After writing my last blog Use latest Android version, many people asked me how to install Custom ROM on their android smartphone. So I will try explain some simple steps to get the latest android using Custom ROMs.
Before moving forward I would like to warn you all, that your phone might get bricked (stop working) after trying to install custom ROM. Though that’s a rare possibility but still possible, so please don’t blame me for it. 🙂
Step 1: Root your phone or unlock the bootloader
The very fist step is to make your pone ready to accept custom ROM. Basically we need either to root your phone or unlock the bootloader (phone’s BIOS ). Both will work. Rooting is android equivalent to jailbreaking, a method to unlock your operating system so we can install unapproved apps, update OS, customization etc. There is many benefits of rooting your phone then simply unlocking the bootloader. Simply unlocking the bootloader will also work but I recommend rooting. Rooting also make it easier to take backup of your phone, run unauthorized apps, removed any bloatware.
Now the question arises how we can root the phone. There are over 25000 different smartphones and a root method works on most may not work on work on your phone. So its better to google and look for the best depending on your smartphone variant.
Your can much more information on various android forums like The XDA Developers forums, Android Central forum, Android Forums aka Phandroid, Android Development Community/Anddev
Towelroot, Kingo Root, and KingRoot are few programs which will help you root your phone. I have tried Kingo Root and I was able to root my galaxy S3 with it.
Step 2: Install custom recovery and backup
Once your phone is rooted, we need to install a custom recovery. The android default recovery have limited feature, hence we need to use a custom one. The best ones are Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP) and ClockworkMod Recovery (CWRM). Installing them will help installing Custom ROM zips, install applications zip, browse files to install, take backup, clear caches etc
Check the TWRP version which fits best with your smartphone model and android version.
After installing TWRP, reboot your phone and go to recovery mode. It is bit different for each phone, however holding the power button and pressing volume key at the same time. Once you are in recovery mode, backup your phone. There is also some apps to take full backup of phone including your existing ROM to external memory card or even to cloud.
Step 3: Flash the new ROM
Next step is flashing the new custom ROM. Once you download your custom ROM, download the google apps too specific to the android version of your custom ROM. The google apps comes in bundle and contains all the google apps. One of good place to download them is Open Google Apps. Copy the downloaded custom ROM and the google apps bundle on your phone.
– Now in recovery mode browse the custom ROM zip and install it, using the “Install” or “Install ZIP from SD Card”.
– Wipe cache.
– Browse and install the google apps.
Now reboot system and you should see the new ROM loading and asks for some configuration. Sometimes an app might not work, so clearing the cache and re-installing the apps fix the issue.
Happy using the latest android.