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by franga2000 807 days ago
It sure isn't what it used to be, but if you buy the right phone and make a few moderate compromises, it's still a great option.

Installing crDroid on my OnePlus 9 Pro took half an hour, another half to install Magisk Delta with a few modules. The universal dark mode alone (Xposed module "DarQ") is worth the effort, but also the ability to clone apps, have proper clipboard sync, make full-system backups and customise the look and functions of my OS to a currently unparalleled degree.

The only compromise is I can't seem to be able to do NFC card payments (send or receive), one of my 4 banking apps needs a custom patch every few months to start working and a friend tells me the McDonald's app doesn't work.
2 comments
freedomben 807 days ago
Do you keep a factory image for your OnePlus 9 pro in case you want to restore it? If so, how do you go about doing that?

After OnePlus decided to stop publishing factory images, I decided to stop buying their phones. It's a real shame, because they really do make some great stuff and prices are quite reasonable generally speaking. I used to buy a new OnePlus phone nearly every year. The OnePlus 6 was one of my favorite phones of all time.

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franga2000 807 days ago
I wasn't aware they stopped publishing them so I didn't back it up, but I can't say I really care for my use case. The only reason I'd need it is to resell the phone, but my plan is to use it until it's either broken beyond repair or backporting new Android versions becomes impossible, at which point nobody would buy it anyways.

I agree the OP6 is great (my girlfriend is still using hers), but I was still on my OP 3 like a year ago, until future ROM updates were deemed impossible thanks to Qualcomm binary blobs.

It's a real shame it's all over now. The OP 9 Pro was the last OnePlus phone made in their old way (or close to it) - not too expensive, well built, close to stock ROM, easy to reflash, decently repairable. Hopefully it lasts me as long as the 3 did because currently I don't see anything else like that on the market.

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boneitis 807 days ago
I might have my hardware/software/firmware components (or your argument) mixed up and conflated. Does Oxygen Updater not source from published images?

https://oxygenupdater.com/article/438/

Yes, I am still on my beloved OnePlus 6 running Lineage and had been looking around for a used 7 or 8 for 5G capability (I'm a bit sketched out by the overall throttling hoopla of 9th gen). Perhaps it's time to expand the search beyond OnePlus.

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ktosobcy 807 days ago
Eh... that's why I'm pondering going back to OnePlus (after short affair with Samsung for the past 2 years) because it's somewhat annoying not being able to tweak stuff...

Alas, it's also annoying that some dumb banks (I'm looking at you ING Poland) consider rooted device as "insecure" but thay have no problem if I open a bank page using admin/root account on the computer)

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iggldiggl 807 days ago
> I'm looking at you ING Poland

Hmm, funnily enough at least a few years ago German Ing-Diba didn't care about rooted phones. I switched banks at some point though, so I have no idea whether that's still true.

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ktosobcy 807 days ago
It's only a brand, there is almost nothing in common between local branches.

As for ING - about 4-5 years ago it was possible to spoof the check but about 3 years ago they went full bonkers and if you didn't get the app from playstore (so for example aurora) it refused to launch...

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