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Awaiting My Nexus 7, need some input

I was so excited to get my Nexus 7 a day early. It came today and I immediately started setting it up. Shortly after turning it on, the screen would do things on its own or just not respond to my touches. It did sometimes. Very disappointed. So RMA'd it and awaiting my replacement. (Anyone else hear of this?)
Anywho, while I'm waiting, time to get a plan. I have already downloaded the Nexus 7 Toolkit and plan to use that to get me rooted and a recovery. (Is this the most common method for N7 users?) Also, any input on a recovery? I've been using CWM since I started using Android, but it seems TWRP is getting a lot of attention.
Lastly, the dreaded ROM question. I currently run CM10 M2 on my Nexus S 4G and... eh. CM9 ran great, but been having alot of reboots and freezes on M2. I know it's not stable so I don't hold it against them.
What's everyone's favorite on the Nexus 7?
Things I look for in a ROM, stability and nice tweakable features. I don't OC, never will. I was eyeing up Paranoid Android, but not sure how stable it is. CM10 worries me only because of my experience with my phone so far, but I love CM based ROMs. I've never had much luck with AOKP. Am I missing any big names or great ROMs that I should consider besides Paranoid, CM10, or AOKP?
Thanks in advance.

Best ROM threads suck, even more when they are polls.

You know, its people like you that give xda a bad rep for being arrogant and unhelpful. This isn't a "best ROM" thread. I'm basically asking peoples opinions and experiences ofthe ROMs I listed and maybe some ROMs that are hidden gems .

when my N7 comes; first thing going on it is Paranoid.
no doubt.

wavrunrx said:
when my N7 comes; first thing going on it is Paranoid.
no doubt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, see that's the input I'm looking for. Why though? What's catching your eye? I seen on their thread that Paranoid isn't the most stable ROM, I wonder the reason for that. Only issues I've read about is people changing their DPI to something the N7 can't handle. What about recovery? CWM or TWRP?

Just my opinion but just try stock for a while. We already have the most up to date technology so why overclock? All games run well except Gameloft games and that's because they don't optimize for tegra processors. I don't change ROMs until the company stops supporting the newest updates.
P.S. there's always one in every crowd

kieso said:
Just my opinion but just try stock for a while. We already have the most up to date technology so why overclock? All games run well except Gameloft games and that's because they don't optimize for tegra processors. I don't change ROMs until the company stops supporting the newest updates.
P.S. there's always one in every crowd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. He's right... I'll get my 32GB N7 today, and the first thing I planned is not to root it... First of all to wait if some of those damage problems arrive (I'm lazy so I don't want to unroot when something's wrong..)... And I'm very happy with stock... Android really grows... And I taught myself to live with the quick settings... So, I see no need. I don't really need colored stuff, or idk.
I recommend you to just use stock for a while and when you don't like it, you can still root it ^^ idk how it arrives (locked or unlocked) but you may want to unlock the bootloader first, before really setting it up. So when you going to root it, you won't lose data ^^
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Yea, that was another idea. If I stay stock, I'll root it then stay stock. Get a feel for the tablet ways before deciding to go with a custom ROM, which looks like is gonna be paranoid so far... but yea, like I said, def no over clocking. That quad core the n7 is packing will be sweet enough. Any recs on which recovery? Are there any big differences that might sway my decision to one?

personally im going to go TWRP on my nexus 7. my SGS3 has it; its an evolution of CWM imho

infamshxr said:
You know, its people like you that give xda a bad rep for being arrogant and unhelpful. This isn't a "best ROM" thread. I'm basically asking peoples opinions and experiences ofthe ROMs I listed and maybe some ROMs that are hidden gems .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been enjoying my time on the linaro builds of aokp. Nice and snappy, the best kernel I've used to far has to be Trinity IMO, you can tweak CPU and GPU settings. I just wish it would run in tablet mode, still waiting on a patch for 4.2. As for recovery I've always been a cwm man but recently switched to Twrp, it has a nice interface and lots of options. Oh and BTW the nexus 7 toolkit is AWESOME, within 30 minutes of unpacking my N7 I had it unlocked, rooted, recovery, and super usered. And it does this with one click, you sit back and it does the rest.....that is after you make it install the adb drivers for you.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

I like that twrp is all touch. Any other big advantages? As far as CPU and GPU settings, meh... lol that and I would like something running 4.2 and something that isn't gonna seem like I'm using a 7" phone lol

Waiting for the 4.2.2 release to flash a custom ROM?

Is anybody else waiting for HTC to release the 4.2.2 base and seeing what the devs do with it before flashing a custom ROM? I've had my One for about 2 weeks now and it's still unrooted and running the stock ROM (this is the longest I've gone so far).
Just wondering if I'm alone in thinking that the devs will come up with better ROMs based on 4.2 than they currently have out for 4.1

Other than quick toggles, I didn't see many stand out features vin the preview.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

4.2 isn't a huge step forward. There really is no point in waiting to root and unlock. It's still 'JellyBean' with a few extra features so the difference will be minimal, but I'm anxious for those quick settings myself. I'd say root and S-Off now to get it over with so you can flash immediately when 4.2 comes out.

I was going to wait too. But I got my phone two days ago and ended up flashing two days ago as well...
-flashaddict
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

Not to sound like a lame-o but this is the first phone I've owned where I didn't feel the need to root it. Though I had similar feelings with my Epic 4G Touch a few years ago and ended up flashing probably 50 different ROMS, give or take.

adam.kelly2 said:
Not to sound like a lame-o but this is the first phone I've owned where I didn't feel the need to root it. Though I had similar feelings with my Epic 4G Touch a few years ago and ended up flashing probably 50 different ROMS, give or take.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel the same way, I've never gone this long without rooting a phone/tablet, it's usually a week at most.

This is the same boat I am in. I am not doing any of the over the air updates so it will be easier to root when it gets to that point. I am actually quite impressed with the phone (coming from the Evo 4g), I've actually thought about keeping this thing stock...then I remember that it will only get faster if I root and flash.

Yup, stock and not rooted. Waiting for the 4.2.2 and hopefully a working flashable rom of the Google Edition One with everything stable. I really want lockscreen widgets. This is the first phone where I'm not willing to sacrifice the stability of the phone, because sense 5 is pretty damn good. I'd definitely prefer an equally stable AOSP rom though.

D3luSi0n4L said:
Yup, stock and not rooted. Waiting for the 4.2.2 and hopefully a working flashable rom of the Google Edition One with everything stable. I really want lockscreen widgets. This is the first phone where I'm not willing to sacrifice the stability of the phone, because sense 5 is pretty damn good. I'd definitely prefer an equally stable AOSP rom though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I hope these awesome devs get the Google edition roms on here quick!
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium

mite be trading my s4 for the htc one real soon!! did u guys get the 4.2.2. update yet or still waiting?

P.Mobile said:
mite be trading my s4 for the htc one real soon!! did u guys get the 4.2.2. update yet or still waiting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well.... if you look at some posts here from yesterday (2 posts up ) you will see the statement.... " Waiting for the 4.2.2 "

I waited a few weeks and started thinking that HTC dev unlock will wipe the device so I might as well get started. That and the process will be quicker once Sprint releases and development starts working to fix any of the unintended features on the new release.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

Don't ROOT The S4

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium

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!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

mjs2011 said:
Thanks man. I just unrooted my phone after reading the OP!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1...I couldnt get back to stock recovery quick enough!!!
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

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.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

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.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

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

Flashed My First Rom

Just flashed my first ROM (Cataclysm). Needless to say I was very nervous but thanks to these forums I rooted and flashed pretty easily. My only question is, how to I avoid becoming addicted now....
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

jtb79 said:
My only question is, how to I avoid becoming addicted now....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Never begin flashing stuff...
Go back to full stock and never unlock/root again...
Forget this nice and exciting moment (first flash), it's bad for you and your addiction, no longer look behind you, look ahead ...
Think about how you was very nervous, too much stress, maybe too dangerous for health and it's not worth...
Think about your phone, maybe to much stress and fear for him too, maybe it doesn't like you for now, save your relation with him, it is not yet too late...
Try to find help from a repentant flashaholic...
And the most important, leave XDA for always...
In any case welcome and congratulations...
Sent from my LG-D802 using xda premium

jtb79 said:
Just flashed my first ROM (Cataclysm). Needless to say I was very nervous but thanks to these forums I rooted and flashed pretty easily. My only question is, how to I avoid becoming addicted now....
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the dark side! Once you enter there is no turning back!! Hope you enjoy the xda life

A.A.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Welcome to XDA! There's no turning back! Happy Flashing!

I wouldn't say there's no turning back. I used to flash every rom there was starting from the Samsung Captivate all the way through the HTC One. Starting from my Moto X, and now this phone, I haven't flashed a single rom. I guess stock android is just that good now. Of course, I always root and install gravity box, but who knows, maybe that will go away soon too with 5.0.

Well done for flashing the best rom already. U don't need to flash any others now anyway
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Once you start flashing....you can never go back.

Why didnt anyone warn me all those years ago?!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

jtb79 said:
My only question is, how to I avoid becoming addicted now....
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It'll pass, I've gone the other way and gone back to 100% stock (locked bootloaded and all!) as I got bored of flashing new stuff every (other) day. Android is at a point now where stock does everything I need it to

EddyOS said:
It'll pass, I've gone the other way and gone back to 100% stock (locked bootloaded and all!) as I got bored of flashing new stuff every (other) day. Android is at a point now where stock does everything I need it to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll agree with that. I got hooked flashing all the time starting with cm9 on my devices. Flashing every single night etc. Did this for years. Only thing I have done is flashed Franco kernel on my N5 and have Gravity Box installed. Couldn't be happier.

I am in same boat too, just flashing kernels these days.
I have to have, Elemental for my usage, followed development before I had my N5. (Using since HOXL)
The rest, I may try, but usually go back to stock other then kernel.
Hence my desire for nexus, no skins to remove, just a tweak or two.
WR
Sent from my Nexus 5

aooga said:
I wouldn't say there's no turning back. I used to flash every rom there was starting from the Samsung Captivate all the way through the HTC One. Starting from my Moto X, and now this phone, I haven't flashed a single rom. I guess stock android is just that good now. Of course, I always root and install gravity box, but who knows, maybe that will go away soon too with 5.0.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to have to agree with you. A couple years ago, I was flashing constantly (multiple roms a day if I was feeling really crazy). Now, I just don't feel the need. Stock Android is rock-solid at this point and I don't feel like roms offer any meaningful improvement anymore. It was a whole different ballgame back in the CM7 days.

While I'm completely stock on the N5, and probably will be for a while...one of the inherent joys of having wizbang custom roms is that often times when other people pick up your phone, they seriously have no idea how to use it.
It's nerdy to think this is fun of course, but dammit...it is fun.

Flashing Rom is the only way imo.
however stock N5 is near perfect

jtb79 said:
Just flashed my first ROM (Cataclysm). Needless to say I was very nervous but thanks to these forums I rooted and flashed pretty easily. My only question is, how to I avoid becoming addicted now....
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh... it's addicting.
Much as I liked the stock stuff, I got used to the fancy stuff that I had running paranoid android 3.99 on my s3... so now I've been ROM jumping kk nightlies trying to find the best approximation. Beanstalk is where I've settled while I wait for PA to start putting out feature nightlies in the hammerhead stream.

I'd say that the feeling that you got when you flashed your first ROM is nothing compared to the feeling of getting out of your first bootloop or bad flash or your first buildbot actually booting. Knowing how to get out of those situations bring a sense of pride that you can only get from knowing what you are doing at a base level.
I'm talking about people on forums and not your mom or friend now, but so many people don't know the very basics of how these things work. More to the point they don't know of the potential they have (both good and bad). That all comes with time and exposure though. I still remember my first terminal script for apps2sd on Éclair.
It really doesn't matter what ROM or Kernel I am running because by the time I get done breaking it down and rebuilding it, it very rarely looks like the original version. Actually troubleshooting something and fixing it correctly, then that fix gets implemented into someone else's problem and you can talk them back from the edge of panic. That is the buzz for me.

I love my N5 on stock rom, but who knows when paranoid comes with all his features ill be tempted

mee too

I used to flash roms pretty often on my Desire HD but since I've gotten my Nexus 5 I haven't flashed a rom yet. I am however, unlocked, rooted, and using a custom recovery. I'm a cm fan so once they release a stable build with all the features I want I'm sure I'll flash cm11
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app