Motorola released the latest smartphone in the Moto G series in 2015 named as Moto G3. The smartphone was launched in the famous Motorola Moto G series, which begins with the launch of Moto G while the company is owned by Google. Following the launch of Moto G, Google sold Motorola to Lenovo and since then, the Moto G series and other series from Motorola have been launched by Lenovo. The Moto G3 launch a few years ago also marked the third iteration of the Moto G series as Moto G2 launched in the previous year.
Talking about Motorola Moto G3, this smartphone has been marked as the most successful Moto G series smartphone after its first generation which is Moto G. Success Moto G3 partly due to its specification and partly due to its design. One of the specifications that specifically highlighted the factors in the popularity of the Moto G3 was the IP67 that was waterproofed which would avoid the smartphone from water damage to some extent. This is huge because there is a lack of waterproofing in some of the flagship smartphones that have been launched this year and Motorola put it into the smartphone budget, Moto G3.
The smartphone also has a eye catching design with plastic shells that can change which looks attractive from the distance along with metallic rims along the edges. In addition, there is a dimple in the middle of the back with an iconic Moto logo scratched over it. Now, Motorola Moto G3 is launched with Android 5.1 Lollipop which is the latest version of Android at that time and later, the smartphone gets an official update to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow which is the company's first official update for smartphones.
Motorola releases Nougat's Android 7.0 update to this device and we know that this will be the last update to come to Moto G3 formally from the company because we have not received plans or confirmations from Motorola about the company's intention to upgrade this smartphone to Android 7.1 Nougat or Android 8.0 Oreo. However, we have mentioned that this smartphone is very popular among Moto G series fans and this includes many developers from the well-known Custom ROM as well.
Now, there are a number of Custom ROMs that have been developed for most of the Moto G series smartphones but most software developers are Moto G and Moto G3 and we have mentioned about the Moto G3 that got Android 7.1 Nougat and also the latest update for Android ie Android 8.0 Oreo on their smartphones are not even available for some top-class smartphones.
In addition, Google releases the Android 8.1 Oreo Developer Preview which will later be the next Android iteration after Android 8.0 Oreo and the update will bring a lot of fixes and features over Android 8.0 Oreo. Updates to Android 8.1 Oreo are scheduled to be released by Google in late December and are still in the Developer Preview stage with beta testing on Pixel and Nexus devices.
However, Android 8.1 Oreo is now available for the Motorola Moto G3 and is available thanks to the Pixel Experience ROM. The custom ROM has been available for this device for a long time and has now been ported to support Android 8.1 Oreo which is also named Android 8.0.0_r33 as it has not been officially launched by Google. The announcement of availability of a custom ROM for Moto G3 was created by XDA Senior Member, popularly known as rahul9999 in the XDA forum.
If we look at this Custom ROM for Moto G3, it's mostly stable with most of the important things that are known to work and this also comes with all pre-installed Google Apps. We have compiled a list of things that are being worked out and which need to be fixed as noted by the developer.
Working
- WiFi
- RIL
- GPS
- Mobile Data
- VoLTE
- Camera
- Flashlight
- Bluetooth
- FM Radio
- Moto Actions
- Sound/Vibration
Known Issues
- VoLTE will work only after turning on and off Enhanced 4G LTE option from network setting after every reboot
- EX-FAT Sdcards not working
- ROM is laggy
- Camcorder not working properly
- Caller tune not heard while calling and the call gets connected after few seconds of dialing.
Prerequisites
You should have unlocked bootloader and TWRP recovery installed on your Moto G3. If you have not done it yet, you can follow this tutorial to Unlock bootloader and Install TWRP on Moto devices.
Your device should have at least 50% battery remaining to proceed with the installation.
It is recommended to take a backup of your phone if you have important data on the device.
Downloads
Step Install Android 8.1 Oreo based Pixel Experience ROM on Motorola Moto G3
- If you have completed all of the steps mentioned in the Prerequisites section above and download the file mentioned in the Downloads section, you may continue the installation process.
- First you have to shut down your device and hold down the Power + Volume Down button to boot into the TWRP recovery on your smartphone.
- Once you are in TWRP recovery, you need to choose the Pixel Experience ROM that you download from the Downloads section above and flash the zip file on your smartphone. (Note that this zip file also includes GApps in it so you do not need to flash the GApps package separately)
- Once a zip file is installed on the device, you must clear the data and cache and restart your device.
- After rebooting your phone, your Motorola Moto G3 will boot with Android 8.1 Oreo based Pixel Experience ROM.
After completing all the steps in the guide mentioned above, you will be able to experience the latest Android 8.1 Oreo ROM on your device in the form of the Pixel Experience ROM. Note that this ROM is in beta stage and many bugs are expected to have been listed above so continue to install this ROM on your daily driver carefully.
If you have any problems understanding the steps mentioned above.