Last month in May a new update namely 10.5.A.0.230 started rolling out for the Sony Xperia ZR Z550X according to the official Xperia blog, and it then carried on much further down the product chain to many others. The next according to the same blog post was Taiwan for the HSPA+ model C5502 followed by the LTE model C5503 in Hog Kong. We can see this is true because people on those countries then left comments confirming the situation.
The one available here is a new addition of Android 4.4.2 Kitkat. We have not seen any firmware since the 4.4.2 KitKat 10.5.A.0.227 build released late April of 2013 for the Xperia ZL, Z and tablet Z. The good news is that many of these Sony smartphone and tablets are getting updated regularly and at a similar time so it reduces the chance of an update slipping by your ears. If you do hear anything about the number of other handsets then make a mental note to check if something is also rolling out to you.
Anyhow, we now know that this update brought a big bug with it than drained users battery, and there was also further talk of it causing overheating and settings lag. The last two symptoms did not receive any confirmation, but we now know that a new update namely 10.5.A.0.233 is rolling out for the Xperia Z, ZR, Zl and tablet Z to tackle this problem. It will also provide a sufficient fix before they eventually roll out the newer Android 4.4.3 to these devices.
The PTCRB have certified this new build, and it is official. That means if you have root it will cancel it until you get root on top of the new firmware again. That is simple enough to do by following the new guide that is for the new firmware. We are already starting to see the Sony Xperia Z Ultra Google Play Edition receive Android 4.4.3 Kitkat so we can safely assume the rest of the Sony Corporation handsets listed here will be getting it soon enough. It always starts with the tools Google loves the most (such as the Google Play edition and then winds its way down the list starting from most expensive to least expensive and the oldest. The always want to look after the handsets that are newer and cost more first so that it gives one more reason to buy them. Anyhow, the point is if you don’t like updating often then give this one a miss because we already know of a newer version of this that had bug fixes and on top of that it won’t be long until 4.4.3 for many. However, if some of you want to take the risk and you enjoy updating then this is a notice to let you know its coming for you. Most will have received it as a system notification already because we are now in the later stages of its roll out since it started in late May several weeks ago. If you haven’t got that notification check, it hasn’t come in by going to Settings > About phone > Software updates > System updates.
Never start an official or unofficial over the air update unless you have backed up contacts and other personal data first. We know that this product line did come with external MicroSD card options that offer additional storage space if you are running low on the initial internal storage. This card offers an easy way to backup all data such as SMS and MMS texts, photos, music, videos, call logs and anything else you use. Many people struggle to get all data backed up properly, and one of the biggest headaches tends to be getting the apps stored. An excellent way to solve this problem is by using Helium that is an app available to download from the Google Play Store. There is no more root, but if you have root access now and want to backup you can do that easily by using Titanium. Alternatively Google offers a service called Google Drive that is very handy for storing data, and you can also sync with the Google account.
Remember that we don’t use a connection to a PC when updating OTA, so the USB charging option is not going to help us any. Make sure you have enough battery life to see through the installation process, so it doesn’t shut down during the download. If it does shutdown, it will be unsuccessful because it didn’t have enough time to complete.