The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini might not get the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update. This is due to Samsung’s very own launcher, TouchWiz. The TouchWiz was said to have some integration problem with the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini. However, you can now install the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean onto your Samsung Galaxy S3 thanks to the CyanogenMod 10.2 ROM. This custom ROM had all the bloatwares removed. The CyanogenMod 10.2 ROM offers a much lighter Android operating system and smoother performance to the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini. Features such as the Bluetooth Low Energy, Open GL ES 3.0 and Virtual Surround sound had been maintained.
Other than that, the CyanogenMod 10.2 ROM had the 1GHz bug fixed, 2D and 3D hardware acceleration, improved Sensors functionality, better Wireless connectivity and tethering, improved camera, added CPU sleep mode, offline charging and the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini would now support up to 64GB Sd card.
If you would like to install the update, you would need to know that the CyanogenMod 10.2 ROM is only compatible with Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini I8910, I8190L and I8190N. Your Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini would also need to be rooted and have the CWM custom recovery installed. Before you proceed with the installation, do a manual backup of your data.
Ensure that you have enabled the USB debugging mode on your S3 Mini and that you had installed the USB drivers for the S3 Mini on your computer. Download the CyanogenMod 10.2 ROM and Google Apps package into your computer and copy them into you S3 Mini SD Card. Running out of battery during the installation would be damaging to your smartphone, so make sure you have at least 50% of your battery life left.
Please take note that this installation would have a risk of damaging your smartphone. If you decided to continue with the installation, do it on your own risks. Below is the instruction on how to make the installation.
1. Switch off your S3 mini and reboot the device into recovery mode (press and hold Volume Up + Home + Back keys simultaneously until the Samsung logo appears).
2. Create an Android backup of the current ROM by selecting “backup and restore > backup” to save the ROM on its SD card in case you want to restore it later on.
3. Perform “wipe data/factory reset” and “wipe cache partition.” Then select “advanced > wipe Dalvik cache.”
4. Begin the installation by selecting “install zip from SD card > choose zip from SD card > find the CyanogenMod 10.2 ROM you have copied earlier > confirm installation.”
5. Repeat the previous step but this time choose the Google Package file instead.
6. Once completed, go back to the main menu and choose “Reboot System Now”
The first boot up might take longer than usual. Don’t worry since this is totally normal. Once your Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini had booted up, it should run on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.
