If you have been on a sabbatical for the last 36 hours then you may have missed the news about Android 5.0 Lollipop. Chances are you haven’t and so to keep it short, Lollipop has been let loose into the wild. Its unleashing came yesterday morning in what seems to be the last preview image before its official OTA roll-out starting November 3rd. At present the preview is only available for the Nexus 5 and 7 and as such they are the only lucky device holders to test-run what is assumed to be an almost final version. As mentioned the official roll-out will commence on November 3rd although again these will only initially push out to the Nexus 5 and 7. The newly announced Nexus 6 and 9 will both come pre-loaded with Lollipop when the devices are released on their respective shipping dates. As for all other current Nexus devices they are expected to roll out the update over the following few weeks but all within November.
Originally there was some speculation as to whether the Nexus 4 would get the update as they had been left off of the official Google update list. As the device was nearly 18 months old some thought that this simply meant the device would no longer be supported. However since then Google have confirmed that the Nexus 4 is indeed part of the update list and as such will also receive the update sometime in November. That said, the OTA is only for those who can wait that long. Myself being a OPO (OnePlus One) owner, I personally am not planning on waiting the scheduled three months OnePlus suggest the OTA update will take to land. Instead the moment a port is available (stable or not) I will indeed be flashing and soaking up the sweetness that is Lollipop. If you are like me and one of the worried Nexus 4 owners then it already looks like your luck is in. Yep, the clever folks over at XDA seem to have already ported the final preview image over to the veteran Nexus 4.
Now a couple of IMPORTANT things to note. This is really an alpha port. We often say something is early and expect bugs but this is crazy early. The port came out less than 24 hours after the preview was launched and the developer actively expressed that they do not want bugs to be reported which suggests there are a lot. In addition a number of the Nexus 4 owners who have tried the port note mixed results. Some have observed that the port is highly buggy and has major issues at the Google setup stage while others note the port working fine(ish). Either way if you are a Nexus 4 owner, adventurous or simply cannot wait to get Lollipop then I guess this is your best option. As always do make sure you have backed up (seriously this time make sure you have) and let us know your results. Now to business – Click here for the direct download or click here to find out more info and the comments of those who have already tried the port.
