CyanogenMod

If you use an Android device, you must have heard the term CyanogenMod. CM, as it is popularly known among the community, is the most popular and the biggest custom ROM available for Android devices out there with a user base of more than 7 million. One of the key reason why CyanogenMod is so popular is because it aims to offer just the right amount of features and customization options without going overboard like PAC man and other ROMs.

If you are wondering why you should install CyanogenMod on your Android device, read our ten compelling reasons to find out.

Paranoid Android

The PA team has been consistently coming up with unique features like HALO, which has made it a favorite among the people who want their phones to live on the edge. While CyanogenMod aims to offer a near stock experience with just the right features and tweaks, and AOKP tries to offer a plethora of customisation options, the PA team aims to provide a completely different way of using your Android device or bring radically different features.

I recently explained all the unique features of Paranoid Android including HALO and Per App DPI in-depth here.

The ROM was initially based on CyanogenMod, but the PA team later shifted to AOSP sources for stability reasons. One of my biggest griped with the Paranoid Android team is that they lack a professional approach in their work. Not having a dedicated website/download center is a huge issue, and makes it cumbersome to find the right download link of the ROM for the right device. Thankfully, the team is working on this front, and users should see the result very soon.

CyanogenMod vs. Paranoid Android

If you are confused about both the ROMs, you really should not be. Apart from all its unique features like HALO and PIE, Paranoid Android incorporates nearly all the features of CyanogenMod.

However, the two ROMs differ in some other terms apart from features. Below are a few points of comparison -:

• For a newbie, all the unique features in Paranoid Android may be a bit overwhelming. For them, CyanogenMod is the perfect way to enter the wold of custom ROMs, since it does not deviate much from the stock Android experience.

• In terms of performance and battery life, both the ROMs are more or less the same. Both the ROMs use a tweaked stock kernel, which should improve the battery life slightly. If you notice poor battery life on either of the ROMs, chances are the build you are using has issues.

• The CM team supports around 60+ devices. The Paranoid Android team, on the other hand, supports a limited number of devices. However, an unofficial Paranoid Android ROM port exists for most devices.

• Feature wise, Paranoid Android team leads the way with some really unique features. The CyanogenMod team also adds some new features from time to time, which help in improving the usability and cater to a wider audience.

• Stability wise both the ROMs are pretty much on the same boat. Since both the ROMs follow a nightly release schedule, any bug is fixed in the next nightly build.

• The CyanogenMod team follows a build cycle of nightly -> Milestone, with a stable build coming months after, when they feel things are stable enough for long term use. On the other hand, the Paranoid Android team releases a new nightly build every day or a couple of days, and releases a major build with a version number jump when they add a lot of new features or fix some major bugs.

• The CyanogenMod team has a much more professional approach to their work compared to the PA team. The CyanogenMod website gets updated frequently, and they have a centralized website from where interested users can download the ROM. On the other hand, the Paranoid Android website was updated ages ago, and they don’t have any centralized website for download as well.

Conclusion

In the end, the answer to the question “Which ROM should I use?” really depends on your experience and what you are looking for. If you are new to the ROM scene, start with CyanogenMod. However, if you have used CyanogenMod for quite sometime and are looking for something unique and different, Paranoid Android might just be what you need.