Advantages of the different Roms - Motorola Droid Bionic

The Bionic is my 5th Android and they all have been rooted and had custom roms installed. Before I root it and get to installing custom roms, I would like to know what each one does well and what their weaknesses are. I don't currently have the time available to install them and play with them all like I normally do, so I'm asking the users who are currently using them.
3 things that are important to me: performance, battery life, and would like the camera not to take 5 seconds after clicking it before taking a picture(wouldn't care about this but have kids that I would like to take pictures of). I would also like to install custom boot screens (after owning the lg revolution, I now know that custom boot screens aren't always an easy task).
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App

smokedkill said:
The Bionic is my 5th Android and they all have been rooted and had custom roms installed. Before I root it and get to installing custom roms, I would like to know what each one does well and what their weaknesses are. I don't currently have the time available to install them and play with them all like I normally do, so I'm asking the users who are currently using them.
3 things that are important to me: performance, battery life, and would like the camera not to take 5 seconds after clicking it before taking a picture(wouldn't care about this but have kids that I would like to take pictures of). I would also like to install custom boot screens (after owning the lg revolution, I now know that custom boot screens aren't always an easy task).
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
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Unl3ash3d: Blur based and stock feel, but with extra mods and an extra pretty theme. Pulldown toggles.
Liberty: Stripped down, AOSP (as much as it can be) and a speed demon. Pretty lightweight. Lots of free RAM here. Pulldown toggles. Reboot and other options in the extended power menu.
Which one is better? Matter of taste. Do you fancy the new blur we have? If yes, go Unl3ash3d. Do you want a stripped down, clean, AOSP vanilla gingerbread feel? Go Liberty.
Battery life I couldn't tell you, as I never ran Liberty through a full discharge. I'm a (new)blur kind of guy - it's grown on me. Unl3ash3d gave me battery issues on some early builds, but this latest is great and gets me the best battery life I've had to date.
Both have different themes available for them, so that's equal as well.
Good luck.
P.S. When Eclipse drops in here, give that a whirl. Smooth.

As far as the camera goes, I agree that the stock one is pretty unusable compared to other phones. Both Liberty and Unl3ash3d have replaced the stock camera app with ones that I find work much faster and better.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium

I definitely appreciate this thread and would love to see more discussion from those with experience with the various roms. I've just switched from the Atrix to the Bionic and from some of the comments, I wasn't even sure if it was worth switching to a custom rom or not. Obviously they each offer some benefits, but complaints about battery life were a bit concerning. I also wasn't clear on how much faster/smoother any of them performed compared to stock (though it's pretty nice in stock form already).
As of now I'm rooted and running go launcher without any huge complaints, though I like to tinker and customize stuff, so that alone is driving my interest in running a rom, though I'm still having trouble with taking interest in a particular option.

CC Lemon, don't let the complaints about the existing roms scare you. This is still a relatively new phone and it takes time for the devs to work the bugs out. Over time, they will be worked out.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App

smokedkill said:
CC Lemon, don't let the complaints about the existing roms scare you. This is still a relatively new phone and it takes time for the devs to work the bugs out. Over time, they will be worked out.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
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I wouldn't say that it scares me... I'm just not convinced there's anything I should be trying yet. I'm sure we'll see some great roms eventually, but I'm not looking for something that I'll update every time a new version is released, so I'd like something with as few bugs as possible. My post was mostly directed at trying to figure out if any current roms in their current form are worth using or if I should just wait until more bugs are worked out.
The recent CM7 developments definitely sound promising. I know it's just a matter of time before I decide to flash something, but the question is when and what.

Related

Is rooting worth it?

When I got this phone I told myself I wasn't going to be a flashaholic. I'm no newcomer to root or custom rims but the vivid isn't that bad. Almost doesn't need to be cleaned up and OC'd. But the little things are getting to me.
1. Choppy scrolling
2. Choppy Rosie
3. Small lag with daily use
I don't want to sacrafice the good battery life i have been having.
What are your opinions and what Rom should I flash for stability and smooth scrolling.
If the majority doesn't seem to think it's worth it I'll stay stock. Thanks for all of your opinions
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
I'd say it's worth it. My battery still has a good 20-30% battery by the end of the day.
I can't say much about which ROM to get, considering I've only been able to get the VjRaider to work, which I love by the way.
Those choppy things were bugging me as well, VjRaider fixed 'em up. Along with some pretty cool features.
I have rooted but kept the original rom still... I wont become a flashaholic until I can get something like cyanogenmod or miui... not enough benefit for me to be bothered flashing and resetting up all my config
In a word, Yes
My biggest beef with stock was CIQ. It was not acceptable to leave it on my phone, regardless of the good intentions.
What I'm seeing with the better custom roms are tremendous increases in speed and fluidity, and excellent battery life. It would be painful to put the stock rom back on.
If battery life is a cocern for you, rooting lets you get rid of the juice hogging bloatware. Wild Childs Illuminati series are great roms. He has Sense 3.0 and 3.5 versions, stock kernels, oc kernels and voltage controllers. I you like the stock look, thats the way to go. Better than stock battery life and moar speedz.
oooh, I forgot also, this was WELL worth it for me, because I can't stand the stupid battery meter that sense has, I like having the percentage there, and after I rooted I could edit that then
davidcampbell said:
I have rooted but kept the original rom still... I wont become a flashaholic until I can get something like cyanogenmod or miui... not enough benefit for me to be bothered flashing and resetting up all my config
Click to expand...
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Check out the app MyBackup by Rerware. I would post a link for you, but I don't have enough posts yet.
You can backup your system configurations, all the apps you have, what all your pages look like on your home screen, pictures, almost everything. And the best part about it is that you can do it online, or onto your SD card. Makes everything so much easier .
Yeah I already use titanium backup for apps, smsbackup+ for sms and call recordd and clockwork mod for full zip backups... I dont feel the need for more heh. Plus the main deal for me is I dont care enough, Im cool to hang with stock a while... My hd2 i flashed weekly... It got out of hand
Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using XDA App
davidcampbell said:
Yeah I already use titanium backup for apps, smsbackup+ for sms and call recordd and clockwork mod for full zip backups... I dont feel the need for more heh. Plus the main deal for me is I dont care enough, Im cool to hang with stock a while... My hd2 i flashed weekly... It got out of hand
Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using XDA App
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That's what I am afraid of.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
rawb123456 said:
That's what I am afraid of.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
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Don't be afraid to get your hand dirty. Most of the custom ROMs available now are already in its 4th or 5th edition, at this point they are all pretty much very very stable. Think of it this way, whatever it is you like about your phone's current form, custom ROM does EVERYTHING better. It is smoother, faster, more stable (I used to get random reboots 3 times a week on stock ROM, not to mention the stupid carrier bloatwares and CIQ) and the ability to control the power usage through cpu control.
Trust me. It's not even close....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1431053
im very happy with that one very fluid after draining the battery than fully charging im getting 20 hours of real used (over 300 texts an hour of calling, internet browsing reading Engadget app, about 30 emails, and 10 pictures)
i do get random reboots about once every two days or so tho
so if you want something more stock tho
i hear this one is good
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1454521
here is what I did to satisfy my lust for now, keeping in mind that I get no random reboots and I don't seem to have any issues with my phone at all.
I figured there would be some level of erasing my data so I wanted to get rooting out of the way when I first got the phone, within about 20 minutes of ownership I had unlocked the bootloader (which cleared personal data), installed CWM and taken a backup of my stock rom, I then applied the root update through cwm to get root, I am still running the stock rom and I can squeeze 24 hours out of my phone which is pretty impressive vs my htc hd2, I'm in a 3G area so I havent really used my 4G radio yet.
Then I went about installing an update to get my percentage on the battery instead of the stupid battery icon with no percentage, and replaced the home screen with ADW.Launcher and the lockscreen with WidgetLocker, and I'm pretty happy with the speed and capabilities of the phone now, I'm content to wait until ICS I think as I have not really had any stability issues with this setup, everything just works, one annoyance is there is a little lag on scrolling things, something I see is mentioned as fixed in the ROMS... so far its not a big deal for me, I think maybe if ICS cm9 isn't out by march then I will look at flashing a custom rom at that point "
I do really miss the polish of the MIUI rom I had on my HD2, MIUI did some amazing ui stuff and everything was where it needed to be... even simple things like a TOGGLE FOR WIFI in the notification bar... it seems extremely weird for that to not be there lol.
You watch, someone will reply now and say that a particular rom has that feature and I'll be like Fuuuuuuu and flashing a new ROM before tomorow... I can feel the urge to flash rising hahaha
jherbold said:
My biggest beef with stock was CIQ. It was not acceptable to leave it on my phone, regardless of the good intentions.
What I'm seeing with the better custom roms are tremendous increases in speed and fluidity, and excellent battery life. It would be painful to put the stock rom back on.
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Completely agree, I couldn't go back to stock, the speed is far superior, I've tried a couple of Roms, I've just flashed vjraider, great Rom! And I foresee an even better future! Thanks devs,
Sent from my HTC Raider 4G using XDA App
Personally, I find rooting to be worth it. First and foremost, it is the most in depth procedure of customization you can do to your phone to make it "yours". The speed and battery increases are pretty well worth it as well. I am currently running HoliRaider 1.5a with no problems whatsoever. Speed is amazing and I haven't had any stability issues. Considering HTC has allowed for the bootloader to be unlocked, most of the difficulty that comes with rooting has been taken out. Take a chance! Just follow instructions and read them twice before doing anything major, you'll be alright.
Root is a must for me... All the bloatware they put on my phone i had to get off xD my OCD kicks in and i need a way to delete EVERYTHING i can and still make the phone functional haha
I use WCX http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1454521 3.5 and with his newest build I have been getting no reboots at 1.5ghz and its running like a charm
Battery life is a lot better now thank goodness! and I forgot to quote whoever said this but I too cant wait for something like CM7 or CM9 (not miui I hate it) Sense itself is too much for me though its beautiful its not needed I'd rather have INCREDIBLE speed than looks So im sticking with WCX untill CM9 becomes doable or they quickly get CM7 ready to go

Is it me or is it slowing down

I haven't seen much on roms lately. All the one's out here aren't stable either. We only have a couple fully working roms and none of them are being update. If I get a new phone any suggestions on what it should be to take advantage of the most fully functional roms?
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA
I found Liberty ROM to be quite stable, and while I don't want to jinx it, I've been running Maverick 4.0 for a day or so and it seems great!
If the bootloader ever gets unlocked, it will open up more kernel dev options (for the genius' out there!) which could open up more/better ROM possibilities for us (fingers crossed).
I don't think I'll be upgrading to another phone until a new physical keyboard model comes out. And hopefully it's quad-core with at least a gig of RAM. (512mb on my XT860 has been killing me) ;D
Unfortunately I dont think the kernel will ever be unlocked on our phones... that's Motorola for you.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2
But now it's Google...we may get lucky
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA
Ever since they switched to the nightlies and stopped posting new beta's on here It slowed down, IMO.
I'm happy with Mavrom 4.0 I guess, but would've loved to see hashcode etc. focussing on getting video on ICS, rather than adding features etc. Other ROM makers could've tried that. Who cares about advanced settings when you can't even record a video?
Google is going to probably sell Motorola hardware section to Huawei and keep the core just as legal requirements. Also, they said they are not going to interfere with Motorola decisions on their products. Google only bought Motorola for their parents, nothing more, nothing less.
Rocking with my M3 and XDA app
Exactly ... but I don't want this to be a Motorola bash... even tho its easy to do... lol... so for now I would like to see a list of roms that are fully functional. I'm on liberty and I keep going back to that just because everything works... what other roms are in this category. And I agree that a extra features aren't important till a fully or close to fully completely working roms is in place. What's the point of all the bells and whistles if you can't even use the basic functions of a phone.. don't get me wrong now. I love trying new roms but it becomes a downer when you get one that has cool extras but you end up going back to a working rom for taking video or watching Netflix .... even if your on safestrap to go back to that functional rom. And the other question is if I change phones what would be a good phone to go to just for rom purposes ...
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2
The problem iswith the hardware codes and drivers. Every phone probably has this problem with ics. They add more features cause this is almost impossible. The attic has a really good developer support. I would definitely go back yo it if I could but I had nothing but problems with mine. Anyone know how to make a rom? I wanna get into it.
Sent from my XT860 using XDA
Atrixn00b said:
The attic has a really good developer support.
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I assume you mean Atrix instead of attic?
The real issue to all of the problems is the bootloader. When you can customize the kernel to fit your rom you pretty much take care of any problems. Not to say there aren't roms with custom kernels that don't have issues .... there are but thats due to other things. Programming or incompatibly issues. All of our roms are franken roms held together by bungee cords and duct tape. The devs do a great job with what they have at hand so when time comes for them to build a rom on a phone with a unlocked bootloader, I don't blame them.. much more freedom and the ability to create awesome roms the way they want. All the stable roms we have are just built around the original with some cleaning up and a splash of color... I wonder what it feels like to know when you pick a rom no matter what it is and you know its going to work and the only reason you don't stick with it is because you don't like the way it looks or it doesn't have a extra you want... how sweet.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA
Yeah... it was good when i had my Desire Z. All kinds of roms for that thing!
Sent from my XT860

Why..

I have a question. Why cant we (flashaholics) settle down on one rom?. I my self am very content with my sonic rom, Nottach xposed, and other mods but am always looking for something bigger better newer. Why? Why I ask. Its a freakin phone. Make phone calls, text, surf the net and watch videos. Why do we constantly keep looking for other roms to flash even though the very rom we are on works perfectly and fills our needs. Im just wondering because I see the same people in various rom threads always flashing different roms. Two or 3 a week. Look. Im not saying its bad, I'm just trying to understand the need to look for the something better all the time. I my self am looking at other roms wondering how they are when I think the end result would be the same just minor differences. Just a thought.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA
primo523 said:
I have a question. Why cant we (flashaholics) settle down on one rom?. I my self am very content with my sonic rom, Nottach xposed, and other mods but am always looking for something bigger better newer. Why? Why I ask. Its a freakin phone. Make phone calls, text, surf the net and watch videos. Why do we constantly keep looking for other roms to flash even though the very rom we are on works perfectly and fills our needs. Im just wondering because I see the same people in various rom threads always flashing different roms. Two or 3 a week. Look. Im not saying its bad, I'm just trying to understand the need to look for the something better all the time. I my self am looking at other roms wondering how they are when I think the end result would be the same just minor differences. Just a thought.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA
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I don't know if it's a need for something better at all - as most roms and etc are not so much better than one another and more so just different and bring a different experience.
I'd say it's just more of a hobby that people get in to because it's fun. Playing around with different themes, tweaking kernels for performance than battery life, switching from AOSP features to TW ones, playing with that roms unique feature than playing with another's, setting up a new home screen setup, etc etc.
Some people like collecting stamps, some people like tweaking and upgrading their car, and we just like pimping out our phone and trying new things!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
inlineboy said:
I don't know if it's a need for something better at all - as most roms and etc are not so much better than one another and more so just different and bring a different experience.
I'd say it's just more of a hobby that people get in to because it's fun. Playing around with different themes, tweaking kernels for performance than battery life, switching from AOSP features to TW ones, playing with that roms unique feature than playing with another's, setting up a new home screen setup, etc etc.
Some people like collecting stamps, some people like tweaking and upgrading their car, and we just like pimping out our phone and trying new things!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
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Its an addiction! lol im downloading one right now
jamal717 said:
Its an addiction! lol im downloading one right now
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Addiction for sure. Plus alot of people are trying to find their "ideal" android experience. As stock falls way short. I remember the samsung captivate I had, daily flashing!! For me now I just want a bug free setup so I dont flash like I used to. Usually only flash when I notice the phone is acting up or I mess something up ...
miketucky350 said:
Addiction for sure. Plus alot of people are trying to find their "ideal" android experience. ...
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I was with you to this point, but I couldn't disagree more on this: ...
As stock falls way short.
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Not saying you're "wrong" because this is all opinion, but from my perspective, Jelly Bean hits the mark big time. In the nearly five years of Android, since rooting the G1, this is the first time I wasn't in a major hurry to get on a custom ROM. For me it's not the "Stock vs. Custom" aspect that drives me, but rather that stock unrooted keeps so many of the existing capabilities on lockdown. This phone and this OS kept me happy for a good minute.
That said, like others have mentioned, I love to tinker and there is no question that many custom ROMs improve on the Stock experience, even the JB stock experience.
But after the EVO, I kind of settled into comfortable favorites. Ran Calkulin's ROM for about 6 months and then MIUI (which is one ROM, but new every week) from when it first ported through the EVO3D and up until I got the SGSII. Flashed a few ROMs and then settled on the BluKuban and am now running that on my SGSIV.
I guess my flashing bug was pretty much tamed by 2010, but I definitely understand people who are flashoholics. I was one and it was like having a new phone every week. That was the appeal for me anyway.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Compared to the many here, I would say I'm definitely not a "flashaholic." I do, however, enjoy tinkering with my phone very much and "modding" my phone has now overtaken the modding needs I used to have for my car.
I like trying out new kernels, mods, and apps that enhance the useability, speed, reliability, performance, and battery longevity of my phone. I ask myself sometimes why I spend so much time doing this stuff and for me, it's for several reasons:
1. For me, smartphones are still relatively new (got my first smartphone last year in May, a S2) and therefore exciting. Like the media says, "A mini computer that fits inside your pocket." It's just so cool~!
2. Before I got into modding my car (and my wifey's and my mom's), I was really into the modifying and overclocking (watercooling) PC scene. Smartphones have rekindled my passion for technology and my nerdy side reemerged. When I was becoming bored and feeling kinda indifferent about the slowdown in the PC industry, the rise & dominance of smartphones have reignited my passion to learn something new and be excited again after each breakthrough in mobile technology.
3. I like to keep my phone up-to-date with the newest and greatest from Google and the many amazing developers.
primo523 said:
I have a question. Why cant we (flashaholics) settle down on one rom?. I my self am very content with my sonic rom, Nottach xposed, and other mods but am always looking for something bigger better newer. Why? Why I ask. Its a freakin phone. Make phone calls, text, surf the net and watch videos. Why do we constantly keep looking for other roms to flash even though the very rom we are on works perfectly and fills our needs. Im just wondering because I see the same people in various rom threads always flashing different roms. Two or 3 a week. Look. Im not saying its bad, I'm just trying to understand the need to look for the something better all the time. I my self am looking at other roms wondering how they are when I think the end result would be the same just minor differences. Just a thought.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA
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Ah I feel you pain.. Seems to me you are like me and trying to chase that perfect rom. I had a galaxy Nexus for sprint and hated waiting for my roms to be ported. I would also check xda and when i see the thread title updated i got excited and downloaded immediately. I never backed up w/ apps like TB so always had to start fresh and honestly my gnex was never setup for easy access.(like when i need directions for maps it has ten pop ups slowing me down). Then i went on to mods kernels and others and was always wiping and flashing. I stuck to cm 10.1 because its self nightly updater. I was so excited with my S4 that i didn't think of rooting it till day 2. I wanted to root, run stock and install apps like cerebrus, af wall, and adaway but im coming on to day 20 and i haven't rooted it. I know if i root my phone will run slower and if it bugs, blame the root then i'll never feel happy and start flashing roms then get stuck in the loop again. NO! I almost considered getting an iphone 5 just so i can stop but didn't. Samsung is a big company and right now their rom is working for me. Im now hooked on cases. lol
Long story short,(incase you dont want to read ^)
You're not alone. Galaxy S4 is a damn good phone but like every other device, it has flaws. Try to get use to stock because even if "perfectRom" is released you'll find yourself going back buggy roms.
Or you can have someone password block xda and fight with the moderators and go cold turkey for 60 days. I know they say 30 but lets be safe.
all of the above is correct, if you just want a phone, get a iphone, if you want to play with things, roms/themes etc, then this is the phone, I personally did not buy a $500 phone to make a call with.
BECAUSE IT'S LIKE TECHY CRACK!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! *starts twitching in the kernel & mod forums*
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

Rom fatigue

I've been flashing roms for almost 4 years now on almost a dozen phones. My go-to rom has always been CM, and for a while I was flashing all the nightlies for this phone and setting everything up from scratch every few days.
But a few weeks ago, something dawned on me: after untold hundreds of rom flashes, I think I'm actually tired of doing this. With all the unresolved data issues on AOSP roms and various other minor problems, I suddenly couldn't bring myself to modify my phone in a way that would actually remove functionality. I've now been on stock rooted MF9 for going on a month, and other than the inevitable 4.3 update, I don't think I'll be flashing any more roms on this or any other phone.
I've been a die-hard rom flasher for almost as long as I've been using Android devices and I certainly didn't see this coming. Has anyone else experienced this?
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Yeah ive been wondering if the data (signal) issues will ever be resolved.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Yep same here ive flashed thousands of times. About a year ago on my s2 I had aosp . Well we got lost the kids were screaming gps didnt work and data speeds were awful. I flashed back to stock or stock based and everything was great. At that point I realized stick with stock. I will say that the touch wiz based roms here are wonderful. I feel you on fatigue. I've been on sacs rom for a long time and don't plan on changing it.
I'm with you. I got sick o of flashing roms all the time too. Been running stock for a about a month now.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
I feel the same only have flashed a couple Roms and am also just sick of always setting up new Roms. Just find one and stick with it I am on sacs. Was on Slim Bean but sacs is amazing and its TW based so don't have to worry about all the bugs that Aosp brings. But I gotta say Slim Bean was solid. Stable build 1 everything was working data ,GPS ,mms I had no problems. I remember just flashing every single ROM that was available back in my OG Evovdays.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
LoL. Feel almost the same here....
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Well I've been on stock Deodexed for getting close to a month, before that I flashed all the roms, my wife said I had a problem lol, but for the time being I'm quite happy with my phone being fully functional and having 4g every where I go. I'm still always looking at xda for the next big thing, but as of now I'm staying slightly modded with the convenience of a working PHONE :beer:
ParkerParker said:
Well I've been on stock Deodexed for getting close to a month, before that I flashed all the roms, my wife said I had a problem lol, but for the time being I'm quite happy with my phone being fully functional and having 4g every where I go. I'm still always looking at xda for the next big thing, but as of now I'm staying slightly modded with the convenience of a working PHONE :beer:
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That's kind of how I am. I still compulsively check XDA every day even though I never flash anything anymore. It's just really nice to have a phone where everything works. MMS is a good example of something that I don't necessarily use all the time but it's nice for it to be functional when I need it. I suppose I'll probably give KitKat a spin when the roms start rolling out though
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Same here, I know there are some awesome developers. But I really need stability. I look for the slimest close to stock ROM I can find.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
This is so funny. I must have tried 50 ROMs on my various phones in the past few years. So many have claimed “visious battery ilfe! Screaming speeds!!!! This will make you cry with tears of joy!”
And then they run about as fast as stock, often with worse battery life, and with broken functionality.
There were some exceptions, like MeanBean on the Evo LTE, and a few others which ran pretty much flawlessly, but switching back to stock always makes me think, “wow, this is not any worse than that custom ROM I just had – a little uglier, but stock runs better…”
(Of course I always appreciate the hard work, and it is fun experimenting.)
Stock runs great on the gs4. Over the last 4 days I've averaged 15.5 hours on time with 3.5 hours screen time. About 70% on WiFi and 30% 3G
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ronnienyc said:
This is so funny. I must have tried 50 ROMs on my various phones in the past few years. So many have claimed “visious battery ilfe! Screaming speeds!!!! This will make you cry with tears of joy!”
And then they run about as fast as stock, often with worse battery life, and with broken functionality.
There were some exceptions, like MeanBean on the Evo LTE, and a few others which ran pretty much flawlessly, but switching back to stock always makes me think, “wow, this is not any worse than that custom ROM I just had – a little uglier, but stock runs better…”
(Of course I always appreciate the hard work, and it is fun experimenting.)
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I've also never experienced the outlandish speed and battery claims of so many of these roms, including Mean Bean which I never found to work as flawlessly as advertised. Honestly, I think a lot of it is just placebo effect.
I mean no disrespect to the hard-working devs, of course - I guess my personal preferences are just changing. I'm not interested in spending tons of time messing with voltages and clock speeds and themes and kernels and APNs, etc. anymore.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Well a mean if you look at it from a different perspective "back in the day" yeah, what these devs claimed to be true, greater battery life, faster speeds, etc you did get and there was real improvement. Still we gotta understand back then stock android and phone makers weren't up to par and the phones weren't as powerful. Android was lacking in a lot of stuff and that's were modding grew.
But I don't need to give a history lesson, anyone who's been here for a while know why and how this all came about.
My point is though that android has caught up to the need for modding. Generally speaking (barring a persons provider) you get everything and in some cases more than you need without the need to mod.
Also some of the mods are also now available without being rooted, although not at a fast pace, but still on the rise.
I personally wouldn't coin it exactly as being "tied of flashing" but more so as some of you have mentioned the need is no longer there.
You can debloat your phone without root (I forgot the app/method), you get great battery life worth stock and of you even want to go further you have apps like greenify and my personal fav juice defender that can be used without root and so many other things.
There's other factors too that does make a difference like update cycle and harder issues and more phones etc that also leads people to the point of just sticking to stock but there are the petiole here that just like to tinker no matter what skill level you're at.
One last thing I would put out there is that us who are users of these mods wouldn't it be different if you were the ones creating them?
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Same here, im running stock odexed rooted.. Just deleted sone bloatware I never use. Used foldermount to save some space so I can install big games I like..Ive been happy stock odexed. I FIND NOVA LAUNCHER THE BEST.. SO SMOOTH AND U CAN ADJUST THE ANIMATION SPEED AND TRANSITION...
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---------- Post added at 11:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 PM ----------
fabzbear said:
Well a mean if you look at it from a different perspective "back in the day" yeah, what these devs claimed to be true, greater battery life, faster speeds, etc you did get and there was real improvement. Still we gotta understand back then stock android and phone makers weren't up to par and the phones weren't as powerful. Android was lacking in a lot of stuff and that's were modding grew.
But I don't need to give a history lesson, anyone who's been here for a while know why and how this all came about.
My point is though that android has caught up to the need for modding. Generally speaking (barring a persons provider) you get everything and in some cases more than you need without the need to mod.
Also some of the mods are also now available without being rooted, although not at a fast pace, but still on the rise.
I personally wouldn't coin it exactly as being "tied of flashing" but more so as some of you have mentioned the need is no longer there.
You can debloat your phone without root (I forgot the app/method), you get great battery life worth stock and of you even want to go further you have apps like greenify and my personal fav juice defender that can be used without root and so many other things.
There's other factors too that does make a difference like update cycle and harder issues and more phones etc that also leads people to the point of just sticking to stock but there are the petiole here that just like to tinker no matter what skill level you're at.
One last thing I would put out there is that us who are users of these mods wouldn't it be different if you were the ones creating them?
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you can theme the icons...
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Stock rooted and slighty OCed is my way....i juat got this phone about a week ago. Im coming from the s3...but anyways, i was scrolling looking qt alk the roms, is there one thats pure stock but rooted and 100% debloated??? I used to use a root uninstaller, but none seem to work on this device?? Im kinda late to the s4 so im sure its been discussed and fixed.. but anyways.. also looks like stock kernal is the smoothest and fastest too.... and with my s3 that wasent the case... but anyways...is there a nice stock debloated FLAWLESS rom u guys recomend? At the moment im using this INTRISIC rom....pretty good...about as close as im going to get to stock debloated..
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First and foremost the phone should perform basic phone functions flawlessly without significant lag such as making a phone call, sending text messages and web surfing. Could add GPS mapping to that list as it seems germane and pervasive.
Part of ROM fatigue is just the lack of this or perhaps the eternal search for it. Perhaps kit kat changes this.
testinguser said:
First and foremost the phone should perform basic phone functions flawlessly without significant lag such as making a phone call, sending text messages and web surfing. Could add GPS mapping to that list as it seems germane and pervasive.
Part of ROM fatigue is just the lack of this or perhaps the eternal search for it. Perhaps kit kat changes this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My personal opinion is that any notion of "lag" in Android ceased to be a relevant discussion at least a year ago. Yes, you might still get the odd animation stutter here and there, but it's nothing that affects the actual usability of the phone.
As far as overclocking goes, 4 CPU cores at 1.9GHz seems pretty sufficient to me, but I understand that there will always be those who like to push their phones. I just feel like the difference is only noticeable in benchmark scores.
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testinguser said:
First and foremost the phone should perform basic phone functions flawlessly without significant lag such as making a phone call, sending text messages and web surfing. Could add GPS mapping to that list as it seems germane and pervasive.
Part of ROM fatigue is just the lack of this or perhaps the eternal search for it. Perhaps kit kat changes this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sort this as well as my previous view. The current versions of android has caught up to everything modding was mainly used for. There isn't lag anymore, you get great battery, you also have a couple theme customization as well too. The point is there's a slow in the upward trend to mod.
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At the risk of annoying much of the community, CM= overrated. Had every galaxy s series phone and have yet to see it fully functional. They start working on the next version before the previous one is done and honestly, I'll have a new phone before it's finished every time.
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Soooo true
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Stock or custom?

Up top, this isn't a "best ROM" or "what should I run" sort of thread. It's also a topic that can easily provoke rage so please don't think that I'm trying to convince anyone of one thing or another. This is just me being curious.
After starting with Android a few years ago, I've noticed an increasing amount of "flashing fatigue" setting in lately. Sure, I'll root (because I have a lot of utility apps that require root), but the appeal of custom ROMs is fading fast. The Google Edition port was my latest (and longest standing) ROM for my One, and before that I'd tried one or two stock-derivative ROMs (save one bad AOSP experience back when we had sleep of death going on). I'm back to stock now, and trying a "fuller" experience (no launcher replacement, etc.-- minus root, again, for some XPosed tweaks like disabling the NFC icon).
This phone's now been out a while, so I'm curious: how many of you have "settled down" so to speak on one side or the other?
The first Android I owned was an Epic 4G and then Epic 4G Touch. Both left a ton to be deaired from a software standpoint and I easily flashed 3 dozen or more different roms between those two phones.
Flash forward to the HTC One and I've never felt the need to leave the stock ROM. I do use the Google Experience Launcher and have replaces some of the stock apps with better versions from 3rd party devs, but honestly I don't really see a point. Performance, battery life and functionality all seem to have hit a perfect balance with this phone. And like you suggested, the fatigue of flashing is really heavy these days especially since I'm not looking to fix a flaw or add a feature. Although once a working KitKat ROM hits us I will probably root and flash just to get a feel. Though admittedly I've always found the bone stock look of Android to be lacking visually.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
The very first phone I flashed over to a custom firmware was the LG G2X from T-Mobile. The android experience on that phone was very tasteless and bloated. Support from LG was less than non-existent. I found that I couldn't really stand using the phone on stock so I flashed a few different roms until I landed on eaglesblood. Although there was a lot broken on eaglesblood, I found it an upgrade to stock. Fast forward like Adam described and I have been on the HTC One for nearly 6 months. In that time I have flashed perhaps a few custom roms. In the end, I reverted back to stock. The One is a solid phone from both a software and hardware stand-point. I find myself checking my BlinkFeed a few times an hour and if I am on a senseless ROM I feel lost without it.
Tl;dr I have no need to ever leave stock. Stock rooted is good enough for me.
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I've been running RageOne and have found it to be more than enough from what I need for my HTC one
Same here. I started with Hero, then Evo Shift, Evo 3D, Evo 4G LTE and now The One. I previously always rooted and flashed multiple roms until found one that like and stable enough for daily use. With the One, I honestly haven't done nothing to it. I find it prefect for everyday use. No problem was so ever. At times I feel weird because I never had an HTC or android phone for less than a week without rooting it and etc, but with the One no need since good as is.
I know also pending amount of developers we have currently since most leave to develop in other phones or carrier based phone model is what we can choose from roms available which is less than the other carrier model.
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The HTC One is my first non Nexus smartphone, so dealing with all the bloat that comes with Sense and stock has been hard for me. When I was using my Nexus S 4G I used Slim Rom and loved it for its minimal nature and stuck with it. Slim bean 4.3 stable has been a great rom for me, though now that the 4.4 builds are out I've found them more suitable for a daily driver. Slimkat is awesome and I personally cant wait for it to reach stable. Minimal is my cup of tea, add in Google Experience Launcher and I'm one happy guy.
I had a Hero, then a whole bunch of Shift4G's. Rooted all of those because I could make them noticeably faster, increase the battery life, and get rid of apps I didn't use.
With the One, it's already fast enough that I wouldn't notice an increase much. The battery life is great for the way I use it, I recently had a stretch that was nearly 40 hours off the charger (obviously I didn't use it a heck of a lot during that time). And being able to hide the apps I don't want from the app drawer means I forget they're even there. Because of that, I haven't seen a good reason to put a different ROM on this phone...yet

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