The most active effort to bring Android to the 520 is the Android4Lumia Project . Mostly supports Android 7.1.2 (LineageOS 14.1) . Status: Experimental. What Works: Touchscreen, display, sound, and basic storage.
Since the 520 only has , Microsoft officially excluded it from W10M.
Custom ROM work on the Lumia 520 is essentially You aren't going to turn this phone into a modern daily driver. However, if you are a collector or a hobbyist:
Performance is generally slow because of the device's aging hardware.
The Nokia Lumia 520, once the world’s most popular Windows Phone, remains a favorite for mobile enthusiasts and hobbyists in 2026. While Microsoft officially ended support years ago, the device lives on through a dedicated community of developers. If you're looking to make a custom ROM work on your Lumia 520, here is the current state of the scene and how to get started. The Current Custom ROM Landscape (2026)
Current status allows booting from an SD card and accessing a command-line interface via SSH, though full graphical environments like XFCE are still in development. The Technical "Magic": Unlocking the Bootloader FULL Android RUNNING on Windows Phone / Nokia Lumia!
: Specialized ROMs like GDR2 Custom ROMs with permanent "Interop Unlock" allow for deep system customization and sideloading of retired apps.