this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2025
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I assume virtually everyone in this place is using some third party ROM. Many of you probably rocking Banana ROM off your Alcatel z657 bought at Boost Mobile in 2012.

But is there any simpleton here like myself who is on stock android? You know, the middle age dude who has "Privacy" as a hobby because he can't afford or have time for a real one. πŸ˜Άβ€πŸŒ«οΈ

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[–] swagmoney@lemmy.ca 4 points 6 days ago

i used to run LOS on my Xperia until an update corrupted my TA partition (methinks) and i couldn't use mobile data. my phone ran noticably faster, had better battery life, and was less buggy than the oem rom :p

as soon as i get a break from school I'm going to try LOS again. what a great piece of software

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Samsung Galaxy S10 on stock android, unless this Google crap goes through

[–] greywolf0x1@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

If it isn't the US version, you can unlock and install LineageOS 22.2 on your S10

I'm in the US, I bought it unlocked, so no carrier, but I know nothing beyond that

[–] MufinMcFlufin@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

tl;dr: I use a Note 20 Ultra with stock Samsung ROM because I'm not convinced there's a good custom or stock ROM that well supports the stylus, but I'm open to suggestions if anyone has one.

My number 1 feature in a phone is having a built in/included stylus. I do a lot of programming stuff which I usually find is easier to plan out ideas for how I want to structure things by drawing it, it's also easier for writing out math for some of said ideas, when an interesting question comes up, or when I want to show someone the math on how something's done, and I'm currently learning Japanese so it's helpful for working on my kana penmanship and learning kanji, especially learning kanji stroke order.

I've used other styli in the past and know that palm rejection is pretty much a must have feature. It's incredibly annoying and cumbersome to hover over your phone to not engage the touchscreen, or have to specifically hold your phone in portrait mode so that your hand is naturally off to the side which doesn't pair well with how we generally write horizontally. Because of this, I don't consider dumb styli at all and only really consider powered styli that have an active connection to the phone.

The last time I was searching for a new phone, this requirement (and a few others like expandable storage via microSD card, 5G support, supported my network, etc) ruled out almost every phone on the market save 2. There was some Moto 5G discount model that for some reason had a smart stylus, then the Samsung Note 20 Ultra. I don't recall the exact reason I didn't go with the Moto 5G, but I believe it was something like issues with build quality (being a discount model) and the stylus wasn't very good meaning it would defeat the entire point of getting the phone. So I went with my current Note 20 Ultra.

All of this is to say, I never really considered changing the ROM because I have doubts how well other ROMs would support the stylus. I'll fully admit it's not my most used feature on the phone, but there are hundreds of other phones that have a good screen, support fast charging, support Bluetooth, and have expandable storage. My first feature that would significantly rule out options unfortunately rules out almost all options, so I don't trust that there are many ROMs out there that would even decently support the stylus.

That all being said, I'd be very happy to be proven wrong. I don't like Samsung's bloat and would love to move away from a lot of it. The only other Samsung device I own is their galaxy tag trackers which is currently the only reason I've logged into a Samsung account on my device otherwise I'd be happy to get rid of it and not give them more information.

[–] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 days ago

Nah, I have an XCover6 Pro and I haven't rooted it. I'm reluctant to back everything up so I can reflash the firmware. I did it on my Galaxy S5 a few years back and it can be a pain.

[–] theneverfox@pawb.social 24 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Basically no one runs stock android. It doesn't exist

But if you're asking if I run OEM android, yes I am

[–] Naich@lemmings.world 4 points 1 week ago

I had a Wiley Fox phone back in the day that was supposedly as stock Android as you could get.

[–] Nighed@feddit.uk 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Isn't pixel basically running it? What are they adding?

[–] theneverfox@pawb.social 5 points 1 week ago

Pixel is running something close... But as for what their adding? All kinds of stuff, from camera features to launchers to subtle tweaks

But the reason no one is running stock android is the reason the Linux phone project is so difficult... The drivers

Your phone is basically running two sets of firmware. One controls the radio, coordinates with cell towers, handles data both as an Internet connection and a set of old cell protocols we still use sometimes (like phone calls and public alerts), plus hardware backdoors.

And then there's Android, which has some degree of control over that mess, but it has to be custom fit to each black box or you get bugs, because they're all different

The only way to run stock android is through an emulator, and even then most developers just use the pixel builds

[–] zelnix@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] theneverfox@pawb.social 3 points 1 week ago

Because it's not a pixel, so I can't run graphene out of the box, and having my phone working is a key component of my job

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I'm stock Pixel 7. At a certain point jailbraking / rom switching just started being more work than it was worth to me

[–] Glide@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Funnily enough, I'm on a stock Pixel 6. I flashed custom firmware onto my Pixel 2XL back in the day, and the gain wasn't super worth it. My phone before that, some Motorola brand, I flashed custom firmware onto and it helped a lot with features I wanted and bloatware removal. But, let be real, save being in the Google ecosphere, the Pixel is as stripped down baseline as a phone gets. And since my job is all-in on the Google apps, I have to be in that space anyway. At some stage, it just doesn't feel like there's much of a point.

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[–] Otherbarry@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Same as the other commenter, Pixel 7 + default Android OS. I appreciate the third party ROMs existing but haven't really bothered going through all that in a few years. Way back I did used to install CyanogenMod but it always felt like a bit of a hassle with random bugs, phone restarts... at some point I bought one of the early Pixels and felt the stock Android worked well enough. My own motivation early on was to avoid the phone bloat/random apps that were pre-installed on non-Google Android phones.

That aside I may take another look at this stuff if it becomes impossible to sideload apps on stock Android OS with Google forcing app developers to verify themselves. And/or check out Linux-based phones.

Typing this out just realized LineageOS started out as a fork of CyanogenMod so I guess that code still exists in some capacity even today.

I have tried LineageOS (Flashed it on my Pixel before reverting back to stock) and MAN that is a ROM done right. Its literally how Android should be. Next to zero...ZERO Bloat. Your app drawer is like 1/4 full because there is simply nothing on the phone!

[–] stsquad@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 week ago

I run stock on a pixel although I do have droidify installed and prefer that too the play store for most things. Especially for the freeze app where all my corporate stuff is run from.

[–] Naich@lemmings.world 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah, I'm on Android here because I like using my phone to pay for stuff. I've made a half-arsed attempt to degoogle a bit by running Immich on a home server for photos.

[–] scott@lem.free.as 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm running GrapheneOS and use my phone to pay for stuff via NFC.

[–] imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago

GrapheneOS doesnt support my phone. I wish but it aint gonna work. Not yet.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm using a Moto G5 with stock android, too. Couldn't be arsed to install lineage, since I could just enable USB debugging, run Android Bridge and uninstall most of the malware/spyware shit that comes builtin

[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

https://developer.android.com/tools/adb

When you enable USB debugging (gotta enable Developer Mode first, which is usually enabled by tapping several times on Settings -> About phone -> Build Number, but can vary depending on model), you can connect the phone to your computer and have the computer start a command line shell via ADB (Android Bridge), which will allow you to uninstall almost everything. First, you should get a list of installed stuff with adb pm list packages. With the list, you can then use adb pm uninstall -k --user 0 package.name - wildcards don't work, you'll have to go one by one.

[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

wow THANK YOU! just uninstalled a bunch of garbage from one of my stock phones. i thought you needed root for this.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 3 points 6 days ago

Yup, when I first learned that you didn't need to root, that developer options + adb was enough to get rid of most bloatware, that was an incredible relief to me, too!

No results for "StockOS" on XDA. Must be a very new ROM. ;)

[–] lolola@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 week ago

I got whatever the cheapest phone was at the shop that wasn't an iphone, and am running whatever version of Android it came preinstalled with along with whatever updates have been rolled out since then.

But I'm not a guy, so your statement may still stand.

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

I just adb out the stuff I can. Old owner of the company I work at gifted me a z fold 6 and I decided to use it instead of reselling it for a pixel.

[–] bobbyfiend@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Next we ask how many women and other non-guys are on here.

[–] marcie@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

More than you think, half of hexbear is trans for instance

[–] spizzat2@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 week ago

LTT did a video about a year ago covering how rough the "stock" android experience is.

You can also jump to 7:10 for custom ROM information/options, but it doesn't really go into depth on any of it (outside the scope of the video).

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 4 points 1 week ago

I am but I only have the smartphone for work and otherwise don't really use it. I hate smartphones.

[–] Blackfeathr@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I'm on a stock Samsung Galaxy S9+. I dabble in privacy using Blokada on my phone, VPN on my PC, and other adblocking extensions and features. I'm not smart enough to do rooting and sideloading. I barely know what an API or APK even does.

I hope to one day be able to absorb the knowledge of folks on here somehow.

Nothing phone here, stock is as close to AOSP as it gets across the board.

[–] sgtlion@hexbear.net 4 points 1 week ago

I really wish I wasn't, but some freaky thing about my Galaxy means I have no compatible ROMs

[–] pr06lefs@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago

Recently switched over to LineageOS without the play store. But a few weeks ago I was still on regular old android. Have been relying on FDroid though for a while now - its nonpredatory apps are very nice.

[–] hanrahan@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 week ago

You can't be running stock Android (AOSP), it's not going to work on your phone.

[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Define "stock." You mean what comes on a phone? Or raw AOSP?

I've ran CyanogenMod back when that was as close as most people were ever gonna get to AOSP. I've also run the "Google Play Edition" version of Android that was only available outside the US for whatever reason back in the day. I remember we had to flash the firmware, then flash something else to use CDMA on it (when that was a thing). Otherwise you got no signal because out of the box it was GSM only.

Right now, my Android phone runs whatever the latest version of OneUI is available for the Galaxy S10, because that's what I have. My main phone is an iPhone, but I do like running the S10 for a few things. Like if I'm gonna be doing any typing. Gboard on Android kicks the crap outta any keyboard on iPhone. Anyway, I'm running "stock" β€” what is stock for that phone. I have no real interest in modding it. I would not mind running an AOSP-like on the S10, but I don't really need to be fancy about it, and since I want Gboard, I need Google Play Services, so something privacy-oriented isn't going to work. Not on the S10, anyway.

[–] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Yeah, Stock could mean whatever Android your phone comes with, or it could mean standard AOSP like even without GApps, OP should really clarify that.

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If OP is like me, OP probably doesnt know.

Turn phone on. Phone works. Jobs done.

[–] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 days ago

So that'd be whatever Android your phone comes with, then, and not standard AOSP.

Now that I re-read it, OP called themselves a simpleton, so I think you're right, there's no chance OP is using standard AOSP.

[–] Oberyn@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Nah, running stock my self bcus

  • no custom rom worth switching to available for my device
  • don't wnna break tꝏ many things
[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago

Nah, I too just use whatever version of android is already installed onto the device. I would use custom versions of android or more preferably, Linux distros, but the biggest issue for me, is the fact that the only way to install a custom OS is to use a rom that's made specifically for that device. You can't just download a "one size fits all" rom and install it onto your device. As a result of this, most of my devices don't have a custom OS available at all, and the ones that do, the OSs haven't been updated in several years.

I also haven't used any advanced methods for removing apps I don't want. I've never used anything like root or ADB, as I'm just worried about potentially bricking the devices I own.

[–] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Yeah I'm running whatever stock auto updating OS came with my S23.

[–] Starkon@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago

The issue with custom ROMs is the support for devices. I had to buy a new one from eBay to install LineageOS and I didn't regret it. I use now 2 phones, one for privacy (I use it 80%) and the old one for mail and whatsapp (I'm forced to) to contact my family and friends but that's it.

Stock Samsung A something. Like the others are saying, if I wanna run maps and things like that it's just easier to leave it as is. Might revisit if chat control comes though, that shit is vile.

I was running lineageOS on pixel 7 for a little while, but unfortunately it lacked visual voicemail. So, I'm back and have been using rooted pixel OS. That's after I switched from Samsung s23. If anyone has any alternatives to the visual voicemail, please let me know. I need this feature for my job search.

[–] dysprosium@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (6 children)

I have stock Fairphone, but disabled all Google Play Services and most proprietary apps, and replaced them with FOSS apps.

Idk how close this is to a privacy-respecting custom ROM, but I'm mostly just waiting for a good one. I really enjoy having the slide button to turn on Do Not Disturb. It's so amazing idk why not all phones have this.

I def want this working on the custom ROM I'm switching to in the future.

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