Android 12L is the world’s most customized mobile operating system. You can customize every part of the OS, from botany to wallpapers to themes. Custom ROMs take customization to another level. Today, we bring you the top 10 best custom ROMs for Android.
If you are an Android user who likes to customize hackout from your device, then you must have heard about custom ROM from somewhere. For those who are not familiar with the term.
What is a Custom ROM?
Android is open source and so any developer can edit the code, re-compile it and re-issue it for different devices. A custom Android ROM based on Google’s Android source code refers to the firmware of the phone. With the help of custom ROMs, we can completely change the look and feel of our device’s user interface. We can even unlock some additional features, improve performance and extend battery life. The main reason why we prefer custom ROMs is that almost every mobile manufacturer leaves support for their devices two years after launch.
If you are currently convinced to flash a custom ROM on your device, then your next step is to decide who to go to. Although there are many custom ROMs to choose from, it is often confusing to choose one of them. If you’re one of those tangled people, here are my pictures for the top 5 custom ROMs currently on the market.
Note: To install a custom ROM the user needs a custom recovery like unlock bootloader and TWRP. In addition, this process will, in most cases, void your warranty.
Download Custom ROMs for Android Phones
Without further ado, here comes the best custom ROMs for Android:
Lineage OS
Lineage OS is the most popular custom ROM in the developer community. This is the same ROM that its developers introduced as CyanogenMod. It has the largest developer community among all custom ROM manufacturers and has official support for more than 200 devices. It also supports your devices with timely system updates. Some great features of Lineage OS support for themes, CPU overclocking, CPU underclocking, soft button customization, status bar customization, navigation bar editing and FLAC audio support.
Paranoid Android
Visit Paranoid Android Official Site
Paranoid Android is the most appreciated custom ROM in Android space. It uniquely lets you run your entire system and you can also customize the DPI settings. It offers a polished and refined user experience. Its development team focuses on improving design, navigation, and information. Some of the great features are multi-window, change in color scheme of the device, deep mode and better performance. A notable feature is its “hover mode” which allows the user to interact with notifications from any screen without interrupting your ongoing work.
AOKP (Android Open Kang Project)
For all stock Android lovers, this is the ROM. It offers a stock Android user interface with numerous customization options to get the most out of your device. Some of its notable customization options are noted below.
- Customization of the hardware and software buttons
- Status bar customization
- Notification and quick settings configurations
- Supports swipe gestures for navigation
- Users can build custom vibration patterns to be assigned to notifications from certain applications or calls from certain people
- Users can custom set the colors and nature of the notification LED.
Dirty Unicorns
Visit Dirty Unicorns Official Site
Dirty Unicorns is another option for those who want a custom user interface without sacrificing the stability of the UI. It comes with a lot of customization options like customizing the notification, customizing the lock screen, changing the color profile of the device and much more. It even supports gesture control. The only downside compared to other ROM makers is the slower updates but slower updates translate to more ROM stability.
Pac-Man ROM
For those looking for more customization options, Pac-Man is one of the best available right now. It provides a stable, bug-free user interface with various customization features. If I were to describe it in my own words, I would describe it as a combination of Lineage OS, Paranoid Android, and AOKP.
SlimROMs
If you want a seamless, stable, and minimalist approach to your phone’s user interface, SlimROM is the best you can get. It could make an older device, which has lost support from its manufacturer, run the latest Android version available without any noticeable breaks. It is considered to be the lightest custom ROM that anyone can get. One of its notable features is Slim Recent. Slim Rent enables the user to access current apps on the right side of the display without covering the entire display. Other features include custom dialer, privacy guard, and lock screen shortcuts. SlimROM has many capabilities to breathe new life into an old device.
MIUI
MIUI is one of the most used custom ROMs as anyone can power it on almost all Xiaomi’s devices (except Mi A1). This is the iOS avatar for Android. By that I mean MIUI focuses on bringing the iPhone user interface to Android devices. If battery life is your priority, MIUI will meet your needs with its optimization. The latest version of MIUI features Mi Mover, which aims to simplify the UI and improve data transfer. Some of MIUI’s simple features are image search, smart assistant, smart app launcher, dynamic resource allocation and split screen multitasking.
Flyme OS
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to use a Meizu smartphone, you should be aware of Flyme OS. This is the same UI that officially powers all Meizu devices. This is very similar to MIUI because of the shape of the UI. The latest version of Flyme OS has fancy animations that do not affect performance. Some of the best features of Flyme os are support for themes, allowing the user to customize in terms of support for fingerprints and gestures used to unlock the phone.
AOSP Extended
Visit AOSP Extended Official Site
AOSP Extended is an extension of AOSP (Android Open Source Project) that adds some custom features to the stock user interface. It provides a smooth and break-free experience out of the box. Features include a status bar and notification panel, instant messaging, and custom boot options. Anyone can expect monthly updates from their developers.
Resurrection Remix
There is no doubt that Doomsday Remix is one of the best established ROMs. The most important aspect of Doomsday Remix is the good battery life and a large online community of developers. Some of the features include enabling or disabling the newbar, status bar customizations, a variety of animations, gesture support, lock screen customizations, and an advanced reboot menu. This is a bit heavy which sometimes makes the ROM unstable.
These are our selection of the top 10 best custom ROMs for Android. All of the above ROMs will help you to enjoy a completely different user experience. Let us know about your favorite ROM in the comments section below.
