I tried Stock Android and HATED it

[JordB]

 

In nearly every phone review video, Linus ends up complaining about basic Android features. So we set him up with a STOCK Android experience to see how long he’d last. It didn’t go well.

[Slipping Jimmy]

Android Generic System Images (GSIs) are for app developers to perform app validation and for development purposes.

 

It's not meant to be used as an everyday phone.

[manikyath]

6 minutes ago, XG BC said:

I think you should have clarified more clearly that this is the generic GSI rom. People referring to stock android generally mean the pixels normal ui.

if only they explained this at about 4 minutes into the video... and made it the very point of the video; "there is no stock android, so stop asking to use stock android"

[Skyyblaze]

12 minutes ago, XG BC said:

I think you should have clarified more clearly that this is the generic GSI rom. People referring to stock android generally mean the pixels normal ui nowadays, because its the way google intended, oems that follow this are google (duh) motorola and nokia.

I felt this was exactly the point of the video though. Stock Android as people used in the past isn't really a thing anymore outside of LineageOS etc. which still make their own tweaks and as Linus said Custom ROMs have their own caveats. The Pixel UI is so "flavored" by itself nowadays that calling that stock Android also feels quite disingenuous.

[tkitch]

29 minutes ago, XG BC said:

I think you should have clarified more clearly that this is the generic GSI rom. People referring to stock android generally mean the pixels normal ui nowadays, because its the way google intended, oems that follow this are google (duh) motorola and nokia.

he literally covered this in the video.  

 

There is no stock, every vendor customizes it to their whims.  

[SansVarnic]

30 minutes ago, XG BC said:

should have clarified more clearly that this is the generic GSI rom

It was clear, they even used a nice screen sized graphic at 0:31 ... 

30 minutes ago, XG BC said:

People referring to stock android generally mean the pixels normal ui nowadays

Nobody I'm aware of, thinks this. Stock means stock, not pixel flavor.

[Sqg555]

Sooooooooo many comments are going to get deleted on the YouTube vid for actively and deliberately missing the point of the video. It's going to be a bloodbath.

[mahRoid]

Thay should try evolution x it s the best custom rom ever and it give so many features like long swip to kill front app

Working banking apps

Dolby Atmos 

Unlimited google photos and videos 

Support for spastic device features 

Like my redmi note 10 pro get the miui camera for original picture performance and support for haptic feedback like stock rom 

[powertoys]

23 minutes ago, Sqg555 said:

Sooooooooo many comments are going to get deleted on the YouTube vid for actively and deliberately missing the point of the video. It's going to be a bloodbath.

Even if they explained themselves later in the video, it's still LTT's fault for the misleading clickbait. They know exactly what people mean when they say "stock Android", and it sure as hell isn't a GSI ROM.

 

"Stock Android" these days is just a blanket term for the Android implementation that looks the most like Pixels. Android One phones had the "purest" flavor of Android by far. They were even more "stock" than Pixel phones. Nearly every Nokia phone was an "Android One" phone, but now that the program and Nokia are no longer a thing, I consider Motorola to be the best candidate for people who enjoy stock Android. Their interface is just Android with really good additions, and you can ACTUALLY BUY THEM if you are not in the very few countries that Google sells Pixels...

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, powertoys said:

Even if they explained themselves later in the video, it's still LTT's fault for the misleading clickbait. They know exactly what people mean when they say "stock Android", and it sure as hell isn't a GSI ROM.

which is why they made it the point of the video?

6 minutes ago, powertoys said:

"Stock Android" these days is just a blanket term for the Android implementation that looks the most like Pixels. 

4:10 "there isnt really a stock android"

5:30 "all manufacturers, even google themselves.."

 

perhaps, maybe just maybe, this video was a jab at people who keep shouting "use stock android", and explain why their statement is flawed. your statement is correct.. but it's also exactly the point made in the video.

[dywed88]

35 minutes ago, manikyath said:

which is why they made it the point of the video?

4:10 "there isnt really a stock android"

5:30 "all manufacturers, even google themselves.."

 

perhaps, maybe just maybe, this video was a jab at people who keep shouting "use stock android", and explain why their statement is flawed. your statement is correct.. but it's also exactly the point made in the video.

The vast majority of people will watch the first 4 minutes of the video thinking it was referring to what is on the Pixel, a substantial portion of those will turn it off before the fourth minute. The average consumer will not know what GSI is, they will just see Linus asking for a phone with stock Android and saying "Great a Pixel" and assume it is referencing the UI on a Pixel.

 

If they had clarified what GSI is at 30 seconds, basically nobody would be complaining.

 

The first portion of this video will absolutely mislead many people and it should be taken down and replaced with a clearer version.

[__Dreamer__]

Really interesting video but as user of many customs on my Poco X3 NFC (surya) and Redmi note 10 pro (sweet) there's a lot of stuff that you didn't mentioned.

First, you have used a GSI on a device with genuine good custom support. That the wrong approach. If a device have decent support means that the device trees are available, usually from LineageOS (which you have mentioned lol) and that ensures that the custom will be optimized for that device. 

 

Most of the issues you have are because you are using GSI not a proper custom for your device.

 

Also, you said that pixel features are not usable on stock android. Wrong. Stuff like pixelify and spoofing do work on almost every custom. Even banking apps works as well

 

You can use stuff like Shamiko, Zygisk assistant, pif and Airfrozen.

 

 

 

Anyway, i can recommend some good customs like EvolutionX and RisingOS

 

 

[manikyath]

9 minutes ago, dywed88 said:

The vast majority of people will watch the first 4 minutes of the video thinking it was referring to what is on the Pixel, a substantial portion of those will turn it off before the fourth minute

that's a you problem.

10 minutes ago, dywed88 said:

The average consumer will not know what GSI is

if only linus explained this in the video.. i know you want this to be in the first 30 seconds, but if everything you'd wan tto be in the first 30 seconds was in there, the first 30 seconds would be 10 mintes long.. oh wait..

 

9 minutes ago, __Dreamer__ said:

Most of the issues you have are because you are using GSI not a proper custom for your device.

9 minutes ago, __Dreamer__ said:

usually from LineageOS (which you have mentioned lol)

what do you think the point of mentioning lineageOS was? a shady back alley brand integration deal? or pointing people to what they should be rooting for, instead of shouting "stock android" in his comments?

 

also "custom rom" <=> "stock android"... i hope i dont need to explain this?

[__Dreamer__]

well i can agree but

Linus mentioned LineageOS so at that point, why didn't he used a proper custom? GSI are not meant for end users, period. No wonder that he had those issues.

Pixel 8 have an insane amount of really great custom he could have used and all of them are based on Stock android. 

[powertoys]

33 minutes ago, dywed88 said:

The first portion of this video will absolutely mislead many people and it should be taken down and replaced with a clearer version.

This. Seems like people have trouble admitting that LTT did a very poor job to explain their point. They had to pin a comment in the video to clarify which is not a good sign

[Blubatt]

I think it was a slightly unfair video, all things considered. It was not a fair assessment of stock android. However, the points raised are valid, to my mind. Pixel's implementation (Not Google's, the Pixel team, and I think that should be made clearer) of Android has become, for lack of a better term, their own 'skin'. It isn't stock, and I think Linus was right about that. 

 

To play devil's advocate, though, is there a stock android experience for end users, that isn't GSI? I am not sure if there is, but am not experienced enough in that field to say one way or another.

[manikyath]

34 minutes ago, __Dreamer__ said:

why didn't he used a proper custom?

because that was the point of the video.. "look, stock android is a dumb thing to say."

20 minutes ago, powertoys said:

This. Seems like people have trouble admitting that LTT did a very poor job to explain their point. They had to pin a comment in the video to clarify which is not a good sign

they expected so much more of you... how bad of LTT.

[OhioYJ]

There used to be bare AOSP ROMs built with no Google or mods? I don't think there is very common any more though.

[GodAtum]

This is stupid. So I buy a Pixel from Google and can't end a call. That's fucked up!

[powertoys]

30 minutes ago, manikyath said:

"look, stock android is a dumb thing to say."

Yes, because the meaning of things is totally immutable, they never change over time, of course when I say "stock Android" I am not talking about Android flavors like Pixel, Nokia, Motorola, I'm actually talking about the GSI like everyone else /s /s /s /s /s /s /s

[Masterchco]

I guess that OS version its for developers not for general use right?

[manikyath]

2 minutes ago, powertoys said:

Yes, because the meaning of things is totally immutable, they never change over time, of course when I say "stock Android" I am not talking about Android flavors like Pixel, Nokia, Motorola, I'm actually talking about the GSI like everyone else /s /s /s /s /s /s /s

so.. if everyone calls an apple a tomato, it becomes a tomato? my dad keeps pronouncing "ipad" as "eepad" instead of "ayepad".. we all know what he means, but that doesnt mean that it's not wrong, and it doesnt mean that a video on the pronounciation of apple's device naming scheme is then a flawed piece of content that resembles how deliberately out of touch the creator must clearly be.

 

yes, the video could put far more emphasis on clarifying this, but you cant both clarify more, and have this clarifying happen in the first 30 seconds because the tiktok attention span is a goal we must all adhere to.

 

what i'd have found a very nice video idea (perhaps a thing for a follow-up?) is trying to start from GSI and create a "linus flavour of android", in an attempt to see if there's free versions of all the necessary bits available in the play store... but i'm also not sure that LTT is the place for that to exist.

 

17 minutes ago, GodAtum said:

This is stupid. So I buy a Pixel from Google and can't end a call. That's fucked up!

did you watch the video at all? or did you forget to add an /s there? this is not the android version that the pixel comes with, that's the very point of the video: even google's phones arent a "stock experience".

[Lurick]

51 minutes ago, GodAtum said:

This is stupid. So I buy a Pixel from Google and can't end a call. That's fucked up!

Tell me you didn't pay attention without telling me you didn't pay attention.

[UnawareBlaire]

I think the intent of the video was very clear and I found it enjoyable and insightful.

 

The camera app paints a really good picture of what is going on. Its bare bones in design so that developers can tailor it to their needs without getting bogged down by features they don't want to include in their operating system.

[smcoakley]

2 hours ago, __Dreamer__ said:

well i can agree but

Linus mentioned LineageOS so at that point, why didn't he used a proper custom? GSI are not meant for end users, period. No wonder that he had those issues.

Pixel 8 have an insane amount of really great custom he could have used and all of them are based on Stock android. 

That wasn't the point of the video. The point of the video wasn't to try out a custom ROM that was a good experience.

 

The point of the video was to show that the phrase "stock Android" doesn't really make sense, because the only thing that really could be technically correct to call "stock Android" isn't intended to be for end users. There's no such thing that could be called "stock Android" that is intended for end users. So people should stop saying it.