Open-source operating systems like Android, provides developers the golden opportunity of ripping them apart from their fundamental code and rebuilding it according to their own needs and ends. A little while ago, Google, the search giant, launched Android-5.1.1_r5, the latest version of AOSP. What is the real treat is, in the latest version can be found the code which supports Wi-Fi-calling. But, don't get all pumped up. What may appear shiny from outside, might just end up being a fizz. Here we explain you why.
First of all, NOT all mobile carriers are offering Wi-Fi calling. Except T-Mobile and Sprint in the US and EE in the UK and a couple of others in other countries, most of the mobile carriers don't provide the facility of Wi-Fi calling to its customers. Further, the carriers are themselves required to support this feature. The main purpose that this code might be able to serve is for the developers, as they would get to implement it on unofficial software. It is important to note that the code is primarily devised for Nexus 6 but luckily, it can also be implemented on other AOSP based ROMs and stock. So, the phone preference really doesn't play a major hurdle.
What is getting people the most excited is the fact that they might be able to port Wi-Fi calling to devices likes Nexus 4 and Nexus 5, which officially don't support it. This is where the developers are facing the toughest challenge of their lives. Transferring Wi-Fi functionality to smartphones for which it wasn't initially designed possess a huge task for the developers as it involves modifications to the kernels, radios and at other deep software levels. On the top of it, with these modifications comes the potential risk of bricking the device on which the Wi-Fi functionality is being transferred.
So, if you think, you can do something interesting with the code, then access the code right here!
Get, set and Code!
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