This phone released over 5 years ago gets Android 7.1 Nougat. What’s your Android version?
The Galaxy Nexus was the fruit of the partnership of Google and Samsung over 5 years ago. And for those who still have the handset, we have good news for you.
The Unlegacy-Android project headed by awesome developers MWisBest and Ziyan, have created the group in order to give support to old Android devices. Android has been known to drop software very quickly, especially if you’re not using a flagship device. That’s more of a manufacturer’s fault, but Android and Google are still partly to blame.
Now that the Nexus line is dead and officially replaced by the Pixel, users should probably start worrying about future updates after Google drops support. If you plan to keep the phone for a couple of years more, you need to start looking.
In a post at XDA Developers forum, MWisBest announced the first release of the custom ROM. Since it’s not an official release, it’s going to have some quirks for some time before the devs get to fix it. Well, even manufacturer ROMs have some bugs one way or another so it’s understandable. Currently, there are issues with the GPS and Wi-Fi. It’s stable overall, but it’s important to note the issues in case you might want to test it out.
The Galaxy Nexus originally shipped with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the last update it got was Android 4.3 Jelly Bean in July 2013, ending the promised 2-year software updates support for the Nexus. Since then, developers took the future of the handset in their hands and provided custom ROMs for subsequent Android releases.
If you still have this handset in your drawer, come and check it out. You’ll need a lot of patience and the guts to do it though. But considering it’s so old now, so why be scared? Often times, things would go well if you just follow the instructions carefully.
The Galaxy Nexus may live on with its legacy and run on the latest Android software, but manage your expectations. After all, it’s a five-year-old smartphone.