Most OEM’s are directly pushing either of these versions rather than the original Android 5.0 Lollipop because of several bugs. Samsung Galaxy S4 has been receiving the Android 5.0.1 OTA updates from a few days and most users seems to be satisfied with the performance after the update. Regardless of the performance factor, most users would like to root their device and unleash the extra power that was restricted by the manufacturers.
Luckily, RubbaBand of XDA is quick enough to pull a working root technique for the Galaxy S4 on Android 5.0.1. The process is quite simple and requires you to have PhilZ touch recovery to root the device. In this guide, we will show you how to install PhilZ touch recovery on your Galaxy S4 and root it safely. So without any further ado, let’s set our course to the rooted Galaxy S4.
Prepare Your Device
- Charge your Galaxy S4 above 60% battery level to avoid shutdowns during the process.
- Enable USB Debugging: Link
- Install Required USB Drivers: Link
- Backup your device storage, Contacts, SMS etc. using Google Sync service or any third-party app.
Root Galaxy S4 on Android 5.0.1 Lollipop
Method 1
- Download Philz touch recovery for Galaxy S4 → Click here to download
- The downloaded file is in the .tar.md5 format which is an Odin compatible file. So, follow the below guide and flash the Philz touch recovery file from the PDA column of Odin flashing tool → Flash Recovery files on Galaxy device using Odin
- After installing the Philz custom recovery, boot into the recovery mode. To do this:
- Power off your phone first.
- Press and hold Volume Up + Power + Home together until you seeWarning screen with Android logo.
- Once in Philz recovery, go to Philz settings → Re-root System and select Yes Apply SuperSU.
- Reboot the device from the recovery menu and install SuperSU app from Google Playstore.
- Launch the SuperSU app once it was installed. The app asks you to update the SuperSU binaries to the latest version, click Continue and proceed.
- Select Normal update of the SuperSU binaries rather than the recovery method.
That’s it. Reboot the device and check the root access by launching any app which needs elevated permissions.
Method 2
- Download Philz touch recovery for Galaxy S4 → Click here to download
- The downloaded file is in the .tar.md5 format which is an Odin compatible file. So, follow the below guide and flash the Philz touch recovery file from the PDA column of Odin flashing tool → Flash Recovery files on Galaxy device using Odin
- Download the SuperSU file and transfer it to your device’s storage.
- Now boot into the recovery mode. To do this:
- Power off your phone first.
- Press and hold Volume Up + Power + Home together until you seeWarning screen with Android logo.
- Flash the downloaded SuperSU file from the recovery by hitting the install button and selecting the downloaded zip.
- Reboot the device once everything is done.
Many XDA testers confirmed method-2 working without any issues. However, the first method worked for few while others experienced bootloops.
