Years ago, on Fridays, we would share Custom ROM Friday posts that would highlight new and exciting developments in the world of custom Android ROMs. It was great times, as it seemed like the majority of our readers at the time were deep into running custom software and accessing root...

Do you root or do you go straight to ROMs?

  • NateEnglish
    26•9 months ago

    Spite mostly. I have small QoL improvements, but mostly because Google says I can’t do what I want with my device.

    Specific reasons:

    • AdAway - ad blocking, can’t live without
    • SnapEnhance - ad blocking & other tweaks to make SC more usable
    • Revanced (w/o microgapps) - YouTube mod w/ sponsorblock & returned dislikes
    • PixelExpert - misc UI tweaks like separate WiFi & mobile data tiles, as well as a 3 wide qs panel
    • SmartSpacer - Custom complications on my at a glance screen. Can do useful things like show me my gas rewards card when in range of a gas stations WiFi, notifications for missed calls, texts, and emails that I might have dismissed from my tray
    • MACsposed - let’s me spoof my MAC address. Used it to snag free WiFi on planes
    • Swift Backup - backs my phone up to my server every night
    • GAppsMod - enable call recording & other features on Google dialer & messages
    • DarkTricks - additional misc toggles, some overlap with PixelExpert but occasionally has better implementations (power button flashlight, volume keys to skip tracks, etc)

    No longer working:

    • Xposed edge pro - let you bind a bunch of gestures to different actions or fly outs from any screen. Hasn’t been functional in Android 14 and it seems like the dev has dipped. I genuinely miss having an app fly out (but not enough to buy a Samsung)