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Hi Z2 plus users.
After lot of analysis and research, I finally ordered Lenovo Z2 plus today. Got a great deal.
8k INR / approx 125 USD
I have the option of getting Redmi Note 4 as well at approx 150 USD / 10k
I have gone through lot of videos on youtube with different custom rom reviews of Z2 plus, pros, cons etc.
My main concerns are:
- Battery Life
- Heating issue
- Overall usability without digging into custom rom installations and updates very frequently. I will install custom rom but would like to use it as daily driver for few months at least before I look for new updates etc. (Time is the issue - Don't get much of it these days to do all the research and experiments )
With custom roms like AICP, Jaguar - how is the battery life in terms of SOT?
How is the heating issue with custom roms which this phone is infamous for?
I saw a review from Indian tech reviewer on youtube suggesting Jaguar R14 is very stable and good rom for this. But I see some complains and users posting different issues in Jaguar rom thread.
Kindly suggest, if it will be good to go for this phone now (after 1.5 yrs of it's launch)?
Can I expect to use it as daily driver without any significant issues for next 2-3 years with custom roms?
At present which custom rom will you suggest with regards to Battery life and heating issue resolution?
some inputs here will he really helpful
saurav_k said:
some inputs here will he really helpful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try aex/paranoid/citrus and see what suits you best!
rohanvartak said:
Try aex/paranoid/citrus and see what suits you best!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not have the device yet and that is my dilemma whether to accept it or return it.
Does these roms also have overheating issues?
How is the battery life on these?
CitrusCAF 3.5 by miju12 seems very stable(dont flash custom kernel unless you know what you are doing) and have favourable review from the users.
and Lenovo z2 is better choice anyway
looks okay
Got mine today as well. Same deal as the OP (around $120). First thing done was an upgrade to Nougat. Sept 2016 manufacturing and there was still 30% charge left . Device did heat up during upgrade as it was on charge. Haven't observed any major heating since. I have upgraded (or downgraded) from a oneplus 2 so my criteria of heating may be somewhat biased. A 5 inch display does seem smallish though.
Geekbench 4 was 1720, 3999 which is par for SD820. So no throttling etc.
Just wondering what is so broken about stock ROM ? What's not going well with everyone on ZUI ? I did tweak the DPI to my liking - other than that ROM feels pretty much stockish android. I mean I have heard so much hate about stock ROM for this device?
Edited - Ok I am starting to see oddities. 1. Double notifications (any fixes?)
And the usual follow up questions -
- Does the U touch specialization / gestures (swiping etc) work on the custom roms for this device ? Edited - Yes I guess.
- Would unlocking bootloader reset the device ? If yes, might as well do it before setting up apps etc. Edited - Yes it would like any other device.
Just wondering what is so broken about stock ROM ? What's not going well with everyone on ZUI ? I did tweak the DPI to my liking - other than that ROM feels pretty much stockish android. I mean I have heard so much hate about stock ROM for this device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using Rooted ZUI (I believe that’s what the stock rom is called) for a few weeks now (Xposed now, but that’s been just a few days). At first I thought I would keep it stock rooted and get all the things I need with Xposed, but the Notification drawer and Lock screen is getting on my nerves. All notifications are ICS Style, i.e. they are not expandable and they have no quick action (except USB connection to PC which lets u choose cam/file mode). Lock screen has this weird image in the middle which just sits there doing nothing. Notifications doesn't get displayed in lockscreen (weirdly I am getting 1 calendar notification there, but nothing else). I tried enabling lockscreen notification for a lot of apps, but it seems to just allow calendar and nothing else.
The U-touch is awesome BTW, but wont let me start Google Assistant voice through it (I like being able to set alarms through it)
As title. I really want to know the differences between 2 camera apps on OnePlus 5T hardware, as I want to try custom ROM but afraid of missing the ability to take portrait mode photos.
I've tried a couple of custom ROM's. But as of now nothing beats OOS Camera features. Interestingly, someone started this thread just today. Thinking of trying out these custom ROM's
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-5t/help/custom-rom-oos-camera-included-default-t3851694
I totally agree with "poythegraeat" but at the moment I cannot find a good AOSP custom rom with OOS cam included and I'll never use a decripted smartphone or a closed source rom. I'll stay with LOS for microg + gcam under privacyguard and firewall. I also tried the OOS porting for lineage but videos are not working in 1080p, 18:9 cause app crashing.. now it's still really buggy.
Differences gcam vs OOS cam: at the daylight, in optimal condition, they are very similar (You must use "5t library fix" and "Pixel 2 colour" magisk module, and you must use hdr+ too, otherwise you will get glitchy photo). In very low light gcam is totally unusable. In normal low light is barely acceptable (OOS is totally better in low light).. Video stability,portrait mode and slow motion is lost with gcam. If your concern is privacy and you want a custom rom, I think that gcam is a good option. If you only need customization: my advice is strongly to use oxygenos and root it.
@rmroot
What you think OOS is closed source?
https://github.com/OnePlusOSS
OOS has mixed licence (and so closed source too), it's not fully open source. OOS has closed source apks and parts of the sistem that log the user like a malware could do, if you are interested in this particular topic I suggest you to search on the subreddit "privacytoolsIO". You will find a recent post about OxygenOS privacy and some analyzes posted on twitter by a security researcher.
@rmroot I'm a Geek and Professional already on these topics...
I've been doing this a very long time, personally and professionally, sorry if I confused you. I keep making assumptions with comments like that because we are on a Android Developers forum...
Anyhow I should of thought before I posted that...
I meant it's Open in the Context outside of Google and what manufacturers have in the way of their hardware firmware blobs.
So outside of Google and hardware firmware blobs, that's the Open I meant, and why there's a Repo...
Cheers
Following several of the threads here there are recurring themes:
1. Endless technical difficulties with the process of unlocking, installing custom recoveries and ROMs, downgrading and bricking.
2. Various features of the RN8P not working properly with Rooted/unlocked/ customs ROMs, such as camera, Netflix, bank apps etc.
3. Endless tinkering with GCam with ambiguous results at best, regarding performance and quality of output.
4. Bricking, etc
5. Loss of OTA ability.
Although I personally have not gone through all of these on this phone, I have done so on previous phones I've had.
I appreciate the abstract principle of "it's my phone and I should be able to do with it what I want!". Yet we don't have these expectations of any other consumer devices that we buy. For instance I don't expect to be able to custom modify my television, watch or refrigerator. We certainly don't demand that the manufacturer make this easy for us to do. "Hey, why doesn't Toyota let me change out the engine for a Chevy?".
Practically speaking, especially in light of the latest android versions and development of MIUI which are so feature rich, customizable and flexible, IMHO there seems to be so little to gained with unlocking versus the risks and endless time wasted related to the above mentioned issues.
With the factory stock ROM you get, without fussing:
1. SafetyCheck (ie pay apps, Netflix) that just works.
2. OTA
3. All built in hardware that just works. No "BT not working in the latest version", etc
4. In MIUI 12-- the excellent stock camera app which has improved photo performance dramatically, eliminates the need for GCam and all of the fussing with that.
5. Minor bugs that you can live with
I welcome comments here with convincing arguments in favor of custom ROMs, other than just enjoying the tinkering, which in my opinion doesn't justify the disadvantages.
My 2 cents!
Inviato dal mio Redmi Note 8 Pro utilizzando Tapatalk
jshames said:
Following several of the threads here there are recurring themes:
1. Endless technical difficulties with the process of unlocking, installing custom recoveries and ROMs, downgrading and bricking.
2. Various features of the RN8P not working properly with Rooted/unlocked/ customs ROMs, such as camera, Netflix, bank apps etc.
3. Endless tinkering with GCam with ambiguous results at best, regarding performance and quality of output.
4. Bricking, etc
5. Loss of OTA ability.
Although I personally have not gone through all of these on this phone, I have done so on previous phones I've had.
I appreciate the abstract principle of "it's my phone and I should be able to do with it what I want!". Yet we don't have these expectations of any other consumer devices that we buy. For instance I don't expect to be able to custom modify my television, watch or refrigerator. We certainly don't demand that the manufacturer make this easy for us to do. "Hey, why doesn't Toyota let me change out the engine for a Chevy?".
Practically speaking, especially in light of the latest android versions and development of MIUI which are so feature rich, customizable and flexible, IMHO there seems to be so little to gained with unlocking versus the risks and endless time wasted related to the above mentioned issues.
With the factory stock ROM you get, without fussing:
1. SafetyCheck (ie pay apps, Netflix) that just works.
2. OTA
3. All built in hardware that just works. No "BT not working in the latest version", etc
4. In MIUI 12-- the excellent stock camera app which has improved photo performance dramatically, eliminates the need for GCam and all of the fussing with that.
5. Minor bugs that you can live with
I welcome comments here with convincing arguments in favor of custom ROMs, other than just enjoying the tinkering, which in my opinion doesn't justify the disadvantages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though I do agree this phone works best on stock rom, what's your point?
Custom ROMs are useless and it should be like producer intended? That sounds like iPhone.
The beauty of android and custom ROMs comes with the ability to try and pick your own favourite one and customisation. But indeed with this phone's mediatek chip it's not the best choice for custom ROMs.
Personally miui 12 is working and looking fine by me, I just like rooting and debloating it.
But I highly appreciate all development here on XDA.
If you don't, just ignore all development and enjoy your phone out of the box.
I don't mean to demean anybody's choice.
I'm just trying to understand concrete advantages at this point, if any.
donkyshot said:
Though I do agree this phone works best on stock rom, what's your point?
Custom ROMs are useless and it should be like producer intended? That sounds like iPhone.
The beauty of android and custom ROMs comes with the ability to try and pick your own favourite one and customisation. But indeed with this phone's mediatek chip it's not the best choice for custom ROMs.
Personally miui 12 is working and looking fine by me, I just like rooting and debloating it.
But I highly appreciate all development here on XDA.
If you don't, just ignore all development and enjoy your phone out of the box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jshames said:
Following several of the threads here there are recurring themes:
1. Endless technical difficulties with the process of unlocking, installing custom recoveries and ROMs, downgrading and bricking.
2. Various features of the RN8P not working properly with Rooted/unlocked/ customs ROMs, such as camera, Netflix, bank apps etc.
3. Endless tinkering with GCam with ambiguous results at best, regarding performance and quality of output.
4. Bricking, etc
5. Loss of OTA ability.
Although I personally have not gone through all of these on this phone, I have done so on previous phones I've had.
I appreciate the abstract principle of "it's my phone and I should be able to do with it what I want!". Yet we don't have these expectations of any other consumer devices that we buy. For instance I don't expect to be able to custom modify my television, watch or refrigerator. We certainly don't demand that the manufacturer make this easy for us to do. "Hey, why doesn't Toyota let me change out the engine for a Chevy?".
Practically speaking, especially in light of the latest android versions and development of MIUI which are so feature rich, customizable and flexible, IMHO there seems to be so little to gained with unlocking versus the risks and endless time wasted related to the above mentioned issues.
With the factory stock ROM you get, without fussing:
1. SafetyCheck (ie pay apps, Netflix) that just works.
2. OTA
3. All built in hardware that just works. No "BT not working in the latest version", etc
4. In MIUI 12-- the excellent stock camera app which has improved photo performance dramatically, eliminates the need for GCam and all of the fussing with that.
5. Minor bugs that you can live with
I welcome comments here with convincing arguments in favor of custom ROMs, other than just enjoying the tinkering, which in my opinion doesn't justify the disadvantages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I' m quite satisfied with miui12 global, the only thing that's bothering me is the themes store. It doesn't allow changes of caller,sms of status bar,. I'll hope they fix it soon .
Just one simple question: Are you sure that debloating stops the stock rom from constantly sending potentially private data to China?
If you're using Facebook, WhatsApp, GApps and all that stuff it probably won't matter - as you're constantly surveilled anyway and don't seem to care much for privacy - if your data gets sent to China as well.
Can you be sure, custom rom doesn't have backdoors / data leaks by design (call it as you like) installed? Not at all. But with the stock rom I know for sure they are there.
jshames said:
Following several of the threads here there are recurring themes:
1. Endless technical difficulties with the process of unlocking, installing custom recoveries and ROMs, downgrading and bricking.
2. Various features of the RN8P not working properly with Rooted/unlocked/ customs ROMs, such as camera, Netflix, bank apps etc.
3. Endless tinkering with GCam with ambiguous results at best, regarding performance and quality of output.
4. Bricking, etc
5. Loss of OTA ability.
Although I personally have not gone through all of these on this phone, I have done so on previous phones I've had.
I appreciate the abstract principle of "it's my phone and I should be able to do with it what I want!". Yet we don't have these expectations of any other consumer devices that we buy. For instance I don't expect to be able to custom modify my television, watch or refrigerator. We certainly don't demand that the manufacturer make this easy for us to do. "Hey, why doesn't Toyota let me change out the engine for a Chevy?".
Practically speaking, especially in light of the latest android versions and development of MIUI which are so feature rich, customizable and flexible, IMHO there seems to be so little to gained with unlocking versus the risks and endless time wasted related to the above mentioned issues.
With the factory stock ROM you get, without fussing:
1. SafetyCheck (ie pay apps, Netflix) that just works.
2. OTA
3. All built in hardware that just works. No "BT not working in the latest version", etc
4. In MIUI 12-- the excellent stock camera app which has improved photo performance dramatically, eliminates the need for GCam and all of the fussing with that.
5. Minor bugs that you can live with
I welcome comments here with convincing arguments in favor of custom ROMs, other than just enjoying the tinkering, which in my opinion doesn't justify the disadvantages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. There is no difficulty in unlocking your phone, it takes 168hrs and that's it, be patient. Installing custom recoveries will NOT brick your phone whatsoever, but not following instructions will. The issue with the CFW ROMs is due to MTK processor and lack of monetary motivation for developers that own this phone.
2. My Netflix and banking apps work fine, safety net passes while rooted on a Android 10 GSI ROM.
3. The camera does work, I can record video with EIS (amazing!), shoot 16mb photos, use HDR, astrophotography, and a bunch of other features I don't use. While the camera is a work in progress and did require a lot of testing/comparing, I have everything working, feature wise, that I had on MIUI.
4. Bricking only happens if you don't fully read. MTK processor phones have a lot more "traps" than Qualcomm. Are you going to avoid a classic car because of all the required maintenance on it versus a new car? No. I only ever bricked my phone when working with CFW ROMs. What does that tell you?
5. OTA? Are you're referring to keeping up to date with security updates? The ROM I'm running now has the latest security patch? Or are you saying flashing ROMs is too involved and you rather just tap a button and be done, which is nice too. Xiaomi publicly said they're not issuing updates for this phone next year, so where is your OTA then?
Yet we don't have these expectations of any other consumer devices that we buy. For instance I don't expect to be able to custom modify my television, watch or refrigerator. We certainly don't demand that the manufacturer make this easy for us to do. "Hey, why doesn't Toyota let me change out the engine for a Chevy?".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're comparing apples to oranges here. A refrigerator is not a smart device, and while a TV can be considered smart, there's nothing to upgrade or remove. Do you run stock Windows on your home computer or do you replace the OS with something better with less bugs? And in fact, I do swap engines from different cars into my car. Upgrading parts and wiring and software for the same car.
At the end of the day, if you want to flash ROMs and have ZERO chance of bricking, go with a GSI ROM. Zero bloatware/spyware, no notification issues, no battery drain, and infinite customizability. Start with Quack and go from there. If you want something that works with zero effort, stay stock.
XNyle said:
Just one simple question: Are you sure that debloating stops the stock rom from constantly sending potentially private data to China?
If you're using Facebook, WhatsApp, GApps and all that stuff it probably won't matter - as you're constantly surveilled anyway and don't seem to care much for privacy - if your data gets sent to China as well.
Can you be sure, custom rom doesn't have backdoors / data leaks by design (call it as you like) installed? Not at all. But with the stock rom I know for sure they are there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can never be sure, on any rom.
Bloatware is not all about safety or privacy, it's more about removing unnecessary files to save memory and disk space.
For instance, my root storage on miui 12 is just over 70%, where it used to be somewhere over 90%.
Ram optimised is 3 GB out of 6.
Besides removing, freezing apps is helping too.
OK, I understand you have dealt with the negative side of the equation, in terms of overcoming the obstacles. But what are the actual benefits?
In the past stock ROMs are stock android were fairly restrictive. This is no longer the case. Can you give a few examples of things you can do with a CFW that are exclusive?
wang1chung said:
1. There is no difficulty in unlocking your phone, it takes 168hrs and that's it, be patient. Installing custom recoveries will NOT brick your phone whatsoever, but not following instructions will. The issue with the CFW ROMs is due to MTK processor and lack of monetary motivation for developers that own this phone.
2. My Netflix and banking apps work fine, safety net passes while rooted on a Android 10 GSI ROM.
3. The camera does work, I can record video with EIS (amazing!), shoot 16mb photos, use HDR, astrophotography, and a bunch of other features I don't use. While the camera is a work in progress and did require a lot of testing/comparing, I have everything working, feature wise, that I had on MIUI.
4. Bricking only happens if you don't fully read. MTK processor phones have a lot more "traps" than Qualcomm. Are you going to avoid a classic car because of all the required maintenance on it versus a new car? No. I only ever bricked my phone when working with CFW ROMs. What does that tell you?
5. OTA? Are you're referring to keeping up to date with security updates? The ROM I'm running now has the latest security patch? Or are you saying flashing ROMs is too involved and you rather just tap a button and be done, which is nice too. Xiaomi publicly said they're not issuing updates for this phone next year, so where is your OTA then?
You're comparing apples to oranges here. A refrigerator is not a smart device, and while a TV can be considered smart, there's nothing to upgrade or remove. Do you run stock Windows on your home computer or do you replace the OS with something better with less bugs? And in fact, I do swap engines from different cars into my car. Upgrading parts and wiring and software for the same car.
At the end of the day, if you want to flash ROMs and have ZERO chance of bricking, go with a GSI ROM. Zero bloatware/spyware, no notification issues, no battery drain, and infinite customizability. Start with Quack and go from there. If you want something that works with zero effort, stay stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jshames said:
OK, I understand you have dealt with the negative side of the equation, in terms of overcoming the obstacles. But what are the actual benefits?
In the past stock ROMs are stock android were fairly restrictive. This is no longer the case. Can you give a few examples of things you can do with a CFW that are exclusive?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To clarify, you don't need to be rooted to use non-stock ROMs, and CFW ROMs are not GSI ROMs. Also, using root with the stock ROM works just fine, but then you don't know what else is going on behind the scenes, no matter how much you disable.
I guess I mainly use root for backing up apps/OS/partitions in the event of a brick or data loss. Certain stock apps you can't remove without root, should you choose to remain on the stock ROM. Have you ever spent hours setting up your phone/apps and then lost your data? Doesn't happen with a rooted phone as you can backup both apps (with data) and even the entire ROM with settings. This allows you to test new ROMs, new tweaks, all while easily returning to your previous save state with no ill effects and within minutes. Click a button, get a coffee and it's done. I tested 6 different ROMs and then returned to my current, all within an hour. While I don't necessarily keep the tweaks and ROMs I test, they do shed light on features that I never knew I wanted or even just inspire me to go down new rabbit holes.
On multiple occasions I have been locked out of my phone after an OS update or tweak . Without root, only option is a factory reset and loss of your OS settings. With root, fixed within minutes. Forgot your password on your back up phone, no problem with root.
I think with data harvesting being so popular/rampant, more and more people will leave spyware infested ROMs for vanilla AOSP ROMs.
jshames said:
Following several of the threads here there are recurring themes:
1. Endless technical difficulties with the process of unlocking, installing custom recoveries and ROMs, downgrading and bricking.
2. Various features of the RN8P not working properly with Rooted/unlocked/ customs ROMs, such as camera, Netflix, bank apps etc.
3. Endless tinkering with GCam with ambiguous results at best, regarding performance and quality of output.
4. Bricking, etc
5. Loss of OTA ability.
Although I personally have not gone through all of these on this phone, I have done so on previous phones I've had.
I appreciate the abstract principle of "it's my phone and I should be able to do with it what I want!". Yet we don't have these expectations of any other consumer devices that we buy. For instance I don't expect to be able to custom modify my television, watch or refrigerator. We certainly don't demand that the manufacturer make this easy for us to do. "Hey, why doesn't Toyota let me change out the engine for a Chevy?".
Practically speaking, especially in light of the latest android versions and development of MIUI which are so feature rich, customizable and flexible, IMHO there seems to be so little to gained with unlocking versus the risks and endless time wasted related to the above mentioned issues.
With the factory stock ROM you get, without fussing:
1. SafetyCheck (ie pay apps, Netflix) that just works.
2. OTA
3. All built in hardware that just works. No "BT not working in the latest version", etc
4. In MIUI 12-- the excellent stock camera app which has improved photo performance dramatically, eliminates the need for GCam and all of the fussing with that.
5. Minor bugs that you can live with
I welcome comments here with convincing arguments in favor of custom ROMs, other than just enjoying the tinkering, which in my opinion doesn't justify the disadvantages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get your point, this is an MTK device, technical difficulties are obvious, but now its easy to switch to custom ROM without downgrading from Android 10, moreover steps are pretty simple if you get it right, not too different than other devices, bricking was already solved with the leaked Preloader and LK, moreover if it weren't for Xiaomi putting Authentication in EDL the device was unbrickable without any hassle, though I get what you want to say, the device gets hard-bricked on most stupid things.
I guess you haven't tried out the CFW 2 and newer builds, they've fixed offline charging, Netflix 1080p and other things, and I personally never had problems with camera, ANX works fine and GCam too, photo quality is obviously better on GCam but 4k video recording is amazing too.
Every device's Custom firmware and ROMs comes with specific difficulties, if you're willing to look beyond this and appreciate how you're going to get Android version updates even after official support ends, the stock, beautiful feel, better performance and battery then I think you're gonna understand why Custom ROMs for this device is so important!
Peace
And by the way I love tinkering with anything that has an processor and runs Linux hehe :silly:
jshames said:
Following several of the threads here there are recurring themes:
1. Endless technical difficulties with the process of unlocking, installing custom recoveries and ROMs, downgrading and bricking.
2. Various features of the RN8P not working properly with Rooted/unlocked/ customs ROMs, such as camera, Netflix, bank apps etc.
3. Endless tinkering with GCam with ambiguous results at best, regarding performance and quality of output.
4. Bricking, etc
5. Loss of OTA ability.
Although I personally have not gone through all of these on this phone, I have done so on previous phones I've had.
I appreciate the abstract principle of "it's my phone and I should be able to do with it what I want!". Yet we don't have these expectations of any other consumer devices that we buy. For instance I don't expect to be able to custom modify my television, watch or refrigerator. We certainly don't demand that the manufacturer make this easy for us to do. "Hey, why doesn't Toyota let me change out the engine for a Chevy?".
Practically speaking, especially in light of the latest android versions and development of MIUI which are so feature rich, customizable and flexible, IMHO there seems to be so little to gained with unlocking versus the risks and endless time wasted related to the above mentioned issues.
With the factory stock ROM you get, without fussing:
1. SafetyCheck (ie pay apps, Netflix) that just works.
2. OTA
3. All built in hardware that just works. No "BT not working in the latest version", etc
4. In MIUI 12-- the excellent stock camera app which has improved photo performance dramatically, eliminates the need for GCam and all of the fussing with that.
5. Minor bugs that you can live with
I welcome comments here with convincing arguments in favor of custom ROMs, other than just enjoying the tinkering, which in my opinion doesn't justify the disadvantages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you know what you talking about , did you try by your self some of Custom Roms ,spend some time modifying it, tweaks..
every single stuff that you have on MIUI that working, from first rom that come out with 80% we are now on 99 % of stuff that is working, especially NFC, that for me working on My Bootleggers ROM , with Gcam Bural 8 and 64mp working, Astrophotography that is better than MIUI pro mode that you need to searching for best ISO and SEC to get the best star pic, Gcam do that by self,set congif and make amazing photo.. then, XML modules.. thats another long story..
also , full customization of system , Customization of UI , so many options, so many ideas that developers with hard work and great work modify it..
Some of the features that are included on this ROM are:
Code:
* QS Rows and Colums
* Volume Keys: Wake up, skip tracks and switch according to rotation
* Show song album cover, visualizer and battery info on Lockscreen
* Power Menu Items
* Battery LED light settings
* Suspend Actions: Make your device disable GPS and switch to 2G when you're not using it
* AppOps: Manage your apps permissions in an advanced way
* Recent Styles: Dig the new Pie Quickstep recents, go back to the classic layout or use the Android Go layout
* Network icons: Show or hide the cross, switch between 4G or LTE
and the most import thing is NO BLOATWARE !
No Xiaomi application that you force you too use and the second most import thing is NO GOOGLE SERVICES that drain your battery..
you have,smooth ,fast , stable ROM and free hands to make you to look like you want to ,to make it like you want..
this is mine, one week without single crash of any app or random reboot, that is one of thing that blown my mind.. unofficial ROM that is amazing ..
https://youtu.be/Nc7eHRUYGkI
I get it guys.
There are many technical advantages which allow useful tweaks.
All I am saying is that for the typical user, who uses his device for internet, phone, email and Play Store apps, the ability to use these tweaks are not worth the trouble (unlike in the past, when the gap between stock Roms and customs Roms was HUGE).
You cannot tell me that it's easy-- there are scattered threads with advice all over the place, for all kinds of different setups (like what version of MIUI and phone you have, that require searching and putting together multiple posts and threads, figuring out what is up to date, in to figure out what to do, to avoid bricking and other bugs.
This is not criticism of anybody here or the developers. This is just the situation.
I think that some of the highly advanced users here, who perhaps spend hours a day on these forums or in development, have an easier time technically. I must admit that besides Xiaomi's 168 hr wait, the process looks daunting and risky. On this forum, is there a single unified guide that is up to date and reliably takes you through the whole process, even if I already have MIUI 12 installed?
The only point for me is Android update + security patch update in custom ROM.
jshames said:
Following several of the threads here there are recurring themes:
1. Endless technical difficulties with the process of unlocking, installing custom recoveries and ROMs, downgrading and bricking.
2. Various features of the RN8P not working properly with Rooted/unlocked/ customs ROMs, such as camera, Netflix, bank apps etc.
3. Endless tinkering with GCam with ambiguous results at best, regarding performance and quality of output.
4. Bricking, etc
5. Loss of OTA ability.
Although I personally have not gone through all of these on this phone, I have done so on previous phones I've had.
I appreciate the abstract principle of "it's my phone and I should be able to do with it what I want!". Yet we don't have these expectations of any other consumer devices that we buy. For instance I don't expect to be able to custom modify my television, watch or refrigerator. We certainly don't demand that the manufacturer make this easy for us to do. "Hey, why doesn't Toyota let me change out the engine for a Chevy?".
Practically speaking, especially in light of the latest android versions and development of MIUI which are so feature rich, customizable and flexible, IMHO there seems to be so little to gained with unlocking versus the risks and endless time wasted related to the above mentioned issues.
With the factory stock ROM you get, without fussing:
1. SafetyCheck (ie pay apps, Netflix) that just works.
2. OTA
3. All built in hardware that just works. No "BT not working in the latest version", etc
4. In MIUI 12-- the excellent stock camera app which has improved photo performance dramatically, eliminates the need for GCam and all of the fussing with that.
5. Minor bugs that you can live with
I welcome comments here with convincing arguments in favor of custom ROMs, other than just enjoying the tinkering, which in my opinion doesn't justify the disadvantages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try and directly answer + add my own stuff.
1. Endless technical difficulties with the process of unlocking, installing custom recoveries and ROMs, downgrading and bricking.
With CFW (Custom Firmware) you can be even safer on custom ROMs, as unbricking will no longer need a Mi Authorised Account. Some users have reported their devices bricking just from updating from MIUI to MIUI, which gave me another reason.
2. Various features of the RN8P not working properly with Rooted/unlocked/ customs ROMs, such as camera, Netflix, bank apps etc.
Camera works even better on custom ROMs, thanks to buffer fix module (can be applied to rooted MIUI). Magisk hide + magisk props will mostly have you covered in terms of banking apps. Netflix is a weird issue, as you either have it crash or Widevine L3 but it works so
3. Endless tinkering with GCam with ambiguous results at best, regarding performance and quality of output.
Nope, not at all. Stock cam was absolutely trash (80% of scenarios) and speaking from an XML creator's point of view, it's just us that has to do the tinkering. You just have to update and pick which XML you prefer. I haven't even bothered to download ANX cam, as GCAM already works well enough for me.
4. Bricking, etc
CFW has you covered here, even when going from A10. Just flash LR TWRP 3.1.1 or 3.3.1 and flash CFW + CFW ROM via recovery and safe.
5. Loss of OTA ability.
Honestly, I don't trust OTAs on MIUI after hearing people were bricked by doing that.
I went to custom ROMs for a peace of mind solution to...
- Better battery.
- Better support.
- Freedom with magisk.
- Trying out new features.
- Less bloatware with NikGapps Omni.
- Sometimes better performance.
So far, I've never felt the need to go back to MIUI.
Stock (global) ROM on my RN8P did not support (or allow) call recording. flashed Indonesia ROM to get that.
I still want to root the phone in order to:
* Backup apps including data with Super Backup
* Add folder shortcuts (for call recordings) to home screen
If there is a way to accomplish these without rooting, I'd love to know how.
I tried searching this forum before asking, so forgive me if someone has already asked this before. I want opinions from users who tried both AOSP and MIUI based ROMs. I wanted to know which is more stable/feature rich and better. If you hate or are strongly against MIUI and hence will never use it that is fine, but I am more interested in those who don't have such a negative opinion of MIUI and I want an honest and fair comparison of the two types of ROMs.
I am currently on ArrowOS and it is pretty decent. However, it does have some minor bugs and inconveniences. The main one is that the default Google phone app has issues with incoming calls - I cannot hear the other person on incoming calls until I activate speakerphone. Also, I believe some features are missing in AOSP based ROMs such as Dolby audio, and some other niche features. Also, it is quite unfortunate that AOSP based ROMs cannot take full advantage of the cameras and are limited to 12 Megapixels only and some camera features are missing.
Now, I wanted to know if I can have full camera functionality in MIUI based ROMs? Does it also have the same kind of incoming call bug? And lastly, can I still install GCam on MIUI based ROMs and get the best of both worlds, that is use MIUI camera app and GCam as well? Your advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
I'm gonna copy>paste my answer from another thread:
This answer probably is going to sound harsh, but it is truth (at least for me hahaha).
I've tried literally every custom rom from here (and also a few ones that are baked outside XDA, i.e. HOS, the Android 12 build, etc) and yeah, not even one custom rom gets near the stability, compatibility and battery life of MIUI.
I don't like MIUI at all, but the battery consuption and stability is the best to be used as a daily driver. I hate when I want to do something on my daily basis and then I fail to do it because I'm using a custom rom, for example: bluetooth issues when connecting the phone with my car, video calls having audio issues, low volume on calls, etc) or just taking a photo.
MIUI covers all those little points, and at the end of the day, is the only rom that fullfill all my needs. I personally use eu (the weekly release), as it is just an optimized version of MIUI, but yeah, I still dream on the day that a custom rom gets to the same level of stability and compatibility as MIUI. I TRULY love pixel like roms, but I just don't wan't to sacrifice stability or just simply downgrade the cam quality just for that.
And if I really need to chose a custom rom, I'll pick Lineage, it's the best custom rom out there, has awesome battery life, extra features and the rom/mantainers are not just going to stop developing the weekly nightlies just because they get tired of it. On second place there is HOS, the only issue with HOS that I had is that the thermals of my phone gets real high when I play games (this does not happen with other roms).
=)
Here's the thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/best-custom-rom.4275947/page-6
Kimbaroth said:
I'm gonna copy>paste my answer from another thread:
This answer probably is going to sound harsh, but it is truth (at least for me hahaha).
I've tried literally every custom rom from here (and also a few ones that are baked outside XDA, i.e. HOS, the Android 12 build, etc) and yeah, not even one custom rom gets near the stability, compatibility and battery life of MIUI.
I don't like MIUI at all, but the battery consuption and stability is the best to be used as a daily driver. I hate when I want to do something on my daily basis and then I fail to do it because I'm using a custom rom, for example: bluetooth issues when connecting the phone with my car, video calls having audio issues, low volume on calls, etc) or just taking a photo.
MIUI covers all those little points, and at the end of the day, is the only rom that fullfill all my needs. I personally use eu (the weekly release), as it is just an optimized version of MIUI, but yeah, I still dream on the day that a custom rom gets to the same level of stability and compatibility as MIUI. I TRULY love pixel like roms, but I just don't wan't to sacrifice stability or just simply downgrade the cam quality just for that.
And if I really need to chose a custom rom, I'll pick Lineage, it's the best custom rom out there, has awesome battery life, extra features and the rom/mantainers are not just going to stop developing the weekly nightlies just because they get tired of it. On second place there is HOS, the only issue with HOS that I had is that the thermals of my phone gets real high when I play games (this does not happen with other roms).
=)
Here's the thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/best-custom-rom.4275947/page-6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! Yes I read your post on that other thread as well and it was a very good post. I feel that your observation is accurate. MIUI based ROMs seem to give us the most stability and feature set. Unfortunately AOSP ROMs have things lacking that MIUI ROMs have by default like the Camera. I think this is making me inclined to install a MIUI ROM I guess.
A quick follow up question: Can I install GCam on the Xiaomi.eu ROM? The only feature I want from GCam is the "photosphere" mode.
litetaker said:
A quick follow up question: Can I install GCam on the Xiaomi.eu ROM? The only feature I want from GCam is the "photosphere" mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try that by yourself, there are a lot of gcam variants, better download a couple of them and try one by one: https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/
litetaker said:
I tried searching this forum before asking, so forgive me if someone has already asked this before. I want opinions from users who tried both AOSP and MIUI based ROMs. I wanted to know which is more stable/feature rich and better. If you hate or are strongly against MIUI and hence will never use it that is fine, but I am more interested in those who don't have such a negative opinion of MIUI and I want an honest and fair comparison of the two types of ROMs.
I am currently on ArrowOS and it is pretty decent. However, it does have some minor bugs and inconveniences. The main one is that the default Google phone app has issues with incoming calls - I cannot hear the other person on incoming calls until I activate speakerphone. Also, I believe some features are missing in AOSP based ROMs such as Dolby audio, and some other niche features. Also, it is quite unfortunate that AOSP based ROMs cannot take full advantage of the cameras and are limited to 12 Megapixels only and some camera features are missing.
Now, I wanted to know if I can have full camera functionality in MIUI based ROMs? Does it also have the same kind of incoming call bug? And lastly, can I still install GCam on MIUI based ROMs and get the best of both worlds, that is use MIUI camera app and GCam as well? Your advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overall, I'd also rather have Vanilla Android.
But I do like Xiaomi's added permission-manager, which restricts Apps further, Dolby Atmos (Much better than Moto Dolby, and Razer Dolby in AOSP ROMs), and the MIUI Camera App.
Yes, you can use Gcam on MIUI as well. The ports have gotten good.
Recommended Stable Google Camera Port Versions
A list of suggested / recommended and known to be stable Google Camera apks.
www.celsoazevedo.com
BSG GCam APKs - Google Camera Port
Modified Google Camera app by BSG.
www.celsoazevedo.com
Arnova8G2 GCam APKs - Google Camera Port
Modified Google Camera app by Arnova8G2.
www.celsoazevedo.com
Arnova8G2 (Beta) GCam APKs - Google Camera Port
Modified Google Camera app by Arnova8G2 (Beta).
www.celsoazevedo.com
Calling works normal on MIUI. Call Recording too.
litetaker said:
I tried searching this forum before asking, so forgive me if someone has already asked this before. I want opinions from users who tried both AOSP and MIUI based ROMs. I wanted to know which is more stable/feature rich and better. If you hate or are strongly against MIUI and hence will never use it that is fine, but I am more interested in those who don't have such a negative opinion of MIUI and I want an honest and fair comparison of the two types of ROMs.
I am currently on ArrowOS and it is pretty decent. However, it does have some minor bugs and inconveniences. The main one is that the default Google phone app has issues with incoming calls - I cannot hear the other person on incoming calls until I activate speakerphone. Also, I believe some features are missing in AOSP based ROMs such as Dolby audio, and some other niche features. Also, it is quite unfortunate that AOSP based ROMs cannot take full advantage of the cameras and are limited to 12 Megapixels only and some camera features are missing.
Now, I wanted to know if I can have full camera functionality in MIUI based ROMs? Does it also have the same kind of incoming call bug? And lastly, can I still install GCam on MIUI based ROMs and get the best of both worlds, that is use MIUI camera app and GCam as well? Your advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've used most of custom roms and just like the user above, I switched back to miui (weekly xiaomi eu). I found some annoying issues in every single rom, like random reboots while using LTE, and high idle batery drain.
Aosp roms are more clean and smooth, but they lack of the stability of Miui and some features like the MEMC, dobly, game mode, etc.
So, in the mean time I will stay on miui
SanPepsi said:
i've used most of custom roms and just like the user above, I switched back to miui (weekly xiaomi eu). I found many issues in every single rom, like random reboots while using LTE, and high idle batery drain.
Aosp roms are more clean and smooth, but they lack of the stability of Miui and some features like the MEMC, dobly, game mode, etc.
So, in the mean time I will stay on miui
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also on Xiaomi.eu Weekly. I've seen your question here on XDA about the random reboots, but I don't know a solution to your problem.
I've only stayed on a single AOSP ROM for max. 2 days before switching to other AOSP ROMs, but I only experienced 1 crash during Android Setup, I think.
I only used 4G/LTE internet, no calls as far as I know.
I tried many aosp custom roms and went back to stock Miui. High end phones have extra features like Dolby atmos which improves sound quality a lot and no custom rom sounds as good as Miui, and some very useful built in features like timing AOD which is very convenient,... I feel like Aosp custom roms would be better for mid range phone like Redmi notes, Poco F3 is powerful enough to be smooth even in Miui
Hey,
I just switched to MiuiMiX, most things are great. But there are some things that are missing, and I hope you can help me .
First, the most important thing, navigation gestures with third party launcher. Is there an efficient way to make gestures works with third party launcher (I use Niagara Launcher, and it worked great with AOSP ROMs), I tried many things, but none worked or in a bad way, annoying to use the stock launcher while I paid for Niagara launcher which is perfect for me. The other problems aren't really caused by MIUI, or I just need some adaptation, or else...
Otherwise, what do you recommend for MIUI based ROM ?
I don't care a whole lot for the Xiaomi Miui based roms to clunky to bloated and slow compared to lets say Arrow is clean fast and battery life is much better , even Xiaomi.eu version is bloated in my opinion, themes , miui music app and video and the the built in Avast scanner all crap! but to each his own .
jefffrom said:
I don't care a whole lot for the Xiaomi Miui based roms to clunky to bloated and slow compared to lets say Arrow is clean fast and battery life is much better , even Xiaomi.eu version is bloated in my opinion, themes , miui music app and video and the the built in Avast scanner all crap! but to each his own .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a fair point but overall I still find MIUI to be the better ROM than AOSP ROMs.
I agree that MIUI has more bloat and a lot more pre-installed system apps. But I don't think it is slow at all. It is absolutely snappy and just as fast as AOSP ROMs. Battery life, I personally do not see any significant difference between the two. In fact I probably experienced more idle battery drain on ArrowOS and sometimes the phone was unable to go into deep sleep mode on ArrowOS.
But the main reason I prefer MIUI ROMs compared to AOSP even though my previous phone was a Pixel 2 and I really appreciate clean stock Android is because a lot of features are lost when I go to AOSP ROMs that I cannot justify it! Why use a ROM that takes away a lot of the features that came with the phone? I paid for all those features and I would like to use them.
For me camera is very very important and I was undewhelmed by GCam. I really wanted the proper functionality of stock MIUI camera. And the good news is I can install GCam on MIUI ROMs too to get the best of both worlds!
For me, the following is a small selection of features that are better on MIUI ROMs than AOSP:
Better Camera; there is no sound issue with incoming calls (was a problem on ArrowOS), better screen recorder features with floating controls, better screen casting functionality, useful built-in apps like voice recorder, notes, compass, weather app, also the calculator app and clock app are better and more feature rich than Google's equivalents
You can force dark mode on apps, which is really useful for those apps that don't have dark mode or make dark mode a paid feature
Dolby Atmos, MEMC, floating windows, one handed mode and other useful features not in AOSP ROMs
I personally prefer the layout of the notification panel in MIUI more than Stock Android. In fact, I liked Samsung One UI's implementation of the notification panel more than Google's stock implementation. Brightness slider is at the bottom to be more easily accessible, the settings icon is on the top so I do not have to expand the quick toggles to get that icon unlike in Stock Android.
And honestly, once I have the phone all setup it looks great! Nowadays Android skins are relatively mild unlike the heavy handed UIs like TouchWiz and HTC Sense of the past. Even the latest MIUI looks fairly mild and after everything is setup there is not a lot of difference compared to Stock Android in appearance. In fact it looks a bit better than the very spartan Stock Android look. Even the Settings app is nicer with the bigger icons and fonts. So I am quite happy with the Xiaomi.eu ROM.
I hope this comparison of MIUI ROM vs AOSP interface is useful to others if they want to get an overview of what you get from MIUI ROMs compared to AOSP.
litetaker said:
That is a fair point but overall I still find MIUI to be the better ROM than AOSP ROMs.
I agree that MIUI has more bloat and a lot more pre-installed system apps. But I don't think it is slow at all. It is absolutely snappy and just as fast as AOSP ROMs. Battery life, I personally do not see any significant difference between the two. In fact I probably experienced more idle battery drain on ArrowOS and sometimes the phone was unable to go into deep sleep mode on ArrowOS.
But the main reason I prefer MIUI ROMs compared to AOSP even though my previous phone was a Pixel 2 and I really appreciate clean stock Android is because a lot of features are lost when I go to AOSP ROMs that I cannot justify it! Why use a ROM that takes away a lot of the features that came with the phone? I paid for all those features and I would like to use them.
For me camera is very very important and I was undewhelmed by GCam. I really wanted the proper functionality of stock MIUI camera. And the good news is I can install GCam on MIUI ROMs too to get the best of both worlds!
For me, the following is a small selection of features that are better on MIUI ROMs than AOSP:
Better Camera; there is no sound issue with incoming calls (was a problem on ArrowOS), better screen recorder features with floating controls, better screen casting functionality, useful built-in apps like voice recorder, notes, compass, weather app, also the calculator app and clock app are better and more feature rich than Google's equivalents
You can force dark mode on apps, which is really useful for those apps that don't have dark mode or make dark mode a paid feature
Dolby Atmos, MEMC, floating windows, one handed mode and other useful features not in AOSP ROMs
I personally prefer the layout of the notification panel in MIUI more than Stock Android. In fact, I liked Samsung One UI's implementation of the notification panel more than Google's stock implementation. Brightness slider is at the bottom to be more easily accessible, the settings icon is on the top so I do not have to expand the quick toggles to get that icon unlike in Stock Android.
And honestly, once I have the phone all setup it looks great! Nowadays Android skins are relatively mild unlike the heavy handed UIs like TouchWiz and HTC Sense of the past. Even the latest MIUI looks fairly mild and after everything is setup there is not a lot of difference compared to Stock Android in appearance. In fact it looks a bit better than the very spartan Stock Android look. Even the Settings app is a nicer with the bigger icons and fonts. So I am quite happy with the Xiaomi.eu ROM.
I hope this comparison of MIUI ROM vs AOSP interface is useful to others if they want to get an overview of what you get from MIUI ROMs compared to AOSP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice, I'm have some lags with MiuiMiX... And MIUI is still very limited with some things... It's a choice to make AOSP and MIUI have advantages and disadvantages..
litetaker said:
That is a fair point but overall I still find MIUI to be the better ROM than AOSP ROMs.
I agree that MIUI has more bloat and a lot more pre-installed system apps. But I don't think it is slow at all. It is absolutely snappy and just as fast as AOSP ROMs. Battery life, I personally do not see any significant difference between the two. In fact I probably experienced more idle battery drain on ArrowOS and sometimes the phone was unable to go into deep sleep mode on ArrowOS.
But the main reason I prefer MIUI ROMs compared to AOSP even though my previous phone was a Pixel 2 and I really appreciate clean stock Android is because a lot of features are lost when I go to AOSP ROMs that I cannot justify it! Why use a ROM that takes away a lot of the features that came with the phone? I paid for all those features and I would like to use them.
For me camera is very very important and I was undewhelmed by GCam. I really wanted the proper functionality of stock MIUI camera. And the good news is I can install GCam on MIUI ROMs too to get the best of both worlds!
For me, the following is a small selection of features that are better on MIUI ROMs than AOSP:
Better Camera; there is no sound issue with incoming calls (was a problem on ArrowOS), better screen recorder features with floating controls, better screen casting functionality, useful built-in apps like voice recorder, notes, compass, weather app, also the calculator app and clock app are better and more feature rich than Google's equivalents
You can force dark mode on apps, which is really useful for those apps that don't have dark mode or make dark mode a paid feature
Dolby Atmos, MEMC, floating windows, one handed mode and other useful features not in AOSP ROMs
I personally prefer the layout of the notification panel in MIUI more than Stock Android. In fact, I liked Samsung One UI's implementation of the notification panel more than Google's stock implementation. Brightness slider is at the bottom to be more easily accessible, the settings icon is on the top so I do not have to expand the quick toggles to get that icon unlike in Stock Android.
And honestly, once I have the phone all setup it looks great! Nowadays Android skins are relatively mild unlike the heavy handed UIs like TouchWiz and HTC Sense of the past. Even the latest MIUI looks fairly mild and after everything is setup there is not a lot of difference compared to Stock Android in appearance. In fact it looks a bit better than the very spartan Stock Android look. Even the Settings app is nicer with the bigger icons and fonts. So I am quite happy with the Xiaomi.eu ROM.
I hope this comparison of MIUI ROM vs AOSP interface is useful to others if they want to get an overview of what you get from MIUI ROMs compared to AOSP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some very valid points my friend but you got to ask yourself do the positives outweigh the negatives ? I will agree miss the stock camera and Atmos but dam everything else just works better..I just can't deal with the bloat of the stock rom.
jefffrom said:
some very valid points my friend but you got to ask yourself do the positives outweigh the negatives ? I will agree miss the stock camera and Atmos but dam everything else just works better..I just can't deal with the bloat of the stock rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have hidden away the bloat completely. I don't see any major negatives with this ROM so far.
In my opinion, if you want to save some time then don't think about flashing custom ROM in the initial days of purchase. Just stick with preloaded stock ROM so that you can enjoy the fancy features which lure you into buying that phone. Flashing is an addiction after some time and there are tons of ROMs which get regular updates that will keep busy in flashing ROMs. I think the thumb rule should be to wait until 1 year (typical warranty period and end of regular update cycle from OEM) before flashing any custom ROMs. After that, you will definitely enjoy ASOP ROMs.
I always go away from miui due to security and privacy concerns + the bloated applications and the ads. I have found ARROWOS and HOS to be working the best on PocoF3, keep in mind miui has higher antutu scores because it has a specific profile for bench-marking called "nolimit"
Noe367 said:
Hey,
I just switched to MiuiMiX, most things are great. But there are some things that are missing, and I hope you can help me .
First, the most important thing, navigation gestures with third party launcher. Is there an efficient way to make gestures works with third party launcher (I use Niagara Launcher, and it worked great with AOSP ROMs), I tried many things, but none worked or in a bad way, annoying to use the stock launcher while I paid for Niagara launcher which is perfect for me. The other problems aren't really caused by MIUI, or I just need some adaptation, or else...
Otherwise, what do you recommend for MIUI based ROM ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a guide thread open on how to use gestures with any launcher, you need magisk, and Nav Remover Module
ketanmore said:
In my opinion, if you want to save some time then don't think about flashing custom ROM in the initial days of purchase. Just stick with preloaded stock ROM so that you can enjoy the fancy features which lure you into buying that phone. Flashing is an addiction after some time and there are tons of ROMs which get regular updates that will keep busy in flashing ROMs. I think the thumb rule should be to wait until 1 year (typical warranty period and end of regular update cycle from OEM) before flashing any custom ROMs. After that, you will definitely enjoy ASOP ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many Roms have semi automated updates. Arrow for example has 1 button to check for an update and then pops another to install the available update. That's it, everything is done in the background, you can use your phone as usual. Restart whenever it's convenient for you and you are done. Just like in stock MIUI
Zimmster said:
Many Roms have semi automated updates. Arrow for example has 1 button to check for an update and then pops another to install the available update. That's it, everything is done in the background, you can use your phone as usual. Restart whenever it's convenient for you and you are done. Just like in stock MIUI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it straightforward to install updates for ArrowOS with Magisk root? Or will it block updates or something?
I wanted to GTFO Google and (ONE) single ROM has been developed for this phone on XDA without Gapps and it's not even maintained any more. I tried out Lineage with Micro G and I was pretty happy. I asked if anyone here would be interested in GrapheneOS and got no reply. I built it for myself and was happier with the spoofing in Lineage so I went back. But that brings me to the OP question...I guess I just don't understand why anyone would build a custom ROM that allows Google to spy on you completely unchecked. I thought I must have been insane since literally nobody here seemed to agree. Then I found this write up......I immediately decided to post it. Not because I want to piss people off. Not because I'm unappreciative. But because WTF ARE WE DOING??Why are we even running custom ROMS? Xposed came out and Google screwed us with SafetyNet. Then you had Substratum that got checked from Google but it's being "allowed" right now even though they tried to patch it out. Then Magisk comes and Google buys him out. This has always been a "cat vs mouse" game until recently. Now it's just a "cat vs customizable cat" game. Did we lose? Or is it that people would rather trade their privacy for convenience? The direction we are headed as a community is allowing Google to slowly close off and become Apple pt2 and nobody seems to mind much. But this is XDA! How will it exist without people caring about this?Here is part of the write up that applies specifically to the OnePlus7T. Hopefully I'm not alone. Hopefully we can get this train back off the tracks where it belongs. Barreling through the unknown in defiance of these huge entities trying to control you. Link is at the bottom of the write up.crDroidLineageOS-based custom ROM designed to increase performance and reliability over stock Android for your device while also attempting to bring many of the best features existing today, according to their intro & how I think its grammar should be.
Personal remarks: A very good heavyweight ROM (and the best Limbo ROM at the moment), burdened with a soydev website (at least there's no BlockAdBlock unlike Arrow) & lack of Vanilla/GApps enforcement in a way similar to Bootleggers - no Vanilla/GApps branding
Advantages:
Per-app data restriction (Pie, A10, A11)
Signature spoofing (A10 & A11: no toggle)
Inbuilt App Lock
Disadvantages:
No signature spoofing (Pie-only; forgiven & redacted starting with A10, 12/4/2020 build)
If you look at the official site, there's a screenshot that shows this feature, on a toggle. Should have been available at Settings > crDroid Settings > Miscellaneous; but it's not there.
Tested the 12/4/2020 build & found out that microG support is enabled without toggle. This anti-feature is redacted.
Poco X3(N) only (confirmed on 23/3/2021 build) - USB debugging enables itself on boot (redacted per 22/4/2021 7.5 build)
28/4/2021 Update : With inbuilt vendor on 22/4/2021 7.5 X3N build, USB debugging no longer self-enables on boot (it's enabled at 1st boot, but can be disabled without enabling itself on subsequent boots). Welp, guess it's like the F1's Pie era all over again, where most builds (especially userdebug ones) enable USB debugging on boot until developers starts to include vendor partition in their builds.
Poco F1 (A11) : No force encryption
No Vanilla/GApps enforcement, in addition to lack of Vanilla/GApps labeling
List of GApps-infested builds :
OnePlus 7T & 7T "Pro"
Not having an active TWRP development for a device does not excuse the maintainers for releasing GApps-only releases, unless they also make a Vanilla variant. And, since there is an active TWRP development, there shouldn't be any more reason to tolerate a lack of Vanilla build (other than the maintainer being too lazy / unwilling to develop a Vanilla build, in which case per should be replaced).
Poco F3 (switched to Vanilla builds as of 9/7/2021 builds, but still listed for reference)
Redmi K20 / Mi 9T (davinci) (Vanilla build available on GDrive, FWIW.)
OnePlus 9 "Pro"
When its non-"Pro" (the vanilla OnePlus 9) variant gets a Vanilla build (despite a lack of functional TWRP for either) there is no excuse to be lazy & provide GApps-only builds
Custom ROM List
Definitely. Yaap microG by John Galt is very good also. Omni microG is also good
I read through your entire post and while most of the things you have said could be attributed to a subjective basis depending on person to person basis but the overall idea has a couple of inconveniences that I would like to add some insight of my own and would like to explain without sounding too brash
This is just my own personal impression that I have witnessed being part of the greater Android ecosystem in general starting from the early days to where we are now
In my opinion, the lack of interest by developers that originally gave their time and effort into working hard and fixing things has generally not kept up with the pace of Google's development efforts to curb these "hacks". The cat and mouse game what the post you quoted said is nearly at an end. I think Google is winning with everything in broader terms and despite the conveniences offered by microG and custom roms using that implementation, it doesn't come close to what Google offers.
The hassle of finding workarounds to make even the basic of functionality to work on Android requires time and effort which as I have already said earlier, it's something no one can commit to these days. The "enthusiast" aspect of custom rom development has really taken a dive over the past few years as manufacturers generally offer good enough functionality (at least for my use case as I am heavily reliant on my phone for work and general personal use) and Android has come a long way since the early days.
All of what I said boils down to the cost of convenience vs concern for issues that are really issues for a specialist segment of users within the entire community. People de-google their phones to focus on privacy and prevent data mining from these data hungry corporations and I for one for wish I could have something that would decrease my overreliance on Google's services but it is just not possible as the majority of people just use their phones and expect things to work just like that. So, the long lived idea of if it ain't broke, don't fix it plays very well into this. The trouble is generally not worth the inconveniences that come with it. Lack of interest of users therefore means lack of options and thus a lack of development.
Here's my 2 cents
I think for devs or hobby-coders who do this for free, time is more valuable than the luxury of "privacy" (which doesn't really exist if you're using any form of social media, like XDA).
Things changed. Android is more polished now than the Nexus days.