How To: Ditch Stock & Install a Custom Android ROM on Your HTC EVO 4G LTE

HTC's Sense 4 may be leaner and faster than previous versions, but one thing my EVO 4G LTE sorely lacked was the "Quick Settings" option that Sense 2 and 3 had. Developers were able to port it to Sense 4 for Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), but the only way to get this feature was to install a custom ROM.

With the update from ICS to Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), my EVO 4G LTE received the new Sense 4+ version. This new Sense made it possible to add widgets to the Notifications pull-down menu, so apps like Power Toggles meant devs no longer needed to port the old-style Quick Settings.

But custom ROMS are much more than just one feature.

They often include themes, memory enhancements, data optimizations, and mods that add popular functionality, such as remapping hardware keys. Plus, custom ROMS always include root access. One such ROM is MeanBean, which I'll be showing you how to install.

Requirements

To install a custom ROM, you'll need the following.

• An unlocked bootloader.
• A custom recovery like TWRP.
• A custom ROM to install. I'll be using MeanBean, which is a faster, leaner version of the stock ROM with way more features.

Step 1: Download the ROM

Download the custom ROM onto your computer or phone. You can choose MeanBean like me, or one of the many others.

• If you downloaded using your phone, take note of where your downloads folder is (usually sdcard/downloads) so you can find it in TWRP.
• If you downloaded it on you computer, connect your phone to your computer, and put it on your SD card or internal storage.

Step 2: Back Up and Wipe Your Device

If you were using Google Wallet, make sure to Reset it from the settings inside the app before continuing.

Boot into the recovery by holding Vol Down as you restart your phone, selecting RECOVERY, and pressing the Power button.

Developers have a saying: Nandroid, Nandroid, Nandroid! Nandroid was the way of creating backup images of your partitions using ClockworkMod Recovery, but the same applies with TWRP.

Tap Backup and select everything you want to keep. Normally, Boot, Data, System, and Internal Storage are enough, but I back up everything just to be safe.

When it's done backing up, tap Back until you get to the main menu, then tap Wipe, and Swipe to confirm.

Step 3: Flash the Custom ROM

Go back to the main menu in TWRP and tap Install. Then go to the directory on your SD card or internal storage where you saved the custom ROM.

Tap on the .zip file and Swipe to confirm. When it completes, tap Reboot System.

Note that it will take longer to reboot the first time. You may see a boot animation loop for several minutes. This is perfectly normal.

Success! Enjoy your new features!

MeanBean includes a battery percentage icon in the Notification bar, AOSP-style "Quick Settings" (which we talked about before), the ability to reboot to bootloader or recovery, and much more.

If you want to try out another custom ROM on your EVO 4G LTE, I suggest giving CyanogenMod a try.