Many techies love to customize the ROMs of their Android devices, which allow various ways to modify smartphones, including the manipulation of startup devices, increase of speed and better battery usage.

One popular modification tool is the CyanogenMod.

According to CyanogenMod founder and lead developer Steve Kondik and his team, they will begin work on version 9 as soon as the Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) source code becomes available.

There is right now an early version out for Galaxy S (international) in beta and for Galaxy Nexus in alpha.

CyanogenMod is an aftermarket firmware for a number of cell phones based on the open-source Android operating system. It allows to bypass software limitations imposed by carriers which may prevent owners from using the handset in a manner that carriers do not support. Such features include, but are not limited to the ability to overlock the device's CPU, tether the device to the computer, or fully back the device to the SD card.

Advantages

DSP Equalizer: Unlike the default equaliser found in the device, this DSP equaliser gives more enhanced sound processing capabilities. It provides new audio parameters such as bass boost, 5-band equaliser that the phone owner can adjust by himself and virtual room effect.

As an alternative, the phone owner can have such an equaliser if he downloads a separate music player in the Android Market or download a separate music effect application linked to the system player. However, it consumes more memory and also eats processing in the CPU. By experience, the downloaded DSP packs in the market also have technical minor bug, such as "jumping" tunes and rattling sometimes. The CyanogenMod allows the equalizer for music lovers to be installed directly into the device as if it is an original part of the firmware.

Theme Support

The CyanogenMod has a Theme Manager that could be used without needing more application of that kind in the market. This Theme Manager affects the changes in the entire system, not just the homescreen and icons which are limited by the default factory setting.

Incognito Mode

This is a feature for those who want to browse the Internet with stealth. The Incognito Mode allows the smartphone owner to view sites from the Internet without having those sites recorded in his device's history. The same thing happens to downloads; although the files are saved in its memory, the tracking records of it are kept secret.

All new cookies are deleted once the phone owner closes the incognito mode. This allows the device owner to visit sites without being tracked down by those who borrow or access the phone.

Lockscreen Gestures

Basically, smartphones use patterns to lock the gadget's screen. The CynagenMod gives the owner the ability to use gesture as lockscreen. Unlike the pattern version which limits the phone owner to create lines interconnected to 9 dots, with a minimum of 4 dots connected, the modification tool allows the creation of dozens of patterns that are easier to crack compared to a gesture which the owner can complicate by himself. The effect of this lockscreen is similar to what the Google Gesture Search Application does, which allows the owners to correct a letter, a number or other patterns.

Phone Goggles

Phone Goggles of CyanogenMod allows the phone owner to block SMS or calls to specific person and to filter outgoing SMS as well without the need to download another SMS application.

It also saves memory, battery, and effort to access all these features. There are, however, downsides to modifying your Android.

One of these is modifying terminates the mobile device to perform after any software upgrade. It happens to both IOS platform and Android OS if any of them fails jailbreaking or rooting, respectively. Manufacturers also won't honor any warranty claims of the device.

For cases like these, to bring back to life the dead mobile unit, download the correct software for the unit in Web sites and install it on the gadget. Usually, the PC Suite allows direct firmware recovery. CyanogenMod, by the way, is not responsible for possible damage or bricking to the Android resulting from the owner's action and decision to bypass the default software settings.

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