Sony AOSP Recovery Program is Expanding!

Recovery is a vital part of the Android ecosystem, yet Sony smartphones are distributed without traditional /recovery partition. This is not convenient solution both for users and developers. To include some custom recovery like TWRP, PhilZ or ClockworkMod, ramdisk hacks are required.

Despite this somehow weird strategy, we can’t say a bad word about Sony as they maintain their AOSP project excellently. And today we have some really good news for Sony users: our own Senior Recognized Developer Alin Jerpelea has informed XDA that a new batch of Sony devices are getting official recovery partition support. Now it’s the time to celebrate for Shinano platform users. Five new devices got official support. There are some very popular devices on the list like the Xperia Z2 and Z3, too, and flashing some custom kernels and ROMs can’t get easier now. Here’s a full list of currently supported devices:

Rhine platform

• Xperia Z1 (Honami)
• Xperia Z1 Compact (Amami)
• Xperia Z Ultra (Togari)

Shinano platform

• Xperia Z2 (Sirius)
• Xperia Z2 Tablet (Castor)
• Xperia Z3 (Leo)
• Xperia Z3 Compact (Aries)
• Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact (Scorpion)

Yukon platform (requires a modified bootloader to be flashed)

• Xperia E3 (Flamingo)
• Xperia M2 (Eagle)
• Xperia T2 Ultra (Tianchi)
• Xperia T3 (Seagull)

There is also one platform that still waits for the official support, Kitakami. Below is a list of devices yet to be updated:

Kitakami platform

• Xperia Z3+ (Ivy)
• Xperia Z4 Tablet (Karin)
• Xperia Z4 Tablet Wi-Fi (Karin_windy)
• Xperia Z5 (Sumire)
• Xperia Z5 Compact (Suzuran)
• Xperia Z5 Premium (Satsuki)

We should expect another program expansion in the upcoming months. If you want to enable the recovery partition in your system you need to download the latest FTF file and flash it via Flash tool for Xperia devices. It’s as easy as that. Yukon platform requires a tad more work, as users have to flash a customized bootloader to enable the recovery partition. There is a thorough manual available on Sony Mobile developer pages. Make a backup of your data as it most likely will get wiped. An official announcement of the newly supported devices should take place next week.

Are you happy to see such move from Sony? Do you think that other OEMs should follow? Share your thoughts in the comments below!