Lineage OS is the Custom ROM that comes to take over from CyanogenMod, and therefore aspires to become one of the most relevant on the current android scene. That is why now we explain how to install Lineage OS step by step on any Android mobile.
To consider
Before starting this process you must take into account several things. You are going to completely format your smartphone, so you are going to lose everything in the memory of your smartphone. In addition to this, you must take into account something else, and that is that Lineage OS, although it is available in an official version, is not yet a final, final and stable version, but it is a Nightly version, which will be updated every week and receiving improvements, fixing problems, but that could still have defects. If you want your smartphone to be fully functional and not have any errors, perhaps you should ask yourself if you really want to install Lineage OS right now, because it will still take some time for the final versions to arrive.
What do you need?
To install Lineage OS you need three things. The first one is to have a Recovery menu installed on your smartphone, in order to install the new image of the operating system from there. It can be ClockworkMod Recovery, or it can be TWRP. However, it must be a different recovery than the one originally delivered by the smartphone.
Second, you need an official version of Lineage OS for your smartphone. Obviously, you will have to download this file, in .img format, and save it in the memory of your smartphone, so that later you can quickly locate it from the Recovery menu on your phone.
Finally, remember to download the Google Apps for your smartphone to be able to install them after Lineage OS.
Install Lineage OS
Copy Lineage OS to your mobile: Once you have Lineage OS downloaded on your computer, transfer it to the memory of your smartphone. You will need it to be in the memory of your mobile to be able to install it.
Reboot in Recovery mode: Next, you will have to go to the Recovery mode of your mobile. If you have had to restart your smartphone, or even to install Recovery itself, you probably already know more than enough how to access it. Either way, you can easily find on the Internet how to access the Recovery menu. Remember that this depends on each mobile, so it varies from one smartphone to another.
Wipe Cache: The next thing will be to clear the cache to free up space on the mobile so that all processes can be executed correctly. When you run this process, you still won't have deleted anything on your mobile, and you will still have options to go back and keep your old firmware. To do this, look for the Wipe Caché option in the Recovery menu.
Wipe Data: Next, we are going to erase all the data and software that is on the mobile. Here you are going to lose all your data. When you do a Wipe Data, you will actually be leaving the mobile in factory state, so it will be the same as when you bought it. You still haven't changed the firmware on your smartphone. To execute this, in the same way you have to look for the Wipe Data option.
Install Lineage OS: Now we are going to install Lineage OS, for which we will have to have more patience. Basically because the mobile is going to dedicate itself to installing a new firmware over the previous one, and to erase the previous operating system for the new one. Keep in mind that you must have enough battery, because if this process is interrupted, your mobile could be unusable. It is important that you are aware that in this process your mobile must be able to complete the procedure. There will be options to recover it if you fail, but it is not always possible. The important thing is that you do not fail. For this, go to Install from zip, and choose the file that you have copied to the memory of your mobile.
This process will take longer, so be patient.
Install the Google Apps: As you have done with Lineage OS, go to Install from zip and install the Google Apps that you may have downloaded from OpenGapps, for example, as explained here.
Finally, you will have to restart your smartphone, and remember something, and that is that when you restart the mobile after installing a new version of firmware, it will take time to turn on. Don't worry if it takes a few minutes, it will be installing and running all the processes.
With this, you should already have Lineage OS installed on your mobile. From now on, you have the option to root your mobile or not root it, as it is not included directly in the firmware of the smartphone.