System Update Available

[cybernutte]

My unrooted HTC Desire 816 has just received a rather prominent message sayind "System Update Available. Tap to download the system update." I would like to know what sort of system update it is--is it Lollipop (I read somewhere that this phone wouldn't get Lollipop, and to be honest I was relieved)? Is it an HTC update? How do I know whether I want it? I've heard so many unsatisfactory reports about Lollipop that I have no wish to have it. I've also read some complaints on Play Store about some kind of HTC update. Is there a way to find out what the update is, and, more important, is there a way to refuse it? I just wish I knew more about it and whether I wanted it or not. Right now, there's a big banner across my phone's home screen that gets in the way of my accessing some things not just on the home screen but in play store and other places as well. I've included a screenshot of the top part of my phone's home screen, showing the update announcement that I can't get rid of:

I'd really appreciate some information about what this is and what to do. Thanks in advance.

 

[B. Diddy]

Sounds like the Lollipop 5.0 update: Android 5.0/5.1 Lollipop Update For HTC Desire 816, HTC Desire EYE, LG G2 And LG Nexus 4. You usually can't refuse a system update forever. Most of the time, you can decline it for a little while, but eventually, it'll force you to accept it. To permanently refuse it, you'd probably have to root the phone and disable the system updater.

 

[cybernutte]

Thanks, B.Diddy, for your response. Wow, why in the world would HTC provide 5.0 for some phones when they're providing 5.1 for others? Almost everything I've read about 5.0 indicates that it is a disaster, which is why Google followed it with the only slightly less disastrous 5.01 and then 5.02, and then fixing at least some of the mistakes with 5.1, though even 5.1 probably isn't worth the risk for me.
I should add that the ugly and annoying black banner announcing the update's availability has now disappeared, but the notification icon is still in the notification area. I'm wondering whether I can get rid of the notification the same way I did months ago on my Nexus 7 tablet. I knew from all the complaints on the Nexus 7 forum that I did NOT want to install Lollipop. Someone else suggested that if I long press the notification and then select app info, I'd be taken to the play services app info screen, where I could uncheck the enable notifications box. That worked fine on the tablet, but I have no idea whether the same thing would happen if I tried that on the phone. Obviously, I could try, but I'm really afraid of prompting the update to download.
Is there some way to find out what the update is without triggering the download? And if I find it's Lollipop, can I prevent it from downloading? Is there a way of doing what I did on the Nexus 7, which got rid of the Lollipop notification? I know some people are eager to get Lollipop, but I also know that lots of people who were eager are now wishing they'd stayed with KitKat.

 

[David Few]

It's 5.0.2. My phone just finished updating.

 

[cybernutte]

Thanks, David, for this info. I'd love to hear how you find it after you've used it for a day or so. Did you move from 4.4.2 to 5.02? Did you do anything other than just tap on the notification icon to download and install?