How to choose a custom ROM

Stub, expect some rewrite / additions

Introduction

Personal custom ROM recommendations & reasons why some ROMs had to be avoided.

Knowing your device

Let's start with getting the obvious thing off the way - knowing what your device is, what ROMs are available, whether its bootloader can be unlocked & how it's done, how to install custom recovery, & how to install the ROM.

You can start with searching [your device name] XDA on the internet & opening the corresponding forum for the device.

What to expect from custom ROMs

These are what we should expect from custom ROMs in general.

Privacy

When it comes to privacy, here's a list of what most custom ROMs do :

• Remove most privacy-invading bloatwares (such as GApps, Facebook, Netflix) from their default / Vanilla builds
• Add in privacy-enhancing features like per-app data restriction & app locker

However, most custom ROMs do not remove / change other Google connections such as captive portal, NTP, & IPv4/IPv6 availability check.

Pixel ROMs are consistent in the regard of removing any non-Google preinstalled corpo apps, & that's about it. As for Limbos, they're too inconsistent in this regard, either flip-flopping from Vanilla to Vanilla/GApps / GApps-only, and/or supporting some devices as GApps-only while leaving others to Vanilla-only / Vanilla/GApps, depending on the maintainer's whims.

Examples of some outliers :

• /e/ does somewhat better in this regard by removing Google's captive portal connections (except for fallback) & NTP, but haven't managed to deal with the IPv4/6 checking & has used several questionable services such as Cleanapk & Magic Earth.
• GrapheneOS provides an option to switch between its own captive portal provider, standard (Google's), and not using one directly from Settings > Network & internet > Advanced > Internet connectivity check setting. However, Graphene's not perfect either, as it eschews per-app network restriction for the somewhat inflexible Network & Sensors permissions (blocking Network completely prevents an app from accessing Wifi, Bluetooth, & mobile data, without any in-betweens).

Interface

Most ROMs will run a Quickstep-based launcher (which looks & feels like the Pixel launcher), except for /e/, which uses BlissLauncher, an iPhone-like launcher. The stock launcher can be replaced with third-party launchers like Nova & OpenLauncher though.

For the settings menu, most ROMs will take this approach : Take AOSP settings, add a custom-named advanced settings, and / or add some additions in the default settings. Occassionally, some custom ROM (mostly Limbos) will also change up the settings UI, which can make them either look better or worse.

So... what's different?

The difference you'd see will be the amount of customizations, the boot-animation (which can be changed by changing the bootanimation.zip from /system/media), & the prebuilt apps (sometimes the UI as well). Aside from all of them, what you'll get is AOSP, with some mods here & there, sometimes crammed onto an aptly-named "advanced settings". And, if we take /e/ into the equation, the captive portal, prebuilt launcher, & network time server, but /e/ is the only one doing so, AFAIK.

ROMs to avoid

Here are the ROMs you should avoid.

Pixel ROMs

Always avoid these kinds of ROMs. They're basically similar to the stock OS found on Pixel PDAs, but with arguably more features.

Here's a short list explaining why you must avoid all Pixel ROMs :

• Limited privacy from anyone but Go-ogle (it's like iOS privacy, but at least you have the choice to leave anytime, with all of the obvious caveats)
• Goolag SetupWizard is obtrusive (constant notification that can't be turned off unless SetupWizard is removed / frozen) & could alter settings.
If connected to internet while setting up, it could force you to log in to a Google account.


• Auto-updates for Play Store & Play Services that can't be turned off without disabling background access - and even then, it's not guaranteed to work. Fully disabling internet access could help, but at that point, they're just a big bloated mess.
• You could remove the offending apps, but you might screw up the system, which will force you to reflash.

Limbo ROMs

Generally, you should avoid them. While they do provide Vanilla variants, odds are that they'll support your device as GApps-only. However, AEX leans away from being a Pixel-oriented Limbo ROM - but still, due to lack of Vanilla / Goolag enforcement, you should avoid it just to be on the safe side.

Here are the examples of Limbo ROMs you must avoid :

• BlissRoms : Essentially a Pixel ROM masquerading as a Limbo.
• AOSPExtended : Permissive update policy (literally no guarantee of updates), combined with lack of Vanilla/Goolag enforcement.
• Cygnus OS : Unclear update policy. A Vanilla/Goolag device could be updated as a Goolag-only, which shows us how bad a Limbo ROM can be.
• Corvus OS : There are cases of Vanilla builds getting a Goolag-only update, and Goolag-only builds going either Vanilla-only or Vanilla/Goolag. Even if Corvus tries to respect user security (starting with its June 2021 releases), it won't matter as their Limbo practices are still around.
• Project Sakura : Refer to Cygnus.

Stock ROM (and their ports)

Go-ogle spyware, spywares from the stock ROM, custom vendor firmware that probably don't work with custom ROMs, & custom kernels not working (or have some issues), perhaps by design. Don't bother unless being a slave is more important to you.

Recommended ROMs

At the moment, there's no ROM I can recommend without regret as they're either missing essential features and/or have user-hostile sites. However, regardless of whichever custom ROM you're running, you're mostly going to be dealing with the apps you've installed once you get the ROM tuned to your specifications.

Either way, here are the best 3 (4 if LineageOS microG counts as a separate ROM from LineageOS) custom ROMs (despite their issues) according to me :

• DivestOS
It's LineageOS, but with different prebuilt apps, inbuilt adblocking hosts, added security (such as bootloader relocking for some supported devices), and a friendlier site (downloading a file on Chromium-based browsers only require other enabled for divestos.org; no cookie, JS, & other if using Pale Moon). The only absolute deal-breaker I see here would be its one dev show, which unfortunately affects updates.


• Lineage OS / LineageOS microG
LineageOS doesn't really offend (compared to most others that is) with their site (which somewhat works without JS & XHR; and their worst offense is the cuckflare), and the ROM is overall good enough for daily use, although a bit restrictive (microG users can't use microG out of the box - Lineage-microG fixes this issue at the cost of being less reliable on updates) & lacks some nice features such as an applocker.


• Arrow OS
To start, I have concerns about the official site, which requires JS & XHR to run (and may occasionally not run despite having both enabled) & has implemented BlockAdBlock (which could prevent access to the site's contents especially if certain extensions (such as VPN) were installed). However, once it's flashed, Arrow is easily the best custom ROM, with enough features sensibly placed that quickly gets out of your way once you're done setting them up. Arrow has also managed to enforce the Vanilla/GApps distribution, which also keeps them away from Limbo.

And some custom ROMs I would like to use & consider a top ROM candidate, but can't :

• Havoc OS
I once called it the best ROM, but it has fallen off so far with feature shedding (it's slowly returning, to the developers' credit) & lax Vanilla/GApps enforcement. Here's hoping the developers step up their game.


• CarbonROM
According to inexperienced me back in the Pie era, this is the best ROM (because it runs Fate/GO & doesn't enable ADB on boot). However, current me has refuted his claims, simply because there's no app lock & per-app data restriction on both Pie & A10. Here's hoping either (or preferably both) gets implemented in A11 official builds (per-app data restriction added in A11, to their credit). On the other hand, their site is the least problematic to browse.

Conclusion

TL ; DR : not using a PDA > Any proven custom ROM of choice (my recommendations list includes some of them) > Vanilla Limbo > Pixel / GApps-Limbo / GApps version ROMs > Stock ROM.

• Not using a PDA : On one hand, you lose all the benefits offered by PDAs. However, no machine to use; no ROM to use; and the quest for privacy on Android can be bypassed. Essentially the most private & secure, but zero usability.
• Proven ROMs : Not the most private (or secure), but with a bit of know-how & some tools, they can be made private. Just keep away from untrustworthy internet-hungry apps.
• Vanilla Limbo : Fancypants ROM with questionable Vanilla/GApps enforcement (this argument applies to Limbo ROMs in general)? Well, all right then... whatever. I still don't recommend it, especially the ones I mentioned on this page (even if they have Vanilla builds).
• Pixel / GApps-Limbo / GApps version : More usable than Vanilla, but comes with Goolag Play services. Trades in SafetyNet (which becomes kind of a gamble) for moddability.
• Stock ROM : Goolag Play services & other forms of spyware preinstalled, all for the sake of having a "stable & usable" experience. In addition, zero system modifications & limited privacy-friendly customizations.

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