How to Skip the Line and Manually Update Your Nexus Device
Android updates take forever. While this is fine in most cases, it can be a problem when a terrible new security vulnerability is discovered . Whether you want to keep your phone secure or just can’t wait for new updates, here’s how to skip the queue and update your Nexus phone (and sometimes other devices) manually.
Most Android phones require you to wait for the carrier to release an over the air (or OTA) update for your phone. Even if you know that an update is out, you still have to wait for it to hit your device or resort to tricky workarounds to speed up the process. For most phones, there is nothing you can do but wait. If you have a Nexus phone or tablet, chances are good that you can skip the queue and manually update.
Of course, this method is not limited to Nexus devices. Strictly speaking, there is no reason why the same process cannot be applied to any phone that receives an OTA update. It all depends on whether someone finds and shares a link to the update package. So you might not be out of luck if you don’t have a Nexus. You just might need a little extra hunt to find your update.
What do you need
To force an update, you need a few dedicated tools. Most of them are straightforward, but if you don’t like the command line, it’s best to wait. Here’s what you need:
- You have ADB and fastboot installed on your computer : If your computer does not already have ADB and fastboot (or you don’t know what they are), you can check out our guide here .
- OTA update file: Each update requires an update package, usually in the form of a .zip file. We’ll talk more about how to get it for your specific device later.
- USB cable: You will need to connect your device to your computer to send ADB commands, so make sure you have it close at hand.
- Know how to reboot your device in recovery mode: In most cases, holding the hardware volume down button while turning on the device will boot into recovery mode, but sometimes a particular device will use a different combination. We’ll use mostly the standard method for this guide, but be sure to check your specific combination online and adjust if necessary.
While you will need all of these, you don’t need root or an unlocked bootloader . While some methods of updating or flashing the ROM may require you to take full control of your device, the OTA update firmware should work fine even on non-rooted devices with locked bootloaders. However, the firmware of other things, such as custom ROMs or factory images, will be different.
Unfortunately, not everyone can manually update their devices. We’re targeting Nexus users because finding the download link for the OTA package for Nexus phones and tablets is usually pretty straightforward. However, this process is not limited to Nexus phones only. If you can find an OTA update from a trusted source, and your phone manufacturer hasn’t changed the recovery method to prevent updates, you should be able to do the same.
How to find OTA updates
OTA updates come from carriers or manufacturers and are distributed to your devices wirelessly. However, to do this, your phone needs to know where to get the package. This package, like everything else on the Internet, has an address. Sometimes users can find a link to this OTA package and either point it to other users directly or repost it elsewhere.
Note. If you’re here to update your Nexus to Android Marshmallow, you can find several OTA packages here.
Finding these packages can be tricky (and you shouldn’t download updates from untrusted sources). However, here are a few places where you can find updates:
- Reputable Android News Sites: Every time a new update comes out, sites like Android Police collect links to OTA update packages for different devices. For example, here you can find all the latest Stagefright fixes for multiple Nexus models .
- Android Forums: There is always a ton of useful information on the XDA. You can find OTA downloads for your device by searching here .
- Community Posts: Android communities are popping up everywhere from Google+ to Kinja . If you can’t find an OTA link in one of the above sources, try asking the community about your device.
Once you find the OTA (and make sure it comes from a trusted source), download it to your computer. You are now ready to manually update.
How to manually install an OTA update
For these instructions, we’ll assume you have a Nexus device and are using standard recovery . The general process should work for almost any device as long as you can find an OTA package. However, if you are not using Nexus or have installed a custom recovery, then you need to double check the steps yourself and make the necessary changes. First you need to enter the recovery menu:
- Turn off the device.
- Restart your device by holding the volume down button while pressing the power button.
- Press the volume up button a few times until you see “Recovery”. Press Power to enter recovery.
- You should now see Android with a red exclamation mark. Press the volume up and power buttons at the same time to enter the recovery menu.
The above process may differ depending on the device – for example, most Nexus devices should work this way, but my old Nexus 10 required holding the volume up and down in step 2. For convenience, we will separate the steps. Once you have entered the recovery menu, continue with the following steps:
- In the recovery menu, select “apply update from adb”.
- Connect your device to your computer via USB.
- Open adb window in the same folder where you saved your OTA package. (Again, you can check our guide here if you need more information on how to do this.)
- Enter the following command, replacing [packagename] with the full and exact name of the .zip file you downloaded earlier: adb sideload [packagename] .zip
- Wait until the progress bar reaches 100% and restart your device.
Boom! Ready. You have successfully updated your device manually. It should apply just like any other OTA update that rolls out naturally to your device, so all your apps and settings should be where you left them.