The official Android Nougat based Lineage OS is now available for the Moto X Play smartphone. And if you want to update your own Moto X Play smartphone to the latest Android build with the help of this custom ROM software which as you know is the successor of the CyanogenMod custom ROM, check out all instructions from below.
The Lineage OS software is a free aftermarket distribution of the Android Nougat. The system has been modified, improved, and customized by third party device in order to be compatible with the Motorola Moto X Play device.
Since we are talking about an official release of Lineage OS, this ROM is stable, guarantees a fully stable Android Nougat experience and can run smoothly on your smartphone, so you won’t experience lags, bugs, screen freeze or other software related issues on your device. Additionally, after installing the Lineage OS, the overall performance of your device will be also improved and you enjoy an upgraded battery life.
Using the Lineage OS custom ROM you can customize the Android UI and you can then personalize and optimize all the features, apps or processes as you like. You will also receive extra features and capabilities that cannot be found on the stock Android Nougat environment.
However, as that this is not an official update delivered by Motorola nor by Google, you will not be able to receive the Lineage OS as an OTA rollout and the installing process must be performed manually.
Please keep in mind that the warranty of your Motorola Moto X Play device will be lost if you choose to apply this guide and replace the stock Android firmware with the Lineage OS software. Because the warranty of your device will be lost you will have to act carefully and make a Nandroid backup to save the current Android system that runs on your device and also a general backup process to save all of your personal files and system packages.
Do not forget to save your contacts, call logs, images, videos and audio files, texts, apps, internet settings, saved passwords, calendar info, EFS folder and IMEI / NVRAM data. You can simply backup your Moto X Play phone by syncing your files with your Google account, by using cloud storage platforms, or by using backup and restore apps downloaded from the Google Play.
Before updating your Motorola Moto X Play to the Android Nougat with Lineage OS ROM you need to first complete two additional procedures:
- Install a custom recovery image on your phone, you can use TWRP or CWM recovery because the custom ROM package is offered in form of a .zip file and can be installed only using a custom recovery platform.
- Root your Moto X Play because an unlocked Android system must be ensured.
Besides the two preliminary operations from above you will also have to pay attention at few general prerequisites:
- The steps from below are to be used only for the Motorola Moto X Play device as the Lineage OS firmware from this guide is well-matched only with this device.
- On your Moto X Play smartphone, you will have to unhide the Developer Options menu from settings – > About phone and by tapping repeatedly on the Built Number until you will see the ‘you are a developer’ message. Once you have unhid the Developer Options, check the USB Debugging field; this option can be found under Settings –> Developer options.
- The given files from below need to be downloaded on a computer so make sure that you can use one. In case you cannot complete the download process consider in temporarily switching off the security protection that runs on your computer.
- Charge your smartphone because if it runs out of power and the system is switching off during the update operation many software related problems can be produced.
How to Install the Android Nougat based Lineage OS on Moto X Play
1. On your computer, download from here the Lineage OS for your Moto X Play device and from here the compatible Google Apps. Save both files on the desktop.
2. Power on your smartphone and connect it to your computer using the USB cable.
3. Place the above-downloaded files on your smartphone and then unplug the USB cable as the computer will no longer be required.
4. Turn off the Moto X Play handset and enter recovery mode on it.
5. Before flashing the Android Nougat ROM from recovery make a wipe by selecting ‘wipe data factory reset’, ‘wipe cache partition’ and ‘wipe Dalvik cache’.
6. Next, go back to the main menu of recovery and select ‘install zip from SD card’and then ‘choose zip from SD card’.
7. Pick up the Lineage OS and install the Android Nougat firmware package on your Moto X Play.
8. Pick up and flash the Google Apps package also.
9. Turn back to the main menu of recovery and select ‘Reboot system now’.
10. Your device should now boot into Lineage OS. You can enjoy the Android Nougat features and the new abilities that come along with the custom ROM firmware.
