Kit Kat gave life back to my Note 4. I didn't like Lollipop

[Mahmoud52]

All the things you explained here are happening to my note 4 I hate this before everything was smooth the best os for android ph then they kill it with the new candy os I can't stand I'm not liking my T-Mobile note 4 as much lags slow battery is drained every app is freezing just makes you want the next newest bug bug thing from samsung.

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[Kelly Kearns]

All the things you explained here are happening to my note 4 I hate this before everything was smooth the best os for android ph then they kill it with the new candy os I can't stand ?????? I'm not liking my T-Mobile note 4 as much lags slow battery is drained every app is freezing just makes you want the next newest bug bug thing from samsung.

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Have you wiped the cache after doing the update?

 

[nugj]

My carrier is VZW and I have to admit that what I really do not appreciate is having something rammed down my throat. My preference on updates is to allow the bugs to get worked out before I make a switch. The % of new firmware or software packages I have seen released without bugs.......0%. Sorry, that is a pretty lousy record for the industry in general. Don't want to hear how hard it is....

So does anybody know if disabling OTA on a VZW Note 4 is doable and OK. Anybody know where I can find instructions? Goggling for it has not worked so far. I would like to disable it for now and then bring it back up when I want to do the update to Lollipop. I am sure I will do it at some point just to be current....but not now. If I have to keep dealing with the update notification I will. But would prefer not if possible.

Any assistance much appreciated. Actually don't know what this industry would do without users on sites like this helping each other.

 

[BullGuard8]

Have you wiped the cache after doing the update?

I have, while it makes things a little bit better, it is no where near the smoothness and battery life of Kit Kat

 

[BullGuard8]

My carrier is VZW and I have to admit that what I really do not appreciate is having something rammed down my throat. My preference on updates is to allow the bugs to get worked out before I make a switch. The % of new firmware or software packages I have seen released without bugs.......0%. Sorry, that is a pretty lousy record for the industry in general. Don't want to hear how hard it is....

So does anybody know if disabling OTA on a VZW Note 4 is doable and OK. Anybody know where I can find instructions? Goggling for it has not worked so far. I would like to disable it for now and then bring it back up when I want to do the update to Lollipop. I am sure I will do it at some point just to be current....but not now. If I have to keep dealing with the update notification I will. But would prefer not if possible.

Any assistance much appreciated. Actually don't know what this industry would do without users on sites like this helping each other.

Root your phone, that's the only way to avoid it because when it comes, it will keep nagging on you to install it all the time and constantly have a notification icon on the top telling you there is an update! very annoying! That's why I rooted and don't know anything about lollipop anymore I'll keep it this way until I wanna sell the phone! This phone was NOT made for lollipop. Period

 

[Kelly Kearns]

I have, while it makes things a little bit better, it is no where near the smoothness and battery life of Kit Kat

That question was to the person I quoted..

 

[Kelly Kearns]

I completely agree! This is one area Android really needs to mature in and provide a native way to control OS updates (ex. like Microsoft does with Windows where you have the option to set OS software updates to: Automatic, Notify only, or Disable). This is especially aggravating when you've bought your phone outright and own it straight up (only pay the carrier for service). In that case I feel the carrier (looking at you Verizon!!!! ) has absolutely no business dictating an update to me. It's MY device and I should have sole discretion whether it gets an update or not. But I digress...

One of the things about Android though, it is open source, so there is less control like Apple has.

 

[philip42]

My carrier is VZW and I have to admit that what I really do not appreciate is having something rammed down my throat. My preference on updates is to allow the bugs to get worked out before I make a switch. The % of new firmware or software packages I have seen released without bugs.......0%. Sorry, that is a pretty lousy record for the industry in general. Don't want to hear how hard it is....

So does anybody know if disabling OTA on a VZW Note 4 is doable and OK. Anybody know where I can find instructions? Goggling for it has not worked so far. I would like to disable it for now and then bring it back up when I want to do the update to Lollipop. I am sure I will do it at some point just to be current....but not now. If I have to keep dealing with the update notification I will. But would prefer not if possible.

Any assistance much appreciated. Actually don't know what this industry would do without users on sites like this helping each other.

Hi mate,

I'm in Ireland and had the very annoying notification to update. There was no legitimate way to stop it. If your phone works the same as mine you won't need to root your phone.

If you downgrade your phone back to Kitkat using the Odin method, which is simple. When you turn your phone on for the first time, log on as normal entering your details. Then go into About Device in settings and turn off automatic updates. This isn't enough to stop the reminder. Go into Application Manager in settings. Go to the All tab and scroll down. There are two software update applications, but it's only possible to go into one and disable it. Disable that and you won't get reminded again until you want it, even after a reboot. It stays disabled.

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[philip42]

Verizon Note 4's don't have that option. Thus the only way to really stop OTA updates for us is to disabled the OTA updater.

And can you disable it via the application manager or do you have to root?

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[philip42]

Currently there isn't a viable root method for the Verizon retail model, so that's not an option. Either way disabling it via Application manager isn't an option for us. We either have to use the aforementioned non-root method to kill the updater or if we had root would need to disable a couple files (ex. SDM.apk and fwupgrade.apk) to do the same.

So Verizon really hamstrung their customers by the sounds of things. Sorry to hear that.

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[nugj]

Thanks very much. Sorry I did not get back to say thanks before this but I just could not get back to the forum until now.

Regards

 

[BullGuard8]

I completely agree! This is one area Android really needs to mature in and provide a native way to control OS updates (ex. like Microsoft does with Windows where you have the option to set OS software updates to: Automatic, Notify only, or Disable). This is especially aggravating when you've bought your phone outright and own it straight up (only pay the carrier for service). In that case I feel the carrier (looking at you Verizon!!!! ) has absolutely no business dictating an update to me. It's MY device and I should have sole discretion whether it gets an update or not. But I digress...

You can disable the OTA updater without root as referenced in this XDA thread. I did this a while back (Dec.) to stay on KitKat and haven't seen an update notice since. The updater can be re-enabled again if you wish to take OTA updates down the road.

Since that XDA thread has been closed (apparently the dev is no longer providing support) and no longer lists the file for download I've attached the original zip file that I used here. At the time I used an old Windows XP computer and didn't need to download/install any Samsung drivers, just plugged the phone into the PC (using the data/charging cable that came with the phone), enabled Developer options (by tapping it three times under settings), enabled USB debugging, extracted the zip file, then ran the "Block Knox and OTA" bat file. Done.

Edit: looks like this Debloater tool replaced the previous bat file stuff and why that original dev stopped supporting it and the thread was closed. Either process can be used though to disable the OTA updater.

I tried that a while back before r00t!ng but it kept saying some files were not found when I ran the command prompt thingie, not so reliable in my experience

 

[BullGuard8]

That's because the batch file method was configured to work for only the Verizon and AT&T variants since they don't have root access. Their respective batch files are configured to disable files unique to their respective OTA updaters. For that method to work on other Note 4 variants you would have to modify the batch file to disable those files specific to their OTA updater. But that can be done with root access on those variants, so no need to mess with the batch file method.

Ahhhh no wonder it never worked since I have the international version not any carrier specific one. Thanks bro

PS: Even though I don't have a carrier branded Note 4, Lollipop was still being forced down my throat with constant notifications that there is a system update despite me going to settings and turning off the auto update. Thank God I'm rooted now so all good Kit Kat FTW

 

[samwifi]

I went back to KK as well and am much happier. Heck, I might not have to switch to an idumb... lol-**** was just a disaster for me. one really annoying thing about lol-**** was that I had way more bluetooth audio skips then before making listening to even local music a trying experience. I need to test, but I'm hoping I go back to the error free music listening experience I had before lol-****.

 

[BullGuard8]

I went back to KK as well and am much happier. Heck, I might not have to switch to an idumb... lol-**** was just a disaster for me. one really annoying thing about lol-**** was that I had way more bluetooth audio skips then before making listening to even local music a trying experience. I need to test, but I'm hoping I go back to the error free music listening experience I had before lol-****.

did you root or how are you disabling the update notifications and nags?

One nice thing about rooting is I uninstalled all the Samsung bloatware! no more dropbox, evernote, hangouts, pages manager, etc!

 

[Amanda Haueter]

Lollipop has caused massive issues with my Note 4...

 

[Peter2015]

Lollipop has caused massive issues with my Note 4...

may I ask what carrier your Note is on? thanks.

 

[samwifi]

did you root or how are you disabling the update notifications and nags?

One nice thing about rooting is I uninstalled all the Samsung bloatware! no more dropbox, evernote, hangouts, pages manager, etc!

No I didn't root because there's no root method for note 4 on verizon. That would be my first choice though if possible. I used the bat file method attached to this thread. I guess it worked because I have a Verizon note 4. Going back to kk not only improved battery life and performance but also ended virtually all Bluetooth skipping issues while listening to audio on headsets. Now I can at least use this thing for a bit.

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[Peter2015]

Hi All,
I am trying to understand, are these lollipop issues with Galaxy Note 4 on all carriers or they are only carrier specific? Any one on AT&T has these issues? Thanks.

 

[Kelly Kearns]

Hi All,
I am trying to understand, are these lollipop issues with Galaxy Note 4 on all carriers or they are only carrier specific? Any one on AT&T has these issues? Thanks.

I'm on AT&T and I've had zero issues with Lollipop.