While not the most popular device in the world, the One Touch Idol 3 from Alcatel has some handy third-party developers looking after this handset. Not only can you gain root access and install extra apps for increasing the performance, but you can also install a custom recovery which then allows you to flash a custom ROM. A custom recovery is also your gateway to taking NANDroid backups — by far the best backup option in the world that isn’t available without a custom recovery.

REQUIREMENTS 

• You must have an unlocked bootloader to follow this guide.

BEFORE WE BEGIN 

• You will need a Windows PC and a working USB cable that comes with the handset.
• Furthermore, you should navigate to the Settings > Developer Options and enable the USB Debugging Mode.
• Download the TWRP recovery image from this link.

HOW TO INSTALL TWRP RECOVERY ON THE ALCATEL ONE TOUCH IDOL 3

1. Connect the Alcatel One Touch Idol 3 to the same Windows PC where you have the TWRP file.

2. Open the command prompt windows and get ready to type some code.

3. Here’s the first line: “adb reboot-bootloader”.

4. Press Enter.

5. You should now be in bootloader mode.

6. Type the next command: “fastboot -i 0x1bbb flash recovery twrp-2.8.7.0-idol3.img”.

7. Press Enter.

8. Now wait it out until the TWRP recovery is flashed. It can take some minutes.