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Android Generic Project will make custom ROMs on PCs easier to install

By Ewdison Then/

The third-party Android ROM landscape isn't what it used to be but it still exists and thrives even if in a smaller size. Extremely locked-down phones have made it harder to port and install these custom ROMs but PCs running on x86 Intel and AMD processors are a different story. There are quite a few ports of Android for these computers and Bliss OS, the developers of one such ROM, is starting a new project to make it even easier for other Custom ROMs to jump in, even if they were made for PCs.

Android has been running both officially and unofficially on x86 computers, the latter thanks to the Android-x86 project. That ROM, however, is as plain as AOSP can be and other projects like Bliss OS build upon that to offer a more user-friendly experience out of the box. Still, the number of custom ROMs targeting PCs is significantly smaller than their phone-based counterparts, primarily because of the hard work needed to port them.

That's where Bliss OS' Android-Generic project comes in, combining Android-x86 with the very same facilities Google introduced to make it easier for manufacturers to create their Android ROMs and update them. Specifically, it applies Project Treble and the Generic System Images (GSI) system to build a system and workflow that can make it easier for custom ROM developers to build an image for PCs.

It also means that it would be easier for users to install an Android for PC ROM on their desktop, laptop, or even tablet PC. As proof of Android Generic's promise, Bliss OS team member Jon West took one regular custom ROM, Dirty Unicorns, and compiled it for PC with the Android Generic toolkit.

Perhaps the biggest demonstration of the project's stability is that Bliss OS is already using it for its own ROM. Hopefully, this could give Android fans more ways to enjoy their favorite platform on desktops, laptops, and other computers that Google wouldn't even consider installing Chrome OS on.

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