Earlier last week we told you that topjohnwu was able to get Magisk running on the first
Treble device other than the Pixel XL.
You won't be able to boot up flawlessly - working generic Android 9.0 builds on
your Treble device just yet, though — device trees and kernels will still require being worked on.
We'll be refining this work and seeking input from developers once our new Project
Treble Device Development forum opens up, so if you're interested in this kind of development then stay tuned for news on that front.
It's also likely that this ROM will work on other
Treble devices, like the Mate 10, Mate 9, and Xperia XZ1.
Note that while the build has been tested on other Project
Treble devices, the developers can only provide limited support if you discover a bug on one of them.
Not exact matches
They offer an incredible frequency range for such small
devices and feature dynamic sound with excellent
treble and bass response.
Treble is something that'd apply mostly to
devices released after that announcement — so not most of the ones included in the Oreo analysis, in other words, but quite possibly some of the ones we'll look at with the upcoming Android P release.
Currently only a handful of developers are working on this, which is natural since there is only a small number of
Treble certified
devices out on the market.
However, since developing on
Treble - compatible
devices is uncharted territory for many, it was best to not make any assumptions.
There was some outrage among members of the OnePlus community when it was revealed that no current OnePlus
devices (including the recently released OnePlus 5T) would support Project
Treble.
As part of the Vendor Test Suite (VTS), all
Treble - enabled
devices must be able to boot a raw, generic AOSP build.
Project
Treble is pretty great and allows for a Generic System Image (GSI) to boot on supported
devices While previously only
devices from the likes of Huawei and Essential were supported, as more and more
devices launch with Android Oreo they too will have to support it.
This flag is required on all
devices supporting
Treble.
We've also learned from the initial announcement that, going forward, all
devices shipping with Android 8.0 (like, for example, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9 and the just announced Sony Xperia XZ1 series) will come with
Treble support.
Xiaomi, a company whose
devices have seen huge success in the developer community, updated the Redmi Note 5 Pro to Android 8.1 Oreo, complete with Project
Treble support.
The Mate 9's software being so far different from stock Android made it a perfect candidate for testing if Project
Treble truly does allow us to boot stock Android Oreo onto any
Treble - enabled
device.
Getting the AOSP builds of Android running on Project
Treble supported
devices isn't as easy as flashing a custom ROM.
If it returns true, then congratulations: your
device supports Project
Treble!
Anyone getting a Project
Treble supported
device will be able to enjoy custom ROMs from the get - go.
Project
Treble compatibility requires that a
device ship with a separate vendor partition in order to store the vendor HALs.
Project
Treble will make it easier, faster and less costly for
device maker partners when these
devices are updated in the future.»
And should an OEM refuse working with Google to bring it to their
device, they can just roll out a simple Android 8.0 update without
Treble.
Luckily, there's a really, really simple way to find out if an Android Oreo
device supports
Treble.
Until today, nobody had tested whether or not that was possible right now on existing
Treble - enabled
devices.
Project
Treble isn't really a value that you can see or configure in Settings,
device info or other places, however if your
device does support it, a preference in build.prop lets any apps know of that fact.
The screenshot above shows a dump of the / vendor partition from the Honor V10, a
device which ships with Android 8.0 Oreo and is required to meet
Treble's requirements.
As we said above, it requires OEM implementation since it's pretty much a complete rework of a lower layer of Android, and Google is actually working with OEMs to bring Project
Treble to existing
devices.
That makes sense, though, since there are only a handful of
devices with Project
Treble support and it will take until the release of Android P for us to really see
Treble's benefits on the Android ecosystem as a whole.
But thanks to Project
Treble's certification testing requirements,
device makers are required to ship
devices that can boot a generic AOSP build.
Project
Treble absolutely makes updating their phones easier for the
device maker, but that doesn't mean without supporting it these companies will be slow at updating their phones.
Not only is this the first time that a Huawei Mate 9
device booted an AOSP ROM, but it's also the first time someone outside of Google and OEMs has tested whether Project
Treble - enabled
devices really can boot generic AOSP builds.
But keep in mind that Project
Treble support isn't a requirement for a
device to have great software support.
However, now that we've proven this possibility exists on the Huawei Mate 9, we hope to open the floodgates on custom ROM development based around
Treble - enabled
devices.
Since existing OnePlus and Nokia phones lack a vendor partition, it means there is no reason for them to work to meet
Treble's requirements when upgrading their
devices to Android Oreo.
In a future Project
Treble - supported OnePlus
device, the alert slider likely won't work in a generic build of Android.
The upcoming Android 8.1 Oreo update for the
device also contains Project
Treble support.
And as a reminder, if you have a Google Pixel, Google Pixel XL, or any
device that launches with Android 8.0, then that
device will for sure support
Treble.
Now, this is merely a proof - of - concept workaround, but it's one possibility that phhusson believes may work in bringing
Treble support to
devices that lack a vendor partition.
If you tap the
device that's playing, you'll be taken to a screen that lets you adjust the volume, as well as the bass and
treble on some
devices.
If you have a flagship
device that is expected to be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo, how will you know for sure if it supports Project
Treble?
To ensure that the vendor code is properly separated from the Android OS framework in the manner that Project
Treble requires, Google has set up a Vendor Test Suite (VTS) which
devices must pass in order to be certified by Google.
Thanks to Project
Treble support, for example, I was able to boot a nearly fully functioning Android 8.0 Oreo ROM on the Huawei Mate 9 — a
device that until now hadn't even seen a single AOSP Android Nougat ROM.
Finally, the build brings Project
Treble compatibility which means if you aren't a fan of MIUI, you can choose to flash an AOSP Generic System Image (GSI) such as LineageOS or Resurrection Remix onto the
device.
Even though OnePlus had already confirmed that the OnePlus 5T and other OnePlus
devices being updated to Android Oreo, more so the standard OnePlus 5, won't be receiving Google's Project
Treble, curious users still wanted -LSB-...]
Recent developments in Project
Treble have also meant that the development community has something to look forward to, after years of seeing an era of increasingly locked - down
devices which has stifled development.
With Project
Treble, we've seen some pretty amazing things, including universal ROMs which boot on any
Treble - supported
device.
I'm excited to see the work that will be done for other
Treble - enabled
devices.
Project
Treble may make porting newer versions of AOSP onto
Treble - enabled
devices easier, which is why we find it so fascinating.
AC understands that it's not a hard requirement for OEMs shipping a phone on Android 8.0, but that Google will push
device makers towards using
Treble rather than continuing in the old way.
In order to encourage more development on this front, we've opened up a new forum dedicated to Project
Treble enabled
devices.