Nexus 5X already has TWRP available but that does not mean you can flash a custom ROM on it easily. Whenever you want to try a custom ROM on your Android device, you will need custom recover on it and TWRP is the best of them all. It is the go-to recovery for most Android devices, but there are times when you need to wait for official support in order to use TWRP on your smartphone or tablet.
Nexus 5X started to ship earlier this week and it is already out of stock in some stores. The good part is – if you were lucky enough to pre-order or buy one of these devices – you already have official TWRP support for it so you can flash what you want on it, you can make backups and more! There is some risk involved, of course, but the new Nexus devices will be easier to fix when you break things. All you have to do is reflash the factory image and you can try a custom ROM again.
This version of TWRP will not support decrypting on the Nexus 5X, which ships with encryption enabled via Android 6.0. You will have to format your device and find a modified boot image to flash in case you want to try to disable encryption. It may add support for disabling encryption in the future if TWRP devs get a device to test on it.
There’s a rumor going around that Paranoid Android is dead. For those who don’t know, PA is one of the most popular ROMs around in the aftermarket communities. When you want to try a different Android experience, this is one of the most stable options you can try out there. This ROM has advanced features and a high-quality build, which is why it is one of the more popular custom ROMs to be used.
According to Andre Saddler, one of Paranoid Android’s team, there are only four people left working on the project at the moment:
“Paranoid Android is dead. Ever since OnePlus hiring its (sic) been done.”
Saddler is referencing the fact that OnePlus created the Oxygen OS team earlier this year and most team members were fished from other developing teams such as PA. When the Oxygen OS news first hit, everyone was afraid of what the toll over PA would be; well, now we know!
Paranoid Android managed to release an Android 5.1 version of their custom ROM for the Nexus devices. There has been no update or release of any kind since July. Saddler mentions that the remaining team members felt demotivated after their luckier devs who went to Oxygen OS never spoke to them again.
Another dev member is more optimistic though, as he cannot confirm the official death of the team. The practicality of the Paranoid Android project is dead right now, at least until the remaining team members meet up. We can hope to hear some positive news in the near future regarding this custom ROM’s revival.
Motorola Moto E 2015 and Huawei Mate 2 are getting official CyanogenMod nightly builds. You can now download the files and flash them in order to give your device a rebel flair from all that Android conformity. These two budget devices are pretty popular with the public and, since most do like to tinker and bake their devices, especially cheaper ones, CyanogenMod will now probably be the most popular option for a custom ROM when it comes to these two.
Moto E 2015 is a small device with OK specs for its price while Huawei Mate 2 wants to be a device with a huge screen and a pretty small price too. They both have CyanogenMod 12.1 (which is the Android 5.1 equivalent) ROM files you can use now.
The Moto E 2015 is codenamed “otus” whereas the Mate 2 is labeled “mt2”. The first has two available builds while the second has three available CyanogenMod builds. Both device builds are around 250MB, but this does not include the Google apps which you will have to flash separately, in another package. Huawei’s device will receive a nice boost whereas the Moto E 2015 users will remain stuck to a pretty much stock version of Android. According to the logs, the Mate 2 has been worked on for a while now, which explains the work put on it.
You should still bear in mind that these are nightly builds; they can be full of bugs and problems, so flash at your own risk. Nightly builds are less stable than stock versions and Cyanogen M or stable releases. Most users may decide to wait for the official release of Android 6, but knowing Huawei and Motorola, you will have to wait for a few months even before your devices get up to date. CyanogenMod is also taking its time working on flagships first. Happy flashing!
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is already getting official TWRP support starting today. The GSM version is first in getting this type of support as we already know that most experimented users will bake their devices and flash different custom ROMs on them.
Which Galaxy Note 5 version gets support first?
The Note 5 showed up officially mid-August and it is already available for purchase in many places of the world. The Note series remains one of the more popular phablet lines out there, and this can only mean that some owners will want to root and mod their device to their liking.
Team Win’s Recovery project custom recovery will allow users to mod their Note 5 as they see fit. Keep in mind that this official support version is available for the GSM Samsung Galaxy Note 5 version, which means that if your device is carrier-locked, this will not work for you. The download is available in the source link below.
You got your smartphone rooted and improved its overall speed, but what can you do to improve performance on a rooted phone? Performance boosters are not the best viewed pieces of software around, but if some of them can get a job done and improve CPU performance, they should not all be so easily disregarded. One of the better options you have of upgrading your device overall performance is the L Speed, a flashable ZIP created by developer Danijel Markov. The software applies several fixes in one go, fixes that are supposed to improve memory management and system-level functions.
In order to improve performance on your rooted phone you will have to download and run the L Speed mod. It will offer you a command prompt interface for some tweaking. It can improve performance without you having to change anything too!
The ZIP will apply some kernel changes by default, and these changes will also lead to RAM modifications and CPU calibrations. Your Android device will get an increase in performance and battery life as a result.
What do you need for this to work?
Rooted android handset
Custom recovery
BusyBox commands.
Improve performance step by step
Download the L Speed ZIP
In order to begin this entire modding process, you will have to download the flashable ZIP from this LINK. It will start downloading automatically (we assure you there are no hidden viruses or anything in the link). After download, you can boot it into the custom recovery.
Optional – Create backup
Before you flash the file, you can backup your data if you have NANDroid backup active. Just in case something goes wrong and you want this performance boost mod off your device, this would be the easiest way to get back to normal, by restoring the backup you previously made.
Flash the ZIP
The second active step in your attempt to improve performance on your rooted phone is to use the Install button on the TWRP recovery main menu. When you are there, you can navigate to your device’s Download folder and select the “L_SPEED_V2.0_REVOLUTION.zip” file. You then swipe the slider to start installation and tap the “reboot system” after it has finished installing.
When your device is back up, some system changes will have already been made. These changes should make your experience noticeably better when it comes to performance and battery life. Just in case you want to change things just a bit more, you can go to the L Speed command prompt interface.
Optional – customize L Speed settings
In order to change a few options on your new piece of software and further improve performance on your rooted phone you can download Terminal Emulator for Android, an app you can install, open and type su in, after which you tap Enter. The app will then require Superuser access and you will have to Grant it.
The Terminal Emulator now has access to your smart device. You will have to type LS and press Enter to access the L Speed menu and 2 to access the setting wizard. At this stage you can manually improve performance on your rooted device because you can easily enable or disable different RAM, CPU and kernel features. To activate or deactivate said features, you will have to press the desired number and tap Enter. As these changes will require a reboot to apply, you can choose whichever you want to implement and then reboot your smartphone.
L Speed works on all ROMs that have init.d support.
This is just one way of getting your device to significantly improve its performance and its battery life. Have you tried any apps or software to improve performance on your rooted device yet? Let us know in the comment section below.
You just went through all the trouble of rooting your device just to get rid of some bloatware and get more access to the software side of your device, but how can you make your rooted phone run faster? Rooted smartphones always get an upper hand when it comes to being able to do what you want when you want and to just keep those pesky apps that shouldn’t take your phone over at bay. There’s got to be some things you can do to make your handset run smoother and faster now that you went through all that trouble, right?
Disclaimer:the next tips require skilled hands and if you are a novice at modding smartphones, you should not adventure in the world of drastically changing your smartphone’s software as things may go wrong in the process. Stick to more general steps that can help your device perform faster. Do not blame us if you do use any of the following tips and something goes wrong with your smartphone.
What can I do to make my rooted phone run faster?
Update your custom ROMs
When you use a factory-sealed phone, you usually get a device with a stock ROM or official custom ROM. Usually, pre-existing operating systems are made to please the masses and you will definitely always find some features, apps and widgets that have no meaning or use to you. You can change that when you root a smartphone and get a custom ROM you can manipulate better. In short, custom ROMs are optimized stock ROM frameworks that make your device run faster and easier to scale to your needs and desires. If you need a custom ROM or a kernel that gives you breathing room, you can head over to the Android XDA Forum to find the ROM that will change your mobile life forever.
Use an overclocked kernel
Android smartphones are set to work on certain CPU frequencies by default and this feature is administrated by the kernel. Many Android developers out there prefer to develop their own custom kernel that supports overclocking to get that extra juice. If you do choose a kernel that can be overclocked you should know that it can increase your CPU clock by a few MHz and in turn this will make your phone perform tasks faster.
Bloatware – install or uninstall
Lots of apps get preinstalled on smartphones nowadays, especially on the likes of Samsung, LG, HTC or Sony – the big guys on the Android market basically. On your rooted phone you can change some of those bothering useless apps they keep shoving up your Android-ridden life. With the newest Android OS versions however, you can disable unnecessary apps. You can also use third parties to get the job done if the regular easy way gives you trouble, whatever makes you feel better. If you do stop some of the bloatware apps that big manufacturers put at your disposal in every smartphone they launch, you can be sure that your device will run smoother and faster.
Performance boosters – need’em or lose’em?
Performance boosters usually get bad rep, but they are not all as bad as they are said to be. Most of the times, Android mishandles memory management and system-level functions, especially when custom skins and bloatware are present on your device. On a rooted phone you can improve performance via boosters. You download a ZIP file that applies some kernel tweaks, CPU calibrations and RAM optimizations that will definitely increase performance and battery life. In order to use a performance booster, you will need a rooted phone with custom recovery and BusyBox commands installed.
These are just a few tips you can take advantage of in your fight with the perfect smartphone performance. It’s not just a myth; your rooted phone will definitely run faster if you make some changes to it.
