The Sony Open Devices Program is a program run by Sony, wherein they release Android Open Source Project (AOSP) configurations on GitHub for certain devices they have released. The Sony Xperia X is an example of a device in Sony’s Open Devices Program. As a result of a partnership with Jolla), Sailfish X – an OS not even based on Android – was released for the device. Sony is putting in their all when it comes to their devices in the Open Devices Program and now have released build configurations for the Sony Xperia XZ1 and the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact on their GitHub. You can find the Sony Xperia XZ1 here and the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact here. All resources are available on the Sony Open Devices page.
The benefits include a booting build of AOSP, but without a promise of a bug-free experience. Users may face bugs and instability on the Sony provided AOSP build. It’s only meant to provide a base for developers to work from, not to provide an alternative straight off the bat to Sony’s flavor of Android. Sony specifically states that it is an early build of Android Oreo.
This also means that if you purchase a Sony Xperia XZ1 or Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact that custom ROMs are supported straight away, as Sony themselves intend for the devices to have the ability to develop on them. With published guides to build AOSP for the two devices, custom ROMs should soon be springing up on over on our forums!
Sony device bootloaders tend to be unlockable, but usually wipe vital DRM keys in the TA partition when unlocking. This means the camera processing usually is poorer and other proprietary features don’t work as well, as the keys to use them no longer exist. With Sony’s great contributions to the AOSP software and the open source community overall, it’s nice to see them continually support it.
Sony Mobile Developer Announcement
0 comments:
Post a Comment