State of custom ROMs in 2024

What do Lainons think about custom Android ROMs nowadays? Are they still a viable option for people wanting to have slightly more privacy while still using a "smart" phone? What about GSIs? Asking because I finally got AOSP 14 installed on my old Motorola a few days ago. As someone who's never tinkered with custom ROMs before, it was a big change for me. It seems like my phone is a lot faster now and honestly everything just feels so much more "clean". There are some downsides, though. Biggest issue is that the preinstalled apps are ancient (likely been on life support since Nougat) and my particular ROM is a GSI, so things are a little buggy at times. There was also an (unofficial) Lineage OS GSI, but I went with AOSP as I don't like the weird changes Lineage makes to AOSP's interface. The last thing I want to say here is that I'm a little... pessimistic about things. Yes, my phone works fine and there were quite a few GSI-based ROMs available, but something just seems off to me. I got into Android "modding" when I was quite young (maybe 13, but I wasn't able to really mess with things because I didn't have a PC until I was 17). It seems like the magic has died off. Every ROM just feels the same and boring, and barely any devices get actual ROM support (except GSIs) now because companies are starting to lock down bootloader access more and more. I don't know. Tell me your experiences, if you'd like.

>>75119 Custom OS is the only way to expand the lifespan of 5+ year old android devices that lost OEM support. The issue is that not too many devices get good support with frequent security updates. The only good custom android that supports many devices as far asI know is divestos. If divestos doesn't support your device then tough luck.

>>75119 Oldfriend here. I used to do android modding/hacking on XDA starting when I got my first android device, around the 2.1/2.2 days. You bring up a lot of points here. What do you mean by the "magic"? Back in the day phones were single-core, a new kernel with overclocking capabilities really made a difference, and a de-bloated ROM was a big deal. Nowadays, especially with android one devices, or even devices with loads of CPU power and storage, it doesn't matter if your ROM comes with carrier bloat. You can just ignore it and the phone still works fine because these things are so powerful now. Creative hacks like .odex files and custom kernels were fun to see, and the relative gains were huge because devices were so slow. Nowadays there are some clear paths - lineageos has great docs, many supported devices, and you probably have one or two in your drawer. Next device you buy, get a pixel or other hackable-friendly device, and you won't be prevented from doing what you want. It's kind of easy these days, but despite that, phones still suck, Android still looks like trash (4.0 was peak, 1v1me IRL bro), and even if you do get "security updates" you usually risk having an unlocked bootloader, years-out-of-date Linux kernel, millions of lines of out-of-tree patches, tons of vendor provided binary blobs, etc. I think phones were exciting when they were worse. You had to work for it. A few days ago a friend gave me some of his junk drawer androids, and within about 10 minutes I got twrp and some rando XDA lineage build on one of them. There's probably a backdoor but I can also be 100% sure it's better than the factory firmware. Everything works. No tweaks required. Also, before phones "needed" to be these hyper-secure corporate-controlled-and-verified proof-of-identity devices, there was more freedom to tinker and break stuff, they didn't need to be perfectly functional in every way all the time. Basically this whole post was "old man grumpy things aren't like they used to be", but I think phones used to be more fun when they were worse, and the market hadn't solidified yet. That's just been my experience, and you asked for it, so there ya go. Have a good day, friend.

>>75132 agree like probably everyone else here. but anyways this is about every piece of tech made today. i was modding some old consoles and man the old ones are a breeze to mod and so much more customizable. i can even run linux on a ps3. meanwhile my ps4 has a fuarrrking chip that prevents to revert the firmware. i don't think there is even a way to mod the 5. computers should be able to be used as computers. don't get me started on cars, and i'm only a 21yo zoomie. i guess you use a pixel youself probably with graphene on it?

>>75133 I don't use a pixel with graphene since they're expensive, and graphene deprecates old devices. I buy old used devices, always less than $100, and use lineage or divestos. I don't use my phone for anything but phone calls, sms, and messengers. I disable the browser. I would get by with my nexus 5 if the battery wasn't dead and it couldn't do volte.

>>75125 That's true. My current plan with my ROM is to flash a newer version every 3 months. I don't use my phone for much so I don't think security will be a big concern. >>75132 I think the magic was basically how "wild" things were. ROMs were popping up left and right and new experimental crap was being tested out. ROMs, to me, were about maximizing your device's potential. They still are like that in a sense (my Motorola was only designed to run up to Android 12, but it's now running 14) but it's not the same. I think a lot of it might be from nostalgia. I actually do have a Pixel (specifically a 6a) but I won't be able to unlock its bootloader until March due to it being carrier locked. Laugh at me if you want, but I wouldn't have been able to afford it from the Google store unlocked. When I do get it unlocked I'm probably just going to put plain AOSP on it (plus some IMS service app that's involved with VoLTE). Sorry for the late response, I've been busy.

>>75132 >>75134 >>75162 On a difficulty scale from "install Arch" to "submit kernel patches", how hard is rolling your own ROM for an unsupported phone? What about PostmarketOS?

>>75119 That magick you are referring to is from a previous era where you had to be the change to see things move forward. Nowadays there is not as much as that; for a list of reasons. -Phones are considerably stronger, able to be fast and snappy even with bloat. -Older android 2.2-4.4 era bloat = slow machines, the need to optimize and hack was genuine. -Storage then was comically small compared to today, meaning your code had to be clean, tight, efficient, and with minimal bloat. This isn't everything, but these are some of the bigger reasons. An unless you buckle in, you're going to see few projects and even fewer people seeking that change. Personally? I'm dabbling with graphene, though am eager to try some whacky options and test more waters. From keeping eyes on the pyra-handheld to utilizing sbc like devices with usb-cellular modems to physically remove the hardware that would track me.

grapheneOS is good, everything else is soykaf. I hate using Google hardware which it requires but it's a necessary sacrifice. I tried lineage, microg and all that and it was generally a bad experience in comparison

>>75167 There is also Calyx OS as an option. While security is emphasized, privacy and usability are prioritized far more. It supports some moto phones, euro sustainable phone brands, and of course pixels. https://privsec.dev/posts/android/choosing-your-android-based-operating-system/ Personally the sacrifice of using Google hardware is okay with me so I continue to use Graphene. It's no bs, well constructed, developer friendly, and emphasises on security. Until brands like Fairphone come to the US I'm sticking with Pixels. >>75134 Graphene has pretty good long term support. I'm using a 4a and while it's a bit sluggish on A14, it's still getting very frequent updates and will likely continue to do so for over another year. Stupidly cheap used as well.

>>75164 Porting lineage or postmarketos to an unsupported device is about at the 'submit kernel patches' level of difficulty. Depends on what device. Generally I buy supported devices (cheap used stuff) since the work is done for me. If you have a device that's already supported, just out of date, it's pretty easy to rebuild the same version of lineage for it with updated security patches or something, you just need a massive amount of disk space and RAM. If you just need it as a phone, why even bother? I know people get all huffy about security and stuff, but even modern devices run EOL kernels with a ridiculously complex software stack. Just plug enable debugging and rip out all the packages you don't want: `adb pm uninstall --user 0 -k <package name>` (find names with `adb pm list` or something) and then install signal or telegram and be on your way. Phones are inherently insecure anyway. Just don't put anything sensitive on it and you're good. Tether to a laptop if you need to do something. uninstall the web browser, put tape over the camera. etc.

>>75197 What's your process for making sure the used phones you buy aren't filled with malware (or cleaning them)? Is a factory reset sufficient? I would like to have a "secure" phone of course, but my main concerns are telemetry and bundled spyware that doesn't obey permissions, restarts/reinstalls itself, etc. Will adb fully control everything I need it to?

>>75443 factory reset + flash your own ROM is probably good.

Wouldn't the ideal be to just ditch Android and have something from the ground up build around privacy and security but still able to run a few apps you really need such as the browser, VOIP apps and a 2FA app?

>>75459 You can look at PinePhone to see how easy is what you're suggesting.

>>75119 does anyone know a a good rom for a galaxy note 4? not using anything newer as no removable batteries and microUSB

I'm intrigued by AOSP/GSI but I found that "It's just for testing", "Hardware won't fully work", etc. But OP says "my phone works fine". I need to do something extra to get it to work?

>>76225 > I'm intrigued by AOSP/GSI but I found that "It's just for testing", "Hardware won't fully work", etc. But OP says "my phone works fine". I need to do something extra to get it to work? In the good old days of custom ROMs, there were quite a few ROMs that had everything working for popular phones. Even then, you could try to roll your own ROM, but getting drivers to work was the challenge. These days, it's harder to find anything good. Ideally, you would be able to: - find a decent, relatively inexpensive phone that has a removable battery - download and manually install factory ROMs as they become available - root the phone using some method that doesn't also install malware - download and install a good custom recovery for making namdroid backups - download and install a decent custom ROM that works well and will be supported for a while But all of those things are getting harder and harder to find and do. It's gotten so bad that I don't have a carrier or sim-card for my current cellphone, and rarely even use it on ethernet or wifi. Cellphones have become essentially just surveillance devices, more useful for law enforcement, state intelligence agencies, and corporations than for the suckers that buy and use them.