How To Install Android 4.4 KitKat On Motorola Droid 4 XT894 via CM11 Unofficial

With Nexus 5 launch, Google introduced Android 4.4 KitKat and since then every smartphone owner with device having a minimum of 512 MB memory finding a way to try it out. However, not everyone is lucky enough because not every device get developer support. Motorola Droid 4 XT894 (Verizon) user should not worry but should rejoice as we now have Android 4.4 KitKat custom ROM for Motorola Droid 4 XT894. The smartphone comes with 1 GB of RAM, dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 processor and PowerVR SGX540 GPU inside which make it perfectly capable to run Android 4.4 KitKat smoothly. Motorola Droid 4 XT894 comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box but later upgraded to Android 4.0 ICS officially; now if you have latest CWM recovery installed then you can try out this Android 4.4 KitKat based custom firmware CM11. Don’t get too excited! This is an Alpha build hence many thing not working but many do. We listed what’s working so far in this ROM below. To learn how to flash this ROM, continue reading this guide to know how to install Android 4.4 KitKat based CM11 custom ROM on Motorola Droid 4 XT894.

Some of the cool Android 4.4 KitKat features that you will enjoy is Screen Recording, Tap to Pay (Google Wallet for everyone), NFC emulation for non nfc devices, 14% less memory usage, cloud printing from Gallery, Google Home is the new Launcher, Core System Processes Trimmed, apps are efficient and responsive on all devices, the all new 'procstats tool details' memory use, Full-screen Immersive mode, seamless change in resolution during media playback, Phone dialer got local business detection, redesigned Quickoffice and many more.

As said already, this is a test build and you should expect some bugs in it. All bugs and issues expected to be fixed as development progress towards a better build.

Also Read:

• Android 4.3.1 Jelly Bean PAC-man ROM For Motorola Droid 4 XT894 - How To –Tutorial
• Update Motorola Droid 4 To Android 4.3.1 Jelly Bean via CM10.2
• Android 4.3.1 Jelly Bean AOKP JB-MR2 ROM For Motorola Droid 4 XT894

What Works:

• Phone (only tested on GSM/UMTS in Europe)
• Mobile Data (only tested on GSM/UMTS in Europe)
• WiFi
• GPS

What Doesn't:

• Rendering in Apps using the new Chromium HTML-renderer (e.g. Browser, Google Search)
• Hardware Keyboard backlight

Warning!

This tutorial is only for Motorola Droid 4 XT894. Don’t try this guide on any other Android device. Also, we are not responsible for any damage caused due to the instruction given in this page. Try this at your own risk. However, it is very unlikely that your device will be damaged if you follow all the instructions as it is which are mentioned in procedure.  

Pre Requisites:

1. Backup your device data. You can follow our ultimate backup guide.

2.  Make sure your device have at least 60% battery power. You can install an app like Battery Notifier BT Free on your Android device to check it easily.

3. You already have USB Driver Installed for Motorola Droid 4 XT894 in your PC. [Download USB Drivers]

4. Make sure USB Debugging is enabled otherwise you won’t able to transfer file between PC and Motorola Droid 4 XT894. [Guide].

5. Your device have latest Safestrap recovery Installed. [Guide]

If you done everything that we mentioned above then you are ready to follow step-by-step guide on how to install Android 4.4 KitKat based CM11 ROM on Motorola Droid 4 XT894.

File Required(Download by clicking on it)

1. CM11 Android 4.4 KitKat ROM For Motorola Droid 4 XT894 
2. Google Apps [Filename: pa_gapps-full-4.4-20131102-signed.zip]

How to Install Android 4.4 KitKat based CM11 ROM on Motorola Droid 4 XT894

1. Connect your smartphone to PC using USB cable.
2. Copy downloaded files to the SD card of your smartphone. Important: Don’t extract any files.
3. Disconnect USB and then turn off your smartphone.
4. Now boot into Safestrap recovery. To do so, first press power button to turn device on then after the Motorola splash screen, you should see the Safestrap screen. The Safestrap screen should show Safestrap Disabled in red, Recovery at the bottom left, and Continue at the  bottom right. Tap on Recovery button on the Safestrap main screen to boot into Safestrap recovery mode.
5. Now it’s time to set up a ROM slot for CM11. To do so, tap on Boot Options and in the very next screen tap on ROM-Slot-1. Now set the data partition to a minimum of 1GB unless you planning to install tons of apps and games. The other two partitions – system and cache are default and cannot be changed. Wait for the partitions to get set up.
6. Once the process completed, your ROM slot is ready. Which means it will boot from that new slot from now on. All we have to do now, install a ROM on that slot, which in our case is CM11.
7. Press the home button to return back to the main screen. Now tap on Install and navigate and select CM11 ZIP. On the next screen, slide the button to confirm the installation.The ROM installation will begin.
8. Once the ROM installation process end, repeat the step 7 but choose pa_gapps-full-4.4-20131102-signed.zip instead of ROM zip to install the Google apps package.
9. When installation is completed, go back to the main menu and select reboot system to reboot the smartphone and boot up into customized Android 4.4 KitKat ROM CM11. The first boot will take time, so be patient!

Congrats! Android 4.4 KitKat firmware based custom ROM CM11 is now installed and running on your Motorola Droid 4 XT894. [via XDA]