Google published the Android 4.4 factory images for all Nexus 7 and Nexus 4 devices. Although an OTA update is currently being pushed out to Nexus 7 WiFi models.
Don’t wait for OTA update dudes here comes with factory images you can go ahead and flash them onto your device to get Android 4.4 . While some android-savvy people already know by heart how to flash a factory image, others might struggle with the procedure and be scared of messing up their device, although it’s very difficult to completely brick a Nexus device. Here i tell a guide to flash android 4.4 on nexus 4.
Note : You May also like Unlock Bootloader, Rooting & Install Recovery mode in Nexus 4
Step to Step Guide for Flashing :
Step 1 :
Make backups of all important data. It’s necessary for the backup using Titanium Backup. A Titanium backup makes an entire backup of your device. For that your device needs to be rooted.
Step 2 :
Download Android SDK. The official developer tools contain adb and fastboot, which you’ll need later. Also, make sure to install the Google USB driver on your computer.
Step 3 :
Enable USB Debugging on your device. For those who don’t know [ Settings –> Developer options . IF you don’t find go to Settings – About phone/tablet and keep tapping Built number to unlock developer option.
Step 4 :
Connect your device to your computer with a USB cable.
For to flash a factory image the bootloader of your device has to be unlocked. You can check if it is locked or unlocked. For that, reboot your phone into fastboot [press volume+press down+power button] and check the last line “Lock state”.
To unlock the bootloader, follow these steps :
Step 1 :
Reboot your phone into bootloader. To do that, turn off your device first, then press the power button and the volume-down button simultaneously until it boots into bootloader.
Step 2 :
Copy the folder “platform-tools” in the “sdk” folder and paste in easily accessible directory, such as C:\Users\YourUserName on Windows. You can also rename the folder to “nexus” .
Step 3 :
Start the windows command (cmd) or mac terminal and change the directory to the one of your renamed folder. The command to change directories is cd location/of/folder. In my case below, I renamed it to “nexus”.
Once you’re in the correct location in the command line type ” fastboot oem unlock “ execute it and agree to the unlock on your device. That’s it, reboot again into the bootloader and check if your lock state is “unlocked”.
Flash guide :
- Download the Android 4.4 factory image. Make sure to download the correct image for your device.
- Unzip the downloaded tgz file and place the unzipped files in the renamed folder.
- Skip this step if you already wiped your device by unlocking the bootloader or don’t care to lose the data. If you’re bootloader was already unlocked and you don’t want to wipe your device, then you need to edit the flash-all.bat (win) or flash-all.sh (mac) file with a text editor before executing it. Remove the “-w” part where it says “fastboot -w update image-….zip”. It should then look like that: “fastboot update image-….zip”. Remember, if you want to go from a custom rom to stock 4.4, it’s highly recommended to wipe your device. If you’re already on stock, then wiping is not necessary.
- Let the flash-all.bat/sh file run
- You’re done!
Installing Google Experience Launcher :
As already known, only the Nexus 5 comes naturally with the new Google Experience Launcher. If you want you can simply download and install the GEL apk. Here is the link to download . Enjoy !!!! Download Google Experience Launcher apk .
