Samsung’s Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition(GPE) just got the Android 5.0 Lollipop treatment. But that doesn’t mean that other non-GPE users like you and I can not get the same update. After all, the only difference between the GPE S4 and the regular Touchwiz S4 are a few partition tables, and the fact that one of them do not come loaded with Touchwiz or Stock Android.

For this guide, you will need the following items:

Hardware

A quad core Galaxy S4 from any part of the world with an unlocked bootloader. This means any S4 not from AT&T, Verizon USA, or an i9500(the octa core S4 will NOT work) . A USB cable(preferably the original one). A Windows PC.

Software

Samsung USB Drivers. Download link (Make sure to click “Direct download link” below, do NOT click the green “Download” button) ODIN. Download link (Make sure to click “Direct download link” below, do NOT click the green “Download” button) The Lollipop 5.0 ROM by danvdh. Download link (Download this file, and copy it to the Download folder on your phone before starting the tutorial) SuperSU. Download link (Download this file, and copy it to the Download folder on your phone before starting the tutorial) More packages, linked throughout the article.



The Tutorial

Let’s get started.

First, install the Samsung USB drivers. Double click the file you downloaded previously and install it like a normal application.

After installing the drivers, extract the ODIN ZIP to a folder named “ODIN”

Download TWRP recovery for your phone and put that file into the ODIN folder. Download link (Make sure to click “Direct download link” below, do NOT click the green “Download” button)

At this point, your ODIN folder should look like this

After you have confirmed it looks like that, turn off your phone.

This part is very important and takes some tries. Do everything sequentially.

Hold Volume down, home and power button together. You will be presented with this Press volume up(The physical button). You will see this. Do not panic Now, connect your phone to your computer and wait 15 seconds. Double click Odin3 v3.09 in the ODIN folder Now, click AP and then select the TWRP 2.8.1.0 for S4 Now, click Start Your phone will reboot. Now disconnect the USB cable, then turn it off again. After it is turned off, use Volume up, home and power button to boot the phone into recovery. Once you see the Samsung logo, let go of all buttons. You will see this. Press Wipe. Then press advanced and you will be presented with this screen. Select only the options I have selected

Select swipe to wipe Your phone will look like it is doing some black magic. Let it be. After it is done, Press the Home button at the bottom left corner of the screen(not shown) You will be back to the screen in step 7. Press install, then scroll down to sdcard Now navigate to the Download folder and select the file you had downloaded previously in the download folder: Danvdh-GPE-5.0-12142014.zip Now swipe the blue circle to confirm flash Let the black magic continue After the flash is done, you will see almost the same screen as step 10. Now restart from step 10, except this time select UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.37.zip instead of Danvdh-GPE-5.0-12142014.zip Now, you will need to reboot your phone. Press home again(bottom corner left), then select Reboot. Your phone will reboot to the following boot animation This step is important. Do not touch your phone for the next 10 minutes. If the welcome screen shows up, that’s awesome! Start using it. If it doesn’t show up, simply take the battery out, put it back and turn the phone on. It may take a few tries to finally get to the welcome screen, this is a well known bug among Google’s GPE and Nexus phones. Enjoy your S4 with Android Lollipop 5.0. You now have the official version of Lollipop on your phone and the exact same software that is put into the GPE Galaxy S4 minus OTA updates.