Android & Embedded Device Customization
Rooting, TWRP, custom ROMs, a Windows flashing experiment on a Xiaomi Mi 8, a rooted Xiaotiancai Z6 and a modified Xiaoai Teacher.
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Overview
In high school I experimented with customizing Android devices: rooting phones, using a custom recovery, installing custom systems, and working on two embedded Android devices. All of it was done on my own hardware.
Technical Background
- Rooting gives administrator-level access to a device’s system, which stock firmware normally restricts.
- TWRP is a community-made custom recovery environment, used to install and back up system images.
- LineageOS and Havoc OS are community-maintained Android distributions.
- A Xiaotiancai Z6 is a children’s phone watch, and the Xiaoai Teacher is a learning device. Both run Android-based systems with vendor restrictions.
My Experiment
- Rooted Android phones.
- Worked with TWRP Recovery.
- Installed custom systems and flashed ROMs, including experiments with Havoc OS and LineageOS.
- Experimented with flashing Windows onto a Xiaomi Mi 8.
- Rooted a Xiaotiancai Z6 children’s phone watch.
- Modified the system of a Xiaoai Teacher learning device.
Result
- Phones were rooted and custom systems were installed.
- The Xiaotiancai Z6 phone watch was rooted.
- The Xiaoai Teacher learning device’s system was modified.
What I Learned
- How much a device’s exact model and software version matter when customizing it.
- To rely on the documentation of the projects involved (TWRP, LineageOS) and not guess.
- To write down the device, version and steps as I go.
References
Projects this page builds on.