What Is A Custom Recovery? Would I Want One

Want to install a custom Android ROM — in other words, a third-party version of the Android operating system — like LineageOS or Resurrection Remix OS? You’ll probably be instructed to install a custom recovery..

All Android devices ship with a stock recovery environment preinstalled. This recovery software can be used to restore the device to factory default settings, update its operating system, and perform other diagnostic tasks. Some pretty basic stuff am i right?

The stock recovery is a minimal, limited system. It’s designed to be ignored, and it can generally only flash OTA updates and ROMs provided by the device’s manufacturer, not third-party ROMs. 

However, a custom recovery is a third-party recovery environment. Flashing this recovery environment onto your device replaces the default, stock recovery environment with a third-party, customized recovery environment. This is a bit like flashing a custom ROM like CyanogenMod — but, instead of replacing your device’s Android operating system, it replaces the recovery environment.

A custom recovery environment will do the same things as the stock Android recovery. However, it will also have additional features. Custom recoveries often have the ability to create and restore device backups. Custom recoveries allow you to install custom ROMs. ClockworkMod even offers a “ROM Manager” app that allows you to access many of these features from a running Android system — this app requires a custom recovery installed to function tho.

When and Why to Install a Custom Recovery

These custom recovery environments are most useful when you’re installing custom ROMS on your device, as they provide backup, restore, and ROM-flashing features you’ll need. You’ll need to unlock your device’s bootloader to install a custom recovery on it.

Android does offer a way to create full device backups, although this feature is hidden and requires using an adb command. You don’t need to unlock your bootloader, install a custom ROM, or even root your device to create or restore a full backup.

Install a custom recovery when you’re messing around with custom ROMs, or if you really want powerful backup features. This is often seen as a necessary prerequisite to installing a custom ROM, but it isn’t always required. For example,  installing CyanogenMod with the CyanogenMod installer will also install ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM). Following installation guides for custom ROMs will often involve flashing a custom recovery, although you can flash a custom recovery and continue using the stock Android system if you just want those backup features.

In general, custom recoveries are only necessary if you plan on flashing a custom ROM. Most Android users wouldn’t even notice a difference between a device with the stock recovery system installed and one with a custom recovery.