Depending on who you ask, you might hear different opinions on what the best Android smartphone currently is. But one thing that's clear is that many still consider the Google Pixel lineup as the "gold standard" for what Android devices should be. And it's easy to see why: Pixel phones feature near-stock Android software with a support length far ahead of what you can get on most other Android devices. This remains one of the main selling points of the Pixel lineup even today. But another perk that's often overlooked is the fact that these phones are also very open to custom development and modding, thanks to a straightforwardly-unlockable bootloader and adherence to standards from Google. Now, both the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are officially supported by Team Win Recovery Project, or TWRP for short.

You might think: Why just now have these devices gained TWRP support if the phones came out in late 2019? Besides the fact that more expensive devices get into the hands of fewer developers, there have been TWRP builds available for the two devices for a while—they just weren't official. Recently, though, the TWRP team added official support for devices that launched with Android 10 with TWRP 3.5.0, following months of work to make the custom recovery compatible with dynamic/logical partitions. Official TWRP support means that you'll be able to download the latest build from the TWRP website as opposed to an individual maintainer's thread on XDA. It also means you can grab the build from the TWRP app.

If you have a Pixel 4 or a Pixel 4 XL, you should definitely check out the official TWRP builds if you're interested in getting into modding your Android device—be it simply installing Magisk to gain root access or installing a custom ROM or kernel to add more features or to improve the performance or battery life of your phone. If you have any feedback on the build, check out XDA Senior Recognized Developer bigbiff's thread on XDA—he's the maintainer of the builds for both devices.

Download TWRP 3.5.0 for: Google Pixel 4 (flame) ||| Google Pixel 4 XL (coral)