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Help prevent all updates

you can't stop System updates unless:

1: the phone never sees the Internet, ever and never. ( have a Galaxy S5 that is still on 4.4.4 )

2: you root the phone: My Note 4 is rooted and on 4.4.4
 
Actually it's only some US carriers that force updates. Most people can just ignore them if they don't want to update.

App updates, like Mike says just turn auto updating off in the Play Store settings. I never allow anything to update without my agreement on any computing device.
 
How do I keep system and apps from updating automatically?
The Internet has devolved into a very hazardous entity and a smartphone is by intent and by design to work best with online access. Just keep in mind avoiding system updates and app updates will only make your phone more vulnerable. Even if you don't care if your phone does get compromised in some way and even if it's not a matter you don't care if your own privacy is violated, note that a large number of online exploits are done by botnets consisting of compromised smartphones, so it's not just a matter of your phone, we're all dealing with the actions of others. (Infected computers used to be a prime source with insecure smartphones now becoming the new source.) A typical botnet is powered by thousands and often millions of infected devices and can easily take down almost any web site. Here in the U.S. the chances increase every day that our 911 system will go down, because all it takes is a large enough botnet to target a specific system. So give some thought to not allowing your phone to get updated.
 
Play Store apps does not stop system updates. Looks like your Note 4 comes from a carrier who forces updates.

I knew that, just failed to be explicit in the post.... PlayStore will stop all APP updates, which is what I meant. I long ago lost the battle with System Updates from Verizon... it will go thru, whether you like it or not, unless you prevent the Internet from being seen.... I did this on my wife's S5.... for her, it is a telephone period, and MacroDroid turns off DATA and WiFi every time something changes.

ie, screen locks, or unlocks, they get turned off. For her, doing it this way, the battery can go 5 or more days between charges.
 
The Internet has devolved into a very hazardous entity and a smartphone is by intent and by design to work best with online access. Just keep in mind avoiding system updates and app updates will only make your phone more vulnerable. Even if you don't care if your phone does get compromised in some way and even if it's not a matter you don't care if your own privacy is violated, note that a large number of online exploits are done by botnets consisting of compromised smartphones, so it's not just a matter of your phone, we're all dealing with the actions of others. (Infected computers used to be a prime source with insecure smartphones now becoming the new source.) A typical botnet is powered by thousands and often millions of infected devices and can easily take down almost any web site. Here in the U.S. the chances increase every day that our 911 system will go down, because all it takes is a large enough botnet to target a specific system. So give some thought to not allowing your phone to get updated.
Nice speech, but what about everyone who can't or won't spend $800 a year on a new phone that then gets ignored for updates, or is flat out ignored by the likes of XDA?
 
Well that isn't the OP's problem: (s)he actually wants not to receive any updates.
I'm aware. But then we had this other person wanting to insist everyone should only ever be running current software on everything, even when current software tends to break more than the old. See Pokemon go as a prime example.
 
I'm aware. But then we had this other person wanting to insist everyone should only ever be running current software on everything, even when current software tends to break more than the old. See Pokemon go as a prime example.
This isn't an either >< or matter, it's much more complicated. People in general resist change so something like altering an interface can go well or very badly. Security updates are often a complicated issue as there are often version issues, different hardware configurations, and availability problems. A security update can break an otherwise smoothly running system or it could fix a serious potential exploit. Take all that and add in a dozen other issues and updates cannot be taken from just a feature point of view or a security point of view.
Also, whether you call my previous post a 'speech' is a matter of opinion. But actually there are a number of people who go online every day and are oblivious they need to be wary of so many things. Perhaps you live in a tech bubble where these issues are old news but the majority of the population spend their time doing other things.
 
OT

Often they just can't be helped by the likes of XDA because of things like MediaTek MTK devices.
What the heck is an MTK device? Not that it matters at this point.

I'm talking about how the Note 3 that I was forecasting would last me three years, only received Android 5.0(not even 5.1, which had a bunch of improvements for battery), that everyone's completely ignored for updated ROMs and deodexed ROMs, because it's one of the not-carrier-locked models. Of course, with Xposed broken, and with Knox ensuring I can't actually downgrade without guaranteeing a brick, I'm basically shit out of luck there.

I'm talking about the MXPE that is my current phone now, having a miserable battery, and will never see an Android above 6.0 (not even 6.0.1 apparently), despite both phones being powerful enough to handle the newer OS's without a problem.

I'm talking about the fact that the only choices to actually get current builds of their respective OS's are the Google Pixel and the iPhone, both costing well over $800 USD, and both plagued with a miserable non-removable battery, leaving you hostage to the nearest outlet because none can handle a full workday without needing to be charged two to three times a day with a battery pack it'll happily run dry; just like my MXPE is wont to do now. A phone with a non-removable battery? You might as well be renting it, because it won't even last the first year of service to you, apparently. :mad:
 
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What the heck is an MTK device? Not that it matters at this point.

I'm talking about how the Note 3 that I was forecasting would last me three years, only received Android 5.0(not even 5.1, which had a bunch of improvements for battery), that everyone's completely ignored for updated ROMs and deodexed ROMs, because it's one of the not-carrier-locked models. Of course, with Xposed broken, and with Knox ensuring I can't actually downgrade without guaranteeing a brick, I'm basically shit out of luck there.

I'm talking about the MXPE that is my current phone now, having a miserable battery, and will never see an Android above 6.0 (not even 6.0.1 apparently), despite both phones being powerful enough to handle the newer OS's without a problem.

I'm talking about the fact that the only choices to actually get current builds of their respective OS's are the Google Pixel and the iPhone, both costing well over $800 USD, and both plagued with a miserable non-removable battery, leaving you hostage to the nearest outlet because none can handle a full workday without needing to be charged two to three times a day with a battery pack it'll happily run dry; just like my MXPE is wont to do now. A phone with a non-removable battery? You might as well be renting it, because it won't even last the first year of service to you, apparently. :mad:

For information and you did mention XDA Devs. MTK is a series of low-cost SoC(System on Chip) processors made by the Chinese company MediaTek. Frequently found in many budget and mid-range phones, and never the $800 flagships. Problem is that company doesn't make any of their source code and drivers freely available in violation of the GPL, unlike say Qualcomm who makes Snapdragon S0Cs. Which basically means it can be extremely difficult or impossible to develop custom ROMs of current Android builds for those devices, and that's often a reason why they end-up being "flat out ignored by the likes of XDA".

So if the whatever it is device you've got there isn't being developed and updated, it could be because developers like XDA are not interested in it, or maybe it's because they just can't.
 
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