After releasing the new Android 5.0 Lollipop OTA (Over-The-Air) update to 2013 flagship phablet Galaxy Note 3, Samsung has officially rolled out the sweet candy-flavoured Google mobile OS to Galaxy S4.
Samsung community blog SamMobile has confirmed that the Galaxy S4 GT-I9500 (with Exynos 5 Octa-core CPU) has begun receiving the latest Android 5.0.1 Lollipop OTA update in Russia.
Samsung Galaxy S4 owners are advised to free at least 3GB memory on the device for the new OS installation, as it has been reported the firmware is more than 1GB in size (1049.17MB to be precise).
It is also learnt that during the installation, the phone will remove some apps like Google Play, Books, Movies and a few others for the purpose of memory optimisation. Good news is that users can re-install them after this process is completed.
The new OS is said to bring in all Lollipop features and also all new visually appealing TouchWiz UI.
[Also read: Android 5.0 Lollipop: Top Key Features of New Google Mobile OS]
For the uninitiated, Google's new Android v5.0 Lollipop OS comes with completely refurbished new design language material design bringing interactive user interface, lots of animation graphics, replacement of Dalvik with ART as its default runtime will bring improvement in performance and battery-life enhancements.
How to install Android 5.0.1 Lollipop OTA update:
If Galaxy S4 (GT-I9500) owners are getting the update notifications, then select - "Yes, I'm in" option >> then, after downloading, select >> "Install now." The phone will restart automatically and the OS will be updated to the new version.
As of now, Android 5.0.1 Lollipop is rolled out for Galaxy S4 (GT-I9500) only in Russia. We would like to remind our readers that the OTA updates are released in stages, so it will take some time, probably a few weeks to reach all corners of the world.
Until then users can check manually by going to Settings >> About phone >> System update.
So far, Samsung has released the new Android 5.0 Lollipop to 2014 flagship device - Galaxy S5, Note 3 in select regions. Later, the company is also expected to roll out the new OS update to Galaxy Note 4 in a few weeks time.
Why there is no Sweet Lollipop Update for Galaxy Note 4 yet?
Usually Samsung releases new OS updates to current flagship phones and later to older models, but the roll-out of Lollipop OS to Note 3 instead of Note 4 raised a lot of questions, this provided fodder for rumour mills churn out numerous speculations.
However, SamMobile editor-in-chief Faryaab Sheikh has learnt the delay in Android Lollipop for Galaxy Note 4 is due to Oculus VR, who are having tough tweaking the ROM to make the flagship Samsung phablet compatible with the company's Gear Virtual Reality (VR) device.
The reason why the Note 4 has not yet received the Lollipop update is that the folks over at Oculus are busy tweaking the kernel for G VR.
— Faryaab Sheikh (@Faryaab) January 29, 2015For the uninitiated, Gear VR is wireless virtual reality head-set developed by Samsung in collaboration with Oculus Rift. It was launched along with Galaxy Note 4 in September last year. [More information, HERE]
Even rival HTC is running behind schedule to release firmware. It missed the 90-day roll-out promise of Android 5.0 Lollipop to GSM models of HTC One (M7 and M8). Motorola too faced similar dilemma due to bugs in the software but it has fixed the problem and has begun OTA update process to Moto G (Gen 1 & 2), Moto X (2014) and would soon initiate the same for Moto X (2013) and Moto E.
