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My favorite custom Android ROM is dead
The Pixel Experience ROM gave my aging Nexus 6P a new lease on life
The heydays of custom ROMs are long behind us, but there are still some great ROM options out there if you’re not happy with your phone’s software situation. As a big fan of the Pixel software design and features, there was one that stuck out over the years for me — the Pixel Experience ROM. It’s a custom ROM that aims to bring devices as close to the original Pixel experience as possible, and it’s the ROM that managed to breathe some more life into my aging Nexus 6P back in the day.
Although stock Android isn’t without its flaws, Google gives every custom ROM developer a chance to make things better with their creations, and several smartphone brands like OnePlus and Samsung have stepped up the game with OxygenOS and One UI respectively. Meanwhile, independent custom ROMs like LineageOS also stay abreast with the latest Android updates, delivering them to a community of enthusiastic users. However, it also means older versions need to be discontinued, and it's time to pull the plug on LineageOS 18.1 now.
Android 12-based LineageOS 19 arrives for OnePlus Nord N200, Redmi 7, and FairPhone 3
Installing the ROM should be a piece of cake
There's a wide variety of custom ROMs out there right now. Some go all out on including as many features as possible, while others try to provide a Pixel-like experience, but one among them really stands out. LineageOS has become a must-know name in the custom ROM community over the last several years, boasting a truly impressive number of officially supported devices. Its latest version, Android 12-based LineageOS 19, is currently extending support to more handsets following its debut earlier this year. The latest to join in the fun is the OnePlus Nord N200, Redmi 7, and the FairPhone 3.
Check out these cute new wallpapers and icons set to arrive with LineageOS 19.1
Feel free to download and apply at your pleasure
LineageOS may be a little late to the Android 12 party, but the team of talented developers behind it are working hard on getting the next major release ready for this open source project. If you happen to be living under a rock, Lineage is one of the most popular custom ROMs out there, and is committed to giving a new lease on life to aging devices. Ahead of the official release of 19.1, the OS is sharing a few goodies in the form of new wallpapers and icons.
Paranoid Android Sapphire Alpha 2 welcomes the OnePlus 8T to the fray
Along with fixes for 5G and Wi-Fi Direct
The arrival of new Paranoid Android builds late last year proved the ROM scene continues to thrive, delivering Android 12-based updates to a growing lineup of phones. The OnePlus 8 Pro was the first device to get a Sapphire build, and as such, it's also the first to receive a major update. Sapphire Alpha 2 is in development for all compatible smartphones, starting with the entire OnePlus 8 trilogy — including the newly-added 8T.
The new Android 12-based Paranoid Android extends its support to these OnePlus and Xiaomi phones
Skip the update wait
It's been a long time since I was a part of the custom ROM scene, but it's great to see some of the same software I used nearly a decade ago still in active development. Paranoid Android took many by surprise when it returned last month with a new Android 12-based build ready to go, coming to the OnePlus 8 Pro before hitting additional devices a couple of weeks later. Now, as we prepare to head into the new year, a handful of phones are joining the Paranoid party.
Yesterday, Team Win released version 3.4 of the popular custom recovery TWRP. Available now for "most currently supported devices," this release adds some limited Android 10 support for certain devices, as well as other fixes and improvements, including support for flashing stock OPPO/Realme images, and piles of A/B partition support tweaks.
A custom recovery such as TWRP allows you to install custom ROMs and root your devices more easily. Unfortunately, the development of the software for the Pixel 4 and 3 on Android 10 has hit major roadblocks. Some changes in Google's implementation of the recovery and personal circumstances of the main contributor to TWRP could mean that it'll take a while until it's available.
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TWRP is the most trusted Android custom recovery around at the moment and is adding support for more devices all the time. Over the past month or so, 14 new phones and tablets have appeared on the TeamWin Recovery Project site, including the beastly new OnePlus 7 Pro. Support has also been added for all Android One Fifth Generation handsets.
Substratum is one of the best theme engines around and was even a good option for non-rooted phones until the Android 9 Pie update stopped it from working. Even so, it's still popular in the custom ROM community, so news of a lighter, more stable version will no doubt be welcome.
Project Treble, something that you might read in some of our reviews and comment sections, is an important shift in Android as we know it. One of the pieces of Oreo, Treble was Google's attempt to improve the terrible update situation we see on many third-party phones, especially from Samsung, Asus, and Huawei. So far, only a few manufacturers have implemented it to any noticeable degree, with others outright ignoring it until the last possible minute.
Late last month, Google announced it would block the Play Store and Google Play Services from running on 'uncertified' devices. This was meant to keep OEMs from sideloading the Play Store on devices not approved by Google. The company offered a way for custom ROM users to register their devices, but it was a complicated process, because the registration page didn't actually provide instructions.
Xiaomi promised that the Mi A1 would receive Oreo by the end of 2017, and the company hit a buzzer-beater by rolling out Android 8.0 to the Android One device on December 30th. But the kernel source code was nowhere to be found, a violation of the GNU General Public License, version 2 (GPLv2), and an affront to the development and enthusiast community. It's about two-and-a-half months late, but Xiaomi has finally released the Android 8.0 Oreo source code for the Mi A1.
Android OEMs are required to release the kernel source code every time they push a new Android version to a device. It includes any modifications they've made and its what tinkerers then use to build custom ROMs and other mods. Some OEMs are quick to release the code after an update, whereas some drag their heels. In this instance, Samsung has been impeccably fast.
After Cyanogen Inc. closed up shop rather suddenly last year, many former CM developers and maintainers picked up development under a new name - LineageOS. The project has become immensely popular with former CM users, and has continued to expand support to more and more devices.
LineageOS, the successor to the ill-fated CyanogenMod project, has already achieved hundreds of thousands of active installs. Many former CM developers have moved to the new project, and just like CyanogenMod, LineageOS is rapidly expanding to more devices. Several new devices are now supported by LineageOS 14.1, including the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, Galaxy Note 8 tablet, and more.
A constant source of consternation among owners of OPPO devices has been the heavily customized ColorOS and especially the slow speed of Android OS updates to it. OPPO has held strong to ColorOS, owing in large part to its reported popularity in Asian markets. Today, in an effort to appease enthusiast owners, OPPO has announced an initiative to support current devices with an AOSP ROM with limited customizations.
Fire OS is a solid operating system if all you need is the ability to consume Amazon content in various forms, but it just doesn't cut it for the nerdier stuff we pickier types get off on. In some ways, it's a shame, because Amazon puts out solid hardware at affordable prices. On the other hand, there's the option to wipe the slate clean, so to speak, and flash something more exciting onto the tablet.Before this can happen, though, custom ROM developers need to bring their offerings over to each particular model, and before that can happen, Amazon needs to release enough code for them to work with. Fortunately, the company has now released the open source kernel files for its new Kindle Fire HD 6 and 7.
If you've been dying to start poking around the Android Wear source code, now is the time! Google just posted 4.4W to AOSP. The active development branches are distributed throughout each project repository as kitkat-wear. This is the location where further patches and minor updates will appear. There is are also tags for android-4.4w_r1 (build KTU84Q), which represent the first official release of the platform.
One of the darlings of the Android custom ROM world, AOKP, has a new, and pretty incredible, boot animation. Some of you may recall that the AOKP team started soliciting new boot animations from their user community back in December. That contest has now ended, and the winner, Joachim Holler, certainly delivered the goods.