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Which carriers are most "open source" ...

G

glasswave

Newbie
I am sick of verizon & the way that everything is so closed w/in their system in an effort to get you to pay them for the simplest of things. I am ready to upgrade to an Android data phone.

But, I have read that Verizon Android has been modified to be a very closed system (ie: many apps can't be removed, others (ie skype) cant be installed.

I also want to use my phone in foriegn countries w/simm cards as well. What carrier is going to give me the closest to an open android device w/little corporate designed cripples to the system?

Good coverage in the Western US required.
 
TMobile is gsm.. which is more used around the world. they have phones that use sim cards.

they also have some great phones.... that have good development community. HTC and Motorola are pretty good..

but.. TMobile is the 4th largest carrier.. and will have the smallest foot print.. so service would be an issue. best to check current users in the area you are interested in.
 
The easiest and most honest answer is to root and get what you want by force. TMO can get you there, but depending on how broad your definition of "Western US" is, their coverage may not cut it for you. Anywayone that tells you their service is great really hasn't driven around the US much.
 
T-Mobile's phones seem to be the closest to stock Android, to the point where even HTC's phones don't use Sense (G2, MyTouch 4G). But lately, they've put some serious effort into the anti-rooting crowd.

lordofthereef above is correct. Pick the carrier you want most based on coverage and pricing. From there, pick the phone that best suits you based on features, form factor, price, and if needed, the ability to root and modify.
 
Medion said:
T-Mobile's phones seem to be the closest to stock Android, to the point where even HTC's phones don't use Sense (G2, MyTouch 4G). But lately, they've put some serious effort into the anti-rooting crowd.

lordofthereef above is correct. Pick the carrier you want most based on coverage and pricing. From there, pick the phone that best suits you based on features, form factor, price, and if needed, the ability to root and modify.
Click to expand...

MT4G does use Sense and the G2 only doesn't because its the successor to the original Android, the G1, which didn't either.

OP, all of the carriers are going to lockdown Android to some extent, all to the point that just finding the best coverage is really the only reliable way to pick your carrier.
 
zerocool79346 said:
MT4G does use Sense and the G2 only doesn't because its the successor to the original Android, the G1, which didn't either.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the correction. I was under the impression that it did not use Sense. I haven't seen it in person, and the images/videos I've seen of it don't show off any part of Sense that I'm familiar with.
 
I really think it's going to get more and more difficult to get an easy to root phone or one with little bloatware in the future. Other than Google's own personal flagship phones, I think the control is shifting heavily to the carriers. There are great ROMs out there, but rooting the phone is always the tricky part. The G2 wasn't an attempt by T-Mobile to prevent rooting, but more or less bad code which CyanogenMod pretty much confirmed. I would say that if you have the coverage and the know how (wanting to root phones that is), go with T-Mobile.

T-Mobile personally gets good city coverage (my town of 50,000 just got HSPA+ so I'm doing anywhere between 1.5 and 5 mbps connections), excellent customer service and plan pricing, and one of the last real good data plans. T-Mobile's 3G caps out at 5 GB, but I've pushed it beyond that and obviously you can use EDGE infinitely.

AT&T is the worst for open considering that they strip the phones of tethering and whatever else apps that don't want them to have. I suspect they do this to make Android look less appealing compared to the iPhone. Verizon has started forcing bloatware upon phones that didn't originally have it. Sprint isn't too bad with unlimited plans and all, but their coverage in my city sucks.
 
Sprint's a great option for domestic use, but few countries are CDMA, most are GSM.

My solution was Sprint and I just rent phones when I travel overseas.

The US carriers with GSM are T-Mobile and at&t. I used at&t for years on that international theory, but their prices were too high and service too low domestically to suit me

As for a currently-marketed, most-open handset without corporate bloatware, out of the box, that has to be a no-brainer - the Google Nexus S.

http://www.google.com/nexus/#

Otherwise, as said often here - root and get what you want.
 
to add about getting a gsm phone for over seas.. if you have CDMA phone...

if you get a cheap GSM android phone on criaglist...
google and appbrain can sync your info.. between the two..
 
I didn't think that would work with my experience of contacts being stored on the sim on my old phones - suppose you can save them to sd card tho. Good idea.
 
glasswave said:
I am sick of verizon & the way that everything is so closed w/in their system in an effort to get you to pay them for the simplest of things. I am ready to upgrade to an Android data phone.

But, I have read that Verizon Android has been modified to be a very closed system (ie: many apps can't be removed, others (ie skype) cant be installed.

I also want to use my phone in foriegn countries w/simm cards as well. What carrier is going to give me the closest to an open android device w/little corporate designed cripples to the system?

Good coverage in the Western US required.
Click to expand...
Verizon is THE WORST. Try T-Mobile, it's getting better, it works well in general with many unlocked phones. I put european sim card when I was traveling in europe, and it works great.
 
Ok, this is sort of sinking in - I haven't been on at&t for ~2.5 years, so I appreciate the patience while this comes back to me. Meanwhile, let's say I'm a noob for all effects and purposes.

Do I maintain a second phone account here, for that sim to be active when I land? Do I rent a local sim?

I've used at&t internationally (pricey), I seem to recall replacing my sim with a local one in Asia (hey - 6 months/yr flying back and forth and I may be confused)...

It all just seemed cheaper to rent a phone and avoid the hassle, and then carry my main for contacts. (Not quick-convenient, but more convenient than some of my $8k/mo phone bills.)

And I did get to use my CDMA phone for voice (SMS, too, I'm pretty sure, but can't totally remember) in Tokyo and in various places in Taiwan, fwiw - so international really means what you're doing and where you're going.

Sorry OP, don't mean to thread hijack - but I'm hoping this discussion may help you, too.
 
If you stay with ATT but don't wan to incurr the overseas costs, yes, you will need to keep two SIMS. What we were simply referring to, is if you rent or buy a phone overseas, but setup your contacts through google, you can just sync the same account to both phones. You certainly can store them to your SIM, but IMO it would be far more convenient to store them to your Google account and just sync over the air.
 
No, I'm done with at&t - service wasn't worth it at any price to me.

I'm strictly Sprint now (Evo since 6/6).

I guess what you're advocating is a no-contract phone. I've seen the term. I'll google it so as to not hijack, unless you think it's useful to the OP or unless he chimes in that this of thing interests him.

Otherwise, the only way I've ever bought a gsm phone is with a contract.

If I could just rent Android as I go, fine - but I get my hands full with foreign-language interfaces as it is. A cheap GSM Android that only costs me when I get to another country is fine by me. And I'm ok with renting sims or sim-plans when over wherever, as available.
 
I honestly couldn't tell you what sorts of phones are available for rent overseas. We were throwing around the word "rent" so I went with it! :D It is entirely possible that android phones are not rentable (like apparently other phones are?) overseas, in which case I suppose at least half of my points are ow moot! :p
 
If you want international 3G, go with T-Mobile. By practice, all T-Mobile smartphones ranging from their current Android smartphones even to their previous generations of Windows Mobile, have an optional 2100 3G band for Europe and Asia roaming. Of course, understanding that T-Mobile USA is owned by T-Mobile Europe aka Deutsch Telecom is a factor in this.

If you happen to unlock any T-Mobile smartphone, it will work with any SIM from any Asian or European carrier. (Note: Japan with Softbank, China with Unicom, Australia with Vodafone and Optus).

My first Android was a MyTouch 3G, unlocked, which I managed to work with Asian 3G frequencies.

So yes, the G2, MyTouch 4G, Nexus S, Nexus One, will all work.

If you're traveling overseas, I suggest if your T-Mobile smartphone isn't unlocked yet, to use a Nexus One or Nexus S and purchase one of the prepaid data SIMs. Note that some of these SIMs will give you unlimited data access only for a few days, but without voice and text, turning the phone into a mobile internet device only. In many cases, the voice and text only prepaid SIM is separate, which you can use in any unlocked cheap GSM phone (like cheap Nokias).

Some other US Android phones do have international 3G frequencies.

Samsung Captivate
Droid 2 Global
HTC Merge (soon to come to Verizon)

Requires to be unlocked.

Overseas, you can find unlocked Androids, but you must still be willing to pay a few hundred dollars for them. The last time I saw a sale in the Phillippines for around $150 for the LG Optimus P500 (Optimus One). Normally though, this phone would cost nearly $300 no contract, unlocked, no subsidy. I would recommend this because its higher spec'ed than the Huawei Ideos, Vodafone 845, LG GT540, Samsung Galaxy 3, Galaxy 5, HTC Tattoo or HTC Wildfire. The Orange San Francisco (ZTE phone) seems decent though.

The Huawei Ideos, itself not bad as a budget Android phone, should be seen as a mobile wifi hotspot with a phone function attached to it. Not surprising since Huawei is the dominant supplier of 3G dongles and MIFI sets around along with ZTE.
 
glasswave said:
I am sick of verizon & the way that everything is so closed w/in their system in an effort to get you to pay them for the simplest of things. I am ready to upgrade to an Android data phone.
Click to expand...
It's not quite the same with their Droid devices so be careful with your assumptions.

glasswave said:
But, I have read that Verizon Android has been modified to be a very closed system (ie: many apps can't be removed, others (ie skype) cant be installed.
Click to expand...
It's far worse with a lot of at&t's devices. You might want to spend some more time on your research.

glasswave said:
What carrier is going to give me the closest to an open android device w/little corporate designed cripples to the system?
Click to expand...
The carrier doesn't really matter. You'd have to root for what you're asking for regardless of the carrier you end up eith.

glasswave said:
Good coverage in the Western US required.
Click to expand...
Coverage needs to be assessed on a more specific level. You can refer to a coverage map and ask general coverage questions like this but just be aware that such discussions are fairly meaningless. If you have specific areas then ask those that frequent those areas. Every carrier has holes, especially in the vast expanses of the western US.

EarlyMon said:
I didn't think that would work with my experience of contacts being stored on the sim on my old phones - suppose you can save them to sd card tho. Good idea.
Click to expand...
Smartphones don't use SIM cards for storage. There's not enough space and SIM phonebooks are very limited in what they can store for each contact. SIM card support (other than to tie to the account) is mostly for those migrating from a regular phone to a smartphone.

EarlyMon said:
I guess what you're advocating is a no-contract phone.
Click to expand...
Unlocked is more important than the contract (or lack of) if the person intends to get a local SIM.
 
I'll be blunt.

Ask around find people on whatever provider your considering going to.

Coverage maps can be useless.

That said, I would opt for t-mo if possible.

Nexus S or vibrant.

Plus they are very accepting with cred checks and bills are pretty manageable especially if you don't talk a lot anyway.

From what I've seen.. tmobile doesn't fight with its customers nearly as much as at&t either..

If you push for something.. it will usually go your way.

Sold At&t, Sprint, and Tmo.
 
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