Since we don’t yet have a specific community for custom phone ROMs, let’s discuss them here. Are you running a custom ROM? Which one? On what hardware? How is it?
GrapheneOS. I love it. I migrated from the Apple ecosystem about two years ago into the FOSS and Linux world and haven’t looked back.
GrapheneOS on a Pixel 5. It is very nice and I would recommend it.
Same setup. Love it.
None sadly because fuck samsung
Locked bootloaders should be illegal if the phone is paid off.
Absolutely agree, and I refuse to buy Samsung phones because of this.
I hate how they blow fuses to permanently disable security features when the bootloader is unlocked.
Rip :(
GrapheneOS on a Pixel 4a, bit I’m looking to upgrade to a 6a vor 7a depending in the next good sale price
Are these sales directly from google?
Last time I checked pixel phones the performance and “freshness” Vs price ratio was really bad compared to something like Xiaomi with working xda ROMs.
Man I remember the days of xda and custom Roma holy shit. Nexus 5 was the one, slimrom was the way. Ahh memories.
I recently flashed LineageOS on my old Note 4 that had previously ran a few custom ROMs but other than that haven’t used one in years since I haven’t had a need with my last LG or current Samsung phone.
These days there’s more of a need for custom hardware like a headphone jack or SD card slot but unfortunately those can’t just be flashed to a phone like a ROM can. The software/firmware side of things has been fine for me.
*custom roms oops
LineageOS with microg on a s10+. It works great, no issues with apps not working but still have minimal google dipping it’s fingers into my life.
I only buy phones now that will support a custom ROM, I can’t go back now.
LineageOS on a Fairphone 3. It works well for what I do on my phone.
LineageOS on a Moto One 5G Ace. Soon to be replaced with a OnePlus Nord N200 because the charging port of all things is failing.
Also LineageOS. Pixel 3a
It’s going to take a lot for me to want to upgrade when this phone has unlimited photo upload, and a headphone jack.
Samsies!
I use this little niche OS called iOS, made by some fruit company.
Oh that. I heard the project leader died of a perfectly curable form of cancer because he was going to heal himself with food or something. Crazy story, but the OS works well.
Guy who ran a fruit company tried to cure cancer with fruit. It’s like poetry, it rhymes.
Unfortunately none. I have an S10e with a locked bootloader. This is the first android phone I’ve owned that I hadn’t used a custom ROM on. The last Samsung phone I owned was an S4 and I hadn’t kept up with the custom ROM scene, so I hadn’t known the locked bootloader nonsense when I got the S10e.
It sucks because there are no note security updates for the phone even though the hardware is still in good condition. I can’t justify replacing a working phone even if I could afford a new one. I’m hoping eventually a vulnerability will be uncovered that allows unlocking the bootloader. There was one a few years ago I think, but it got patched before I even knew about it.
That sucks. I also have never used a stock Android phone. I don’t know that I could. Because I’m in the USA, my choices for phones that will run a custom ROM and still make phone calls is very small. But that’s the subject of a different post.
Pixel 7 with Graphene. I love it. I have sanboxed google play installed, and occasionally dont get a notification (i suspect the apps are just not running in the background, so once I open the app I get the notifs). Would recommend.
Not getting notifications for something like a chat app is a big deal. Are there ways to allow apps to run in the background?
If the app uses Google FCM (which uses Google Play Services to poll notifications on device) it should register an FCM service that runs separately from the application, so it shouldn’t need to run in the background.
However to answer your original question, you can disable battery optimization for particular apps. Or if an app wants to really never be killed, it can create an Android foreground service.
I have been back on stock for a bit and I swear been having notification issues for a bit (maybe last update?).
GrapheneOS on a Pixel 6. Works great! I’ve had to override the custom memory allocator one or two times for banking apps, but that’s just flipping a switch in the app info.
CalyxOS on a Pixel 5. Its nice and micro G works fine in most situations. When I have the time though, I’m probably going to try graphine os with sandboxed google play and see how that works for me.
Using GraphineOS on a Pixel 6. It’s very nice! I haven’t had any problems with it.
/e/os on a Fairphone 3 fir a few months now. It’s my first custom ROM, and it’s been a breeze so far :)
Some quirks that I don’t actually mind : when the phone is turned off and charging, the animation on screen doesn’t update the current battery level (but idc, usually the phone charges at night), the phone calls volume is really loud (but I usually plug my headset in for calls) and the integrated vpn is sometimes slow enough to cause websites/apps to timeout (I can live with that).
I still have my old android phone mainly for my bank application.
