James Gatt
Student Developer, Android Custom ROM Maintainer
L-Iklin, Malta
AOSP Enthusiast
Recognized Developer on XDA Developers
AOSP & Device Engineer
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Code AOSP: No time to EOL (die)
Agent James Gatt is enjoying a tranquil life after departing from his daily driver, the Google Pixel 2 XL which lost regular Android updates after October 2020 on Android 11.
However, his peace is short-lived as James comes across an old friend of his, AOSP.
AOSP is on a mission to rescue legacy devices (including his Pixel 2 XL) from the captivity of EOL and needs agent Gatt to help!
The mission of bringing up newer firmware for older hardware sounds like a difficult one, but will James manage to bring new life to unsupported devices and put an end to EOL?
During this treacherous adventure with agent Gatt, we follow the:
• Dangers of unlocking the bootloader.
• Discovery of open source code!
• Handling of deprecations…
• Encounter of custom ROMs!
all with the intention of keeping the Android community safe and up to date!
Do you think agent Gatt is up to the task to recover his long lost Google Pixel 2 XL?
Android is open source, what does that mean for us?
Were you aware that the average consumer opts to buy a new device every 2 years?
Consequently, most Android device OEMs prefer to cut Android support after 2 years, alongside the end of app support coming with newer API levels.
What if I tell you that we, as Android developers, can decrease the vast e-waste caused from such frequent device upgrades.
With the ever-growing community of AOSP enthusiasts, it’s not unreasonable to promote flashing unofficial firmware on your phone now, or further down in your device’s lifecycle. I have learnt from my experience that thanks to this development, there exist many benefits of what’s to come from the Android Open Source Project. Encountering different situations under different phones and OEMs, made me believe that our devices can last longer than we imagine, to cater for a safer and a more useful experience.
So, where do we start?
Android Open Source: What more can we do with Android?
Have you ever wondered how Android is built?
The idea behind the Android Open Source Project is to enable developers to make use of the Android environment.
But Android being open source, lets us do so much more with the Android platform!
Custom ROM developments help us unlock, customise and improve our device experience to the next level.
Let’s discuss all about:
• Creating a buildable Android environment.
• Compiling Android as device firmware.
• Android Custom ROMs and other developments.
• The benefits of custom Android developments.
• Expanding the Android OS to different devices. (IoT devices, legacy hardware, etc.)
By the end of this talk, you will understand how to get started with Android’s open source nature, whilst doing your part to minimise the ever-growing e-waste problem we are facing today!
droidcon Berlin 2023 Upcoming
DevFest 2022 Malta
Have you ever wondered how Android is built?
The idea behind the Android Open Source Project is to enable developers to make use of the Android environment. Android being open source, lets us do so much more with the Android platform! Custom ROM developments help us unlock, customise and improve our device experience to the next level.By the end of this talk, you will understand how to get started with Android’s open source nature, whilst doing your part to minimise the ever-growing e-waste problem we are facing today!
Google I/O Extended Malta 2022
Android is open source, what does that mean for us?
Let's explore all about Android's open source nature
James Gatt
Student Developer, Android Custom ROM Maintainer
L-Iklin, Malta