Custom ROMS for Android: Cyanogenmod and More

Wondering what's the next step after rooting your Android phone? Read on to know all about beefing up your phone with custom ROMS for Android.

If you've got an Android phone and you are reading a magazine like this, chances are that you already know a bit about rooting Android phones. So, what’s the next best thing to do with it? Flash it! Yes, that is what we are going to custom ROMs on your phone, and how to tweak your way to a phone that follows your orders, right from scratch.

There are lots of advantages to flashing custom ROMs, but before going into that, I would like to reflect on what a ROM actually is. ROM or Read Only Memory is the software that runs on your phone—the firmware for your smartphone. In most cases, it comes locked with the phone. Most manufacturers make some modifications and additions to stock Android before distributing it, to differentiate their phone from the competition. But that way, they often impose restrictions on what you can do with your phone and the kind of software that you can install. There have even been privacy issues with some carriers bundling information-tracking software. All this can be avoided by exploiting the fact that Android is an open source ecosystem at its core, and there are literally hundreds of developers working to solve problems that you and I face. There are probably hundreds of custom ROMs out there for different purposes. Whether you want extreme performance or extreme battery life, you'll get what you want from the Android developer community. It's just like the Linux ecosystem. You can actually go distro hopping like you do on your desktop, and that is the beauty of Android and open source. The fact that you have lots of choices makes Android a much better option if you do not want to be spoon-fed (like your iOS counterparts).

Modding your phone often involves installing third-party software and is inherently a risky process if you don't know what you're doing. In which case, you're probably better off just playing around with the stock Android ROM that came with your phone. Another word of caution though: the carrier or manufacturer is unlikely to provide any assistance if problems arise—so if something goes wrong, you're on your own.