Sometimes I speak about the latest and greatest roms I find along my path in Android life. One of the commonly used terms when listing the features of a new rom is “De-Odexed”.
Odex:
Odex roms are hard to come by, they are normally stock roms that are shipped with your phone. Most of your system apps have a small portion separated called an Odex file, which is meant to be smaller in size and is pre-loaded when booting up your device, thus making it boot faster. Because Odex files are meant to be smaller, obviously the entire rom will be smaller as well. The user will see a minor speed boost, primarily in the bootup process. Trying to flash mods to your phone like the circle battery that will show your battery percentage on the top status bar on an Odexed rom, will almost always end in you screwing up your phone.
Because Odex roms have a portion separated, they are no longer whole files, thus making them much harder to modify.
De-Odexed:
De-odexed roms are slightly larger and boot slower, but you can theme and mod them without issues (most of the time). Just about all themed roms are de-odexed. But not all. We’re starting to see some odexed roms with themeing included. De-Odexed roms just mean they have placed that “Odex File” back inside the App. Now your application is no longer separated, and will be much easier to modify should you choose to. The cost of this of course is you no longer have the Odex file to help save space and boot faster. A small price to pay for beauty.
I hope this clears any confusion up the next time I bring up a new rom. Cheers Android world, and happy modding.