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General ROM question?

I have just the stock 2.1.1 ROM. I know each of various Custom ROMs have different things that make them somewhat different from each other but here is my question. Is there one "major" thing that Custom ROMs have that should really entice to try one of them? My stock ROM seems fine to me but I have never seen what others can do and I fairly sure once I try one I'll think WOW why didn't I do this sooner. I have read all the "How to" things about Flashing,I have done all the prep work and have all the software, I just trying to make the final jump to Flashing and I just wanted some input from you guys.
Thanks

Biggest advantages:
-No bloatware (some of these apps will/can load at bootup and set in memory)
-Wireless Access Point / Internet Tethering (free internet on the go)
-Lag-fixes can make your phone much "snappier". Some report that they're pointless but I definitely saw a difference when I was running 2.1 and used a lag-fixed ROM; it was much faster than stock. The newer stock (leaked) ROMs seem like they don't need a lag-fix. They seem to be running better.
-RUN FROYO. You don't have to wait for Samsung/at&t to release software. The awesome community developers are already working getting Gingerbread running on our phones. Samsung/at&t haven't even given us Froyo.
My advice is that you should read up on each of the ROMs and see what people are saying about the latest version. Occasionally, when a dev releases a new ROM, he/she may introduce a bug (usually get's fixed pretty quick).
Have fun!

[Q] When can new roms be used?

I am a jailbroken iPhone convert. I am loving this phone so far and have heeded the warnings to not mess with the phone too much. My question is, when is it safe to use the roms that are available? Is there that big of a difference in performance? I jailbroke my iPhone to get features Apple wouldn't allow our have. what do I gain with custom roms? Thanks for all that has been done so far and look forward to what its to come.

I don't know of there is a time period to use them but most custom roms freshen up your desktop icons as well most of them improve battery life and add the ability to overclock.

You can gain quite a few features with Custom Roms. Such as overclocking, custom ui's, much better performance (snappier). I highly recommend flashing a custom ROM. Currently CM9 and CM7 are a work in progress and should be released sooner than later, (CM7 is currently in it's testing stage). Also to do all of this you have to root your device. A guide can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1327741&highlight=how+to+root Keep in mind many features can be gained once rooted, but as you probably know the warranty is voided.

Thanks for the help so far. The only question still remaining for me is; at what point are these roms considered stable enough for someone new to start using. I have read the warnings and really don't want to have to reinstall everything over and over again because of instability issues. thanks

ed20910 said:
Thanks for the help so far. The only question still remaining for me is; at what point are these roms considered stable enough for someone new to start using. I have read the warnings and really don't want to have to reinstall everything over and over again because of instability issues. thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really all depends on what you are after.
I will say that even the stock ROM on the Atrix 2 is not that stable, and there are a TON of bugs in it.
All the ROMs that are here are in a beta format and are not even at a 1.0 revision yet. If you are not technical at all, and don't really like playing with your device a lot, and flashing ROMs, to try and get a feature that the stock ROM is missing, then I totally advise against flashing anything. These "ROMS are completely safe and stable enough", but both lfaber06 and are I always trying to "improve" on them, no matter what revision that the ROM is at, as well as requests for new features. That really is why it may seem that people are flashing all the time, not really because of instability.
Since he and I are really the only two devs in here right now, there is not going to be a lot of choice in ROMs and since this phone is still fairly new, everything is still "new" and in beta/alpha. Since you are coming from the iphone, and flashing ROMs is not really something that you do, I say you wait until you find something you really want that is not available in the stock ROM, and has been put into one the ROMs available here, then try flashing that. Until then just hang tight for a while. There are plenty of hacks that can be done to the stock ROM, to fix things, and make that better at this time. Also take some time to learn a little about android and flashing and how it all works, not intimately, or on a very technical level, but that might save your "you know what", if you have an issue during a flash or while running an unfamiliar ROM.

Thank you VERY much. That was the answer I was looking for. I am technical savy, just haven't done much with android so far. I am one that likes to tinker and get the most out of any of my electronics.

Android Roms Market idea

I've been using the site for sometime and just wanted to put an idea if someone smarter than myself wanted to come up with technical details to make this work or it may already be in development but I'm not aware of it.
Getting the latest android update on phone with hardware capable of using it keeps coming up in a lot of articles that I read and it feels that the masses will probably never come to xda forums to get the updates they may want or need due to their lack of understanding of how to go abouts updating a rom.
The roms for most phones are being done by the community quicker and more reliable than the manufacturer in some cases. Here is what I think would work for masses to get the updates without the knowhow:
Create a process to get these custom roms quickly and easily loaded on to anyone's phone without them thinking about how to reboot in recovery mode. Similar to the Samsung devices getting updates from heimdall app found on this site. However it needs to be dumbed down and should be automatic when the user plugs in the phone.
This could be done by having a windows/mac application which when your phone is plugged in or connected wireless to your local network it would recognise what device you have and any additional information such as boot loader information it needs to search for official roms automatically from the manufacturer. If there is no updates then give the user the option to search for a market like store for unofficial roms which come with a warning to run at your own risk. These would be from the xda forums however they will need to meet a certain requirement as flashing from pc/mac may require a unique process from adb which is the key part to this idea working and I'm not too familiar with it to know if it's possible for some phones or all android phones. This store will contain different roms with user ratings of which is the most reliable rom. Essentially creating a market for roms. The user then clicks install and first thing the software does is to backup everything to save the state on the users hard drive in case you need to revert back to original.
This market should be controlled like the app store by the creators incase people abuse it. This means the requirement for any roms listed would be to include the default google experience and maybe a section for non pure google experiences as an option. It would be better if google created this app/process but let the roms be user/manufacturer driven.
Then through word of mouth/twitter/blogs this windows/mac app and within short time many people will be on ICS without much effort on google.
The android market is crying out from something like this to funnel all custom roms into a place accessible for the masses(knowing the risks of doing so). This separates the hardware binding to one specific software made for it, the user should be able to choose from selection off software which suits best for the hardware he/she purchased.
Obviously this is just an idea but hoping you clever people can come up with something similar. XDA Android Updater maybe

Isn't this exactly what ROM Manager does?

TeeRom said:
Isn't this exactly what ROM Manager does?
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Click to collapse
Nah he wants a better implementation that's dumbed down and on windows etc...
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA

Do you mean that custom ROM's are more reliable than stock ROM? Are you kidding, there are tons of issues with most custom ROM's, just read around here at XDA. But often those issues are not a big problem for a XDA enthusiast, since he chooses a ROM that suits him and also know how to work around those issues. But custom ROM is not something I would recommend my sister or my parents or any non-techie friend.

There are many roms which have become very mature and to a stage with minimal issues. I installed a ICS for my brothers desire, there may be some issues out there but many he won't come across such as migration apps from titanium backup. However he still gets to experience e latest functionality that the OS brings and he seems much happier with as the experience has become more smoother and quicker. I agree that there will be some which will be very much beta most of its lifetime and the market should reflect the known issues such as we have on the forums here.

Custom Roms: No longer the "must do" they once were?....

Ok, so im moving from the htc sensation XE to the HTC one.
During my time with the sensation, i pretty much put on every rom/kernal/patch etc and the in the end, im posting this from a stock rom.
Why?
Well, i found that not one custom Rom worked 100%. The CM ROMs especially, with poor camera, poor scrolling and poor telephone.
ARHD became unbearable, with FC's and Permission bugs, the Sense 4 ROMs were slow and on and on.
Coming back to stock, after using ROMs which (apparently ) have been super optimised, I don't notice much difference in performance tbh. Battery life is similar, speed is similar etc.
YMMV on this one, but whatever.
In fact, the stock Rom just works
So, fast forward to two more iterations f the smart phone, and I believe the immense power now available should mean that the "optimization" ROMs, CM etc are becoming pointless. There is ample power to run the stock Rom no matter how bloated it is.
Some exceptions would be a slow roll out of updates from your carrier though.
Anyway, after flashing so much, and reverting back to stock, I'm not going to be in a rush to put a custom Rom on the One when it comes.
Even rooting it, I may hold off for a while. I'm just not sure these days what the point is.
Why knacker up the warranty?
Pah!

Different people have different uses/needs. All custom ROMs pretty much worked on my HD2 (although it's an exception since it originally had WinMo) and all of them work smoothly on the N4. Different devices also have different bugs, so you can't base the entire decision on your experience with only one device. As for why you'd want to flash one if you're OK with performance, the answer is that some of them have tonnes of features and UI enhancements. Take PA over stock 4.2.2 for example, or an AOSP based ROM over TouchWiz.

I have been thinking the same for all the reasons mentioned. I would like Titanium and Nandroids and some status bar themes. But, otherwise, for me, custom roms may not offer much. And, they do seem to have their own quirks. The stock roms and better processors now days can stand on their own for most folks. Having flashed hundreds of roms, there has been many occasions were I did something and said "Oh S--T" I am bricked. Luckily I have always been able to recoup. I am looking at the One and S4 and may root after a bit, but may not flash a custom rom. My One S had no issues running with the bloatware. But, who knows after so much flashing it may be hard to stop.

Superpiper1972 said:
Ok, so im moving from the htc sensation XE to the HTC one.
During my time with the sensation, i pretty much put on every rom/kernal/patch etc and the in the end, im posting this from a stock rom.
Why?
Well, i found that not one custom Rom worked 100%. The CM ROMs especially, with poor camera, poor scrolling and poor telephone.
ARHD became unbearable, with FC's and Permission bugs, the Sense 4 ROMs were slow and on and on.
Coming back to stock, after using ROMs which (apparently ) have been super optimised, I don't notice much difference in performance tbh. Battery life is similar, speed is similar etc.
YMMV on this one, but whatever.
In fact, the stock Rom just works
So, fast forward to two more iterations f the smart phone, and I believe the immense power now available should mean that the "optimization" ROMs, CM etc are becoming pointless. There is ample power to run the stock Rom no matter how bloated it is.
Some exceptions would be a slow roll out of updates from your carrier though.
Anyway, after flashing so much, and reverting back to stock, I'm not going to be in a rush to put a custom Rom on the One when it comes.
Even rooting it, I may hold off for a while. I'm just not sure these days what the point is.
Why knacker up the warranty?
Pah!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is where alot of people get confused. The point of making a custom rom was never for everyday people to be flashing them, They were for developers to try new things and see what they could make happen. Does this break things? Yeah from time to time but that is all part of learning.

That's all true also DK. It does depend what we want from phone and if we want the risks of flashing. I have done it long enough and maybe just getting old and tired. It takes a lot of time to keep up with the roms and not have to rely on others for all your info. Although XDA was/is a dev forum, it has also benefited in member growth with all the people now interested in flashing.
I think it is more likely with the new phones that some will not see the need to flash a custom rom as much as they wanted/needed to say 3-4 years ago.
Either way it is still a personal choice and more than likely I will still flash whether I need to or not--

rugmankc said:
That's all true also DK. It does depend what we want from phone and if we want the risks of flashing. I have done it long enough and maybe just getting old and tired. It takes a lot of time to keep up with the roms and not have to rely on others for all your info. Although XDA was/is a dev forum, it has also benefited in member growth with all the people now interested in flashing.
I think it is more likely with the new phones that some will not see the need to flash a custom rom as much as they wanted/needed to say 3-4 years ago.
Either way it is still a personal choice and more than likely I will still flash whether I need to or not--
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh trust me If it wasnt for the crapware and bloat OEMs added to their devices and the absolute UGLY look to them I may not feel a NEED to flash a custom rom but with the listed things for me it is still very needed. Mainly the UGLY. I can deal with a bit of lag but it better be good looking while it lags lol

agreed--

If custom kernels are smoother and more battery efficient, why aren't they stock?

is custom kernels battery life give more SOT than stock kernel.?
If individual developers can make something so good, surely the massive amount of people and money over at Mountain View can do it too?

IMO the device manufacturers develop kernels that will help "they're"device run better. They seldom worry about heavy users.

Suggest to making
Suggest to making, find they modified the kernel, compile or adjusting voltage! I hope it can help you!

More customization means more test variations (test cases, basically) need to be written and run before each release.

matt hardy said:
is custom kernels battery life give more SOT than stock kernel.?
If individual developers can make something so good, surely the massive amount of people and money over at Mountain View can do it too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The difference between custom and stock ROMs? Same reasoning behind everything that's customised - cars, motorbikes, skateboards, etc.
Custom ROM. Individual developers make custom ROM the way they want to use it. They care about making the improvements and go into detail on how they will go about the customisation. They are not concerned about meeting deadlines because they would be using the phones and improving along the way.
Stock ROM. Phone manufacturers developers make the custom ROM the way the Company wants it to be used. They care about the meeting deadlines for the phones' launch date. Launch first, patch the defects later. Sounds familiar?
Happy Holidays!

I've always thought the same. I've always been scared to install a custom kernel... But how huge are the improvements?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Narzdy said:
I've always thought the same. I've always been scared to install a custom kernel... But how huge are the improvements?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on the developer and the phone for which the ROM is built. There can be many types of improvemts, for example:
a. Upgrade OS. Phone manufacturers seldom put much effort to upgrade OS. E.g., when KitKat was released, manufacturers offered to an upgrade to only a handful of current phone models. In this case, a custom ROM is the only way for an upgrade for the other older phones.
b. Minimise Bloatware. Stock ROMs usually come with pre-installed bloatware apps that cannot be uninstalled. Not everyone uses all the apps running on the stock ROM. The custom ROM will allow for removal of unwanted apps and prevent apps from running unneccesarily. This will end up with a more efficient phone (more spare RAM) with a longer battery life.
c. Improved user-interface. Stock ROMs come with preset user-interface according to the manufacturer's developer. This may not suit everyone who buys the phone and the user is forced to learn and use this standardised interface. The user-interface of a custom ROM is designed by the developer, and is usually changeable if requests are made to the developer.
d. Fine-tune or tweaking. OS of stock ROMs are usually standardised, and may be carried through a few variations of the phones with very few fine-tuning to match any particular model. The custom ROM is usually optimised for a specific model of phone. When the ROM is optimised, the phone will perform better than stock, with better memory management, smoother running and longer battery life.
Of course, the performance of a custom ROM depends very much on the developer and the users feedback. Some may begin as a quirky OS and does not perform as well as stock, but as time goes on and with feedback from users and commitment from the developer, a custom ROM can evolve into one that will be very superior than the stock. However, this will take some time to happen. You can notice that all of the ROM development threads have so many of pages of posts from users giving feedback, comments and recommendations to the developers.
Happy Holidays!

Developers look at ROMs from the bottom up. Corporate top down

chan.sk said:
The difference between custom and stock ROMs? Same reasoning behind everything that's customised - cars, motorbikes, skateboards, etc.
Custom ROM. Individual developers make custom ROM the way they want to use it. They care about making the improvements and go into detail on how they will go about the customisation. They are not concerned about meeting deadlines because they would be using the phones and improving along the way.
Stock ROM. Phone manufacturers developers make the custom ROM the way the Company wants it to be used. They care about the meeting deadlines for the phones' launch date. Launch first, patch the defects later. Sounds familiar?
Happy Holidays!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly, how else will they be able to push all of their bloatware on you if you could just uninstall it with a custom ROM or root?

Stock doms developed for both casual and users and corporate clients. This means ROM has to pass rigorous testing. This also means no experimental features etc. Another thing is that rom has to be secure e.g. no root.
But most importantly ROM has to suite casual user who needs Facebook, twitter and tons of other useless stuff that consume battery.
Anyone who posts on XDA is NOT a casual user and falls into 10-20% group of geeks

because custom kernel are personalized based on request of the people ..
stock kernel based on the manufacturer's

The wireless carriers and the device manufacturers have the "stock" software produced to blanket specific markets of customers or users. The individual manufacturers also probably have numerous contracts with different providers of services like dropbox and so on. They add all of those apps for that reason and the majority of folks probably never use them. You could compare apps to the "as seen on TV products". Some of them make it and some of them don't. The same could be said for Android apps. I believe they also have a lot of tracking systems in place with the stock roms so they can target advertise to certain customer bases. If you look at any service provider's contract, they don't allow rooting or any type of modification to the base firmware. If you do, it violates the terms of service agreement. That's why your warranty is voided and you're pretty much stuck if you have a problem and can't figure out how to fix it with resources available on the Web. They also have provisioning and proxies to guide you to certain places when using your device, unwillingly for the most part. A good example of that is on my phone I had all Verizon branded apps for customer service and what not. If you open the My Verizon Mobile app and then try to call Verizon customer service and talk to a person it automatically reverts you to the My Verizon Mobile app and says, "if you still want to talk to customer service, please enter your login credentials" I tried this several times but ended up calling Verizon on my house phone. It's pretty sneaky but the more times you handle your own problems with their automated systems, the less money it costs them to run their business.

it's a question i've never understood.
i can try to give you a my personal opinion. maybe stock rom personalized by some brand are not so good as stocks are because they don't look only at fast and battery. they make rom more heay because they want to put a lot of personalization with a lot of graphical effect without spending more time to optimize the whole things

Stock kernels and ROMs have to follow a strict set of rules, custom ones do not.
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