Hi Community, if you are reading these lines, it is because we have reached the moment that no one wanted to write: Androidiani.com is closing, both as a blog and as a forum.
The birth
Androidiani.com was born on November 24, 2008: an idea by Sebastiano Montino and Andrea Baccega who believe in Google and Android.
In Italy the first real Android device is the HTC Dream branded TIM. Historical readers will remember that TIM had, however, removed the entire Google segment and that, in fact, the phone was neutered: no Android Market (the current Play Store) and the absence of many applications that made Android interesting.
Sleepless nights led to the first root and firmware created by Androidiani.com. It was probably what gave the site the right impetus in his 17 years of life, has established itself as the platform with the largest active community on the national scene with approximately 700,000 users currently registered on the forum, 38,000 items published on the blog e 400,000 unique visitors per day in its peak moments.
They were crazy results, and “a brand” didn’t make them: a stubborn, curious, competent and often too ahead of its time community made them.
The spirit of androids
The logo at the header of the site contains much of the spirit of Androidiani. The idea was to create an island, a mirage, a place where Android enthusiasts and nerds could meet to exchange opinions, hacks or simply chat.
Maintaining extremely streamlined management, we have always liked the idea of allowing anyone to express themselves in the forum or write on the blog. After the first few years, Androidiani had reached a stable equilibrium: we founders intervened more and more rarely and the contents continued to arrive without difficulty.
The “android spirit” has more than worked. Just take a look at the forum to realize the enormous archive of threads, guides, answers, fixes, experiences, comparisons, arguments and peaces made…
The Transformation of Android and the Internet
As Androidians transformed, so did the Android world was evolving. If initially its open source and highly “geeky” nature represented its essence, over time the operating system of the little green robot has become increasingly stable, progressively reducing the need for invasive interventions such as root or the installation of modified firmware.
It’s the end of an era because the Android ecosystem, what it made us fall in love at firsthas largely become… ruined: it has become “normalized”, sterilized, stuck in dynamics where technical fun and the pleasure of tinkering count much less than before.
In 2008, the forums were the pinnacle of knowledge sharing. Surviving for 17 years in the digital world means going through real eras of change.
To give an idea of the context, androidiani eisteva prima on WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitch, Tinder o Telegram. These services, along with many others, have profoundly transformed the way the contents are produced, distributed and consumed are the Internet. It is therefore not difficult to understand how the entire so-called “old Internet” has progressively found itself in difficulty.
The closure
The reasons that led us to this decision are different.
We hire ourselves our share of responsibility: in some historical passages the project could have been better addressed.
At the same time, the transformation of the Internet and the Android landscape, combined with a bureaucracy that is anything but streamlined, has forced us to question the very meaning of its continuation.
Everything will remain online: we will create a static version available for posterity. Destroying such a huge digital archive like this is a crime against humanity.
Thank you
In 17 years they have contributed actively dozens if not hundreds of peopleto whom our heartfelt thanks go. Among these we would like to mention in particular:
- Enrico Andreoli
- Stefano Volponi
- Luca Viscito
- Lorenzo della Morte
- Francesco Rigamonti
- Antonio Inuso
- Alessandro Novara
- Jacopo
- noke
- Agnese Carluccio
- Luciano Gerace
- Nico Petilli
- nk02
- “Array”
Sincere thanks go to all of them for their passion and time. It is only right to thank all of you… the readers and members of the forum, who have made Androidiani a living and real project. (if we have forgotten about you, yes, about you, let us know and we will add you, too many years have passed)
And huge thank you to the community. In all these years you have given us time, trust, energy and patience. You commented, corrected, helped complete strangers at 2 in the morning, shared guides, ROMs, kernels, tricks, “it won’t turn on anymore”, “bootloop”, “help I bricked”, and yes: even useless flames (but without those it wouldn’t have been a real forum).
And precisely because it is a real closure, we want to say it well: THANK YOU. Really.
Thanks again for sharing this project with us. Have a good life everyone
Andrea and Sebastiano
