Android L 5.0.2 Update for Moto G 2nd Generation 2014 Edition: How To Install Manually

Jan 14, 2015 05:34 PM EST

Users of the second generation Moto G from Motorola are reporting that the latest version of Android Lollipop, 5.0.2, is now rolling out for their smartphones this week.

According a report at Android Authority, some users in the United States, Brazil, and India are getting Android 5.0.2 build 22.21.28, which is upgraded directly from Android 5.0.1, which is build 22.21.25.

Several commenters on the site's article note that they either have or don't have the new update, showing that availability is sporadic as is often the case with new Android updates.

The 5.0.2 build was first introduced to Nexus 7 users with the 2012 edition of the smartphone to fix some severe bugs that happened when the Google device was first updated to 5.0 in November. This upgrade for the 2014 Moto G means that other Motorola phones, as well as other Google devices, will probably start seeing the patch dropping very soon.

Related: Android 5.0.2 Update Coming to All Motorola Devices (Moto X, Moto E, Droid Maxx, Droid Ultra and Droid Mini)

The second generation Moto G was first released on September 5, 2014 as a follow-up to the successful 2013 edition, and as a low-cost option for developing countries and those who just want a quality phone without the high-end price tag. It features a 5-inch HD LCD display with a 8-megapixel camera in the rear.

Inside, the Moto G features 8 GB of storage, expandable to 32 GB through microSD, a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, and 1 GB of RAM. The Moto G is only available with 3G connectivity as an unlocked version or through contract with AT&T or T-Mobile.

The original release of Android 5.0 was set in motion in early November of last year for Motorola devices (including the Motorola-made Nexus series), but expected launch-day bugs plagued the early adopters so severely that many phones and tablets were made unusable. Google quickly remedied that with the 5.0.1 patch weeks later, but that also introduced a host of its own bugs, mainly for the 2012 Nexus 7. A third patch was issued in December, fixing those bugs to the point of relative stability. This release of 5.0.2 for the Moto G marks the first time that patch has been released for anything outside of the Nexus line.

Android 5.0 Lollipop brings a whole new design language, called Material Design, to the user interface of Android devices. It also brings an improved lock-screen notification system, extended battery life, and an overall efficiency for performance, especially in relation to apps.

Even though this update is expected to be pushed over-the-air (OTA), if you haven't yet received the notification on your 2014 Moto G, you can manually check by heading to Settings > About Phone > Software Update to check for yourself if it's available.