If you live outside of the United States, then you don’t get the option to buy the new HTC One M8 Google Play Edition. That’s a shame if you prefer a pure Android experience over HTC’s Sense 6 user interface — but you can now take matters into your own hands.

The official Google Play Edition ROM is now available to download, and with a bit of hackery, it can be flashed to the regular M8.

By flashing the Google Play Edition ROM, the stock ROM that comes pre-installed on your M8 — with Sense 6 — is wiped, and you get pure Android 4.4.2 KitKat as Google intended it. But it does take a bit of effort, and you should really be familiar with flashing ROMs.

The process will wipe all the data on your M8, so you’ll need to backup anything you wish to keep and remove your external microSD card. And even though this is an official HTC ROM, it’s likely that flashing it yourself will void your warranty — so bear that in mind going in.

You should also be aware that this process is currently only compatible with GSM versions of the M8 — so those with a CDMA model are out of luck for the time being.

If you still want to proceed, follow the source link below to the XDA Developers forum, where you’ll find all the files required and detailed instructions for the whole flashing process.

You’ll need to root and gain S-Off access on your M8 before you begin flashing — and ensure your handset’s model ID and CID numbers match those supported by the stock Android ROM. More information on this can be found in the same thread.

• SourceXDA Developers