[WARN]Myself and Android Central do not take any responsibility for your phone. You follow this at your own risk and assume the risks that come with flashing custom ROMs on your phone.[/WARN]
[INFO]So what is thread about? Well since the Verizon Galaxy S3 is new to the ROM world since we had the last unlocked bootloader there has been a lot of question regarding what to flash and why. This is why this guide was created, to help anyone find the ROM they want and get the direct links and find out exactly which ROM is right for them.
Currently, there isn't a huge offering out there for ROMs but there are enough that could satisfy any crackflasher like myself.[/INFO]
[NOTE]YOU WILL NEED TO HAVE ROOT ACCESS TO YOUR PHONE AS WELL AS A CUSTOM RECOVERY INSTALLED AND AN UNLOCKED BOOTLOADER. If you have not done these steps first, I would recommend that you back out, complete those steps by following the other guides on here and then come back to continue. This is a very crucial step.[/NOTE]
[TIP]When you get to this step, it is recommended that you look at what you want in a ROM. If you want the TouchWiz features and and a stable ICS build or nightly builds of the latest and greatest Jelly Bean. By deciding this now, it will save time in the research process on picking a ROM in the next post.[/TIP]
[NOTE]As stated before, there are two distinct types of ROMs out there for the Verizon GS3. ICS/TW (Ice Cream Sandwich/TouchWiz) Based and AOSP (Android Open Source Project) based.
ICS/TW based ROMs will provide a "like stock" appearance and functionality. This means your phone will look, act and function as if it had the stock software on it from opening the box. However, the perk of having one of the these ROMs over a stock OS is the bloat has been removed, most of the Verizon altered code is gone (Wifi notification instead of toggle) and it will resemble as close to the international version, as the phone should have been.
AOSP based roms are "stock" ROMs that are created using open source code. Basically it is was built on a stock google image. If you want to know what I am talking about, look up a Galaxy Nexus and that is a stock Google ROM. This is what AOSP ROM will closely resemble. These ROMs will be best suited for those looking for the "purist" experience and don't want anything between them and the Google experience. You wont have some of functionality of TouchWiz, but where AOSP lacks some features it makes up for in speed. What you have to remember about AOSP ROMs right now is that they are experimental. You might experience bugs, heck you probably will experience bugs. This is why most of them are "nightlies". They are updated... you guessed it, nightly to squash bugs found and to make it more stable with each build.
If you are ready to begin, and have decided what type of ROM you are willing to try then you are ready to go to Post 2 and check out the list of ROMs that could suite your fancy.
[/NOTE]
INDEX
[INFO]So what is thread about? Well since the Verizon Galaxy S3 is new to the ROM world since we had the last unlocked bootloader there has been a lot of question regarding what to flash and why. This is why this guide was created, to help anyone find the ROM they want and get the direct links and find out exactly which ROM is right for them.
Currently, there isn't a huge offering out there for ROMs but there are enough that could satisfy any crackflasher like myself.[/INFO]
[NOTE]YOU WILL NEED TO HAVE ROOT ACCESS TO YOUR PHONE AS WELL AS A CUSTOM RECOVERY INSTALLED AND AN UNLOCKED BOOTLOADER. If you have not done these steps first, I would recommend that you back out, complete those steps by following the other guides on here and then come back to continue. This is a very crucial step.[/NOTE]
Preparing
In order to begin, I want to start off with a checklist of what you will need to ensure that if you go ahead and attempt to flash a ROM off this guide that you wont hit any snags in the preparation process.
- Rooted Phone
- Unlocked Bootloader
- Properly Installed Drivers
- Knowledge of Using a Custom Recovery
- Nandroid backup done in your Custom Recovery
[TIP]When you get to this step, it is recommended that you look at what you want in a ROM. If you want the TouchWiz features and and a stable ICS build or nightly builds of the latest and greatest Jelly Bean. By deciding this now, it will save time in the research process on picking a ROM in the next post.[/TIP]
[NOTE]As stated before, there are two distinct types of ROMs out there for the Verizon GS3. ICS/TW (Ice Cream Sandwich/TouchWiz) Based and AOSP (Android Open Source Project) based.
ICS/TW based ROMs will provide a "like stock" appearance and functionality. This means your phone will look, act and function as if it had the stock software on it from opening the box. However, the perk of having one of the these ROMs over a stock OS is the bloat has been removed, most of the Verizon altered code is gone (Wifi notification instead of toggle) and it will resemble as close to the international version, as the phone should have been.
AOSP based roms are "stock" ROMs that are created using open source code. Basically it is was built on a stock google image. If you want to know what I am talking about, look up a Galaxy Nexus and that is a stock Google ROM. This is what AOSP ROM will closely resemble. These ROMs will be best suited for those looking for the "purist" experience and don't want anything between them and the Google experience. You wont have some of functionality of TouchWiz, but where AOSP lacks some features it makes up for in speed. What you have to remember about AOSP ROMs right now is that they are experimental. You might experience bugs, heck you probably will experience bugs. This is why most of them are "nightlies". They are updated... you guessed it, nightly to squash bugs found and to make it more stable with each build.
If you are ready to begin, and have decided what type of ROM you are willing to try then you are ready to go to Post 2 and check out the list of ROMs that could suite your fancy.
[/NOTE]
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