How To Install Android On the Raspberry Pi 4 & Google Play Store

**Setting Up Google Play on Raspberry Pi 4**

For those who want to explore Android on their Raspberry Pi 4, setting up Google Play is a crucial step. To start, we need to boot into recovery mode. This can be done by powering on the Raspberry Pi 4, pressing and holding the volume down button while booting, or using the command `sudo reboot -r` in the terminal.

Once in recovery mode, we are presented with a menu that allows us to modify our system. We click "Allow" to continue, then type in "su" (super user) and press Enter to confirm our decision. Next, we need to enter our PI for Recovery code, which is typically set to "recovery.sh". This will prompt us again to confirm our choice. It's essential to remember this decision, so we click "Allow" once more.

Now, we are back in the main menu and can choose to install the GAPs package that we downloaded earlier. We select the Pico version for ARMED Android and follow the installation process. Once installed, we need to wipe the dalvik cache to ensure a smooth experience.

**Wiping Dalvik Cache**

To wipe the dalvik cache, we click on "Wipe" from the main menu, then select "Dalvik" and swipe to allow. This will clear out any unnecessary data and prepare our system for further modifications.

Next, we return to the main menu and choose to reset our device to its factory settings. We select "Wipe" again, this time choosing to wipe boot, system, and data. We also back up advanced terminal options in case we need them later. Finally, we reboot the system from the terminal, setting it to boot into Android instead of recovery mode.

**Installing Google Play**

After rebooting, we enter the command `recovery.sh boot` to set our system to boot into Android. Then, we type "reboot" to confirm and exit the recovery menu. Our Raspberry Pi 4 boots up with a standard Android interface, but we can't access Google Play just yet.

To fix this, we need to install the device ID APK that we downloaded earlier. We head over to our file section, locate the device ID APK, and install it using the "Install" option from the menu.

**Registering Our Device with Google**

Once installed, we open up the device ID APK and click on "Google Service Framework". This will give us a code that we need to register our device with Google. We copy the code by pressing Ctrl+V in the terminal, then paste it into the device ID APK window.

We are presented with a warning message stating that our device is not Play Protect certified. To resolve this, we click on "Custom ROM Users" and follow the instructions provided. This will bring us to a new screen where we can paste the code and register our device as a custom ROM.

**Accessing Google Play**

After registering our device with Google, we reboot the system one last time and log back into Google Play using our Gmail account credentials. We sign in and access the Google Play Store to download and install applications.

In this article, we have demonstrated how to set up Google Play on a Raspberry Pi 4. With the GAPs package installed and our device registered with Google, we can now enjoy a wide range of Android apps on our tiny but mighty device.