Install Dumbdroid yourself on a compatible device
Already have one of the supported phones and want to install Dumbdroid for free? Follow this guide.
Download Dumbdroid
Builds updated on October 14, 2025. Make sure to unpack first!
Need help?
If going through this procedure seems overwhelming, go ahead and pop in on our Discord server. You can also get in touch at miki@keeperrl.com.
Necessary tools
Make a backup
It is of utmost importance to back up the original software on your phone. This way if anything goes wrong, you can easily go back and start from scratch. You’ll need about 5 GB of free space on your hard drive.
mkdir stock_rom
mtk rl --skip userdata stock_rom
Unlock the bootloader
This will factory reset your phone!
Use the following commands to unlock the bootloader:
mtk e metadata,userdata,md_udc
mtk da seccfg unlock
Flash the new system
Turn on your phone and enable “USB debugging” in the settings. Reboot into fastboot mode:
adb reboot fastboot
Erase user data if you are upgrading from the stock ROM. Updating Dumbdroid doesn’t require this step.
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot erase metadata
Flash Dumbdroid. Make sure you unpack the zip archive first!!!
fastboot flash system dumbdroid_???.img # replace ??? with the actual filename
If you get errors that the system partition doesn’t exist, make sure that you are in the proper fastboot mode (use the ‘adb reboot fastboot’ command or enter fastboot mode from recovery). You should see “Fastbootd” written at the top of the screen on the phone.
If you get errors that the system partition is too small or can’t be resized, try flashing the vanilla dumbdroid and switch to g-apps afterwards through Settings->System->Updates.
fastboot reboot
Booting the system for the first time might take 5-10 minutes.
Recover from backup
mtk wl stock_rom