So I have just got my wife's original google nexus 7, and the stock android on there is slow... really slow. I was going to install cyanongenmod, but I kept hearing that the project is dead. is there a decent replacement for this?
LineageOS is the current form of cyanogen. Should run just fine.
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I enjoy PacmanRom.
LineageOS is the continuation of Cyanogenmod, and it's really active. It's basically Cyanogenmod with the entire team minus the people that made Cyanogenmod so annoying and undesirable before.
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There is also AOSPA aka Paranoid Android. It's basically stock Android with a floating peek window feature, awesome battery life standby time and a theme engine borrowed from CM.
Though it is very buggy to some degree. The icon theming is broken unless you use a different launcher.
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Newbie question here:
Can I install Cyanogenmod or LineageOS on any (modern) Android smartphone or what are the requirements?
No you can't, the device has to be supported. Cyanogenmod is also dead.
There are official LineagoOS supported devices, and then there are unofficial ports.
For a couple of years now, you don't buy a device because of the marketing or the specs, but because of the ROM flashability. A device can be so beautiful and prestigious and fast and hyped, but if there isn't a good alternative ROM for it, and you can't make an alternative ROM for it yourself, it's pretty much just an expensive handgrenade in your pocket of which someone else is holding the pin.
If you have a device for which there is no ROM, make sure that it's a device for which there is a way to root it and a way to install a custom recovery on it (e.g. TWRP), and that it has a version of Android for which there is a working XPosed Framework Installer.
XPosed gives you some of the most elemental safety and privacy and personal economy features that you absolutely need in order to stop your phone from being a handgrenade of which someone else holds the pin. XPosed does not work yet with Android 7, and doesn't work on all devices.
It's always a good thing to check XDA Developers for the software status of your device, or the LineageOS site for the list of supported devices. There is no feature important enough on any phone to warrant not being able to take control over the device you've bought with your own money that can put you in so much danger because it's always with you.
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Thanks for your thorough answer!
Am I correct in the assumption that all of the devices listed on the left on this site support LineageOS? I also found this page on their wiki, which seems to show the same devices.
If so, are there any "stable" releases or are they all only "nightly" or "experimental"?
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Yes that is the list for which there are official releases. I would go for the latest nightlies, those have the most up-to-date security patches and the most features. If you encounter a nightly that doesn't quite work, patching the former one is done quickly.
The important thing is to have a custom recovery like TWRP. It allow sou to backup your environment, flash your device easily, and do quick system maintenance on your device.
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I am running LineageOS on a dirt cheap Moto G4 Play and it runs very smooth. Just don't install the google play stuff and, who would have thought, android is actually very civil with resources and battery.
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Thanks for your reply! I have never done this before and I am having serious thoughts of switching from my iPhone 6s to Android, but I wasn't happy with the Google integration, which is why I was looking into LineageOS & Co.
My no. 1 candidate right now is the OnePlus 3T which, from what I saw, is supported by LineageOS too. :D
awesome, from the looks of it I will be looking at lineageOS. thanks for the responses.
Edit: so it turns out that the nexus 7 that I have is not as old as I thought. it is the 2013 version! meaning that stock Lineage will work for me! even better!
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At this current climate these are the most popular and current custom ROMs out. whether they are available for your device you would have to check. However Google's phones / tablets. The Nexus Line, and the Pixel Line are usually the first to get official custom rom support (for future reference)
Here's the list.
Lineage OS (ex-Cyanogenmod) - They have Nougat Roms
Paranoid Android (AOSPA) - They have only Marshmallow Roms
Omni ROM - They have Nougat Based ROMs Available
Resurrection Remix - There is Nougat based ROMS available
Dirty Unicorns - Only Marshamallow Based ROMs
PacManROM - Only Marshmallow.
There is definitely a Nexus 7 ROM for all these devs.
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I have one, I put stock 4.1.2 on it, runs great. I've used Omni in the past and its pretty good too.
I have a Zenfone 2 with CyanogenMod 13 that I'm happy with. I went to check for updates today and lo and behold it can't connect, so I guess it really is dead. Would I stand to gain anything by trying to switch to LineageOS?
Cyanogenmod as a staff. company and ROM supplier is dead. if you are running Cyanogenmod 13 you will never get an update again. however there is Lineage OS 13 / Lineage OS 14. which are just cyanogenmod with a brand name change. LineageOS and CM are identical. the names are different.
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This might be off-topic, but I have an old Sony Xperia P which is getting slower and slower. I tried resetting it to factory defaults, but that doesn't help for long. I thought that maybe I can experiment with that phone before I get my iPhone replacement ;-)
Thanks. Do you know what 14 offers over 13 then? Before I was updating in hopes of all the bugs for my device getting worked out and now it's down to the point where I only have an occasional GPS bug (fixed by reboot) and another where after a boot I must toggle airplane mode for my mobile data to work properly. Neither of which are a huge pain.
CM 13 and Lineage OS 13 are identical all the way down to the feature set. the only thing that seperates them is the name.
you install Cyanogenmod, and the CM logo boots up. you boot LineageOS 13 and the LineageOS logo boots up. that's about it. nothing else. CM 14.1 or what is now Lineage OS 14.1 also identical down to the feature set. except of course.
CM 13 / Lineage OS 13 is based off Marshmallow
CM 14.1 / LineageOS 14.1 is based off Nougat. THOUGH in Lineage OS 14 / CM 14.1 since it's based off Nougat there is no Theme engine yet. but everything else works for the most part.
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Check if the device is supported. Basically go to download.lineageos.org and check for your device name.