TWRP for the Pixel and Pixel XL has been released

Android geeks across the globe love tinkering with their devices by flashing ROMs, mods, and custom kernels. This has quite a few advantages, as it allows you to change the look and feel of your device, and makes it a bit more fun to play around with.

But before you’re able to customize your Android device, you need two things. First, you have to unlock the bootloader. Second, you have to flash a custom recovery image onto the device — like TWRP — which will allow you to start your Android customization project.

If you’re currently using either Google’s Pixel or Pixel XL and are interested in customizing it, you’re in luck. Dees_Troy, Senior Recognized Developer over at XDA, has announced that the first TWRP alpha for Google’s latest smartphones has been released.

So, if you’re already fed up with your new Pixel device and would like to customize it (provided you have already unlocked the bootloader), now is your chance. But as always, please keep in mind that this is an alpha release and is therefore not 100% stable. It has its fair share of problems, one of them being caused by the introduction of File Based Encryption (FBE) in Android Nougat, which can automatically wipe the data of your device if a restore doesn’t work correctly.

Please also note that installing TWRP will break your root. And in case you’re using the multi-user feature, you should put your customization project on hold for now. Currently, TWRP only supports single user setups.

If you’re still up for it, head over to the XDA Developers forum for more detailed instructions on how to install TWRP on your Pixel device and avoid problems in the process.