How can I undo the new update on my Note 5?

[AC Question]

So, like a good little girl, I did the most recent update to my Note 5 and I HATE IT!!! It is not user-friendly, meaning it takes WAY more steps to do ANYTHING, the colors are awful and make it hard to see things, it changed the ringer on my Bluetooth and I can't figure out how to change it back and I could go on and on and on and on! How can I change it back to the previous OS?

 

[sandra_17]

Following. Hate it.

 

[underway99]

I presume that you are talking about the update to Android 7. The only way to change it back to Android 6 is to flash the OS. It's an easy process, but it's also very easy to screw it up. You could wind up making your phone into a brick. Before starting that process, you need to learn as much as you can about how and why the process works as it does, and understand the steps required to recover if things go bad. You can find a lot of help for that in the Samsung forums at XDA.

You said that you find that so many actions take so many extra steps compared to what you are used to using. I suspect that most of that will be related to setting things just how you like them. For most things that most folks do, the OS is almost transparent. Once you get your sounds and wallpapers reset, and your homescreen how you like it, most people just don't interact with the OS settings very much.

Often, a lot of issues that come with updating your phone can be fixed with just clearing the system cache and rebooting. You lose nothing with this.

To fix some of the things that you apparently don't like, I'd look at using a theme or even a custom launcher. Your phone came with one or more themes preinstalled, and you can get a bunch more from Samsung's theme store (hit the Galaxy Apps app). Many are free. The great thing about custom launchers is that you can set up your device however you like, including icon spacing, frames, colors and backgrounds, gestures, etc. You can make your device truly your own and have it work precisely how you want. Another neat feature is that you can back up your launcher configuration and restore it after the phone's OS gets updated or even when you switch to a new device. Between themes and my launcher (I switch between Action Launcher 3 and Nova Launcher), the only thing that I can't change from white is the notifications shade. For me, everything else is black. Very easy on the eyes and on the battery.

For your sounds and ringers and other customization, that's likely not an issue specific to this update, but to updates in general. I've had more than my share of phones, and I often lose a sound setting or other customization when I load an update or one of the system apps is replaced. You may have to live with the new BT ringtone. I can't find anywhere to even select a BT ringtone on either my Note 5 or my S7 Edge. If you were able to do that previously, that could be a feature of your particular BT device. Look for an updated app from the BT device maker or check their web site for details.

 

[kajoey]

This update really changed how things look on my Note 5. I don't like the smaller font and stick-figure looking icons. One specific thing that takes 2 steps instead of 1 is checking which wifi network one is connected to. Before, it would just show it and now it's 2 swipes. Not sure how to customize that one. The camera icons are in differrnt places now and user-friendly.

 

[Melfunn]

Wipe cache partition in system recovery. Should clean up most issues that come with an OTA.

 

[B. Diddy]

Excellent advice from @underway99!

 

[kajoey]

I meant NOT user-friendly. One good thing, though is that the battery life seems to be better.

 

[nterry903]

I HATE the new update. I "had" groups on my home screen & each had specific things to each group. Now I'm allowed less in each group. I "HATE" the WHITE BACKGROUND! You moved everything around & can't find what I need.

WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST LEAVE IT ALONE! HOW CAN I REVERSE THE RECENT UPDATE? I have friends that are wanting to do the same thing!!!!

HELP!

 

[underway99]

Try screaming about it in a forum where you are looking for help. Always works for me. When it doesn't work for you, try doing a little research or even reading the entire thread that you've screamed in. BTW, this forum is not managed by the people who wrote the software on your phone. Most of the people who participate in these forums are people with questions, or hobbyists or folks who have just plain learned a lot here and want to help where and when they can.

Android is all about change and customization. When the OS is upgraded or apps update, things change. It generally makes Android and your phone work better, and is often undetectable (many changes are beneath the skin). The vast majority of folks accept it and move on while some don't. If you want a smartphone interface from 2011 that never changes, you have another option. Android might not be the right system for you.

 

[Brad Bilger]

Android is all about change and customization. When the OS is upgraded or apps update, things change. It generally makes Android and your phone work better, and is often undetectable (many changes are beneath the skin). The vast majority of folks accept it and move on while some don't. If you want a smartphone interface from 2011 that never changes, you have another option. Android might not be the right system for you.

Totally agree with you. I use nova as my launcher. I did the update to 7, looked at my screen afterwards and only the design of a few icons changed. Everything else stayed the same. Same folders, same wallpaper, same locations. .. the only thing that there was a drastic change was the settings page. Took a bit to locate what I was needing, but I'm totally used to it now. This was the easiest, smoothest, least painful update I've ever done to a phone. As he pointed out. Android is all about change and customization.

One small problem that I have noticed. My phone is set to unlock when I'm in my truck or when I'm home. Occasionally, I've had to unlock it while at home. It'll be unlocked all day long. Set it down for 15 minutes or so, pick it up and had to punch in my code. To me, no big deal. Minor issue.

 

[underway99]

The only things that I lost when I took the update for my Note were two shortcut folders and my stock 2x1 weather widget. The 2x1 widget is there for TouchWiz, but doesn't work any more with my third-party launchers (Action Launcher and Nova Launcher). Strange thing is that I lost the same folders and the same widget functionality when my S7 Edge updated. I was thinking that I'd screwed something up with the S7 Edge update when I couldn't use the widget with my launcher, but now I see that something has changed in the way the system uses that widget. The fix was to download the Accuweather app and use their widget.

 

[B. Diddy]

I HATE the new update. I "had" groups on my home screen & each had specific things to each group. Now I'm allowed less in each group. I "HATE" the WHITE BACKGROUND! You moved everything around & can't find what I need.

WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST LEAVE IT ALONE! HOW CAN I REVERSE THE RECENT UPDATE? I have friends that are wanting to do the same thing!!!!

HELP!

Welcome to Android Central! In case you weren't sure, this is an independent community forum, without any direct ties to Samsung, Google, or any other company. So we had no hand in the update.

That being said, please take a look at underway99's post #3 in this thread, where he addresses your questions.

 

[Bob31464]

I like it. It seems faster and more responsive. My battery took a hit but I cleared the system and app cache several times and rebooted a couple of times a day and it's back to where it was. Along with the theme from the Galaxy App store that I put on it, it's like a new phone.

 

[Frieda Shrem]

I absolutely HATE THIS UPDATE!!! HOW DO I REVERSE THE NOUGAT UPDATE ON MY NOTE 5???

 

[underway99]

You created an account to complain. Then you found a thread that deals precisely with your issue and screamed your message. Did you read the 13 messages before yours in the thread you've complained in?

 

[pool_shark]

This is extremely funny.
Every single year without fail it's the same thing. "where is the update, this company is so slow at updates, I'm leaving this network next time".

Then, "hooray the update is here".
Followed by "this update sucks, how to I go back, I hate the update".

I'm not missing a single thing and the ability to have more apps in multi window is a feature I have been wanting since I haven't been able to root.

I have been using widget solid for ages, I can easily see which wifi network I'm using and switch between wifi networks using that. I also have themes from the samsung theme store, so if there is something wrong with the background colors, I don't notice, and none of my notification or ringtones have changed.

I also use nova launcher and the only folders I have are on the dock and I can add any shortcut that I choose.

Some people simple don't like change and don't have the patience to figure out how to get around the "problems" they run into.

 

[jlost]

This is extremely funny.
Every single year without fail it's the same thing. "where is the update, this company is so slow at updates, I'm leaving this network next time".

Then, "hooray the update is here".
Followed by "this update sucks, how to I go back, I hate the update".

I'm not missing a single thing and the ability to have more apps in multi window is a feature I have been wanting since I haven't been able to root.

I have been using widget solid for ages, I can easily see which wifi network I'm using and switch between wifi networks using that. I also have themes from the samsung theme store, so if there is something wrong with the background colors, I don't notice, and none of my notification or ringtones have changed.

I also use nova launcher and the only folders I have are on the dock and I can add any shortcut that I choose.

Some people simple don't like change and don't have the patience to figure out how to get around the "problems" they run into.

Or people who are like me and get random reboots and apps foreclosing on a regular daily basis.

 

[pool_shark]

Or people who are like me and get random reboots and apps foreclosing on a regular daily basis.

The unwritten rule has always been, if you're having issues after a major OS update then do a factory reset.

 

[jlost]

The unwritten rule has always been, if you're having issues after a major OS update then do a factory reset.

If that even fixes it.

 

[Brad Bilger]

This is extremely funny.
Every single year without fail it's the same thing. "where is the update, this company is so slow at updates, I'm leaving this network next time".

Then, "hooray the update is here".
Followed by "this update sucks, how to I go back, I hate the update".

I'm not missing a single thing and the ability to have more apps in multi window is a feature I have been wanting since I haven't been able to root.

I have been using widget solid for ages, I can easily see which wifi network I'm using and switch between wifi networks using that. I also have themes from the samsung theme store, so if there is something wrong with the background colors, I don't notice, and none of my notification or ringtones have changed.

I also use nova launcher and the only folders I have are on the dock and I can add any shortcut that I choose.

Some people simple don't like change and don't have the patience to figure out how to get around the "problems" they run into.

I'm the same way. I use nova. I only have two pages on my phone. Everything that I have on my phone is in folders. Tools, video, manuals, social media stuff, mapping stuff, books, games, weather stuff... I have a custom wallpaper on my phone. No pre built themes. All my folders survived without a single loss.
I downloaded nougat and the ONLY thing I see different is a few icons changed. Email, gallery, and voice recorder. I have to open settings to see anything that's changed or pull down on my notifications bar. I have no white screen, nothing has changed, I lost no icons, lost no functionality. My battery life is FANTASTIC now. This has been the SMOOTHEST update I've ever done. L to M was a bit buggy, fixed by a factory reset. Didn't need that on this one though.