The CyanogenMod or Lineage OS open-source project does not have permission to install the Google apps (Gapps) while flashing the firmware. Before 2009, CyanogenMod came with preinstalled Google apps. But later on, Google asked CyanogenMod founder to stop including Gapps in CM ROM. The reason was that CyanogenMod could be installed on devices that do not have a license to have Google apps. So, for days, the development of CyanogenMod ROM was stopped. The Internet was full of Android users with hearts full of hatred for Google. Then an alternate method was found to introduce Google Apps in CM. The technique was to flash the Gapps on your own. While flashing, you might encounter many errors; one of the most common is error 70 while installing gapps. In this guide, we will deal with how to fix this error.
Installing Gapps on an Android phone is the same as installing a custom ROM. First, you have to flash it using a custom recovery. Use this guide if you don’t know how to flash custom ROM and Gapps on an Android phone. Now moving on to the solution of getting Error 70 while installing gapps.
How to Fix Error 70 while installing Gapps:
A few weeks back, I was flashing custom ROM on my Android phone. I flashed the firmware, and when it came to flash, Gapps. An error occurred.
It was Error 70: Insufficient storage space available in the system partition. (This error is pretty common while flashing gapps, so don’t worry).
After spending a lot of time, I figured out its solution. One solution is re-formatting the system partition and increasing its size. However, it is troublesome and technical and can get your phone bricked. If the below method doesn’t work for you, you could use this guide to increase the system partition of your Android phone.
The other solution I came across is straightforward; anyone who can flash custom ROM can do this.
The solution is simple. Get the smallest package of Google Apps (pico) and flash it in your system.
Follow the steps below if you don’t know how to get the Pico package for your custom ROM.
- Go to OpenGapps.
- Select Pico Variant. It will give you all the Google Play Services and a few Google Apps. It is small and good enough for your phone to perform background Google android services. If you want other Google apps, you can later install them from the Google Play Store or APK file.
- Select the Appropriate Platform/Architecture of your System. (If you are unsure about your phone architecture, refer to this guide.)
If you don’t understand the terms used in the guide above, then match up the terms below with your phone’s architecture:
- ARM: ARMv7 or armeabi.
- ARM64: AArch64 or arm64.
- x86: x86 or x86abi.
Consider the following details of CyanogenMod before selecting appropriate Google Apps:
- CyanogenMod 13: It is an AOSP of Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
- CyanogenMod 12.1: It is for Android 5.1.
- CyanogenMod 12: It is for Android 5.0.
- CyanogenMod 11: It is for Android 4.4.
I hope the above solution helps you to fix error 70 while installing gapps on your Android phone. If you have any other error while installing custom ROM or gapps on your Android phone, let me know in the comments. You can also share any other solution to this error 70 while installing gapps. Do give us feedback if the above solution works out for you.
