I have been using CyanogenMod’s Android build since the first time I first rooted my Galaxy S2 in Jul 2012. There were flavours of CM that I have tried. South Korea’s MCM before he disappeared, Infected_ and Markox89.
After looking the state of change for CM, the usual bugs keep cropping up. eg 3G reception, switching between WiFi and 3G. I thought why not try something else different. Then I saw a few posts of people coming over from Paranoid Android build.
Paranoid Android is a small team building on AOSP but with novel features like Hover and Pie Control. They are one of the first few to improve the interaction of the Quick Settings tiles. So why not?
My first flash on 23 Jul with Paranoid Android 4.44 stable, all I got was a barely working phone. No Quick Settings tile were visible, browser keeping crashing. After a post to Google Plus, someone advised to wipe data. Tried that with the same result. Another poster advise to wipe and don’t restore settings from Google.
This time round on 24 Jul, instead of signing in at the setup wizard, I let it complete . Most of the functions were there and it looks stable. I signed in at Google Play and started installing my apps.
Since then I need to reboot twice. Once to stop Evernote from running crazy doing nothing. The other is to regain control from AlarmDroid, I was unable to stop the alarm. Other than that I have no 3G or switching problems. Very stable and impressive build.
Features wise, there is no secure SMS, device tracker, you can use Google, lack of ability to add/delete Quick settings tile, no blacklist for phone and SMS functions. Some are niceties, some are from CyanogenMod that really smooth out the rough edges of Google’s Android.
G+ page for legacy devices Download
Update 31 Jul
Paranoid Android is most impressive. Very resilient to apps crashing and random (me!) network switching. The only problem is the first alarm of the day can be difficult to silence. Other than that beautiful.