What is Android Custom Rom ?

To start, I tought to clarify what a ROM is. The term ROM is abused, and a pen name. As of not long ago, ROM's were capacity chips comprising of Read-Only-Memory. Ever played Gameboy amusements? They were Rom's. In some cases there was a different region in the cartridge where you would spare recreations to, however the diversion itself was Read-Only. You couldn't adjust it. The term which is closer to being right with reference to Android, is Firmware. You can without much of a stretch supplant everything, in the event that you decide to.

Custom ROM

A custom ROM is one that has undergone any modification from being a pure distribution of Android. Google make the Android source code available for anyone to play around with, and people take this code and alter it for themselves. Whether to add features they come up with, or to redistribute it with fun tweaks and additions. So a custom ROM can range in definition from some custom code modifications to make Android run better on a device, all the way to changing the homescreen, background services, and default software.

Many software experts collaborate together in communities to build the fastest or most feature filled ROM’s. The most popular today are CyanogenMod (which supports over 70 devices!), AOKP (a lightweight ROM with plenty of customisation options), and Android Revolution, a heavyweight ROM which often focusses on looking great. Just because these Android builds are made by ‘ordinary people’ and not highly paid developers at HTC or Samsung doesn’t mean they are full of bugs or risky to use. In most cases the software built by communities is ten times better. Release cycles are much shorter, fun features can be put in, and anyone can contribute an idea to the development.

I like to use AOKP myself, and in the screenshot below is an example of how much they let you customise things. My Navbar, Clock, and battery-charge-level bar are neon-green. Also note that my WiFI Signal is measured by percentage, and as well as the charge meter running along the top of the nav-bar, I have a circular meter in the bottom right too.