How to Install Android 10 on Your Phone

Google has recently moved past the Android beta program that allowed users to pretest versions of Android Q and is now solely focused on Android 10. As you would expect, it will take months for most devices to have this latest version of Android as their operating system. But with this quick guide, you can skip the waiting list and get into the action, alongside the lucky Pixel owners who don’t have to wait at all.

It is worth noting, however, that for most other users of Android phones (regardless of this guide), they still have to wait for their OEM to develop their own a version of the update for their phones and coordinate with carriers to release it, a process that can take months. Some Android devices may even get it past 2020.

Some phones will, as noted, get Android automatically –that is on the release date, September 3, these include:

Google Pixel 3 / Pixel 3 XL
Google Pixel 3a / Pixel 3a XL
Google Pixel 2 / Pixel 2 XL
Google Pixel / Pixel XL
Essential Phone

Before making the update, we highly recommend that you first clean your phone with an Android cleaner because that way, it becomes much easier to make any changes to your phone set-up. The cleaner will also reserve space for important updates by deleting cache and other unwanted files.

1. Download the OTA Update

Following the September 3 release of Android 10, an over-the-air update (OTA) is already available for the devices identified above. To upgrade from an earlier version to Android Q, you can navigate to your phone's menu and go to System > System update, and then Check for updates. If the OTA update is available for your phone, it will download automatically as long as your internet connection is stable. After the update has installed, reboot your phone. And just like that, you will now be running on the latest version of Android 10.

2. Flash Android 10 on Your Phone

If for some reason, you do not want to use the OTA method, you can always sideload the factory image or OTA file manually. Here are the steps to take:

Download the files from Google

Android 10 factory images and OTA files are already available for all the devices noted above, and all you have to do is to find the version that suits your device. You can download the files here.

After making the download, here are a few things that you need to get started:

● A USB cable to connect your Google Pixel device to a computer

● A working Android STK installed on your computer

● WinRAR or similar program that can handle.tgz and or .tar files

● An unlocked bootloader on your Android device

How to Unlock Your Phone’s Bootloader

Unlocking your phone’s boot loader may be the only step that might hold you back, so let’s give it a test before anything else. Before we get started, be warned that unlocking your phone’s bootloader will wipe all the data on your phone, make sure to back up first. Here are the step-by-step instructions on how to go about the process:

1. Navigate to the Developers options by going to the About Phone and tapping on Build Number 7 times.

2. In the Developers option section, enable USB debugging and OEM unlocks.

3. Using A USB cable, connect your Google Pixel phone to a PC.

4. Open the command window on your computer.

5. Enter the following command: ADB reboot bootloader to boot your Pixel phone into bootloader mode.

6. After your device boots into bootloader mode, enter the following command: fast-boot flashing unlock.

7. When a confirmation screen appears, press the volume up key to highlight the yes option and the power button to start the boot-loading process.

8. After your device finishes unlocking, type fast-boot reboot to complete the process.

After you have successfully finished the above process, now you have to flash Android 10 on your device. The following step-by-step guide will show you how.

1. Navigate to the bootloader menu and see if your device and PC are communicating. You can do this by typing fast-boot devices in the command window. If the devices are communicating, you will see your device’s serial number.

2. Prepare the factory image that you have downloaded earlier by extracting the files. You should see a folder that has several files.

3. Copy all of the files and paste them into the platform-tools folder of the Android STK. The folder is located in Program Files (x86) on Windows machines.

4. If you are using Windows, you should double-click on the Window Batch file, and if you are on Linux, do the same for the flash-all.sh file.

5. After clicking these flash files, a popup box will appear. It will show the installation taking place. You should not disrupt this process by unplugging your phone for any reason.

6. After the installation process has finished, your phone will reboot automatically.

7. You can now disconnect your device as it will have Android 10 installed.

If you follow the above steps without making errors, you will surely install Android 10. But as we all know, the instructions are not the easiest to follow and to err is to human. Try as many times as possible, and if you still can't crack it, you can always revert to your original OS, which is easy because all you have to do is to follow the same flashing steps, but with a pie factory image.

It could also be that the computer you are using is slow and unresponsive, in which case you might require some PC repair software tools that will resolve the underlying issues.

If, on the other hands, you are part of the larger group that is on the waiting list you can keep yourself updated on the latest developments by subscribing to this best gaming laptop guide.