Hey look, we now have factory images of Android 5.0 Lollipop for the Google Nexus 4. It’s build LRX21T for those wondering. It’s about time too. We’ve been excited about Lollipop for a few months now, ever since Google showed it off at Google I/O as Android L. Then in October when it was finally announced with the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, we were excited to see that the Nexus 4 was going to get the update as well. Especially since the Nexus 4 is now two years old, and typically two year old devices don’t get updates, especially major ones like Android L or Lollipop.
If you don’t want to wait for the OTA to hit your device for Android 5.0 Lollipop, you can also download the factory image and install it. It’s quite easy to do, but we’ll give you instructions on how to do it down below. You’ll need the Android SDK installed on your computer as well.
1. Download the newest factory images to your PC. Download Link
2. Unzip the file and its contents into your SDK/platform-tools folder.
3. From within your platform-tools folder, open a command prompt.
4. Type the following commands, allowing each to finish before moving onto the next:
*If using a Mac, be sure to add ./ in front of all commands (ex: ./fastboot reboot-bootloader)
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-<insert-image-name-here>.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash radio radio-<insert-image-name-here>.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot -w update image-<insert-image-name-here>.zip
fastboot reboot-bootloader
5. If you want to go back to 100% stock with a locked bootloader type:
fastboot oem lock
6. If you want to keep your bootloader unlocked, simply tap the Power button from the START screen.
7. You are now back to 100% stock.
Follow those instructions and you should be all set and getting Lollipop on your Google Nexus 4 in no time. It may take a bit to install the update though as this is a pretty big update to your device, especially coming from KitKat. So be patient.