If you have an Android smartphone from a big name device maker such as Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Sony, or LG, when an operating system update is available you’ll probably see a notification on your device prompting you to download and install it.
That’s assuming you’re running the software that came with your phone. If you’ve rooted your device, unlocked the bootloader, and installed CyanogenMod, AOKP, MIUI, or another custom ROM, you probably have to check for updates and install them manually.
But that could soon change.
A team of independent developers have released a tool called OTA Update Center. For users, it’s simply an app that runs on your device, lets you know when updates are available, and makes installing them as easy as possible.
For ROM developers, it’s a tool you can bake into your custom version of Android to make the update process simpler for users.
OTA Update Center checks for updates when your device boots and allows users to check manually any time. When an update is found, you just tap a few buttons and your device will download the latest software, reboot into recovery, install the update, and then reboot into the operating system.
You can find more details about the free update tool for Android 2.2 through Android 4.1 at the xda-developers forum or the OTA Update Center web site.
via xda-developers
I noticed the thread on XDA a just a few hours ago. Coincidence much? LoL.
If this works as advertised, I suspect it’ll be a big hit among ROM makers. I personally can’t wait for the peeps from CyanogenMod to incorporate this. No more manually flashing nightly builds.
Yeah, if this works, it will be popular. It can be dangerous flashing new ROM’s without first reading up on them, though. “This ROM does not work with XYZ bootloader…” etc. etc.