While we wait for OEMs like Motorola, HTC, Samsung and others to push out OTA updates for Android 4.4.4, custom ROMs spring up very quickly for almost all devices.
One of the devices which I have, is the Samsung Galaxy S Advance. And today I am going to walk you through the steps of downloading and installing, what I consider to be the perfect ROM for it.
It is the Android 4.4.4 AOSP from the J-Team at XDA. Yes, you get to taste the latest version of Android OS on your SGSA. The Android Open Source Project, is a Vanilla OS, and so comes with no third party apps included, i.e., zero bloatware.
(Disclaimer: AndroidPure are not responsible for any damage you incur by flashing the ROM. Proceed at your own risk.)
Always make sure to check the MD5 checksum value of the downloaded ROM and GAPPS file. This ensures you don’t have a corrupted or broken file, and helps aoids bricking the device.
You can check the MD5 from your PC by using a free software called HashTab, which adds a “file hashes” tab to your right-click context menu in Windows Explorer.
Or, you could check it from your phone by using a file manager app that supports it, like ES File Explorer.
1. Download the J-Team][4.4.4] The Android Open Source Project from the dev host page.
MD5: c9ca50095b88ae0d9d046e19f38a2045
2. Download the GAPPS file from the updated XDA thread or from the uploader’s folder at Dev-Host. Do not choose the full GAPPS package as the size is quite large, and may take up a huge chunk of your System’s memory. Choose the mini or micro version. This way, you get the core Google apps, and you can install other Google Apps such as Hangouts, Maps, Google+ etc, from the Play Store.
It’s actually better this way, because you can get the latest version of the app from the play store, instead of downloading the full package and then having to update old ones. The micro version saves your data bandwidth.
Dev host link for micro version 88.32 MB. (Core Base, Google Bookmarks Sync, Gmail, Google Calendar (replaces stock/AOSP Calendar), Google Now Launcher, Google Play services, Google Search, Google Text-to-Speech).
MD5: 8891980462860c8a38e48bda88dc679a
3. Copy both files on to the external SD card of your phone.
4. Reboot to the recovery.
5. Wipe the data by selecting ” Factory Data Reset”
6. Wipe the Cache
7. Go to advanced> and Wipe Dalvik Cache.
Note: You will need to Flash a custom recovery for the following commands. Here is a temporary one: http://d-h.st/oZD. Select reboot to custom recovery and it will boot to CWM. Proceed to step 8 below.
8. Select “Mounts and Storage”. Format the /system partition.
9. Return to the main menu and select “Install the Zip from External Storage”. Select the ROM file, for eg: AOSP-4.4.4-20140620-janice-alberto97.zip. Wait for it to finish installing.
10. Again select “Install the Zip from External Storage” and choose the GAPPs file. Wait for it to finish installing the apps.
11. Reboot your phone to Android 4.4.4 KitKat.
Optional: You can enable ART from the developer settings.
I haven’t noticed any bugs yet. The camera works fine with the flash.
