Noob here. How can I find a ROM with no Google cancer and no proprietary software? - Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite Questions & Answers

I'm thinking of buying a Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, and I want to install a quality open-source ROM on it since I don't want the Chinese or Google spying on me.
I've never installed a ROM before, and I don't think I really need any fancy features (except for basic smartphone things, like support for camera, flashlight, WiFi, Bluetooth, phone calls, audio/video recording and playback, GPS, etc.). I guess my only other requirement is that it can support something like aptX/aptX HD so I can use it with Bluetooth headphones and it won't sound like ass.
I've got some questions:
Do most ROMs generally tend to work with most phones? Can I just download some random ROM and have it work most of the time?
Are the 2 pages of ROM threads listed on this forum the only ones this phone can support? Or are these just the ROMs that forum users have tested it with? A lot of these ROMs I've never even heard of, and many are listed as [UNOFFICIAL].
Cyanogenmod has been discontinued, but could it still work on newer devices? There's projects like freecyngn which can remove propriety Google Analytics stuff from it, and I don't know if any similar tweaks exist for Cyanogenmod's successors.
What's a good resource for de-googled ROMs with no proprietary software? And which can support aptX/aptX HD or an alternative. And would hopefully actually work with the phone.

Sorry, someone is always out there listening, watching, monitoring and data mining - regardless of the OS eco-system. Learn to built your own and have fun. Good luck !
P.S. Stay away from smartphone, go back to a "dumb" phone. Find yourself a good old Motorola Startac classic or Sony-Ericson ... maybe. That is, if backdoors were not integrated at the chipset level.

Letitride said:
Sorry, someone is always out there listening, watching, monitoring and data mining - regardless of the OS eco-system. Learn to built your own and have fun. Good luck !
P.S. Stay away from smartphone, go back to a "dumb" phone. Find yourself a good old Motorola Startac classic or Sony-Ericson ... maybe. That is, if backdoors were not integrated at the chipset level.
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Click to collapse
I'm not asking for a phone to go off the grid and hide in the amazon jungle with, but there's an obvious difference between an OS bloated with proprietary spyware garbage and an OS that's as barebones and open-source as possible. I want to make the best choice when it comes to what's installed on my smartphone, or as close as to the best choice as I can get.
I don't think programming is something I'll ever learn to do, let alone build my own OS. The best I can do is make a table with fancy text in HTML.

Let's start with your Google account if you want to stay under the radar - it's a given with Play Store, unless you feel comfortable going without it and sideload Gapps or manually install/update from APK mirror. A2 Lite is a good but entry level smartphone, don't expect nor realistic to count on extensive custom rom development.
You will need to learn and experiment to find out for yourself, start with rooting the A/B partition and installing TWRP, then select a ROM ... you will be flashing at least several of these to decide what work best for you. Read - there is plenty of comments, feedbacks and caution.
I run the stock Global rom, Android One - which is as close to "pure" without bloatware as it can be (having owned, used & played with probably 2 dozens+ smartphone in this decade) - and have no problems - unlike others and not eveyone is having issues with WiFi & bluetooth.
I run Lineage OS on the Huawei Honor 5X ... and there are custom roms that are barebone and/or need only minimal Gapps to be flashed (nano or pico) - it comes down to the question for you, what is your definition of spyware, proprietary or stock/OEM and preloaded. If you are paranoid, don't use it, disabled it, block it and change permission - IMHO, with Oreo & Pie roms - it will probably crippled your device badly.
Trust me, "they" all know where you've been and just left, approximate time spend and what you clicked. Give it a rest unless you have reasons to worry.

I don't know what I should download because I have no idea what would work with this phone. Online it says that Android One "only runs on certain smartphones", so probably not that. If Oreo/Pie stop working if you disable certain bloat, then I'm fine with using something older or even ancient, as long as it can function. And I'm probably going to be installing Play apps from APK mirror instead of the Play Store. What actually is the difference between that and sideloading? I thought when you installed an .apk from APK mirror it meant you were sideloading.
Again, my expectations for an OS are quite modest - basic smartphone features, along with the ability to use aptX/aptX HD or some other variants.
Can you link some de-googled and de-bloated ROMs I can choose from? I can't find any ROMs named "nano" or "pico" on the ROM section for this phone, or on Google.

dooshbagel said:
I'm thinking of buying a Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, and I want to install a quality open-source ROM on it since I don't want the Chinese or Google spying on me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Roms listed here are the ones you need, they are the ones for this phone. Successor of CM is LineageOS and people are happy with it. Being such a noob do your reading before you get into flashing, that prevents pulling too much hair. Mi A2 lite is a good phone.
Ah, avoid stock, it's a mess according to people who used it. I erased it as soon as I got the phone. I run AOSiP and am content with it.
On this phone you can also flash GSI systems (more reading), ArrowOS 9 worked just fine for me, others may be good too.

dooshbagel said:
I'm thinking of buying a Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, and I want to install a quality open-source ROM on it since I don't want the Chinese or Google spying on me.
I've never installed a ROM before, and I don't think I really need any fancy features (except for basic smartphone things, like support for camera, flashlight, WiFi, Bluetooth, phone calls, audio/video recording and playback, GPS, etc.). I guess my only other requirement is that it can support something like aptX/aptX HD so I can use it with Bluetooth headphones and it won't sound like ass.
I've got some questions:
Do most ROMs generally tend to work with most phones? Can I just download some random ROM and have it work most of the time?
Are the 2 pages of ROM threads listed on this forum the only ones this phone can support? Or are these just the ROMs that forum users have tested it with? A lot of these ROMs I've never even heard of, and many are listed as [UNOFFICIAL].
Cyanogenmod has been discontinued, but could it still work on newer devices? There's projects like freecyngn which can remove propriety Google Analytics stuff from it, and I don't know if any similar tweaks exist for Cyanogenmod's successors.
What's a good resource for de-googled ROMs with no proprietary software? And which can support aptX/aptX HD or an alternative. And would hopefully actually work with the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just try this https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-a2-lite/development/rom-barebones-lineageos-16-0-t3931121

celrau said:
On this phone you can also flash GSI systems (more reading), ArrowOS 9 worked just fine for me, others may be good too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is GSI? And I don't see ArrowOS 9 listed anywhere in this phone's forum section. Can I just download it anywhere from the internet and have it work with the A2 Lite?

dooshbagel said:
What is GSI? And I don't see ArrowOS 9 listed anywhere in this phone's forum section. Can I just download it anywhere from the internet and have it work with the A2 Lite?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GSI stands for generic system images but as I said, do your own reading on all these. ArrowOS is here and you will need AB. And no, you can't just download it from anywhere on the internet and have it work. Search for what treble and GSI are, how to flash them and so on. Theoretically GSIs are easier to deal with since you don't need to change slots (don't ask me what slots are, you have the internet) but they are generic and some features may not work. If this is too much for you there is a thread here about debloating the stock rom, maybe that's more in tone with your current level of experience.

dooshbagel said:
I'm thinking of buying a Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, and I want to install a quality open-source ROM on it since I don't want the Chinese or Google spying on me.
I've never installed a ROM before, and I don't think I really need any fancy features (except for basic smartphone things, like support for camera, flashlight, WiFi, Bluetooth, phone calls, audio/video recording and playback, GPS, etc.). I guess my only other requirement is that it can support something like aptX/aptX HD so I can use it with Bluetooth headphones and it won't sound like ass.
I've got some questions:
Do most ROMs generally tend to work with most phones? Can I just download some random ROM and have it work most of the time?
Are the 2 pages of ROM threads listed on this forum the only ones this phone can support? Or are these just the ROMs that forum users have tested it with? A lot of these ROMs I've never even heard of, and many are listed as [UNOFFICIAL].
Cyanogenmod has been discontinued, but could it still work on newer devices? There's projects like freecyngn which can remove propriety Google Analytics stuff from it, and I don't know if any similar tweaks exist for Cyanogenmod's successors.
What's a good resource for de-googled ROMs with no proprietary software? And which can support aptX/aptX HD or an alternative. And would hopefully actually work with the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trying to reply in a simplier manner than previous comments:
I come from the similar direction to yours. I am not a whistleblower, but I'm sick of all the data collection, all my moves logged on Google servers, all the synchronization and all the targeted ads.
For downloading apps you don't need to sideload, just use F-Droid + Aurora Store for Play Store.
LineageOS is the continuation of Cyanogenmod project.
The best you can find right now is this build of Lineage: https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-a2-lite/development/lineageos-16-0-xiaomi-mi-a2-lite-t3919060
Be aware that it has unofficial status by now and it's unclear if it's gonna change anytime soon. It means you have to put all your trust in the maintainer, plus it doesn't use official Lineage infrastracture for delivering updates etc. Also SELinux is not active, at least yet.
The phone itself I definitely recommend - cheap, 10+ hours of SOT, fast enough, camera is ok for random pic taking.

celrau said:
GSI stands for generic system images but as I said, do your own reading on all these. ArrowOS is here and you will need AB. And no, you can't just download it from anywhere on the internet and have it work. Search for what treble and GSI are, how to flash them and so on. Theoretically GSIs are easier to deal with since you don't need to change slots (don't ask me what slots are, you have the internet) but they are generic and some features may not work. If this is too much for you there is a thread here about debloating the stock rom, maybe that's more in tone with your current level of experience.
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Click to collapse
Alright, cheers. What are the basic procedures if I lightly or horribly screw up something while I'm doing this? Resetting, etc.

Might I respectfully suggest that you brew a cup of coffee or tea or whatever beverage, sit back and do some serious reading. Maybe, buy this device first and/or play with something you currently owned to get a better feel of how flashing & other basics like ADB and installing of ADB works.
You will probably need to be comfortable using (Xiao)MiFlash to fix any possible soft/hard brick to recover it back to OEM stock condition. All of the above plus other suggested files, roms and tools on your PC, ready to do its part. I also agreed, perhaps, once you decide to buy this device - start with debloating the stock rom as a beginner, to see what all this is about - before freaking out in a panic about all those warnings & errors on the device's screen as it boot up.

dooshbagel said:
Alright, cheers. What are the basic procedures if I lightly or horribly screw up something while I'm doing this? Resetting, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the other guy is saying, best do some basic reading and install adb and fastboot on your computer, you will need them. If you stay with stock and just get rid of Google and friends (highly recommended for worm up) but **** up at some point and you can't boot or it bootloops, restart in recovery and reset. Or if you boot and something is not working but you have access to settings app, reset from there. Here, I'm doing your homework. DuckDuckGo is your friend.

dooshbagel said:
1-Do most ROMs generally tend to work with most phones? Can I just download some random ROM and have it work most of the time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the past years, unlike PC systems, a ROM was device specific and each supported device (of Cyanogenmod, let's say) was maintained by a dedicated developer. We still call it the same version of the said ROM, but each one has specific drivers files for its compatible device. It's still the case nowadays, and that's what you'll see in the ROM section of this device.
However, beginning from Oreo, google introduced a project called "Treble" that intended to separate the common Android System from the device specific files and driver's, by separating the classic system partition to a "vendor" partition, which contains all the hardware specific stuff, and a "system" partition containing a only generic universal Android system.
With this "Treble" project, a new type of ROMs emerged, called GSIs. These ROMs work on all Treble compatible devices (the Mi A2 lite included), and don't need to be maintained for each one. The Treble forum is here ; you'll find a more large selection with GSI ROMs, but I advice you to stay with the device specific ROMs on the Mi A2 Lite forum, which are more optimised for their specific device.
dooshbagel said:
2- Are the 2 pages of ROM threads listed on this forum the only ones this phone can support? Or are these just the ROMs that forum users have tested it with? A lot of these ROMs I've never even heard of, and many are listed as [UNOFFICIAL].
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As answered above, these are the specific ROMs especially developed for this device, they'll be the more adapted to the Mi A2 Lite.
UNNOFICIAL just means that the developer that buildt the ROM for this device isn't working directly with the team responsible of the ROM. (For example the CrDroid ROM being official, it's A2Lite version will be hosted in the CrDroid site, an unofficial one won't).
It can be an indicator of stability, but you may find a very stable and clean UNNOFICIAL rom.
Now almost all the ROM that you've seen in the list are based on LineageOS, itself the son of CyanogenMod. We'll come to this point now.
dooshbagel said:
3- Cyanogenmod has been discontinued, but could it still work on newer devices? There's projects like freecyngn which can remove propriety Google Analytics stuff from it, and I don't know if any similar tweaks exist for Cyanogenmod's successors
4- What's a good resource for de-googled ROMs with no proprietary software? And which can support aptX/aptX HD or an alternative. And would hopefully actually work with the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CyanogenMod project was going on like one week after it was discontinued, under the name of "LineageOS". Its 100% the same source and base, and the LineageOS team is the part of CM team that wanted to continue the CM rom developpement after their team split.
If you want a clean ROM with the basic features and independent from Google software, LOS is the more advisable. They provide their own version of all the basic feature apps (dialer, camera, music player etc) so that you don't need using Google software, and are in general VERY privacy axed, and have a centralised interface called Trust from which you can control what informations each app have access to.
Like I said above, almost all the ROMs (in the A2 Lite section) you'll see are based on LineageOS, adding customization features mostly. So if you just need the vanilla Android feature, with no obscure ROM additional software, and axed on privacy and security, I think LineageOS is your best shot.
The LineageOS 16build for this device is unnoficial but is fully buggless and regularly updated and maintained by a xda recognized developer.
Lastly, unrelated to you questions but you may need to read some "A/B devices - seamless updates" documentation, and carefully read the guides, or you risk bricking your device. (And possibly provide yourself with all the necessary stuff to unbrick your device, just in case)

Thanks GDFI, great post.
Alright bois, time for me to do some research then.

I built a custom version of LineageOS for personal use, with some built-in apps removed, patches for signature spoofing and some (mostly FOSS) apps included (microG, F-Droid, Lawnchair, etc.)
https://rarepepes.faith/lineage-16.0-20190606-UNOFFICIAL-daisy.zip
You can't really go full FOSS with any of the Android phones (Samsung S3 + Replicant ROM is as good as it gets), but you can minimize Google stuff on your device and filter network connections using apps like AFWall
Have fun!

You kids can try to Port "mokee os" ?

Hi, I recommend you to stay with AndroidOne OS.
I don't know why you want to change OS because Xiaomi still releasing security patch which is very important to protect your phone.
Custom ROM rarely update and maintain.
Not to mention in order to flash it, you need patient and time to learn the knowledge.
It is only suitable to go for custom ROM when Xiaomi not longer support Mi A2 Lite.

coolwei1 said:
Hi, I recommend you to stay with AndroidOne OS.
I don't know why you want to change OS because Xiaomi still releasing security patch which is very important to protect your phone.
Custom ROM rarely update and maintain.
Not to mention in order to flash it, you need patient and time to learn the knowledge.
It is only suitable to go for custom ROM when Xiaomi not longer support Mi A2 Lite.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obscurantism at its best :good:

When nobody use a custom rom, nobody will develope on this device. Ergo no stable custom rom in the end of service for mi a2 Lite

Related

Looking for stock, debloated, deodexed, microG-backed MIUI rom

So I came back to the forum after 6 months and was pleasantly surprised by the number of custom roms available now. From the few (currently trending) threads I checked out, I see that either there are still some kind of bugs are still lingering or the dev abandoned the project or the thread was closed or ... I think you get the point. For this reason, I'd rather stick with the official stock rom but I never quite liked the bloatware (both mi and google) and google tracking. To maximise performance and battery life, I wish to clean my rom of all of these stuff or, if possible, install a pre-configured one.
I have some questions though:-
1. Best way to debloat?
Yes, I have tried adb uninstall command when I first got the phone but for some reason, that didn't work. I saw a recent guide on the forum for this purpose that I could try later.
2. Any experience with microG on MIUI?
I don't know if it's possible/working on MIUI roms since this is my first Xiaomi device.
3. Recommended custom ROM?
I may have missed out on all the good stuff during my absence. If you could recommend a rom you find the most stable and clean, even if it is AOSP, it would save me a lot of time.
Look, you are probably going to tell me that I could have done a bit more search on my own before posting here. The thing is, I have returned to the whole modding stuff after 4 years so lest I might break/mess up things, I deemed it more reasonable to ask here.
Hope someone sees this. Thank you.
You're looking for the exact same thing I did.
For me the solution was lineageos with microg, magisk, fdroid store + aurora store.
Lineageos has some minor bugs for me, as well as cameras not working properly.
Reason for most bugs in the most roms is probably that they are based on Android 10,
the devs will probably be able to solve all the bugs as soon as Xiaomi releases miui 12 for this device, which will be based on Android 10.
What you are looking for is probably miui EU rom.
You can easily debloat most of the unwanted sofware with "Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot tools".
Your problems with ADB probably has to do with SU priviligies.
If I remeber correctly you have to use Xposed framework in order to get microg running on miui, I could be wrong on this!
Hope this helps a bit!
SkogstaTarzan said:
You're looking for the exact same thing I did.
For me the solution was lineageos with microg, magisk, fdroid store + aurora store.
Lineageos has some minor bugs for me, as well as cameras not working properly.
Reason for most bugs in the most roms is probably that they are based on Android 10,
the devs will probably be able to solve all the bugs as soon as Xiaomi releases miui 12 for this device, which will be based on Android 10.
What you are looking for is probably miui EU rom.
You can easily debloat most of the unwanted sofware with "Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot tools".
Your problems with ADB probably has to do with SU priviligies.
If I remeber correctly you have to use Xposed framework in order to get microg running on miui, I could be wrong on this!
Hope this helps a bit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I am more inclined to use vanilla Android than MIUI. At least now I know my desired setup is within the realm of possibility. Will surely give LineageOS a try.

Question [Poco F3] Is it worth changing over to the EU ROM over from Global ROM

I just bought my Poco F3 (8/256), and initially I never really gave any thought about flashing a custom ROM, since at this level, the phone itself is amazing, and I can use it well and reliably.
But I came across people being really passionate towards the EU ROM over the Global one. And they aren't doing it for the sake of customization, they're doing it for literal quality of life improvement.
With that said, as the title suggests, my interest is piqued with the topic, and just wanna ask if it's worth doing so?
I hope you guys could give a conclusive, objective list, not just simply because you use one or the other. (Would really appreciate it :> )
Also I have a few other questions;
Is it technically a custom ROM but is essentially official ROM (I.e. it's from Xiaomi directly so practically nothing changes and everything is still optimized and built for the F3)
Can you go back to the default ROM like nothing happened (Literally back to stock, is that possible?)
And is it safe from a I wanna keep my phone as stock as possible, without any modifications (I really just want the EU if it's officially from Xiaomi and really is stock)
Also maybe you guys can throw around tutorials, and instructions (Like with is TWRP?)
As someone who came from the era of primitive Android modifications (Rooting around 2014) I managed to boot loop an old device of mine, and so I'm understandably hesitant towards these things m
Hopefully my questions could be answered by such an awesome community. Appreciate it :>
Stay safe always guys!
Edit: I really value keeping the phone as is (The experience and the technicalities) I just really want my phone to still be reliable and free from bugs and headaches (With exception to the ones caused by the phone itself, not cause I messed around with my phone)
only one way to find out
Xyril07 said:
I just bought my Poco F3 (8/256), and initially I never really gave any thought about flashing a custom ROM, since at this level, the phone itself is amazing, and I can use it well and reliably.
But I came across people being really passionate towards the EU ROM over the Global one. And they aren't doing it for the sake of customization, they're doing it for literal quality of life improvement.
With that said, as the title suggests, my interest is piqued with the topic, and just wanna ask if it's worth doing so?
I hope you guys could give a conclusive, objective list, not just simply because you use one or the other. (Would really appreciate it :> )
Also I have a few other questions;
Is it technically a custom ROM but is essentially official ROM (I.e. it's from Xiaomi directly so practically nothing changes and everything is still optimized and built for the F3)
Can you go back to the default ROM like nothing happened (Literally back to stock, is that possible?)
And is it safe from a I wanna keep my phone as stock as possible, without any modifications (I really just want the EU if it's officially from Xiaomi and really is stock)
Also maybe you guys can throw around tutorials, and instructions (Like with is TWRP?)
As someone who came from the era of primitive Android modifications (Rooting around 2014) I managed to boot loop an old device of mine, and so I'm understandably hesitant towards these things m
Hopefully my questions could be answered by such an awesome community. Appreciate it :>
Stay safe always guys!
Edit: I really value keeping the phone as is (The experience and the technicalities) I just really want my phone to still be reliable and free from bugs and headaches (With exception to the ones caused by the phone itself, not cause I messed around with my phone)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not worth it, the changes are very little, like e.g. added Ads toggle directly in the initial Android Setup and probably other very minor stuff.
Unless you're talking about Xiaomi.eu which is a Custom ROM. I personally use it and can recommend it. Latest MIUI from China, optimised for rest of the world. Advantages are more features and in-house apps like MIUI Phone (with Call Recording), MIUI Contacts, Xiaomi Health, etc..
dreamytom said:
Not worth it, the changes are very little, like e.g. added Ads toggle directly in the initial Android Setup and probably other very minor stuff.
Unless you're talking about Xiaomi.eu which is a Custom ROM. I personally use it and can recommend it. Latest MIUI from China, optimised for rest of the world. Advantages are more features and in-house apps like MIUI Phone (with Call Recording), MIUI Contacts, Xiaomi Health, etc..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait I'm confused?
Xiaomi.eu is different from the EU ROM?
Does that mean that the particular ROM you're using is actually a Custom ROM (From the community rather than from developers/ POCO themselves)
If so, what exactly are the advantages it provides aside from the one you mentioned? How about substance?
And does that mean that it is outside the realm of being official, and therefore not ideal to someone like me looking to stick to stock everything to avoid the hassle and headache?
Thank you!
Xyril07 said:
Wait I'm confused?
Xiaomi.eu is different from the EU ROM?
Does that mean that the particular ROM you're using is actually a Custom ROM (From the community rather than from developers/ POCO themselves)
If so, what exactly are the advantages it provides aside from the one you mentioned? How about substance?
And does that mean that it is outside the realm of being official, and therefore not ideal to someone like me looking to stick to stock everything to avoid the hassle and headache?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes 100% different. Many get confused about this because of the website's name.
It's very much a Custom ROM, but very stable, since it just takes the latest MIUI ROM from China (China gets the latest ROM first, because Xiaomi is chinese). The community devs also did a few adjustments to make the chinese MIUI ROM suitable for the rest of the world, like adding Google Services which China doesn't use, etc..
I'm not sure if you can flash the Official EU ROM without having to unlock the bootloader. I think you can.
But for Xiaomi.eu you definitely need to unlock it. For me personally it was worth it, but I'm also very specific about my customisations and also always unlock & root my Android devices.
dreamytom said:
Yes 100% different. Many get confused about this because of the website's name.
It's very much a Custom ROM, but very stable, since it just takes the latest MIUI ROM from China (China gets the latest ROM first, because Xiaomi is chinese). The community devs also did a few adjustments to make the chinese MIUI ROM suitable for the rest of the world, like adding Google Services which China doesn't use, etc..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn.
Do you personally recommend going through the hassle of switching over to Xiaomi.eu, as someone who wants to stick to stock as much as possible but also want the best ideal experience (best battery life, general quality of life stuff)
I also wanna avoid stuff like bootlooping, issues with my warranty, not being able to go back to the official state of the phone etc.
Can you also comment on the opinions I see mostly saying that there is better battery over at Xiaomi.eu. and if so by how much? Are talking an extra hour or two on your screen on time and general battery life? Or at best a couple of minutes?
Thank you
Xyril07 said:
Damn.
Do you personally recommend going through the hassle of switching over to Xiaomi.eu, as someone who wants to stick to stock as much as possible but also want the best ideal experience (best battery life, general quality of life stuff)
I also wanna avoid stuff like bootlooping, issues with my warranty, not being able to go back to the official state of the phone etc.
Can you also comment on the opinions I see mostly saying that there is better battery over at Xiaomi.eu. and if so by how much? Are talking an extra hour or two on your screen on time and general battery life? Or at best a couple of minutes?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm. Well, Global and EU ROMs are always behind China ROM and Xiaomi.eu Custom ROM.
First thing you'd notice is the Xiaomi apps like Phone, Contacts, and other Xiaomi apps being improved and having a modern Design. You also get new features like Horizontal Recents-Menu, ability to smoothly adjust Font-Thickness. And probably more obvious stuff.
It's been a long time since I last used Stock ROM, but.. battery life is the same.
Also: When people claim much improved battery life on Vanilla Android ROMs or other specific ROMs, take them with a grain of salt, unless these people do scientific tests.
There's always variation, and it highly depends on the features that are enabled, your apps and its services that are running in the background and other stuff like your specific brightness setting.
You may get bootlooping when trying out Custom ROMs, that can happen, but you can always revert back to Stock ROM. You just need to do research on how to flash a Custom Recovery like TWRP, how to flash a Custom ROM and how to revert back to a Stock ROM.
Unlocking Bootloader and using Custom ROM is probably not covered under warranty, but if you can, you can revert to Stock, lock the bootloader, and say "I haven't modified my phone's software", they wouldn't know.
The best MIUI experience is Xiaomi.eu in my opinion, however you have to take time in doing research about TWRP, Xiaomi.eu, Mi Flash (to revert to Stock if sh*t goes wrong), and yeah.
From Global to EU ROM (Official) however, is not worth it at all. No differences basically.
dreamytom said:
Hm. Well, Global and EU ROMs are always behind China ROM and Xiaomi.eu Custom ROM.
First thing you'd notice is the Xiaomi apps like Phone, Contacts, and other Xiaomi apps being improved and having a modern Design. You also get new features like Horizontal Recents-Menu, ability to smoothly adjust Font-Thickness. And probably more obvious stuff.
It's been a long time since I last used Stock ROM, but.. battery life is the same.
Also: When people claim much improved battery life on Vanilla Android ROMs or other specific ROMs, take them with a grain of salt, unless these people do scientific tests.
There's always variation, and it highly depends on the features that are enabled, your apps and its services that are running in the background and other stuff like your specific brightness setting.
You may get bootlooping when trying out Custom ROMs, that can happen, but you can always revert back to Stock ROM. You just need to do research on how to flash a Custom Recovery like TWRP, how to flash a Custom ROM and how to revert back to a Stock ROM.
Unlocking Bootloader and using Custom ROM is probably not covered under warranty, but if you can, you can revert to Stock, lock the bootloader, and say "I haven't modified my phone's software", they wouldn't know.
The best MIUI experience is Xiaomi.eu in my opinion, however you have to take time in doing research about TWRP, Xiaomi.eu, Mi Flash (to revert to Stock if sh*t goes wrong), and yeah.
From Global to EU ROM (Official) however, is not worth it at all. No differences basically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about OTA? From what I've read in the past, the Updater app in Xiaomi.eu just downloads the full package and we dirty flash the package it in TWRP. Is that still the case?
CharlieMHz said:
What about OTA? From what I've read in the past, the Updater app in Xiaomi.eu just downloads the full package and we dirty flash the package it in TWRP. Is that still the case?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, on Xiaomi.eu that is the case.
However it only takes 3 minutes to flash the ROM and to reboot. That's literally it.
It's possible for a system to work together with a Custom Recovery, in order to automatically flash updates, but apparently in 2021, we haven't gotten there yet.
I've heard of some Vanilla Android Custom ROMs having fully automatic OTA-updates. AICP or crDroid I think? Not sure..
There's two option with Custom MIUI ROM ( Bare minimum modifications or else there is Highly modifiable MIUI ROM's like OneOS, MIUI MIX, Hellas MIUI, XTRV, MIUIVN, MI-Globe, etc. ) , Xiaomi.eu weekly beta update and a Xiaomi.eu Stable update which are both based on chinese beta and stable as the name suggests. Personally, I use the Weekly update and i have not found any issues for which i would consider it a deal breaker. I am Rooted and happy. I will never go back to Stock ROM because of how poor the battery life was. And also to factor the google dialer and messages app. I do not like it.
I agree with everything @Animesh Singh said, except the Battery life part.
dreamytom said:
Sì, su Xiaomi.eu è così.
..
Ho sentito parlare di alcune ROM personalizzate Android Vanilla con aggiornamenti OTA completamente automatici. AICP o crDroid penso? Non sono sicuro..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to complete the list, even with Syberia I get the update via OTA.
pegasoc said:
Just to complete the list, even with Syberia I get the update via OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol why is it in italian
dreamytom said:
lol why is it in italian
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I apologize, I got confused with the translator.
Xyril07 said:
I just bought my Poco F3 (8/256), and initially I never really gave any thought about flashing a custom ROM, since at this level, the phone itself is amazing, and I can use it well and reliably.
But I came across people being really passionate towards the EU ROM over the Global one. And they aren't doing it for the sake of customization, they're doing it for literal quality of life improvement.
With that said, as the title suggests, my interest is piqued with the topic, and just wanna ask if it's worth doing so?
I hope you guys could give a conclusive, objective list, not just simply because you use one or the other. (Would really appreciate it :> )
Also I have a few other questions;
Is it technically a custom ROM but is essentially official ROM (I.e. it's from Xiaomi directly so practically nothing changes and everything is still optimized and built for the F3)
Can you go back to the default ROM like nothing happened (Literally back to stock, is that possible?)
And is it safe from a I wanna keep my phone as stock as possible, without any modifications (I really just want the EU if it's officially from Xiaomi and really is stock)
Also maybe you guys can throw around tutorials, and instructions (Like with is TWRP?)
As someone who came from the era of primitive Android modifications (Rooting around 2014) I managed to boot loop an old device of mine, and so I'm understandably hesitant towards these things m
Hopefully my questions could be answered by such an awesome community. Appreciate it :>
Stay safe always guys!
Edit: I really value keeping the phone as is (The experience and the technicalities) I just really want my phone to still be reliable and free from bugs and headaches (With exception to the ones caused by the phone itself, not cause I messed around with my phone)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you really like to more Google default apps than MIUI default apps such as Phone, Messages, Google Discover, etc. then changing from Global ROM to EU ROM from official MIUI site is good to go. Unlock the bootloader first then you can flash the EU ROM. Otherwise just stick with Global ROM, everything is same from performance, battery life, etc. But then again if you prefer a Custom ROM based on MIUI, then MIUI EU from Xiaomi-EU is better, it has better stability and more features as well since it is from Chinese ROM which always release earlier features and bug-fix improvement than the official MIUI ROM. Hope this help
You can check all xiaomi.eu features from the link below (scroll down a bit).
MIUI 12.0 - MIUI 12.0/12.1/12.2/12.5 STABLE RELEASE
STABLE RELEASE RULES WHEN POSTING 1. If a ROM is not published DONT ASK ABOUT ITS ETA 2. If a ROM is not published DONT ASK why! 3. If a ROM is available, download it and use it 4. If a ROM has bugs, post the bug to the bug section if the BUG is not already listed 5. If you use any form of...
xiaomi.eu
Notable features for me are:
Increased volume in headphones after some tweaking in sound settings, better standby and battery life, wallpaper carousel (it has an anime category in xiaomi.eu), better theme store imo because of the AOD category which i couldn't find in the global but most of the stuff is in chinese so it might not be as appealing for everyone, no ads etc
I have been looking at a Poco f3 5g. It will have the UK (EU?) Rom. Should I still try xiaomi.eu?
I have a mi 9t at the moment with pixel experience but I'm willing to give Xiaomi ROM another go.
I like Google dialer and messages app. I don't record calls and don't understand why people make a big deal of this?
Is there less bloat in the xiaomi.eu ROM compared to the official EU ROM?
causeway said:
I have been looking at a Poco f3 5g. It will have the UK (EU?) Rom. Should I still try xiaomi.eu?
I have a mi 9t at the moment with pixel experience but I'm willing to give Xiaomi ROM another go.
I like Google dialer and messages app. I don't record calls and don't understand why people make a big deal of this?
Is there less bloat in the xiaomi.eu ROM compared to the official EU ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read somewhere that xiaomi.eu have some significant better stuff, i think it was on reddit. I ordered mine yesterday, my Poco F3 comes with the Global ROM so i am also thinking on flashing it to xiaomi.eu or to the Official EU ROM, i am still thinking more about changing to the EU ROM other than xiaomi.eu since it's official and it's the first time i am thinking about flahing a phone, is it possible to change from official Global ROM to official EU ROM and if so, do you know how can i do it?
I personnly wouldnt bother still got bloat like virus scanner pretty sure it Avast with a diffrent stamp dont care for the music and video apps to much bloat , the themes app sucks to ,, gonna flash something make it worth your while like Arrow

Question ROM Development in the Future

Hello there,
when support ends, do you expect ROMs for the device? I am thinking about buying one, and having a ROM would be really nice. I have no Idea how to make a ROM work on a device...
I would REALLY like to see the development go ahead soon.
The Xperia 10 III is a really great device at a reasonable price and with its features it is practically without alternative.
The only weak point is the pre-installed Sony software...
Unfortunately, there is neither a custom recovery nor a custom rom.
GSI roms can be installed, but I unfortunately found massive limitations with these compared to native roms.
For example, GAPPs cannot be installed without a custom recovery. Or only via a diversion as a Magisk module, but then with other restrictions (missing push function, crashes, etc.).
I also had major problems with updates and upgrades.
There have already been attempts by developers to develop their own custom recoveries for the device. The development of custom ROMs has also been discussed.
However, these projects seem to have more or less come to nothing so far.
I myself had already started the first attempts, but I simply have to admit that I definitely lack the skills for this.
Therefore, I hope that the developers here in the forum will become aware of this smartphone and recognise its potential.
And that not just at the end of the official support period.

Question what about twrp guys? :(

hello everyone, i want to buy this devie but as i see i cant install twrp!
if i can ask why? is it bc of oneplus or no devs to do it? also thx for all devs
i buy the phone for customs and roms and twrp and rooting and this things, this is my priorities
and is this device fully supported for development? any twrp coming soon?
and what about customs here? is they easy to install?
is this device good for gaming and daily use?
Evon88 said:
hello everyone, i want to buy this devie but as i see i cant install twrp!
if i can ask why? is it bc of oneplus or no devs to do it? also thx for all devs
i buy the phone for customs and roms and twrp and rooting and this things, this is my priorities
and is this device fully supported for development? any twrp coming soon?
and what about customs here? is they easy to install?
is this device good for gaming and daily use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What device and firmware?
TheGhost1951 said:
What device and firmware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i want to buy normal OP9P
Evon88 said:
i want to buy normal OP9P
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OnePlus 9 pro is good for customizing!
@Evon88, the fact is, TWRP hasn't been updated to properly support Android 12, at least not on the 9 Pro, and I'm beginning to suspect that it never will be. IMHO, it looks to me like encryption and other issues introduced by Google have simply gotten the best of the TWRP team. I'll be happy to be proven wrong, and will be pleasantly surprised if TWRP is updated to work with Android 12 and above, but right now, that remains in the realm of wishful thinking.
The good news is that the recoveries included with most Android 12 ROMs (based on the AOSP recovery) are functional, and are capable of doing the minimum work of flashing new ROMs and upgrades (i.e. Magisk and Gapps) just like TWRP. They certainly don't have the wealth of features that TWRP has (such as the ability to wipe only the data partition without erasing the media partition; it's either all or nothing), but then, they weren't designed to have them. I keep hoping that someone will take the AOSP recovery and use it as a base for a recovery that includes more of TWRP's features. (I'd do it if I had the knowledge. I'm knowledgeable enough to poke at AOSP and cherry pick features to create a custom ROM, but the intimate knowledge required to work with the recovery code is something I don't have.)
Evon88 said:
hello everyone, i want to buy this devie but as i see i cant install twrp!
if i can ask why? is it bc of oneplus or no devs to do it? also thx for all devs
i buy the phone for customs and roms and twrp and rooting and this things, this is my priorities
and is this device fully supported for development? any twrp coming soon?
and what about customs here? is they easy to install?
is this device good for gaming and daily use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can in fact install and boot TWRP. But you can't do almost anything in it... But this isn't OP9P problem but every phone with Android 12 and encryprion enabled. But as other said, TWRP isn't needed for flashing custom ROMs.
Evon88 said:
i want to buy normal OP9P
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't let lack of twrp hold you back. It's a fun phone. I use it for gaming (CODM) on Android 11.2.10.10 just fine. I may end up flashing an old build of crDroid for Android 11 but I'm pretty happy with how everything is set up on regular OOS now and don't want to lose L1 and start back over.
Unlocked bootloader✓
Root/Magisk✓
SafetyNet✓
Netflix, GPay, Banking apps✓
L1 Widevine✓
Real OOS✓
65w charging✓
120hz LTPO✓
No Dual Sim
The tmobile variant is still for sale on ebay at $469 brand new in the box or from OnePlus directly (also Tmo variant) for $499
MJPollard said:
@Evon88, the fact is, TWRP hasn't been updated to properly support Android 12, at least not on the 9 Pro, and I'm beginning to suspect that it never will be. IMHO, it looks to me like encryption and other issues introduced by Google have simply gotten the best of the TWRP team. I'll be happy to be proven wrong, and will be pleasantly surprised if TWRP is updated to work with Android 12 and above, but right now, that remains in the realm of wishful thinking.
The good news is that the recoveries included with most Android 12 ROMs (based on the AOSP recovery) are functional, and are capable of doing the minimum work of flashing new ROMs and upgrades (i.e. Magisk and Gapps) just like TWRP. They certainly don't have the wealth of features that TWRP has (such as the ability to wipe only the data partition without erasing the media partition; it's either all or nothing), but then, they weren't designed to have them. I keep hoping that someone will take the AOSP recovery and use it as a base for a recovery that includes more of TWRP's features. (I'd do it if I had the knowledge. I'm knowledgeable enough to poke at AOSP and cherry pick features to create a custom ROM, but the intimate knowledge required to work with the recovery code is something I don't have.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bugscze said:
You can in fact install and boot TWRP. But you can't do almost anything in it... But this isn't OP9P problem but every phone with Android 12 and encryprion enabled. But as other said, TWRP isn't needed for flashing custom ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a user/team on the >OnePlus 6 & 6T forums<, that has had success with Android 12 and 13 decrypt, I use it on my 6T, and decrypt works flawlessly, I use it to flash Magisk when changing/updating ROMs.
It's Unofficial however, I hope it trickles to other devices.
Appreciative said:
Don't let lack of twrp hold you back. It's a fun phone. I use it for gaming (CODM) on Android 11.2.10.10 just fine. I may end up flashing an old build of crDroid for Android 11 but I'm pretty happy with how everything is set up on regular OOS now and don't want to lose L1 and start back over.
Unlocked bootloader✓
Root/Magisk✓
SafetyNet✓
Netflix, GPay, Banking apps✓
L1 Widevine✓
Real OOS✓
65w charging✓
120hz LTPO✓
No Dual Sim
The tmobile variant is still for sale on ebay at $469 brand new in the box or from OnePlus directly (also Tmo variant) for $499
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you sir, what about chinese version? u recommend it? im pro at rooting and customs and msm, if the problem is just roms, i see used chinese new mobile, u recommend me to buy?
deleted
MJPollard said:
@Evon88, the fact is, TWRP hasn't been updated to properly support Android 12, at least not on the 9 Pro, and I'm beginning to suspect that it never will be. IMHO, it looks to me like encryption and other issues introduced by Google have simply gotten the best of the TWRP team. I'll be happy to be proven wrong, and will be pleasantly surprised if TWRP is updated to work with Android 12 and above, but right now, that remains in the realm of wishful thinking.
The good news is that the recoveries included with most Android 12 ROMs (based on the AOSP recovery) are functional, and are capable of doing the minimum work of flashing new ROMs and upgrades (i.e. Magisk and Gapps) just like TWRP. They certainly don't have the wealth of features that TWRP has (such as the ability to wipe only the data partition without erasing the media partition; it's either all or nothing), but then, they weren't designed to have them. I keep hoping that someone will take the AOSP recovery and use it as a base for a recovery that includes more of TWRP's features. (I'd do it if I had the knowledge. I'm knowledgeable enough to poke at AOSP and cherry pick features to create a custom ROM, but the intimate knowledge required to work with the recovery code is something I don't have.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you bro for explain, what do you think about chinese OP9P? i can change the rom, 5G i dont care that much, anthing else? is quality the same like hardware and plastic and fiber and this things? i mean phone body and screen
Bugscze said:
You can in fact install and boot TWRP. But you can't do almost anything in it... But this isn't OP9P problem but every phone with Android 12 and encryprion enabled. But as other said, TWRP isn't needed for flashing custom ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, <3
Evon88 said:
thank you sir, what about chinese version? u recommend it? im pro at rooting and customs and msm, if the problem is just roms, i see used chinese new mobile, u recommend me to buy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All of them are made in china and I think will be good quality OnePlus phone. I don't know if they use anything different (except rom). You can change from colorOS to oxygenOS
twrp not needed
vincemue said:
twrp not needed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Needed, maybe not. Desired, definitely. It can do a lot of things that the stock and AOSP recoveries simply can't (to name just one: it can wipe data without wiping storage, as I mentioned above; stock/AOSP recoveries' "factory reset" wipe destroys everything).
MJPollard said:
@Evon88, the fact is, TWRP hasn't been updated to properly support Android 12, at least not on the 9 Pro, and I'm beginning to suspect that it never will be. IMHO, it looks to me like encryption and other issues introduced by Google have simply gotten the best of the TWRP team. I'll be happy to be proven wrong, and will be pleasantly surprised if TWRP is updated to work with Android 12 and above, but right now, that remains in the realm of wishful thinking.
The good news is that the recoveries included with most Android 12 ROMs (based on the AOSP recovery) are functional, and are capable of doing the minimum work of flashing new ROMs and upgrades (i.e. Magisk and Gapps) just like TWRP. They certainly don't have the wealth of features that TWRP has (such as the ability to wipe only the data partition without erasing the media partition; it's either all or nothing), but then, they weren't designed to have them. I keep hoping that someone will take the AOSP recovery and use it as a base for a recovery that includes more of TWRP's features. (I'd do it if I had the knowledge. I'm knowledgeable enough to poke at AOSP and cherry pick features to create a custom ROM, but the intimate knowledge required to work with the recovery code is something I don't have.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was on LE2127_11_C20 A12 with tarp and root.......the mail reason it worked was no lock screen security. I did try with setting a password is be cause a script to try and make partitions R/W but that put me in a bootloader loop. Went back to 11.2.9.9..
Did you follow a YouTube tutorial step by step guide to see if you made any mistakes?
dartballs said:
Did you follow a YouTube tutorial step by step guide to see if you made any mistakes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who are you asking?
Appreciative said:
Don't let lack of twrp hold you back. It's a fun phone. I use it for gaming (CODM) on Android 11.2.10.10 just fine. I may end up flashing an old build of crDroid for Android 11 but I'm pretty happy with how everything is set up on regular OOS now and don't want to lose L1 and start back over.
Unlocked bootloader✓
Root/Magisk✓
SafetyNet✓
Netflix, GPay, Banking apps✓
L1 Widevine✓
Real OOS✓
65w charging✓
120hz LTPO✓
No Dual Sim
The tmobile variant is still for sale on ebay at $469 brand new in the box or from OnePlus directly (also Tmo variant) for $499
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Indian variant has dual SIM. Maybe some others variants, too.

GSI roms with spoofing?

I apologise in advance if this is the wrong place to post this..
I recently got a Ulefone power armor 13 that I've been trying to to de-google, I've avoided smartphones for a long time due to concerns about tracking ect but I decided to take the plunge after seeing articles online about privacy focused google android alternatives.
The one I've really been trying to get to run is CalyxOS, I know it only officially supports a limited number of smartphones but there are some unofficial GSI ROMs of it. I really liked the idea of being able run both open source apps and google apps with spoofing, I know I said that I was trying to degoogle this phone but the simple fact is there are a few google apps I'd like to run if I can avoid the tracking.
Unfortunately I've only had dead ends and headache trying to to get them to install but I have had some luck getting AOSP GSI to install so I'd like to try something new.
Can anyone recommend a GSI rom that has either microg or some other way of spoofing google? Or alternatively a way of adding it to a AOSP GSI rom?
Many thanks for your time.
What do you mean by "spoofing Google"?
Spoofing may have been the wrong term to use, what I meant by "spoofing Google" was some means of allowing google apps run without my data getting back to them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read online microg does this by somehow creating a fake ID for the device. Now my laypersons understanding may have have got this wrong if I have I would appreciate it if you could point me in the direction of some reliable info?
If I understood everything correctly this would need to be used along side the Aurora store or a similar app store to get the full benefit of it.
Maybe a better way to phrase my request would have been are there any GSI roms that do the same thing as CalyxOS or is it possable to get something similar with a stock AOSP GSI image and adding microg to it myself?
​
​
Star_Eagle said:
From what I've read online microg does this by somehow creating a fake ID for the device. Now my laypersons understanding may have have got this wrong if I have I would appreciate it if you could point me in the direction of some reliable info?
If I understood everything correctly this would need to be used along side the Aurora store or a similar app store to get the full benefit of it.
Maybe a better way to phrase my request would have been are there any GSI roms that do the same thing as CalyxOS or is it possable to get something similar with a stock AOSP GSI image and adding microg to it myself?
​
​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if you had any luck or not. I thought I would follow up to this. I don't know why there's not much posting info on GSI ROM's. From what I've found there are ROM's available for what you are looking for. I did find some degoogled GSI ROM's even with or without microG preinstalled. If you need a list of some, I can provide you. I'm not sure they will work, but it is sometimes a trial and error. For the phone you listed you should be able to get some to work though.
Hi defcondoc
Thanks for taking th time to reach out to me, I currently have the phone running an Arrowos GSI ROM from the phhutson ROM list and so far its been ok for me though I would be REALLY happy to have list of other possible ROMS to play/tinker with. Afterall you never know what you might find unless you try new things.
If you have the time send me the list you have I would be really greatfull, I don't mind if they don'e have microg preinstalled at this point so long as its clearly marked that its not prinstalled.
Thanks again.

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