Xiaomi Mi series smartphones are so called next iPhones. Chinese company Xiaomi launched many budget smartphones with great hardware, features and of course MiUi OS which makes this phone an extraordinary piece. But some people like me do not like MiUi interface so if you are one of them, this article will tell you how to install unofficial CM12 custom ROM on your device. I’ll tell you all about this later.

First you need to know what is CyanogenMod 12 (CM12). CyanogenMod 12 is yet another team making custom ROMs making but they don’t have their own interface. They just copy the stock Android versions and add some great features from their side. With them you can tweak your phone’s performance and interface. Cyanogen Mod makes custom ROMs for phones not getting full Android version update so they can also experience the next updates.

Xiaomi Mi3

Let me clear one thing: this custom ROM is not made by Google or CyanogenMod. The custom ROM is made by some third-party developers. They just tweaked a CM12 base custom ROM so that it can support your Xiaomi Mi3. Flashing this custom ROM to your Mi3 may lose your warranty so next time when you take your phone to care center you will be charged for that. Google or Xiaomi don’t recommend to install this custom ROM on your device cause this process is illegal as well as risky cause one wrong step can brick your phone, so perform this flashing process on your phone carefully and do not skip any step mentioned in this tutorial.

To flash custom ROMs like this your phone should be rooted, boot loader unlocked and a custom recovery (TWRP recommended ) should be installed. Likewise, make sure it is the latest version of recovery or it won’t support Android 5.0.2 Lollipop based custom ROMs. Bootloader is a software that manages your device to boot in recovery mode or operating system mode. Custom Recovery gives an environment to flash these type of custom ROMs, recoveries also have some unique options that can be used to tweak your device in many ways. Stock Mi Recovery comes pre-installed with your Mi3 but that recovery don’t have such options to install a custom ROM on your phone. Stock recovery also doesn’t have a touch screen feature that means you have to navigate through physical volume keys and select with power key. However, in custom recovery like TWRP and PhilZ recovery has touch screen feature that means you can navigate through a touch of your finger.

Flashing custom ROM’s wipes all of your data stored in internal memory so you should backup your important data before performing this process so you won’t lose them. You can sync all of your contacts to Google account so you can restore them after the ROM has been installed. You can back up your important apps using Titanium Backup app (needs root) available on Google Play Store and restore them after this process. Also backup all of your media files like photos, music and video files to your PC or any other external drive (you can also move them in your device’s SD card as this process don’t alter the data stored in SD card).

You have to enable USB debugging option on your Mi3. It is important to do because without enabling this option we will be not able to alter system files. To do this go to Settings > Developer Options > enable USB debugging option. Furthermore, make sure your device should have at least 75% charged so it won’t turn off accidentally by itself cause if this happens your device may get bricked.

Do not try this process or these files to any other android device or Xiaomi variant as it ma brick your device. The following custom ROM is specially made to work only on Xiaomi Mi3 so it will work only on it, not on any other device. Do not skip any step mentioned in this tutorial unless you are told.

Fine, now you are all set to install this unofficial CM 12 custom ROM on your Xiaomi Mi3.

Steps to Install Unofficial CM12 Custom ROM on your Xiaomi Mi3

  1. Download the Unofficial CM12 custom ROM zip file from here.
  2. Download Google Apps zip file from here cause this ROM don’t have Google apps and services pre-installed.
  3. Transfer both zip files to your Xiaomi Mi3’s internal memory via USB cable and unplug your phone after transfers done (you can download these files directly from your phone so you don’t have to transfer it from your PC).
  4. When in recovery mode tap on “wipe data/factory reset” and then confirm the step. Now do same with clear cache, system, data and dalvik cache options available in advance options.
  5. Now our phone is ready to install this custom ROM. Tap on “install zip from SD card” and then “choose zip from SD card” then browse through your phone memory and select the CM12 ROM zip file then confirm the step.
  6. After installation install Google Apps zip file the same way as you installed the ROM zip file (see step 5).
  7. After successful Google Apps installation so back to main menu and select “reboot system now”.

Now you have CM12 installed on your phone and you can see that booting, it will take 10 to 12 minutes to boot through the ROM so be patient and don’t touch any key on your phone during this boot. If your phone won’t boot even after a long time then you have to perform this tutorial again that should help you.

Like and share this tutorial with your friends and if you have any query about this tutorial you can post them in comment section below.