Last Updated on March 28, 2017 by Mathew Diekhake

Flashing ROMs is one of the most fun aspects of owning an Android device. Some people enjoy updating by flashing the stock ROM manually just for kicks while others update to the stock ROM manually out of necessity. ROMs should always be updated manually if the person has a rooted device to avoid any bricking problems and so forth.

Another way we can flash ROMs is by installing a custom ROM using a custom recovery and not the flashing tool from a computer like we normally would do when flashing a stock ROM.

Sony Xperia M4 Aqua

As you might have guessed, AOSGP custom ROMs are based on the original AOSP builds but come with some additional features that make it different. The features are borrowed from the AOSP builds and put directly with the stock Android ROM. It’s not clear which ROM is more pure or closer to stock Android, but they do say this ROM is incredibly fast and clean.

Files You Need

  • Download the AOSGP ROM file for the M4 Aqua from here.
  • You will need the have TWRP installed if you are to follow our guide accurately. Other custom recoveries can still be used in conjunction with this tutorial, but the wording on the buttons will vary. You should still be able to follow this guide using something like ClockworkMod Recovery if that’s your recovery of choice.
  • You will need to root the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua smartphone before you can follow this guide. Moreover, you will need to install a custom recovery on the Xperia M4 Aqua to follow this guide. You cannot install any custom ROMs without both of those things already installed on your device.

Installing the AOSGP custom ROM on the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua smartphone

  1. Download the AOSGP custom ROM from the files section above and have it on the desktop of the computer. (You can always get your files to the desktop by opening the file in its default downloads folder from a Windows PC and then copy it over to the desktop.)
  2. Connect the Xperia M4 Aqua to the computer with the USB cable.
  3. Copy the AOSGP ROM file to the internal storage SD card and then unplug your smartphone from the computer.
  4. Press the Power button on the Aqua smartphone and choose the option to switch it off when presented with it on the display.
  5. Hold the hardware key combination that gets the M4 Aqua in recovery mode and then wait until you can see the custom recovery booting on the screen.
  6. Tap on the Backup button and it will take the NANDroid Backup for your device, provided your choice of recovery has the feature. (Those running a custom recovery that does not have the NANDroid Backup option built into the recovery should backup the data a different way, like installing the Titanium Backup application from the Google Play Store or else you will lose all your data after the following step).
  7. Select the Wipe button and it will hard reset your M4 Aqua smartphone, so it’s ready to have the new ROM installed.
  8. Choose the Install option from the recovery menu and browse the Aqua’s SD card for the AOSGP ROM zip file you copied there at the beginning of the guide.
  9. Follow the on-screen instructions to install your AOSGP ROM and then choose the option to reboot the system from the recovery menu when it’s done.

In conclusion, that’s how to install the AOSGP custom ROM on the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua smartphone using the TWRP Recovery. As we said, you can use any custom recovery that allows you to upload the zip files, but you should expect the wording on the buttons to vary between recoveries because they have no other choice but to create something unique.