Category: OnePlus One

OnePlus One Android 5.0 Lollipop First Boot and UI Test (CM 12)

November 15, 2014

OnePlus One Lollipop Android 5.0

I loaded up a fresh build of Lollipop from XDA for the OnePlus One. It is running well overall but I do miss some of the CM options that were on CM 11S. Android 5.0 feels so light and so smooth and switching between applications feels great. Watch the video below for an idea of how setting it up looks and the general UI afterwards.

Forum Post with Lollipop Build

Messenger (SMS/MMS in Material Design)

November 13, 2014

A while back Google integrated text messaging with Hangouts, and then tried to make the application smooth but only made it worse. This in turn made it incredibly horrible for sending quick text messages and switching between multiple conversations was a slow process. Sometimes I would even miss text messages only due to the transition lag when switching between conversations.

Alas, Messenger is born.

A smooth, quick, and good looking SMS/MMS application with material design was just released by Google. This is the stock messaging application on Lollipop, but it is also available for download on any device with Android 4.1 or above. The search feature as shown below is very smooth and animated very well. Switching between conversations is very smooth and quick. Sending text messages is a light breeze and no longer feels like a heavy chore. MMS messages now notify when their download process begins and they are displayed in a much nicer format. Overall this app was well needed and finally I cant text without being disgusted.

Available here on the Play Store

Material Design Messenger

OnePlus One Update 44S Addresses Several Bugs (OTA/Manual)

November 8, 2014

OnePlus has been doing a great job with CyanogenMod, updating it frequently to address the bugs in the system. The downside is that their software was far from perfect when the phone was released, but every update brings the phone closer to greatness. You can wait for the OTA or manually update using an incremental update zip from the recovery. Be careful though as this is only incremental and should only be installed over 38R.

OnePlus One OTA 44S

Here are the list of changes according to OnePlus:

Fixed issues with memory causing screen artifacts
Fixed issues with random reboots and instability
Fixed issues with WiFi and modem crashes
Fixed issues with Filesystem
Fixed issues with “black bar”
Fixed issues with persist partition corruption
Fixed issues with AT&T VoLTE

https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/cm-11s-44s-ota-is-out.173057/

The update zip can be found here.

OnePlus One New Synaptics Firmware Fixes Touch Issues

October 2, 2014

I have switched from the stock kernel to the Franco kernel which implements Synaptics’ new firmware for the touchscreen and the difference is huge. No longer are there any issues when typing fast or scrolling and the phone finally feels like a finished product. It is amazing how a bad firmware for the touchscreen can make the whole experience of using a phone horrible.

Until the official update comes you can use Franco’s kernel on either Cm 11s or AOSP Roms. I am using it with a CM Nightly and it is running flawlessly.

The app isn’t necessary but it has some great features: Play Store

Screenshot_2014-10-02-12-21-41
Franco kernel updater

How To Fix The Recent OnePlus One Battery Drain Bug (Update)

September 9, 2014

Update 9/13/14: The battery is better but still nowhere near the 7 hours screen on time and 40+ standby of old times.

The battery life was really bad after the most recent two updates, even though they claimed to fix the battery drain bug in them. My last resort was to install the newest CM Nightly (9/07/2014) on it, and the difference is HUGE. I am finally back to the way things were when I first purchased the phone. The battery lasts 2 days  over one day and gets over almost 5 hours of screen time again.

CM Nightly List
CM Nightly List

That’s it, if you want to go back to the way things were, install the newest CM 11 Nightly and enjoy the difference. It will not void your warranty, but do it at your own risk. Also, don’t forget to install the camera apk from CM 11s to enjoy 4k recording and switch to ART for better battery. Many of the software bugs are gone now, the only bug that remains is the touchscreen ghosting/jumps, that will supposedly be fixed with a future firmware upgrade.

Links:

Guide to Unlock Bootloader and Flash Recovery: https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/guide-oneplus-one-how-to-unlock-bootloader-install-custom-recovery-and-root.64487/

CM 11 Nightly: http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=bacon

CM 11 Gapps: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Google_Apps

CM 11s Camera APK with 4k: http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/themes-apps/app-cameranext-one-plus-one-cm11s-t2730715

Honest Issues with the OnePlus One

September 5, 2014

No holding back, here they are:

  • Typing fast is impossible and even typing slow the keyboard jumps every few words due to touch issues
  • The new updates have destroyed the amazing battery life that it originally shipped with (especially standby)
  • The touchscreen randomly decides to stop working in most or all areas and doesn’t work until I force a reboot (happens frequently)
  • Inconsistent speaker volume between different OPO on the new update
  • The new screen color default isn’t my most preferred and isn’t nearly as accurate as it was before
  • The audio recording is the worst I have ever heard on a smartphone when used for PTT such as in Whatsapp
  • Using Snapchat and flipping from front to back camera more than once per fresh boot freezes the phone and gives a camera error with the only fix being a reboot.

I didn’t mind the touch issues in the beginning, but it is making the phone very unreliable and at times when I need the phone, I am completely unable to use it. I think I would have been better off with a Nexus 5 and a cheap point and shoot camera by its side, this phone is getting on my nerves.

Also, the battery went from 7 hours of screen on time and 40+ hours of standby to 2 hours of screen on time and 16 hours of standby, that is a pretty intense change for what was a battery bug fix in the last update.

OnePlus One 4.4.4 Update XNPH30O Review (CM 11s) (Updated)

August 12, 2014
Without Clear Image
Without Clear Image
With Clear Image On
With Clear Image On

Finally, the update has arrived, but not for everyone…including me. So if you go here over at Android Police, you can find the zip file that you can manually install. You can put it on the root of your device and just go to the stock recovery and apply update since it is an official update. I did it this way and it worked fine for me. Overall, the update is great so I will list the nice new things and I will also list the bad new things.

  • Good:
    • New Dialer
    • Search Feature in Settings
    • Clear Image Feature
    • Performance Improvements
    • App Drawer Grid is Now 6 Rows
    • Gestures Won’t Activate While in Pocket
    • Camera Features/Settings Tightened Up
    • Audio Recording Issues Fixed (Quality Is Still Bad Though)
    • Heads Up Notifications (If you like them)
    • New Launcher (Transition Settings and more!)
  • Bad:
    • Update 8/17/2014: Much worse battery life, getting around half the usage compared to before. A fix was promised to come soon though.
    • Screen is Now Too Blue (Let us choose the warmth please)
    • Back Removed From Settings Top Nav Bar
    • Clear Image Requires a Stable Hand/Tripod (Fine with me :D)

Enjoy the video below showing everything I just wrote about:

Update 8/23/2014: Update XNPH33R Incremental

This update is supposed to address the battery life issues and have security fixes. So far I have not noticed any real difference, but I will make a video after testing it for a few days to see how it is after it settles.

Incremental Update
Incremental Update

Update 9/18/2014: The update did not help much and the battery drain is still present as are the serious touch issues.

Update 10/7/2014: CM 11S 38R Update is out. It is supposed to fix the many things that were wrong. Check here for the changelog.

ART vs. Dalvik – OnePlus One Battery Life Review

August 7, 2014

We are all wondering…which gets better battery and which performs better? Watch the video to find out. I show two usual cases of standby and screen on time for each. Comparing the same usage on them both with several days of use on each after giving them time to settle in first, I have come to a definite conclusion. ART destroys Dalvik on the OnePlus One. Not only are things more responsive but it feels just lighter as if it is having an easier time running Android. This really showed in the battery life tests as I reached up to 7 hours of screen on time! If you have a OnePlus One, switch it to ART and see what I am talking about.

Here is the video review showing some screencasts and screenshots:

I have finally fixed my audio/mic recording issues and I will share how I did that soon.