OpenAndroidInstaller

Makes installing alternative Android distributions nice and easy!

The OpenAndroidInstaller project helps Android users to keep their smartphone's operating system up to date with free software and to continue using the device even though the manufacturer no longer offers updates. With a graphical installation software, users are easily guided through the installation process of free Android operating systems like LineageOS.

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[!WARNING] This application is currently in beta state, so use at your own risk! While many people tested the application so far and we heard of no bricked devices, things might still go wrong.

[!IMPORTANT] Unlocking the bootloader will erase all data on your device! This also includes your DRM keys, which are stored in the Trim Area partition (also called TA) in case your device is fairly recent and supports DRM L1. Those devices will be downgraded to DRM L3. Devices on DRM L3 by default will not be affected. Depending on your device you might be able to back up the TA partition using exploits and gaining temporary root access. On Sony Xperia 1/5 series phones DRM L1 will return once the bootloader is relocked. Before proceeding, ensure the data you would like to retain is backed up to your PC and/or your Google account, or equivalent. Please note that OEM backup solutions like Samsung and Motorola backup may not be accessible from LineageOS once installed.

Usage

Linux is currently the best supported platform (tested with Ubuntu 20.04/22.04 LTS). Windows and macOS are also supported but you might experience more issues. So far there is no support for ARM-based systems.

1. Download the .exe or appropriate executable file for your OS from the releases or get the official flatpak from flathub. You might need to change permissions to run the executable.
   • On Windows also install the Universal USB Drivers and other potentially drivers needed for your device.
2. Download the custom ROM image and the TWRP recovery image for your device and optionally some addons. A source for files can be found on the following websites:
   • some custom ROMs:
     • LineageOS
     • /e/OS
     • LineageOS for microg
     • BlissRoms
     • PixelExperience
   • TWRP Recovery:
     • TWRP recovery
   • Optional Addons:
     • There are different packages of Google Apps available.
       • MindTheGapps
       • NikGApps
     • MicroG
       • The recommended way to install MicroG is to use the zip file provided here: https://github.com/FriendlyNeighborhoodShane/MinMicroG-abuse-CI/releases.
     • F-Droid App-Store.
   • or you can just search the web or the xda-developers forum for an appropriate version for your device.
3. Start the desktop app and follow the instructions.

Officially supported devices

Currently, the we support 81 devices by various vendors and working on adding more soon!

Support for these devices is provided as best effort, but things might still go wrong. Help to improve the tool by reporting any issues you might face.

And more to come!

Contributing

All kinds of contributions are welcome. These include:

• Fixes and improvements to the texts in configs and in the application.
• Testing the tool for a supported device.
• Creating a config for a new device.
• Testing the application on your computer and/or device.
• Contributing an application build for a new platform.
• Adding features and/or improve the code base.
• Reporting bugs.

How to contribute your own installation configurations

How to build the application for your platform

On unlocking the bootloader

More details on how to contribute can be found here. Please have a look before opening an issue or starting to contribute.

A detailed list can be found here.

Tools

• The Android SDK Platform Tools (such as adb and fastboot) are Apache-licensed universal Android utilities
• Heimdall is an MIT-licensed replacement for the leaked ODIN tool to flash Samsung devices.
• libusb-1.0 is a LGPL-2.1-licensed library for USB device access from Linux, macOS, Windows and others.
• copy-partitions-20220613-signed.zip The copy-partitions script was created by LineageOS developer erfanoabdi and filipepferraz and released under LGPL. It is used when the partitions need to be copied before flashing.

Acknowledgements

• Funded from September 2022 until February 2023 by:

License

Original development by Tobias Sterbak. Copyright (C) 2022-2023.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses.