There comes a time when you are not getting Android security updates anymore for the manufacturer’s last Google certified Android version on your device.
Android custom ROMs not bound to Google certification may very well reach higher Android versions on the same device and thus continue to provide those important updates considerably longer.
Example:
Fairphone’s software support on the Fairphone 3/3+ ends with Android 13, which ran out of Android security update support by Google earlier this year … FP3 Official software support and spare part sales will conclude in August … so 2026 will be the end of responsible internet connected usage of “the standard android software, with all updates applied” … unless you use an Android custom ROM on Android 15 currently, with Android 16 seemingly still possible, resulting in Android security updates until 2028 or perhaps even 2029 (unless Google changes the scheduling).
Mileage may vary considering such trouble.
It’s worth to remember that a forum is a trouble collector and amplifier, so to speak. Exceptional cases aside, not everybody out there will be affected.
And then a lot of trouble is caused by unrealistic user expectations.
If you use an Android custom ROM, there’s a very good chance you will run into trouble if you want to use banking Apps, for example. This is just inevitable technical reality currently, and it can be known beforehand, and users could make up their mind about what to prioritise. You prioritise banking Apps working, you stay out of tinkering. You prioritise the extended possibilities of tinkering, you don’t expect your banking App(s) to work. That simple, much less trouble.
The same is true for “degoogling” with Android custom ROMs but at the same time still expecting Apps with Google dependencies to work flawlessly at all times. The cause of the trouble is expecting anything else than technical reality can deliver. Clear up priorities beforehand, much less trouble.
And this might simply not be everybody else’s experience.
An Android custom ROM might actually work better in certain aspects, and it may well have exclusive features users want to have.