Dirty Unicorns - Dirtyunicorns

What started as a solo project now comprised many skilled developers. Dirty Unicorn releases some of the best custom ROM that is well designed, stable, and filled with awesome features. It started its work on AOKP( Android Open-source Kang Project), which is sort of a substitute for Android devices.

Our ROMS were instant hits among the developers’ community because they were packed with many features and customizations which were not available in other custom ROMs at that time. Though Alex Cruz started the Dirty Unicorns alone, it now has many developers working together to provide quick updates and a stable ROM filled with the best features.

Dirty Unicorn’s First Custom ROM

Initially, their custom ROM was only available for Evo 3D, and this was way back in 2012 when the custom ROM slowly started getting users. Most of their ROMs are for Google Pixel devices, and their first Custom ROM was the Dirty Unicorn 11, which is built completely from the source.

Their first custom ROM Evo 3D was packed with features, which at that time not every device had. You could find features like Powerwidgets, Ribbons, CyanogenMod profiles, and some more features that were only available on some devices. It’s like Evo 3D picked up all the best and missing features from multiple devices and brought them together in one custom ROM.

Since their first ROM that was based on Android Icecream Sandwich, they have released many ROMs for Pixel devices. Their most recent ROM was for Android 9 Pie devices which they released updates every week. These updates were released for devices like Google Nexus 6, Pixel, Pixel 2 Xl, Pixel 3/3 XL, Pixel C, OnePlus 3/3T, OnePlus 5/5T, Moto G5 Plus, and Moto Z2 Force.

Why Do People Love Dirty Unicorns?

If you have ever used any of their custom ROMs then you probably wouldn’t be asking this question. Their team of developers has worked to provide many users with many amazing features on their Android devices. From their entry into Custom ROMs with AOKP to adding their ROMS to XDA, and adding new features to many devices, they have come a long way.

There are some features limited to Pixel devices like Active Edge or Motion Sense, which are now available to other AOSP devices. Some of the best additions by Dirty Unicorns are features like Pulse, Smart bar, and Fling. All these features are mostly based on Pixel devices but offer more customizations.

The above-mentioned features were available in Nougat and Marshmallow devices, but now can also be used in Oreo devices, which is due to the Custom ROMs.

Fling: Fling brings with it some new navigation options by using swipe gestures. Three new gestures offer a smooth browsing experience on your mobile. Gestures like swiping left to go back, or swapping right to go to the recent menu, and a tap on the screen to go back to the home screen.

Pulse: With Pulse, you get a graphical visualizer that is shown at the bottom of the home screen. This feature is customizable based on your audio and can be used with many media players.

Smart Bar: This option is helpful to customize your home screen navigation buttons. You can just remove or add any of the icons from the screen, and even add themes that can be based on the icon pack or just images from your gallery.

After working on AOSP, the Dirty Unicorns have moved to OmniROM, which according to the team provides a more learning and challenging experience. You can also find their ROMs now on XDA, which were added in August 2020 for a few Pixel devices.

What is Custom ROM?

Your PC, Laptop, and smartphones all have ROMs which is the operating system that runs these devices. Usually, every device comes with a ROM that is specific to those devices with certain features, but with custom ROMs, you can make any sort of changes to the operating system by adding or removing features to a device, provided you can have sound knowledge of Android.

With ASOP, which is an open-source program for Android, developers can customize a ROM. By adding these custom ROMs you replace the existing OS with a custom OS. Since it is an open-source program, these custom ROMs are purely legal and don’t have to follow any terms and conditions of Google.

Due to this many new versions of Android OS like MIUI, Oxygen OS et cetera have been born. There are many advantages of using a custom ROM like you get quick updates(also for older devices), more customization, your phone is faster and better, administrative privileges, you can access many features that are usually not found in non -custom ROMs. You can also remove those pesky little apps that come inbuilt into your device.

Drawbacks

With good things, there are also bad ones, while rooting your device and using custom ROMs is fun and exciting, it comes at a price. The first thing that happens with rooting is that you lose your device warranty. Not every manufacturer supports custom ROMs, so if you still have your warranty then you will lose it.

If you are not careful about installing the right kind of ROM then you can compromise your smartphones because many ROMs come with bugs as they are not well tested. This makes your device prone to malware which can cause information loss and many other things. So cannot be updated, if the developers have dropped the ROM development. You should only install custom ROMs that are well known, and well-received by the community.

Some Custom ROMs that you can try are OmniROM, LineageOS, Pixel Experience, AOSP Extended, and a few more ROMs that can be tested on your Android device.

Dirty Unicorn ROM V14

The Dirty Unicorn ROM V14 is one of the most debloated ROM that you can ever find for an Android device. It doesn’t have any bloatware, not even a calendar, play store, recorder, and the basic apps that you get with any smartphone. It only has File manager, Settings, Sim Tools, and Phone app are the only apps that are available when you flash this ROM.

With the Dirty Unicorn ROM V14, you get multiple customization options in the Dirty tweak’s menu which are only available in this ROM. In there, you can find three tabs System, Statusbar, and Navigation. Each of these tabs has its specific configurable options like Lockscreen, Power options, battery options, gestures, and many more.

Since it is a Custom ROM, it does have some bugs, and these bugs are specifically for the V14.4 of the ROM. One prominent issue in many phones is the Dark mode, it is still not compatible with many apps on this ROM. Another major issue with this ROM is regarding the battery. This mod quickly drains your device battery in Stock Kernel if you do some gaming, and that is just after 6 hours.

As mentioned it doesn’t have any bloatware, unfortunately, it is also missing some important apps like Camera and Google apps, so you need Gapps for that.

Flashing Your Phone with Dirty Unicorns

Installing a custom may sound like a complex task but in reality, it is pretty simple if you have the right tool for the job. You need to know that you will lose all your device data by installing any custom ROM. If you have any important stuff on your device then you should back up the data before you begin flashing a custom ROM. So let’s see how that can be done.

Here we are going to use the Team Win Recovery Project(TWRP) which is used to boot your device and install the ROM. Install the TWRP tool, and choose the appropriate version which depends on your device.
Download the Dirty Unicorns ROM after/before you have installed the TWRP.
Now select the wipe option to remove all the previous data.
Then from the home page, select Install to select your Dirty Unicorn ROM file, and then swipe the slider at the bottom to start the ROM installation.
When that is finished click on Reboot. That’s right now you have flashed a custom ROM.

For Android users who want more from their device, more specifically a custom device with many features that are usually not found in that particular device should install this Dirty Unicorns ROM. It supports many Pixel devices along with a few Moto and other devices. With Dirty Unicorns, you will have one of the best custom ROMs on your device.

There are many customizations in Android devices, but sometimes they aren’t enough. To normal Android users, these features are abundant since they use them for bare minimum purposes. For hardcore users, there is always something better that can be done with their devices. Such users choose Custom ROMS for their devices. Since Android is open source, it provides many developers an opportunity to change the source to their liking. One such community of developers is Dirty Unicorn, which is one of the well-known custom ROM developers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the Dirty Unicorns still releasing new ROMS?
No, the Dirty Unicorns are currently not releasing any new ROMs for Android devices.
What is the last version of ROM released by Dirty Unicorns?
Their last version of ROM V14, and later some unofficial version too was released which was V14.7.
What are some other good Custom Roms?
LineageOS, Pixel Experience, AOSP Extended, Paranoid Android, etc are some other good ROMs.
Can I install Dirty Unicorns on my OnePlus 5?
Yes, you can install this ROM on OnePlus 5/5T/3/3T.