Nubia Z7 Root and Google Play Store working - ZTE Z7, Z7 Max, Z7 Mini

Hello friends
I am the happy owner of a brand new Nubia Z7, which is a great piece of art.
But it came without the Google Play Store installed, due the Google policy in China.
After research I will show you a method I used to install Google Play store
1. Description:
5.5 INCH SHARP 2K QUAD HD SCREEN
See the world in a way like never before through a remarkable 5.5” Quad HD screen. With a 2560x1440 resolution and 538 PPI display, you’ll have the highest resolution available at your fingertips.
QUALCOMM© SNAPDRAGON™ 801 PROCESSOR
Packing a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC processor with Adreno 330 GPU, the ZTE Nubia Z7's operational capacity and performance are enhanced by Qualcomm's heterogeneous computing approach. This chipset harnesses the robust integration of many components for incredible speed and power efficiency. Among them, the custom Krait 450 CPU architecture for sustained peak performance, integrated 4G LTE connectivity and Adreno 330 GPU for superior graphics and gaming experience, boosting 3D interfaces, colors and textures.
BEST IN CLASS MEMORY
Using the new standard EMMC 5.0 you’ll be able to access and write on our 32GB of internal flash memory in the blink of an eye. 3GB of LP-DDR3 RAM running at 1866MHz allows flawless multitasking of even the most demanding apps.
GLOBAL 4G LTE
Enjoy blazing fast and smooth connectivity whether you're around the corner or across the world with ZTE Nubia Z7 powered by Qualcomm© Snapdragon™ processor with a 4G LTE multimode modem. Unlocked and contract-free, roam wherever you'd like the nubia Z7 by your side.
13 MEGAPIXEL OIS Camera
Many of us rely on our phones for taking all our photos, so nubia incorporated a camera that delivers astounding results. With dual LED flash, the OnePlus One’s camera will take photos you’ll want to share, day or night.
ALL DAY POWER EFFICIENCY
Shipping with the energy efficient Qualcomm© Snapdragon™ 801 chipset, the ZTE Nubia Z7 battery fits perfectly into the sleek body. The energy efficient display features CABC and DRAM (Display RAM) technology that adjust the level of backlight and differentiate between dynamic and static content on your screen. These technologies reduce the power consumed and allow you to run all your apps and data services, all day long.
Observations:
About the 4G, the both sim cards work fine in 4G, but only one at the same time, the other is 2G. So if you have two different sim cards, both in 4G, you have to select only one for the internet access at one time.
The official ROM is in Chinese and English only.
2. Specifications:
Model ZTE nubia Z7
Screen Information 5.5 Inch IPS Multi Point touch Capacitive Screen
Resolution 2560X1440 pixels
Band (Network) 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/1900/2100MHz
4G:FDD-LTE 1800(B3)/2100(B1)/2600(B7) MHz
OS Android 4.4
CPU Qualcomm MSM8974AC Quad Core 2.5GHz
GPU Adreno (TM) 330
Ram 3GB
ROM 32GB
Storage Not Support TF card
Sim Card Dual SIM Card Dual Standby
Camera Rear Camera: 13.0MP
Front Camera: 5.0MP
Bluetooth Yes V4.0
GPS Yes, Built-in
FM Radio Yes
JAVA N/A
WIFI 802.11 b/g/n,2.4/5GHz,802.11AC
Data transfer USB/Bluetooth
Mobile internet WAP/WIFI
Media Formats Picture format: JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG
Video format: 3GP, MP4, AVI
Music format: AAC, AMR, MP3, OGG, WAV
MS Office format: Word, Excel, PPT
E-book format: TXT
Live wallpaper support: Yes
Games: Android APK
Connectivity 2 x SIM Slot (Micro SIM
Micro USB host
3.5mm audio out port
Microphone
Speaker
Language English & Chinese
Message SMS/MMS
Input Handwrite/Keypad
Standby Time About 2~3 days
Other Feature 3G, WIFI, GPS, FM radio, Bluetooth, Ebook, Email, Messaging,
Wallpapers, Calendar, Calculator, Clock, Camera, Super Compass, etc
Dimensions 140.9x69.3x8.2mm
Net Weight(Including battery) 143g
http://www.gsmarena.com/zte_nubia_z7-6490.php
Official producer site (in Chinese):
http://www.nubia.cn/product.php?id=377
3. Reviews
http://www.gizmochina.com/2014/07/08/zte-nubia-z7-review-a-top-range-phone-with-dual-sim-4g-lte/
Unboxing (Italian)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EggDryoUHVc
4. How to install Google Play store
First of all, there is no Google architecture in the official ROM, so you will have no Google services working. So what we have to do is add this structure into system application folder, so Android could recognize them. For this, we need root access.
4.a. How to root Nubia Z7
- Go to Settings->About phone and tab at "Build number" many times till "You are now a developer" appear.
- Go to Settings->More(at the end of menu list)->Developer options and enable "USB debugging"
We need:
- a very small application called TowelRoot from here:
https://towelroot.com
- RootChecker from here:
http://m.downloadatoz.com/apps/com.acr.rootchecker,76892.html
http://m.downloadatoz.com/apps/com.acr.rootchecker,76892.html
-superuser SuperSU
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1538053
Connect Nubia Z7 to the computer (I used Mobogenie for this, it will with auto install the needed drivers) and install the RootCkecker and verify the root access. If you already have root access and you have SuperSU installed, skip to 4b.
Install TowelRoot and run it from within the phone. In two seconds it will ask you to restart the phone and you will run the RootChecker; you will have the root access. If not, repeat the procedure till it works. Do not passto the next step without having root access.
Then install SuperSU. There are many posts on this forum concerning the SuperSU installation and updating binaries.
4.b How to install Google Play Store
We need:
- GoogleServicesFramework.apk, from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1482894
-GooglePlayServices.apk from here
http://www.theandroidsoul.com/?files_box=50c3d7614917b24
- GooglePlayStore.apk from here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1996995
-link2sd.apk from here
http://link2sd.en.uptodown.com/android
Install link2sd.apk
Install GoogleServicesFramework.apk
Run link2sd, select GoogleServicesFramework and transform it in a system application
Install GooglePlayServices.apk
Run link2sd, select GooglePlayServices and transform it in a system application
Reboot
Install GooglePlayStore.apk
Run link2sd, select GooglePlayStore and transform it in a system application
Reboot
Now you should have the Google Play store working fine
If still doesn't work, verify the root status, the SuperSU (binary updated) and make sure that link2sd is able to gain root access permission, ant repeat the procedures.
You should pay attention, be very careful with all the procedures, don't do anything if you don't have a minimal knowledge of Android functionality.
This is my Nubia Z7 with Play Store functioning.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Best wishes.

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Great writeup. I usually install it by temporarily boot up into TWRP and then flash all updates and gapps (I use gapps-kk-20141104-minimal-edition-gps038-480dpi-signed.zip). No root required.
I tried my own version of your tutorial early on when I had just bought my Mini. But I always managed to mess it up (crashing App store, missing apps, etc). I'm sure your way works better though.

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I dont have root access
my phone doesnt have root access.
i use towelroot and he said i have root but when i chack it with rootchecker he said i have no access
what can i do ???

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Thank you for this guide, after two full hours I got root access and installed all Google Play services!
For me, towelroot did not work. I used Kingo Root instead, this worked like a charm. Just enable USB debugging, install Kingo Root on your (Windows) pc, connect the phone, and press Root.
After following this guide, everything synced fine, except the Contacts. I manually copied the GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk from the gapps zip to the phone, and installed it via the file manager on the phone. After this, I turned it into a system app with Link2SD.
Finally, I have a fully Google enabled phone, with killer specs. I am a happy man now

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what is the best way to unroot after the procedure you mentioned? since i wish to update my OS via OTA afterwards! also will i lose the GApps after each update i get from ZTE?

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I cannot say whether the phone can or can not update over the air (OTA), after rooting the phone. I have the newest ROM version. When I choose "FOTA online update" in the System update section of the settings, the system checks for updates and says there are none.
System updates usually only consist of patches for the current ROM. It is not a full ROM, overwriting everything. The standard ROM from ZTE does not contain any Google apps, so updating should not touch them. This is all presuming that the base version of Android (4.4.2) remains the same. Usually, this does not change with an OTA update.
Unrooting can be done with SuperSU. In the Settings menu, there is an option "Clean up for permanent unroot". I actually don't want to try this, because I want to have my phone rooted (at least for now). I hope this option works as advertised.

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thanks for your reply but i have tried the full unroot of SuperSU but it just keep loading indefinitely and never stops. I have in fact just received an OTA update for version 1.22 and when i tried to update, it does mentioned something about root but the message being entirely in Chinese apart from the word "ROOT" and then fails the update! so i can presume that updating is not possible once i completed your procedure for rooting. Still i am eager to check out the new OS version so we look for a better way to unroot before trying again! but its clear that SuperSU's full unroot feature does not work for me.

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Urgently stock recovery image for Nubia Z7(not mini nor max but Z7)
Can you please update the TWRP recovery image you used, as i have messed up mine on my nubia Z7 and did not do a backup of my stock recovery image? i did tried some available for nubia z7 mini and max but none seems to work ( just hangs at Nubia logo).

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Will this work for the firmware 1.76 As well?
I have the latest firmware. Will this work for the firmware 1.76 As well?

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LordTao said:
Can you please update the TWRP recovery image you used, as i have messed up mine on my nubia Z7 and did not do a backup of my stock recovery image? i did tried some available for nubia z7 mini and max but none seems to work ( just hangs at Nubia logo).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish I could help you, because i did the same to my recovery image...
Is there anyone else here with a Z7 who can provide us with a stock recovery image?
razahassan999 said:
I have the latest firmware. Will this work for the firmware 1.76 As well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The newest firmware 1.76 is for the Z7 Max only, the Z7 is a different device with different firmware.
---------- Post added at 12:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 AM ----------
LordTao said:
thanks for your reply but i have tried the full unroot of SuperSU but it just keep loading indefinitely and never stops. I have in fact just received an OTA update for version 1.22 and when i tried to update, it does mentioned something about root but the message being entirely in Chinese apart from the word "ROOT" and then fails the update! so i can presume that updating is not possible once i completed your procedure for rooting. Still i am eager to check out the new OS version so we look for a better way to unroot before trying again! but its clear that SuperSU's full unroot feature does not work for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked up some unrooting options. I used KingoRoot to root my device, that should also provide an unroot option. Please see their FAQ .

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Thanks my friend, i did use the KingoRoot to unroot and seems to work fine but still without a proper recovery mod on my phone i can't so an update from sd card to the zip for 1.22 but will try out to update by OTA ASAP! will let you know if it work.
I have created this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/zte...k-cwm-twrp-t3010452/post58364623#post58364623 to ask for anyone who can get us a stock recovery.img or TWRP or CWm that actually work om Z7! Hoping that someone do appear as there seems to be very few actual owners of the Nubia Z7. Mostly people buys the Mini or the max Very unfortunate for us

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@LordTao
so how did it go with the OTA Update after unrooting with Kingoroot ?

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stock recovery (google is your friend)
http://nubiaforums.com/showthread.php?tid=18

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scums_off said:
@LordTao
so how did it go with the OTA Update after unrooting with Kingoroot ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the unroot does seem to have work but unfortunately and strangely, just after the unroot, any time i try to do an OTA update, it just tell me that i am already using the latest version and no update is available! Since no recovery mod is working up right now, i wonder if this is not linked to that issue. So for now i am stuck with a bad recovery mod and version 1.99 on my new Nubia Z7!
---------- Post added at 07:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:21 AM ----------
flamery said:
stock recovery (google is your friend)
http://nubiaforums.com/showthread.php?tid=18
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My friend, i did go throughout Google all over but still no stock recovery image is available for the Z7 and the one you mentioned is for the Z7 Mini or max but this does not work for the Z7! i tried so many of them but none work! ( just stuck on Nubia Logo on recovery mod)
So i still hope someone having a Z7 can do a backup of his/her recovery image and send it our way!

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@LordTao
You're not on Stock Recovery ?
If you're on stock recovery and the unroot procedure is successful, you should be able to do OTA update i think...
I don't recall there's already a custom recovery for Z7...

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If you have installed gapps then ota updates will no longer work. It's possible when you first bought the phone it was already 'modded' meaning ota updates are a no go. I would suggest starting a post in the forums I linked earlier they will likely have stock ROM and stock recovery for you. Also get on Google translate and go on the official Nubia .can forums they will definitely have it posted somewhere.

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scums_off said:
@LordTao
You're not on Stock Recovery ?
If you're on stock recovery and the unroot procedure is successful, you should be able to do OTA update i think...
I don't recall there's already a custom recovery for Z7...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't any custom recovery for Z7 but i was stupid enough to believe that the CWM customer recovery for Z7 MINI would work and have flashed my recovery to the CWM MINI one but had not done any backup of my stock one. :crying: Now i am stuck with a rooted Z7 with no working recovery. but since i have unroot it with Kingo root, the OTA keep telling me that i have already the latest OS and no update is required. while in the about phone it is clearly mentioned that i am still on v1.99! Now i did also download the update from the official Nubia site but without a working recovery i cant even do an update from SD! So whatever i try i am right now stuck Desperately hoping to see someone able to share his/her Z7 stock recovery with me!
---------- Post added at 10:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:59 AM ----------
flamery said:
If you have installed gapps then ota updates will no longer work. It's possible when you first bought the phone it was already 'modded' meaning ota updates are a no go. I would suggest starting a post in the forums I linked earlier they will likely have stock ROM and stock recovery for you. Also get on Google translate and go on the official Nubia .can forums they will definitely have it posted somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No i had bought my phone directly from ZTE China store in China, and the phone came without any Gapps nor root. What i did was to first root my phone, and install Gapps but then i stupidly flashed my recovery to a custom CWM one for Z7 mini thinking it would work but did do any backup of my stock one. then i was surprise to see that no one was providing the stock recovery for Z7 and no other Z7 max nor MINI worked. but its only then that i got the notifications for OTA update which i had tried a lot of time but was sure that the root was blocking it! Thats when i did an unroot from superSU settings but it failed then i did the Kingo root unroot which worked but now no more OTA is possible as it is telling me no update is available! :crying::crying:
BTW i already open a thread on nubia forum but still no good replies yet!
http://nubiaforums.com/showthread.php?tid=124
:crying::crying::crying::crying:

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You can do OTA updates with some non stock Recovery's!! If you read the forum link I posted Nubia also posted instructions that say cwm recovery is fully supported and ota will work. Your problem is that you installed gapps which broke your ota abilities. you need to reflash official ROM to get updates back your recovery should be fine as it is! Good luck bro!

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flamery said:
You can do OTA updates with some non stock Recovery's!! If you read the forum link I posted Nubia also posted instructions that say cwm recovery is fully supported and ota will work. Your problem is that you installed gapps which broke your ota abilities. you need to reflash official ROM to get updates back your recovery should be fine as it is! Good luck bro!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know where can i get the stock rom for nubia z7? And how can i reflash my mobile without a functional recovery mode on my mobile? As OTA still telling me that no uodate available for my mobile right now!

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@LordTao
In your previous reply you mention something about updating from SD?
Does your Z7 have a SD card slot?
I just ordered Z7 and only after ordering did i read somewhere that it does not have a card slot... I feel quite bummed about it since the lower spec z7 max and mini all have it...
In the item description of my seller it says that it has a card slot...
I wonder which is true...
Anyway, when i receive my unit i will try to make stock recovery backup....
If i succeed i will post it here...
Keep your fingers crossed!