Samsung Galaxy S4 owners out there who aren’t ready to upgrade their phones anytime soon will be glad to hear this: the Android 5.0 Lollipop update firmware has leaked. It’s 5.0.1, to be exact, and it’s easily flashable over the latest official build through ODIN.
That said, there’s a chance this firmware is unfinished and may house some annoying bugs that have yet to be ironed out ahead of an official rollout. As such, anything that happens to your phone if you decide to flash it is no one’s fault but your own. If you’re on the daring side and don’t mind giving it a go, though, you can find the download over at XDA.
Note that this is only being listed as compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500, which would be the international variant that can be bought unlocked. Those with carrier-specific variants should steer clear (unless, of course, you’re a brave developer who doesn’t mind tinkering with their device to see if it’ll work just as well). Understanding all of that, go nuts!
US Cell Carriers: Less bloating and more timely updating, now!
Motorola Droid Turbo update any day now, right?….riiigghhtttt??…
What’s with the Baidu logo on the search bar in the 4th screen shot? I’m assuming S4 owners like my father in law could install Google Search and get that bar in there, but is that what comes out of this install by default?
Another option is http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2643031
This is a Google Play Edition 5.01 ROM. Not Touch Wiz.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> NOT SAFESTRAP COMPATIBLE! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Flash-able. Definitely clean wipe first. Use latest TWRP, Read the OP. Relatively stable – no crashes or broken stuff…at least for me. Has been my daily driver for several days. Everything mostly works – LTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi … not sure about NFC or wireless charging as I don't use either. Fast, stable and smooth – especially with animations set at .5x.
All credit goes to Danvdh. I ran his KitKat 4.4 google play edition before switching to his Cyanogen 11 based 4.4. This is better. Knows his stuff. May be able to walk on water, however unconfirmed at this time.