losing the name and Google applications like the play & maps. We can see some examples of just this in the world. Kindle Fire OS, even if its Android they used the same clause as Tivo, See Tivoization to make it their own withholding the source of most of the code used. This was the main reason for the birth of GPLv3 to blick just this type of move, note: Linux Kernel is still GPLv2 that allows for this kind of thing.

Note Android falls under the Apache License. The Kernel is GPLv2
So TL;DR yes you can branch it and make your branch Proprietary.

Also, any code the OEM's add to Android must be pushed up stream, but this is only to code, if they add applications or even replace applications it can fall under any licence they chose. So if they make their own dialer to replace the default one in Android they can and licence it proprietary, and some like HTC do just this. They can do this for almost all of the OS.

Now here comes the catch and why most OEM's don't fork in general:
1. if you do fork you create more work for yourself as every update that comes out needs to be incorporated into your work or you stand a chance to..
2. losing compatibility also means you would lose applications placing you in the same boat as the smaller mobile OS's out there. (Little to no Apps)
 
Last edited:
Samsung's "proprietary" OS historically has been Bada which they have merged into the Tizen project.

There has actually been a hell of a lot of alternative to android by hardware manufacturer work done but fundamentally it is all a failure - Nokia's big ****up wasn't going with WP or working on Symbian (which still has a huge potential if they put it to proper use - i.e non consumer orientated devices) it was with Maemo which went into Meego and is now Mer which will work with Tizen's platform but its not entirely clear how. I do believe very strongly that Samsung has a general strategy to build a Samsung proprietary ecosystem using Android and mimicking Apple as a stepping stone while their long term goal is actually quite a dominant lock position
 
smi said:
Hi folks,

got a new samsung s4 mini on upgrade, found many Vodafone apps preinstalled on the Jellybean os. Does anyone have contact to get the original jellybean android OS. I would like to reinstall without anything to do with Vodafone.
Click to expand...

not near a pc now and internet slow on my phone when i'm at my in laws, but go have a look at slimbean or supernexus. i liked supernexus on my s2, now i'm on slimbean. very nice. even the beta version is smooth).

i'm sure someone here can point you in the durection of what to do if you get lost on the websites. ;)
 
did not get positive feedback from Vodacom so I cancelled upgrade and stayed with BB
 
Samsung could in fact fork android and bypass the Play Store, all they really need to do is make sure AAA developers port their apps to the Samsung App store, already most applications are already optimised for Samsung devices
 
mmmig said:
Samsung could in fact fork android and bypass the Play Store, all they really need to do is make sure AAA developers port their apps to the Samsung App store, already most applications are already optimised for Samsung devices
Click to expand...

Samsung store is cr@p, because you are locked to the Samsung device. At least with the Play store, you can install the app on any of your devices once you have purchased it.
 
genetic said:
Samsung store is cr@p, because you are locked to the Samsung device. At least with the Play store, you can install the app on any of your devices once you have purchased it.
Click to expand...

Is it really device-locked? Can't you just sign in with your Samsung account on a different device, and then still access the same apps your purchased? And can you set up multiple Samsung accounts on a device, like you can with Google Accounts?
 
Saajid said:
Is it really device-locked? Can't you just sign in with your Samsung account on a different device, and then still access the same apps your purchased? And can you set up multiple Samsung accounts on a device, like you can with Google Accounts?
Click to expand...

Its locked to devices with the Samsung app store on them.
So if you had a samsung device and installed a custom rom them you wouldnt be able install your apps from the samsung app store.
 
smi said:
Hi folks,

got a new samsung s4 mini on upgrade, found many Vodafone apps preinstalled on the Jellybean os. Does anyone have contact to get the original jellybean android OS. I would like to reinstall without anything to do with Vodafone.
Click to expand...

Meerkat bothering you? :D

[video=youtube;XBfXs6Gy_KY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBfXs6Gy_KY[/video]
 
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