Side loading updates...

[rrballer11]

Is side loading safe? Do you keep all your data and info?? Does it mess up future updates OTA? What are the con's?!..

Just wondering because I was thinking of possibly trying it out. Or should I just wait for OTA.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Rukbat]

Is side loading safe?

As safe as what you're side loading. Side load a virus and it's not safe. Sideloading an update is actually safer than OTA - you can't lose the connection because someone ran the microwave.

Do you keep all your data and info??

If it's an update, yes. That's the difference between flashing a ROM and running (by sideloading or any other means) an update.

Does it mess up future updates OTA?

Not if it's the official update and you don't root the phone.

What are the con's?!..

If you don't know what you're doing you could mess up the phone, so always back up all your data first (in case you have to flash a stock ROM - which will delete all your data - and start again). But if it's a captured update (the update deletes itself after it runs - someone has to stop it from running and copy the downloaded file to someplace safe, like a PC), there are no cons other than the ones in that update - like the bugs in 5.0. Sideloaded or OTA, you're going to get the same bugs.

Just wondering because I was thinking of possibly trying it out. Or should I just wait for OTA.

If the OTA for your phone hasn't been released by your carrier yet, no one's captured it, so there's no way for you to side load it. Don't load files that people claim are the update, wait for the real one. (Look in the XDA Forums subforum for your phone - that's where you'll find captured official update files.)

(The fact that Google released 5.0 for the Nexus doesn't mean that 5.0 for your phone for your carrier has even been written yet. If you side load a ROM for a different phone, the best you'll do is brick the phone. You could also damage hardware.)

A side note: 5.0 is a bug. 5.0.1 is a bug fix. 5.0.2 is a further bug fix, but it's still pretty buggy on some phones. I'd wait until 5.1 has been out for at least a month to see if there are still enough bugs to not want it. My Note 3 on 4.4.2 still works just fine, and it has no LolliFlop bugs. (And I don't need white screens - they just eat more battery.)

 

[rrballer11]

As safe as what you're side loading. Side load a virus and it's not safe. Sideloading an update is actually safer than OTA - you can't lose the connection because someone ran the microwave.

If it's an update, yes. That's the difference between flashing a ROM and running (by sideloading or any other means) an update.

Not if it's the official update and you don't root the phone.

If you don't know what you're doing you could mess up the phone, so always back up all your data first (in case you have to flash a stock ROM - which will delete all your data - and start again). But if it's a captured update (the update deletes itself after it runs - someone has to stop it from running and copy the downloaded file to someplace safe, like a PC), there are no cons other than the ones in that update - like the bugs in 5.0. Sideloaded or OTA, you're going to get the same bugs.

If the OTA for your phone hasn't been released by your carrier yet, no one's captured it, so there's no way for you to side load it. Don't load files that people claim are the update, wait for the real one. (Look in the XDA Forums subforum for your phone - that's where you'll find captured official update files.)

(The fact that Google released 5.0 for the Nexus doesn't mean that 5.0 for your phone for your carrier has even been written yet. If you side load a ROM for a different phone, the best you'll do is brick the phone. You could also damage hardware.)

A side note: 5.0 is a bug. 5.0.1 is a bug fix. 5.0.2 is a further bug fix, but it's still pretty buggy on some phones. I'd wait until 5.1 has been out for at least a month to see if there are still enough bugs to not want it. My Note 3 on 4.4.2 still works just fine, and it has no LolliFlop bugs. (And I don't need white screens - they just eat more battery.)

I forgot to mention I have a nexus 5.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[jmacdo]

The side-loading process itself is very easy and safe. But.. you might need to install quite a bit of software to get your computer ready to do the sideloading. I haven't seen anything that will guide you through the necessary steps completely. There are many guides on the internet that will step you through the sideloading process, but all of them seem to assume the reader has experience with android software dev.

You need to install the right usb/adb drivers (it took a long time to find the right usb drivers to get my phone to show up in windows device manager, and I can't find the link to the site I got it from, sorry..), java runtime, Android Studio, a bunch of packages.

Once that's all done, it's a piece of cake, any of the ota sideloading guides will tell you what to do, and it's a ten minute process. But none of this is dangerous, if you haven't done something correctly, then the 'adb devices' command won't list any devices. Or, the 'adb sideload' command won't do anything, the process will timeout and you'll be prompted to reboot your phone.

Give it a shot, maybe it'll work for you without having to install a bunch of software like I had to. But you might have to spend a few hours playing around to get it to work.