Help How to upgrade from android 4.4.4 to android 6+ ?

[androinewbi]

Hello.

I have a Galaxy S4 (SGH-M919) running on android 4.4.4. (I can give you more details if needed).
I need to install an application (EHTERAZ) which is a Qatari government application that only works on android version 6 and up (or IOS 13.5 and up).

Q: Is there a way to make the application work on my 4.4.4 android ?
Q: if not, how can I safely and easily upgrade my android to a newer version? (can you give me a full tutorial or video link)
Q: how to choose an android version that is most suited for my S4 that won't make it too slow or drain the battery too fast ?
Q: will I loose my files during this process ?

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[Dannydet]

Your device can only be updated to 5.01 according to your manufacturers website.
You could install a custom rom if there's one out there that has android 6,but seeing this thing is already 8 years old, I'd say just buy a new phone.

 

[Dannydet]

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/official-nightlies-lineageos-16-0.3954912/

 

[androinewbi]

I want to try everything first before buying a new phone. I don't understand the ins and outs of this process so I won't be able to do anything without a tutorial. The link you sent seems useful but I'm inexperienced.

Thank you.

 

[Dannydet]

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/sgh-m919-cf-auto-root.2294005/

So you will have to read, read, and read everything in the link, and since you have no knowledge of rooting, good luck.
You will need to move forward as is, or as I stated before, buy a new phone.
Personally, I'd opt to buy a new phone and save yourself the massive headache you will get on trying to root your device

 

[Hadron]

Seconded. Rooting by blindly following a tutorial that you don't understand is a recipe for trouble. Rooting used to be very popular, and some of us put a lot of time into helping people who did this fix their phones after they messed them up. So if you are going to do that you should understand what you are doing, and what the other implications of it are, before you attempt anything. Otherwise you are likely to find yourself with a phone that doesn't work, or discover that something else you use the phone for no longer works. And if you are used to the Samsung interface and their aapps you will lose that if you install a more modern OS, since those will not usually be based on Samsung software (this may not bother you at all, but I just thought I should warn you).

 

[Davdi]

There's no real need to root phones anymore, it was mostly done to help overcome limited storage. The only time rooting is really needed is if you have an app that depends on root. Security professionals have pen-testing tools that require root to function, and they generally install those tools on a second phone, NEVER on a daily driver.

 

[ocnbrze]

There's no real need to root phones anymore, it was mostly done to help overcome limited storage. The only time rooting is really needed is if you have an app that depends on root. Security professionals have pen-testing tools that require root to function, and they generally install those tools on a second phone, NEVER on a daily driver.

this is on an s4 which came out when rooting was the most popular. fortunately chainfire still maintains the site. a lot of these older root methods will not have working links any more as support gets discontinued.

 

[androinewbi]

Greetings,

I succeeded in installing android 6 on my S4 and I made the application work fine.
I first installed twrp (twrp-2.8.7.0-jfltetmo.img) using Odin on my PC. I used twrp to wipe my stock system and to install the custom rom (cm-13.0-20161218-NIGHTLY-jfltetmo), in addition to Gapps (arm-6.0-pico).

As simple as that.

The latest twrp and the latest LineageOS that are (allegedly) compatible with my phone and listed in their official websites don't work on my phone, so I had to find older versions to make this happen.