There is already a ROM available for the LG G Watch called “Gohma” by a developer named 4ndro1d. While this is the ROM that we will be focusing on in this article others as available will be installed in much if not the exact same way. We install custom ROM’s on our devices for many reasons but the main reasons are to improve battery life and overall performance of devices. This particular ROM also promises increased vibration intensity and reduced lag between screens. I would also make mention that this particular ROM for the LG G Watch is the first and since there is no factory image available at this point has a feature to flash back to the stock ROM from within it.
What to Keep in mind before installing the LG G Watch Custom ROM
The bootloader will need to be unlocked although its a simple process since it was never secured in the first place. There is no need to root the G Watch as this particular ROM will do that for you without you having to do anything. You will need Windows drivers and if you ever update the watch the ROM will need to be re-installed. Without further rambling here are the instructions to complete the custom ROM installation.
How to install a custom ROM on the LG G Watch
- Install the Universal ADB Drivers (download)
- Turn on your G Watch and wait a minute before moving on to be sure its fully booted
- Tap on the time on the watch face so you see the words “speak now”
- Tap the words “speak now” to get a list of options
- scroll down to the second to last option labelled “settings” and select it
- scroll down and next select “About”
- Scroll down to “Build Number” and tap it 7 times until it says “You are now a developer”
- Swipe back to settings and you should now see “Developer Options” select it
- Next from within developer options enable “ADB debugging”
- Download the ROM you want to install (Download Gohma)
- Extract the ROM package somewhere you can find it
- Open a Windows command prompt and navigate to the folder you placed the ROM
- From within the folder type “adb reboot-bootloader” and press enter
- Wait for the LG G Watch to reboot into the bootloader
- Now type “fastboot oem unlock” and press enter
- Choose “yes” and it will unlock the bootloader as well as reboot the smartwatch
- Last you will need to re-sync your LG G Watch and phone.
While we will likely see new ROM’s available as Android Wear is used more this one claims to be a battery saver and this is something we are all looking for in our smartwatches to get more than the 24 hours on a full featured watch. While we can’t vouch for the battery saving yet we will be testing this LG G Watch ROM over the next several days to see how it goes. As always if you have any questions feel free to drop us a line in the comments below.