Android Lollipop is sure one heck of an operating system. It's
pretty, it's immensely functional and it's sweet to the core. Google
seems to have put its heart and soul into it, and the results do seem
noteworthy. The much-talked about material design and all that glitter
is perhaps one of the best that we have seen in recent times, something
that puts even Apple's iOS to shame in many aspects.
All in all,
Lollipop is visually stunning and very functional. But then again,
Lollipop is yet to see its advent on most devices. While Nexus and
Motorola devices, as expected have been the lucky ones with regards to
the same, other OEMs are still burning the midnight oil to bring it to
their respective devices.
But, let's just take a moment to
remember everything that led to Lollipop. Before Lollipop, there was
KitKat, and it was good. There's little surprise that more
smartphones/tablets today ship with Android KitKat out-of-the-box, with
some of them promised an update to Lollipop. No wonder, KitKat is such
an important part of Google's ecosystem, and a significant revenue
generator for the same.
If you're one of the many who have tasted
Lollipop (Nexus, Moto owners), but still want to get back to KitKat for
fun or for whatever reason, we are here with some tech tips to get you
through the whole process in under 5 minutes.
Here's how you can revert back to KitKat from Lollipop:
Take
note though, before you begin make sure you have a backup of all your
data on your computer, drive (not the phone) because what you're going
to do next will delete all the data on your Lollipop-based phone.
Also, we are using a Nexus device here for reference.
---Before you begin, you'll need the factory image of Android 4.4.4 for your respective device. You can download these from
here.
Note that, factory images for your respective Lollipop-based phone
shall vary depending on model, so make sure you have the right one for
you respective device.
---Once you have the required factory
image, you're good to go. But wait, you need one more thing: ADB Tools
for your computer. ADB Tools can be downloaded from
XDA Developers Forum.
---Once
you have the factory image and the ADB Tools (on your computer), the
real stuff begins. Move and unzip the factory image to the ADB Tools
folder on your computer.
---Make sure you have USB debugging
enabled on your phone. Also, make sure you have the bootloader unlocked
on your phone. This is one area where we would like to inform the
obvious: TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK. Unlocking the bootloader may void your
device's warranty.
---Once you're through these steps, turn off your Lollipop-based smartphone.
---Next
you need to open your device to its Fastboot mode. Normally this is
done by pressing the power button and volume down buttons together, when
the device is switched off. Once you're in the Fastboot mode, navigate
to the device's Recovery mode using the volume keys.
---Next select wipe cache partition. Factory reset your device.
---Connect your device to your computer via USB cable.
---Navigate
to the ADB Tools folder on your computer, till you find the file
'all.bat'. Double click it and KitKat will start installing on your
factory reset smartphone. Once it's installed, your device will
automatically restart.
---There you have it; you have KitKat running on your smartphone.
Of
course, try this at your own risk though. Rooting your device is not
always recommended, but hey, those you like to play around with gadgets
don't mind their hands getting messy, do they?