how to undo/delete system update on Samsung J3 Emerge (Virgin Mobile)

[Android Central Question]

I just got this phone in October, first thing I did was turn off the automatic system updates, well, I woke up and my phone tells me it downloaded a system update, and the "lock" was unlocked, even though I never turned it back on and would check periodically to see if it was still off.

This update is eating a lot of memory, I just deleted a 436mb game called Extreme Landings from the PlayStore, somehow I only got 48mb memory back (ROM went from 363 to 401)

Anyway I never had problems with updates when I had an LG, so what do I do? Can I remove a system update without a factory reset? I'm poor so I dont have a laptop to back up stuff on, please help (or kill me, also helpful)

 

[Rukbat]

1. Rejecting a system update only works for so many times (usually about 15), then you get the update without being asked. (Google doesn't want to get complaints about a bug they fixed 5 versions ago - no software house does.)

2. You can't "remove a system update", with or without a factory reset. Factory reset only removes anything you've added (like the initial setup - your name, your email address, etc.), it doesn't remove system updates (it can't, an update isn't like something stuck onto the end of the system, it's a total change of the system - the old system isn't in the phone any more) and it doesn't add back anything you may have accidentally deleted (just in case anyone else reading this wonders - I know that's not what you did).

So ... the only way you're going to get the "old system" back on the phone is to reflash it. Flashing a Samsung phone is particularly easy (see [Samsung] How to flash Stock ROM via ODIN), but you will have to have a laptop or desktop for at least 10 minutes. (Borrow one if you have to - you can remove the program you add to it once you're done, and you won't make any other permanent changes to it.) About the only problem with reflashing a phone's system (a Samsung, anyway) is the boredom - I'm waiting, at the moment, for one phone to update 399 apps after a flash - it's on 262 and it's been going for a while. (Which is why I always have something else to do when I flash a phone. I don't like to watch grass grow.)

You don't need a laptop to back things up, though. The J3 can accept any SD card. Buy one, put it into the phone and you can back up all your apps, files, pictures, etc., to the card. (Also, if you have unlimited data, which is becoming pretty universal, so you will if you don't now, back up everything to a cloud account - MEGA gives you 50GB free, and It looks as if Google Drive gives you 115GB free. (The app is also free from Play - Google Drive.)