The latest version of the Android operating system is now running on my device, and here's what I think of it so far.
First of all, this is the smoothest transition I have had in years since I have been switching custom roms on my phones. I think the last time I had something this relaxing was when I was still using my Galaxy S3 mini.
I am not really sure if it was just the ROM itself, the recovery I used or maybe I have been doing it wrong all this time, but this time I did not have any bootloops, no need to reboot multiple times, no failures while installing Magisk or graphical glitches and overall bugs. Everything simply worked out.
Yes, I did a couple of reboots because that’s what needs to be done when installing Magisk and restoring Migrate backups, but I did not got stuck watching a logo spin or having apps crashing as soon as I opened them. Maybe its just that my phone is already at such a mature state where roms simply don’t break as easily, or maybe its jut a result of my experience where I didn’t immediately got out of my way to get the first Android 12 rom that came out, but regardless, installing this was a breeze, I did not lost any data, a flawless transition from my previous ROM.
I took quite a lot of measures this time, since I was fairly afraid of doing the jump, it always happens when a few months go by and I stick to the same rom for too long.
I copied my Downloads, Pictures, Podcasts, DCIM and other common folders that contained information I deem worthy of salvation, I did backups of app data, I even did a full backup from my recovery (which is Orange Fox in case you are interested).
But everything was not needed at all. Of course that does not mean I won’t do all of this procedure again next time, since you never know what could happen!
Anyways, everything’s fine, I am having fun, and Android 12 looks nice! So lets go over some of the things about the software itself.
The rom I am using is MSM Extended, it has quite a lot of features. Android 12 has some smooth animations, the theming works great, notifications are a bit bloated but they work, its fine overall.
When it comes to Android privacy and roms, I always see everyone recommending Lineage, but I find it incredibly weird that basically nothing else gets mentioned other than Pixel exclusive roms. Besides, privacy is not the only reason there is to switch roms, if you want features, customization, better defaults and the best Android has to offer, there are a lot of options to use, such as Resurrection Remix, Paranoid, Pixel Experience, Dot OS. The list keeps going.
Privacy and security are important, but they are not Android’s strongest field, at all, so just enjoy the life with the faster, cleaner and most customizable experience smartphones can have. Or well, that’s what I think of this.
