I have always been happy with the main player.
Have been running Lineage OS since the days it still was CyanogenMod.

LineageOS for me

I use GrapheneOS on my main phone, but I use Evolution X for my second phone, and crDroid for my tablet

Note that only GrapheneOS supports bootloader re-locking tho

Using Graphene, tempted by Lineage.

Right now? GrapheneOS and I don't think I'll switch to anything else until a phone option outside of big tech emerges.

Favorite of all time was probably Cyanogenmod up to Gingerbread and AOKP for that holo era (ICS, Jellybean, KitKat.)

I think around the Nexus 5, I stopped using custom roms until GrapheneOS.

GrapheneOS undisputed #1 for me, but also RestlessOS or LeOS for devices that are only compatible with GSI since those also strip out pings to Google.

never seen nor expected to see this trajectory -- what's making lineage tempting?

I like e/os with micro-G

Lineage, by virtue of it being the only one that has a version for my Samsung S10+.

GrapheneOS is the only one I've used since the bad old days of trying random things posted on forums, and it's excellent.

GrapheneOS for me.

I did use CRDroid for a few years on a Samsung S4 many years ago.

GrapheneOS and LineageOS are personally my favourite Android distributions.

"Custom ROM" is technically a false term for them, and LineageOS, PrivacyGuides and other institutions use the term "Android distributions" instead.

"Custom ROM" is technically a false term for them, and LineageOS, PrivacyGuides and other institutions use the term "Android distributions" instead.

Why?

GrapheneOS on devices that can run it, LineageOS on devices that can't.

I'm keeping an eye on AXP.OS since DivestOS has stopped being developed.

That is, of course, if you're only counting Android and not Linux mobile. If you are, then I'd add PostmarketOS to the list, though it's hard to find a device that can be used as a daily driver yet, though the Fairphone 6 is very close.

LineageOS, good enough to degoogle and if it's possible for you to use F-Droid-only apps you are out of the surveillance machinery (with the exception of the TSP if you use a SIM card) and it's a huge step from stock Android in terms of privacy.

At the moment I'm using iodeOS

I've been thoroughly enjoying e/os in s Fairphone 6.

Read-only memory (ROM) is hardware, a chip, or an area on a chip. Flash storage used to store a system image is not read-only, but the term "ROM" has somehow creeped onto it. The definition of read-only in my opinion is that you have to use a separate device to write it, it can't be writable by the device that uses it, it has to be write-protected in use.

The operating system image colloquially called "custom ROM" is software (firmware) written to flash storage. It's not read-only and it's data, not memory hardware. If it were read-only, we wouldn't need verified boot (bootloader locking) to detect malware edits in it.

GrapheneOS - maximum security and privacy for phones and tablets

• More Android apps than on other deGoogled OSs
• Very secure (hack-resistant) if correctly set up and used
• Easy to install to the few phones it accepts (some Google, some Motorola 2027)
• Beginner-hostile, complicated manual setup
• Good website and active forum

Notable mention for the beginner-friendly /e/OS (technically inferior compared to GrapheneOS, installable to more devices).

https://www.quora.com/How-does-Murenas-custom-e-OS-compare-to-Googles-Android/answer/Harri-K-Hiltunen

I haven't tried CalyxOS yet. I had CyanogenMod for a few years before it was LineageOS.

phone option outside of big tech

Jolla phone, but people say it's not an option for everyone (yet).

Linux mobile ... PostmarketOS ... as a daily driver ... Fairphone 6 is very close

Seems like Jolla phone (or its Sailfish OS on a Sony 10 III) belongs to that group? I haven't tried it.

A better question is how many are really out there at the moment.

Early 2000s there was so many for any model phone. Now it feels like those are mostly gone and there's only 5-6 left.

I'm not a big fan of SailfishOS due to its proprietary userspace.

Lineage OS is the ultimate deGoogle; I'm not comfortable with android at all given the influence Google has over its development.

LineageOS also can run on more phones; current Graphene ONLY runs on Pixels, soon to run on Motorola, but the Graphene hw requirements are HEAVY--only flagship phones have what Graphene requires, and I'm poor.

LineageOS is less secure, though, so I'd be sacrificing that.

You had a phone with a custom rom in the early 2000s???
Respect!
You haven't been working for Nokia's dev team back then by any chance, have you? ;-)

my antipathy towards google greatly outweights my thread model so i prioritize degoogling over security and it also made me wait for motorola's phone instead of buying any pixel today.

Lineage OS is the ultimate deGoogle

now knowing that motorola has graphene slated for its ultra high end folding phones next makes me question my decisions, so this is intriguing AF and i've never heard anyone say it before -- what does it mean to you?

Oh, looks like I was confused. I thought LineageOS was a Linux based system, but it's still Android so what I said doesn't make a ton of sense... but my next attempt at my next phone will be some Linux OS so I can completely get off android. But if I have to stay within the Android ecosystem for whatever reason and don't have the money for a Pixel (or fucking definitely not a fold), I'll probably try Lineage.

All of the videos/reviews seem to suggest that hardware support is even more limited than graphene.

GrapheneOS has best privacy and security, but also has the biggest disadvantage: available only on Google phones. But in 2027 it will be released on Motorola, too.

I've been daily driving GrapheneOS for a while now and I love it (Pixel 9a). Looking forward to seeing what Motorola comes out with that's supported by Graphene in the future.

I've also used iodéOS, CalyxOS, LineageOS and Ubuntu Touch. They're all great, but Ubuntu Touch still isn't ready for daily driving for my own use case.

LineageOS, mostly due to the fact that it's pretty close to the original vision of AOSP; and my devices do not support Graphene or PostmarketOS, so there are almost no viable alternatives.