We recommend everyone gives TWRP Recovery a try on the Android One set of devices so they can get to know what taking a NANDroid backup is all about. Backing up is usually a hassle for non-rooted users since there are not any apps available that will backup everything at once. That changes with root access when you install apps like the Titanium Backup app which can handle most things. The experience is even better yet again with a custom recovery and you start taking NANDroid backups. A NANDroid backup is the only way to take a complete backup of all your data unless you want to keep using adb commands from a computer forever.

These are the instructions to install TWRP Recovery on Android One devices:

REQUIREMENTS

• You must have Android One to install the TWRP Recovery file in this guide on the device.
• You must have a Windows PC to install TWRP using ADB commands in this guide. You can find ADB available for Linux and Mac but you will need different steps and files to set up ADB on your computer if you are not running Windows.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

• Set up ADB on your computer running Windows before you start the guide.
• Download and install the universal ADB Driver on your computer before starting the guide.
• Download the TWRP Recovery for Android One devices from this link.

HOW TO INSTALL TWRP RECOVERY ON ANDROID ONE

1. Enable the USB Debugging Mode on your Android One by tapping on the Menu > Settings > Developer Options > USB Debugging Mode.
2. Anyone who does not see the Developer Options available from the Settings on Android One must unlock it by tapping on the Menu > Settings > About Device > Build Number 7 times.
3. Open the folder you have ADB in and copy the TWRP over to the same file so you have both of them in the same directory.
4. Hold down the Shift key and right-click within that same folder where there is no files and it will bring up a new menu.
5. Choose to “open a new command prompt window” from the menu.
6. Type the first command and press Enter: adb reboot bootloader
7. The aforesaid command will boot your Android One to bootloader mode so you don’t have to get in that mode via the hardware keys.
8. Type the second command and press Enter: fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
9. You should now have the TWRP custom recovery flashed on your Android One device. Now you just need to reboot out of bootloader mode and into recovery.
10. Type the following command: fastboot reboot

We recommend pressing the hardware key combination to enter recovery mode as soon as the Android One reboots. Sometimes devices can wipe the custom recovery and replace it with the stock recovery again during this first boot. But if you stop if from booting in normal mode and boot it straight to recovery mode, you can get TWRP to boot and then it will boot every time until you choose to flash the stock recovery in the future.