I tried Stock Android and HATED it

Hey guys, just want to clarify what we’re trying to say with this video. We’re using the generic image to illustrate that these days, even the Pixel UI is significantly customized by Google- to the point that calling that interface 'Stock Android' feels quite disingenuous. 'Stock Android', that is to say ‘Android without any vendor customizations’, isn't really a usable thing anymore as it was in the past. Even the most straightforward custom ROMs make tons of their own changes to the base Android code because the most basic forms of Android, like AOSP and GSI, aren’t meant to be daily driven.

Thank you for the shoutout Linus!😄 - Vishal (Paranoid Android Dev)

I'm one of the founders of halogenOS – which is based on AOSP (not LineageOS) – and has been around since 2016. While we don't have enough resources to provide builds for many devices, there are test builds for select devices that we use as our own daily drivers – and I've been using it pretty much uninterrupted since it exists – across the 4 phones I've owned since then. AOSP, unfortunately, is only maintained to a bare minimum. Apps haven't been updated in years, basically since the Google Pixel exists. Back then, Google Nexus phones would run stock AOSP, but now they are doing their own thing and leaving us in the dust. As for GMS, I used to use microG but stopped using Google Play Services/GMS altogether. But if you want to run Google Apps on halogenOS – feel free to do so – it's your choice – and we even try our best to keep Play Integrity working.

I still miss the old cyanogenmod.

Technically, GSI images are not meant to be used regularly. They're meant for testing purposes if I'm not mistaken. They're full of issues, and just there for the devs. None of the drivers for the phone are even present, just generic ones. It's like saying stock Ubuntu is a Linux shell. It's missing everything. (To answer some of the comments about what I have written, I have watched the video in its entirety. And I still find it misleading, stock android is not a GSI, and I think everyone agrees that nowadays that would be the Pixel variant of android or Lineage OS or even Hydrogen OS. A GSI image is more like, the base, kind of like how Linux-From-Scratch is.) PS: Sorry for starting a comment war in the replies

“What these guys are thinking”

You really opened a can of worms with this video

I customized everything about 6-7 years ago, and since then, I've been importing my settings. Of course, now and then, I update my GUI interface with some new features, but that's about it. Some smartphones have a very long battery life regardless of their small capacity. Some get a little warmer even with YouTube and WhatsApp use. The removal of the SD card, audio jack, and charger is the real difference that has hurt me the most. No change that to random non-rollback updates, which makes your device bad. Iike heats up and drains the battery even on standby, charging slows down significantly, and then it heats up, and the UI starts to stutter. And then, you'll use a screen guard and case cover even when the manufacturer claims the absurd durability of the phone. They make the phone so sleek and sexy, but you have to cover it in an armour-like case, which heats the phone even more. Yeah, it is still a mixed bag.

I forsee no backlash to Linus not using a Pixel for a month instead. /s Edit: This is not a dig at the point of this video.

An android rom dev here, a GSI is *not* the same thing as building AOSP for a device (lets say a Pixel 8 Pro in the case of the video), it is a generic image, meant for testing. You wouldn't have seen Can developers add stuff to GSIs to make them usable? Yes, absolutely, and they do that all the time. I do agree that barebones AOSP is horrible to use, but I think it's this way by design, there is no reason for anyone to use it; if you are savvy enough to build and flash it to your device, you could've flashed stuff like LineageOS or any other custom rom way easier. Moreover, having more stuff in AOSP means more work (pointless work) for rom devs, and manufacturers. If a manufacturer wanted to ship android on a phone without building out their own AOSP fork, they can easily use stuff like lineage. EDIT: I AM NOT DISAGREEING WITH THE MAIN POINT OF THE VIDEO. There is no usable ""stock"" android anymore. (There hasn't been for quite a while). The only major criticism I have is the use of a GSI instead of an Android build for the device that was used. Furthermore, the video shows installation of a android 15 beta GSI, which isn't even a release build of android. (Though, I do not know if this was just footage captured by an editor, since one of the options is the A15 beta on Google's web flash tool). These issues would explain the finicky/buggy behavior with settings and Bluetooth.

To all these people in the comments saying "People want pixel os when they say the want stock android": Most people who even care about that have been around for long enough to install AOSP roms before Pixel even was a thing. Back then these stock roms were called AOSP roms and they were very usable. I think most of the tinkering done on the side of the roms Devs was about getting the roms to run on the respective hardware, they didn't need to fix AOSP because it was in good shape back then

I watched the entire video, I read the pinned comment and a couple of comments down there and there's still a thing I don't understand and would genuinely like explanations about. - You said you dropped your phone in the pool and are looking for a replacement - You got the Pixel 8 Pro hoping to have it as a new daily driver - You installed a completely different system on the phone (than the one it is shipped with, which would be the fair system to give it to try it) to explain the terms GSI, Stock, AOSP - In the end at 9:13 you say "I still don't have a new phone" and conclude with "I'm gonna go for an Apple" Could you please explain why you don't try the Pixel with the system it is intended to be used with to experience what it is supposed to be? Or why don't you try one of the custom ROMs you quoted instead of saying Pixel 8 Pro is bad just because you installed an OS that is not intended to be used on it? I'm going to exaggerate here, but it would be like installing Windows Phone on your Apple and make a video to say your 30-days iPhone experience was bad and that you're looking for a new phone now but you didn't give the phone its fair trial. EDIT: Formatting

"I tried the last iPhone and HATED it" video in 30 days let's gooooo

Stock Android is like Stock Linus...a man without a beard

I'd say that lineageos is basically stock android. They just add trust and maybe a custom feature here and there but it's the closest you get from proper aosp.

00:51 thats been true a long time!! stock android lack a lot of features. And Soc have come a long way and run really well almost any skin you throw at it.

I've been using LineageOS on my Pixel 4a for soo long, and Custom Roms are the greatest thing about androids.

This is where Android and GNU/Linux meet. Whatever distro or flavour you pick, someone out there will get mad. Edited: GNU/Linux Yes. They use Linux kernel. Android is Android. How is someone reading "Android is GNU Linux" from this?

Regardless of if the general public calling Pixel experience "stock" is misleading, not frontloading this video with "yes, we know Pixel experience is what people call stock android" makes this video feel either under educated, lazy, or purposefully misleading.

TIL Pixels out of the box are not actually "Stock Android".