Database Users

** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST or FAVORITE ROM /KERNEL THREAD **

This is the official "which is the best or favorite ROM/KERNEL for the Nexus 7 Thread"
In lieu of all the threads recently being created, asking the same question "which is the best, fastest, least trouble free" ROM for the device, this thread has been created. This thread also covers Kernels.
Notice, all other threads asking the same question, will be deleted and re-directed here. This is in an effort to keep the number of new threads lower, and to enable better searches for people looking for an answer.
Thread Rules
1. No Flaming and no arguing. Everybody has a favorite.
2. No links to external Sites. The ROMs must be linked at XDA
3. No linking to Non-GPL
4. No Profanity (or acronyms used to cleverly disguise such words)
Keep it clean people.
MD

Thanks for locking my thread and opening this about best ROM for nexus. I will watch this thread and see which is the answer of my question.

STOCK ROM!

Honestly, on my N73G, I am liking stock. I will probably do Parandroid eventually, but the amount of trouble, vs. benefit is too high. (Am not able to make my N7 connect via adb to unlock, etc...but that's not what this thread is for )

Paranoid Android for me.

Re: ** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST ROM THREAD **
For Nexus 7 3G, I must say that Supernexus 2 is quite good. even though the customization options are lacking compared to CM10.1 for example, it's smooth and so much stable!
I tried temasek unofficial CM10.1 for quite some time before using supernexus rom; I think I have been flashing 1x of his roms, latest one on top previous ones. I only update temasek rom every 3 or so version or when there is an interesting changes. Can't afford to download everyday; slow and expensive Internet here. If only it offers delta update through cyandelta or rom manager. It's got all CM10.1 features plus many cherry picks which are epic IMO, like native USB OTG mounting, wifi / bluetooth/USB tethering. Just to name a few.
I am now waiting for supernexus 2 build 3 which should be released today, one day after its been released for S2 and S3. It's based on 4.2.2. Gonna try that for a few days. If there's any major problem, I might try temasek rom again.
I have a question: is it safe to flash just the bootloader in fastboot even though I'm using a custom rom based on 4.2.1? I don't want to return to stock because I heard it will wipe internal sd again. My N7 can't connect to my desktop computer through MTP; tried in windows 7 and Ubuntu 12.04
Sent from Nexus 7 3G using Tapatalk HD

The amount of roms out here is simply confusing.. And please don't accuse me of not doing my homework, I've spent hours reading through rom features and trying them out. None of them have the perfect feeling to me. Also, there is no performance comparision as there is with kernels.
What I'm looking for is as clean rom as possible, more impprtantly though, one that is fast(est) for gaming. Yes, I will use a kernel and oc my device, but roms i've tested still have different performance levels with same kernel settings. Rom should also have tablet ui and some fundametal configuration options such as power menu, quick settings customization etc.. Also, it should be stable enough for everyday use. Battery life is not as important, as it can be saved with app usage and undervolting.
I'm sure others have the same things in mindk, so I'll ask for everyone.
Thank you very much in advance.

scream4cheese said:
STOCK ROM!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zedwards said:
Honestly, on my N73G, I am liking stock. I will probably do Parandroid eventually, but the amount of trouble, vs. benefit is too high. (Am not able to make my N7 connect via adb to unlock, etc...but that's not what this thread is for )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree - stock and unrooted my N7 rocks. Granted, I've only had it a week tomorrow and I'm coming from Hashcode's Kindle Fire rom'ed device - which with most mods is trying to emulate the Nexus 7 - and does a pretty good job too. But my new device got the latest 4.2.2 jelly bean pushed to it a couple of days ago - no fuss/muss - and smooth and awesome it is still.
I'd decided when I activated my new N7 that I'd hold off root and modding it for a week or two to break it in, make sure that I had no warranty claims to make. With one week down all that I've missed about not having root so far is Titanium Backup.
Maybe I'm in the wrong place. Where is the, "Benefits of rooting your Nexus 7?" thread?

Maybe I'm a weirdo here but while stock ROMs are great and fast and whatnot, I'm looking for the most unique ROM! Or maybe I just need a different launcher to spice things up?
But, agreed, there are way too many ROMs that offer minimal differences...

R: ** official which is the best rom thread **
I think it's smoothroom with franco kernel
Inviato dal mio Nexus 7 con Tapatalk 2

Paranoid Android is by far the best Custom ROM I've tried. Other than ViperX for the HOX etc I think the Paranoid team do such amazing work.
Updated all the time, and never had an issue with PA.
With Faux kernel it "USED" to be amazing all round, but I've noticed recently the battery has been less and less with each update (perhaps Faux isn't keeping up)?
Franco kernel is also brilliant with PA. But yeah, for the Nexus, PA is the way to go !

Re: ** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST ROM THREAD **
The last time I tried PA, my N7 just freezes in the lock screen, quite often. Only thing I can do is reboot. At other time, when lock screen is working, there are lots of lags pretty much everywhere. I still don't understand why people still praised it until now even though in my testing it feels as if I'm holding a bomb ready to explode at any time.
Even people in the nexus community can't escape the "hype" and placebo effect of roms or tweaks or even kernels.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Re: ** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST ROM THREAD **
dadeo1111 said:
I have to agree - stock and unrooted my N7 rocks. Granted, I've only had it a week tomorrow and I'm coming from Hashcode's Kindle Fire rom'ed device - which with most mods is trying to emulate the Nexus 7 - and does a pretty good job too. But my new device got the latest 4.2.2 jelly bean pushed to it a couple of days ago - no fuss/muss - and smooth and awesome it is still.
I'd decided when I activated my new N7 that I'd hold off root and modding it for a week or two to break it in, make sure that I had no warranty claims to make. With one week down all that I've missed about not having root so far is Titanium Backup.
Maybe I'm in the wrong place. Where is the, "Benefits of rooting your Nexus 7?" thread?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love stock and stock kernel on my N7 because it gives me the best battery life plus performance. I can run many applications flawlessly. No hiccups or lags. To be fair, i have only tried MiNCO ROM, paranoidandroid, and CM 10.1. I liked the customizations and the tweaks that were implemented to improve it but it just wasn't for me.
I flashed back to stock a few days and I'm going to camp here for a while.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

For me: #1 Paranoid Android, #2 Stock.

Re: ** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST ROM THREAD **
Paranoid android, but cant wait to get back to stock 4.2.2...
Sent from my Nexus 7

I'm a pretty big fan of dirty root box IMHO. I think it looks really slick and gives pretty good performance and tons of customization. Paired with Franco kernel it also gets great battery life.

PRIME D02 is the fastest ROM I've tried, by far.
It is a clean ROM concentrated on improving performance, it doesn't add a lot of features which also can be added afterwards to your taste (for instance if you want a PIE menu you can add LMT Launcher). But you can select extended desktop (full screen), you can customize the navbar buttons and settings, nav ring, status bar, and quick settings (swipe down from the top right of the status bar).
If you use this rom with its standard kernel, make sure to install Trickster MOD and adjust the setting 'CPUQuit Power Management' to 'RUNNABLE' (swipe to the last tab, and don't forget to press 'V' on top of the screen to activate, and enable 'set on boot'). This is needed to get good battery performance, otherwise 3 cores will run at high speed. You will still get the super fluid performance.

fac51void said:
PRIME D02 is the fastest ROM I've tried, by far.
It is a clean ROM concentrated on improving performance, it doesn't add a lot of features which also can be added afterwards to your taste (for instance if you want a PIE menu you can add LMT Launcher). But you can select extended desktop (full screen), you can customize the navbar buttons and settings, nav ring, status bar, and quick settings (swipe down from the top right of the status bar).
If you use this rom with its standard kernel, make sure to install Trickster MOD and adjust the setting 'CPUQuit Power Management' to 'RUNNABLE' (swipe to the last tab, and don't forget to press 'V' on top of the screen to activate). This is needed to get good battery performance, otherwise 3 cores will run at high speed. You will still get the super fluid performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1

Isn't anyone using AOKP? I switched from SmoothROM and never looked back. SmoothROM was nice, much better than stock, but the customization and stability with AOKP simply incredible. I'm using a 4.2.2 nightly right now, couldn't wait for the Bluetooth fix and haven't had a problem yet.
aokp.co
Try it out, you don't hate unicorns do you? :cyclops:

Re: ** OFFICIAL WHICH IS THE BEST ROM THREAD **
CodefireX,Xylon,Vanilla Root box,and now Dirty Rootbox have been impressive this year. Originally loved Baked but haven't even looked for an update since v.7.
Don't much care for PA.
Got tired of hearing about tablet ui and the (ugh) 'Phablet' ui and now its Pie this and Pie that. There is a launcher for that so keep pie out of the ROMs please...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

[Q] stock google rom vs LiquidSmooth

Hey,
I just wanted to ask does the custom roms really worth rooting? in comparison to the google stock rom how much faster and more battery efficient are the custom rom that specialize in those fields? (i.e. LiquidSmooth from what I could gather) and how much more/less stable are they from the stock rom?
Thank you.

Experience differs from user to user. The most conclusive way to get an answer is to try it out yourself. For me, PA has been just as fast as the stock ROM and had equally good battery life, but I have had the occasional random reboot. To me that's a miniscule trade-off for the features you get. You won't really get a ROM that's significantly faster than a stock ROM though because the hardware on the phone is good enough that everything feels fast.

tomer90 said:
Hey,
I just wanted to ask does the custom roms really worth rooting? in comparison to the google stock rom how much faster and more battery efficient are the custom rom that specialize in those fields? (i.e. LiquidSmooth from what I could gather) and how much more/less stable are they from the stock rom?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend you try both and stick with the one that works best for you. Only you can determine which one you like more. The N4 is easy to install a custom rom on (even from stock). Plus with the backup apps out there you don't have to risk losing your data and starting over. No two users are identical and what works for one may not work for another.
For what it's worth, I've flashed back to stock/locked/unrooted because I never came to depend on the features the different roms gave me. I'm getting older and don't have the time to stay current on the different roms and features. All I need for my phone are apps/features that are found in the stock rom and the google store. Battery life is better on a custom rom but it's not worth it to me to continue my "flashaholic" ways. I still get through a day sometimes a day and a half on the stock rom - which is all I need. My use case could be drastically different than yours so don't do what I did unless you know it will work for you.
The developers here do great work and it's a great community so I would recommend you try them all to see which one you like the most.
Good luck.

You need to find the answer yourself.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using tapatalk 2

its not about me testing for myself because i'm not looking for features or special stuff i can get along with everything i'm really just looking for the fastest most battery saving ROM, thats it, I play little to almost no games basicly mail and scanning and stuff like that(i'm a student right now) and soon i'll be writing some apps for myself for security purposes so I need something to really milk that Quad Core for all its worth so I also need some CPU tweaking apps(not sure if thats ROM related)

You'll be very happy with Sabermod or Rasbean both close to stock. Sabermod is the only Rom built using the 4.8 chaintool and is very fast. The battery life is also excellent. I recommend those 2 for a close to stock experience with some useful tweaks both fast smooth and solid.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Thank you for your input.
Any other opinions?
and by the way, excuse my ignorance but what does it mean 4.8 chaintool? what makes it faster then the 4.7 or the older ones? and since its really new im guessing, does it mean its less stable then the other ROMS? and when you say excellent battery life, its in comparison to all those other ROMS that aim for max battery life?
Thank you!

If you really want more battery life or smoothness then IMO you should just install a new kernel; Franco's kernel has great battery life but it still has better performance than stock, Trinity kernel is super fast and smooth, and there's loads more options available.
I'm running CM10.1 and Franco kernel and its very stable, barely ever have any sort of bugs or random reboots
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

I run CM10.1. Close to stock, but has a few options that are nice to have especially if you like to customize your phone. There are other Roms that have more options, but to me, what's in CM is enough. It's really up to you.
With that being said, I recently flashed a stock rooted rom and got MUCH better battery life than on CM. I don't know if it was an app I had or what, but stock definitely gave me better battery life. I have tried kernels and Rom combinations, but always come back to CM with every single phone I've had. But, in my experience on the Nexus 4, stock Rom gives me the best battery life.

For me liquidsmooth is brilliant! Extremely fast while having tons of customization options. Pair it with matr1x and it really is a great combo for speed and battery life. This is only my opinion but it works for me. I got over 22000 on antutu with this combination (no overclock) while I think its around 17000 on stock. I also get significantly better battery life compared to stock.

if you really want a bump in battery and performance, i suggest rooting and just install francos kernel.i've tried every rom on this forum and for me i ALWAYS find my way back to stock for me it just feels the most fluid and everything works like it should. like me you dont play games or anything and im no app hoarder.that said stock rom with francos kernel gives me the best of everything including color/gamma tweaks to make your screen look better with his app.
with that said i suggest to check out different kernels

Installing kernel...
paul_viado said:
if you really want a bump in battery and performance, i suggest rooting and just install francos kernel.i've tried every rom on this forum and for me i ALWAYS find my way back to stock for me it just feels the most fluid and everything works like it should. like me you dont play games or anything and im no app hoarder.that said stock rom with francos kernel gives me the best of everything including color/gamma tweaks to make your screen look better with his app.
with that said i suggest to check out different kernels
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now, if we install franco's kernel onto the Stock ROM, will this prevent any future Google updates from being installed?

mastewman said:
Now, if we install franco's kernel onto the Stock ROM, will this prevent any future Google updates from being installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updates in any form will show up in the forum and no need to simply rely on Google for them. They have recently released an updated kernel which I see being implemented by some rom developers and kernel developers already. Let's understand what we have here guys, a community of constant building additions/updates to our phones. So updates should be the last thing for you to worry about IMO
Also to me OP some of the questions you asked can all be answered with a simple Google Search, not that the answers given here are wrong but you would probably find more in depth and uniformed answers by looking it up.. Quite sure its on a wiki somewhere...

playya said:
Updates in any form will show up in the forum and no need to simply rely on Google for them. They have recently released an updated kernel which I see being implemented by some rom developers and kernel developers already. Let's understand what we have here guys, a community of constant building additions/updates to our phones. So updates should be the last thing for you to worry about IMO
Also to me OP some of the questions you asked can all be answered with a simple Google Search, not that the answers given here are wrong but you would probably find more in depth and uniformed answers by looking it up.. Quite sure its on a wiki somewhere...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe he means Google ota's and yes it can stop you from getting ota's. Any modification to system. Whether you added or removed something will fail. You would have to be on complete stock for it to work. Just download yourself a nexus 4 toolkit. The latest factory image, latest drivers, and make sure you backup your internal storage on your computer. Use the tool to return your phone back to stock. Of course whenever you feel is tge right time to do so.

Jsparta26 said:
I believe he means Google ota's and yes it can stop you from getting ota's. Any modification to system. Whether you added or removed something will fail. You would have to be on complete stock for it to work. Just download yourself a nexus 4 toolkit. The latest factory image, latest drivers, and make sure you backup your internal storage on your computer. Use the tool to return your phone back to stock. Of course whenever you feel is tge right time to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh no I fully understood what he meant and my point was simply people unroot or stay stock to wait for an update. Whether you are rooted or not the update will find you in some form. Either with a rooted stock rom or a custom rom but rest assure that xda will not let an update happen and its not on everyone's phone :good:

[Poll] AOSP vs TW

How many of you have taken the plunge to aosp and how many are staying on touchwiz? Reply with what rom you are on, if you have done the LOKI patch and why you made that choice.
I am on tw still because I have no real needs that aosp can give me (yet) though I feel I might dive into using slimbean later today bc of my flashaholic ways since my dell streak 5 days.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

greekunit690 said:
How many of you have taken the plunge to aosp and how many are staying on touchwiz? Reply with what rom you are on, if you have done the LOKI patch and why you made that choice.
I am on tw still because I have no real needs that aosp can give me (yet) though I feel I might dive into using slimbean later today bc of my flashaholic ways since my dell streak 5 days.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or.. You know.. You can make an actual poll in the thread as opposed to having people comment on it.

darkodin14 said:
Or.. You know.. You can make an actual poll in the thread as opposed to having people comment on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know started it on my phone though...Polls now openedm

There we go! Thanks.
Now onto the point, I would go with touchwiz. I just change the crappy launcher. My problem with AOSP/AOKP is that there is always a problem with something small but for some users its a big problem. For example with Task650's rom for the galaxy s3, it took forever to get bluetooth to work properly. And one update killed it again. By bluetooth I mean connecting it in car/other devices and using it for voice/audio.
It just never feels as fluid as a stock rom.

aosp is smooth and lag free but it lacks some features that differentiates samsung phones from the rest. camera will be completly basic, all the gestures and such will be gone, and so on. the only way to retain them and have a smooth experience is to use a custom launcher, like nova or apex.

Just remember these:
AOSP - be ready for some small bugs (always) Faster roms though. I need bluetooth, and it was a nightmare to keep this working.
TW - stable.
Ran aosp for along time and was the roms of choice. Nit picking annoying bugs drove me away, I use my phone for business, and asop can not hold up.
My opinion Only!

AOSP all day.

TheAxman said:
Just remember these:
AOSP - be ready for some small bugs (always) Faster roms though. I need bluetooth, and it was a nightmare to keep this working.
TW - stable.
Ran aosp for along time and was the roms of choice. Nit picking annoying bugs drove me away, I use my phone for business, and asop can not hold up.
My opinion Only!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree 100%!

AOSP will get my vote over TW every time. :good:

I ran AOSP/CM on all my phones up until now. The S4 and it's features are unique. The phone is fluid and smooth using nova prime. I've never had lag from the moment I got my phone. Never thought I'd say this but I'm content as of now with touchjizz. Finally having options for kernels and Nottach's module along with xposed framework this phone has been and absolute Stunner IMO. Best phone I've ever had hands down.

stevehkim said:
I ran AOSP/CM on all my phones up until now. The S4 and it's features are unique. The phone is fluid and smooth using nova prime. I've never had lag from the moment I got my phone. Never thought I'd say this but I'm content as of now with touchjizz. Finally having options for kernels and Nottach's module along with xposed framework this phone has been and absolute Stunner IMO. Best phone I've ever had hands down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My thoughts exactly. With Nottach's xposed mod, I can make this this look as cool as any ROM. Nova Launcher and widget locker and jellybean keyboard from the market make sure I never see a trace of touchjizz. Except when I go into settings, but I can live with that since I have activity shortcuts to data usage and battery info. Dealing with on/off small issues with Bluetooth, mhl, camera, etc on cm10 just wore me down on my GS2.
I don't have the time that I used to to keep on top of which nightlies work and which ones have weird bugs. Now that things just seem to work, I think I can be happy.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-1337 using xda premium

[Q] Custom ROM Question

Hi there! New to the forum, formerly used SDX developers.
on my first TouchWiz device and was hoping to hear some opinions and get educated on how custom ROMs work on a phone with an OEM overlay. I previously ran a Nexus S with Cyanogenmod on it. I really enjoyed it, but didn't lose any features going from vanilla Android to CM.
curious what features I might lose if I were to switch on this new phone. The features I might be interested in not losing are the camera app (essentially the burst shooting mode and best picture mode) and the air gestures. There were many features I really enjoyed of CM, but I would like most some sort of compromise.
other ROM suggestions would be appreciated to hear too.
Thanks for your time.

SalomonCascade said:
Hi there! New to the forum, formerly used SDX developers.
on my first TouchWiz device and was hoping to hear some opinions and get educated on how custom ROMs work on a phone with an OEM overlay. I previously ran a Nexus S with Cyanogenmod on it. I really enjoyed it, but didn't lose any features going from vanilla Android to CM.
curious what features I might lose if I were to switch on this new phone. The features I might be interested in not losing are the camera app (essentially the burst shooting mode and best picture mode) and the air gestures. There were many features I really enjoyed of CM, but I would like most some sort of compromise.
other ROM suggestions would be appreciated to hear too.
Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You basically either got to go AOSP or TW, all the TW roms will have those features that come with stock working. AOSP roms like CM, AOKP, PA, etc won't have any of the unique TW features like air gestures and etc. In regards to the camera, it won't be the same exact app, but I'm pretty sure AOSP has a few equivalent shooting modes but I don't remember which ones, haven't used the AOSP camera in awhile.
And I'm pretty sure I've read that it won't be possible to merge those TW features, like smart scroll and all that air stuff, into CM and etc. MAYBE if the Google GS4 comes with them we will be able to port them in, but I doubt that'll the Google S4 will.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

So S Beam and S Health won't be ported to AOSP style ROMs either? I'm just trying to figure out which way to go. I like the idea of some of these features, but realistically probably wouldn't use them much. Have you experimented with any ROMs on your S4 yet? Thanks for your response.

SalomonCascade said:
So S Beam and S Health won't be ported to AOSP style ROMs either? I'm just trying to figure out which way to go. I like the idea of some of these features, but realistically probably wouldn't use them much. Have you experimented with any ROMs on your S4 yet? Thanks for your response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm quite sure that the APK's of those apps are dependent on Touchwiz so they won't work if your on an AOSP rom. That might not be the case for all of them.
Yes sir! I have tried all the main TW roms out, Force Rom is a really slimmed down stock rom with some nice mods, FreeGS4 is a choose and pick everything you want from stock with everything being included and most of it being uninstallable by default, with a bunch of great mods, Blue Kuban is a blue themed out TW rom with a great built in mod downloader/updater. All three are great with different niches. There is also Highway (or something like that) and Untitled rom but those are in their early stages still.
And the AOSP roms are the usuals, CM, AOKP, AOSPA and also SlimBean. If your going to try an AOSP rom I recommend the official CM nightlies or Slimbean as the others are still in beta.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

I've been thinking I would wait for a CM milestone before giving it a shot. Might try Free GS4, that sounds up my ally. Thanks again for the answers. One last question if you have time: Have you considered dual booting?

I have been running ForceRom and have had great success with it. Battery life is great and phone has been running quite smoothly. Link below if you wanna check it out.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2261943
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

Good question, and good information for new smartphone people such as I.

I am running the Team Sonic rom, I like it quite a bit. Its very similar to stock but with some important tweaks:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2294607&page=41

Are custom rom's necessary.

OK a philosophical rant.
I've spent hours trying to decide which custom rom to install. Watched all the youtube videos went on all the developers web sites and read hundreds of pages of threads and yet nothing jumps out at me. I was asking myself why do I want a custom rom. So I went through a checklist of what roms offer
1. Remove bloatware - done that through titanium
2. Display customisations - I use sense and nova and various other gui apps that provide many options
3. Tweaks - I have exposed modules - sense 6, gravity box and xsense which give me all the tweaks I need
4. Speed - my phone's running very well.
5. Gestures - I use gmd gestures
Some roms offer hundreds of tweaks. In reality how often and how many would you change. Also while most roms are stable and bugs are fixable, there are many reports of problems and yes I know they do get fixed eventually but losing wifi, carrier access, reboots, bootloops etc can be disconcerting and a common question is how do I get back to stock rom.
I came to the conclusion that the only reason I wanted a custom rom was to see if I could load one and try it out. Seems like a lot of mucking about to achieve, in my case on this phone, very little.
Have i missed the point of roms?

I installed the Android Lollipop custom rom and it was nice. There were two bugs that I encountered and they were 1) no system r/w access and 2) I kept having to dismount and remount my sd card. I tried Cyanogenmod and while it was nice, I missed Blinkfeed.

It's a presonal preference, really. Everybody has their reason for what operating system they run on their phone. As for me, I like custom ROMs because I like to stay on the bleeding edge. If a new version of Android is released, you can guarantee there'll be a custom ROM for it within 1-2 weeks. Even when the OEM has stopped pushing out updates, custom ROMs give the ability to always stay on the bleeding edge. Also, some people dislike the Sense UI. Understandable, since it does slow the phone down just a bit. But really, it' just down to personal preference.

primed1 said:
It's a presonal preference, really. Everybody has their reason for what operating system they run on their phone. As for me, I like custom ROMs because I like to stay on the bleeding edge. If a new version of Android is released, you can guarantee there'll be a custom ROM for it within 1-2 weeks. Even when the OEM has stopped pushing out updates, custom ROMs give the ability to always stay on the bleeding edge. Also, some people dislike the Sense UI. Understandable, since it does slow the phone down just a bit. But really, it' just down to personal preference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe its a Windows vs Mac thing. Its funny you know that I'm an experienced computer teacher and on PCs I always stay up to date and I do like to be on the bleeding edge but when it comes to phones I feel differently but on my Samsung tablet I do have a custom rom. I'm not anti custom rom. Samsungs bloatware is ridiculous, touchwiz is awful and the tablet is very laggy. A custom rom here was absolutely necessary. Now it flies but on the htc one m8, I don't mind sense 6, speed is good and customisations are adequate.

Technically speaking they are not necessary. I prefer stock android to sense.
Also lollipop appears to be a game changer for exposed. It's uncertain the future of exposed.
I know my ROM of choice is miui although it can be a crap shoot to get a stable ROM to my liking so I usually use mi launcher

jbarr3 said:
OK a philosophical rant.
I've spent hours trying to decide which custom rom to install. Watched all the youtube videos went on all the developers web sites and read hundreds of pages of threads and yet nothing jumps out at me. I was asking myself why do I want a custom rom. So I went through a checklist of what roms offer
1. Remove bloatware - done that through titanium
2. Display customisations - I use sense and nova and various other gui apps that provide many options
3. Tweaks - I have exposed modules - sense 6, gravity box and xsense which give me all the tweaks I need
4. Speed - my phone's running very well.
5. Gestures - I use gmd gestures
Some roms offer hundreds of tweaks. In reality how often and how many would you change. Also while most roms are stable and bugs are fixable, there are many reports of problems and yes I know they do get fixed eventually but losing wifi, carrier access, reboots, bootloops etc can be disconcerting and a common question is how do I get back to stock rom.
I came to the conclusion that the only reason I wanted a custom rom was to see if I could load one and try it out. Seems like a lot of mucking about to achieve, in my case on this phone, very little.
Have i missed the point of roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once u try Xposed Module Xtended Settings (for Sense 6) u won't need a rom. It's ALMOST got more features than s6tb, xsense, htc one tweaker, gravity box,- ALL COMBINED AND THEN SOME THAT NONE OF EM CONTAIN.... Newest versions up on Play Store (Xposed report has older versions).... With this 1 single mod, I have no need for custom rom. Try it u WILL NOT regret it (or turn back either)

Are custom roms necessary? In my opinion yes they are.
1: some people prefer a pure android experience (me included)
2: some people want certain tweaks, apps, and settings
3: and the MOST important one! Faster updates, and longer device life.
What do i mean by device life? Newest android on phones that the manufacturer phased out. Look at the galaxy s3 running 4.4.4, or the galaxy nexus running 4.4.4 and probably 5.0 now. These devices stopped getting updates from their manufacturers but are still good usuable phones, preventing me from getting a new device.
This is why companies have been locking down bootloaders, to get you to buy a new device for new software when the one you own is perfectly good.
So it comes down to taste, preference, and android version.

jbarr3 said:
Have i missed the point of roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xposed and all these apps which you are using came in very late if you compare them to when custom roms started popping up. Now, me for one prefer to have some of the functionality you use baked into my rom instead of me going to the play store and downloading an app to do so.

R4INS said:
Are custom roms necessary? In my opinion yes they are.
1: some people prefer a pure android experience (me included)
2: some people want certain tweaks, apps, and settings
3: and the MOST important one! Faster updates, and longer device life.
What do i mean by device life? Newest android on phones that the manufacturer phased out. Look at the galaxy s3 running 4.4.4, or the galaxy nexus running 4.4.4 and probably 5.0 now. These devices stopped getting updates from their manufacturers but are still good usuable phones, preventing me from getting a new device.
This is why companies have been locking down bootloaders, to get you to buy a new device for new software when the one you own is perfectly good.
So it comes down to taste, preference, and android version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which rom are you using then?
BTW In Australia we are bypassing 4.4.4 and going straight to 5.0. When I don't know (Jan. was mentioned) but I'll revisit roms when they match my firmware. The point about updates is a good one. I forgot about that.

jbarr3 said:
Which rom are you using then?
BTW In Australia we are bypassing 4.4.4 and going straight to 5.0. When I don't know (Jan. was mentioned) but I'll revisit roms when they match my firmware. The point about updates is a good one. I forgot about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im running the google play edition 5.0 lollipop leak right now. Hoping the official google play 5.0 update comes this week. Kinda laggy. I tend to run cyanogenmod (cm11) so as soon as cm12 comes out ill be switching to that

R4INS said:
Im running the google play edition 5.0 lollipop leak right now. Hoping the official google play 5.0 update comes this week. Kinda laggy. I tend to run cyanogenmod (cm11) so as soon as cm12 comes out ill be switching to that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash the antilag fix holyangel posted, it makes things usable imho. Its not 100% gone but its a whole lot better without the fix.

luigi90210 said:
Flash the antilag fix holyangel posted, it makes things usable imho. Its not 100% gone but its a whole lot better without the fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i have the tweaks all set. Also switched to nova launcher (ditching google now helps). I really only experience the most lag in chrome and keyboard. I could try a differrnt keyboard i guess but it matches so well.

R4INS said:
Yeah i have the tweaks all set. Also switched to nova launcher (ditching google now helps). I really only experience the most lag in chrome and keyboard. I could try a differrnt keyboard i guess but it matches so well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its funny you say that cause im only experiencing lag on google messanger. Everything else is smooth with the occasional hiccup once and a while.
To add my $0.02 to the topic, i feel custom roms in the sense like CM, AOKP, paranoid android, ect. are not necessary unless you have no way to get pure android on your device. Im running the leaked lollipop rom and im loving it aside from the minor lag issues im experiencing, i feel android has itself to a point where if you need to customize something, you have rooted apps that can do it, there isnt any need to have all these seperate apps baked into a rom when you will only use 1/3rd of the features, its just adding more bloat to what could be a pure aosp rom

luigi90210 said:
Its funny you say that cause im only experiencing lag on google messanger. Everything else is smooth with the occasional hiccup once and a while.
To add my $0.02 to the topic, i feel custom roms in the sense like CM, AOKP, paranoid android, ect. are not necessary unless you have no way to get pure android on your device. Im running the leaked lollipop rom and im loving it aside from the minor lag issues im experiencing, i feel android has itself to a point where if you need to customize something, you have rooted apps that can do it, there isnt any need to have all these seperate apps baked into a rom when you will only use 1/3rd of the features, its just adding more bloat to what could be a pure aosp rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I do agree, that the feel of stock AOSP is unbeatable, I don't think that AOSP ROMs like CyanogenMod and Paranoid Android are completely useless. They have some features that you can't simply add with an Xposed module, or some root app. Take CM's theme manager, for example. I honestly don't know what I'd do without the theme manager. And Paranoid Android's Hover feature? (Which I guess with Lollipop's floating mode, is now useless), but in KitKat, it was revolutionary. And I'm sure they'll continue to add new, unbeatable features in Lollipop, too. And until they stop adding new features, I don't think it's likely that I'll stop using them.

primed1 said:
While I do agree, that the feel of stock AOSP is unbeatable, I don't think that AOSP ROMs like CyanogenMod and Paranoid Android are completely useless. They have some features that you can't simply add with an Xposed module, or some root app. Take CM's theme manager, for example. I honestly don't know what I'd do without the theme manager. And Paranoid Android's Hover feature? (Which I guess with Lollipop's floating mode, is now useless), but in KitKat, it was revolutionary. And I'm sure they'll continue to add new, unbeatable features in Lollipop, too. And until they stop adding new features, I don't think it's likely that I'll stop using them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hover can be used via gravity box, wanam, and other tool boxes like it, themer however is unique to android but for a user like me who stays with stock themes that feature is moot.
With xposed not working on lollipop i can see where having a feature hardcoded into a rom would be good but thats only if xposed is broken forever.
Thats my $0.02 on the subject though, i personally find no need to run a custom rom on my HTC One M8, lollipop has all the features i use and i only need root to manage my kernel, files(root explorer), sound control, and an app like greenify that forces apps to shut down when not in use to gelp battery life.

bdizzle1686 said:
Once u try Xposed Module Xtended Settings (for Sense 6) u won't need a rom. It's ALMOST got more features than s6tb, xsense, htc one tweaker, gravity box,- ALL COMBINED AND THEN SOME THAT NONE OF EM CONTAIN.... Newest versions up on Play Store (Xposed report has older versions).... With this 1 single mod, I have no need for custom rom. Try it u WILL NOT regret it (or turn back either)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just installed this and your right, its very good but it is missing a couple of my favourite tweaks from my xsense, sense 6 toolbox and gravity box. Using all of these gives all the tweaks you could possibly want,

primed1 said:
While I do agree, that the feel of stock AOSP is unbeatable, I don't think that AOSP ROMs like CyanogenMod and Paranoid Android are completely useless. They have some features that you can't simply add with an Xposed module, or some root app. Take CM's theme manager, for example. I honestly don't know what I'd do without the theme manager. And Paranoid Android's Hover feature? (Which I guess with Lollipop's floating mode, is now useless), but in KitKat, it was revolutionary. And I'm sure they'll continue to add new, unbeatable features in Lollipop, too. And until they stop adding new features, I don't think it's likely that I'll stop using them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM theme Manager based on T-Mobile theme engine is used by RichmondoUK in his xposed module too

A custom rom is a great thing but not necessary. I wish i had a custom rom on my m8, but since is almost certain that i can't s-off it, i don't wanna risk not been able to update the firmware or to lose wifi or network signal if i upgrade to a rom based on newer firmware. So i'll keep it stock at least until lollipop comes.

I`d like to add something,
Before knowing that GREAT invention called "XPOSED" , custom roms were a must for me and I assume for every android maniac like me. But now things are totally different , with XPOSED u can have customize ur stock rom in all ways . And thus u get all the benefits of both stock roms "stable bug free" and custom roms at the same time. Guys we shud really thank Mr. XPOSED inventor whoever he is. :good::good:

Jabber Abdullah said:
Before knowing that GREAT invention called "XPOSED" , custom roms were a must for me and I assume for every android maniac like me. But now things are totally different , with XPOSED u can have customize ur stock rom in all ways . And thus u get all the benefits of both stock roms "stable bug free" and custom roms at the same time. Guys we shud really thank Mr. XPOSED inventor whoever he is. :good::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see everyone talking about Xposed.
Given it's uncertain future in Android 5 I'm afraid for the foreseeable you are going to want baked in features on custom ROMs.
I personally cannot wait to see what themers can do with Android 5.0 in the CM theme engine.
Like others I am also waiting for CM12 as it always just feels more snappy than stock.