Rom fatigue

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maxpower7

Senior Member
May 2, 2011
1,458
572
I've been flashing roms for almost 4 years now on almost a dozen phones. My go-to rom has always been CM, and for a while I was flashing all the nightlies for this phone and setting everything up from scratch every few days.

But a few weeks ago, something dawned on me: after untold hundreds of rom flashes, I think I'm actually tired of doing this. With all the unresolved data issues on AOSP roms and various other minor problems, I suddenly couldn't bring myself to modify my phone in a way that would actually remove functionality. I've now been on stock rooted MF9 for going on a month, and other than the inevitable 4.3 update, I don't think I'll be flashing any more roms on this or any other phone.

I've been a die-hard rom flasher for almost as long as I've been using Android devices and I certainly didn't see this coming. Has anyone else experienced this?

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stevenk007

Member
Aug 21, 2010
33
4
Yeah ive been wondering if the data (signal) issues will ever be resolved.

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miketucky350

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2011
387
125
Portland indiana
Yep same here ive flashed thousands of times. About a year ago on my s2 I had aosp . Well we got lost the kids were screaming gps didnt work and data speeds were awful. I flashed back to stock or stock based and everything was great. At that point I realized stick with stock. I will say that the touch wiz based roms here are wonderful. I feel you on fatigue. I've been on sacs rom for a long time and don't plan on changing it.
 

mjs2011

Senior Member
May 25, 2011
5,020
1,874
I'm with you. I got sick o of flashing roms all the time too. Been running stock for a about a month now.

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dandan2980

Senior Member
Jun 17, 2010
3,062
1,337
I feel the same only have flashed a couple Roms and am also just sick of always setting up new Roms. Just find one and stick with it I am on sacs. Was on Slim Bean but sacs is amazing and its TW based so don't have to worry about all the bugs that Aosp brings. But I gotta say Slim Bean was solid. Stable build 1 everything was working data ,GPS ,mms I had no problems. I remember just flashing every single ROM that was available back in my OG Evovdays.

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drouse

Member
Jul 26, 2010
19
4
LoL. Feel almost the same here....

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ParkerParker

Senior Member
Aug 10, 2013
1,233
1,142
ThE EvErGrEeN StAtE
Well I've been on stock Deodexed for getting close to a month, before that I flashed all the roms, my wife said I had a problem lol, but for the time being I'm quite happy with my phone being fully functional and having 4g every where I go. I'm still always looking at xda for the next big thing, but as of now I'm staying slightly modded with the convenience of a working PHONE :):beer:
 
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maxpower7

Senior Member
May 2, 2011
1,458
572
Well I've been on stock Deodexed for getting close to a month, before that I flashed all the roms, my wife said I had a problem lol, but for the time being I'm quite happy with my phone being fully functional and having 4g every where I go. I'm still always looking at xda for the next big thing, but as of now I'm staying slightly modded with the convenience of a working PHONE :):beer:

That's kind of how I am. I still compulsively check XDA every day even though I never flash anything anymore. It's just really nice to have a phone where everything works. MMS is a good example of something that I don't necessarily use all the time but it's nice for it to be functional when I need it. I suppose I'll probably give KitKat a spin when the roms start rolling out though :)

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ranchosteve

Senior Member
Feb 23, 2006
337
55
Los Angeles
Same here, I know there are some awesome developers. But I really need stability. I look for the slimest close to stock ROM I can find.

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ronnienyc

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2010
771
49
Beverly Hills, CA
This is so funny. I must have tried 50 ROMs on my various phones in the past few years. So many have claimed “visious battery ilfe! Screaming speeds!!!! This will make you cry with tears of joy!”

And then they run about as fast as stock, often with worse battery life, and with broken functionality.

There were some exceptions, like MeanBean on the Evo LTE, and a few others which ran pretty much flawlessly, but switching back to stock always makes me think, “wow, this is not any worse than that custom ROM I just had – a little uglier, but stock runs better…”

(Of course I always appreciate the hard work, and it is fun experimenting.)
 

daniel4653

Senior Member
Jul 10, 2010
9,404
2,969
Southern California
Stock runs great on the gs4. Over the last 4 days I've averaged 15.5 hours on time with 3.5 hours screen time. About 70% on WiFi and 30% 3G

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maxpower7

Senior Member
May 2, 2011
1,458
572
This is so funny. I must have tried 50 ROMs on my various phones in the past few years. So many have claimed “visious battery ilfe! Screaming speeds!!!! This will make you cry with tears of joy!”

And then they run about as fast as stock, often with worse battery life, and with broken functionality.

There were some exceptions, like MeanBean on the Evo LTE, and a few others which ran pretty much flawlessly, but switching back to stock always makes me think, “wow, this is not any worse than that custom ROM I just had – a little uglier, but stock runs better…”

(Of course I always appreciate the hard work, and it is fun experimenting.)

I've also never experienced the outlandish speed and battery claims of so many of these roms, including Mean Bean which I never found to work as flawlessly as advertised. Honestly, I think a lot of it is just placebo effect.

I mean no disrespect to the hard-working devs, of course - I guess my personal preferences are just changing. I'm not interested in spending tons of time messing with voltages and clock speeds and themes and kernels and APNs, etc. anymore.

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fabzbear

Senior Member
Nov 26, 2010
934
80
Well a mean if you look at it from a different perspective "back in the day" yeah, what these devs claimed to be true, greater battery life, faster speeds, etc you did get and there was real improvement. Still we gotta understand back then stock android and phone makers weren't up to par and the phones weren't as powerful. Android was lacking in a lot of stuff and that's were modding grew.
But I don't need to give a history lesson, anyone who's been here for a while know why and how this all came about.
My point is though that android has caught up to the need for modding. Generally speaking (barring a persons provider) you get everything and in some cases more than you need without the need to mod.
Also some of the mods are also now available without being rooted, although not at a fast pace, but still on the rise.
I personally wouldn't coin it exactly as being "tied of flashing" but more so as some of you have mentioned the need is no longer there.
You can debloat your phone without root (I forgot the app/method), you get great battery life worth stock and of you even want to go further you have apps like greenify and my personal fav juice defender that can be used without root and so many other things.

There's other factors too that does make a difference like update cycle and harder issues and more phones etc that also leads people to the point of just sticking to stock but there are the petiole here that just like to tinker no matter what skill level you're at.
One last thing I would put out there is that us who are users of these mods wouldn't it be different if you were the ones creating them?

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amieldl143

Senior Member
Oct 3, 2008
1,174
1,165
Brentwood
Same here, im running stock odexed rooted.. Just deleted sone bloatware I never use. Used foldermount to save some space so I can install big games I like..Ive been happy stock odexed. I FIND NOVA LAUNCHER THE BEST.. SO SMOOTH AND U CAN ADJUST THE ANIMATION SPEED AND TRANSITION...

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---------- Post added at 11:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:16 PM ----------

Well a mean if you look at it from a different perspective "back in the day" yeah, what these devs claimed to be true, greater battery life, faster speeds, etc you did get and there was real improvement. Still we gotta understand back then stock android and phone makers weren't up to par and the phones weren't as powerful. Android was lacking in a lot of stuff and that's were modding grew.
But I don't need to give a history lesson, anyone who's been here for a while know why and how this all came about.
My point is though that android has caught up to the need for modding. Generally speaking (barring a persons provider) you get everything and in some cases more than you need without the need to mod.
Also some of the mods are also now available without being rooted, although not at a fast pace, but still on the rise.
I personally wouldn't coin it exactly as being "tied of flashing" but more so as some of you have mentioned the need is no longer there.
You can debloat your phone without root (I forgot the app/method), you get great battery life worth stock and of you even want to go further you have apps like greenify and my personal fav juice defender that can be used without root and so many other things.

There's other factors too that does make a difference like update cycle and harder issues and more phones etc that also leads people to the point of just sticking to stock but there are the petiole here that just like to tinker no matter what skill level you're at.
One last thing I would put out there is that us who are users of these mods wouldn't it be different if you were the ones creating them?

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And you can theme the icons...

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chris-allen

Senior Member
Jun 22, 2012
684
133
Stock rooted and slighty OCed is my way....i juat got this phone about a week ago. Im coming from the s3...but anyways, i was scrolling looking qt alk the roms, is there one thats pure stock but rooted and 100% debloated??? I used to use a root uninstaller, but none seem to work on this device?? Im kinda late to the s4 so im sure its been discussed and fixed.. but anyways.. also looks like stock kernal is the smoothest and fastest too.... and with my s3 that wasent the case... but anyways...is there a nice stock debloated FLAWLESS rom u guys recomend? At the moment im using this INTRISIC rom....pretty good...about as close as im going to get to stock debloated..

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testinguser

Senior Member
Jan 21, 2008
213
35
First and foremost the phone should perform basic phone functions flawlessly without significant lag such as making a phone call, sending text messages and web surfing. Could add GPS mapping to that list as it seems germane and pervasive.

Part of ROM fatigue is just the lack of this or perhaps the eternal search for it. Perhaps kit kat changes this.
 

maxpower7

Senior Member
May 2, 2011
1,458
572
First and foremost the phone should perform basic phone functions flawlessly without significant lag such as making a phone call, sending text messages and web surfing. Could add GPS mapping to that list as it seems germane and pervasive.

Part of ROM fatigue is just the lack of this or perhaps the eternal search for it. Perhaps kit kat changes this.

My personal opinion is that any notion of "lag" in Android ceased to be a relevant discussion at least a year ago. Yes, you might still get the odd animation stutter here and there, but it's nothing that affects the actual usability of the phone.

As far as overclocking goes, 4 CPU cores at 1.9GHz seems pretty sufficient to me, but I understand that there will always be those who like to push their phones. I just feel like the difference is only noticeable in benchmark scores.

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fabzbear

Senior Member
Nov 26, 2010
934
80
First and foremost the phone should perform basic phone functions flawlessly without significant lag such as making a phone call, sending text messages and web surfing. Could add GPS mapping to that list as it seems germane and pervasive.

Part of ROM fatigue is just the lack of this or perhaps the eternal search for it. Perhaps kit kat changes this.

I sort this as well as my previous view. The current versions of android has caught up to everything modding was mainly used for. There isn't lag anymore, you get great battery, you also have a couple theme customization as well too. The point is there's a slow in the upward trend to mod.

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rgregg504

Senior Member
Sep 22, 2010
628
175
At the risk of annoying much of the community, CM= overrated. Had every galaxy s series phone and have yet to see it fully functional. They start working on the next version before the previous one is done and honestly, I'll have a new phone before it's finished every time.

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  • 5
    I have been flashing my cell phones since 2008 when I got my first smartphone. It was a Blackberry Curve and I would mix and match modules from different ROMs from various models to create unique sets of functionality but mostly to get the latest and greatest release. In 2010 I got my first Android phone and rooted it (and every phone since) the day I got it. I would start flashing 3 or 4 different ROMs in a 8 hour period every single day. I flash at work, I flash at home, I would go on a cruise and take my laptop and a copy of every available ROM for my phone and flash while on the ship (sick!). I go to visit my grand-kid and I'm flashing while playing with him.

    I check XDA 40 to 50 times a day!

    I think that I need help!:(

    Anyway, on every other phone, except the SGS4, I found a custom ROM that was stable enough to be a daily driver. While there are many great custom ROMs out there for our phone, every one has a different, but fatal, flaw. I have flashed every available TW ROM for this phone and I have found that on every one, something that I need doesn't work properly and wind up Odin-ing back to stock.

    Writing this has been like speaking at an AA meeting. I feel better and for today I will not flash (once I flash back to Stock from last nights flashathon!)

    One Day at a Time!!
    3
    I agree. The stock rom on the S4 is what I have been running since I got it. I was flashing roms back in '07 on WinMo and then it was to add functionality. I switched to android with the Hero and tried a few roms and finally made my own. Then I got the 3D. More tweaking more roms. This S4 was great right out of the box. So I rooted and flashed the stock rooted and other than updating have left it alone. It just works.

    Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

    Agreed, my rooting days started with the HTC OG Evo, I stuck with MikMik and progressed from uncustomizable $300 iPhones to EVO 4g and eventually to S4 and I just like the stock TW feel. I know it's not for everyone, but I feel that stock android is almost too dull as much as I like it. I am sticking with Sacs because it has a few extras that I prefer over the stock, yet I feel as though the stock kernel just works best. Nothing against kernel devs I just think the stock handles radios best maybe it's just San Francisco, but I have a hard time with Sprint using different kernels??? :confused:

    As for flashing I have slowed down. I was a flashaholic, but now I'm back to alcohol. I always enjoy reading through the forums to see what devs are cooking up next though. Will I stop... probably not, but nowadays I am more faithful to one rom rather than playing with 3 or 4 throughout any given day.
    3
    I came from the OG Evo, and the only reason that I rooted and flashed ROMs to that was because official support for the device left me on 2.3. I wanted to keep getting updates and run the latest and greatest software possible, and flashing gave me that ability.

    Now that I upgraded to the S4 and I've tried a few ROMs, I've come to the realization that stock is actually excellent and its being updated quite often. It shows that most OEMs have come a long way in the past few years. I also realized that doing any modifications can really mess up the phone (I got stock rooted for MF9 and it was stable for a few weeks then all of a sudden started getting messed up).

    It's always cool to come back and see what projects are being worked on, and if I see something catch my eye I will certainly take it for a spin, but in the mean time I'm perfectly happy with what Samsung and Google have provided.

    Just my 2 cents.
    2
    Well I've been on stock Deodexed for getting close to a month, before that I flashed all the roms, my wife said I had a problem lol, but for the time being I'm quite happy with my phone being fully functional and having 4g every where I go. I'm still always looking at xda for the next big thing, but as of now I'm staying slightly modded with the convenience of a working PHONE :):beer:

    That's kind of how I am. I still compulsively check XDA every day even though I never flash anything anymore. It's just really nice to have a phone where everything works. MMS is a good example of something that I don't necessarily use all the time but it's nice for it to be functional when I need it. I suppose I'll probably give KitKat a spin when the roms start rolling out though :)

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    2
    How do i debloat a stock room?? I AM rooted with superuser... i have tried at least 5 root uninstallers and none work..they all ask for superuser permision..i grant it. But when i go to uninatall any system.bloat i get the " uninstall unsuccesful " message ::banghead:

    Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app

    Fire up Titanium Backup and just uninstall all the apps you don't want.

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