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by izacus 1735 days ago
Sure, but your LineageOS only works because Google is forcing manufacturers to pass CTS tests (which ensure that all Android devices are actually compatible with your apps).

If that disappears, you'll end up with apps that only work on Samsung Androids and your LineageOS will stop being compatible. We're essentially going back to horrorshow of SymbianOS, where different Symbian devices weren't compatible between themselves because the OEMs kept fscking up.

(Heck, in early Android versions Samsung tended to break core APIs all the time and caused a lot of churn on developer side to workaround their per-device fsckups. Having to import phones from half a world away so you could see why the video recorder hardcrashes when you call an API is NOT FUN.).

1 comments

I remember how people were complaining loudly about my app crashing on Meizu phones. Those never passed the CTS, but that didn't stop the manufacturer from preinstalling play services on them. So we had to buy one and I had to decompile the system framework to find a way to work around their shitty modifications to standard UI components to prevent the app from crashing. Fun stuff.