Custom ROM List

Last update : 16/3/2023

- Introduction -

- Vanilla-only -
DivestOS
Graphene OS
LineageOS

- Vanilla/GApps (non-Limbo) -
ArrowOS
Spark OS

- microG-only -
LineageOS microG

- Vanilla/microG -
Calyx OS

- Limbo -
Awaken OS
BlissRoms
CorvusOS
crDroid
Nusantara Project
Project Xperience
Spice OS

- Gapps-only -
Pixel Experience
Evolution-X
PixelDust
Paranoid Android
Descendant
Project Elixir

- Other untested -

- Retesting required -
CarbonROM
HavocOS
OmniROM
Potato Open Sauce Project
Superior OS
Stag OS
Syberia Project
VoltageOS

- Other ROMs you'll want to avoid -
Android Ice Cold Project
AOSPExtended
BaikalOS
Copperhead OS
/e/OS
LMODroid
MoKee
NitrogenOS
Pixys OS
Stock ROM Ports

- Dead ROMs -

AIM-ROM
AncientROM
AOSiP (Android Open Source Illusion Project)
Bootleggers ROM
CAF Extended
ColtOS
Cygnus OS
DerpFest
Dirty Unicorns
Dot OS
GlassROM
Ground Zero Open Source Project
Kang OS
Kraken Project
Lineage-X
Liquid Remix
Octavi OS
Project Fluid
Project Sakura
Project Xtended
ReloadedOS
RevengeOS
Resurrection Remix
Wave OS
ValidusOS
ZenXOS

- Generic System Image -

- Unofficial builds -

Introduction

Previously, I made a custom ROM list. It worked kinda fine, until A10 dropped & devs started cooking up A10 builds. That, in turn, also rendered my previous list useless as it caters only to Pie users; and gave me reason to remake the list. For those who'd like to see the mess, here's that link.

Yes, it's still nutshelled, and still invalid for those who build / compile their own ROMs.

I have also made the baseline rules for this list, which can be seen here. I also have a blogpost that explains some added "JavaScript has to be enabled" stuff.

The purpose of this list

This list is meant to document the ROMs that I've used. It's never meant to tell anyone which ROM is best, let alone to disrespect the developers & maintainers of custom ROMs.

Vanilla-only

ROMs with Vanilla-only releases (no GApps / microG whatsoever).

DivestOS

LineageOS with security & privacy enhancements (relockable bootloaders for supported devices, secure app spawning, documented connections) & different prebuilts (upstream etar in favor of LineageOS' fork; Simple Gallery in place of AOSP Gallery3d; GrapheneOS Camera in place of whatever camera app LineageOS is sticking with at the moment).

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

Links:

Graphene OS

An AOSP ROM focused on security, with some added privacy & an unfortunate lack of UX tuning.

Disclaimer : Report of the ROM are definitely obsolete as I last tested GrapheneOS somewhere before October 2022. Therefore, all analysis results for the ROM is kept at the bottom portion of the list.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

Links:

LineageOS

The spiritual successor of CyanogenMod, without all of the business cruft that brought Cyanogen down; and the most well-known custom ROM. Decent for starting out and/or not using any form of GApps.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

Links:

Availability: Pie, A10 (discontinued); A11[18.1](monthly), A12L[19.1], A13[20] (Weekly, but tagged as Nightly)

Vanilla/GApps (non-Limbo)

ROMs that release both Vanilla & GApps builds, yet are consistent enough on doing so that it avoids the Limbo category.

ArrowOS

AOSP/CAF-based ROM with tidied-up settings & enforced Vanilla/GApps distribution, aiming to keep things simple, clean, & neat... at least in A11 (even though the soyte was a mess). However, with A12(L), ArrowOS took a complete 180 in usability by dropping a lot of what made it good in the first place (and not adding any of them back); and A13 tried to restore some of them (at the moment, only applock got implemented), though at the moment of writing (10/3/2023) development seems stalled.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

All links to ArrowOS removed. With no effort to add back lost features (applock (re-added in A13), monet customizations, per-app data restriction, sensors permission) or add equivalents (network permission in lieu of per-app data restriction), I can no longer recommend using this ROM.

Availability: Pie, A10, A11, A12, A12L (discontinued); A13

Spark OS

A featurefest with probably way too many features, including those with clashing functionalities (one good example is support for both microG & GmsCompat, while also having a dedicated GApps build).

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

Links:

Availability: A11, A12, A12L (discontinued); A13

microG-only

ROMs with inbuilt microG by default, with no Vanilla builds whatsoever.

LineageOS microG

LineageOS with inbuilt microG & F-Droid. Mostly retains every advantages & disadvantages LineageOS had.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

Links:

Availability: Pie(discontinued & removed); A10(discontinued) ; A11, A12L, A13 (Inconsistent, monthly)

Vanilla/microG

ROMs that release both Vanilla & microG builds.

Calyx OS

A ROM allegedly focused on privacy (at least from the big corpos), with a bit of added security from adding AVB support. Calyx OS is considered Vanilla/microG as users could set this ROM to run as either Vanilla / microG on first run with its setup wizard.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

Links removed (except for references); I don't recommend ROMs that claim to be privacy-focused but actually throws their users to various honeypots and/or not even allow the users replace the default connections with privacy-friendly alternatives without using unsupported methods.

Availability: A11, A12. A12L (discontinued); A13

Limbo ROM

Limbo ROMs are ROMs with conflicting release policies on Vanilla/GApps; releasing some builds as Vanilla-only while leaving others as Vanilla/GApps and/or GApps-only.

My stance on these ROMs : If you really want to use this, I always recommend flashing the Vanilla variant. If there's no Vanilla build for your device, don't flash it, unless you could remove the prebuilt GApps without having issues.

Disclaimer : crDroid is the only "good" Limbo ROM at the moment. I don't test any other Limbo ROMs other than crDroid.

Awaken OS

Awaken OS is one of those new ROMs that debuted with A11, aiming for a good user experience. Unfortunately for them, their lack of Vanilla/GApps enforcement has destroyed that claim.

Vanilla/GApps offending list :

BlissRoms

Simply said, a LineageOS-based Pixel ROM that masquerades as a Limbo since A10. Initial A10 build for 6z did not include GApps, but included it since 12.4 & made it the default option.

Vanilla/GApps offending list (obsolete, but I won't update this as I wanted to stay away from BlissRoms):

21/12/2022 Update : Drifted into its site (hopefully for the LAST time), found BlissRoms' quote : The customization you want, with the privacy you need. The latter's bullshit, since BlissRoms mostly releases GApps-only builds (there are Vanilla builds, though considering how BlissRoms love their GApps-only shit it doesn't matter) & does not document any connections whatsoever. Avoid BlissRoms like the plague.

Corvus OS

A featurefest ROM based off the once well-known Dirty Unicorns, displaying similar Vanilla/GApps behaviour as Cygnus.

Vanilla/Gapps offending list :

crDroid

LineageOS-based custom ROM designed to increase performance and reliability over stock Android for your device while also attempting to bring many of the best features existing today, according to their intro & how I think its grammar should be.

Personal remarks: A decent heavyweight ROM (and the least worst Limbo ROM at the moment), burdened with a soydev website (and somewhat permissive & annoying BlockAdBlock) & lack of Vanilla/GApps enforcement in a way similar to Bootleggers - no Vanilla/GApps branding. The only thing keeping crDroid off my dis-recommendation is the fact that it still offers the least worst AOSP experience at the moment.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

Links:

Availability: Pie, A10, A11, A12, A12L(discontinued); A13

Nusantara Project

A Dirty Unicorn-based ROM built by Indonesians proud of their Indonesian background. This is the 1st Limbo ROM to ever provide microG / Vanilla / Goolag builds. This sounds great on paper, but keep in mind that since it isn't enforced, this puts them in the Limbo category.

List proving the lack of enforcement (for the (likely to be) constant ones that is - the rest are either abandoned, not noticed, or otherwise chaotically switching between Vanilla, GApps, or Vanilla/GApps) :

Project Xperience

A not-so-promising CAF ROM, its biggest (depending on your opinion of custom kernels) redeeming factor is that it's made by Yuki Kernel's developer, which may guarantee a good performance out of your device at the cost of severe feature losses (mostly atributed to the ROM tho). However, just because the ROM is made by a person recognized for per's work on per's kernel doesn't make it any better if perse were completely random on making Vanilla/GApps builds.

Vanilla/GApps offending list example :

Spice OS

Formerly named MalluOS, this started out as a Lineage fork, then took a terrible turn by making all A11 releases GApps-only. In A12L, the project has shifted to a Vanilla-only release. With A13, Miatoll seems suspicious for now (GApps-only?), mojito switched to Vanilla-only from GApps-only in 21/9/2022, & sweet seems to be Vanilla-only.

Advantages (A12L):

Disadvantages (A12L):

Links:

GApps-only

ROMs with inbuilt GApps by default, without any Vanilla builds (which otherwise makes them a Limbo). Avoid them like the plague, unless you're too dependent on Goolag, in which case you should just stay on stock & also be spied by Facebook & a myriad of other corpos as well. There will be no testing for these ROMs, as I refuse to recommend them.

Pixel Experience

A straight-up no-frills Pixel ROM that could fool any normies (particularly anyone who got a Pixel from their parents) into thinking it's the "stock Android" found on a Pixel. It's also available in a "plus" variant for more features.

Evolution-X

Pixel Experience Plus with even more features.... is what I'd want to call it. However, it is a pickfest with issues. Those issues can be seen on the thread links below.

Personal remarks: Let's be honest here - this ROM is a cancer anyone shouldn't use - even their worst enemies. Pixel ROM (auto not recommend) with stuff kanged from others, random dev kicking for reasons, a lead dev randomly quitting to gather attention, & a project manager that could impress & disgust people at the same time.

Links:

PixelDust

Basically Pixel Experience for Nexus & Pixel devices, which is redundant considering the stock ROM for Google devices. Maybe there's some added features, but since it's a Pixel ROM who cares.

Paranoid Android

One of the OG custom ROMs, using CAF as their base. Starting with A10, they decided to flood all of their official builds with GApps.

Descendant

A Pixel ROM with pro-grade UI changes on top of Android. So, conceptually kinda like OxygenOS, but not a port from other cellphones. Also known for soliciting donations for better downloads & attacking anyone mirroring official builds (archive.org); and including an useless scamdemic tracker.

Project Elixir

The first A12 ROM I've officially used (and documented), it does not give off a good impression, because A12 (and A12.1 by extension) sucks (and Elixir's implementation weren't any better) & Project Elixir doesn't have any Vanilla releases (who knows if it'll change in the future?).

Other untested ROMs

These are the ROMs I haven't tested, but heard about. I might try them out if (and ONLY IF) I get a supported device. Below is a list of such ROMs.

Retesting required

These are the ROMs I once tested, but will need to re-test as I cannot test their current versions.

CarbonROM

A custom ROM with "just a bit of everything", according to their site. Currently still serving up A10/A11, with no sight of A12 & beyond (and/or any official builds for my devices).

HavocOS

A former featurefest ROM in the Pie era & the first microG-compatible ROM I've ever used. Current A12L releases are GApps only, with plans on returning on Vanilla/GApps. Retest required for A12L and/or A13 builds when they come.

Disclaimer : havoc-os.com is cuckflared.

OmniROM

Yet another "ye olde custom ROM" since the days of CyanogenMod, created in reaction to its commercialisation. When I last encountered it in 2020, it lacked features I've grown used to, such as per-app data restriction (or network & sensors permission), applock, & navbar button customizations.

Potato Open Sauce Project

The "sauciest & tastiest" fork of AOSP, whatever that means. Sank to Limbo with GApps-only releases with plans for Vanilla/GApps (I haven't fully checked them out yet, but so far GApps-only), now into retest for not having any official A12L build I can test.

Stag OS

An AOSP fork with a nice motto - "sic parvis magna"; which is Latin for something along the lines of "great endings from small beginnings" (taken from a game called Uncharted).

Advantages (A12L):

Disadvantages (A12L):

Links:

Availability: A11, A12, A12L (discontinued); A13

Superior OS

Another AOSP ROM with "minimal" features to fulfill user demands.

Syberia Project

Yet another AOSP/CAF ROM made to enhance the stock Android experience.

VoltageOS

Basically it's LineageOS with some GrapheneOS features (and other welcome changes, though no other kinds of hardening unfortunately). VoltageOS claims to offer "a simplistic, no frills pure AOSP experience that will not let you down in getting through every day uninterrupted by inconveniences, with just the right dab of customizations" (taken straight from its own summary).

Advantages (A12L):

Disadvantages (A12L):

Links:

Availability: A12L (discontinued), A13

Other ROMs you'll want to avoid

Similar to the untested ROMs above (if not tested), but ones that you should never use under any circumstances due to various issues (troubled maintainership & user-hostile footguns are some of the good examples here). If you're planning to use this, please seek saner ROMs above (preferably ones that aren't a Limbo).

Android Ice Cold Project

A customization-oriented ROM hailing back from 2012 with inbuilt footguns (SELinux switcher, adblock toggle) for root users.

AOSPExtended

AOSP-based custom ROM claiming to be "made by a user, for a user", just like Razer's "For Gamers. By Gamers" motto. However, their permissive update policy (if there's any - for example, a maintainer could release a build on April & not update it all the way to July (if at all)), combined with the end-user-hostile experience (SELinux switcher & self-enabling USB debugging in Poco F1, for example) destroys this claim, just as much as Razer Phone's lack of a headphone jack (unless the easily lost dongle counts) ruins Razer's motto (compare Razer Phone 2 with the Poco X3P, for example.).

BaikalOS

GZOSP / AICP - based ROM with an added focus on power saving; though it still kept all of AICP's footguns.

Copperhead OS

A security-focused ROM, once developed by GrapheneOS' lead dev Daniel Micay until the project was hijacked, causing a split-off that resulted in the eventual creation of GrapheneOS. Paid & source-available (not open source).

/e/OS

A complete mobile ecosystem aimed at offering a Goolag-free alternative to the Goolag/Apple duopoly. Claims to be the first to focus on deGoogling... although LineageOS was already mostly deGoogled (ignoring all those "open"GApps useds) before /e/ was even conceptualized.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

LMODroid

A LineageOS-based ROM that claims to be rich featured, privacy focused, and fully independent from Google (check 16/3/2023 update because this point got removed). Unfortunately, the developers made these claims without being able to actually fulfill them reliably, so here they are - another one to definitely avoid.

My initial impressions about LibreMobileOS :

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

No links for LMODroid will be provided (except for gerrit links), as I cannot recommend it.

Availability: A12L (3.x)

MoKee

A ROM built by 'the biggest non-profit Android Open Source development team' in China, with members from "all parts of the world". Getting the official ROM requires enabling Go-ogle ads, which unfortunately denies some users (particularly the privacy-aware users) from using this ROM (and me from being able to even try this out).

Nitrogen OS

A non-descript AOSP ROM (GApps-only A12/A12.1 for the X3N, from what I heard) with questionable issues (self-enabling USB debugging on boot for the X3N, Permissive SELinux on literally every A11 build I had tested).

Pixys OS

A ROM that claims to be a "butter smooth Android firmware". However, since most ROMs nowadays tend to be smooth enough IMO (except for some cases that I unfortunately forgot), I don't really care about this claim - especially if you need to enable Go-ogle scripts on the official site just to get the ROM.

Stock ROM (and their ports)

Stock ROM that gets ported like OxygenOS & MIUI - for example, MIUI.eu, EliteROM. I don't know why anyone would ever bother using them, since they're infested with Go-ogle spyware (and other forms of spyware present in stock ROMs). Not only they may require a custom vendor firmware, they could also not work with custom kernels by design (most custom kernels are meant to run on AOSP ROMs).

For disclosure, I am never a fan of stock ROMs, unless it's, LineageOS, DivestOS, or GrapheneOS.

Dead ROMs

Custom ROMs that has either stopped all developments and/or haven't released any new builds. Either way, these ROMs can be considered dead & shouldn't be used for any other purposes save for a custom ROM base (if necessary).

AIM-ROM

Another featurefest build based off LineageOS. Development seemingly stopped at November 2020.

AncientROM

Yet another featurefest trying to feature an unique user interface, with anime-loaded versions that are limited to GApps-only builds.

AOSiP (Android Open Source Illusion Project)

AOSP-based custom ROM with the most badass boot-animation (on Pie & A10). On Pie, there's a fatal lack of font engine to improve the badassery, but it got fixed on A10. Development seems winded down on A11 leading me to ignore it (among other things such as the more generic boot-animation), and currently AOSiP can be considered dead as there is no updates at the moment.

Bootleggers ROM

A Limbo GZOSP-based ROM, with so much features to make the user feel at home (the word home gets translated to Chinese / Japanese). Development seems stopped & there are no official A11 builds, so it's probably dead (even if there's any git commits).

CAF Extended

Basically AOSPExtended, but using CAF as the base (instead of AOSP). First impressions are terrible - with lack of certain essentials (navbar layout customization & per-app data restriction) & the added presence of user-hostile footguns (USB debugging on boot & SELinux switcher). However, in A12, it became a Pixel ROM, but drops the footguns in the process.

ColtOS

Another one of these featurefest ROMs... as if there's not enough of these around. For my rant that once appeared here, it has been moved to its own page. No news regarding development and/or new releases, considered dead.

Cygnus OS

A CAF-based Limbo ROM, going off the Pixel side, like BlissROM.

DerpFest

AOSiP fork with added features & Pixel GApps. With A11, they cleaned up all traces of them being a Limbo ROM, only to become a Pixel ROM (worse, but at least consistent). It seems to have returned back to life, but I will not be testing any Pixel ROMs, so it could remain here indefinitely.

Dirty Unicorns

A well-known ROM back from the early days of Android modding; back from at least the Marshmallow era. However, with their A10 builds (DU 14), this marked their fall to the Pixel category, as they have preloaded GApps without any information whatsoever. Cool themes though; however, said cool themes can also be obtained in many other ROMs, such as AOSiP. They have shut themselves down in 15/3/2021.

Dot OS

Dot OS, or short for Droid On Time, is yet another custom ROM focused on performance & stability (and also looking & feeling great without compromising the previous points). Once died in the Pie era, they have returned in A11 (with an interface reminiscent of A12), with a bad start that improves itself over time. However, as there is no official A12 (and beyond) releases, Dot OS is considered dead.

GlassROM

LineageOS with various additional security patches & signature spoofing to top them all off. No longer maintained, as developer doubles down on being a GrapheneOS contributor.

Ground Zero Open Source Project

A custom ROM originally meant to be an alternative ROM base to LineageOS, it has died off as its main developer martinusbe died.

Kang OS

Basically CorvusOS (which is based off Dirty Unicorns), but closer to its Android Open Kang Project roots by literally naming it "Kang OS".

Kraken Project

A Limbo ROM (formerly Pixel ROM) with a goal to provide the best experience in using a "low" Android with basic customizations. I don't understand what "low" Android means here, so I'll just assume "low on features". Usability wise, it feels mostly like LineageOS, but with AOSP's crap-ass gesture/button nav (the 2-button ones) enabled by default & Trust not working.

LineageX

LineageOS with signature spoofing & customized icons, I guess?

Liquid Remix

A pseudo-Lineage based ROM. Meaning; it lacks some Lineage-exclusive parts such as the Setup Wizard & Trust; despite claiming to be Lineage-based.

Octavi OS

A cheapo ROM reborn out of PearlOS, complete with a default flashing guide that matches its toylike feel.

Project Fluid

A Limbo ROM sharing the same concept as Dot & Awaken in which it takes AOSP & modifies its UI. Once had compelely stopped development in late 2021, returned to life on July 2022 after a series of teasing on Telegram... though development has stopped again on August 2022.

Project Sakura

A custom ROM that "feels like spring". More like "feels like spring deep inside a burning forest", since it shares plenty of similarities with a certain Pixel ROM masquerading as a Limbo. Development seems stopped at the moment, with latest ROM-related commit in 21/6/2022.

Project Xtended

The HavocOS equivalent for GZOSP ROMs, with a slogan claiming "Custom ROM Redefined". So far, the only thing it actually did was make it a slog to set up the ROM to my preferences. Also, starting with A11, some maintainers began releasing Goolag-only builds & aren't forced to also release the Vanilla variant, dragging it to Limbo & signaling the start of its downfall. And, with the 6.0 release, all hopes for Project Xtended are crushed as the devs included a SELinux switcher. Development was appparently paused in 14/4/2022 (archive).

28/12/2022 Update : They seem to have returned to the act, complete with their lack of Vanilla/GApps enforcement.

ReloadedOS

Previously known as ReloadedCAF. As of A11 beta, it has switched to AOSP. However, it's fine to assume Reloaded is dead as there are no further up-to-date official and/or stable builds.

30/11/2022 Update : Seems like Reloaded is revived. However, at the moment of writing, all available A13 builds seem to be GApps-only.

RevengeOS

A former CAF ROM focused on minimalism. On Pie, it's basically a Pixel-based CAF ROM. However, they have removed the Goolag infestation on A10, allowing them to enter the CAF section. With A11, they have rebased to AOSP, & made a "new" UI for the OS called RevengeUI, which isn't that far off the common AOSP looks at all. In 12/11/2021, the project was shut down.

Resurrection Remix

Back in the Pie era, it is LineageOS with added features (except signature spoofing). In the A10 era, they brought in signature spoofing support, perhaps in addition of making a non-enforced Vanilla/GApps distribution. However, as there are no further news about its development (it's stuck at A10), it can be considered dead.

Wave OS

A custom ROM with OxygenOS-inspired UI, claiming to add user experience improving features instead of bloating it with unwanted cruft that could cause stability issues. Initially, they made Goolag-only releases (with a special Setup Wizard that demands internet access), which landed WaveOS in the GApps-only category. However, starting with August 2021 releases, the devs (at least the one who remained after a long hiatus before August) released Vanilla/GApps builds (but the Setup Wizard issue remains), granting them a very cautious entry to the AOSP category. Development seems dead, so dropping them here.

ValidusOS

GZOSP with clown theme (A10 only AFAIK) & added features, maintained by the GZOSP team. Last spark of development seen in 23/8/2020, as it dies off with the main developer.

ZenXOS

A featurefest ROM built out of Havoc, made in response of the developer getting kicked out of Havoc's development team. Considered dead due to lack of new builds (as far as I can see in SF).

Generic System Image

Flashable system images that supposedly runs on any devices with Treble support. I haven't tried them out and probably won't bother with them, at least for now (as dedicated ROM zips are still abundant & available for my devices).

Unofficial builds

Builds made & maintained by developers outside the official guidelines & restrictions, sometimes with personal modifications that wouldn't be sanctioned otherwise. Generally, I tend to use official builds unless the unofficial one is well-maintained & offers something the official don't.

One good example of a well-maintained unofficial build with these kind of modifications is MSe1969's LineageOS-microG for OnePlus 3T, which adds security & privacy hardening on top of LineageOS-microG (though some unwanted bloats such as Aurora apps are present).

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