All OS Some questions for people who use custom ROMS

[senpaidev]

I have a Poco F1 and have been using Lineage OS on it since the day I got it. Currently on LOS 18.1. I specifically bought this phone since it supported LOS. Here are some questions for like minded folk.

Do you buy the phone based on ROM support, or just buy any and check later if it supports custom ROMS?

Which custom rom / phone are you currently rocking?

Which phone will most likely be your next phone?

Why do you use custom ROMS? Privacy, speed, give a FU to manufacturer?

 

[calvin1719]

rom support was a major factor in my last purchase. using crdroid at the moment.
why? more fine grained control, of both UI and permissions, no bloatware, no FB "system" apps.

 

[enthusiast29]

I like to stay away from phones which have stupid custom themes/UI/interface baked in and lack Open source development support personally. For family it doesn't matter.
I do purchase such phones only if custom ROM community is active and I see stable ROMs out there. I'm comfortable to build any custom ROM myself given the sources are available.

I already had rooting/flashing/building ROM experience since 2012-2016 with a couple devices.

I bought Redmi Note 5 Pro 4GB/64GB back in mid-2018 and still rocking the same. Had Stock Android 8.1 MIUI and since then I have switched to Pixel Experience A9 ROM within 50 days of purchase (Bootloader could only unlock after 45 days wait period, damn Xiaomi for that). Skipped A10 and now on PE A11 since many months. Extremely smooth no need for upgrades for me except for the degrading battery now.

I have no plans to upgrade anytime soon only battery can force my upgrade sooner.

I use Custom ROMs to get rid of shitty bloatware on phone, freedom to update to major OS versions especially after planned obsolescence by manufacturer and Android security patches.

 

[gokul.ece22]

@senpaidev

I also currently own a poco F1 running Havoc os.

I choose my phones based on the custom rom availabilty.
The below are the phones, which i owned and all of them had custom roms. Custom rom is installed as soon a stable release is out.
Factory shipped os was used only for a short time

Nexus 6p
Redmi 1s, Redmi note 3, Redmi note 5 pro, Redmi 5a, Redmi note 7 pro, Redmi note 8
Motorola g5s
Pixel 3
Realme 3 pro
Poco f1

With custom rom we can Customize extensively, Better backup, upgrade to recent android version, performane increase. mostly use Havoc os, Pixel experience, Lineage.

 

[kiran6680]

Definitely check before buying - at least that the bootloader is open, or, more often, can be unlocked. Two things to be considered : process of unlocking, and if banking / financial apps can be made to work after unlocking.

Process: Some can be unlocked just be sending an ADB command, which is best. Some need "permission" from the manufacturer - meaning that you have to make an account on manufacturer's website, submit a request with phone's id, and they will email back a key that you can use to unlock. This can take more than a day for many manufacturers.

Banking / financial : depending on the advancement of custom ROM scene, magisk etc., rooting can be hidden for some phones. If so, bhim app, banks' apps, gpay, aarogya setu etc. will work, otherwise they just refuse to work.

 

[nRiTeCh]

I bought Redmi note 7 pro only after researching on custom roms as I'm a avid custom rom lover as I like things customized and not stock! Custom roms come with their own benefits...phone becomes pretty fast, no bloating, tons of tweaks and settings, performance benefits from all angles, custom mods and what not!
I'm so much hooked that during my journeys just for timepass I keep flashing this and that roms with a single data/apps backup and phone is as is within 30mins!
So never lost any data just ensure you have a sd card with back up etc.

My next phone again will be only after a research on supported custom rom and its projection..

 

[sauravghosh]

Pixel 2 XL, running Linage 18.1.
I bought it anyway, had no intention of running a custom, but seeing Google killing a perfect phone with abruptly ending software support, had no other option really. I did try the official firmware for few weeks though, but battery life was pretty bad, which isn't the case on LOS. Another thing is, no matter whether it can ever be proven, Google has a tendency to kill their phones (the sudden death, or EDL bug etc) when they reach EOL. Yeah, might sound funny, but I do believe it's true. One could argue it cannot be done with a software patch but my experience with Pixel 1 taught me differently. Although it did have its fair share of hardware issues to start with.
I do not trust Google with Pixels is the thing For first two to three years running official is fine, but later one should move to custom if long term use is planned.
On LOS though, there are some performance issues, like sudden drop from nowhere but I'm told this is due to older SOC and doesn't happen on modern hardware. I am not a fan of custom ROM by any means, but like I said, from my experience it's not possible for me to trust Google in long term and thousands of Pixel owners who have had to face the same nightmare as I did can only affirm.

PS: Next phone probably will be a 5a, but I honestly plan to move to iPhone for good. It's only their subpar cameras which is holding me back, otherwise Android is too stupid to tinker with, only the cameras on them Pixels are holding me back

 

[senpaidev]

Pixel 2 XL, running Linage 18.1.
I bought it anyway, had no intention of running a custom, but seeing Google killing a perfect phone with abruptly ending software support, had no other option really. I did try the official firmware for few weeks though, but battery life was pretty bad, which isn't the case on LOS. Another thing is, no matter whether it can ever be proven, Google has a tendency to kill their phones (the sudden death, or EDL bug etc) when they reach EOL. Yeah, might sound funny, but I do believe it's true. One could argue it cannot be done with a software patch but my experience with Pixel 1 taught me differently. Although it did have its fair share of hardware issues to start with.
I do not trust Google with Pixels is the thing For first two to three years running official is fine, but later one should move to custom if long term use is planned.
On LOS though, there are some performance issues, like sudden drop from nowhere but I'm told this is due to older SOC and doesn't happen on modern hardware. I am not a fan of custom ROM by any means, but like I said, from my experience it's not possible for me to trust Google in long term and thousands of Pixel owners who have had to face the same nightmare as I did can only affirm.

PS: Next phone probably will be a 5a, but I honestly plan to move to iPhone for good. It's only their subpar cameras which is holding me back, otherwise Android is too stupid to tinker with, only the cameras on them Pixels are holding me back

Was considering getting a Pixel once my Poco F1 dies, will definitely keep your experience in mind.

 

[lockhrt999]

I bought poco f1 thinking it'll have great custom rom support. Despite that fact I haven't yet installed custom rom on my phone. For me personally, custom rom days are over. I have found custom roms are more buggy and handicapped compared to stock ROMs. Having said that, I might install a higher MIUI community built custom rom in the future, if a stable one comes along.

 

[enthusiast29]

One could argue it cannot be done with a software patch but my experience with Pixel 1 taught me differently.

Having a fair bit of experience building Custom ROM and kernels myself I can safely say it's definitely possible and to the extent of permanently bricking the device with no possibility of recovering over Fastboot/EDL/JTAG etc methods.

 

[imran_chennai]

Have been using android phones on custom rom since the last 10 years. My first phone was a LG GT 540, upgrade from 1.6 to 2.3 to 4.4 with cyanogen mod. Then have used a bevy of moto, Xiaomi and YU phones with custom roms.

My main reason for using custom rom now is to emulate *Pixel* phones on a budget. Used Poco F1 with Pixel Experience for the last 3 years, passed it down to a family member. Recently moved to Poco X3 Pro, again with Pixel Experience. I try to stick to popular phones amoung the dev community to increase the chances of having a solid custom rom support.

I have to say, apart from some one off niggles in the early builds, the support has been solid and stable enough to be daily driver material.

Edit - The issue of with Pixels is that they have always been plagued without a history of bricked and frozen devices 2-3 years post launch, which is a huge red flag for me. Plus being in India, Pixel after sales support is non existent and does not come close to popular brands like Xiaomi and Motorola.

 

[tech.monk]

I bought poco f1 thinking it'll have great custom rom support. Despite that fact I haven't yet installed custom rom on my phone. For me personally, custom rom days are over. I have found custom roms are more buggy and handicapped compared to stock ROMs. Having said that, I might install a higher MIUI community built custom rom in the future, if a stable one comes along.

I doubt that, on forum itself you will find Poco F1 users using Pixel Experience, Crdroid, Havoc or other AOSP based ROMs and most of them are daily drivers'.

Anytime these ROMs are better than stock MIUI

 

[rdst_1]

There was a time when this was important. But in those days, almost all phones had custom ROM support. Last phone I used a custom ROM on, was the Redmi Note 3. Then I shifted to a Huawei phone and their UI was pretty slick and never caused any issues and they also kept updating the phone for 3 years. I might need to switch to a custom ROM for my LG G8X in the future, but things are not looking hopeful in that regard. The thing I have noticed is that, since the last few years, if you have a powerful enough phone, the phone remains quite slick enough to keep using it for 2-3 years. Also many UIs like the Samsung One UI have become better over the years.

 

[sauravghosh]

Edit - The issue of with Pixels is that they have always been plagued without a history of bricked and frozen devices 2-3 years post launch, which is a huge red flag for me. Plus being in India, Pixel after sales support is non existent

Yes, that's the reason I think it's intentional. Phones dying right after warranty period of 2 years is over (remeber in EU 2 year warranty is mandatory). On legal side of things, Google already acknowledged the hardware defects of Pixel 1 and there's a lawsuit which facilitated the affected users to get up to 450$ in compensation, but that's applicable within the jurisdiction of the US only. I was an affected party of the same problem, but instead of compensation they quoted 23k for repair, the subsequent back and forth emailing nightmare that followed I'll never ever forget. Everything went in vain but I took it legal, just the hint of legal aspect made the Indian support escalate stuffs to US support, and bam, someone named Arin from Google US support apologised to me straightaway and offered me a Pixel 2 XL (yes, an actual device upgrade Lol), which I obviously accepted. So instead of paying 23k for repair I got a phone which I later sold at 21k. Ironic yes, because I am now using the same device, but back then I just didn't have the confidence of carrying on with another Pixel, upgrade or otherwise. But then I bought some Moto Fusion, and I understood what bad phone, especially god tier level of awfulness of camera means, good god. So yeah back to Pixels again.

But for later devices, Pixel 2, 3, 4 and so on, Google never acknowledged the hardware defects. They all succumb to the sudden death issue due to faulty motherboard. You go to sleep one night seeing your Pixel all fine, you wake up to a dead phone in morning. Hilarious right? No! Especially if you paid premium like I paid 70k for the marlin. Pixel 2's camera dying problem is a sticky thread on reddit, Google didn't acknowledge it. Pixel 3's EDL bug is most probably the worst one, I am not actually sure whether Google acknowledged it.

What a coward, moronic company. We all knew that the Nexus devices had glaring hardware issues, Nexus 5, 5X, 6P, you name it. But when Google took over one would at least expect that those utterly nonsense hardware issues would have been taken care of, but nope, like LG, Google's QC is just the same level of awfulness.

At this point I have stopped believing a Pixel device exists which wouldn't produce some form of hardware issue. 5a and 6 are the only ones against which I have not read such reports, yet obviously they are not even a year old.

Sorry for long rant, but every time this topic is being brought up I get annoyed because I recall my nightmare. It's like PTSD, wherein P stands for Pixel.

PS: Attached herewith is a remark of an Australian Pixel user, that says it all really. I will leave it here.

 

[lockhrt999]

I doubt that, on forum itself you will find Poco F1 users using Pixel Experience, Crdroid, Havoc or other AOSP based ROMs and most of them are daily drivers'.

Yes, you can daily drive them. But they are slightly handicapped compared to stock. For example, WIFI is usually limited 144mbps where as stock can stretch to 800 mbps. Camera is usually better supported on the stock. IR face unlock doesn't work on many custom roms.

Anytime these ROMs are better than stock MIUI

I don't doubt it. But after spending a few years on MIUI, it has grown on me and I have three more devices on running on LOS in the house. I don't miss LOS on my main device.

These days, android custom ROM development works like linux development. Instead community coming together to make one or two solid ROMs, everyone and their grandmas making their own ROMs. Custom ROMs don't compete with OEM ROMs. They compete with each other, everyone's trying to reinvent the wheel. Plus, these days, companies are putting a lot of proprietary stuff and custom roms fail to support that. With OnePlus gone from the market, I think Xiaomi is the last player in India, who's developer friendly. With all that, I feel developer community is thinning out.

Sorry for long rant, but every time this topic is being brought up I get annoyed because I recall my nightmare. It's like PTSD, wherein P stands for Pixel.

Pixel and nexus always had the worst built quality. The proof was in every review video on youtube. It's just that no reviewer had the balls to actually call out the Google.

 

[senpaidev]

Yes, you can daily drive them. But they are slightly handicapped compared to stock. For example, WIFI is usually limited 144mbps where as stock can stretch to 800 mbps. Camera is usually better supported on the stock. IR face unlock doesn't work on many custom roms.


I don't doubt it. But after spending a few years on MIUI, it has grown on me and I have three more devices on running on LOS in the house. I don't miss LOS on my main device.

These days, android custom ROM development works like linux development. Instead community coming together to make one or two solid ROMs, everyone and their grandmas making their own ROMs. Custom ROMs don't compete with OEM ROMs. They compete with each other, everyone's trying to reinvent the wheel. Plus, these days, companies are putting a lot of proprietary stuff and custom roms fail to support that. With OnePlus gone from the market, I think Xiaomi is the last player in India, who's developer friendly. With all that, I feel developer community is thinning out.

Pixel and nexus always had the worst built quality. The proof was in every review video on youtube. It's just that no reviewer had the balls to actually call out the Google.

Not sure about the wifi issue you are facing, but I have been using Poco F1 with LOS from day one and I do get 800+ Mbps wifi over 5Ghz on my phone. IR face unlock could be one of things that is a bit iffy, but pretty sure a lot of custom ROMs have figured it out.

LOS gives me the smoothness and simplicity of being as close to stock as possible, but having enough customizations and 1st party apps to make the phone usable.

Can't comment much on the developer community as it is highly device dependent, I was using a Mi A1 prior to this and that beast is still being supported by a lot of devs.

As for build quality of Nexus, Nexus 5 had its fair share of problems, but I have used the Nexus 4 for a very long time and so has my cousin who is a much more rough user than me and that thing was built like a tank.

 

[Hachune]

I bought poco f1 thinking it'll have great custom rom support. Despite that fact I haven't yet installed custom rom on my phone. For me personally, custom rom days are over. I have found custom roms are more buggy and handicapped compared to stock ROMs. Having said that, I might install a higher MIUI community built custom rom in the future, if a stable one comes along.

I agree. I used to always flash custom ROM right away back in 2011 to 2014 era. What I realised is that even if they claim their ROM is stable, it never really is as stable as a stock ROM. Give it a few months and they started crashing, battery drain, randomly reboot etc.

While it was fun, I don't flash custom ROMs anymore, their overall stability might be much better today.

 

[OneTapHero]

1. Do you buy the phone based on ROM support, or just buy any and check later if it supports custom ROMS?
2. Which custom rom / phone are you currently rocking?
3. Which phone will most likely be your next phone?
4. Why do you use custom ROMS? Privacy, speed, give a FU to manufacturer?

1. Yes, I check if the phone I'm eyeing (usually a SD chipset Xiaomi/Oneplus) has custom ROM support and rooting.
2. I have an Mi A1 with Evolution X installed.
3. Currently eyeing Redmi Note 10 Pro.
4. Xiaomi stopped support and performance took a big hit. I primarily use EvoX for its speed, customisation, and timely updates.

 

[senpaidev]

1. Yes, I check if the phone I'm eyeing (usually a SD chipset Xiaomi/Oneplus) has custom ROM support and rooting.
2. I have an Mi A1 with Evolution X installed.
3. Currently eyeing Redmi Note 10 Pro.
4. Xiaomi stopped support and performance took a big hit. I primarily use EvoX for its speed, customisation, and timely updates.

I was using the Mi A1 before I switched to Poco F1, I am surprised it is still being actively worked on. I used LOS 16.0 on it last, any idea if I can upgrade it to LOS 18.1?

There was a time when this was important. But in those days, almost all phones had custom ROM support. Last phone I used a custom ROM on, was the Redmi Note 3. Then I shifted to a Huawei phone and their UI was pretty slick and never caused any issues and they also kept updating the phone for 3 years. I might need to switch to a custom ROM for my LG G8X in the future, but things are not looking hopeful in that regard. The thing I have noticed is that, since the last few years, if you have a powerful enough phone, the phone remains quite slick enough to keep using it for 2-3 years. Also many UIs like the Samsung One UI have become better over the years.

My main concern with using stock UIs is always them phoning home all kinds of stuff, which I am not a very big fan of. I understand that even in a custom rom with Google apps, it'll send some data back to google, but that's a compromise I am okay with taking. And above them all is the problem with ads, even mid range samsung devices have started pushing "curated apps and experiences", which is just painful. With custom roms, I get a somewhat clean system, without the OS telling me constantly that I need to install some "essential" app. If it is that essential, I would've installed it already.

I'll mostly switch to a pixel for my next device, as even though Apple devices tick most of the boxes for what I need from a phone, they are a wee bit expensive and a lot more closed in nature.

 

[lockhrt999]

With custom roms, I get a somewhat clean system, without the OS telling me constantly that I need to install some "essential" app. If it is that essential, I would've installed it already.

You can disable such stuff through ADB. It'll give you clean experience on OEM roms.

even though Apple devices tick most of the boxes for what I need from a phone, they are a wee bit expensive and a lot more closed in nature.

I've started to feel the same thing. Although, I might not switch to Apple as I won't be able to use vanced and apple devices are expensive. But with the material you shipping with android 12, I have been giving it more thoughts. In my personal opinion, material you is ugly.