Those who want to go back to KitKat on Samsung Galaxy Note 4, S5, HTC One M8, LG G3, Nexus 4,5,6,7 and 9 devices and others may be in luck. Various Internet sources have published instructions for users to downgrade their smartphone's OS from Android 5.0 Lollipop to 4.4 KitKat.
Google released its latest Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system to much fanfare, and it brings many changes and potential improvements. But for one reason or another, many users don't like the new OS and want to downgrade back to 4.4 KitKat.
Although many users who have received the rollout of Google's new Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system update are happy with the results, many are not. A significant number of recipients of the new OS have been experiencing major issues with their smartphone's performance running Android Lollipop 5.0.
Numerous users have complained of reduced battery life, even though Android 5.0 Lollipop is supposed to actually improve battery life. Many claim that the battery drain is severe, even when their phone is not in use and no apps are running. Battery drain issues seem to be the most prevalent complaint with the Android 5.0 Lollipop update. Other problems experienced by many users include forced rebooting and closing of apps, lags in opening apps and other areas of use, overheating of the device, and even, in some cases, bricking.
Why some users are having these problems while others aren't remains a mystery. Many users have performed factory resets on their devices to address the problems, and in some cases this proved to be a fix. The issues remain for others however, and this has left thousands of updated smartphone owners asking how they can go from Android 5.0 Lollipop back to 4.4 KitKat. The official answer is, you can't. Once users have upgraded to a new Android OS, there is no official way to downgrade or go back to the old one.
The key word there is official, because some very enterprising and motivated smartphone owners out there have figured out a way to do it, anyway. It's not a process for the fainthearted, and there is some risk involved. But we've linked to some pretty impressive tutorials and suggestions on downgrading successfully for some of the most popular smartphones out there.
If you've managed to downgrade your smartphone to go back to KitKat from Android 5.0 Lollipop, please let us know in the comments below.
