HTC Desire Gets AOKP Based Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Update [How to Install]

The HTC Desire is one of the Android developer community's favourite smartphones, and a regular beneficiary of unofficial updates and upgrades. Thanks to XDA senior member vijendrahs, the Desire has received yet another Android 4.1 ROM based on AOKP (Android Open Kang Project).

AOKP ROM blends the stock Android Jelly Bean ROM with highly tweakable custom features and fast performance to produce an enhanced user experience. It also brings the latest Jelly Bean features to the HTC Desire. These include: a smoother interface; highly customised and enhanced notifications; personalised search options for Google Now with voice recognition; offline voice typing; smart keyboard and more. Touted as one of the best custom ROMs available for Android, it should bring more joy to fans of HTC and Jelly Bean.

The ROM is not an official release and so may harbour a few untested bugs or broken features. Certain native features on the stock official ROM may be missing.

According to the developer, here is the list of known bugs or broken features found on this ROM that are still under development:

• Tether
• Video recording

Prerequisites

• The ROM and the instructions given in this guide are compatible only with the HTC Desire model. Do NOT try this on any other device.
• Ensure that ClockworkMod recovery is installed on your HTC phone.
• IBTimes UK advises users to back up apps, critical data and settings to avoid data loss while installing the AOKP based Jelly Bean update.
• The instructions provided in this guide are meant for reference purpose only and do not cover any warranty claims involving device damage or issues arising out of using this firmware update. Users are advised to proceed at their own risk.

How to Install AOKP Based Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Update on HTC Desire

Step 1: Download the latest version of AOKP ROM for HTC Desire from XDA Developers official thread posted here.

Step 2: Download the Google Apps package (Download here).

Step 3: Without extracting, copy the ROM and GApps zip files to the SD card.

Step 4: Power off the phone and then boot into ClockworkMod (CWM) recovery through a button sequence. Press and hold Volume Down and Power buttons until the device boots to the bootloader/HBOOT mode. Now, use the volume keys to select the Recovery option and then hit the power button to boot into CWM recovery. In recovery, use the Volume buttons to navigate through the menu options and Power button to select it.

Step 5: Do a Nandroid Backup of your current ROM, so that you can restore it from recovery if something fails to work with the new ROM. To make a backup, choose Backup and Restore and on the next screen, click Backup again. Return to main recovery menu once backup is complete.

Step 6: Hit wipe data/factory reset and then click Yes on next screen for confirmation. Wait until the data wipe process completes.

Step 7: Choose install zip from sdcard and then tap choose zip from sdcard. Browse and select the ROM file on the SD card and confirm installation by clicking Yes on the next screen. The ROM should begin installing.

Step 8: Once ROM is successfully installed, click choose zip from sdcard again, then choose the gapps-jb-20120726-signed.zip file to install the Google apps (GApps) package.

Step 9: After GApps is installed, hit go back then click reboot system now to reboot the phone into AOKP ROM. The first boot may take about 5 minutes. So, leave it alone.
NOTE: If you want to return to your previous ROM, boot into recovery, choose backup and restore then restore your previous ROM by selecting it from the list.

AOKP ROM based Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now installed on your HTC Desire.

[Source: The Android Soul]