AOSP & custom ROMs
Framework changes, LineageOS and GrapheneOS builds, and hardware bring-up. Device rules live inside the OS, where deleting an app can't switch them off.
Islamabad, Pakistan · Working remotely worldwide
Aafaq Ali
Senior Android & AOSP Systems Engineer
I build Android from the OS up: the custom ROM, the signed update pipeline, the device rules, and the app people actually open. When a company needs a fleet of phones, watches, or tills it can update, secure, and support on its own terms, that is the work I do.
- 8+ years
- shipping Android, from firmware to Play Store
- 100K+
- installs on apps I helped build and ship
- 99.5%
- crash-free sessions held on Club Matas
- 25%
- shorter UAT cycles on CXApp, used by Fortune 500 companies
What I bring
OS CI/CD & OTA
Automated builds, artifact signing, versioning, and staged rollouts. A fix reaches every device in the field, and a bad update never reaches all of them at once.
Device management & compliance
Enrollment, Device Policy Manager, CTS, hardware-backed attestation, and eSIM, on phones, watches, POS tills, and embedded hardware.
Product Android apps
Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, and clean architecture for apps with 100K+ installs, plus enterprise SSO through Okta, Intune, and SAML.
Experience
-
Mar 2025 – Present
Senior AOSP & Android Systems Engineer
- Turned hardware changes into signed watch updates customers install themselves, not one-off builds.
- Built the OS release line end to end: automated builds, signing, versioning, and staged OTA rollouts that contain a bad update before it spreads.
- Wired Gerrit review into Jira, Confluence, and Slack, so every field issue traces to the build that fixed it.
- Moved device rules into the framework, where a user can't disable them by deleting an app.
-
Apr 2026 – Oct 2026
Senior Android Consultant
- Delivered a custom ROM and the enrollment path that brings company phones under central control.
- Operations can now provision a handset and push camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and app policy in one pass, with no manual setup per device.
- Packaged the admin portal as a single Docker container the team runs without a separate platform project.
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Oct 2023 – Oct 2026
Senior AOSP Engineer
- Built SeniOS and moved a senior-phone fleet off a third-party MDM and onto this LineageOS ROM Senifone owns, so support no longer waits on a vendor.
- Carried devices from Android 10 to 13, keeping phones already in customers' homes supported instead of replaced.
- Signed OTAs and overlay builds deliver fixes to the whole fleet with no site visits.
-
Oct 2023 – Mar 2025
Senior Android Engineer
- Led Android for a multi-tenant workplace platform trusted by Fortune 500 companies like PepsiCo, Lenovo, NBCUniversal, and T. Rowe Price to book desks, find rooms, and run their buildings.
- Cut UAT cycles by 25% with CI/CD and release-process changes, so clients saw releases sooner with fewer late surprises.
- Integrated Okta, Intune, WSO2, and SAML, letting enterprises roll the app out on the identity stack they already run. Mentored engineers across releases.
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Sep 2022 – Oct 2023
Senior Android Engineer
- Core engineer on Club Matas, a retail loyalty app with 100K+ installs: faster startup and Remote Config–driven personalization.
- Shipped 15% faster with GitHub Actions pipelines for UAT and internal tracks, while holding a 99.5% crash-free session rate.
- Rebuilt tracking and analytics so marketing campaigns could be measured end to end.
-
Dec 2020 – Sep 2022
Senior Android & AOSP Engineer
- Built Wisephone OS and its system apps, a de-Googled, LineageOS-based OS for a distraction-free phone sold to US families, with user data on secure servers.
- Replaced loose bring-your-own-device rules with a controlled ROM, with Device Policy Manager at the framework level and firmware matched to the hardware.
-
Aug 2020 – Dec 2020
Android Engineer
- Published utility apps past 10,000 installs and moved legacy code to Kotlin so a small team could keep shipping.
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Sep 2019 – Aug 2020
Android Engineer
- Patari.pk, Pakistan's largest music-streaming service, with 100K+ installs: made search about 30% faster, migrated Java to Kotlin, and built new Spring Boot APIs to replace a backend the team could no longer change.
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Sep 2018 – Jul 2020
Freelance Software Engineer
- Shipped client apps end to end, including GIGO (geofenced food delivery for US Marines), AndroBlock (parental controls), ZebOils, and PairMe.
- The specialist clients called for AOSP, enterprise device kits (EMDK), wearables, and IoT Android controllers when their teams didn't have that skill.
Projects
CodeOS & CryptOS
Hardened GrapheneOS-based Android distributions with their own system app suite, a management portal, and automated firmware releases.
GrapheneOS · AOSP · OTA · CI/CD
Wisephone OS & system apps
A de-Googled, LineageOS-based OS for a distraction-free phone sold to US families. Calling, messaging, maps, and camera, with no app store, no social media, and user data on secure servers.
AOSP · LineageOS · Device Policy Manager · 2021–2022
SeniOS
A company-owned LineageOS ROM for a senior-phone fleet in the Netherlands. Off a third-party MDM, from Android 10 to 13, with fixes shipped as signed OTAs and no site visits.
LineageOS · OTA · Overlay builds · 2023–2026
CXApp
The workplace app Fortune 500 companies like PepsiCo, Lenovo, NBCUniversal, T. Rowe Price, and Clorox use to book desks, find rooms, and navigate their buildings. Led Android delivery, cut UAT cycles by 25%, and plugged into Okta, Intune, WSO2, and SAML.
Kotlin · Multi-tenant · Enterprise SSO · 2023–2025
Club Matas
Loyalty app for a Danish retail chain, 100K+ installs. Faster startup, Remote Config–driven personalization, and a 99.5% crash-free session rate.
Kotlin · Hilt · Firebase Crashlytics · Remote Config · 2022–2023
GIGO
A private, geofenced food-delivery app for US Marines, bringing orders from local markets to offices and homes with location data kept locked down.
Android · Geofencing · Privacy-first · 2019–2020
Secure Notes
Notes you can actually trust: 2FA, AES/RSA/ECC encryption with HMAC, end-to-end encrypted sharing, self-destructing notes, intruder capture on failed logins, and a panic alert.
Kotlin · Clean Architecture · Cryptography · 2022
AndroBlock
Parental control that sets screen-time limits and blocks apps on a child's phone, all managed from a companion parent app.
Kotlin · Clean Architecture · Usage monitoring · 2020
PeanutButter
A self-hosted catalog for the media you already own, with a desktop client and a native Android TV app.
Rust · Flutter · Android TV
Patari.pk
Pakistan's largest music-streaming service, 100K+ installs. Search about 30% faster, Kotlin migration, and new Spring Boot APIs.
Kotlin · Java · Spring Boot · 2019–2020
Also built: PairMe (social trip planning), ZebOils (end-to-end e-commerce for an essential-oils business), and Corona Update (live COVID-19 stats with local weather). More on GitHub, including Silent Salah and Budget.
Background
Education
- BS Computer Science, Preston University, 2016–2020
- Pre-Engineering, Ghazi University, 2013–2016
- Matriculation, GCHHS, 2010–2012
Recognition
- ICPC Regional, 3rd place
- INNOVATIA '19 (COMSATS), runner-up in Android development and in speed programming
- PSDF software development certification
- English Linguistic Program, highest scorer, 2024
Contact
Have a fleet to ship, a ROM to harden, or an app that has to stay up?
I take on senior roles and focused contracts, remote or in Islamabad. Contact details stay hidden from scrapers until you click.