Those users who are not fortunate enough to receive Android updates, whether due to the age of the mobile phone or because the company decides to stop supporting it, have two options, hold on until buying another terminal, or look for ways to have the latest version. recent of Android. This is what we are going to talk about next.
To start, there are two methods by which you can install the new version of Android: through a firmware for your model of a region where it is available, or based on flashing custom ROMs.
Install the official firmware of another region
Normally, if there is an official firmware for your smartphone model, it means that the update will come sooner or later, but the fact that they are staggered can make it too late to reach all the countries where the mobile in question is sold.
It is in these cases, perhaps somewhat punctual, in which a user can choose to install the official firmware of another region. The best thing about this is that you do not need root access to get Oreo on your device. Of course, it is convenient that you know the exact model of your terminal because it might not be compatible with the existing firmware.
If you do not know the model of your terminal and you do not have the original box at hand, you can go to the settings and touch on ‘Phone information’, where it will put your model number. In case it does not appear (for the customization layer), a simple way is to look for an app, such as AIDA64, which will indicate the mobile model you have in hand.
Once all this is done, the next thing is to download the factory firmware or images from the manufacturer’s website or another one that collects them (such as SamMobile, for example) and follow the instructions required by each manufacturer. In many cases, they will ask for prerequisites to be able to carry out this update.
The most common is to ask you to have installed the Android SDK but can ask other requirements such as having the bootloader unlocked, as in the case of Nexus or have an additional program installed, such as Odin in the case of Samsung. Of course, in all cases, they ask you to have USB Debug activated.
USB debugging
To activate the USB debugging you must have access to the Development options, for this you must go to ‘Settings’ and, under ‘phone information’, click several times on ‘compilation version’. Then go back to ‘Settings’, where you will see the Development options, look for USB Debugging and activate it.
Once the requirements have been met and the firmware has been downloaded, you only have to connect the mobile to the computer and follow the instructions given to you. Make sure you have backed up all your data, it is not uncommon for them to get lost during the process. Do not worry if the firmware is from another country, you can usually configure it with your language.
Install custom ROMs
In most cases we find that the manufacturer does not give us software support, and this can happen, among other things, because the processor manufacturer does not release the drivers, it is the operator itself (if our mobile phone is not free) which does not update or because the support time of our terminal has passed. This leaves users with the feeling of having an “obsolete” terminal.
But if your mobile phone has run out of support, we can turn to the gigantic development community that is in place. It will not be very difficult for you to update your terminal to a recent version of Android through a custom ROM, in fact, terminals as old as the Galaxy S2 today can run Android Nougat.
First of all, remember to flash a custom ROM, your phone must be rooted and, in many cases, have the bootloader unlocked. If you are going to perform the root process to install a ROM, we advise you, first of all, to back up your data and, above all, read all the guides with the maximum possible attention so as not to turn your mobile into a paperweight.
Backup copies are normally saved automatically in your Google account. But if you are root, you can use Titanium Backup to make a copy of the data of the applications you want or use Google Drive to save your files in the cloud or AirDroid to save them on your computer.
The most common place to follow a tutorial on how to root your terminal is the XDA-Developers forum, the largest place in the entire Android development community. If you are choking English, you can go to the huge HTCMania forum, where you will find the guides translated into Spanish.
In most cases, you will also have to use a customized recovery ( TWRP or CWM) to flash the ROM from it and, in rare cases, you will need to download the Google Apps (or GApps, as they are commonly known). They include Google applications such as the Play Store, Chrome, Google+, etc.
Once the process has been carried out, in the same forums you will be able to find ROMs for your device, several of them possibly in the most recent version of Android. It will be in XDA where else you will find, but in HTCMania you will see several of the XDA forum perfectly translated into Spanish and, hopefully, some ROM of a Spanish developer.
Make sure you understand the process of rooting your phone and flashing a ROM before starting the process because if you do something wrong, you can get to convert your phone into a rather expensive steal, and maybe even pretty.
The type of ROM to choose depends more on the tastes of each, but the fastest to see with the latest version of Android are those of CyanogenMod or those based on it. Since CM has died, LineageOS is responsible for collecting the witness to be the first to bring us the latest green robot.
But there are more types of ROM, such as those based on Android stock or in the manufacturer’s customization layer, which may be more to your liking and will appear with Android Nougat. Once the ROM is installed, you will only have to make the configuration and start enjoying the new functions it offers you.
As we have seen, we do not have to wait for the manufacturer to provide us with the update, if it does. We ourselves, with a little patience and a lot of reading, we can make our device have the latest Android. Have you seen yourself in the situation of having to use one of these methods to update your phone?
