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Bought my S4 with ME7 from a N2 before I knew what was good for me. As a recovering flash-a-holic, ME7 has helped me appreciate the functionality and stability of a factory ROM. In the past, factory ROMs never really did it for me - mainly because I've owned devices where factory overlay versus hardware were never really equal.
Obviously AOSP was the way to go - stable builds of Cyanogenmod to be specific (nightlies and insert developernamehere ROMs always had insertquirkhere that inevitably revealed itself - being a perfectionist who loves minimalism, I had limited options. My ROM choice was always stable AOSP-built or TouchWiz with very light modifications (I looked for debloated, odexed ROMs with no mods, maybe volume key to change track).
Back to the topic name, has anyone grown content with their ME7 stock device? Obviously I'm anticipating Safestrap (I went from a Fascinate to a Bionic, then to GNex, GS3, GN2, GS4 for those wondering), but if it never reaches fruition, I could be content with this device for a little while. Opinions?
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
zerofighter1 said:
Bought my S4 with ME7 from a N2 before I knew what was good for me. As a recovering flash-a-holic, ME7 has helped me appreciate the functionality and stability of a factory ROM. In the past, factory ROMs never really did it for me - mainly because I've owned devices where factory overlay versus hardware were never really equal.
Obviously AOSP was the way to go - stable builds of Cyanogenmod to be specific (nightlies and insert developernamehere ROMs always had insertquirkhere that inevitably revealed itself - being a perfectionist who loves minimalism, I had limited options. My ROM choice was always stable AOSP-built or TouchWiz with very light modifications (I looked for debloated, odexed ROMs with no mods, maybe volume key to change track).
Back to the topic name, has anyone grown content with their ME7 stock device? Obviously I'm anticipating Safestrap (I went from a Fascinate to a Bionic, then to GNex, GS3, GN2, GS4 for those wondering), but if it never reaches fruition, I could be content with this device for a little while. Opinions?
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
root alone is fine for me, tbh, even though i run a custom rom. Just the ability to get rid of bloatware is fine with stuff like nova launcher.
zerofighter1 said:
Bought my S4 with ME7 from a N2 before I knew what was good for me. As a recovering flash-a-holic, ME7 has helped me appreciate the functionality and stability of a factory ROM. In the past, factory ROMs never really did it for me - mainly because I've owned devices where factory overlay versus hardware were never really equal.
Obviously AOSP was the way to go - stable builds of Cyanogenmod to be specific (nightlies and insert developernamehere ROMs always had insertquirkhere that inevitably revealed itself - being a perfectionist who loves minimalism, I had limited options. My ROM choice was always stable AOSP-built or TouchWiz with very light modifications (I looked for debloated, odexed ROMs with no mods, maybe volume key to change track).
Back to the topic name, has anyone grown content with their ME7 stock device? Obviously I'm anticipating Safestrap (I went from a Fascinate to a Bionic, then to GNex, GS3, GN2, GS4 for those wondering), but if it never reaches fruition, I could be content with this device for a little while. Opinions?
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have ran basically every custom TW rom but now im on an me7 stock rom (can go back to mdk) and im content with it. Im running the xposed framework so I can do some basic customization. Getting some awesome battery life too, day and a half with 6 hours screen on time.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
Rooted, debloated with TBU, tweaked a bit with Tweakbox and Wanam via Xposed and using Nova, stock ME7 is fairly dynamic. Will I try a custom via SS, and/or via a custom recovery.....you bet. Am I OK with the GS4 as is? Yep. Best phone I have ever had by a long shot.
I used a 16gb S4 for couple days and then returned it and ordered the 32gb version online. I knew I had found my new phone because the only thing that bugged me was the bloat and that will go once rooted. Came from GNex, which I hated stock. Before that, the Incredible-hated Sense. So I was really thrilled with the S4 in all respects.
Question: When my new S4 arrives in the next day or two, what's the way to keep it from downloading the update before I can get it rooted? (I realize it may come already updated, in which case I'll just root, period )
GNex Toro
Pull sim and root or just put it in airplane mode then root. If it can't communicate to wonderful world of VZW, it can't pull down the update
Eric214 said:
Pull sim and root or just put it in airplane mode then root. If it can't communicate to wonderful world of VZW, it can't pull down the update
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The above would be the absolute 1st step/s. 2nd step is to freeze/uninstall SDM 1.0. and go to system root/data/fota/ and delete the ota file/s.
Getting rid of the bloat ware did it for me. My battery life is much better now than when I first got it. I still wish I could flash some different ROMs. I've never had a phone I couldn't do that on so this will be a first.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Actually, I'm ok with rooted ME7 for now. It's only been, maybe 10 hours, and most of that time has been spent searching and reading, but after removing all the bloat mentioned here and downloading blacked out apps from TBO Blackout Updater, I think it should be just fine. Especially coming from the ol' Fascinate.
My first Droid was a HTC Incredible. I went through tons of ROM"s on that. Everything from an ODex'd stock rom to MIUI. I ultimately ran MIUI with tons of customizations flashed via recovery.
With the S4 Im content with root and just getting rid of the bloat. I like TouchWiz more than I liked HTC Sense.
Just rooting alone and removing the bloat I can go 27 hours with 55% screen time and 8% GPS usage. I went with the 32Gb version and a 16Gb Microsd card with tons of wallpapers, notification sounds, etc.
Very content.
I used to be a flash-a-holic, but in the last year, I have had a child and gone back to school. I have found very little time or motivation to mess around with ROMs I don't like, have strange glitches, or are just plain unreliable. I know there are many good ROMs usually available for well supported devices, but the time spent trying one after another has worn on me. My Nexus 7 has been running the same fully functional ROM for a long time, and I feel no need to "update" to the latest version of the ROM just for the sake of having the "latest" when this is running rock solid.
Stuck on stock... hehe... has been good for me actually. Very stable, functional. reliable. After rooting, removing all the bloat (still just frozen until thouroughly proven to be safe for me), and installling HOLO Launcher HD, I am very happy. I am findng tweaks to polish the user experience more and more every day, and my battery life is much better than I thought it would be with this huge and gorgeous screen. I have had no issues with the heat or battery drain I read about and feared before diving in and buying this phone, and whether or not it is because the first thing I did was root and debloat, doesn't matter to me.
I love this phone, my first Sammy.
Tool Belt said:
Rooted, debloated with TBU, tweaked a bit with Tweakbox and Wanam via Xposed and using Nova, stock ME7 is fairly dynamic. Will I try a custom via SS, and/or via a custom recovery.....you bet. Am I OK with the GS4 as is? Yep. Best phone I have ever had by a long shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wanam Xposed is so awesome, finally able to customized the device how I like
IamPro said:
Wanam Xposed is so awesome, finally able to customized the device how I like
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just installed Viper4Android.......WOW!!
Stupid question I'm sure, but how do I "debloat"? Is there an app, or is this simply manually deleting unwanted apps? FYI, I have Verizon ME7 rooted.
TMack1962 said:
Stupid question I'm sure, but how do I "debloat"? Is there an app, or is this simply manually deleting unwanted apps? FYI, I have Verizon ME7 rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Debloating is basically removing all the apps that come pre installed that you have no use/need for. There is a 1 click debloater posted in the dev section but I prefer to do it manually.
Hit thanks if I helped you out. Doing a little bit of reading goes a long way. Sent via tapatalk.
Hello all,
Apologies if this seems like a really dumb question. I have been out of the rooting / rom'ing game for almost two years now. I miss the OG Droid days .
So I have an NC5 verizon S4 with the new towelroot, and I was thinking about flashing a google play edition rom. However it looks like my options are slim. From what I have read, my only option is a Safestrap compatible rom. If that's the case, I have some Safestrap questions regarding performance. From what I can tell, safestrap is almost a little like dual-booting a PC, and allows you to have multiple operating systems (ROMs in our case) on the same hard drive. Will having a GPE ROM on a device that still has the humongous stock rom and all of its crap slow down the new rom? In other words, I am interested in a GPE rom for speed and to have a fast and efficient system, and I fear that Safestrap will simply put more data and more megabytes on top what already exists.
I am probably way off with this assumption, and I am hoping someone can explain to me how this works before I make a decision I could possibly regret.
I am sick of touchwiz and all of its crap, and I am seeking a clean and fast GPE rom!
Thanks for all who reply!
hackweed said:
Hello all,
Apologies if this seems like a really dumb question. I have been out of the rooting / rom'ing game for almost two years now. I miss the OG Droid days .
So I have an NC5 verizon S4 with the new towelroot, and I was thinking about flashing a google play edition rom. However it looks like my options are slim. From what I have read, my only option is a Safestrap compatible rom. If that's the case, I have some Safestrap questions regarding performance. From what I can tell, safestrap is almost a little like dual-booting a PC, and allows you to have multiple operating systems (ROMs in our case) on the same hard drive. Will having a GPE ROM on a device that still has the humongous stock rom and all of its crap slow down the new rom? In other words, I am interested in a GPE rom for speed and to have a fast and efficient system, and I fear that Safestrap will simply put more data and more megabytes on top what already exists.
I am probably way off with this assumption, and I am hoping someone can explain to me how this works before I make a decision I could possibly regret.
I am sick of touchwiz and all of its crap, and I am seeking a clean and fast GPE rom!
Thanks for all who reply!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on Hyperdrive 17.1 using Nova Prime launcher. Some Xposed framework mods. Hardly even recognizable as having TouchWiz as basis. As close to AOSP as you are likely to get unless the bootloader gets unlocked.
I made a similar post on the Google+ S5 group and the results actually surprised me. Majority said no, when I was almost certain it would be the other way around. I guess devices nowadays are good enough with simple root!
What did you guys decide? Did you install a custom rom? Or you left it somewhat stock (I'm not counting xposed + root as custom rom)
Simple root for me. I use titanium to disable apps I don't need and fix the write to SD that kitkat broke
I decided to with the Project Infinity rom. It's pretty good in the sense that all the bloatware is removed. There weren't as many ROMs as the previous Galaxy iterations though. No more paranoid or cyanogen mods. Besides that, there aren't many major changes to touchwiz so I also installed an Icon pack with nova launcher to get a more stock look. Overall, I feel that it's better but to each his own. Some people like it, some people don't care. Whatever choice you make, the S5 will still be pretty solid.
So far I'm sticking with stock + root + Xposed.
The inability to reverse the Knox flag is just a little too unsettling at this point -- especially since the first S5 I picked up with my JUMP upgrade was a lemon. (The screen died repeatedly-- refusing to switch on for hours and then temporarily fixing itself -- the first time just 45 seconds after I left the T-Mobile store.) Then again my new S5 is only 2 days old, having just burned a JUMP insurance claim and upgrade, so possibly I'll be a little less uptight about Knox flags once I'm 12 months down the line.
Also I'm not hugely demanding of my devices in terms of performance, beyond wanting decent battery life, so I don't really need custom kernels and ultra-streamlined and debloated ROMs if stock performs well enough. Xposed and other root utilities/tweaks allow for a decent amount of customization and debloating anyway, it just takes more individual legwork.
The main drawback I see is the lack of nandroid, which is always a nice fallback option. That's kind of a nagging thought in the back of my mind. My only customization complaint so far is an inability to tweak Touchwiz's ugly-ass color scheme and clunky layout in the notification drawer to a satisfying degree. (Wanam Xposed allows a certain degree of color control but the QuickSetting toggle colors are driving me nuts. )
overfloater said:
So far I'm sticking with stock + root + Xposed.
The inability to reverse the Knox flag is just a little too unsettling at this point -- especially since the first S5 I picked up with my JUMP upgrade was a lemon. (The screen died repeatedly-- refusing to switch on for hours and then temporarily fixing itself -- the first time just 45 seconds after I left the T-Mobile store.) Then again my new S5 is only 2 days old, having just burned a JUMP insurance claim and upgrade, so possibly I'll be a little less uptight about Knox flags once I'm 12 months down the line.
Also I'm not hugely demanding of my devices in terms of performance, beyond wanting decent battery life, so I don't really need custom kernels and ultra-streamlined and debloated ROMs if stock performs well enough. Xposed and other root utilities/tweaks allow for a decent amount of customization and debloating anyway, it just takes more individual legwork.
The main drawback I see is the lack of nandroid, which is always a nice fallback option. That's kind of a nagging thought in the back of my mind. My only customization complaint so far is an inability to tweak Touchwiz's ugly-ass color scheme and clunky layout in the notification drawer to a satisfying degree. (Wanam Xposed allows a certain degree of color control but the QuickSetting toggle colors are driving me nuts. )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I was told when you do an insurance claim, it does not count against your jump. Mine didn't
Coderedpl said:
As far as I was told when you do an insurance claim, it does not count against your jump. Mine didn't
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, that should really have read "insurance claim and JUMP upgrade". I was on an S4 before, so when I made the claim I took the opportunity to cash in an upgrade at the same time and replace it with a new S5 (rather than adding unnecessary extra steps by waiting on a replacement S4 and taking that into a store to upgrade). It does, however, mean that I've both put myself on a new payment plan for the S5 (so under the new JUMP terms I can't upgrade again until it's 50% paid off) and also burned 1 of my 2 insurance claims for a 12 month period. So I don't really want to jeopardize any warranty or other claims by blowing Knox unnecessarily.
Coderedpl said:
I made a similar post on the Google+ S5 group and the results actually surprised me. Majority said no, when I was almost certain it would be the other way around. I guess devices nowadays are good enough with simple root!
What did you guys decide? Did you install a custom rom? Or you left it somewhat stock (I'm not counting xposed + root as custom rom)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using Omega rom for years and across many devices so it's great to have it again on the S5. I actually switched from an AT&T S5 to a T-Mobile S5 (unlocked and using it on AT&T) because the TMO S5 could run Omega where the AT&T with a locked bootloader could not. Primarily because you cannot install a rom that uses the Aroma installer on Safe Strap (the AT&T S5's version of a custom recovery.)
So on Omega all's well. Very stable, great battery life, all the bloatware gone (except for what I chose to have on the phone.)
There is just way too much bloatware and crap on the stock AT&T and TMO roms. If nothing else, I'd run a debloated rom just to get away from all the bloat and crap.
Bought the phone outright so I'm not worried about knox and all that..
I'm actually fully stock. TW has grown on me, though it gets sluggish sometime. I would probably root later down the road and remove the bloatware.
What bothers me about stock is that I seem to be getting some stupid stuttering and sluggishness without a solid reason as to why it happens .
I did indeed install a Custom ROM.
I installed CM11 from the unified development on my phone. I kept my touchwiz backup just in case i might really need it for whatever reasons, The only reason to keep stock IMO is the WiFi calling feature. Only real complaint about stock is the signal bars in the status bar, it shows 2 bars while searching for service.... CM11 doesn't do that.
I am with you, stock with not bloatware is the way to go for me
gspears said:
I have been using Omega rom for years and across many devices so it's great to have it again on the S5. I actually switched from an AT&T S5 to a T-Mobile S5 (unlocked and using it on AT&T) because the TMO S5 could run Omega where the AT&T with a locked bootloader could not. Primarily because you cannot install a rom that uses the Aroma installer on Safe Strap (the AT&T S5's version of a custom recovery.)
So on Omega all's well. Very stable, great battery life, all the bloatware gone (except for what I chose to have on the phone.)
There is just way too much bloatware and crap on the stock AT&T and TMO roms. If nothing else, I'd run a debloated rom just to get away from all the bloat and crap.
Bought the phone outright so I'm not worried about knox and all that..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am usin XtreStoLite Rom with Aroma Installer, great ROM
dturro said:
I am usin XtreStoLite Rom with Aroma Installer, great ROM
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Click to collapse
I actually moved to this ROM from CyanogenMod.
TW has grown on me a bit. :silly:
what is the point on getting samsung if....
Exel said:
I actually moved to this ROM from CyanogenMod.
TW has grown on me a bit. :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't use TW ?
Alliance ROM 5.5. KT kernel on NG4 baseband. For me it's the perfect balance of options, performance and battery.
Hello all. I've had my G3 for 3 weeks and am loving it more every day. I came from a note 2 which like every android phone before it I rooted to obtain better performance. However I'm not really seeing any performance issues with the G3 to justify it.
I do miss profiles from CM, but its not a deal breaker. It would be nice to backup my apps, but idk if there is really a need.
I guess what I'm asking is are you guys seeing any huge gains by rooting other than being able to get rid of the bloat?
Of course people on this forum are going to be pro-root. It's a ridiculously simple process with Stump and will take you 5 minutes at the most, but if you're not using root apps like Root Explorer, AdFree, WiFi Tether Router, etc. or don't want to deck your device out with G3 Tweakbox then just keep it as it. I couldn't imagine having an Android device without root access, although I do agree this device is pretty awesome out of the box. I don't see myself flashing a ROM on this anytime soon.
I would have to agree with the guy above. I just recently bought my Sprint LG G3 and its only been a few days but I went ahead and rooted it because I believe I can get even more out of it (as in battery life). I do not care for performance as I believe the G3 is already a powerhouse. However, I just now rooted my G3 and the only (and probably the last besides flashing roms here and there) root adjustments I have done is remove stock applications that I would not of been able to if I was not rooted. I believe that stock applications can slow down your phone since they are always running in the background (which can take up battery and potentially data).
All in all, if you truly are satisfied with your phone's performance, don't root. Rooting is complicated and comes with lots of risks. If you already love your phone and nothing bothers you (like stock apps for me, etc.) then don't bother.
Hope this helps!
Well that's my issue, 2 things that are irritating me are not having root explorer and apps being able to save to the SD card though I know root won't fix that.
I guess I just am tired of flashing roms right now maybe. But I do miss having root for a couple apps and I'd love to get rid of some bloat for sure.
Can you successfully freeze or uninstall the connections optimizer? Anybody running the pre-rooted zv6?
Macguyver said:
Well that's my issue, 2 things that are irritating me are not having root explorer and apps being able to save to the SD card though I know root won't fix that.
I guess I just am tired of flashing roms right now maybe. But I do miss having root for a couple apps and I'd love to get rid of some bloat for sure.
Can you successfully freeze or uninstall the connections optimizer? Anybody running the pre-booked zv6?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can uninstall it completely on stock rooted zv6
SD Card writing is a big reason
The ability to restore prior apps and data has saved me a few times when I updated to what turned out to be a buggy app update.
Nandroids, nandroids, nandroids. Which wouldn't be important except for:
- The ability to freeze / delete bloatware (there are a few big battery killers among LG's bloat)
- The ability to install various sorts of patches and tweaks (to increase volume, for example)
G3Tweaksbox, G3Tweaksbox, G3Tweaksbox
Xposed
Custom Kernels - eliminate the stupid over-sharpening once and for all.
BarRin ROM
Ad Blocking
The first few days I had this phone, I wondered if it'd be the first android device I hadn't rooted,because it was pretty impressive as is. But within 2 days, I couldn't stand having bloat, I couldn't stand not having root explorer, I couldn't stand not having inverted apps, and I couldn't stand not having tether, and mostly, i couldnt stand not having the ability to fix/change sh1t that I may find to be buggy down the road.
Yes, it's a great device stock. But without root, it's not YOUR great device.
meyerweb said:
SD Card writing is a big reason
The ability to restore prior apps and data has saved me a few times when I updated to what turned out to be a buggy app update.
Nandroids, nandroids, nandroids. Which wouldn't be important except for:
- The ability to freeze / delete bloatware (there are a few big battery killers among LG's bloat)
- The ability to install various sorts of patches and tweaks (to increase volume, for example)
G3Tweaksbox, G3Tweaksbox, G3Tweaksbox
Xposed
Custom Kernels - eliminate the stupid over-sharpening once and for all.
BarRin ROM
Ad Blocking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks guys,
so with the ROMS like BarRin apps can write to the SD card?
Macguyver said:
thanks guys,
so with the ROMS like BarRin apps can write to the SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, BarRin includes this fix. There are also stand-alone apps that provide that capability on rooted phones, like this one: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.sdfix
Root is the only way. It gives us our phone back. Gets rid of bullsh**. They wanna watch us and secretly see what we do. That is not cool. Take back our phones. Why must sprint load us with bloat? The sheep have no idea how much we are watched. There is no agreement that says they can see everything we do openly. We agree when we buy that does not mean it has to stay that way.
The main reason I rooted was to obtain tehering (hotspot)and not pay extra $$$
So My wife decided she wanted my Sprint Note 4 and gave me her Note 3.... Now I am not using this as an actual phone, mostly as a gaming accessory (arx control)/games/wifi/bluetooth/gps/audio
It is running n900pvpueok2 Android 5.0
Anyways
What are my options for custom roms on this guy, I want to keep the system on the light end and definitely want root and ad blocking.
I see Cyanogenmod "went away" so I guess that's not an option
I am sort of confused on which roms are going to work on this version of the OS and the built in sprint **** is driving me nuts because it keeps popping up.
Oh, I carry my note 7 currently as a phone but once my Google Pixel XL shows up... that will finally go back
Any rom in the sprint section will definitely work. This one seems to be the popular one at the moment: https://forum.xda-developers.com/no...sprint-users-rejoice-darklord-modded-t3498912
Honestly, the 5.0 stock rom will give you better battery life than any custom rom mainly due to custom roms using user-made kernels. If you want the latest 5.0 stock rom N900PVPSEPL1 with all security updates and whatnot, flash it through odin. I don't remember which version of Xposed is safe for 5.0, so you might need to do some research for that. Xposed is needed for youtube adblocking and general adblocking. There is the"mother of ad blocking" on xda for general ad blocking through hosts file.
If you want to use bleeding edge custom roms like nougat or note7 ports, head down to the main note 3 section https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-3
Those roms are difficult to get cell service on sprint devices without great efforts like editing build.prop and installing apps like 4g switcher to MAYBE get it, but you said you don't use it as a phone so it shouldn't matter much. Some might still give you popup crashes of the phone app, so either way going through that route will be a ton of trial and error.