[Moto G General] matmutant:
DEPRECATED, NO MORE UP-TO-DATE, ONLY KEPT FOR ARCHIVE

Technical Specifications -

Unique Features -

Moto G Review -

List of Commonly used Terms -

All that is fine, but I don't know what this rooting, flashing, nandroid, Modding etc. mean? Yelp ?

Fear Not! Here's a little Cheat Sheet for you. Please thank @benjamingwynn for this. I took his original list for HTC and extended it for here. Given bellow is a Glossary of sorts for commonly used terms. Please let me know if I missed any and I will add it. Also please visit this Q & A thread. Its more than likely to answer most of your questions.

Ok Now that you have a hang of your device, you probably want to explore your options and maybe install a Custom Rom. Well, the first thing you will need is to Root the Device.

So what really is a Root ? Why should I do it ? Would it break my Phone ? How about my Warranty ? All legitimate questions. To start off, here's an easy guide by Lifehacker. This whole concept may seem mystical to some of us. Let me try to make it pretty straightforward. Rooting is a process on Android that effectively grants you superuser access. Think of it as Administrator access on Windows. Android is a derivative of Linux. So those from Linux should have no difficulty with this concept.

There are certain operations that only a Superuser can do. Hence you'd want to root in order to so. For ex, remove any application that is installed as System application. Just like on on Windows, Root access does come with risk, so you need to use it with care. Just because you have Root access, does not mean your phone is broken. Typically making wrong changes to system with Root access, will result in affecting smooth operation of your phone. In extreme cases, the device may be Bricked if incorrect software (Rom, Mod or others) is flashed.

When it comes to Warranty, typically Root as such does not void your warranty. But if you end up flashing anything with a custom Recovery, then your Warranty may be voided.

Rooting -

Ok so, I got what Root is and I need to be responsible in what I do. How do I get the root ? Well the first and basic thing would be to install appropriate drivers for Windows.

Next in order to Root, please follow this thread by @paulobrien . As you will see, there are two ways to go about it. Both do require your Bootloader to be unlocked. However, neither method, applies to the Google Play Edition (XT1032) as there is no supporting Custom Recovery for this variant.

If you do not have or do not wish to unlock your bootloader then you can opt for @oasoas014 's method of bootloader downgrade. You may also visit @Cooptx's more detailed guide. Note, with the most recent recoveries, you do not need to downgrade your bootloader.

Note - Flashing a bootloader is inherently dangerous. You can possibly hardbrick your device if you flash incorrect bootloader. Always check the MD5 value of downloaded file.

Only In Case of Moto G Google Play Edition (XT1032), it is possible to unlock the Bootloader on your own. You do not need to pay to get an Unlock Code from Motorola. Instead, you can follow the same method as Nexus or other Google Play Devices. Here's a nice tutorial. For those technically minded, here's Android Source Documentation of the same process. Once unlocked, the bootloader cannot be re-locked unless you flash a signed system image, (which Motorola has not made available as of 01-22-2014).

One of the first things you should do upon Rooting is to backup your PDS Partition.

[SIZE=+1]How to backup / restore PDS partition and why?[/SIZE]

On Motorola devices the 'pds' partition contains information specific to your machine: IMEI, MAC address, serial number, etc. This partition can be lost by accidental format or over time due to filesystem corruption. If you have made a backup, there is a good chance you can bring your handset back to life.

==> PDS backup will help to restore lost IMEI. It is a situation when the phone reports that the IMEI is unknown. ; This works like a vaccine, apply before having issue with IMEI, after it will be too late !

Instructions:

Once rooted, some of you may wish to stick with that and not proceed any further. With root, you will want to remove some of the apps that you don't need. I wish to suggest that you take a complete backup with a tool such as Titanium Backup. That way if you accidentally uninstall/remove something that's critical to android's operation, then you can restore it. For those of you, who wish to install custom Rom, read on.

The first step towards installing a custom Rom is to install a custom Recovery.

Please note, In order to flash any custom Recoveries, you need to have unlocked Bootloader. The viable options are either follow this guide or get an unlock code from Motorola.

Custom Recoveries -

A Custom Recovery is a unofficial Recovery Console that can be flashed to your device's Recovery Partition.

Typically unofficial recoveries offer several advantages over Stock or Official Recovery. Hence the unofficial recoveries are necessary in order to flash a Custom Rom. Apart from flashing a Rom, Kernel or any other firmware, unofficial Recoveries can also take Nandroids.

An unofficial Recovery is also commonly referred to as Custom Recovery. There are two major projects that contribute Custom recoveries. One is called CWM. The other is called TWRP. Given bellow is a list of Custom Recoveries available for your device.

Note - CWM and TWRP recoveries do not support the Google Play Edition variant (XT1032). You will need to wait for Motorola to release the Kernel source code before @a1Pha can support. However Philz Touch does support Google Play Edition.

CWM Recovery v 6.0.4.5 by @a1Pha -

This is the ClockWorkMod Recovery for the Moto G. Head over to the thread for more details.

(Thread as of 12-15-2013)

CWM 6.0.4.7 Swipe Recovery from CM11 thread

CWM 6.0.4.7 Swipe Recovery

TWRP Recovery v2.6.3.0 by @a1Pha -

This is TWRP 2 project brought over to Moto G by @a1Pha. Keeping with TWRP 2, its a Touch Recovery. Head over to the thread for more details.

(Thread updated as of 12-09-13)

Philz's Touch Recovery v2.6.3.0 by @Phil3759 -

This is CWM Advanced Edition Recovery for the Moto G. Head over to the Thread for more details. Other members have reported that this is compatible with the Google Play Edition of this phone.