So glad to see my builds of RisingOS for the 6a being used and shared via here on KZfaq. Yes I'm the official maintainer of the rom. It gives me the ideology that their will be a little bit more interest in the custom rom community in general as this is to give end users just a bit more features over stock while retaining everything from stock... Thanks for the amazing video.!!!

The more they enshittify, the more we're all desperate for a Linux phone alternative that is daily driver ready.

being a custom rom developer myself it feels good when some big youtubers cover this topic too 😊. (Btw i am in ProjectBlaze and EverestOS Core team and take care of pixel side stuff)

Custom rom is the safest option right now. A lot of 3rd party apps detect root, unlocked bootloader and even safetynet magisk modules have hard time bypassing them. Heck some games even detect developer mode turned on.

A few days ago I actually tried to root my oneplus 7T pro (non branded, EU edition) and it is now forever stuck in fastboot lmao. Not mad about it, that thing stopped receiving updates 2 years ago, and the last update it got made the phone absolutely unusable. But safe to say that I am probably going to wait a bit before trying any of this. But I will still bookmark this video just in case. UPDATE: I got curious and decided to see if I could install lineageos on my phone. Initially I was just trying to get magisk, so I did not even think of this solution. And to my surprise, it actually worked! I know there is no direct connection, but I would have just given up on that phone if not for your video Chris, so thanks!

Cool. I wish I had the time to mess around with custom ROMs again.

Using Lineage OS here. Works pretty great, had no problems with that, including bank apps here in Sweden. Thanks for the video!

Honestly, root and custom ROMS can provide great afterlife to an old phone. I've rooted my Galaxy A50, and managed to install docker on it. Now it runs a Kavita instance.

LineageOS saved my old S9+. A lightweight rom fixed all the slowdowns an unresponsiveness that comes with bloated android skins like OneUI. Also Viper4AndroidFX is still a really good reason to unlock your bootloader and root, even in 2024.

The reason I stopped using custom roms is I realized that no one is really auditing them. It's essentially "trust me bro" in terms of security. I don't have time to code audit a whole OS myself, so I depend on other entities for this. Say what you want about stock firmware, but in the western hemisphere I don't have to worry about it potentially stealing my bank passwords.

I'm using LineageOS 21 on my OnePlus6 and it works great.

It's sad rooting is not popular anymore. I really can't use a phone without rooting. It has risks, but having my phone to work AS I WANT and not a company, is marvelous for me.

I've been using custom ROMs since 2014, it's amazing how clean and updated your device can be, even without official support. I got a Redmi Note 7 with Android 13 (Pixel Experience) and don't think of changing it until it explodes in my hand, it's great! The first week i got the phone, i already unlocked and put a custom ROM (also voiding the warranty, so be careful and test your device before).

Almost a decade ago I was always tinkering with rooting and ROMs. And when I got my OnePlus One, that was the time that my daily driver was always modded. Resurrection Remix was my jam, and I used to mod my friend's phones as well whenever their phones stopped receiving official updates. However then adulting happened, so I had to keep my daily driver stock (especially considering I was living abroad for a while, hence wasn't worth the risk). And then finally moved to an iphone (wasn't that keen to switch, but since I saw how the ecosystem was integrated, took a chance). But I still have my oneplus one, and yes I do miss the good ol' days

iodéOS: -> can combine their adblocker with a VPN -> can uninstall preinstalled apps -> based on Android 14 -> degoogled ...

Some ROMs pass SafetyNet by default without root (like DerpFest or crDroid). Also, a phone with face unlock that only uses a regular camera and not an iris scanner/whatever Apple has on their iPhones is NOT secure at all. It can be bypassed by just a photo of you. Fingerprint unlock is much more secure.

I remember the good old ROM days. I mostly did it to block ads with Adguard or AdAway or the One UI one where you needed to apply for a developer key. Over time, the biometrics with banking apps and rooted phones became a hit or a miss (even with spoofing with magisk hide) which forced me out. Now I just use Firefox browser with ublock installed and I never play games on phone (where ublock can't block ads)

Custom ROMs are a bit seamless right now these days. I've used Arrow OS (probably the most lightweight and battery friendly custom rom so far) and it does its job. I'm not complaining about my old phone and it has been my staple ROM without any root. Security updates are there, so there's always bug fixes for every maintainer of other devices (in my perspective)

YES Could you more about android phones? I've had trouble finding content outside of the standard "cool apps" videos I can't seem to find great creators on the subject who are active/recent, and who talk about the details of the filesystem, permission types, fuse?, and other such things. But You're exactly the person I'd want to hear from about android tech.

I have a Pixel 7a and I'm very happy with the stock ROM, it does everything I want, plays Dreamcast, GameCube, and PS2, so I got no complaints. I'll probably install a custom ROM in May 2028 when it stops receiving security updates. Thanks for this video, Chris.

I've been rocking GrapheneOS on a Pixel 7 with a locked bootloader for 4 months now and it's been a pretty seamless experience for me. Minimal, yet it does everything I need. Not a huge upgrade compared to stock battery-wise though.

The question with security is interesting, considering that many OEMs drop software and security update support after just a couple of years. I bought a OnePlus 8 pro in 2020 and now we're already not getting any more updates.

Not played around with custom ROM's for a while. This has inspired me to revisit. Thanks Chris.

If only google made Unlocking bootloader capability a mandatory requirement. But knowing them not even enforcing their rule about devices should be able to boot their GSIs properly it's not going to happen, ever. Been 2 years since i'm using this un-unlockable device of mine, and i'm not happy.

really great video, thanks for it! just a quick correction: You don't have to lock your bootloader to get GPay working, if your rom is able to pass the play integrity test then you can easily use it! (Even if your ROM can't, there are still few tricks to win that mouse cat game against Google :P)

In the days of Windows Mobile, I ran almost exclusive custom roms. When I moved to Android, did the same but many / most of the cool ones required root. I didn't mind, but tools from my new workplace wouldn't install / work properly because my phone had been 'jailbroken'.

I have been using crDroid since 2018. At this point, being able to install a custom ROM is a major selling point for a phone for me.

I have been using a Galaxy S21 port on my Galaxy Note 9 for over a week and it's pretty decent and makes my GN9 more "modern" and up to date. One option in the aroma installer allowed for overclocking of the CPU so I did that and my phone definitely gets warm to the touch and battery drains faster.

Early days of Android were one of my memorable days. My first Android phone was Samsung Galaxy Young. I've spent so many hours trying out many custom ROMs. Optimizing and squeezing every performance it could have just so i could run Dead Space.

Been rocking a custom rom since 2019 probably, when I bought my Mi 9t pro (aka redki k20 pro), and installed it on some old phones to give them a second life (mi 9t and redmi note 7). Never had any issue with banking apps. Really like the Google pixel spoofing for unlimited Google Photos backup storage

Nice, you tackle this topic haha. I am using custom roms on my xiaomi devices as soon as possible after buying hahah

Am 38 years old and i started with the first lg android smartphone to Samsung and i still do it after all these years, i still go to xda to such for a rom for whatever phone i have, also i gi out my way looking for a rootable phone to buy just to root it. Currently i have a note 20 ultra with a custom rom on it.... With magisk to bypass certain apps i use... One thing i like about rooting is unlimited access to my own phone and lower the cpu and gpu frequencies so that my phone last a whole day and plus it make my phone less suseptible to hardware failure... I just love tinkering with roms.

I can't not use custom ROMs. I checked for a good ROM/development support before buying my devices, and immediately change the ROM. (All my phones have been Xiaomi).

As an iphone user i am jealous

A while back I flashed my original Pixel with Pixel Experience, it also had face unlock. I completely understand why it's something to use.

Is the custom ROM would work on all Android phones & not only for specific smartphone brands?

What is your screen recorder? How do you do the magnify effect?

Thanks for your contributions and tutorials. Could you please put the link on the page and also the information of what phone you have to know which ones are compatible with that ROM. thank you..

I installed Rising Os 2.1 today, it has few minor bugs but you can live with it

I have been running LineageOS 21 on my 2017 OnePlus 5 for months now. Best phone experience I ever had. Much better than the original Android 10 and the UI is blatantly smoother compared to my brand new, work-issued midrange phone. It receives updates frequently, often once a week, which are installed as easily as with big vendor phones and especially version 21 has been very stable! Only issues I have is that my bank app does not work on rooted phones and the battery is definitely showing its age. Definitely recommended for old phones that are not receiving carrier updates anymore.

Problem is, alot of stuff which custom rom used to offer are now stock features. Plus there is a lot of security issue, specially with bank apps etc and there is no camera optimisation as well.

Most people stopped is because the devs were hurt when essentially the community and their work was sold out from underneath them. That on top of more and more locked phones and Google making the move from Nexus to Pixel and essentially close sourcing a lot more of the apps in the source essentially killed what was an amazing community.

how do you feel about long term projects such as dr.ketan's rom for samsung devices? they include some paid features that potentially provide a better experience with battery life etc.

I am currently using RisingOS 1.4 and i really love it..!

I've been using custom roms on every phone I ever owned, since the galaxy Y iirc

Does unlocking void your warranty? What carrier do you use?

this face unlock based on simple camera is most insecure thing ever - one can unlock your phone with your photo

I just installed crdroid without gapps on my realme phone, super smooth!

I loved this video, Watching this video reminded me of how much fun I had owning an Android device, might make the switch back from iOS. I don't really utilize the features that make iPhone appealing (FactTime, iMessage, etc) so I think it makes the most sense to switch back. Any recommendations for relatively new phones that support custom ROMs and the developer community in general? Thanks in advance!

That voltage info looks great. But the 6A doesn't have USB-C altmode, the 8 series added it. Unfortunatly Google hates root and disables RCS for unlocked bootloaders.

Have you tried postmarketOS yet? It's not an Android AFAIK, I think it's more like a standard Linux with Plasma Mobile as its DE.

This is a great throwback to pimping out phones and makes me miss it! Now I need to get an Android Phone again. So cool!

Android custom roms should be a lot more popular.

Running PixelExperience on Xiaomi. I'm so glad I was able to get all the trash off of the phone, though I miss a good camera.

Chris this isn't related to your video but I debloated windows 10 manually and got my process count and ram usage down even more! 71 > 56 processes Not only that, but it also always stays at under 80 processes instead of stuck at 95+ processes until restart 2.1gb > 1.7gb ram usage

Finally someone who use custom rom other than lineage os! I usually use derpfest because they have a lot of customization but for now I use evolution X because no one maintain derpfest on my old phone

I really do love custom ROMs. I think device support is a HUGE problem though and I'm surprised no one has worked on a solution yet. A large amount of devices don't have ROMs, or have very low quality proprietary ROMs that are no better than the stock spyware they came with. I use LineageOS on a Samsung Galaxy S8+ that I got from a cousin for like $50 and its honestly incredible how well a now 8 year old phone can run, i can still run modern games and software and Android 13 works and runs just fine.

i have the poco f3, has excellent custom rom community, works great and removes all the xiaomi junk

funny how I was searching for ROMs and looking at lineageOS, and your video just came out lol.

Does it offer same sandboxing feature in GrapheneOS? that would be neat from it. Also, what about security, is it secure?

Man I love custom roms. First thing I do when getting a new device is unlock the bootloader and install my favourite custom rom like EvolutionX or Project elixir.

Chris, is your 6a actually stable on that rom? I used lineageos (rooted) years ago and my 6a is so unstable, from touchscreen issues to cellular issues to overheating…

Please do more of these. The custom ROM scene is so lacking and dead nowadays compared to what it used to be. I would love to see start to finish video from you for installing a ROM, getting Magisk installed, safety net bypass (if this is even still a thing?) and some of the cool modules for it.

Which operating system in computer are u using?

3:44 You just need to root your phone and flash a magisk module, that fixes the gpay issue (safetynet/play integrity)

CyanogenMod was the very first and only custom os i used from 2013. It started out from a fundamentals of OS classes in university. I went home downloaded cyanogen and spent a weekend installing it on my old sony ericsson xperia active. Took that phone from half dead to excellent,used that phone till it finally died in 2019. Pity that cyano was discontinued.

This video is perfect, I recently purchased a Nexus 7 (2013) and flashed Nethunter to it. Im having fun with the nostalgia. Edit: Paid $10 for the Nexus 7 believe it or not.

Do you think there could be any problem with drivers or some stuff if I try custom ROMs with a Xiaomi Mi Mix 3? Im afraid about the front camera

May have try this on my old Samsung!

I just flashed Elixir OS yesterday on my old xiaomi mi 9T Pro. So far, its running great. I was using Pixel Experience before, but they stopped the project :(

I have a pixel 6 pro, went to a Samsung 23+ and now I'm back to the pixel with Project Matrixx ROM. I missed being able to customize it. Will be sticking with Pixel at least for now going forward.

it's awesome because you can have fully controll on ads

I just upgraded from a Pixel 3 to a 7a !!! It's awesome, I love CaylxOS

Installed LineageOS 21, and it's working fantastically batter than Stock ROM!

Samsung devices aren't too difficult to unlock in my experience, you just need to enable OEM unlock in developer options and figure out how to boot into download mode (on new devices hold Vol+ & Vol-, while connecting a charger to a device that's turned off), then enter device unlock mode. That should allow you to factory reset and unlock the device. That being said, Samsung devices don't allow flashing from fastboot, so you need to use Odin3 or compatible software to flash stuff through download mode.

if you wanna see volume of people using custom os check crdroid and awaken os

what are you using to link up your phone to your pc here?

Can't stop custom rom 🔥

Whats the weather gadget? I love the style.

Custom Roms Still Going Strong Im Using AOSPA Which Smooth As Butter ♥️

I have realme 3 and it stop receiving software updates in 2021. I'm thinking of using custom ROM. What is the ideal ROM to install?

It's always cool and funny when I watch your videos. You sound like an honest drunk wise man 😂

is there any chance that you will make one cz i would love to try a rom made by you

Been using custom ROM's for 3 years now with root, and google pay/banking apps, everything works, you just have to set everything up correctly.

Ever since I tried the custom rom I've been using it. Replaced a few because they don't all work equally well. But I have a slightly different process on the Xiaomi Note 10 pro. Is it true that Gpay doesn't work for me :(

if you have a Chinese spyware phone, custom rom is a must other phones probably not specially since new ones have long software support. mid range Chinese phones like xiaomi phones are very bloated buggy and full of ads and privacy issues, custom roms are the only way to go with these phones

What can be done with the OEM unlock toggle being grayed out. Is this a No go?

I got a couple old Galaxy J phones. Any suggestions what to do with them?

Need full guide on which rom to install and if it would actually be better and would work with all the sensors or hardware of the phone and will I be able to use the phone legally and efficiently. Warranty is expired though. But if there is any problem, there should be a way to go to realmeUI back. Phone is realme narzo10.

I'm a big fan of /e/ OS. Great for privacy and is actually simple enough to be used by non techy people

i wish flashing roms would come back, but most bootloaders are completely locked these days 😔

You should try EvolutionX, i think they have a developer working on that model. I have a Xiaomi 9T Pro (K20 Pro), official support and updates ended back in 2021 with android 11. Today my phone runs andoid 14 with April security update, it still is may daily driver!

What software were you using to mirror the phone?

I´ve been on linageOS 20 for a week on my mi 9T(released 2019) that barely got 2 years of updates. Havent encountered any bugs/issues yet.

I use Lineage on my OnePlus 5 because I still haven't found a phone I like more than it. It's really difficult with my requirements. It needs to be small, have dual sim, hopefully be decently repairable, have good performance, preferably a headphone jack... Physical home-, back and recents buttons would be nice too but I know I can give up on those. The Zenfone 10 almost got there but as it came out they pulled their bootloader unlock tool, and im not willing to buy a phone that'll stop receiving updates in 2 years without a way to keep it going.

i use alpha droid rooted , safety net passed also i can hide developer status for apps not to mention i use microg, all apps are sandboxed, smooth animations ,latest android version ect,

When you got notifications issue on stock rom,usually custom roms fixing that problem. But when you have Xiaomi mi 11i or else phone with good cameras,you install the proper version of LineageOS,the camera quality was absolutely terrible.Lack of options in camera app,not remember exactly but video max was 4K 60fps quality max available,but no options for 8K 30fps at all,and the phone at stock doing it. If you dont want mess your photos and video quality,dont touch custom roms.Depends on custom rom,but for sure it gonna be worse than the original rom.Before someone say me,there is ANX Camera port from miui: Yes,there are some.They brick my phone and i back to stock miui.

Good video!

Man, I miss the Viper ROM. It was also my go to after rooting/S-off

The problem with adding face unlock in software is that it can be tricked with a printed picture.