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?
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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....
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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:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
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.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
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...
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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.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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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Related
So this is basically awesome.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=859419
This thread seems like it could be helpful http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=864174
Can it be ported to our phones?
I think if we could get this working everyone would most likely be grateful.
Let me know what everyone thinks. Im just throwing the idea and hopefully inspiration out there to try and get this working.
i was looking at it a while back, didnt really take a lot of time at it though. ill check into it a bit more, see what i can do
Thanks man its appriciated I see your doing alot for the forum now so im just throwing out a good work.
if this gives us a huge speed increase on the stock htc kernel with its battery life and quick charge time, it'd be tit.
Yea personally my phone lags out more then id like. Usually its when texting which i assume is because i use a 3rd party app and because i usually have a few thousand texts in my inbox but still any kind of boost without sacrificing battery would be AWESOME.
Gahh Its Lee said:
Yea personally my phone lags out more then id like. Usually its when texting which i assume is because i use a 3rd party app and because i usually have a few thousand texts in my inbox but still any kind of boost without sacrificing battery would be AWESOME.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea but to be honest, i dont think there is such thing as a completely smooth sense rom. i mean skyraider and frankenrom were close with a good kernel but i think if we got this to work to take a load off the UI/system it would be alot smoother, no little "glitches" or hiccups ya kno
Even if it's not 100% smooth if it helps without the need of overclocking well that's just great
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
C4H1LL said:
yea but to be honest, i dont think there is such thing as a completely smooth sense rom. i mean skyraider and frankenrom were close with a good kernel but i think if we got this to work to take a load off the UI/system it would be alot smoother, no little "glitches" or hiccups ya kno
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I never get lag, not sure what you are doing to yours but your are definitely doing something wrong. I have had Droid 1 users comment on how smooth the Incredible was compared to the Droid.
I am running stock rom which I deodexed and zipaligned and removed verizon bloat from. I also delete texts before they get 1000+ long. I never understood wht people kept them that long, blackmail later on?
I would love to see this on the Incredible though, I actually came looking to see if anyone was working on this.
if what I'm reading is correct, this might be the best performance tweak that could make roms truly fly.
I certainly would appreciate it tremendously.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
Cyanogen just tweeted they will support no phones with this. Why is that? Is this a bad hack or something?
But the speed increase looks phenomenal! I'd be down for this in ROMs.
Droid Incredible Rooted!
Seems to basically do what voodoo does for galaxy s phones.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Well it seems like porting it is tricky in the second link I posted it says how the phone doesn't wanna act right after a reboot. Hmm well maybe we will get lucky and get this working on our phones.
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
So only r2does is willing to tackle this?
Hmm I really thought people would be more excited.
no sure if im going to have a chance any time soon though, busy with the GRH build, plus i got finals next week.
people may not be interested because it doesnt seem like theres a large following. CM already said that d2ext will recieve NO support from him or his team.
Did the cm team say why they would not support this? Is it too much different work for each device and thus not easy to develop as a common rom?
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
Per @cyanogen
Using the data2ext hack on CM ROMs will get you no support from us. You have been warned
Well this is the forbidden hack now
I dont mind waiting but i dont see why people arent excited i mean this would seemingly get rid of the need to overclock and with your phones which have very well known bad battery life that seems amazing to me.
fader01 said:
That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I never get lag, not sure what you are doing to yours but your are definitely doing something wrong. I have had Droid 1 users comment on how smooth the Incredible was compared to the Droid.
I am running stock rom which I deodexed and zipaligned and removed verizon bloat from. I also delete texts before they get 1000+ long. I never understood wht people kept them that long, blackmail later on?
I would love to see this on the Incredible though, I actually came looking to see if anyone was working on this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from a Droid 1 and yea huge difference but its COMPPETELY smooth... I don't keep a million texts and for the most part it is smooth but you do have to admit you get an occaisional hiccup or the lock screen slider isn't too smooth idk I love it wayyyyyy better than any other phone ui though
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Yeah, just like they probably won't support ROMs that have any sort of other mod of their ROM... and with good reason. You wouldn't support something you made if someone else screwed it up by adding a bunch of modifications or changing system files.
Gingerbread ROMs are going to be worthless until the source drops or a ROM leaks from another phone anyway. Why not work on something worth while in the mean time instead of something that's going to be completely abandoned in a month or so?
He went on to say later that the reason that they would not be supporting it is that #1 it is his belief that it is a benchmark hack, with no other use. #2 If you move the data partition to the SD (or better yet, we have 8gb of internal storage, which is probably faster transfers) when you try to wipe between roms, you leave a bunch of garbage behind and possibly have issues. Then the *****ing starts and everybody thinks it's because of your rom, but really it was just that the whole partition didn't get wiped.
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
I just got my HTC one three days ago. Came from sensation which was good for me thanks to all the devs, roms and kernels available.
Now, this phone is a monster as it is. Is it really worth rooting and flashing roms? Stock seems to be pretty stable, and again this beast flies nonetheless.
Any input is appreciated.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Stock is really good now, unless you want to play really demanding games like NFSMW or Modern Combat 4 etc etc. HTC has set the CPU AND GPU to throttle at 40c which is ridiculously low. So if you hit these temps regularly, games would suddenly start stuttering and lagging till it goes below 40c. With a custom kernel you can tweak this, so personally that's the biggest advantage I have of going that route
Haha this is XDA man... Of course everyone is gonna say its worth it.
Personally I thought the same, stock sense is stable, smooth, and fast.
However I'm a bit of a flashaholic so I got bored within a couple weeks. And development is starting to get very very interesting. There's a ton of fantastic devs and nearly every major aosp ROM has popped up. Most of them are very stable and are getting better and better.
Its really up to you but my vote is to hold out a while, maybe until official 4.2.2 and if you get bored like I did, flash away!
Sent from my Paranoid One
Stock is very fast. I like being rooted however so I just flash ARHD when I want to have the stock look n feel
AOSP development is great, not quite DD for me yet but it's really close
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
I'd stay stock. I have to admit I rooted mine and have regretted it ever since. Just doesn't feel the same even when I return to stock. The only thing good on custom roms is the settings toggles at the top of the notification bar, and it doesn't look like 4.2.2 Roms are going to have it anymore barring trickdroid.
Custom kernels introduce new issues like touch buttons not working properly and bugs and instability.
My phone was the most stable, fast and bug free when it was stock and I enjoyed it more when it was stock too. Can't go more than a day now without flashing something else to try and iron out each bug that comes up.
My vote is stay stock and enjoy your phone before it's too late.
As for cm and aosp, I can't see how they will survive much longer as stock Google loses a LOT of functionality and has awful stock apps including an awful camera app. Phones have moved past them now in my opinion and I can't see how they'll survive much longer unless they start getting access to the proper camera apps that come built into the phones.
not worth
In my opinion its not worth to root this phone. This is actually my first Android phone without root.
The stock ROM is smooth and great except enoying gallery app with Facebook photos but I can easly switch to another app without rooting.
I managed to run unrooted for three days, then I unlocked the bootloader, flashed a few roms (currently on InsertCoin and loving it) and just yesterday I S-OFF'd. Worth it.
If you don't use apps which need SU (AdFree, TitaniumBackup, RootExplorer,...) and you are happy with the stock ROM, it wouldn't be worth it.
PS: Still waiting for my black HTC One and I'm quite sure that rooting it is the first thing I do. (after charging and shortly exploring the phone)
I wasn't happy with stock at all, too stuttery and even basic games were very lagy (came from i9300 sgs3), rooted/flashed cm10.1 within a day of owning my one and haven't had ANY issues at all s-off'd using root explorer and terminal emulator just then in under a minute. Love being free and smooth lol
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Dont root it
wildcontigo said:
I just got my HTC one three days ago. Came from sensation which was good for me thanks to all the devs, roms and kernels available.
Now, this phone is a monster as it is. Is it really worth rooting and flashing roms? Stock seems to be pretty stable, and again this beast flies nonetheless.
Any input is appreciated.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think right now it's not worth it the phone is very fast and you will not need root especially if you have another rooted device.
I had the same question before.
DEVICES THAT I OWN : NEXUS 7 [ROOTED][STOCK ROM 4.2.2][MOTLEY KERNELC TO 1.6 GHZ]
XPERIA Z C6602 [NOT ROOTED]
fish droid said:
I think right now it's not worth it the phone is very fast and you will not need root especially if you have another rooted device.
I had the same question before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can never have too many rooted devices, period.
Thanks for all the opinions. For the first time with android phones (and it's been few) I think I'm going to refrain from rooting for a while at least
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
wildcontigo said:
Thanks for all the opinions. For the first time with android phones (and it's been few) I think I'm going to refrain from rooting for a while at least
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend getting s-off, unlocked and then flash Mikes stock odexed rooted ROM. You will have all the abilities of root (like backups and ad blockers) and then the speed and stability of stock
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its an addiction! lol im downloading one right now
jamal717 said:
Its an addiction! lol im downloading one right now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
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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*
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I am trying to persuade you from ROOTING your phone. Please don't do it!!
Here is my experience with Android.
I have had the following phones.
Nexus One
HTC EVO, HTC EVO Shift, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO 4G LTE
Samsung GS2, GS3 and Note II
I am currently on the S4.
Here is why I will never ever root another phone again. Once I rooted any of these phones from above the following happened.
Stability was trash and out the door. Battery life suffered. I always had issues with GPS. So many FC for the dumbest things also. Pictures never came close to the stock form. I had to work on it and update it constantly. So I decided to go with the Galaxy S4. I rooted the phone and started the same routine as before. So I started having problems again. After my battery life went to the life span of a GS2 I quit. I went completely back to stock.
So here is what stock did for me:
I went on vacation in the mountains. Guess what? No GPS Issues at all and boy was I happy because I would have been in big trouble without it. Calls work great without any issues. I took pictures of my kids and the places we have visited and they are simply stunning. I didn't even have to use my DSLR. The Videos I have taken and bright and beautiful. Never once through our entire vacation did I have any issues with the Phone. Ohh and another thing. The Signal is great on stock ROM. I get full 4G in my office and with absolutely every single ROM in here I barely had 3G in my office. If you want to get tethering then root the stock room and add just that simple feature and walla. Don't mess a perfect beautiful phone by rooting it. I am not trying to offend any of the developers on here at all. They will never be able to match Stock I am sorry but that is the truth. Not even One!!!
If you want to enjoy your phone stay STOCK.
Smh OK thanks for the input on xda where this is all custom ROM development/third party.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Rooting caused these issues? Or unstable ROMs caused these issues?
I have rooted the most recent 3 phones that I've owned, and have installed custom ROMs on two of them - stable, with all the features that I wanted, and none of the bloat that I didn't.
My S4 is stock rooted, with the mods that I want - for now. I've tried CM on my GNex before this - even nightlies, and found that to be as stable as stock.
Yes, flashing custom ROMs always has the risk of unstable code if it hasn't been tested thoroughly. That's why ROMs like CM offer nightlies, and release candidates, and stable. Pick your poison.
If you are happy with staying stock, good for you!
Voila
11secEVO said:
I am trying to persuade you from ROOTING your phone. Please don't do it!!
Here is my experience with Android.
I have had the following phones.
Nexus One
HTC EVO, HTC EVO Shift, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO 4G LTE
Samsung GS2, GS3 and Note II
I am currently on the S4.
Here is why I will never ever root another phone again. Once I rooted any of these phones from above the following happened.
Stability was trash and out the door. Battery life suffered. I always had issues with GPS. So many FC for the dumbest things also. Pictures never came close to the stock form. I had to work on it and update it constantly. So I decided to go with the Galaxy S4. I rooted the phone and started the same routine as before. So I started having problems again. After my battery life went to the life span of a GS2 I quit. I went completely back to stock.
So here is what stock did for me:
I went on vacation in the mountains. Guess what? No GPS Issues at all and boy was I happy because I would have been in big trouble without it. Calls work great without any issues. I took pictures of my kids and the places we have visited and they are simply stunning. I didn't even have to use my DSLR. The Videos I have taken and bright and beautiful. Never once through our entire vacation did I have any issues with the Phone. Ohh and another thing. The Signal is great on stock ROM. I get full 4G in my office and with absolutely every single ROM in here I barely had 3G in my office. If you want to get tethering then root the stock room and add just that simple feature and walla. Don't mess a perfect beautiful phone by rooting it. I am not trying to offend any of the developers on here at all. They will never be able to match Stock I am sorry but that is the truth. Not even One!!!
If you want to enjoy your phone stay STOCK.
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Im sorry to tell you this but rooting a phone only makes it better. I have rooted every android phone I have ever had and never had any problems. Also the issues you are having do not seem like root issues (unless you are flashing unstable rooms). Are you sure you know what you are doing because if you don't its like sky diving without a parachute.
Haha if this isn't a joke.Learn how to control that phone before you root it.What's funny is I see slot of people on xda always crying about certain things not working and my phone lags its the developers fault.Well I say **** that,know what your doing before you root.Learn what mods do what and if you have a problem,fix it.Do not let that hardware become smarter than the user.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2
In related news, don't modify your car. Reliability becomes trash and out the door. Gas mileage suffers. You have to work on it and update it constantly.
If you want to enjoy your car stay STOCK.
you can be stock and rooted. my s4 is super awesome. not one complain... well except that it is too thin and light... sometime I feel like the a gust of wind will carry it away.
I think iOS would be perfect for you!
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Im glad you got off your soap box, ya feel better now. and thank you for your advice. I do understand your point of view, and this is why some people remain stock. Its just that you are going off of your own experience. Out of all those phones, and they're mostly decent devices, you couldnt manage to find 1 stable rom? The lesson in this is dont follow your lead, so Im not
I Agree with xxxicu sound like IOS fanboy. He forget to mention that there was someone on the mountains with a GS4 custom Rom that blew he Iphone5 away with features his phone can only dream of.
Prob got his iPhone hooked up to iTunes updating it again to fix security exploits and battery drains.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Sorry to hear that rooting didn't work out for you. My experience has completely opposite to yours. My S4 (MF9 stock ROM rooted with the Hotspot mod) has been fantastic, especially compared to my previous phone, a EVO 3D (also rooted). I had a HTC ONE for a few days but IMO the S4 is better suited to my preferences. I even use the gestures and ir features. I live in L.A. and get great reception and pull in LTE consistently at the places I go. Based on Speedtest, I see no change in speeds on my phone when it was stock vs now that it is rooted. I travel (domestic) extensively and when using apps like Maps with Me, GPS works fine. I am scheduled to travel to Europe next month and to Asia at the end of the year so I cannot comment on how well it works when swapping SIM cards yet.
As for taking pics and video, I agree that the S4 has a great camera (and significantly better than the EVO 3D I mentioned) and it's convenient to take photos and record with. However there is no way it can replace my DSLR ( Nikon D800) nor do I expect it to. For what I personally do the quality of images when only using a cellphone is not acceptable. Of course if the photos you take on the phone meets your needs and are good enough, then that's all that matters.
Thanks man. I just unrooted my phone after reading the OP!
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mjs2011 said:
Thanks man. I just unrooted my phone after reading the OP!
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+1...I couldnt get back to stock recovery quick enough!!!
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I've been rooting my phones since the OG Epic (although didn't really get serious about it until the EG4T) and I've never encountered any of the issues listed.
I've run into problems on different custom ROMs but found in all those cases all you had to do was inform the developer and they usually put out a fix (if it was in fact ROM related).
It's a shame you've had such bad experiences but I think it's a little excessive to try and warn people away from rooting.
Rooting your phone has absolutely no impact on any of those things you are complaining about. What you do after you are rooted is a different story. I have been rooting for about 4 or 5 years and haven't had any of those problems.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Rooting breaks phones. Guns kill people. Cars cause crashes. The devil made me do it. Did I miss anything?
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
My only concern with this post is that a stock rom is not intrinsically better or worse no matter what phone you have
A stock rom is built until all bugs are fixed and then the devs are usually pushed to work on new software for the next device
A custom rom is built with donations and user enjoyment in mind
I mostly root to underclock and remove some bloat and I would not give up the knowledge of Linux, shell scripting, java, etc. . I have gained for the constant stability of my development device, which is usually my daily driver (separate the two if you're really that concerned)
My 2¢ Sent from my thumbs to your eyes using xda premium
---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:38 PM ----------
crawrj said:
Rooting your phone has absolutely no impact on any of those things you are complaining about. What you do after you are rooted is a different story. I have been rooting for about 4 or 5 years and haven't had any of those problems.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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Well put,
rooting = su or admin privileges
It only allows you to write to root directory it's your choice what to do after that
I'd be pissed if I bought a computer that I didn't have admin rights on, how is a phone any different?
Please don't feed the IOS loving troll.
I honestly dont get why people B---- and complain all the time about this. I cant stand non rooted phones. I like my wifi tether and plus the battery life is WAY better than stock if your smart about it and not keep it overclocked. its only common sense. Plus as for GPS fix you could use GPS status to wipe and download the GPS files which helps for some things. But this phone is fast on grabbing GPS signals unlike other phones so i never needed to use it. Plus some of the mods are worth rooting for. Sure this phone is awesome and can do a lot but rooting is awesome for multiple things like removing that trash that loads the phone up with useless garbage and awesome themes as they come in.
Even when i had that pathetic iPhone 4s i had to jailbreak it just to tolerate it otherwise i was throwing it out the window.