Newsletter 
The Samsung Galaxy line of devices has seen a lot of popularity since the launch of the Galaxy S III in summer and fall of 2012. The Lollipop update, however, is what has become this far attraction for many these past few months. Sadly, Samsung has reportedly made the cut-off for the Lollipop update for its Galaxy S and Note families of devices, with the Note II getting to be the oldest device to receive it. The Galaxy S 5 has seen some love with leaked firmware for the international variant. We’ve also seen the Note III get some love in the Lollipop department. And now, we go back to the spring flagship of 2013 with the Galaxy S IV, and its very own Lollipop leaked firmware. And we also have a tutorial on how to get that firmware installed on your S IV as well.
First, this will only be for the international non-LTE variant, the GT-I9500 Galaxy S IV. Second, this will be using Odin and a Windows machine, though you can do it using a Mac as well (we won’t be walking you through that one, sorry). Next, we need to let you know two things. One, we are not liable for the damages that could occur to your device if you choose to proceed with our tutorial. And two, the firmware is from China, meaning there are absolutely no Google services or apps installed (given that the country outright bans access to them), so we’ll also provide an ‘install the Google Apps’ tutorial after we help you update your device to Android 5.0.1 Lollipop. If you’re ready, let’s get going then.
First step is to download all the things. You’ll need Odin (we’ll be using 3.09 for this tutorial), which you can get here, the leaked firmware which you can get courtesy of us right here (download this now, it’s huge at 1.15 gigabytes in size), the Samsung device drivers installed on your computer (which can often be achieved by plugging in and waiting for them to auto-install), as well as some other files for the Google Apps install (namely Team Win’s custom recovery and the Google Apps themselves, courtesy of the development team at Paranoid Android). Once all the downloads are started or finished, continue on to start the process.
You’ll need to make sure some prerequisites are met for you and your device. You’ll need to have more than 50% battery, ideally have the original charging cable to connect the device to the computer, and be ready to get some Touchwiz-ified Lollipop on your phone. Once the Odin download is done, you’ll need to extract the contents of the zip file to a folder, on your desktop for ease of access, and just call it ‘Odin’. If you’ve used Odin before and already have it on your computer, find where it’s at and get into the folder with the program itself inside. Next, you’ll need to run Odin,which will open a window with some boxes and checkboxes. In the window, you’ll need to make sure the boxes are checked correctly. You’ll want to make sure that only the Auto-Reboot and F. Reset Time boxes checked (they come checked, so you shouldn’t need to do anything.
Once you see that that is done, move your attentions to the firmware zip file. Once it’s downloaded, extract its contents into a folder. Then, in Odin, you’ll need to choose which files go where to have the program install them on your phone for you. Now, to set the files up right in Odin, you will click on BL, select the file beginning with BL from the I9500 firmware folder, the AP button and select the AP prefixed file, and so forth. Now, the fifth file, the .PIT file is a file that only some of you will need. PIT files, or Partition Information Table when spelled completely, structure the internal storage and partition system in a specific memory capacity configuration. the size of partitions of a 16 gigabyte model will be different and smaller than a 32 gigabyte model of the same phone, obviously. Since the PIT file included is a 16 gigabyte file, we will assume that the file is meant to be used and placed in the PIT section by users with a 16 gig model of the I9500.
We will assume that if you don’t have a 16 gig model, meaning you have perhaps a 32 gig one instead, you won’t need to select a pit file for this method. To get the device itself ready, make sure to get to download mode then plug it in. Download mode is accessed by turning the device off, and pressing and holding the power, volume-down, and home buttons, then selecting volume-up to continue then plugging it into the computer. Odin should recognize the device and say ‘Added!’ in the box at the bottom-left. To begin, click on Start in Odin, and let it work. the process can take a while, so get a snack just in case while you wait. the device will automatically reboot into the freshly-installed Lollipop OS, but without anything Google installed at all. Once the Lollipop update has installed, it’s time to get a file onto your phone.
You’ll want to move the PA Gapps package you downloaded at the start (and if you didn’t, pick it up here now). The other file you need to have, and this one is on your computer not the phone, is the TWRP 2.8.1.0 img file for the I9500. You’ll close Odin then open it again, to start fresh, and select the AP button, then find the TWRP file and select it. Once Odin is done checking it, let it sit for a bit while you read this part. The Google Apps bundle you’ve got in your phone right now is the ‘Nano Package’, meaning it includes the basic Google functions, like the Play Store, Google Play Services, and the Google Search app. All the other Google apps you want can be downloaded from the Play Store after this installation is finished. Once the file is on your phone’s internal storage, get back into download mode and reconnect to the computer.
Once connected and added by Odin, click start to install the custom recovery by Team Win. Once the process is done, your phone will boot up like before, and we don’t want that right now. Pull out the battery to turn it off then reinsert to be ready for recovery mode. To get into recovery mode, hold power, volume-up, and home until a screen saying Team Win appears, then let go. Once the recovery is loaded, you’ll want to tap on install, from internal storage, and select the Google Apps package from your phone’s internal storage. slide to begin the installation, and once it’s done select reboot, and reboot system. Now, if you like root then you can go ahead and install SuperSu by Chainfire through the recovery itself (which is rather nifty, if you ask me). If you don’t know what root is or want to just enjoy stock Touchwiz and Lollipop, then select not to install. The device will reboot, Google Play and Search installed and ready to go, and you can install all your favorite apps after completing the new Touchwiz-themed device setup process.
Did this work for you? If you’ve used the Lollipop version of Touchwiz, what do you think of it? anything you wish that Samsung had omitted or added into it? What device do you think needs Lollipop next, officially or leaked? Also, be more than welcome to let us know if this didn’t work, and what went wrong. Let us know down below.