Cyanogenmod GS3

[rridgely]

Not sure how many here have an android phone and specifically the galaxy s3, but I wanted to start a topic about my latest project I've been messing with. I have had a galaxy s3 for a few months now. I traded a friend for my iphone 5 since we both got new phones at the same time. I basically wanted to get a bigger screen than what the iphone 5 offered. Huge mistake as I hated the GS3 from the day I got it. I was very close to just trading the phone in and paying the price to get my iphone back but before I did I decided to try and put cyanogenmod 10.2 on it and see if that helped.

 

I followed the two guides that you can find here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCDCIZz5fJM&feature=c4-overview&list=UUCeXyDcdHfS6-EjwxrRl2eg

 

and here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb6ebdiIURI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUCeXyDcdHfS6-EjwxrRl2eg

 

Those 2 videos cover how to root, back up, and put new software(mods) on your galaxy s3.

 

I have played with cyanogenmod on an HP touchpad but I haven't ever hacked an android phone before but the process was fairly simple and I'm happy with the results.

 

So far my phone is a LOT faster. Battery life has been improved dramatically as well. Whatever apps samsung had running all the time would kill my battery in about 5 hours.(these were listed under "Android System" when I would check the phones battery usage). I'm not sure I enjoy this phone more than I did the iphone but it is significantly better than it was when I got it. I do like that its running the most current version of android and that it didn't have any bloat taking up space on the phone.

 

If you have a galaxy s3 and you don't mind spending about 2 hours or so setting this up, I definitely think it was worth the hassle.

[Winapp2.ini]

Rooting voids your carrier and manufacturer warranties in most cases in the US. YMMV.

 

FWIW I have an unofficial AOSPA build running on my gs4. Liking it, but the developer has been slow to port over the newer changes. I really wish there was an official port for the s4 but there isn't right now . They generally stick to nexus devices.

[rridgely]

Since the released the nexus version of the 4, maybe you can find a download for that rom somewhere? Not sure.

I have a nexus 7 and CM10.2 for the GS3 looks and behaves almost exactly like the default android install on my tablet. The launcher is different but I use nova launcher prime anyway on my phone so I was ok with that.

 

The biggest improvement has been better battery life and increased speed of just general usage.

I was having to use 2 batteries in my phone to get through and average work day and then keep it plugged up when at home. It was ridiculous. I had even tried running the phone without any accounts synching and some of samsungs junk would still kill my battery. It always showed that "android system" was eating at least 60% of my battery. I'm not even on the phone that much during the day, it was dieing by just being on.

 

I do actually have warranty coverage on the phone that I pay for monthly. I doubt that if I broke the phone they wouldn't replace it because I rooted it. Maybe if I bricked it during the process but if I drop it, I'm still pretty sure they will replace it with a broken screen ect.

[Winapp2.ini]

Samsung has been known to not care about rooting, carriers aren't happy with rooting because most remove their crapware from the phone upon doing so.

 

AOSPA for GS4: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2291740

 

It's been a month since the last update though