How can I defer Android 5.0 update?
EdMinClt
Enthusiast - Level 2

With all the problems with Android 5.0 (Lollipop), I would like to avoid or delay installation on my Samsung S4.  Is there a way to do this?  Can I just keep putting off the installation each day for 24 hours?

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Re: How can I defer Android 5.0 update?
Klue
Master - Level 1

You can reduce or eliminate any problems by doing a little prep work before the update.  I'm in the same boat you are and this is what I plan on doing.

1. Clear the phones cache.

2. Move all photos from the internal memory to the SD card.

3. Un mount the SD card and remove from phone.

4. Uninstall all third party apps that you installed. Sound like you have very few.

5. Change live wallpaper to a static one.

6. Charge up phone to 100%.

At this point the only thing on my phone is text messages, e-mails and contacts. They are all backed on other places. You may have more so make sure everything else is backed up. Proceed with the update.

After update is installed my phone is going to run as is for 48 hours then I will start reloading the apps from the play store one at a time to make sure they work, probably only one or two per day. That way if any of them are causing a problem I will know which one. Do not reinstall your apps from a back up, you want up to date apps from the store.

I used to do a full factory data reset prior to installing the update, the best way to clean up your phone, but I'm going to try this method this time as it is almost what a FDR is except for my contacts, texts and emails are still on the phone.

Good Luck

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Re: How can I defer Android 5.0 update?
Snn5
Legend

It will eventually self-install.  No way to stop it.

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Re: How can I defer Android 5.0 update?
EdMinClt
Enthusiast - Level 2

I think my next phone will be an iPhone as much as I detest Apple.  How is Verizon and others getting away with this?  It should be a customer's decision!   Microsoft still supports Windows 7 after all these years!

Re: How can I defer Android 5.0 update?
EdMinClt
Enthusiast - Level 2

Maybe I'm being paranoid about this Lollipop thing.  Are there many users having problems,  I can't see my wife having to deal with some of the issues I see discussed.  I have very few apps -- email, google maps, weather, calendar, etc. -- should I anticipate problems and other issues?

Thanks!

Re: How can I defer Android 5.0 update?
Snn5
Legend

Oh, we only ever see the failures in the forums, never the success stories.  I imagine this is widespread, but compared to the millions of Samsung S-series owners on Verizon with the update, the % of complaints here is very low in comparison.

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Re: How can I defer Android 5.0 update?
Klue
Master - Level 1

You can reduce or eliminate any problems by doing a little prep work before the update.  I'm in the same boat you are and this is what I plan on doing.

1. Clear the phones cache.

2. Move all photos from the internal memory to the SD card.

3. Un mount the SD card and remove from phone.

4. Uninstall all third party apps that you installed. Sound like you have very few.

5. Change live wallpaper to a static one.

6. Charge up phone to 100%.

At this point the only thing on my phone is text messages, e-mails and contacts. They are all backed on other places. You may have more so make sure everything else is backed up. Proceed with the update.

After update is installed my phone is going to run as is for 48 hours then I will start reloading the apps from the play store one at a time to make sure they work, probably only one or two per day. That way if any of them are causing a problem I will know which one. Do not reinstall your apps from a back up, you want up to date apps from the store.

I used to do a full factory data reset prior to installing the update, the best way to clean up your phone, but I'm going to try this method this time as it is almost what a FDR is except for my contacts, texts and emails are still on the phone.

Good Luck

Re: How can I defer Android 5.0 update?
stef7
Master - Level 2

You have a right to be angry. It's not as if Lollipop brings bug fixes or even security related features that Verizon needs you to install to protect their network. Lollipop doesn't represent a great leap in User Interface Design and capability either.

In theory a carrier should provide you a means to opt out of updating until there is some hard requirement driving it. And then, and only then force you to update, but.... provide you and every other customer out there the proper support to return their devices to a highly operational state if things go wrong during updating.

And for some, they have gone horribly wrong...

Part of update success lies in having as generic a configuration as possible and a device with plenty of free memory prior to initiating the OTA update. In fact, I would, and others would argue, you should backup all your important personal content first, and write down important settings and have all usernames and passwords for your important apps at the ready. Then perform a Factory Data Reset on your device BEFORE you take the OTA, and perhaps another AFTER the OTA... I suspect one after the OTA is not necessary if you've done one before. The more important one is the FDA before the OTA.

And yet, people out there, not knowing any better are just accepting the update, or giving into the nagging, or accidently selecting "Yes", or just finding the devices auto-updating on them, and their devices are full of applications with many personal files, and many settings that the OTA update process has problems with.

Personally, if asked following the OTA if you want to backup to Verizon's Cloud, or Google's Drive, or restore settings, I would decline. I'd only allow Google to re-establish my contacts. I would not want any prior program settings to be re-established via automated restore. In otherwords, whatever apps I download after the OTA, I would manually set them up again. I like having ultimate control over my device, and I backup what I want, with the exception of Contacts. I let Google do that, but only my Contacts (and of course via the Playstore, it knows what I have purchased for Apps). I then only download what I need to get back to where I was. I use it as a filtering opportunity. What wasn't needed post OTA, doesn't get loaded.

Other people have other strategies. YMMV.

Now then to your question... while I believe it is possible, people cannot discuss it on this forum. Google it, and you'll find people discussing how it's done on other sites, but know that it's likely to void any remaining warranty on your device, and if things go wrong there, you are really between a rock and a hard place.

Good luck.

Re: How can I defer Android 5.0 update?
Snn5
Legend

Just uninstalling apps and moving files and folders isn't the same as wiping the system cache and all app data and system settings, all of which affect the installation of an OS update that converts DALVIK to ART.  You were doing correctly when you FDR first.  If you are going to remove most everything from the phone other than settings, you might as well start clean.