Hacking Android vs Linux stability/useability

BaffledBatsandSlother

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I would like to use my Switch as a basic word processor, web browser, and video player while traveling. I really like not having to carry two tablets. As far as actual every day useage, which is more stable? I'm leaning towards Android because I'm more familiar with it. I need bluetooth keyboard support and joycon connection through the rails would be nice for battery life.
 

Basketto

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I would go with android simply because it is more user friendly and can do everything youve mentioned. Running ubuntu requires using the terminal for the most simple actions, and I personally find the interface 100x more ugly.
 

BaffledBatsandSlother

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Yeah I've kind of decided to go with Android, works well with my BT keyboard and sufarce arc mouse. Not a bad little word processor! Also playing death stranding at 60fps with no discernible input lag on Geforce Now is pretty fucking cool. Only thing I'm worried about now is the OS killing my SD card with a million read/write cycles, I wish I could run it off the EMMC.
 

scandal_uk

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Yeah I've kind of decided to go with Android, works well with my BT keyboard and sufarce arc mouse. Not a bad little word processor! Also playing death stranding at 60fps with no discernible input lag on Geforce Now is pretty fucking cool. Only thing I'm worried about now is the OS killing my SD card with a million read/write cycles, I wish I could run it off the EMMC.
You would still need the same amount of write activity on an emuMMC.

It's kind of cool though, especially considering that I prefer Ubuntu and get all of these features the same as you do with Android...

Each to their own...
 

BaffledBatsandSlother

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You would still need the same amount of write activity on an emuMMC.

It's kind of cool though, especially considering that I prefer Ubuntu and get all of these features the same as you do with Android...

Each to their own...

I mean it would be cool to run android off the internal memory in the switch, I don't really know what I'm talking about though so I said it wrong haha.

But yeah, giving my switch basic tablet functionality (Firefox, OpenOffice, VLC) has opened up its usefulness as a travel device.
 

Ryab

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I would go with android simply because it is more user friendly and can do everything youve mentioned. Running ubuntu requires using the terminal for the most simple actions, and I personally find the interface 100x more ugly.
Not true actually nearly every action in linux can be done through a ui its just generally much faster through a terminal
 

BaffledBatsandSlother

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Not true actually nearly every action in linux can be done through a ui its just generally much faster through a terminal

So is there an advantage to Linux? So far Android seems to be running well, but the fact the joycons aren't analog, have to connect via bluetooth is annoying, and the lack of a true sleep mode is pretty frustrating.
 

Ryab

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So is there an advantage to Linux? So far Android seems to be running well, but the fact the joycons aren't analog, have to connect via bluetooth is annoying, and the lack of a true sleep mode is pretty frustrating.
Im not completely sure the state of linux on the switch though for sure linux is always better when it comes to perms. Hell the entire concept of rooting on android is literally gaining access to the sudo command
 

MrShadow675

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I really enjoy using both Android and Linux, but I find myself using Android more often than Linux because I find it more simple.
 

BaffledBatsandSlother

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Imagine going to college and taking notes on your switch lol.

I used to send in homework assignments that I typed up on my dreamcast keyboard and emailed to my teacher via the web browser disc. It was like 1999, my family couldn't afford two PCs and the main one was always taken so I improvised. Anyway, I'm way too old to use this for taking notes in college, but I do long bicycle tours (1-6 months) where I like to have a tiny bluetooth keyboard with me to take notes and journal. I can use the keyboard on my phone screen if I want but the switch would be much better, with the added bonus of having a 512gb sd card stuffed full of games that my phone could never run...

I already have it setup. Fintie bluetooth keyboard and the OpenOffice port from Google Play, taking notes/writing on the switch works great.
 
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FAST6191

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On Linux vs Android.
My general experience is Android increasingly has applications but so many of them are gated behind paywalls or laden with adverts for what are basic functionality with 5000 free examples on any other operating system save perhaps OSX which is often paid for basic functionality elsewhere. This also says nothing about not having full control in some cases (if you install your own computer you have root user access by default,
You can't really compare ARM Android to a nice consumer focused X86 Linux but the ARM flavours of Linux (which don't require too much in the way of special efforts to appear on the Switch) do tend to have ports of most of the big things.
At the same time the UI of the programs will likely show its heritage from the PC and might not be quite so touchscreen friendly as a lot of Android stuff.

For instance standard desktop/laptop replacement type setup. I want a full featured office suite to do normal documents, maybe some layout work, spreadsheet and slideshows, all local, a nice FTP program because things still use that, a web browser I can install a bunch of plugins on, a full fledged media program or a least one that will do what I tell it, an email client that has nice features rather than just basic send and reply, a few little time waster games like minesweeper and card games, some emulators, some stuff to mess around with graphics to change photo colours/add text/change size and save in another format, same as previous but for video, repeat for audio from my microphone, maybe compile a program or make a quick change to some code in a code editor that can also do a client's website code when I need that, few chat programs, and maybe keep track of my expenses, and if I wanted to do 5 of those things at once... is Android even on a fancy flagship power phone really up for the task and am I likely to get full functionality on those for free with no adverts?
 

Basketto

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Oh on a sidenote their is a joyconfix.zip on the xda page that adds analog functions to the joycons. I mainly use wireless controllers though, but the apps/emulators ive run with joycons have worked fine since.
 

BaffledBatsandSlother

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Oh on a sidenote their is a joyconfix.zip on the xda page that adds analog functions to the joycons. I mainly use wireless controllers though, but the apps/emulators ive run with joycons have worked fine since.
Are you sure? I applied all the fixes on the main XDA page two days ago when I installed Android and my joycons are definitely still acting like a digital dpad ,and everything I read about the fix says it is just to combine the two into one gamepad more easily. Can you link to the specific fix that addresses the analog/digital issue?

EDIT: Yeah, as other users have reported the joycon fix on XDA does not make them analog, they are still digital and either on or off as far input detection goes.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=80005118&postcount=960
 
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BaffledBatsandSlother

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Well after more consideration I think that Ubuntu is better because it has sleep mode. Pretty essential to be able to set the device down for a few days and not worry about accidentally killing the battery.
 

Basketto

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Are you sure? I applied all the fixes on the main XDA page two days ago when I installed Android and my joycons are definitely still acting like a digital dpad ,and everything I read about the fix says it is just to combine the two into one gamepad more easily. Can you link to the specific fix that addresses the analog/digital issue?

EDIT: Yeah, as other users have reported the joycon fix on XDA does not make them analog, they are still digital and either on or off as far input detection goes.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=80005118&postcount=960

I havent tested much, i dont use joycons alot really, but for mupen64 I could not tell any difference, idk if it is because of the controller mapping or what? Same for dolphin they seemed fine to me for both those, well i couldnt noticed anything anways :P. I find it more annoying removing to sync.
 

Basketto

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Well after more consideration I think that Ubuntu is better because it has sleep mode. Pretty essential to be able to set the device down for a few days and not worry about accidentally killing the battery.

Sleep is a big plus, but I normally just boot back into horizon right after. Just carry an rcm loader/dongle with autorcm and your pretty set.
If your just after those few things you listed atop maybe ubuntu is more optimal. Some things run faster that run on both on linux which another plus to ubuntu, but the biggest downside is some emulators don’t exist/ are better optimised on android, android offers many android games which run pretty perfectly, and things just arent updated frequently on ubuntu.
 
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BaffledBatsandSlother

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I havent tested much, i dont use joycons alot really, but for mupen64 I could not tell any difference, idk if it is because of the controller mapping or what? Same for dolphin they seemed fine to me for both those, well i couldnt noticed anything anways :P. I find it more annoying removing to sync.

You might not notice it if you are playing a game where you don't really need analog controls. It matters in 3d games where you need to slowly walk for example. The joycons in android are definitely just digital dpads though, apparently this is fixed in Pie but there is still no working deep sleep.


Sleep is a big plus, but I normally just boot back into horizon right after. Just carry an rcm loader/dongle with autorcm and your pretty set.
If your just after those few things you listed atop maybe ubuntu is more optimal. Some things run faster that run on both on linux which another plus to ubuntu, but the biggest downside is some emulators don’t exist/ are better optimised on android, android offers many android games which run pretty perfectly, and things just arent updated frequently on ubuntu.

Yeah I definitely think overall I would prefer a stable version of Android with working analog joycons and deepsleep, I own KOTOR android and Geforce Now is pretty cool (although not something I really need right now). But really the biggest thing I need a different OS for is web browsing, video watching and word processing. Maybe I should just learn how to code and port LibreOffice to Atmosphere myself, because other than that I can do everything within CFW. Well no BT keyboard support so that kills it, nevermind.
 
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