A Review Of The Firetrap Lollipop: An Android Froyo Distro
Yesterday, I posted the process of rooting and modding that I went through with my Cherry Mobile Nova Android. Now this is my review of the Firetrap Lollipop, a modification of the Android 2.2 Froyo.
The Android, just as a backtrack, is a custom OS built for mobile devices, but based on the Open Source code of Linux. Linux, on the other hand, is another OS from the Unix family of Operating Systems. The advantage of Linux over proprietary OS’ is the fact that it’s offered free and it’s perfectly legal to copy it, modify it to the developer’s purposes, and distribute it, whether for free or for a fee, after the customizations, of course. A whole industry has been built around creating a unique Linux distribution or “distro” and it’s been awesome to see how companies have innovated upon the original source code.
Andy Rubin, the developer/founder of the Android, took the Linux Source Code, modified it to suit mobile devices, pitched to then got absorbed by Google, and they offered up the Android, completely free and perfectly fine for phone OEMs to customize and use as their phones’ OS.
And that, Android Alliance Ph friends, is the reason why a Samsung Android will look slightly different from a Cherry Mobile, HTC, or Motorola Android. And that is also the reason why we have a whole slew of custom Android ROMs, customized for Android users, by other, geekier Android users.
Now, for my thoughts on Firetrap Lollipop, the distro I used for rooting and modding my Cherry Mobile Nova Android phone:
I thought it was a Gingerbread distro, so I was wondering why the Settings menu text were still on a monochromatic color scheme. The Samsung Galaxy Y’s rendition of Gingerbread had its menus on a more colorful theme and I didn’t like it. I was happy to see a Gingerbread that was monochromatic. But it’s a Froyo distro, so, bummer. And that explains why it’s monochromatic. When I finally change the OS again and this time to Gingerbread, I will let you know if the distro I used will be colorful. In the meantime, as far as I can tell from the official Gingerbread release page, the menus look like they’re supposed to be monochromatic. Therefore, Samsung has an awful sense of style for its Samsung Galaxy Y. Just sayin’.
The Firetrap Lollipop has one major difference from the Cherry Mobile Nova official release that bothers me: the App Gallery and how the user can navigate through it. In the original Cherry Mobile Nova interfaces I used, both on Éclair and then on Froyo, the navigation is vertical, much like the navigation on an iPod Touch or an iPhone. On the Firetrap Lollipop, the navigation is horizontal.
I hate the act of horizontal scrolling through the apps. I really prefer the iOS style, thank you. But the Android is working towards hedging Apple’s lawsuits, so I can’t blame the move to horizontal scrolling. It’s just very inconvenient. And Apple should stop suing people; they copied their OS from Xerox too, if you heard of it. When “karma” or divine retribution bites you on the butt, should you complain?
But I digress.
I missed the last wallpaper I used on my Cherry Mobile Nova on its official Froyo release. So I had to find a similar one. I still miss the old one I had. The Firetrap Lollipop came with ONLY ONE static wallpaper option, and it’s annoyingly boring and ugly. The original wallpaper is this gray wood-like background that’s a little too boring and drab for my taste:
It comes with the standard Android Live Wallpapers, however, but since I don’t use those to save my battery, that doesn’t make much of a difference to me.
Some of its functions work like Gingerbread, though. Back on Nova’s official Froyo, I wasn’t able to change the icons on the dock. Whatever it came with, stayed there. It was very annoying because I hate the stock browser, and I never really use it, but whenever I bumped onto the dock with my thumb, the stock browser always opened. It was annoying to keep killing or even force-killing the app. On the Firetrap Lollipop, you can customize the dock! So now I have Opera on the left side, the App Gallery launcher in the middle and the Android Assistant on the right. Completely convenient now.
The only complaint I have with the dock is that while I was customizing the dashboards, I kept managing to delete it so I had to keep adding a launcher action app from the long-press menu (it’s native, so I didn’t have to install it from the Android Market), in order to restore the Dock. A clunky kludge, but it worked. It was the disappearing act that annoyed me. When I got everything in place, the disappearing act stopped. Maybe it was all the long-pressing and bumping around that I was doing that kept making it disappear.
The icons are different. The dialer, for example, is in green. On the Cherry Mobile Froyo, it was in blue. The stock browser is also colored green, and again, on the official Cherry Mobile Froyo, the browser is blue. It came with QuickOffice instead of Docs to Go on the Cherry Mobile Nova’s Éclair version (there was no Docs app on the official Froyo update, or maybe I deleted it as soon as I fired up the OS that I didn’t notice). And there are admin apps that advanced users will be able to use: SetCPU, Terminal Emulator, and as a requisite for rooted phones, the Superuser app. There is also a Root Explorer, LinktoSD and RoadSync. I wish I took a detailed note of what apps came with the OS, but I was so excited to tweak it, I forgot to do so.
It came with the standard Google suite: Google Search, Gmail, GTalk, Youtube, Maps and Latitude. Someday, I will figure out how to get rid of GTalk, Google Search, and Latitude, unless I need it for Maps. For now, I’m still fine that they’re there, because I have around 46MB of space still left, even with all the new apps I’ve added.
One thing I noticed as I went through restoring and adding more apps to my suite was that the phone got really hot. But I guess that’s because I installed Advanced Task Manager alongside Android Assistant because its task killer is just more efficient. I had to uninstall it because my Android had considerably slowed down thanks to its presence. When I got rid of it, the Android got cooler and was faster.
It had the same 5 dashboards as I had on my Nova, unlike Samsung Galaxy Y’s 7 dashboards. I noticed some innovations, like a Reboot app, which I found convenient when the Power button wouldn’t call up the Shutdown dialogue. I use it more often now, and I find that it also helps keep the Power button from the usual wear and tear.
Lastly, I noticed some Camera customizations that I didn’t notice on the official Cherry Mobile Nova Froyo update. Maybe I just didn’t explore enough, but I recall trying to look for saturation settings and I didn’t find them there. On the Firetrap Lollipop, there are settings for Contrast, Brightness, Sharpness, Saturation, Anti Banding, Metering Mode, and even for having a grid or not. For those who know how to use these settings, I’m sure these will come in handy.
On the whole, I am satisfied with having been able to modify my Cherry Mobile Nova with the help of Geekier Chick and the guys who made these custom ROMs. More space has been opened up to me, and more functionality as well. I’m happy I made the plunge.
HOWEVER, as we keep saying, MOD AT YOUR OWN RISK. When you brick it, make sure you can fix it.
TIP: For those who love changing phones often, don’t sell your old Androids. Always keep a spare one with you, for modding, rooting and playing with. If you’re always asking but never taking the plunge (like I used to, until Christmas weekend), but you’re really, seriously itching to do so, maybe managing your risk by an iota more through using an “old” Android will help. In particular, choose an out-of-warranty unit, so that all you’ll need to do would be to take the phone to the knowledgeable cellphone technicians in your area, should you manage to brick the thing. That way, a CSR from a mobile phone manufacturer’s service center somewhere will have one less irate customer for the day.
Again, manage your risks, think about what you’re about to do, and when you do take the plunge and end up happy for it, congratulations!
Happy modding (or NOT modding)!
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Photo Credits: Ubiquitense
