stoolpigeon's Journal: Changing the ROM on my Galaxy S3

I bought by Galaxy S3 from T-Mobile, in the US last year. So it is the SGH-T999 model. I've been very happy with it. I've stuck to running it as stock for a couple reasons. The biggest is that I just didn't want to hassle with learning how to change the underlying software. Secondly, because I wanted to keep everything cool in terms of the warranty and what not. I even jumped through all their hoops to get my unlock code from them.

But I ran into an issue the other week that finally used up all my good will towards t-mobile. I went to use the phone as a hot spot and couldn't. It wanted me to pay for their tethering plan - which doesn't exist where I live.

I didn't have time right then to do anything but this week-end I did a little reading and today I installed Cyanagenmod on it. So far everything seems to be going very well. And I actually have control over the device that I paid (in my mind anyway) a pretty hefty sum to own. None of the steps were all that difficult and my biggest holdup was it would not flash the new rom until the battery was over 85% charged - which I thought was odd, but it worked out.

I'm getting all my stuff back to the way I like it and enjoying being on a newer version of Android than the one that Samsung and T-mobile officially supply for this phone right now. Which is idiotic.

So - moving forward I don't plan to purchase phones from t-mobile any more. I'll probably stick with Nexus phones from Google and avoid all this headache. I wont get another new phone for a while. I bought a new, high end phone so that it would last a while. But when I do I wont make the mistake of getting stuck depending on mobile phone companies.

I remain of the opinion

[jawtheshark]

... that Android phones need to be shunned for exactly this reason: No long term support. Sure, you can use ROMs if you know how to, but for the general user this is simply a non-option. Never mind the lacking security updates.

This is why, while I am a very big Linux fan, the only valid smartphone option is an iPhone. You know your phone is going to be supported and get updates for around it's full lifetime.

Sure, if you go Samsung you probably get ROMs... but try finding updates for my el-cheapo table

Re:

[stoolpigeon]

If I were buying a phone right now it would be a Nexus 4. But the updates are a lot less of a big deal to me compared to just controlling my own hardware.

I really don't want to mess with iPhones. I watch the guys in my office scramble to re-jailbreak theirs each time they update. And I've not bought into any of their eco-system. I've thrown my lot in with google for the most part.

Not that I disagree with you about the Android problems. Samsung and T-Mobile in the US are horrific with updates (not sure just

Re:

[jawtheshark]

The thing is: I have a non-jailbroken iPhone and I don't see the need to jailbreak it. That is a significant different. It's "works out of the box" versus "tinker" mentality. For a phone, it simply needs to work. Final point.

My father has real 50Mbps fiber to his house, for.... 60€/month. Unlimited. It's bliss...

Alas, I couldn't get it where I live, but 30Mbps for 50€/month is pretty neat too.

Re:

[jawtheshark]

:%s/different/difference/g

Re:

[Captain Splendid]

Meh, as someone who's been jailbreaking since before the iPhone, the tools/process have only gotten easier as time has worn on. It really is a non-issue.

Now, the baseband unlock's a little trickier, but not by much (and now a non-issue as iPhones come factory unlocked.)

I'd love to have a nice Android phone, but until it can do something radical that I can't do with the iPhone, as jaws pointed out, it's really not worth the lack of support, not to mention lack of fragmentation.

I have a Galaxy S2 and will likely upgrade to S4

[smittyoneeach]

I've enjoyed the mobile HotSpot service. Overall, t-mobile has been fairly solid. Modulo the gaping hole in the wallet.