Simple question really! Are any of you running a Custom ROM? Furthermore, are any of you running a De-Googled ROM?
Why do you run your custom ROM, and what are the drawbacks?
As a working adult… I wouldn’t even know the names of any modern custom ROMS.
And there are psychos like me that changed their custom ROM in the work… Ahh, that thrill to mess it up and lose your device for several hours until getting home.
Yes, I bought a Pixel 6 specifically to run GrapheneOS. I can proudly say that every single app on my phone is open source, no GSM and no Google. I don’t really mind paying a company like Google for the phone, I just don’t want to hand them my data.
Sounds neat. But what all the services that require proprietary app? Like banking, Uber, reviews on Google Maps etc.?
you can use web apps for banking, uber
although uber and most banking apps work on grapheneos, check this community verified list https://privsec.dev/posts/android/banking-applications-compatibility-with-grapheneos/
for reviews, you can use gmaps webview https://f-droid.org/packages/us.spotco.maps/
for navigation maps, you can use openstreetmap like magic earth and organic maps
if you think osm doesn’t have enough data of your area, then you can use herewego maps, its another proprietary map, but is a bit better than google on privacy
Yes, I’d rather fuck around with custom ROMs than endure the user-hostile crapware that most vendors bundle. I’d also rather try to make an app work despite safety net or whatever not passing out of the box than not have any defenses against the dumb bullshit software vendors put in their apps. I’d rather go back to a feature phone than live with a walled garden full of spyware and ads.
CyanogenMod user since the 6.x days, currently running LineageOS 20.
I like my phones to work and be usable. I stayed on the stock ROM for my OnePlus 8T for 2 years and went right back to LineageOS.
Manufacturers just can’t make ROMs that work correctly without bullshit.
Been running CalyxOS for 3 years. Compile it myself from source with some extra tweaks and such. I’ve even got a nice build server going that automatically compiles builds monthly and pushes updates to my phone via OTAs. It was a little work to get set up, but now it doesn’t feel any different from the stock Android experience.
It started because I was tired of all the unchecked spying Google does, and I wanted to get away from that. But now I can never go back to “regular” Android, because the vendor bloat in “stock” ROMs is incessant, and I am maintaining patches for quite a few features Google has either removed, or never supported in the first place (2-button navigation, AM/PM clock, automatic call recording).
Honestly, there hasn’t been any drawbacks. The phone works perfectly, calls are fine, it runs great, and I haven’t needed Google Play Services for basically anything. My banking app still works. I don’t use Google Pay so I don’t really care that it doesn’t work. Android wearOS doesn’t work, but at this point Google has dropped the ball so severely, I don’t have the motivation to bother with a smartwatch.
Most of my paid apps continue to work without patches, and I get them from Aurora Store. For the ones that don’t work, I just patch them myself to remove the license checks. I paid for them, so I should be able to use them regardless of what ROM I use.
Damn dude, self compiling with your own OTAs is rad as hell. Kudos to you for getting and keeping that running.
