Tinkerers and modders who desire the Galaxy S5 for its hardware but with very little interest in Samsung’s bloatware now have a fighting chance. The latest 2.7 version of the Team Win Recovery Project, better known as TWRP, is now available for Galaxy S5 devices of the “klte” variant.
TWRP rose through the ranks at a time when Clockwork Recovery or CWM was seemingly stagnating in terms of new features, primary among them being the lack of a touch-based interface. Although Koushik “Koush” Dutta is back to developing CWM, he has also signified that he doesn’t really want to take CWM beyond the simple and focused recovery that it is. This leaves TWRP a bigger room to grow.
One of TWRP’s most popular features is that it is fully touch driven, without the need to use volume rockers or power buttons. It can even display an on-screen keyboard when needed. Beyond the basic functionality, however, TWRP also allows for certain customizations via XML themes, making it possible for ROM makes and other integrators to define all aspects of the look and feel of the recovery screen.
With TWRP now available for the Galaxy S5, it is easier for developers, and eventually end users, to take the smartphone beyond what Samsung dictates. There are various methods available for installing TWRP, with varying levels of difficulty but all with the usual risks associated with installing recoveries. The easiest would be to install TWRP via the GooManager app from Google Play Store. This method requires a rooted device, which has already been done. The dd method is probably the hardest, requiring some amount of command line knowledge and confidence. But there is a middle ground in the form of a flashable tar image that can be used with the Odin flashing utility.
