Some in the Reddit r/Android community hold the belief that custom ROMS are generally more secure as a given. Where's the evidence for this? Do they seriously think home brew DIY OS development can beat mainstream software with armies of devs? Probably not. If it comes down to hard security concerns, I am leaning on the idea, that just about all devices can be hacked.
Therefore, custom ROMs are likely not to be any more secure than typical Android. However, custom ROMs clearly have the potential to be more private. In fact, custom ROMs may be more secure in terms of privacy considering "ungoogled" (aka google-free or google-less) custom ROMs like /e/ ( https://e.foundatidon/products/) or de-googled LineageOS, where all Google made apps - which collect data - like YouTube and Gmail are removed from the OS.
The privacy capabilities is an incredibly useful argument in favor of custom ROMs. As opposed to the idea that all custom ROMs are more secure, it can definitely said that some are more private. With a ROM like /e/ installed on your phone, user are no longer data-cows being milked by Google’s data farms. This is important not because of an inherent security risk, but instead precisely because of the inherent privacy risk that Google presents its users.
Overall, custom ROMs are not a magic bullet. However, the availabilty of custom ROMs that remove Google is fantastic. In a way, such ROMs are almost like having a 3rd alternative OS. These ROMs have the potential to create more of a balance between the Android-iOS competition. If you are not a fan of Google, but you also don’t mind Android, then there are custom ROMs out there for you. You can give /e/ a try.
There are plenty of legit reasons why someone might want to avoid google. Some custom ROMs seem to be viable options for users want to de-tangle themselves from Google’s spiderweb of data collecting apps, and especially if switch to iOS is not an option.
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