For those who do not want to go through the risky procedure of flashing a custom ROM, the Xposed framework is a great tool to tweak your Android device.
If you have root access on your Android smartphone, there are a number of things at your disposal. You can flash a custom ROM and gain access to some great features, settings and tweaks that are not usually available in stock ROMs. But what if you don’t want to change your existing ROM and still get access to such features?
Well the Xposed framework is your answer. This tool makes customizing your device quite easy and the only requirement is a rooted Android device. It’s an easy-to-install app and you can grab the .APK and sideload it onto your device. After installing, the app allows you to make changes that give you access to a number of customizations which is usually available on custom ROMs.
The Xposed framework has a list of modules for download and allows you to enable and disable them as per your requirement. You can add some modules online from Xposed Repo, XDA and even Google Play . There are even some in Google Play. Most of the modules have their own settings UI that you can use to configure.
Some of the modules/add-ons that you should consider are:
YouTube AdAway – As the name suggests, this module removes all the YouTube ads. The AdAway’s developer is also on his toes to keep updating the module if any future YouTube app updates appear. So now, no more waiting to skip the ads on YouTube anymore.
CyanLockScreen – This allows you to change the grid for the lock-screen unlock pattern to a 4×4, 5×5, or 6×6 grid and make the lock screen pattern even more complicated.
Gravity Box – This module contains a number of tweaks including a lockscreen tweak which lets you customize the unlock ring with a battery indicator, a quick launch of the flashlight with a long press on it, and so on.
The Statusbar tweak menu has settings to add data usage indicators to the Wi-Fi/3G status icons in the status bar. The Power Tweaks section lets you enable an advanced power menu with the added options of rebooting, taking a screenshot and screen recording while in the power menu, and more.
The Telephony menu lets you choose an action to be performed when the device is flipped face down while ringing, set a full-screen caller photo, and keep incoming phone calls in background.
The Launcher tweaks let you choose a number of rows and columns for the home-screen. Navigation keys can be customized as well – each of the three software keys can be assigned double-tap and long-press actions. There is also a Misc tweaks setting which lets you add a RAM usage bar to the recent tasks menu.
Xposed GEL Settings – This module is also a great option as it offers some great customizing features. You can lock down your device’s display to prevent dragging, hide the page indicator, resize widgets, etc. The Homescreen page offers columns and rows adjustments, while the App Drawer page lets you make many changes to how the drawer and icons look.
There are more settings that can be unlocked by payment and donations, which include backup & restore and also some gesture settings. Be warned, rooting means you can lose the warranty of your device and this could lead to some issues in performance as well if you are trying out rooted apps that fiddle with your system configurations.