A question about stock vs. Custom ROM on a nexus device

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bbabiuk

Senior Member
Mar 22, 2011
264
76
Winnipeg
I am wondering about the difference between an original development ROM vs. A stock ROM variant on a nexus device.

To explain... My last device was an HTC one. There modified stock ROMs. And then there were the aosp or rather original development ROMs. It was quite easy to differentiate. Drivers etc as well as software was very proprietary in nature vs. a stock ROM. Even the GPE ROMs were stock variants.

The question I have is....what is the difference on a nexus? Is the software similar in nature but drivers different? I likely am doing poor job explaining it...or using the incorrect terminology. But I hope I have expressed it adequately.

Not that NY of this will likely stop me from flashing a custom ROM or 10... I just was curious. That was all.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 

danarama

Senior Member
Aug 22, 2010
31,277
18,811
Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, UK
I am wondering about the difference between an original development ROM vs. A stock ROM variant on a nexus device.

To explain... My last device was an HTC one. There modified stock ROMs. And then there were the aosp or rather original development ROMs. It was quite easy to differentiate. Drivers etc as well as software was very proprietary in nature vs. a stock ROM. Even the GPE ROMs were stock variants.

The question I have is....what is the difference on a nexus? Is the software similar in nature but drivers different? I likely am doing poor job explaining it...or using the incorrect terminology. But I hope I have expressed it adequately.

Not that NY of this will likely stop me from flashing a custom ROM or 10... I just was curious. That was all.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


On other devices, you have AOSP ROMs and Stock ROMs.

Stock ROMs cannot be compiled from source. They can have their apks decompiled and have smaller amendments made to the code that is revealed from this process and have some other basic functions added too via things like "dsi xda kitchen" and these roms generally belong in "Android development" forums. OEM's should be releasing stock kernel source code though, so this allows further amendments to be made by Stock ROM devs.

AOSP ROMs are compiled from source code as you know. Often, as the OEM can get away with only releasing kernel source code, AOSP devs have to hack drivers and libs or build open source alternatives to get things like the camera to work because the OEM may not have released the source code for the drivers or HAL. This is why on other devices, you often see early AOSP roms listing things not working like WiFi, Camera and other things that rely on hardware.

On Nexus devices, this is slightly different.

Stock ROMs on the Nexus still vary from AOSP. Google should be seen as an OEM. They have their own proprietary software such as the camera (photosphere) for example that they have not released the source code for. Obviously there is much less modification to the AOSP code for Nexus stock ROMs. Things like the frameworks will remain in large, the same. As with other device stock ROMs, the code is not directly available,. Even though it is very similar to AOSP, it isn't really. So all the ROMs in "Android development" are modified in the same way as other devices. Decompiled and "dsi xda kitchen"... Some AOSP apk's may be a direct shoe in though due to the massive similarities.

AOSP ROM devs don't have as much trouble as with other devices though. The AOSP source that is sync'd from the google repository can be built directly for the Nexus range (older devices excluded) without having to merge it with a device tree and drivers etc as the source already includes that.
 

bbabiuk

Senior Member
Mar 22, 2011
264
76
Winnipeg
On other devices, you have AOSP ROMs and Stock ROMs.

Stock ROMs cannot be compiled from source. They can have their apks decompiled and have smaller amendments made to the code that is revealed from this process and have some other basic functions added too via things like "dsi xda kitchen" and these roms generally belong in "Android development" forums. OEM's should be releasing stock kernel source code though, so this allows further amendments to be made by Stock ROM devs.

AOSP ROMs are compiled from source code as you know. Often, as the OEM can get away with only releasing kernel source code, AOSP devs have to hack drivers and libs or build open source alternatives to get things like the camera to work because the OEM may not have released the source code for the drivers or HAL. This is why on other devices, you often see early AOSP roms listing things not working like WiFi, Camera and other things that rely on hardware.

On Nexus devices, this is slightly different.

Stock ROMs on the Nexus still vary from AOSP. Google should be seen as an OEM. They have their own proprietary software such as the camera (photosphere) for example that they have not released the source code for. Obviously there is much less modification to the AOSP code for Nexus stock ROMs. Things like the frameworks will remain in large, the same. As with other device stock ROMs, the code is not directly available,. Even though it is very similar to AOSP, it isn't really. So all the ROMs in "Android development" are modified in the same way as other devices. Decompiled and "dsi xda kitchen"... Some AOSP apk's may be a direct shoe in though due to the massive similarities.

AOSP ROM devs don't have as much trouble as with other devices though. The AOSP source that is sync'd from the google repository can be built directly for the Nexus range (older devices excluded) without having to merge it with a device tree and drivers etc as the source already includes that.

Very thorough. I do have one other question then...

Then AOSP ROMs for Nexus devices should by the nature of the build process have everything working similarly to the stock ROMs. Things like Bluetooth not working quite right or green tints to cameras should not occur.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 

danarama

Senior Member
Aug 22, 2010
31,277
18,811
Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, UK
*should* yes, but not guaranteed. Pure aosp should work immediately after compile. However, new functions are added by developers to the aosp code base to make the roms more functional and these commits can break each other or even existing functionality

-----------------------
Sent via tapatalk.

I do NOT reply to support queries over PM. Please keep support queries to the Q&A section, so that others may benefit
 
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air2k57

Senior Member
Oct 5, 2009
1,431
159
I found that "issues" on aosp based roms are there quite a bit. Cataclysm, for example, has a green line on every video I record in snap chat. Purity was great, but back key on portrait was always brighter than rest and had some visual glitches. I've yet to see a ROM as fast as stock android, or kernel that is same.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
 
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bbabiuk

Senior Member
Mar 22, 2011
264
76
Winnipeg
I found that "issues" on aosp based roms are there quite a bit. Cataclysm, for example, has a green line on every video I record in snap chat. Purity was great, but back key on portrait was always brighter than rest and had some visual glitches. I've yet to see a ROM as fast as stock android, or kernel that is same.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Thanks for the update. The nice thing about nexus devices is it is so simple to go back to stock. It was a real pain on my HTC one.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 

air2k57

Senior Member
Oct 5, 2009
1,431
159
No problem. I had htc one and it was indeed a pain. While I liked sense, I felt a need to root because of annoying apps it came with, or power saver notification that was always there. Not to mention, T-Mobile variant took ages to get updated, and when it did, it was buggy. The whole S-Off thing was a nightmare.

I've always found other devices, even nexus 4, to function better with custom ROMs and kernel. It took me awhile to root n5 though, simply because I was happy with everything. I did like ability to have center clock, or circle battery with %. However, in order to have those, you need aosp or gravity box that doesn't work with art due to xposed. Oh yea, pie I liked too, I like having more screen space.

Other than that, I am very happy stock. I ended up finding a really good mix with purity ROM and elementalx kernel. I liked elemental on HTC one a lot as well. And, it has cooler colors option, I do like the way it makes display look.

Last night I ended up unrooting and going stock to compare. Reason being, I got annoyed with bright back key in landscape and text on quick toggles in portrait ended up being cut off some. Performance wise, I am thinking that lure stock is still A bit quicker. Battery? Not sure yet, I got woken up at 7am by stupid weather alert, ended up unplugging my phone and leaving it on nightstand. It dropped from 99% to 95% in 4 hours idle. So about a % an hour. I remember Franco and elemental having better idea battery life though.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
 

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    I am wondering about the difference between an original development ROM vs. A stock ROM variant on a nexus device.

    To explain... My last device was an HTC one. There modified stock ROMs. And then there were the aosp or rather original development ROMs. It was quite easy to differentiate. Drivers etc as well as software was very proprietary in nature vs. a stock ROM. Even the GPE ROMs were stock variants.

    The question I have is....what is the difference on a nexus? Is the software similar in nature but drivers different? I likely am doing poor job explaining it...or using the incorrect terminology. But I hope I have expressed it adequately.

    Not that NY of this will likely stop me from flashing a custom ROM or 10... I just was curious. That was all.

    Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


    On other devices, you have AOSP ROMs and Stock ROMs.

    Stock ROMs cannot be compiled from source. They can have their apks decompiled and have smaller amendments made to the code that is revealed from this process and have some other basic functions added too via things like "dsi xda kitchen" and these roms generally belong in "Android development" forums. OEM's should be releasing stock kernel source code though, so this allows further amendments to be made by Stock ROM devs.

    AOSP ROMs are compiled from source code as you know. Often, as the OEM can get away with only releasing kernel source code, AOSP devs have to hack drivers and libs or build open source alternatives to get things like the camera to work because the OEM may not have released the source code for the drivers or HAL. This is why on other devices, you often see early AOSP roms listing things not working like WiFi, Camera and other things that rely on hardware.

    On Nexus devices, this is slightly different.

    Stock ROMs on the Nexus still vary from AOSP. Google should be seen as an OEM. They have their own proprietary software such as the camera (photosphere) for example that they have not released the source code for. Obviously there is much less modification to the AOSP code for Nexus stock ROMs. Things like the frameworks will remain in large, the same. As with other device stock ROMs, the code is not directly available,. Even though it is very similar to AOSP, it isn't really. So all the ROMs in "Android development" are modified in the same way as other devices. Decompiled and "dsi xda kitchen"... Some AOSP apk's may be a direct shoe in though due to the massive similarities.

    AOSP ROM devs don't have as much trouble as with other devices though. The AOSP source that is sync'd from the google repository can be built directly for the Nexus range (older devices excluded) without having to merge it with a device tree and drivers etc as the source already includes that.
    1
    *should* yes, but not guaranteed. Pure aosp should work immediately after compile. However, new functions are added by developers to the aosp code base to make the roms more functional and these commits can break each other or even existing functionality

    -----------------------
    Sent via tapatalk.

    I do NOT reply to support queries over PM. Please keep support queries to the Q&A section, so that others may benefit
    1
    I found that "issues" on aosp based roms are there quite a bit. Cataclysm, for example, has a green line on every video I record in snap chat. Purity was great, but back key on portrait was always brighter than rest and had some visual glitches. I've yet to see a ROM as fast as stock android, or kernel that is same.

    Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app