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Update TWRP Recovery with a Material Design Theme on Your Nexus 5

Jan 20, 2015 06:52 PM

Mobile device displaying a settings menu.

TWRP is hands-down the best custom recovery out there. Its interface, on the other hand, is... well, let's just call it utilitarian. The guys over at Team Win made sure that their product was robust, functional, and easy-to-use, but they didn't put a tremendous amount of effort into polishing the looks.

While it might be lacking in design aesthetics, the great minds of its massive user base more than make up for it. When you have folks like themer Rusiuk Safiik using your product, you can afford to let the community apply the finishing touches themselves.

Safiik created a themed version of TWRP that uses Google's new Material Design language, and he bundled this all up in a ready-made image file. While this image can be flashed using bootloader commands, I'll outline a much easier install method below.

Requirements

Download the Material Design TWRP Image

To begin, use your Nexus 5's web browser to head to this link. Go ahead and download the image file, but give it minute to finish before moving on.

Update TWRP Recovery with a Material Design Theme on Your Nexus 5

Mobile device screen displaying a notification for a completed download.

Install Flashify

To install this themed version of TWRP without using complicated Fastboot commands, you'll need to install the app Flashify. It's available for free on Google Play, so search it by name to get it installed or head directly to the install page here.

Flashify application interface featuring options to uninstall or open, developed by Christian Göllner.

Flash the Material Design TWRP Image

Next, go ahead and launch Flashify. Tap "Accept" on the disclaimer, then hit "Grant" on the Superuser access request.

Disclaimer message about potential risks of using an app to flash files on a device.

From Flashify's main menu, select the "Recovery Image" option, then hit "Choose a file."

Flash tool interface displaying options for flashing images and recovery files.

Flash recovery options on a mobile interface.

Next, tap the Downloads option in the side navigation menu, then select the TWRP image file that you downloaded in Step #1.

"Menu options to open files from various sources on a mobile device."

Flashify will ask you to confirm your choice, so tap "Yup!" on the popup. When the image has been installed, hit "Reboot Now" to see your newly-themed TWRP recovery.

Flash recovery prompt with file location and options.

Flash complete notification on a mobile device.

TWRP with a Material Touch

The theme is all-encompassing, so every submenu in TWRP now has that signature Material Design look. Even the splash screen received a makeover.

New Splash Screen

TeamWin Recovery Interface with options: Install, Wipe, Restore, Mount, MultiROM, Advanced, Reboot.

Main Menu

New Splash Screen

Main Menu

With an interface to match its polished coding, TWRP has got to be far and away the best custom recovery. Did this theme kill off any minor quibbles you might have had with TWRP's interface? Let us know in the comment section below, or drop us a line on Facebook, Google+, or Twitter.

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