AT&T Sends Out An OTA That Auto Installs With No Prompt For The LG G4

[DroidModderX]

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This is kind of alarming for anyone who wishes to root their device. Today AT&T issued a no prompt OTA update. When receiving the update the phone just receives the update and auto reboots the phone when finished. Everyone knows that if you want to root your device you want to stay away from ota updates since these almost always patch known root methods. If you are going along all happily rooted it would really stink for your phone to auto update, killing root on your device.

There is no changelog for the LG G4 update, but AT&T claims the update was to fix an issue with the address book? I'm not sure why something so seemingly insignificant would require an urgent and automatic update. Its funny that Jcase uploaded that video showing root progress earlier this morning just before the auto udpate.

via Reddit

 

[leeshor]

I don't understand that either, but in case some don't realize it Google sneaks in updates without notice as well. I'm fairly certain, though I haven't tested it yer, that it was because if you taped the contacts icon it would attempt to open the AT&T address book instead of your contacts.

 

[bkdodger]

my understanding is this update was for release thus why it should've updated soon as phone was activated...

Tapped by NexusSix

 

[Zoandar]

Always a good idea to disable OTA updates (by either renaming the utility that does them, or freezing it using Titanium Backup) whenever you root an Android device. My guess is that this new tactic they are doing is squarely aimed at breaking root on currently rooted devices.

 

[Ellyenne]

I got an automatic update for Google Play Store (security app scans everything, so I get a notification). I've set Application Manager to not autoupdate, and to notify me of all updates. Google Play Store updated, and did not notify me. I'm a little pissed.
When I first got the phone (standing in the Verizon Store), Amazon uploaded 50MB of updates via 4G. My data plan is NOT unlimited. I gave the tech an earful about that. And immediately throttled the auto updates.

 

[jmonroe0914]

If your phone is rooted, you can manually prevent the phone from taking any OTA that's pushed... there's plenty of tutorials online that show how to either freeze or uninstall the app package that controls OTAs

 

[jmonroe0914]

I got an automatic update for Google Play Store (security app scans everything, so I get a notification). I've set Application Manager to not autoupdate, and to notify me of all updates. Google Play Store updated, and did not notify me. I'm a little pissed.
When I first got the phone (standing in the Verizon Store), Amazon uploaded 50MB of updates via 4G. My data plan is NOT unlimited. I gave the tech an earful about that. And immediately throttled the auto updates.

You can set the play store to only update on wifi

 

[jmonroe0914]

Always a good idea to disable OTA updates (by either renaming the utility that does them, or freezing it using Titanium Backup) whenever you root an Android device. My guess is that this new tactic they are doing is squarely aimed at breaking root on currently rooted devices.

Highly doubtful... there's probably a legitimate reason why they pushed an OTA, and whenever the changelogs are released, it'll probably show why there was a need for an immediate OTA

 

[jmonroe0914]

I don't understand that either, but in case some don't realize it Google sneaks in updates without notice as well. I'm fairly certain, though I haven't tested it yer, that it was because if you taped the contacts icon it would attempt to open the AT&T address book instead of your contacts.

That's because of an api for the att address book. Its the same with Verizon's MyVerizon app, which if 611 is dialed, auto opens the app, not the dialer.

If you're phone is rooted, you can disable the individual com option that's the cause within the ATT address book via AutoRun Manager or an equivalent

 

[leeshor]

It turns out that the only reason the AT&T address book was attempting to open was because the phone didn't have a SIM card at the time. I have since been able to tell it not to open.