Do Android Users Still Use Custom Roms? (androidauthority.com)

"With all of the drama at CyanogenMod, Android Authority takes a look at the current state of custom ROM development," writes Slashdot reader Thelasko. From the article: The future of CyanogenMod appears uncertain, after the open source ROM was forced to fork under the name Lineage OS. Fortunately there are already other remixed versions of Android available, with some of the most popular being Paranoid Android, Resurrection Remix, and Dirty Unicorns... [But] with each new version of Android, the gap between Android and popular custom ROMs has shrunk, which begs an interesting question: Are custom ROMs even necessary anymore? To answer this, let's take a quick look at the state of custom ROM development as it exists today.
The article points out that mobile virtual reality is "on the verge of becoming mainstream and the wearable market has grown tremendously," asking whether custom firmware will also integrate these newer technologies. But the original submission also asks a question that's closer to home. What custom ROMs do Slashdot users have installed?

Comments

Stock ROMs are shit

[mukinrestak]

I have Cyanogen on two devices, and I will ALWAYS have a custom ROM just to eliminate all the damn bloatware. If there are programs on a new device that I can't uninstall without rooting (and there always are) it's time for a reflashing.

Re:Stock ROMs are shit

[Z00L00K]

A better reason for custom roms is to be able to keep up with Android updates when the device supplier has ended the support for the device.

Custom ROMS? Hell, barely use my Smartphone!

[Noishkel]

I don't know if it's just me, but the more crap they try to add onto a Smart Phone the less utility I found out of it. Any real work I need to do I just can't do on a phone. And I'm too busy to bother with any of the crappy games I can get for it. I don't need a fitness tracker. I don't need social media AT ALL.

Great for keeping old phones going

[smallmj]

Since most manufacturers stop caring about their phones after a year or two, custom ROMS are great for keeping 1-4 year old phones useful. My Galaxy Note 2 is still a fantastic phone running CM. The only reason I stopped using it and gave it to my wife was that the SD slot was unreliable. She doesn't need the storage, so she does very well with it. I'll likely put a custom ROM on my Moto X Pure in a year or so when Moto stops releasing new ROMs for it.

Yes, custom ROMs are still necessary

[Optic7]

Unfortunately, custom ROMs are still necessary because phone manufacturers, carriers, and even Google itself washes their hands of any phone that is older than about 2 years. Often they stop offering system updates even sooner than 2 years. This forces people to install custom ROMs to keep their phone operating systems up to date.

I don't care what anyone claims -- a smartphone's useful life is way longer than 2 years, so it's unconscionable that these Android companies do this. Compare to iPhones, which are supported for up to 5 years. I have been using Android phones (Google Nexus models) for several years now, but I have seriously considered going back to iPhones because of this and because of app availability.

Re:Yes, custom ROMs are still necessary

[Anonymous Coward]

Two years from date of first sale.

If you buy your phone 4 months after it was announced, you only get 20 months worth of updates. It should really be from date of last sale. (sale by Google or provider, not second hand sales.)

Security updates should be longer than 3 years, too, since the hardware will very likely still work, and still be in use. I'm not talking about the 1% of phones that will still work after 10 years, but 3 isn't enough.

It's a black mark on Android that it's patron can't get security updates right themselves, and still complains at other Android manufacturers.