How many times have you ever had a good smartphone or Android tablet in your hands, but some features were missing on the latest models? You will surely have come up with the idea that by updating it you could have obtained some extra functionality or (at most) the resolution to some problem that the operating system takes from the factory exit. In this guide, I will show you exactly this! You’ll see what steps to follow to update Android on almost any device.
You will see how to update Android using the update system integrated in the device and, if this does not work or there should be no update, how to update Android using a Custom ROM (an unofficial custom operating system).
Update Android
Official update system
The first method you absolutely must try to update Android is to use the update system integrated into your smartphone or tablet.
To get the latest Android update, find the about phone item on your phone in the Settings menu of your device; here you will find the item System Updates (or similar), present either as a dedicated button or as a menu item (depending on the model and brand of the device).
By tapping on this item you will be able to update Android in most scenarios. Not all devices, however, could have an update available; perhaps it has already been downloaded and installed or the manufacturer has not considered it appropriate to issue further updates.
Download an official ROM
Another method to update Android is to use the ROM files available at the manufacturer’s website. In this case, it will be necessary to use the tools provided by the manufacturer to update the device.
Below you can find all the manufacturers’ links from which you can retrieve official ROMs for most devices.
Just search for the specific ROM for your smartphone and download it (if available). Is not your smartphone a manufacturer listed above? You can search on Google based on your model and your manufacturer followed by the word ROM, for example:
Meizu ROM
Once you’ve downloaded the ROM to update Android, you’ll need to use one of the following tools to put it on your device.
- Odin (for Samsung)
- LG Flash Tool
- Huawei Update Multiloader Tool
- RSD Lite (Motorola)
- Xiaomi Flashing tool
- HTC FLASH TOOL
Update Android with unofficial ROMs
Can not update your Android device because the manufacturer has not released any updates? You can bring a “breath of fresh air” to your device by installing one of the unofficial ROMs available on the Internet. The most famous are the following.
Visit one of the sites that I have linked above to find the unofficial ROM best suited to your device. LineageOS is the heir of the old CyanogenMod, so it maintains the great compatibility that this ROM had for a really high number of devices (hard not to find a ROM!). If you do not know how to install LineageOS on your device, follow this guide:
LINK | How to install Lineage OS on all Android devices
For example, if you have a Samsung S7 and you want to update Android you can download the version of LineageOS optimized for this device by scrolling the side list until you find the brand and model.
Download one of the files present to recover the ROM. To be able to install it on your device you will have to follow the following procedure:
- Install Android Debug Bridge (ADB) and Fastboot on your PC
- Unblock the device bootloader (the procedure varies from device to device)
- Install a customized recovery like the Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP)
The steps are all in all simple if you follow the guides, the only real difficulty can arise in the unlocking of the bootloader. Below you can find all the guides on the site to unlock the bootloader on many devices.
LINK | Bootloader unlocking guides
In this site, we have spoken extensively about how an android update on smartphones and tablets and in particular on some specific devices. So you should take a look at this guide, for example, or find out if we have already covered the update of your device.