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upgrade Moto G software

S

shakushinnen

Well-Known Member
Hi,
I bought an old first generation MotoG, which works quite well.
It has version 4.4.4 on it and I understand that it can be upgraded to 5.1.1
1. Are there any advantages to doing this?
2. If I do, should I use One Click or something else?
3. How do I change the ownership?
Thanks,
.... john
 
Hi Dannydet,
Yes, I know what you're saying; but I'm only interested in getting help with these things, at the moment.
....... john
 
shakushinnen said:
Hi,
I bought an old first generation MotoG, which works quite well.
It has version 4.4.4 on it and I understand that it can be upgraded to 5.1.1
1. Are there any advantages to doing this?
2. If I do, should I use One Click or something else?
3. How do I change the ownership?
Thanks,
.... john
Click to expand...
1.you will have more apps that can run on android 5 than android 4.....though the list of apps that work even on android 5 might be pretty small. devs try to keep apps up to date on newer android os's which in turn means less support for older os.
2.one click? not sure what that means. you should update your phone via your phone's settings
3.change of ownership? what exactly do you mean?
 
Last edited:
Hi
So then, it's not worth upgrading the OS. OK
I see the previous owner's name in various places.
I guess I can assume from your question, that whomever posses the phone is the owner?
One click is a site/application that will upgrade the phone;
but I guess that's academic if I'm not upgrading it.
Thank you both for your help.
....... john
 
shakushinnen said:
Hi
So then, it's not worth upgrading the OS. OK
I see the previous owner's name in various places.
I guess I can assume from your question, that whomever posses the phone is the owner?
One click is a site/application that will upgrade the phone;
but I guess that's academic if I'm not upgrading it.
Thank you both for your help.
....... john
Click to expand...
That's not totally true as far as ownership of the phone. Was the phone factory reset? Are you signed in with your Google account? Whatever you do do not do a hard reset. A hard reset will trip FRP( factory reset protection) and will ask for the original Google account initially used to setup the phone (the previous owners).

And where do you see the previous owners name? That seems quite odd.
 
You are setting yourself up for a lot of ongoing and unavoidable problems with this phone. Just from what you described, it's a) very dated so no support for the operating system and very little if any active support for any apps (... which will correspondingly create usability issues with today's online services) and b) it's a pre-owned phone that apparently wasn't reset properly so you're intentionally going to be using a phone with potentially questionable privacy and security drawbacks.
If you do insist on trying to make this phone usable for you, take it to a trusted local service shop and have them 'sanitize' it for you first. Have the phone checked out and reset properly so you can just use it. Otherwise, anything and everything you do on it will be an open invitation to your personal data -- a situation where nothing really bad will occur but you will be intentionally increasing the chance something will. And always keep in mind that there a going to be a lot of inherent limitations, this is a phone with out-of-date hardware and software issues.
 
Gentlemen,
Under Backup and Reset the previous owner's name and email are listed; also under Google account.
I do not intend to use the phone for anything except occasional surfing (it has a nice voice search app), the radio, reminders (i.e. notes), the calendar, the camera, the time, and an mp3 player. It will not be hooked up to a phone plan, only WiFi. I paid $5 for it, so if the wheels come off, it's not a big deal.
.... john
P.S There's a whole lot of entries under Trusted Credentials
 
shakushinnen said:
Gentlemen,
Under Backup and Reset the previous owner's name and email are listed; also under Google account.
I do not intend to use the phone for anything except occasional surfing (it has a nice voice search app), the radio, reminders (i.e. notes), the calendar, the camera, the time, and an mp3 player. It will not be hooked up to a phone plan, only WiFi. I paid $5 for it, so if the wheels come off, it's not a big deal.
.... john
P.S There's a whole lot of entries under Trusted Credentials
Click to expand...
i would do a factory reset (not a hard reset), then sign in to your google account. their account info should not be there. that was very foolish of the previous owners.
 
shakushinnen said:
Gentlemen,
Under Backup and Reset the previous owner's name and email are listed; also under Google account.
I do not intend to use the phone for anything except occasional surfing (it has a nice voice search app), the radio, reminders (i.e. notes), the calendar, the camera, the time, and an mp3 player. It will not be hooked up to a phone plan, only WiFi. I paid $5 for it, so if the wheels come off, it's not a big deal.
.... john
P.S There's a whole lot of entries under Trusted Credentials
Click to expand...

There are several aspects to overcome since you're obviously going to use this particular phone no matter what.

-- Whether you're using WiFi connectivity or cellular connectivity, you're still going to be interacting with the same Internet services and notably on a device that will involve higher risks (security and privacy) and limitations (modern web sites and online services will be an issue when using an unsupported, out-of-date device). Just be cognizant of that with any and all online interactions.

-- Since the phone is obviously still linked to a previous owner, you really do need to clear that account from the phone. A phone running KitKat is one version away from when Factory Reset Protection was implemented, you should be able to delete that account using the Settings >> Accounts menu. (Delete that account, restart the phone, and hopefully after it boots up that will return the phone to its original state and will prompt you to enter your Google account info to make it yours) But if not, you'll need to re-flash the phone with the appropriate stock ROM, a more involved process (Flashing the firmware on an Android device is essentially similar to using a Restore disc on Windows PC to install a 'clean' operating system.)

-- A long listing in Trusted Credentials is typical. Those are the various Web certificates the web browser app relies upon to validate access to different web sites. Browsers on computers and mobile devices all need them.
 
Thanks again. You guys are great!
Is there any chance of password problems, either with a factory reset or deleting the previous owner? I have never had to use one to access it.
Also, I'm wondering if a factory reset might remove some of the apps/features I like, i.e. the FM radio and the voice search?
And .... is using my Google account the only way to access this thing?
.... john
 
It's never a good practice to use the user account of a stranger on a smartphone as your own. Emphasize 'never'. You're needlessly exposing yourself to what could be a really risky thing to continue doing, something that you really should avoid. Odds are the previous owner doesn't care about this phone in any way and there's even a chance the user account currently tied to it isn't even in use any longer. But it's still a matter where you should instead take active steps to make this phone yours, continuing to use it while logged into someone else's user account isn't just problematic (fundamental Google services, like the Play Store access, are not going to inherently linked to your Google account), but a needless risk. As long as you continue using this phone while logged into a stranger's account, that person still has remote access to the phone.

A Factory Reset should have been one of the first things to do when you got this phone. Apps the previous owner installed will get wiped, and any apps that are part Motorola's base Android install will remain. But again, you really should make this phone yours. Remove any traces of the previous owner.
 
Moved to Moto G 1st gen forum :)

shakushinnen said:
Also, I'm wondering if a factory reset might remove some of the apps/features I like, i.e. the FM radio and the voice search?
Click to expand...
Motorola included a radio app on that phone, a reset will not remove it. I'd guess the voice search also came with the phone.

shakushinnen said:
Is there any chance of password problems, either with a factory reset or deleting the previous owner? I have never had to use one to access it.
Click to expand...
Sounds like there is no password on the phone so a reset would work fine. I'd delete the current account first, then reset the phone and add your Google account as @svim recommended.

shakushinnen said:
And .... is using my Google account the only way to access this thing?
Click to expand...
You don't have to add a Google account, but you can't use the Play Store without adding one.
 
Hi again,
You'll be happy to hear that I did as ocnbrze suggested, a factory reset; and it went flawlessly; and I have all of the functionality I had before, and more, since some of the applicatons had had their settings changed and now work better.
Thank you all for your help.
.... john
 
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