If you are a HTC One S user then this could be the bad news for you that HTC won’t release any Android 5.0 Lollipop OTA updates for your phone, but don’t worry, I have a great news for you. That is, CyanogenMod has constructed CM12 based on Android 5.0 Lollipop interface and all the features you will find in stock Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with some extra features I’ll tell you about them later in this article.

Android 5.0 Lollipop is the latest OS released by Google for its latest and high-end devices. Android is the best OS Google have ever made, best design, best features and all the best spices that a OS should have. This version of android has some great features you will get in love with them when you start to use it. The following Android 5.0 Lollipop has features like smooth animations, fast design, fast charging and material UI, there are so much more than these that I can’t list them in a single article. So get ready to experience these all on your HTC cause I’m going to tell you how to install this Android 5.0 Lollipop based CM12 nightly ROM on your HTC.

CyanogenMod 12

If you don’t know about CyanogenMod then let me tell you that CyanogenMod is a team of developers which makes custom ROM based on Android OS for some devices which don’t get whole version update from Google. CyanogenMod makes CM12 custom ROM based on Android 5.0 Lollipop. But installing this custom ROM is not recommended by Google or HTC cause this process is illegal as well as risky and can brick your device if you won’t install it properly. So do perform this process at your own risk.

Your device’s boot loader should be unlocked and a custom recovery (TWRP recommended) should be installed before installing this custom ROM on your device. Custom recovery will give us an interface to flash installable zip files like custom ROMs, patches and kernels. Custom recovery also have some inbuilt features with which you can tweak or backup all of your ROM. You have to unlock your HTC’s boot loader before installing any custom recovery.

Backup all of your important data applying before this update process on your HTC. This is very much important cause flashing custom ROM will wipe all the data inside the internal memory of your phone. You can sync all of your contacts on Google account by going to account and sync settings on your phone’s settings and check the sync contacts option. You can back up your important apps using Titanium Backup application available on Google Play Store and restore them after this update process. Backup all of your media files like photos, music and video files to your PC or any other external device (you can also move them to your phone’s SD card, flashing ROM won’t alter the data stored on SD card)

Flashing custom ROMs or unlocking boot loader are not official and risky process, Google or HTC don’t recommend these type of actions with your phone cause if you didn’t perform this process properly then you might brick your device. You should also know that rooting your phone or flashing custom ROMs may void your phone’s warranty so taking to care center next time can cost you money.

Now you are all set to install this CM 12 custom ROM on your device. Now go to steps and install this custom ROM but make sure you do this process carefully do not skip any step or it may brick your device.

One more thing don’t try these files or this process on any other android device or other HTC variant. If you are thinking of doing this let me tell you that your device will get bricked definitely.

Steps to Install CM12 Nightly Custom ROM on your HTC One S

  1. Download CM12 custom ROM zip file from here.
  2. Download Google Apps zip file from here.
  3. Transfer these two files to your device’s SD card (do not unzip these files) and unplug your device after transfer’s done.
  4. Reboot your HTC to recovery mode.
  5. In recovery mode tap on “Backup” and confirm this step (this step is important as if anything goes wrong during this process you can go back to your previous one at any time using “Restore” option).
  6. Now come back to home screen and tap on “wipe” and then confirm this step.
  7. Come back to home screen and finally tap on “install” and then “choose zip from SD card” then browse your phone’s SD card and select the CM 12 zip file downloaded earlier then confirm to install.
  8. After installation install Google Apps zip file like you had installed the ROM zip file (in step 7).
  9. Now tap on “Reboot” then “system”, this will reboot your device normally.

Let your device boot, don’t touch any key during boot this process. Your phone will take about 10 to 12 minutes to reach to the welcome screen. Now from welcome screen you can perform the setup and use your device normally as before. If your phone doesn’t boot even after long time then force shout down (remove battery) your device and boot to recovery mode again. Now from here you can go back to your previous ROM by tapping on “restore” and select the restore point you had just made or you can try this whole step again.

And don’t forget to like and share this tutorial with your friends and enjoy Android 5.0 Lollipop on your HTC One S. If you have any query about this tutorial you can post them in comment section below.