The Nexus 4 Finally Gets 4.4 - Here's How You Can Flash The KitKat KRT16S OTA Manually

Good news, everyone! The coveted Nexus 4 OTA to Android 4.4 is finally here after a brief delay caused by several serious bugs. It started rolling out very slowly a few days ago, but it wasn't until just now that we were able to finally identify the OTA zip urls for those of you who want to flash KitKat manually without having to wait any longer. No need to mash the Check for updates button over and over - let alone it doesn't actually do anything.

So grab and flash the 239MB KRT16S Android 4.4 OTA right now, no matter what your rooting/bootloader situation is. Of course, if you've modified the system partition in such a way that the OTA won't apply cleanly anymore, you have to either revert those changes and try again or flash the factory image.

 

The latest Nova Launcher beta enables transparency and works like a charm:

 

You can also grab The Google Experience Launcher With Translucent Bars And Google Now [APK Download] if you so fancy.

Disclaimer: Android Police isn't responsible for any harm to your device - proceed at your own risk.

Prerequisites

In order to complete the steps below, you need to have the Android SDK installed. The SDK contains the latest version of adb and fastboot, which you will need for flashing. You will also need a MicroUSB cable to execute adb sideload, fastboot flash, and other commands. You don't need a USB cable if you're just planning to download the OTA zip directly to your device and flash it using a custom recovery.

You must be running Android 4.3 JWR66Y or Android 4.4 KRT16O for this OTA to work.

Download

Download the 239MB OTA zip signed-occam-KRT16S-from-JWR66Y:

• Google's server
• Android Police mirror

Or if you already got the first OTA to KRT16O, grab the 9MB zip signed-occam-KRT16S-from-KRT16O:

• Google's server
• Android Police mirror

Install

Note: This method, just like the native OTA update procedure, does not wipe your data, and your bootloader does not need to be unlocked. You should be able to use either the stock recovery or a custom one.

adb sideload the zip you downloaded above by following my earlier guide here. If something fails, try to fix it by restoring the system files you've changed or use the factory image.

Here's what you should expect to see if you're using the fine TWRP recovery:

And now that you've flashed yourself some KitKat, go read up on what's new and enjoy! Oh, and hopefully, this update fixes the nasty wireless charging bug too.

Rooting

Rooting a Nexus 4 is very easy but requires an unlocked bootloader and a custom recovery. I recommend using TWRP.

1. Flash TWRP from here (fastboot flash recovery FILENAME.img).
2. Reboot into recovery (adb reboot recovery or hold Power+VolDn, then select Recovery).
3. Flash the latest version of SuperSU.
4. You should be rooted.

 

 

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