What's the advantages of using ROMs and other hacks?
I have just gotten my Droid, I have rooted it and use it as a Wifi tether but I was wondering is it worth installing customs ROMs and doing all this hacking?
Don't get me wrong I love to use my hardware to the max, but is it worth it?
Also, what are some suggestions for ROMs and things I should do to my phone?
Device(s): Droid Bionic, OG Droid - Simply Stunning (retired)
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Rooting by itself gives you big advantages. First in my mind is the ability to backup your apps and data. I use Titanium Backup for this. Second would be overclocking. If you're just rooted, you can use SetCPU for this (or if you have Tasker, it can do this too), but if you have a custom ROM, this ability is usually built in. SetCPU can change your maximum CPU speed depending on certain conditions (battery level, etc), and so can Tasker (but it's more complicated with Tasker). The built in functionality in ROMs is usually pretty basic.
Custom ROMs for the Droid are numerous, each with their own advantages. I'm using Simply Stunning 5.4 (Gingerbread). For me the most noticeable feature in Gingerbread (regardless of which ROM you use) is the keyboard, and the way text editing works - a big improvement over Froyo.
Simply Stunning is based on Cyanogenmod (another custom ROM). Cyanogenmod features include the ability to lock the messaging app and Gmail in memory (so Android won't kill them when it needs memory), a power control widget in the notification bar, and you can customize display animations, input behavior, visual effects, lock screen behavior.
One of the things I like about Simply Stunning is the ability to set custom apps to be locked in memory. For me this works great with Slacker, since Android's memory management can sometimes kill slacker when it's in the background.
Also, the kernels available with Simply Stunning work well for me, and I like that the ROM developer provides his own kernels.
I waited a year (until my warranty was up) to root, and then several months more before installing custom ROMs. Within hours of installing my first custom ROM, I was kicking myself for not having done it sooner.
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Rooting by itself gives you big advantages. First in my mind is the ability to backup your apps and data. I use Titanium Backup for this. Second would be overclocking. If you're just rooted, you can use SetCPU for this (or if you have Tasker, it can do this too), but if you have a custom ROM, this ability is usually built in. SetCPU can change your maximum CPU speed depending on certain conditions (battery level, etc), and so can Tasker (but it's more complicated with Tasker). The built in functionality in ROMs is usually pretty basic.
I wish I could thank your more than once. I will try simply stunning now because of you.
I'm not saying don't try SS - but I will say this - your original question is asking ppl to give you opinions so you can make a factual decision. Not really good.
Is rooting worth it? Only if you get something out of it. Not if you *can* get something out of it, but if *you* DO get something out of it. If not, then it's no worth it.
Now, on to more specifics. Rooting is the ability o gain root access - the highest access privileges allowed on a *nix (UNIX, Linux, etc.) based systems. If you're on more recent Macs or Windows machine, think of it as administrator access to your phone. The world is fully open - there is nothing you cannot do - including fixing things, breaking things, removing things, adding things, changing things, tweaking things....The list is long but distinguished.
Without root, you can still get backups of your apps and data using other apps. But you can't do things like remove that pesky Amazon system app. Overclocking is probably out, unless you temporarily root, tweak at the hardware level, and then remove root. Other hardware hacks and tweaks will almost always require root access.
Next - ROMs - those are going to be your own choice, not someone else's - I highly recommend that you look around *carefully* and see one that you like that also has what you want in it in terms of apps, customizability, etc. An anecdote if you will - everyone loves CM - he's considered in many circles the granddaddy of cooking Android ROMs. However, when I first got my DROID, I attempted to run CM 6 when FroYo builds came out - no such luck,. My DROID would not run them no matter what. I had to settle for other FroYo ROMs in order to get FroYo custom goodness.
CM 7 comes along (gingerbread Android Open Source Project, or AOSP, built - and my phone took to it like my lead foot does my 4.0 L HO v6 - pure heaven.
the moral is that, you've got to find what you like - all we can tell you is that we like this or that or the other - but it may not mean one lick on your phone.
I have to add something - one thing Root will do is allow you to load ROMs that don't work on your phone... Like all the Gingerbread ROMS... LOL
Be forewarned - there are just as many ROM fanbois as there are iMAC or Ford Fanbois... Pretty much all the Gingerbread ROM threads start out with "FINALLY A BUG FREE GINGERBREAD ROM!!1!" then 5 posts later degenerate in to "why is my 3g dropping" or some other issue....
Also, most of the cool gingerbread features (like the great 2.3 keyboard) are available on the Market as Foryo Apps...
With all that said, put me down in the "root it" camp - I gotta have my Titanium backup, over clock, under volt, screen grabs, and other stuff... Droid Concetps 11 is the last Froyo ROM (that I know of) that is still being developed & updated... It runs great and is very bug free, expecally with compared to the GB ROMS...
You should also keep in mind that not all DROIDs are made the same. A ROM might work well with one device, but may not sit as well with others. There's no way of knowing before trying them, so, to avoid getting into trouble, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS make backups before you flash anything new, ROMs and Kernels alike. I just made backups in ROM Manager, and always had a list of them if I ever wanted to go back to previous ROMs
Hope this helps, bud. Good luck!
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I have just gotten my Droid, I have rooted it and use it as a Wifi tether but I was wondering is it worth installing customs ROMs and doing all this hacking?
Worth is always a highly subjective matter. In other words, some will find it worthwhile, others won't.
If you can't read up on the various ROM's and rooting then I don't recommend trying. You need to be able to fish for yourself rather than rely on others to spoon feed you should you try to go that route. It's really not that difficult and there's a lot of information out there and plenty of people willing to help when you have specific questions.
The benefits are also highly subjective. Custom ROM's can offer more control, more features, better performance, etc. It really depends on the ROM. Should you decide that you want to try custom ROM's it's really up to you to read up, test some out and determine which one suits you best. Like many other things, it's not one-size-fits-all or else we'd all use the same ROM, the same kernel, etc.
I recommend rooting your device and installing these .340 roms for starters: Apex 1.5 (blur) or Liberty 1.5 (blurless).
I wouldn't recommend any .595 or .596 roms until to play with those two.
I'm currently running Liberty Juice, but might go back to Apex 1.5 or stock .596. A man only can go so long without his social networking widget :-)
No offence, but this quoted post is completely worthless to the OP as the roms mentioned are NOT for the A855 Droid 1.
To the rest, he did mention he has already rooted his droid, so saying what rooting does and/or its advantages are is moot.
Finally, yes everyone's A855 Droid is a bit different as well as your own personal experience with a rom so to ask which one is best is, well up to you to decide for yourself.
Downloading ROM Manager and doing backups is a definate must as well. IF the ROM you're trying doesn't work well, you can just flash a backup to where you were before as long as you made a backup beforehand.
Myself, I'm using MIUI. I tried several different GB roms and this one is completely different than most of the others in that it works alot like the iPhones layout. So if you want to see what it's like to have a iPhone, give this a shot. You still only have access to the Android market remember.
But it's fun and yes,sometimes frustrating to try new ROMS. The more you try the more addicted you'll become. But also the more familiar you'll be with how your phone works, and what it likes or doesn't like. Do ALOT of reading here. It will help a ton if something unusual happens.
The Motorola Droid - the first ever Verizon Android Phone - exploded onto the mobile market with an incredibly successful ad campaign that brough Android to the masses. With a huge and vibrant touchscreen, solid metal body, full QWERTY keyboard, 5M... Read More
What's the advantages of using ROMs and other hacks?
