After the international Galaxy Nexus variant got the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update, how could the developers sit around empty-handed? Team EOS, a popular custom ROM development team has released a Jelly Bean Android 4.1 ROM for the Sprint variant of the Galaxy Nexus, which you can install to try Jelly Bean out if you don’t wait the official update to hit your device.

As you may have heard, Jelly Bean brings many improvements over Ice Cream Sandwich, including a much smoother interface, improved and more useful notifications area, better stock keyboard, advanced search functionality with the new voice recognition based Google Now, and quite a few small but nonetheless important improvements. Check the full list of what’s new in Android 4.1 → here.

NOTE: This is an early build of the ROM, so there may be a few bugs and issues in the ROM, though most things should work properly. Also, the ROM is in the nightlies stage. Nightlies are ROM builds that are built automatically now and then (every night by actual definition), incorporating all the latest changes made to the ROM’s code from the last nightly. Even though care is taken by the developers to make sure the code submitted for each nightly is stable, some things can go wrong with a new nightly as the builds are automatic and cannot be tested before release.

Let’s take a look at how you can install Android 4.1 on your Sprint Galaxy Nexus with EOS ROM.

Compatibility

This ROM and the guide below are compatible only and only with the Sprint Galaxy Nexus. It’s not compatible with any other device. Check your device model in Settings » About phone.

Warning!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky and you should not attempt anything if you don’t know completely what it is. If any damage occurs to your device, we won’t be held liable.

How to Install EOS ROM on Sprint Galaxy Nexus

  1. This procedure will wipe all your apps, data and settings (but it will NOT touch your SD cards, so don’t worry about those). Backup your Apps and important data — bookmarks, contacts, SMS, APNs (internet settings), etc. This Android backup guide would help you.
    Important! Don’t forget to at least make a backup of your APN settings, which you can restore later if your data connection does not work after installing the ROM. Use the backup guide to find out how.
  2. Make sure the bootloader on your phone is unlocked. You can use this guide on how to do it (external link). Unlocking bootloader will delete all your data, including the entire SD card’s files, so back everything up before unlocking.
  3. Install the ClockworkMod Touch recovery on your phone by following the guide → here. Don’t try this procedure with any other recovery.
  4. Download the latest version of the ROM from the official development page.
  5. Download the Google Apps package. This will install apps like Market, Gmail, etc. which are not present in the ROM.
    Download Gapps  |  Filename: gapps-jb-20120712-eos.zip
  6. Copy the zip files downloaded in step 4 and 5 to the SD card on the phone.
  7. Boot into CWM recovery. To do this, turn off the phone. Then, press and hold the following keys together: Power + Volume Up and Down to enter Fastboot mode where you’ll see “Start” written in big green letters. Then, using the volume buttons, navigate to the Recovery mode option, then select it using the Power button to reboot into recovery mode. In recovery, simply touch the icons to select them.
  8. Select wipe data/factory reset, then select Yes on next screen to confirm. Wait a while till the data wipe is complete.
  9. Then, select install zip from sdcard, then select choose zip from sdcard. Scroll to the ROM file on the sdcard and select it. Confirm installation by selecting Yes – Install _____.zip on the next screen. The ROM will start installing.
  10. After ROM installation completes, select choose zip from sdcard again, then select the gapps-jb-20120712-eos.zip file to install the Google apps package.
  11. After the installation is complete, select Go back then select reboot system now to reboot the phone and boot up into EOS ROM on Jelly Bean. The first boot will take some time, up to 5 minutes, so be patient.

Enabling Voice Search in Google Now

In order to use the voice recognition functionality in Google Now (i.e Google Search), perform the following steps:

  1. Go into Settings
  2. Go to “Language & input”
  3. Scroll down to “Speech” and click on “Voice Search”
  4. Click on “Download offline speech recognition”
  5. Swipe Across to the “ALL” tab if needed
  6. Download your speech pack for your language

EOS ROM, based on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is now running on your Sprint Galaxy Nexus. Check back on the development page for further updates and more information on the ROM. Let us know how it works for you, in the comments below.