How to restore old firmware on Android. How to return to the old version of Android after updating? Automatic Android update

Not all updates are equally useful, so some users prefer to return to an old, proven version of the system. However, returning the old firmware version is not easy, so first we will tell you what to do to prevent unwanted updates from appearing on your device.

Disable auto-update

Smartphones have automatic system updates by default, i.e. When the opportunity arises, the smartphone itself will download the new version of the software. It’s easy to stop such independence: go to settings - “About device” / “Software update” - uncheck the box next to “Auto-update”.

If you have already received a new version of the software and just want to roll back your device to the old one, you can do it in two ways, with or without the help of third-party utilities. But please note that a rollback always completely destroys the data on the smartphone, so you MUST first backup the data or save the necessary photos, audio and video files, contacts and messages on another medium or in the cloud.

So, one of the options for returning the old version of the software is to reset it to factory settings. Please note that after this the phone's hardware will be the same as it was when the device was first taken out of the box.

How to reset to factory settings?

General scheme of actions:

  1. Settings.
  2. Archive and reset / Backup and reset / Restore and reset (different names).
  3. Reset data/Reset settings.
  4. Erase everything.

In different smartphone models, the data reset option is located in different settings sections, so first you need to find out the exact sequence of actions for a specific phone model. This can be done on the manufacturer's website.

System recovery using third-party applications

If a typical smartphone does not have a separate button for rolling back the OS, special programs for backups will help. Provided that you make a backup copy in advance.

For example, Titanium Backup is one of the most popular and effective applications in this field. But to use such programs you need to get root rights. Getting root rights voids your smartphone's warranty, but if you're willing to take the risk...

  • Download Titanium Backup.
  • Give the program superuser rights.
  • Insert a memory card of sufficient capacity into the slot.
  • Select the “Backups” tab - “Menu” - “Processing”.
  • Select “Back up all user software and system data” - “Start”.
  • To create a complete copy of the system, do not change anything in the proposed menu or check the boxes.

When a system backup has been created and you need it: “Processing” - “Restore” - “Restore all software with data”.

But please note that a rollback always completely destroys the data on the smartphone, so you MUST first backup the data or save the necessary photos, audio and video files, contacts and messages on another medium, a flash drive or in the cloud.

Thanks to the Google Play service, developers of applications for Android phones and tablets have the opportunity to efficiently distribute updates for their products. As soon as they update the application in the Google Play service, it is automatically updated on all Android devices where it is installed. In most cases, this is very convenient. For both developers and users.

But updates are not always successful. Sometimes after updating the application is not stable or contains errors. In such situations, the problem arises of how to remove an application update on Android and return its old version.

Uninstalling updates for Android applications

Fortunately, the Android operating system provides a mechanism using which you can remove an update that was installed on your phone using the Google Play service. To do this, you need to open the Android settings and go to the “ Application Manager" or simply " Applications"if you have a standard shell.

After this, you will see a list of all installed applications on your Android smartphone. Here you need to find the application whose update you want to remove.

Once you open the desired application, you will see a screen with information. Here you need to click on the “Uninstall updates” button, which will be located immediately below the name of your application.

After this, a warning will appear indicating that the system is about to remove updates and restore the original application. Click on the “Yes” button to continue.

After this update, the applications will be removed and the application information screen will appear in front of you again. Here you can see which version you have rolled back to.

How to disable app updates in the future

To prevent this application from being updated again, it needs to be in the Google Play service. To do this, go to the Google Play application on your Android phone and use the search to find the page for the application you need. After opening the application page, click on the button with three dots. It should be at the very top of the screen.

After clicking on this button, a small pop-up menu will appear in which you can disable the update for this application.

Once app updates are disabled, only your grandchild can update the app.

Many users are eagerly waiting for manufacturers to release a new firmware update for their Android smartphone. As a rule, they fix bugs of previous versions of the OS, add new features and optimize the work in general. But what should you do if, after the update, your phone starts working worse than it did initially? Let's take a closer look at why and how to restore your phone after unsuccessful Android firmware.

Self-firmware of an Android device is always a risky undertaking, the consequences of which are borne by the user himself. Unless, of course, we are talking about installing a standard official update over the air or using a proprietary program on your computer. In this case, responsibility for the consequences of the update lies with the developer, so you can safely contact the service center under warranty. But before you panic and try in every possible way to restore the original firmware, you need to understand whether a failure really occurred. There are several main reasons that can lead to failure when flashing:

  • Emergency interruption (the phone was disconnected from the computer, the smartphone battery was low, etc.)
  • Inappropriate OS version.
  • Incorrect settings, user errors.

Any of the above problems can cause incorrect operation of the mobile device, constant system crashes, etc. In the event that the phone does not turn on or begins to work worse than before installing the update, you need to begin active recovery efforts.

How to roll back firmware

If the update is unsuccessful, the question arises, how to return to the old OS? Depending on whether you used the official or custom version of the firmware, the recovery options will be different. Let's consider both cases in more detail.

Crash caused by installing official firmware from the developer

This does not happen often, but in some situations the phone may not work correctly even when an official update is installed. In this case, it is quite simple to roll back and restore the factory version of the mobile phone operating system. To do this, the user will need a computer with installed drivers for the mobile device and a special program. Depending on the manufacturer of your smartphone or tablet, the required utility must be downloaded from the developer’s official website. Further steps for installing native firmware can be written down in two points:

  • Connect your mobile device to your desktop computer or laptop via a USB cable.
  • Run the program, find the recovery partition in it and start rolling back the changes made.

Website with Samsung Kies program

After this, the program will automatically search for and install the required OS version and return the mobile phone to its original state.

Program interface on a computer

Crash caused by installing custom (custom) firmware

In this case, updating again from Recovery mode will help. In order to enter recovery mode, you need to turn off your mobile device and simultaneously hold down the key combination. In most cases, these are the buttons: power + volume down.
The Recovery menu is controlled by the same keys: volume and power. In the case when you made a backup of the system before flashing, then just select the “Backup and restore” item. If no backup was made, the recovery procedure will take a little longer. You need to do the following:

  • Reset all settings by selecting “wipe data/factory reset”.
  • Format the cache partition by clicking on “wipe cache partition”.
  • Try to reinstall the firmware by selecting “install zip from sdcard” and clicking on the file with a pre-created archive on the memory card.

After this, the phone should work normally. You can also try downloading and installing another version of the OS in a similar way. For more information on how to roll back newly installed firmware, see the training video below.

How to return factory firmware?

If you want to return the factory version of the OS by correcting accumulated system errors, you can do this directly from the main settings menu of your smartphone. To do this you will need:

  • Turn on your mobile device, go to the main settings (via the application menu or by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right corner when lowering the curtain).
  • Find the “restore and reset” tab, then click “Hard reset” and agree to the necessary conditions.

After successfully completing this operation, your phone or tablet will return to its factory OS settings. We recommend that before resetting the settings, you back up important data or save it to a separate media, as it will be deleted from memory.
The training video presented below describes the procedure for resetting the settings of a mobile gadget running on Android OS to factory settings.

Who would have thought that the widely publicized update of the official client of the social network VKontakte would cause such a reaction from users? They are not just unhappy - they are outraged. Literally all the changes were criticized: the left panel, which was transformed into a tabbar, and the camera for stories, and even the likes, which from the usual blue suddenly became red. Even the most reserved ones note a number of shortcomings that would be nice to correct in order to return the interface to its former convenience.

  1. Disable auto-update of the VKontakte application on Google Play;
  2. Delete new version of VK;
  3. Restore the old VKontakte client.

Disabling VK auto-update on Google Play:

OptionsGoogle Play");

  1. Launch Play Store, go to " Options" by clicking on the corresponding icon (Alternatively, the icon with three horizontal stripes next to the inscription " Google Play");
  2. Select " Settings" and uncheck the box " Automatic application updates" (in some versions of the application you need to check the box " Never").

After these steps, the VKontakte application installed from Google Play will no longer be able to update automatically, and you will be able to use the familiar old version of VKontakte for Android without worrying that the client interface may change at any time due to the next program update.

Removing a new version of VKontakte:

  • Go to " Settings", further in " Applications", then select the new application that disappointed you " In contact with” and remove it from your Android device.

Restoring the old VK client for Android:

Download and install the previous version of the official client of the VK social network for Android (you can find it by following the link).

All. You have returned to your smartphone or tablet the familiar version of the VK application with an interface convenient for you, and it will not go anywhere again without your consent. There is no need to be afraid of automatic updates of the VKontakte social network client - you have blocked this opportunity.

The new version of the VKontakte application allowed us to once again verify that not all changes intended to improve and increase the usability of the application lead to these improvements. The tastes, habits and needs of users are purely individual. Fortunately, you can almost always find a way to return to the old, proven version of the program and continue communicating on a social network (in this case) under familiar conditions.

Information from 10/04/2017: As a result of changes in the VKontakte policy, audio recordings are no longer available in older versions of the client. The official response from VKontakte technical support on this matter: Hello! Music in older versions of the application is disabled at the request of copyright holders. Update to the latest version, please: vk.cc/android. VKontakte support team

When you turn on Wi-Fi, most Android devices start downloading software and game updates. The process is useful, but sometimes updating on Android causes the application to start working incorrectly. In this case, Android device users begin to wonder how to remove updates and return programs to a working state.

Uninstalling updates

You can only remove updates from built-in Android applications - Google Chrome, Play Market. If you are looking for how to uninstall a third-party program update on Android, then you will be disappointed. The only working way is to uninstall the application itself, and then find and install its old version.

You can search for old versions on sites like 4pda - there you can find any popular program for Android. Downloading installation files from other portals is more dangerous, but it is also possible, especially if the site has been verified by other users. To prevent a remote application from being updated immediately after installation, you need to configure the order in which updates are downloaded on Android.

If you don’t like how one of the standard Android applications (for example, Play Market) works after an upgrade, you can quickly roll it back to its original state:

  1. Open settings, go to "Applications".
  2. Find in the list the program whose updates you want to remove. Click on it to open a page with additional settings.
  3. Tap on the “Uninstall updates” button.

Deleted updates may be downloaded back when connected to Wi-Fi. To prevent this from happening, follow the recommendations for setting up app updates on Android.

Setting up an Android update

By default, programs start updating when Wi-Fi is turned on. On mobile traffic, updates are not downloaded, because it has a limit - a specific number of gigabytes per month. Most Android users are happy with this approach: they turn on Wi-Fi, the application is updated, and you don’t have to worry about the relevance of the programs. But if you want to completely control how the latest update will be loaded, you need to make additional system settings.

The first thing you can do is set a limit for background processes. It will help fix the situation when the system freezes due to the simultaneous updating of several applications.

  1. Open settings, section "For developers".
  2. Scroll down to the Background Process Limit option. Click on it to change.
  3. Set the value that suits you - for example, no more than 2 processes at a time.

If you want to disable auto-updates altogether, the easiest way to do this is to use the Play Market settings:

  1. Launch Play Market. Call up the control menu and go to settings.
  2. Click on "Auto update" and select "Never".

Some applications are updated without the help of the Play Market, so following the above steps will not be enough to completely disable auto-update. To fix this flaw:

  1. Open your phone settings, go to the “About device” section.
  2. Select "Software Update".
  3. Uncheck the "Auto-update" option.