ISSN: 2278 – 1323

International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering & Technology (IJARCET)

Volume 5, Issue 5, May 2016

1590 All Rights Reserved © 2016 IJARCET

CUSTOM ROM – A PROMINENT ASPECTS Of

ANDROID

Saurabh Manjrekar, Ramesh Bhati

ABSTRACT --This paper tries to look behind the wheels of

android and keeping uncommon spotlight on custom rom's

and essentially check for security misconfiguration's which

could respect gadget trade off, which might bring about

malware disease or information robbery. Android comprises

of a portable working framework in view of the Linux bit,

with middleware, libraries and APIs written in C and

application programming running on an application system

which incorporates Java-perfect libraries taking into account

Apache Harmony. Android utilizes the Dalvik virtual

machine with without a moment to spare gathering to run

ordered Java code. Android OS utilized as a part of cell phone

itself however now it comes in PC, Tablets, TVs. This

different ways makes them allowed to get to web by various

contingent applications. Which builds security dangers in

private and business applications, for example, web managing

an account or to get to corporate systems. In this paper, talk

about the Data security on Android OS.

Keywords- Custom ROM, STOCK ROM, Cyanogen Mod

I. INTRODUCTION

What is Android ROM?

After good response from the users using Symbian, iOS

and Windows there came into market a new Operating

System called as Android. Android is the mobile operating

system developed by Google. Android is a Linux-based

software system, and similar to Linux, is free and open

source software. One of the most widely used mobile OS

these days is ANDROID. Android is a software bunch

comprising not only operating system but also middleware

and key applications.This is a main reason to make

Android smartphones a very attractive target for attackers

and malware authors.

Period Android iOS Windows Phone

BlackBerry OS

Others

2015Q2 82.8% 13.9% 2.6% 0.3% 0.4% 2014Q2 84.8% 11.6% 2.5% 0.5% 0.7% 2013Q2 79.8% 12.9% 3.4% 2.8% 1.2% 2012Q2 69.3% 16.6% 3.1% 4.9% 6.1%

II. TYPES OF ROM’S

There are two types of ROM’s available for the android

device, they are described below :

A. Stock ROM:

The ROM or the operating system provided

bydefault by the device manufacturer. It is the

official ROM for the device.

B. Custom ROM: It is not the default ROM, it is developed mostly

by the third party developers. It can either be a

modified version of the stock ROM or it can be

completely different from the stock ROM.Stock

ROMs generally contains vendor specific additions

in them, where as Custom ROM’s have different

motives behind them. Some of the most common and

widely usable custom rom’sinclude :

1.1 CyanogenMod:

The largest aftermarket firmware compiled from

android ASOP and strives to be as close to ASOP code as possible. Source code is publically open.

This allow us to configure the working of the

navigation bar, status bar, notification drawer and

hardware buttons , and also the ROM is regularly

updated and supports most of the devices

1.2 Paranoid Android:

Paranoid Android is second most popular custom rom

in Android World which has been competing against

CyanogenMod since a long time.This rom enables the

user to customizeeverything in his way . There are a

number of cool unique features like hover notifications, cool immersive mode (hides the status

and navigation bars), dynamic system bars, peek

notifications from lockscreen and ability to use

gestures instead of the navigation buttons.

1.3 Cataclysm :

This Custom rom does not provide fancy look like

other custom rom’s.It mainly focuses on solid

performance. This ROM brings a lot of handy additions like configurable toggles, lockscreen along

with customization options for status bar, notifications

etc.

ISSN: 2278 – 1323

International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering & Technology (IJARCET)

Volume 5, Issue 5, May 2016

1591 All Rights Reserved © 2016 IJARCET

III. WHAT IS 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 users to play around

with, and people take this code and alter it for themselves. When you buy your Android device ,initially it has a

default operating system which is called STOCK ROM .

This ROM usually has limited functionality as defined by

the phone’s manufacturer. By flashing a custom ROM, you

can unlock extra features and sometimes improve the

performance.

IV. WHAT IS ROOTING ?

Rooting is process of modifying the preinstalled operating

system so that you can have complete control over it. you

can overcome limitations that the manufacturers puts on your phone. After getting root you can extend system

systemfunctionality , It gives permission to alter system

application , settings , run specialized applications which

require administrator-level permissions . hence it increases

little amount of security.

V. SUPERUSER

The user with full administrative privileges for

accessing the device is known as a super user. Super user is

unlocked when the device is rooted.

VI. STEPSTO INSTALL CUSTOM ROM

For this guide, you will need:

1. Unlocked bootloader 2. Custom Recovery

3. Android Device

4. GApps

5. Custom ROM

1. Step 1: Download a ROM

Find a ROM for your device from XDA

developerssite.Make sure you download the right one for your device. Many phones have several

variants.Once you have found the ROM you want,

download the ZIP file .This type of zip file may have

different size, its depend upon you which custom

Rom of your android version you looking for rooting.

Do not extract it! Then find the corresponding GApps

Save your ROM and GApps to your SD card.

2. Step 2: Boot into Recovery

To boot into recovery use your recovery combo

buttons.On most devices it is “Hold Volume Down +

Power” for 5seconds. Once you are in recovery, you

should see something like …

ISSN: 2278 – 1323

International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering & Technology (IJARCET)

Volume 5, Issue 5, May 2016

1592 All Rights Reserved © 2016 IJARCET

VII. AdvantagesOf Rooting

1. Full control Over Android,

2. Back Up And Restore The Whole System,

3. Save Space On Your Device,

4. Run Special Applications,

5. Allow To install Custom ROMs.

VIII. Benefits of switching to a Custom ROM

3. Performance

On a custom ROM, you’ll be able to over clock your

hardware to get big performance increases. These

changes can really show when you’re playing with

high graphics games or with application. Another way

a ROM can improve performance is by removing carrier or OEM-installed apps, known as bloatware,

which can free up system resources.

Fig. 1 Mobile Screenshot for Disable System Default Application.

4. Battery Life

Some Custom Rom’s come with lower voltage limits

that runs your phone just as fast , but uses less battery.

Higher clock speed increase performance on your

phone .Flashing a new kernel allow you to overclock

your phone using higher higher clock speed than

the manufacturer . You can dial it back a bit by

underclocking. With your processor running at a lower

speed, you can often extend battery life

5. Updates

While using Custom Rom you don’t need to wait for

an updates of operating system i.e. next version of

O.S. Some times manufacturers will cut support for

your device entirely. This leaves you stuck with a

phone with an old version of Android . One way is

Custom Rom on latest Android version .You can

download custom rom of latest android version and

flash a ROM based on it.

Fig. 2 Mobile Screenshot for Updating Operating System

6. Customization

Custom ROMs offer features that are not in stock

Android and many other options you can’t get

elsewhere. For example, a custom ROM allows you

to:

Install skins to customizelook and user interface.

Customize the quick settings menu Android includes

shortcuts.

Easily over clock your device to make it run faster or

under clock it to make it run slower to save battery

life.

Disable the volume warning that Android constantly

shows when you increase the system volume while

headphones are plugged in.

Hide the bottom navigation bar (on-screen buttons) to

get more screen real estate.

Easily enable root access by toggling a system

setting.

7. Configure App Permissions

Custom ROMs enables user to manage Android app

permissions, so user can prevent important data from

tracking your GPS location and play Android games

without giving them your identity information.

Fig. 3Screenshot For Application Custom Configuration

ISSN: 2278 – 1323

International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering & Technology (IJARCET)

Volume 5, Issue 5, May 2016

1593 All Rights Reserved © 2016 IJARCET

8. Install Apps on SD card

This is currently not possible with stock ROMs. If your

phone ran out of space occasionally when install new apps

this is a feature must have.

9. Better signal and quality

Custom ROMs help you to improve your base-band which

in turn increases the signal and quality of your phone call.

IX. DISADVANTAGES OF CUSTOM ROMs

1. Bricking

This is one of the main reason why people hesitate

to root their devices. Some devices after the

rooting process may become useless and the only

option left with you is to get a new one as the

manufacturer will cancel the warranty if they find

any attempts of rooting.

2. LossofallData

When you install a new custom ROM, it will clean

up your system and therefore you will loss all your installed apps and data.

3. RiskFactor

Most of the apps will be open source and the trust

you have on developers may cause a potential risk

to you in the future.

4. Reboot

If the rooting is not successfully done, the device may enter to an infinite loop of booting.

X. Conclusion

To gain the full control (administrative control) over the

device, an android device can easily be rooted. Rooting is

installation of the custom ROMS in the device. Android is

open source thus, it is easy to access its code. Making the

changes in the android’s official ROM codemay result in

new ROM’s. There are various pros and cons of rooting a

device as discussed above. The user with full administrator

control is known as a super user. And to be as upper user a user has to root his/her device.

XI. Acknowledgement

We thank our colleagues from IMCOST who provided

insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research,

although they may not agree with all of the

interpretations/conclusions of this paper. We thank Mrs.

Sheeba and Mrs. Apexafor assistance us by providing

proper IEEE formats and all faculties for guiding us.

XII. REFERENCES

[1] Gartner, “Mobile Device Sales Q3 2011,”

November2015. http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1848514 march 16,

2015 2:24pm

[2] X. Jiang, “Ginger Master: First Android Malware

Utilizing a Root Exploit on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread),”

August 2011.

[3] http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/windows-phone-

grows-104-percent-year-over-year-in-q4-2013-abi-

research-478672 march 16, 2015 2:14pm

[4] Android Team, “Platform Versions,” March 20,

20153:20pm.http://developer.android.com/resources/dashb

oard/platform-versions.html

[5] Cyanogen. (2012). Android Community Operating System. Retrieved March, 2014, from

http://www.cyanogenmod.org/

[6] http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/05/01/custom-

roms-for-android-explained-and-why-you-want-them/

[7] http://forum.cyanogenmod.org/

[8]http://forum.xda-

developers.com/android/general/discussion-cyanogenmod-

13-xiaomi-t3321920

[9] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7026391/android-

book-for-custom-rom-building

[10] https://www.facebook.com/xda.developers/?fref=ts

[11] http://en.miui.com/forum.php

1. Mr. Saurabh Manjrekar – Currently pursuing

Master’s in Computer Application (Third year) at

ASM’s Institute of Management & Computer

Studies (IMCOST), Mumbai.

2. Mr. Ramesh Bhati – Currently pursuing Master’s in

Computer Application (Third year) at ASM’s

Institute of Management & Computer Studies

(IMCOST), Mumbai.