Database Info

Choosing the right ROM

Well I'm sad to say but all the ROMs I have tried in the past couple of weeks haven't worked for me...
The story of my ROMs experimentation starts with T-Mobile Vario III and T-Mobile customized ROM. In short, like a worst nightmare! New version of T-Mobile customized ROM, nothing happened, everything was exactly same as with previous version.
Then I finally decided to try couple of WM 6.5 ROMs which worked like a charm but WM 6.5 is beta and half of the stuff in it is unfinished... Back to 6.1...
Than: HyperDragon (a few variants), shifu, Paradox, AthineOS, TPCExtreme, Ultimate-X... Mostly SuperRam ROMs... Hundred of pages in topics, dozens of fixes, black screens, restarts and so on... Applications that I don't need, folders confusingly organized, startup and bootup screens that don't fit to one business phone, black background icons (what's wrong with WM icons with transparent background) and so on...
Currently using stock HTC ROM and it works. It is sluggish but my device doesn't restart and I don't have to install at least 5 programs or fixes to make him work...
My question: Can someone point me to ROM that works without reading through 100 pages of topics and installing fixes for stuff that should work like notification and volume control? I use my Kasier as a business phone and primary e-mail reading device and I can't afford for my Kaiser to be offline for couple of hours (not to mention a day) and don't have time to read thousands of posts of "how-to-fix".
What do I need? Messaging (SMS and e-mail with notifications working), Opera, iGO, working Volume control, Bluetooth and jog wheel to be able to quickly quite my device if in a meeting or to change the volume of speaker when in a call.
I don't mean to disrespect all the chef's around and I do appreciate your work because for most of people around here you make their Kaisers work the way they should work!

s1m0n.lfs said:
Well I'm sad to say but all the ROMs I have tried in the past couple of weeks haven't worked for me...
The story of my ROMs experimentation starts with T-Mobile Vario III and T-Mobile customized ROM. In short, like a worst nightmare! New version of T-Mobile customized ROM, nothing happened, everything was exactly same as with previous version.
Then I finally decided to try couple of WM 6.5 ROMs which worked like a charm but WM 6.5 is beta and half of the stuff in it is unfinished... Back to 6.1...
Than: HyperDragon (a few variants), shifu, Paradox, AthineOS, TPCExtreme, Ultimate-X... Mostly SuperRam ROMs... Hundred of pages in topics, dozens of fixes, black screens, restarts and so on... Applications that I don't need, folders confusingly organized, startup and bootup screens that don't fit to one business phone, black background icons (what's wrong with WM icons with transparent background) and so on...
Currently using stock HTC ROM and it works. It is sluggish but my device doesn't restart and I don't have to install at least 5 programs or fixes to make him work...
My question: Can someone point me to ROM that works without reading through 100 pages of topics and installing fixes for stuff that should work like notification and volume control? I use my Kasier as a business phone and primary e-mail reading device and I can't afford for my Kaiser to be offline for couple of hours (not to mention a day) and don't have time to read thousands of posts of "how-to-fix".
What do I need? Messaging (SMS and e-mail with notifications working), Opera, iGO, working Volume control, Bluetooth and jog wheel to be able to quickly quite my device if in a meeting or to change the volume of speaker when in a call.
I don't mean to disrespect all the chef's around and I do appreciate your work because for most of people around here you make their Kaisers work the way they should work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want you machine to work right off the rip I would stay with a stock rom. while all the roms here are great unforseen prob do come up. While the cooks try to help fix it they do it for fun and have other matters to attend to.

zelendel said:
If you want you machine to work right off the rip I would stay with a stock rom. while all the roms here are great unforseen prob do come up. While the cooks try to help fix it they do it for fun and have other matters to attend to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree...
Anyway, if you look at the way PDACorner organized his post, you'll see that on post #2, there is a list of known bug with links to all fixes... This is really a way of organizing things that I personnally like very much and can save you from reading 1000s of posts for getting the info...

Flashing is for those of us who want to make our phones perfect, the best Apps, the best speed, the very best function and style. We don't mind a little work to or reading to get them " exactly " the way we want it.
I have worked at getting My phone perfect ( also a business phone ) and it is. None of the problems that you seem to think are inherent in every cooked rom.
You sound to me like the stock rom type not the cooked rom type. Do it HTC's way and stick with the stock rom.

There is a huge difference between stock roms and cooked roms. Stock roms are meant to work flawlessly, without bugs and without too many additional software. The default configuration will work, will (most likely) not crash, but won't do anything fancy either. It might also be slow at times.
Cooked roms are made for those who would like to experiment. People who don't mind a crash now or then, and don't mind to reflash every day/week/month (tick the one that applies ).
If i would use my phone for business purposes i would probably stay with the stock ROM or flash a stable 6.1 ROM, like PDACorner's.
Nevertheless there is no such thing as a perfect ROM. Every ROM has it's advantages as well as disadvantages. Live with it; Windows Mobile just isn't a perfect mobile OS, while doubting the fact any OS can be...
I switch ROM's on a regulary basis. Basic functions always work, no matter the ROM. I flash because additional features work better/faster/more stable on certain ROM's than others. But this requires some of your time, to flash and set everything up again.
The fun is that all of this is up to you. If you like to experiment, then flash as much as you like until you find something you like. There will always be certain flaws where you will have to live with.

There is no such thing as perfect ROM! Always remember to keep flashing and keep reading!

K-Paradise said:
Stock roms are meant to work flawlessly, without bugs and without too many additional software. The default configuration will work, will (most likely) not crash, but won't do anything fancy either. It might also be slow at times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Work flawlessly Without bugs The Default configuration will work
What stock rom were you using
Do you also think that Vista is flawless and without bugs

denco7 said:
Work flawlessly Without bugs The Default configuration will work
What stock rom were you using
Do you also think that Vista is flawless and without bugs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read, my friend. I said they are meant to work without bugs and work flawlessly in a default configuration. You won't hear me say that they always do.
Nevertheless the stock ROM will in most cases do sort of everything the way it is meant to be. The change of finding broken application links or errors from mortscript i.e., is pretty small, if not none. And if these errors do appear, you've obviously bought a phone of bad quality.
This said, i'm not using a stock ROM myself. In that case i wouldn't reply to this topic. I'm someone, just like the rest here i suppose, who likes to switch to the newest, even though the quality might be worse then what i've had. But i'm always in for something new, which you might not be if you're using you phone for business purposes and do very much rely on the call quality, for example.

It's simple really either you stick to stocks or you become a flasher @ which point you will flash untill you find that ROM that you know can be used every day and still carry on flashin to try find a new better ROM if you don't like or got bugz you flash back to your every day ROM......
If it all seems tooo much and your a person who can't problem solve "read" and also put in the time to set up device as you wish then a stock is best bet.
Goverment Health Warning:
After flashing you may suffer from Flashers OCD!!!

Goverment Health Warning:
After flashing you may suffer from Flashers OCD!!! [/QUOTE]
Then you have one last choice in picking up a kitchen and learning to cook your own rom, but above warning still applies.

yes
As it has been said, rom flashing is personal preference, please find the perfect one for you whether it is a oem or custom rom through searching and flashing.
Closing thread,
Peace,
Joshua

Poll, Is fragmentation a real issue for android.

I am constantly seeing blogs about fragmentation and how it is poisoning the well for developers. I personal think it is a load of crap, but i thought i would ask the developers.
What do you guys think?
Is fragmentation an issue?

YES, it could be an issue if Google did nothing to fix it, but they are:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/29/exclusive-android-froyo-to-take-a-serious-shot-at-stemming-plat/

Not pretending to be an expert, or even a developer, but plenty of apps didn't cross well from various WinMo builds, or devices. WinMo fragmentation hasn't been trending. It's a rhetorical buzzword sustained by iPhanbois, imo.

bwhite82 said:
YES, it could be an issue if Google did nothing to fix it, but they are:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/29/exclusive-android-froyo-to-take-a-serious-shot-at-stemming-plat/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I saw that too
It's just today we are suppose to be in fragmentation hell... It's just i don't see it.
Once in a while i will tell my friend with a Samsung Moment about an app, and for some reason he does not see it in the market, but this is few and far between.

I chose yes but I doubt it will kill android. It is annoying though to have a phone that is way behind because the maker of the custom UI is too lazy to do anything.

It did not kill the pc, or Windows for that matter. It will probably be gaming benefiting the most of future power increases.

Yeah, iFanboys are the most common people to critizise android for fragmentation - but they are not safe either.
Now with 2g, 3g, 3gs and ipad - and all having diffrent hardware in one way or another - they will also experience fragmentation. Esp. now that OS4 wont be feature-complete on 3g vs 3gs - and ipad wont get it until later.
Just because android got 3 res (320, 480 and 800) doesnt mean that it will be problems since 1.6 came out. Sure they need to fix/force vendors to upgrade handsets to latest android, so that people wont be left out - but since 1.6 that problem is much smaller, and there aint many handsets left out there with builds earlier then 1.6.

It's a problem.
Why do you think there are so many apps that are rated lowly on the market because of incompatibilities.
If there was only 1 phone and 1 version of android to code for, then bugs and compatibility would nearly be a thing of the past.

I think it's an issue, but a minor one. I'd rather them improve the OS rapidly and deal with not being able to use some apps, than sit with a stagnate OS but have more apps.
Like the other poster said though, they are going to try to fix it after 2.2 and work on making apps more compatible with all OS versions.
Hell, at least they realize it's a problem. Microsoft sure didn't give a ****, and doesn't now with 7 series.

Because of the "vendor delay" and the frequent Android releases, Android phones seem to have a 5-month lifecycle (my 1.5 Magic is 6 months old now, and I still can't use Donut/Eclair apps like Goggles, Maps w/ Buzz and many new apps that require 1.6+).
Access to applications is what makes most people buy smartphones. Remove or limit this, and people will switch to other vendors or platforms.
For people that root and switch custom roms, this doesn't seem like a big issue. But the majority of the users won't have access to all the new 1.6/2.1 apps being released on the market.

clamknuckle said:
I think it's an issue, but a minor one. I'd rather them improve the OS rapidly and deal with not being able to use some apps, than sit with a stagnate OS but have more apps.
Like the other poster said though, they are going to try to fix it after 2.2 and work on making apps more compatible with all OS versions.
Hell, at least they realize it's a problem. Microsoft sure didn't give a ****, and doesn't now with 7 series.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@Clam*, you're right about them realizing it's a problem and working on it.
I believe they plan to have every phone running the same version of android, but with many add-ons available from the market.
This is surely a desirable route. Might it never happen? I haven't the slightest.
Alternatively a big pack of goodies you can get from online or preferrably the market that has all the addons depending on the sufficiency of phone hardware.
Hell, better yet! It could be part of the "first use tutorial" we all know and love
The first time the user turns on the phone after entering google info etc. they can check all the options they want and it will automatically download them from googles servers and set them up on the phone.
Very reminiscent of certain linux installations with addons from repositories.
OpenSuSE comes to mind.
Or to speed that process up, the phone retailer can install the addons specific for that phone.
Though it would still be nice to have the option to checkmark features at our own whim, allowing the system to discard the rest for example.
Of course if the addons were discarded or never installed by phone retailers in the first place they could still be downloaded from googles servers automatically.
**To Google Gods: It would be nice to have such options in the settings where we could enable and disable features and have them download or be discarded in the background**
There are so many methods out there to make fragmentation nothing more than a bygone.
I hope Google can turn this OS into what I've dreamed (figuratively) that it could be..
Ahh how I concieve ideas that will likely never occur..
Sorry.. i could write volumes about my futile ideas for the world, though I'm too hopeful and eager.
I'm sad to say..
"Such is our reality serving as the torrent thrusting back creative thought." -me

[Q] android help anyone?

Well I got my galaxy s2 on release day and being a former crackberry addict I have no idea what to do with android. I understand that there are endless possibilities but I have no idea where to begin. Anyone know some stuff I can do to make my android experience simply better?

in same boat
i am not only new to andriod, i am new to smart phones. that said, i have had my andriod for a month. i have done a lot to it just by reading posts here and in andriod central. andriod central seems easier to navigate by phone choise than xda.
my wife is still a blackberry adict. after gettting my phone she wined about how much i could do. she still likes the blackberry and has found ways around the issue or boasted about something she could do that i cant.
this is just from reading about backberry so feel free to correct me if i am wronge. the PC device manager allows you to modify your phone. ie change theme, apps, ect.
the biggest issue most andriod owners have is that they cant get rid of the carriers apps(bloatware). most of these apps take up space, run when not in use, use up your ram. as far as i am aware the only way is to root(gain administrator acess) the phone. then you can get an app that will freeze the unused, unwanted apps(titanium backup,pay for version).you can also delete them, but i read it could be hazardes. recomend reading manual. i wont do it any justice, so info on rooting is everywere, i do suggest andriod central.
if you dont care about the apps then dont root. you cant get multiple home launchers,ie go launcher, launcher pro, adw launcher, theres more. i prefer go launcher, it lets you customize the most, ie change icons, the way the app drawer functions, the way icons function, different functions for the direction you slid your finger on the desktop.
with a rooted phone you can get custom roms to change the look and feel of the phone. what i understand flashing a rom to be is installing a new operating system, its like someone took andriod OS striped it down to just the OS and then added what they feel should be there for apps. generaly they just get rid of the bloatware, optimize the system, and a few usefull tools.
i have rooted my phone. sadly no custom roms yet. freezed most of my bloatware, freed up a lot of space. changed my desktop. got a wifi tether app so i can hotspot my phone with out having to pay for the data plan. any way i hope this helps. if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.

to expand on the topic about rooting (assuming that you take this route), here are some rooting methods (android version-specific):
z4root (2.2/2.2.1)
SuperOneClick (2.2/2.2.1)
Gingerbreak (2.2.2)
everything you can possibly discover about your phone (roms, kernels, themes, etc) can be found in the sgsII's forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1055

Looking to try CM7 for Infuse? "First Timers", Read this.

I just wanted to note down a few things that I wished I knew before flashing my Infuse.
Substituting your official Samsung build for unofficial ROMs like CyanogenMOD (CM) is a double edged sword. On one hand you get to play with the latest and greatest stuff...but on the other hand you have no guarantees of any kind. I'm not sure but you may be in violation of your warranty. In other words you're on your own.
Now there are forums like the Official CM forums and XDA where you'll get help if you run into issues but the bottom line is: You flashed your phone on your own responsibility. Nobody is liable for that. Nobody has any duty to resolve your issues. You may get a response, you may not. Sometimes the level of solution varies with the technical level of the person trying to help you. I may not be able to fix your problem... My suggestion may even f*** it up worse.
In my opinion, if your phone has critical data that you depend on (contacts, appointments etc)... it would be wise to stick with the OS build your phone came with. It may be old...but it has been tested by qualified engineers. All aspects of the phone are functional. And if you run into an issue, you can always pick up the phone and call somebody. When you flash your phone, there's always a minimal chance that you may lose your data (I'm not saying it always happens...but it can). You also lose the privilege of support provided by your carrier or anybody else.
Secondly, your Infuse ships with OS that has been modified by Samsung to provide you with a better experience. These are things which I'll list down at the end, that you'd lose with a custom build like CM. So you'd gain some features by trying the latest version of android but you'd lose a few features too! Because they were provided by Samsung, not by Google.
Things like:
1. No quick view in Calendar. You have to go to Agenda view in options where all entries of all dates will be visible. You cannot see daily appointments on the default Month view. Also there's no option for persistent alarm for your appointments. In the stock build my alarm for tasks used to ring for 15 minutes...now there just one ring and silence. Its a little thing but I sometimes miss the alarm and the whole purpose is lost.
2. Contacts applications is modified by Samsung. Joining contacts from different sources (facebook, twitter) into a single contact is much easier. You can do that in CM too but I had to search the Internet for that option.
You'd also get alphabets on the side of the screen while scrolling contacts. Tap an alphabet and you quickly jump to contacts that start with that alphabet. That's missing in CM too.
3. There are some widgets provided by Samsung like Running Applications widget which I absolutely loved. It would show number of running applications and a quick option to close them all. CM has a task manager and the market has applications that can replicate that functionality but I haven't found one as nifty as that little widget. Then theres a Dual Clock widget, which was important to me as I have contacts in different timezones. I could easily check their time at a glance. In short there were some gems that I miss... and I can't get with CM.
4. Messaging app was modified by Samsung to allow quick addition of a particular group (e.g. all the contacts in Family group) to senders list.
5. There was a very nice Memo app that you could store notes in for offline use. There are tons of alternatives in the market like Springpad, Evernote etc but I kinda liked that app. It had a very nice yellow legal pad template. Its a minor gripe but hey!
6. There's no swype in CM7! Samsung preloads your Infuse with swype. If you've not used swype, its an awesome way to input text. I found that I could sign up for Swype beta and use it in CM but then again....beta is a beta. It has problems.
7. Bluetooth (currently) doesn't completely work in CM7. You can transfer data but audio pairing is an issue. It doesn't bother me but it may be something you use.
8. Wifi is fine but try using Mobile Data on CM. I still haven't figured how to set up my mobilink GPRS internet. I tried setting up the APN with the same settings as on the stock build but it doesn't seem to work. It worked fine under Samsung. But YMMV. It may be particular to my network and CM build.
9. There's no voice search in google search widget. I had to install an apk from net to get it working. It wouldn't even show up in the market.
10. Also you'll lose all your settings in applications. You'll get your apps back from the market (Even the Paid ones...you won't have to re-purchase) but you'll have to set them up all again just the way you want. That may not be such a big deal for some but it may irk you. Also don't use Titanium Backup to restore you app data. I tried that and every f***ing app would crash every ten minutes. I had to reflash again.
11. Your partitions will show up different in the file manager. For example your internal sd card (as it showed up in stock build) will be mounted under 'emmc'. I had to look online for that. Now that may not be a major thing but it screwed up a lot of app data links.
12. Lastly CM isn't even official for Infuse yet. All you have are volunteers packaging builds for Infuse. Hats off to their hard work! But as a user.... you are the tester! So if you're comfortable running untested beta grade software only then go for CM7 on your infuse. Otherwise stick with the stock build.
I'll keep adding other differences as I remember and discover them. You guys can pitch in too.
This post is by no means an attempt to belittle CM. Its an excellent ROM. It has its own advantages which you can read up on its website. I'm just highlighting some tradeoffs so that new users like myself exactly know what they're giving up.
So if you still want to go ahead and flash your Infuse, full power to you. At least you'll be making an informed decision. Just please backup your critical data. Sync your contacts with Google. Back up your music and videos, messages, downloads etc.
Go here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1400375 for the latest CM7 build for Infuse.
Enjoy the CM awesomeness! Best of Luck

This is what distinguishes the men from the boys...or should I say android from apple....be cause we have options....yea...it voids your warranty..who cares...my dedutibke on my insurance and wait time for warranty repair isn't worth it. First we have options, apple doesn't, so if your scared say your scared and buy an iPhone...and as long as you have a back up you will not lose any critical info.. I flash my phone about 20 times or more a day testing out my rom builds and themes and have bricked a hundred times and all info is intact...if you stay stock on infuse...slow, laggy, bad signal.....this is why us devs work so hard ...so your phone and you don't....happy hollidays
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium

dman3285 said:
This is what distinguishes the men from the boys...or should I say android from apple....be cause we have options....yea...it voids your warranty..who cares...my dedutibke on my insurance and wait time for warranty repair isn't worth it. First we have options, apple doesn't, so if your scared say your scared and buy an iPhone...and as long as you have a back up you will not lose any critical info.. I flash my phone about 20 times or more a day testing out my rom builds and themes and have bricked a hundred times and all info is intact...if you stay stock on infuse...slow, laggy, bad signal.....this is why us devs work so hard ...so your phone and you don't....happy hollidays
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said bro...just came off a semi-hard brick and I'm back in business. And you can believe I'll keep flashing. CM7 isn't the only game in town. We've had a tidal wave of ports and even a couple infuse-based roms (thanks D) that can cater to anyones needs. All you gotta do is read and enjoy all the hard work these devs put in.

sbjaved - Thanks so much for this! i just flashed CM10, and am discovering what i've lost (From the latest samsung gingerbread leak) - and what i've gained! two days in and it's so worth it - The only thing i miss is MHL and quite frankly, it's a small loss.
-Woody

Former IOS Jailbreaking enthustiast... a bit lost.

SO! I've escaped the blue bubble cult! And even though I really enjoyed jailbreak tweaks (what are even the equivalent of tweaks on android? lol) and theming on IOS, I don't really even know where to begin looking for info on doing similar things with android, and more specifically my oneplus 6, I'm excited but it's all a bit overwhelming. Any help? Any recommendations on where to begin?

Spectr7615 said:
SO! I've escaped the blue bubble cult! And even though I really enjoyed jailbreak tweaks (what are even the equivalent of tweaks on android? lol) and theming on IOS, I don't really even know where to begin looking for info on doing similar things with android, and more specifically my oneplus 6, I'm excited but it's all a bit overwhelming. Any help? Any recommendations on where to begin?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, the first step for you is to figure out what exactly you want to do. Jumping headfirst to things on this OnePlus 6 without a gameplan sounds like a recipe for hard brick.

tabletalker7 said:
Honestly, the first step for you is to figure out what exactly you want to do. Jumping headfirst to things on this OnePlus 6 without a gameplan sounds like a recipe for hard brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd just like to manipulate the UI, similar to some of the tweaks on IOS. I haven't used the phone enough to want to change much of its core functionality yet... So mostly surface level things for now. I also figure that would be a good place to start in terms of difficulty and knowledge as well.

Spectr7615 said:
I'd just like to manipulate the UI, similar to some of the tweaks on IOS. I haven't used the phone enough to want to change much of its core functionality yet... So mostly surface level things for now. I also figure that would be a good place to start in terms of difficulty and knowledge as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tweaking the UI is seriously as simple as going to the google play store and downloading a launcher. No need to do anything drastic yet buddy. If I may, I would recommend "Nova Launcher". The free version on the play store will give you plenty of options to change your UI and I have been using it for years on several different phones. Forgive me but I know nothing about IOS - a closed source operating system on an item I payed money and purchased to use for my own desires seems silly to me.

tabletalker7 said:
Tweaking the UI is seriously as simple as going to the google play store and downloading a launcher. No need to do anything drastic yet buddy. If I may, I would recommend "Nova Launcher". The free version on the play store will give you plenty of options to change your UI and I have been using it for years on several different phones. Forgive me but I know nothing about IOS - a closed source operating system on an item I payed money and purchased to use for my own desires seems silly to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's one of many reasons I left after years. They made it increasingly more difficult to even sustain a jailbreak, on a device I overpaid for.. but I digress lol. Thanks for that tip, I remember using nova launcher years ago on one of my old galaxy phones, so I'll start there.

Spectr7615 said:
Yeah, it's one of many reasons I left after years. They made it increasingly more difficult to even sustain a jailbreak, on a device I overpaid for.. but I digress lol. Thanks for that tip, I remember using nova launcher years ago on one of my old galaxy phones, so I'll start there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I will happily walk you through the whole unlock bootloader, install TWRP, and obtain root access process for this phone, if you have been away from android for a long time you will find it much more difficult than it was on your old galaxy phone, so why go there with no real reason behind it.

tabletalker7 said:
While I will happily walk you through the whole unlock bootloader, install TWRP, and obtain root access process for this phone, if you have been away from android for a long time you will find it much more difficult than it was on your old galaxy phone, so why go there with no real reason behind it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've just decided to pretty much go through my jailbroken phone and see just what I'd like to carry from that setup over into my oneplus 6. Fortunately, most of system tweaks I had made on my iphone are baked into android already, so it's really coming down to theming as I look at it deeper. However some tweaks I used to use might require (please correct me if I'm wrong). For example, I used a tweak on my iphone that allowed me to create gestures. Plugging in headphones would open my music app, double pressing the power button turned on my flashlight, it was highly customizable, things like that.

Honestly if you are rocking OP6 just root with magisk, grab TWRP and that's it. Then explore your magisk module options, add adaway for systemwide ad blocker, download magisk youtube vanced that blocks ads and let you download directly , what else.... Substratum for theming ....

As others are getting at, take it one step at a time. Android gives you more flexibility than your old phone did, so you'll enjoy that. Rooting will give you further options.. I agree with the poster who said to try launchers. You can change the look of your phone in pretty dramatic ways with them. Different ones have different benefits. I use Action Launcher most of the time. There are lots of them and they can change the look and feel of your phone a lot without doing anything permanent or potentially damaging to your device. Change launchers and whatever you did with the last one is no longer visible. Go back to the stock Oxygen one at any time if you like.
If you like gestures, Oxygen gives you some. Other launchers, including the aforementioned Nova and Action do, too, albeit not necessarily the exact same ones. GMD Gestures takes it much further, but that requires root. It used to be one of the first things I installed on my phones and tablets. Navigation Gestures uses a different approach, more limited, but it doesn't require root.
Rooting requires unlocking your phone and flashing Magisk. This is not hard to do, but you need to connect your phone to your computer and use a command line to enable some of it. The procedure is simple enough, but if you haven't done it, it might seem daunting at first. But you've jailbroken, so you will probably be fine with all this. There are pitfalls with each device, which you can read about at length here in this phone's part of XDA.
Read up, take your time, and if you do root, make sure to read the guides carefully and do all the steps. Missing things or doing them out of order can cost you sometimes.

youre in for a surprise, enjoy the ride

I'm going to echo what some others have said and suggest you take it slow. I was jailbreaking from the 3G days so I know what you're thinking about doing. My wife still has an iPhone, and trust me, there are great many things you can do in terms of tweaks and theming without ever thinking about rooting. I'm a Nova Launcher loyalist as well, but there are dozens of great launchers out there. Try a bunch out, play around with themes, wallpapers, and icons to get a look you like, then start thinking about rooting.
Unlocking and rooting OP phones is much more straightforward than any other Android phones besides Pixels, so when you're ready to start, it's not that challenging. However – especially if you're coming from Samsung – forget everything you think you know and start reading the guides posted here. There is unfortunately a fair amount of bad and less-than-ideal information floating around about this phone. I'd recommend starting with these:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-6/how-to/guide-noobs-guide-to-b-partitions-op6-t3816123
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-6/how-to/guide-how-to-install-official-twrp-t3801558
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-6/how-to/oneplus-6-unlock-bootloader-flash-twrp-t3792643 [note that some of the info in this thread is obsolete/incorrect, so refer to the two above in any conflicts, but it's good for the very basics]

There are pre-rooted boot images you can use to gain root without getting custom recovery like twrp. But you will need to unlock your bootloader first. Like everyone else said, Android is much more flexible compared to iOS when it comes to customization.
The main reason why I rooted in the first place was to get Adaway which removes ads from your phone. Also YouTube Vanced like someone mentioned which removes ads from youtube videos.
Systemless root like Magisk which does not touch systemfiles is the way to go if you are gonna root your phone in the future.
It is very, very easy to brick your phone if you are not careful. Read the guides here on xda, check what OxygenOS version you are have and so on. Do not try to flash a older version, that will brick your phone.
A small tweak you can try right now is to first enable developer options by tapping your Build number under About phone in settings. From there, scroll down til you see something about animation (should be under Drawing). Set the three settings to either off or 0.5. That should speed things up.

Maybe you should NOT root your device and stick with stock save us all some headaches.

I come from an Jailbroken iPhone as well. I can do pretty much everything I could on my iPhone except see the amount of battery cycles and current wear.

Xposed has more modules than you'll know what to do with.
Combine that with all the customizations you can do without root like launchers, full UI and app theming with substratum, custom ROMs, magisk modules, TWRP flashable zips for some mods, etc.
There's SO much stuff you can tweak

Xposed has more modules than you'll know what to do with.
Combine that with all the customizations you can do without root like launchers, full UI and app theming with substratum, custom ROMs, magisk modules, TWRP flashable zips for some mods, etc.
There's SO much stuff you can tweak

Cydia -> Magisk and optionally Xposed
Winterboard -> Substratum