[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series ROMs, Kernels, Recover] gooberdude:
Significant changes

A notice about what to expect with the new customized firmware backup.

I did not want to post changes on the soon to be released new thread, so they are posted here.

I removed themes due to storage space and it's ability to hose the system with some packages. Tested a few and did not like the results and had to cleanup the my data manually.

Instead of leaving empty unused space to the system, I filled it to the gills with Google Apps. Yes, you get Google App with assistant built into the firmware. Though it is January 2019 build, any larger would not fit. Ha!

With that being said, you can as an option setup google speech as basic, in the system settings, to assist S Voice with the additin of more languages. Samsung limited S Voice to only a few languages. The down side is it will eat up more internal storage space with the language files. Google app won't add the the bloat, unless you update it. I don't recommendo updating it unless your forced by Google.

Both the Google App and Google Maps are early 2019 releases, due to their size and ability to operate with Google's Android Auto, which as of recent functions with most all updated Music and audio player apps. The nice thing is it does a better job with over all look, over Samsung Car Mode, but has its issues, which Samsung's older app does a lot smoother.

Both Google tts and android auto (optional user installed) each are smaller than 20MB, and can be installed to SD, so it's not a big memory eater, when installing from the play store.

I think I killed all the wee bugs, and am finding overall functions and speeds as good as out of the box. I did a lot more removal of log cat errors, and cleaned up unnecessary libs.

The only thing missing is Samsung Browser, not many use it, but can be installed if it's needed.

Here is a list of Samsung Features that I tried to make fully operational, mostly the issues are in how Samsung stripped the framework and limited or disabled menu items and functions in the system packages.

Private Mode - System does not have private folder in the internal directory structure. Cannot be used without it. Removed the testing packages.

QuickConnect - Camera firmware lacks IP connectivity, thus breaks the QuickConnect function. Removed the testing packages.

Sbeam & NFC - No hardware support, so no testing performed.

Flash light, Smart stay, pause, scroll, and air gestures - No hardware support. Removed gesture libs.

Floating Messages & Edge - not enough storage in system to work beyond minimal results. It was not a requipment for me, and is a small feature. Edge files removed, some floating options still enabled.

Most all other features and options for Note 4 are functional.

Fast Wireless Charging, Flashlight, Toolbox, and Spen have functioning toggles or settings switches... have fun with playing around when nothing to do. Ha!

Last but not least, phone settings UI has some broken settings, which are not required to the devices function. All the broken settings are found fully functional on the Tablet settings UI. The phone settings UI is an option for added features, and is not the primary settings interface for the system. Think of it as a hidden menu enabler. Yes, you need to reboot every time you change from one settings UI to the other.