Database Users

[Q] What ROM are you using and why, and how often do you change?

I'm a new Android user and loving all of the options out there in terms of Kernels, ROMS, etc, but I find myself being overwhelmed with all of the options out there. So far I'm pretty set with running franco Kernel (running r20 right now), but I find myself always wanting to try out new ROMs, and I'm hoping that doing all of this switching around isn't going to mess up my device but I just can't nail myself down to a ROM that I'm set with.
I had been running CM 10.1 nightlies, but just recently a couple of days ago I jumped over to MiNCO because of the support for franco Kernel.
Now I find myself looking at the Xylon ROM but am worried that jumping around from ROM to ROM is going to mess with my device.
What ROMs are you guys using, and why are you using them? I find myself that the most important factors for me are battery life/performance, quick toggles, and the power menu.

I havean EVO 4G LTE .. ever since i got the o.g. EVO I was hooked on them. But I use a stock with goodies Rom by flex. Its a great rom has everything I need and its super smooth
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app

I generally stick to CyanogenMod. I keep an eye on the changelog and flash new nightlies when things I want are merged.
I've messed with AOKP and MIUI in the past but they're not really for me.

Cyanogenmod 10.1 Jellybro because it has everything I need and is clean code (no dirty hacks). Used to be a fan of aokp but too many dirty code and unicorns for me.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

zephiK said:
clean code (no dirty hacks).
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cm is my favourite rom, but thats not really the truth what you say. in order to stuff in tons of devices that normally do not run aosp they have to stretch the base wide open with hacks. this is the hackiest rom in the android scene and it must be, otherwise people out there wouldnt know what android is. thats why cm traditionally never had so much traction on this plattform than on others, simply because uncompromised aosp is leaner and more optimized for android itself and the nexus plattform. on a legacy device i'd always suggest cm, thats obvious. on nexus cm may not be the obvious best choice anymore, because the others are likely faster, more stable, have less daily fallouts, and in some cases have more features, like aokp, if youre the kind of guy that likes that sort of thing. if i flash cm here, its because i like their creative/inventive spirit and would like to support the project overall. flashing is easy though, trying out a couple of em isn't that much of a problem. (-:

Paranoid android. Not even considered any other ROM since I flashed this one. Its just so amazing. I couldn't live without all the colours that change per app, and all the other features it has.
I suggest trying it out now.
Sent from my Nexus 4.

With my previous device, s2, I changed a lot, from RR to AOKP to CM etc etc, I like them all.
On my N4, I'm using stock until a really good-good ROM comes out, I don't have any problems, other than battery, so I don't panic, YET.

calanizzle said:
With my previous device, s2, I changed a lot, from RR to AOKP to CM etc etc, I like them all.
On my N4, I'm using stock until a really good-good ROM comes out, I don't have any problems, other than battery, so I don't panic, YET.
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Yeah other than battery issues everything else is a "nice to have" and nothing I "absolutely need"

I've been on xylon w matrix kernel
For battery customization and speed.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

For me its PA rom....Ive tried every rom because I love flashing lol....but this is an honest opinion from experience....I know best rom talk is not allowed but the best to me is PA rom because of one simple reason....other than stock...its perfect!!!! And with that being said I have No issues with it very stable..super fast...alot of features man I can go on and on....if you want your N4 running perfect go PA...there are some other good roms because we have alot of elite devs in here and im sure more are on the way...but to me theres nothing better than super wiping your phone just to make sure its really clean and flashing PA...all you can say is wow after that lol......and now I change roms everytime Moles and his crew update PA....and also flash Franco kernel with this and your N4 will be excellent....

I'm currently on liquidsmooth. I've tried rasbeanjelly, Xylon, codefirex, CM 10.1, MinCo and a few others I can't remember. All were great. I'm really like liquidsmooth. It's a great balance. I flash, sometimes 3 times a day.

Setup: Code FireX w/ Faux beta
CFX is the first non-stock ROM that I decided to try because it uses the Linaro chain and I was pretty curious about the speed.
Long story short, CFX's performance is apparent as soon as you start using the device, it had much needed improvements.
Oh, and did I mention the CFX settings? Synegye's special built in mods allow you to improve your experience even more. For instance I decided to use the 6 signal Wi-Fi/Network, center clock, smaller Nav Bar, as well as dual view. This package, when combined with Faux's kernel presents you with an unbeatable experience on the best Android experience to date.​

Ace42 said:
Setup: Code FireX w/ Faux beta
CFX is the first non-stock ROM that I decided to try because it uses the Linaro chain and I was pretty curious about the speed.
Long story short, CFX's performance is apparent as soon as you start using the device, it had much needed improvements.
Oh, and did I mention the CFX settings? Synegye's special built in mods allow you to improve your experience even more. For instance I decided to use the 6 signal Wi-Fi/Network, center clock, smaller Nav Bar, as well as dual view. This package, when combined with Faux's kernel presents you with an unbeatable experience on the best Android experience to date.​
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That sounds pretty intriguing, I think I just found the next ROM that is going to get flashed on my N4.

Nice discussion. Very interesting.
via Google Nexus 4

For reliability and just the right amount of mods for me it's been CM on any device I've owned 90% of the time. It's the least buggy for me, although of course, there will be the occasional bug along the way. Works beautifully on the the Nexus, although some mods may take longer to merge as other devices have to be taken into account.
Can't think of any "hacks" needed for CM to run on any Nexus, although much hackage needed for it to run on Samsung branded phones, and any other manufacturer that doesn't ship with AOSP and may be slow to release source. The kernel for the GN was less than impressive, but the N4 kernel is great.

Running stock rooted. Going CM 10.1 as soon as I get back home from vacation.
Skickat från min Galaxy Nexus

Stock with Franco kernel and you got the most stable combo ever seriously though. Feels very snappy while battery is great but also is really stable.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

I am flashing between a number of Roms daily. Change between cm 10.1, aokp, paranoid, slimbean, codefire. Currently on paranoid b9. I love the options we have on the nexus. It would be a lot less hassle for me if I don't have to restore my texts everytime. Still I pretty much flash a different ROM daily

kyokeun1234 said:
Stock with Franco kernel and you got the most stable combo ever seriously though. Feels very snappy while battery is great but also is really stable.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
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+1 for stock with Franco.
No stable (official stable) roms out there yet that I like, and since n4 is my primary phone, I need my stability :/.
Probably will switch over to AOKP milestone or CM stable.

On past devices I've run with CyanogenMod (any variation), but on the Nexus line I tend to prefer staying with a stock ROM and a custom kernel (though I'm stock presently) for the sake of cleanliness. CyanogenMod is great, it's built by trusted developers, and all around well known for their great reputation. On the flip side, I tend to stay stock because I need to help other people out often enough that I start to forget which features were added by the CM team and which come with Android itself.

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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.

The Perfect Rom

I am one of those people who like a stock rom. Nothing is better than throwing on a stock AOSP rom after a string of crack flashes to test out the latest and greatest custom roms.
There are some great ones out there too such as, just to name a few of the greats, Cyanide, Blisspop, Dirty Uniform, Candy L and AOSIP. There are many more that I did not mention that are in my category of highly customizable roms. But there are so many more that it would take up a page alone just trying to mention all of the outstanding so if I did not get Yours on this list, please forgive me.
After a week or two you just crave to flash back to stock because of, put in you reason here, what ever is not working right, small issues or even as big as random reboots pop up from time to time. What ever the reason you feel the need to go back to stock to straiten your device back out or even to see why in the world you left to begin with.
You are back on stock, in the case of the Nexus 6, vanilla AOSP. It is supper reliable and rock solid OS but boring. It lacks pizazz, or customizability. And then you remembered why you flash that custom rom in the first place, it was to get that battery bar or custom colorable status bar icons and drop down menu. You are now back to square one.
This is where I start to think about just what is a perfect stock rom. Well I own quite a few devices, and my favorite "stock rom" of all would be CM12s, off of the One Plus one. It had all the feature that I would like right out of the gate without flashing so much as a custom recovery, although those of us who flash roms also do because we just enjoy flashing and the custom recovery would have to go on right away.
What I'm finally getting at in this long winded post is that I would love to see that rom ported to this device, CM12s, or better yet just to have that theme engine incorporated into a stock AOSP rom. I like the theme engine in CM12s. Why not just flash the latest CM12.1 made for my device and shut the heck up? Because CM12.1, as good as it is, has bugs. Remember, bugs are the reason we finally came back to stock or come back to stock from time to time and that is to prove to ourselves that our device does work right and that there is nothing with it.
So I guess that this is my lame attempt at asking a dev out there to do this, to make the stock rom that came on this device capable of running the theme engine that comes stock on the One Plus. I think that would be an awesome rom. Simple yet capable of customizing with your favorite theme. I don't do layers and yes I have tried it. I test roms. That's my love. So I do flash roms like RostaPop and Chroma and Lollipopalooza to name a few and I just like themes better. And I have a large collection of themes that I purchased and would like to use them. Just my preference.
What are your thoughts on a perfect rom? If you are a Dev and are willing to take up this "unofficial request" I would be willing to do the testing and If it works out, I am one of those that "pay to play", so to speak, for the outstanding work that you devs do and would make a donation for your trouble. Let me know your thoughts and thank you for reading this post.
"Chance Favors the Prepared"

I somewhat agree with you on the whole "stock" thing...problem is I'm a flashaholic. Even if I'm perfectly content I'll still find something to flash. Like I was thrilled to be running "M" dev preview, and not just the stock image, but the ROM that was developed which I'm sure you've seen. It was great with Hells kernel and ran fantastic.. well except I couldn't get V4A to work for the life of me and my download speeds on WiFi weren't as good as on 5.1.1. But I'm back to my all time favorite ROM & kernel on this device, and that's Per's Spring ROM & kernel... I have yet to find something better than his work, and I've been through it all. So if you haven't tried his CM12.1 based Spring I suggest you do...its awesome.

i used to be a flashaholic back on the Gnex, and N5 days, now I'm an old man. I like stock rooted unlocked unencrypted, Google bloat doesn't bother me. What bothers me is unstable and a bunch of broken and useless features to make your device look stupid and not like a true android.

I'm not going to say much, but stock is not aosp. you can not say stock aosp as stock. stock and aosp are two different ROMs.
---------- Post added at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:09 AM ----------
if you dont believe me, try running the aosp browser on the stock ROM.. oh, guess what, it won't work. why? because they are two different ROMs.

Lots of apps already updated on M preview. Very happy with it now

Almost all apps "ROM" are same ... are little difference between them ... For Me, best are: Benzo Rom, CM12.1, and Euphoria ...

Benzo is the most stable, hard hitting, battery saving, butter smooth ROM I've ever used on any phone.

simms22 said:
I'm not going to say much, but stock is not aosp. you can not say stock aosp as stock. stock and aosp are two different ROMs.
---------- Post added at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:09 AM ----------
if you dont believe me, try running the aosp browser on the stock ROM.. oh, guess what, it won't work. why? because they are two different ROMs.
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I agree completely. What I was trying to get at though was that, at least for me, on my One Plus I think that they had a winner with the stock rom that came on it. It was AOSP like for the most part (actually CM) but included the theme engine in it for people who looked to customize. So if you like to stay plain you could or of you wanted wild that option was there as well.
Now on the Nexus 6, the stock OS is, at least to me, boring in it's looks but functions almost flawlessly. I would just like to see Google do something like CM12s for people who may not want to flash but still want customization in their stock rom.
"Chance Favors the Prepared"

glockman4519 said:
I agree completely. What I was trying to get at though was that, at least for me, on my One Plus I think that they had a winner with the stock rom that came on it. It was AOSP like for the most part but included the theme engine in it for people who looked to customize. So if you like to stay plain you could or of you wanted wild that option was there as well.
Now on the Nexus 6, the stock OS is, at least to me, boring in it's looks but functions almost flawlessly. I would just like to see Google do something like CM12s for people who may not want to flash but still want customization in their stock rom.
"Chance Favors the Prepared"
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your wish has been done..! in m, google includes the code for rro(layers) in it. so you can use the layers manager app, and layers themes, to theme your device, stock.

simms22 said:
your wish has been done..! in m, google includes the code for rro(layers) in it. so you can use the layers manager app, and layers themes, to theme your device, stock.
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Interesting to say the least. I have read some of that and seen some videos that talked about just that. As long as it is user friendly than they will have a winner. But for people to really gravitate to it, it will have to be more use friendly than it is in lollipop.
I'm going to wait a bit to try "M" out again though. It just wasn't stable enough for me as it was a couple days ago.
"Chance Favors the Prepared"

Does Snapchat still auto rotate picture in M
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

Remember layers was an extension of the rro code found in lollipop

It seems as if I'm always falling back on stock+xposed+gravity box+ my favorite battery sipping kernel and this usually yields excellent results!

giant22000 said:
It seems as if I'm always falling back on stock+xposed+gravity box+ my favorite battery sipping kernel and this usually yields excellent results!
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Click to collapse
Same here, started when I got my HTC One M8. S-OFF'd it and converted to GPE. Stock Google w/ Gravity box and a Custom Kernel is my favorite on my Nexus 6 & HTC One M8.

Well, for me I need customizable nav bar height and preferably Layers/Theme.
So I just haven't been using stock since Nexus 4.

I have tried many ROMS (PA, CynaogenMOD, Chroma, .....) on several devices (HTC Desire HD, Nexus 4 and Nexus 6) and for me DirtyUnicorns ROM + Kernel is the best setup I have ever found.
Lightweight
Essential features but not blown up
Stable
Developed by a whole experienced team with frequent updates

Xtrasmooth on my N5 and now on my N6.

simms22 said:
I'm not going to say much, but stock is not aosp. you can not say stock aosp as stock. stock and aosp are two different ROMs.
---------- Post added at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:09 AM ----------
if you dont believe me, try running the aosp browser on the stock ROM.. oh, guess what, it won't work. why? because they are two different ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the risk of looking like an idiot after all these years of flashing Roms, but with the hope of learning something, I have a few questions:
1. I always thought a Nexus device had bare-bones android which is aosp.
2. If the N6 factory ROM isn't pure aosp, what is it aside from the device specific stuff?

orangechoochoo said:
At the risk of looking like an idiot after all these years of flashing Roms, but with the hope of learning something, I have a few questions:
1. I always thought a Nexus device had bare-bones android which is aosp.
2. If the N6 factory ROM isn't pure aosp, what is it aside from the device specific stuff?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock ROM has many google proprietary parts that replace the ones found in aosp. Aosp has many outdated apps also, such as browser, MMS, email, etc. Stock uses Chrome, Hangouts, Gmail by default. They are actually quite different at the source level. This is why devs have such a hard time trying to get stock features like WiFi calling & VoLTE working on aosp Roms.

stumpy352 said:
The stock ROM has many google proprietary parts that replace the ones found in aosp. Aosp has many outdated apps also, such as browser, MMS, email, etc. Stock uses Chrome, Hangouts, Gmail by default. They are actually quite different at the source level. This is why devs have such a hard time trying to get stock features like WiFi calling & VoLTE working on aosp Roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm probably missing something since on the surface it seems like the difference are in the included apps (chrome vs browser, Email vs gmail, etc.). However you mentioned that some things are different at the source level.
So basically you're saying that a ROM built from source released by google (aosp) is different from a Nexus ROM?
Since I have no idea how to code, have some basic knowledge of Linux commands, and have never fathomed building a ROM there are some fundamentals that I'm missing hence my questions. Some of this may be elementary to you guys but having this knowledge helps me help others and gives me a better understanding how things work.
Thanks for taking the time to entertain my questions.

Look and Feel of Cyanogen/ AOSPA based ROMs compared to Stock ROMs...

Hi All,
I have flashed a lot of ROMs on my OnePlus X, but every-time I decide either to go back to the stock Oxygen OS or OEM based ROMs such as Flyme/ H2OS or Color OS.
The reason behind is every-time I flash Cyanogen/ AOSPA based ROMs, it doesn't feels as Solid as the stock ROM, looks like something is missing (the UI doesn't feels polished, the colors don't seem punchy).
Everything is cool with Cyanogen/ AOSPA like battery usage, smoothness, customisation etc., but the feel which the stock/ OEM based ROMs have is missing from these ROMs.
You may have observed the differences between the two.
It can be my feeling only, but I wanted opinion from you guys about this.
I'm using OxygenOS 2.2.1-X with Android N-ify and PerfectColorBar Xposed modules.
Thanks in advance.

I think what you are experiencing is a placebo effect that stock is more refined than CM and AOSPA. Regardless of whether this is true or not, I believe that for you it is a placebo effect because if you really do think CM and AOSPA have an unmatured UI, then you should not be using PerfectColorBar because that too has glitches. PerfectColorBar isnt so perfect, in some instances the colour is incorrect. CM and AOSPA are the more refined custom ROMs anyway, which to me seem equally matured in terms of UI as stock. As for some other custom ROMs i do agree they they seem unrefined, such as AICP where the bluetooth share button is coloured in the gallery while the other buttons are in white.

What OP has said is so true, as it is also happens to myself. All this time, I thought it only me that have that feelings.
So, beside the weak LTE signal bug that plagued almost MM ROM for OPX (at least for E1003 in Asia region as confirmed by a lot users already), the half-backed feelings of custom ROM is what makes me always going back to my OOS TWRP backup.

kcyz said:
I think what you are experiencing is a placebo effect that stock is more refined than CM and AOSPA. Regardless of whether this is true or not, I believe that for you it is a placebo effect because if you really do think CM and AOSPA have an unmatured UI, then you should not be using PerfectColorBar because that too has glitches. PerfectColorBar isnt so perfect, in some instances the colour is incorrect. CM and AOSPA are the more refined custom ROMs anyway, which to me seem equally matured in terms of UI as stock. As for some other custom ROMs i do agree they they seem unrefined, such as AICP where the bluetooth share button is coloured in the gallery while the other buttons are in white.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your opinion mate but PerfectColorBar is working absolutely perfect for me. I was using FlatStyleColorBar before but that plugin was causing slowness while opening apps, that's why replaced with this one.
Anyways, the placebo effect thing might be true for me

luckily (?!) i only booted oos once to enable usb debugging etc [emoji16]
Gesendet von meinem ONE E1003 mit Tapatalk

prabhat.singh.836 said:
Hi All,
I have flashed a lot of ROMs on my OnePlus X, but every-time I decide either to go back to the stock Oxygen OS or OEM based ROMs such as Flyme/ H2OS or Color OS.
The reason behind is every-time I flash Cyanogen/ AOSPA based ROMs, it doesn't feels as Solid as the stock ROM, looks like something is missing (the UI doesn't feels polished, the colors don't seem punchy).
Everything is cool with Cyanogen/ AOSPA like battery usage, smoothness, customisation etc., but the feel which the stock/ OEM based ROMs have is missing from these ROMs.
You may have observed the differences between the two.
It can be my feeling only, but I wanted opinion from you guys about this.
I'm using OxygenOS 2.2.1-X with Android N-ify and PerfectColorBar Xposed modules.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes exactly same issue with me ...all the rom which are CM and AOSP Base seems dull color to me as compared to Chinese rom like color os ,flyme ,and stock rom.. it feel even AOSPA ROM also seem good
Sent from my OnePlus X using XDA Labs

Well I do agree with OP. You have to realize OOS and H2OS are especially made for oneplus devices. This means full work on this devices. They HAVE to make it look good to sell it hehe.
CM on the other hand is generic for all devices. Also any variant coming from it.
Just with one feature which is tristate key states on H2OS show how specific the ROM was built, on CM I don't use them for nothing at all. On h2os it has a beautiful UI when changing modes, and those modes actually make sense and are useful.
The thing here is OOS is really bad in my opinion. H2os is really really good, but for some reason I keep coming back to AOSPA or Sultans ROM hehe. It's more customizable and has some really handy features.
But with ROMS is all about taste. Each person has a different opinion, so just use the one you like the most and you'll be happy

feligoni said:
Well I do agree with OP. You have to realize OOS and H2OS are especially made for oneplus devices. This means full work on this devices. They HAVE to make it look good to sell it hehe.
CM on the other hand is generic for all devices. Also any variant coming from it.
Just with one feature which is tristate key states on H2OS show how specific the ROM was built, on CM I don't use them for nothing at all. On h2os it has a beautiful UI when changing modes, and those modes actually make sense and are useful.
The thing here is OOS is really bad in my opinion. H2os is really really good, but for some reason I keep coming back to AOSPA or Sultans ROM hehe. It's more customizable and has some really handy features.
But with ROMS is all about taste. Each person has a different opinion, so just use the one you like the most and you'll be happy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, OOS on the OPX feel like a beta test rom. I switched with sultan cm13 three week ago, i'll wait OOS 3.0 but for now i stay on it, it work well enough for a daily use. In fact there are some bugs here and here but it's like nothing compared to OOS 2.2.1-X...

prabhat.singh.836 said:
Thanks for your opinion mate but PerfectColorBar is working absolutely perfect for me. I was using FlatStyleColorBar before but that plugin was causing slowness while opening apps, that's why replaced with this one.
Anyways, the placebo effect thing might be true for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the reason of flashing custom ROMs, mods etc is that you want to take control of your device. You get barebone stock android. You can easily theme, customize icons, fonts etc. Want better sound quality, flash somethings, use greenify with all its feature working etc.
I remember the first time I flashed custom ROM on my note 2, it was kind of shock to me because of so much changes in look, but smoothness was what kept me there. Sometime later, I could not imagine myself going back to TW.
There are some very good ROMs and with proper theming, you can not even tell the difference (except smoothness in Custom ROMs ). Rest is your opinion, if you don't like something, noone can make you .

But the strange thing is, I don't have this kind of weird feelings of half-baked ROM when I flashed Pure Nexus, Cataclysm, or CM variant on my Nexus 5. Even everything seems better than stock ROM from Google.

motherninja said:
But the strange thing is, I don't have this kind of weird feelings of half-baked ROM when I flashed Pure Nexus, Cataclysm, or CM variant on my Nexus 5. Even everything seems better than stock ROM from Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It may be because Nexus are made to be used with stock android and flashing other custom ROM based on stock android doesn't makes much of a visual difference.

[Q] Stock or Not to Stock

I have unlocked my bootloader, rooted with Magisk and flashed AsopExtended Rom. Very happy with the performance of my A2017U as it is right now. My question to ya'll is, What would be the pros and cons of returning to complete stock (for OTA updates) or sticking with rooted and custom rom and not being able to receive OTA updates?

whats the question here? Its on you... what you prefer

Lol that depends of your needs - I stick to stock because of audio (mostly) and somehow bcz of camera (as far as I know you can install stock camera app).
That's question is a little bit irrevelant when you was stock and now you are testing custom rom.
So the answer is simply - replay to your question by yourself and with margin to your needs.

Had to test the waters with custom roms on this phone, but was just wanting to hear other peoples thoughts on the subject. I've always tinkered with customizing my phones and enjoy doing so. Would like to hear different points of view and then see if it would make me change my mind. Sometimes custom roms have little bugs that people can or can't live with, and in some cases stock is best for total functionality. Just curious of others opinions.....

amaury48 said:
Had to test the waters with custom roms on this phone, but was just wanting to hear other peoples thoughts on the subject. I've always tinkered with customizing my phones and enjoy doing so. Would like to hear different points of view and then see if it would make me change my mind. Sometimes custom roms have little bugs that people can or can't live with, and in some cases stock is best for total functionality. Just curious of others opinions.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMHO custom ROMs are littered with bugs, but mostly overlookable. Take the phone bug or storage with SD card bug for example.
Stock works better in every regard (except substratum, damn you mifavor) and with MiFavor 5 this is even truer. But if you like your current ROM there's no reason to go back...

Choose an username... said:
IMHO custom ROMs are littered with bugs, but mostly overlookable. Take the phone bug or storage with SD card bug for example.
Stock works better in every regard (except substratum, damn you mifavor) and with MiFavor 5 this is even truer. But if you like your current ROM there's no reason to go back...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I finally went back to stock B25 via the DrakenFx method to retain root and custom recovery. I came across the phone bug on my custom rom and that helped me make my decision to go back to a stock rom.....

Yep, used custom ROMs from the first week of owning the phone until about a month ago when I went back to B25 with Magisk. Couldn't be happier.

I was about to make a similar thread myself but saw this one. I have been running custom roms since day one but have been considering returning to stock.
A brief summary of the benefits:
Reasons to go with stock:
Fully functional ZTE camera app with no bugs - This is perhaps more important than you might think, ZTE haven't enabled the Camera 2 API which means its very possible we are going to get the best quality and feature-set by sticking with the stock app. If ZTE haven't released their blobs there could very well be reasons to stick with the default camera app...not only that but I like it. You can install the mod, but there are aspects that will never work and some roms and kernels play more nicely with the mod than others.
Dolby Atmos app. Similar to the camera on stock this would just mean less messing about, you can of course get atmos mods in magisk but whether they work as well as the stock ZTE app I am not sure. The strange thing is I have never had the stock ZTE Axon atmos magisk mod to work on a custom rom, even though I have an Axon!
Reliability, no need to worry about force closes or apps not working, everything pretty much just works. So much less stress if you use your phone as a daily driver.
Ease of use, less features makes the phone easier to use. In some cases even when you are a tinkerer like me its sometimes good to be able to forget about continuously tweaking stuff and digging yourself in to a never ending upgrade cycle.
Oreo, it looks like if you stay stock we will see Oreo sooner than custom roms.
Reasons to go custom:
Substratum, oh boy would I miss this going back to stock. The ZTE theme engine is pants compared and I love the work that goes in to my current premium theme.
Battery life, perhaps with the aid of also a custom kernel there are some very nice roms and kernels being worked on which allow you to fully customise and save battery life.
Features, you can set the phone up exactly as you want too, every small detail can be customised. You can choose exactly which rom you like based on the features you use.
Performance, you can get more performance out of a custom rom with custom kernel and find a nicer balance between battery and performance, whichever suits you.
Fun, its fun to flash different roms and get the flashing bug. You learn a lot and get to join in with a fantastic community where people help each other.
Third option, run a debloated custom rom.
Seems to be more and more popular, as an ex Nexus 5 user I loved Cataclysm rom for this very reason. You keep all the features associated with stock with added performance benefits, fixes and less bloat. There is a downside if you plan on keeping atmos as some stock roms seem to strip it away, but it is a nice compromise between the options above. Usually these roms are more reliable as they are based on stock too. If you want a lean rom that just works, this may suit you!
Its such a hard choice and one I still havent decided on, if I have missed anything please let me know!
Background info and summary:
My first smartphone was a ZTE blade 2 and it was a beast for the money, this phone is tremendous too. My GF owns a pixel and apart from the camera this phone trumps it for value no question...for less than half the price.
I have to say though, I do miss the days of my Nexus 5 and the larger mod community, I realise these days have gone now with google devices but perhaps next time I will opt to go to Oneplus just so I can trust a bit more that there will be less caveats going custom as if there is one complaint I have with ZTE it is their unwillingness to release their source code for the little tiny things like the camera api and atmos.

Dodgexander said:
I was about to make a similar thread myself but saw this one. I have been running custom roms since day one but have been considering returning to stock.
A brief summary of the benefits:
Reasons to go with stock:
Fully functional ZTE camera app with no bugs - This is perhaps more important than you might think, ZTE haven't enabled the Camera 2 API which means its very possible we are going to get the best quality and feature-set by sticking with the stock app. If ZTE haven't released their blobs there could very well be reasons to stick with the default camera app...not only that but I like it. You can install the mod, but there are aspects that will never work and some roms and kernels play more nicely with the mod than others.
Dolby Atmos app. Similar to the camera on stock this would just mean less messing about, you can of course get atmos mods in magisk but whether they work as well as the stock ZTE app I am not sure. The strange thing is I have never had the stock ZTE Axon atmos magisk mod to work on a custom rom, even though I have an Axon!
Reliability, no need to worry about force closes or apps not working, everything pretty much just works. So much less stress if you use your phone as a daily driver.
Ease of use, less features makes the phone easier to use. In some cases even when you are a tinkerer like me its sometimes good to be able to forget about continuously tweaking stuff and digging yourself in to a never ending upgrade cycle.
Oreo, it looks like if you stay stock we will see Oreo sooner than custom roms.
Reasons to go custom:
Substratum, oh boy would I miss this going back to stock. The ZTE theme engine is pants compared and I love the work that goes in to my current premium theme.
Battery life, perhaps with the aid of also a custom kernel there are some very nice roms and kernels being worked on which allow you to fully customise and save battery life.
Features, you can set the phone up exactly as you want too, every small detail can be customised. You can choose exactly which rom you like based on the features you use.
Performance, you can get more performance out of a custom rom with custom kernel and find a nicer balance between battery and performance, whichever suits you.
Fun, its fun to flash different roms and get the flashing bug. You learn a lot and get to join in with a fantastic community where people help each other.
Third option, run a debloated custom rom.
Seems to be more and more popular, as an ex Nexus 5 user I loved Cataclysm rom for this very reason. You keep all the features associated with stock with added performance benefits, fixes and less bloat. There is a downside if you plan on keeping atmos as some stock roms seem to strip it away, but it is a nice compromise between the options above. Usually these roms are more reliable as they are based on stock too. If you want a lean rom that just works, this may suit you!
Its such a hard choice and one I still havent decided on, if I have missed anything please let me know!
Background info and summary:
My first smartphone was a ZTE blade 2 and it was a beast for the money, this phone is tremendous too. My GF owns a pixel and apart from the camera this phone trumps it for value no question...for less than half the price.
I have to say though, I do miss the days of my Nexus 5 and the larger mod community, I realise these days have gone now with google devices but perhaps next time I will opt to go to Oneplus just so I can trust a bit more that there will be less caveats going custom as if there is one complaint I have with ZTE it is their unwillingness to release their source code for the little tiny things like the camera api and atmos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some comments about this:
-Stock still has RRO support, so while it is kinda craptastic to use substratum this way, it is doable. I have most of my apps with Swift Dark (the ones that don't force close anyways) and Lawnchair with black theme, on MiFavor 5 which already has a rather black quick settings screen. The result is awesome
While you might be getting more battery life from a custom ROM, I totally disagree on the performance part. Everything works just slower. But yeah, battery-wise I got 7h SOT once which is absolutely bonkers :silly:
If you want a nice modded stock try any MiFavor 5 modded ROM like RDX or ADM Team. Those keep Atmos and use MiFavor 5 B13, which seemingly have a new camera app?

Choose an username... said:
Some comments about this:
-Stock still has RRO support, so while it is kinda craptastic to use substratum this way, it is doable. I have most of my apps with Swift Dark (the ones that don't force close anyways) and Lawnchair with black theme, on MiFavor 5 which already has a rather black quick settings screen. The result is awesome
While you might be getting more battery life from a custom ROM, I totally disagree on the performance part. Everything works just slower. But yeah, battery-wise I got 7h SOT once which is absolutely bonkers :silly:
If you want a nice modded stock try any MiFavor 5 modded ROM like RDX or ADM Team. Those keep Atmos and use MiFavor 5 B13, which seemingly have a new camera app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I will give ADM a try first since RDX seems to exclusively for the A2017 and I own the A2017U.
Frankly when I saw substratum without OMS support before I wasn't impressed but it sounds like it's worth a look.
Performance wise I loved running AOKP. It runs so much faster than resurrection remix and faster than my brief time on stock also.
It's a pain sacrifices have to made somewhere, but I guess you can't argue for the money!

Dodgexander said:
Thanks I will give ADM a try first since RDX seems to exclusively for the A2017 and I own the A2017U.
Frankly when I saw substratum without OMS support before I wasn't impressed but it sounds like it's worth a look.
Performance wise I loved running AOKP. It runs so much faster than resurrection remix and faster than my brief time on stock also.
It's a pain sacrifices have to made somewhere, but I guess you can't argue for the money!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you simply have to flash the univ bootstack and your modem file to install RDX, it just wasn't tested on other phones but the A2017. but yeah, just use ADM Team

If we don't get Oreo, I will root mine, debloat etc and unroot just to keep it stock but lean. Stock camera in Nougat is quite good IMO. Atmos is pants but I will leave it alone.

RobboW said:
If we don't get Oreo, I will root mine, debloat etc and unroot just to keep it stock but lean. Stock camera in Nougat is quite good IMO. Atmos is pants but I will leave it alone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what's the downside of having it rooted?

Some apps don't work and it has to be secure for work use.

RobboW said:
Some apps don't work and it has to be secure for work use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Magisk then...

Choose an username... said:
Some comments about this:
-Stock still has RRO support, so while it is kinda craptastic to use substratum this way, it is doable. I have most of my apps with Swift Dark (the ones that don't force close anyways) and Lawnchair with black theme, on MiFavor 5 which already has a rather black quick settings screen. The result is awesome
While you might be getting more battery life from a custom ROM, I totally disagree on the performance part. Everything works just slower. But yeah, battery-wise I got 7h SOT once which is absolutely bonkers :silly:
If you want a nice modded stock try any MiFavor 5 modded ROM like RDX or ADM Team. Those keep Atmos and use MiFavor 5 B13, which seemingly have a new camera app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just installed adm rom and substratum but can't get any themes to work at all. Substratum appears to work and let's me install them but after a reboot they don't work.
I tested with the Google app, gmail and chrome amongst others. I am using swift black.
I guess it's just a bug with the adm Rom? Magisk is working fine I think.

Dodgexander said:
Just installed adm rom and substratum but can't get any themes to work at all. Substratum appears to work and let's me install them but after a reboot they don't work.
I tested with the Google app, gmail and chrome amongst others. I am using swift black.
I guess it's just a bug with the adm Rom? Magisk is working fine I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can't be because I had everything themed on ADM ROM too. Except system ui and that stuff since it can't be themed. no idea why that happens.

Choose an username... said:
It can't be because I had everything themed on ADM ROM too. Except system ui and that stuff since it can't be themed. no idea why that happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you using the new release with version 5 of mifavor?
What about systemless host list in magisk enabled to get adaway to work?
Only two things I have changed. I am using A2017U with the b13 bootstack.
Haven't changed anything else so no idea why it isn't working.

Dodgexander said:
Were you using the new release with version 5 of mifavor?
What about systemless host list in magisk enabled to get adaway to work?
Only two things I have changed. I am using A2017U with the b13 bootstack.
Haven't changed anything else so no idea why it isn't working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was using the old release with version 5 (ADM Team V3)

I would stick with stock unless you are an extreme power user. ZTE fixed 99% of the issues with MiFavor with 7.1.1 and custom ROMs are littered with SO MANY little bugs. MiFavor is extremely stable now. Audio and camera is also much worse on custom.
But hey whatever you prefer.