No they can't. They need to pass the CTS and VTS.
>so at the end you just end up with ROMs similar in quality to WinXP themes.
When was the last time you saw an Android phone? 2008? Name those WinXP themed OEM skins.
>The Android APIs themselves are just layer and layer of hacks and inconsistencies on top of each other
Considering all of the bugs and security issues iOS has had I would have to give that award to iOS.
>which is the main reason why most of the Android apps look so ugly in the first place.
Not only do Android apps look better, but they also take up considerably less space than their bloated iOS counterparts.