It’s been a few weeks since Google released version 5.0 of their Android operating systems, and while Google’s own flagship devices were quick to get the update, other manufacturers who use the operating system haven’t been that fast to adapt. Samsung are notoriously slow when it comes to keeping their devices in line with the current Android release, and Android 5.0 was no exception. Now, however, their users are finally starting to get the update on some devices – and next in line is the Galaxy S4.
According to reports, owners of the Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition should now be getting the Android 5.0 Lollipop update. However, it should be noted that this is actually Android 5.0, the base version, and not 5.0.1 which is being deployed on other Google Play Edition devices right now. It’s not clear if the Galaxy S4 is going to get the 5.0.1 update as well, and while that’s certainly likely, it’s not known when it might happen.
There are still no news on the front about other devices by Samsung, however, including the Note 4. Many users have been questioning whether Samsung plan to be serious about the post-release support of their device, and have been getting anxious about the lack of the latest updates on the Note 4. Still, rumors indicate that Samsung are actually gearing up for this release behind the scenes, but it might take a while.
It’s already been about a month since Android 5.0 came out, and while most Samsung fans likely weren’t surprised by the slow development around the update releases, some were at least expecting that the main devices would receive the update quickly. It remains to be seen whether Samsung are planning to roll out Android 5.0 to other devices under their brand, and when they intend to do that.
Of course, there’s always the possibility of flashing a custom ROM, and some users have already gone down that road, especially owners of older devices like the S2. There are still no popular stable releases of Android 5.0 for those devices, though their users can still enjoy Android 4.4.4 and versions close to that, which is at least better than nothing.
On that note, there is currently a CyanogenMod ROM featuring Android 5.0 going around, which is stated to work on the Samsung S4, although there have been reports of small issues with the functionality of the operating system with this ROM, so users should install it with caution. Reading reports from others on forums and similar places before installing the ROM is a must, especially with devices that aren’t guaranteed to be compatible out of the box.