There are many ways Android users can upgrade their smartphone. One of which is the use of SD card or TF card. Users just need to put the firmware image file usually named as update.zip into the SD card or TF card and begin the process of updating from within the system settings while the phone is running. Or the process of updating can be started from the stock recovery.
This way of upgrade is official and the upgradable firmware image file is provided officially from the vendor hence doesn’t require any extensive knowledge of flashing.
All you need is
- A never-rooted Android device that you want to upgrade.
- The upgradable firmware / ROM file (update.zip) downloaded from the official website of the device manufacturer.
- A TF/SD Card, usually a micro SD card to be used with the smartphone.
Let’s do it
- Download the SD card version of firmware upgrade. It could be TCard or TF Card as well depending upon vendor. The firmware image or ROM file might be in any archive format such as .zip but must be checked before proceeding.
Note: The file you download may have custom name such as xyz.zip. You must open the file in an archive reader e.g. WinZip or WinRAR and verify that it does not contain another zip file within. If it does, extract the file and use the residing zip file instead of the one you downloaded. Make sure the file you use must be named as update.zip so rename it accordingly if needed.
- Copy the file to micro SD card in root directory.
- Many vendors provide an option in their Android user interface to use SD card to update software/firmware.
If your Android smartphone has the option, you can go through
> Phone’s settings > System Update > Update via SD Card
Or if your phone doesn’t have that option, you can proceed to next step. - Turn-off your phone and boot into recovery mode following the way below.
- Press and hold Volume Up button
- Without leaving the Volume Up button, press and hold Power button too.
- Keep holding the Volume Up + Power buttons until you see a splash logo or an Android robot.
- When in recovery, Use Volume up/down buttons to select options in the recovery mode
- Select “apply update from sdcard.”
- Press Power button to enter update interface.
- In the update interface, you should see update.zip file (or file name which you placed in second step above.)
- Now select update.zip using Volume button, then press Power button to initiate update process.
- Once the update completes, you will need to select reboot system now by pressing Power button once again.
Your phone should now have been updated to newer version.