ZEBRA Android 14 AOSP Software User Guide

Zebra uses AB mechanism for OS Update on SDM660 products running Android O and above. This is a new OS Update mechanism which is unavailable on other Zebra products with Android O.

The intent of this document is to advise Zebra customers and service about

AB OS Update mechanism
How to apply OTA packages on SDM660
How AB devices are different to legacy Non-AB systems

List of supported devices on A14 are:
TC52, TC57, TC72, TC77, EC50, EC55, TC52X, TC57X, TC52AX, MC9300, TC21, TC26, MC3300, EC30, MC2200, MC2700, WT6300, MC20/RZ-H271, VC8300, CC600, CC6000, TC8300, ET51, ET56, L10AW

Symbols and Notes used in this document:

Context of the note An important or critical note. Users should be aware of this change.

Context of the note A note which serves as additional information to the reader.

Important change for A13 and above OS upgrade (Must Read)

All Devices
Android 13 and above OS changes the method of encryption used to secure user data in the internal memory of the device.

To support OS upgrade from a previous OS dessert (using FDE) to Android 13 or above (using FBE), Zebra has enabled two mechanisms:

OS Upgrade with data reset (User data will be erased on upgrade)
This is the default OTA upgrade process.
OS Upgrade with data persistence
For users who prefer OS upgrade with data persistence please follow the process and steps documented here and here.

A/B (Seamless) OS Update implementation on SDM660 devices

Full OTA and Delta OTA (Patch) updates can occur while the system is running, without interrupting the user. This means users can continue to use their devices during an OTA upgrade. After the installation of OTA package is completed, device reboots into the updated image.
AB device are fault tolerant by providing a backup slot. If device fails to boot-up, then it will fall back to a backup slot (reboot back into the old partition) and the device remains usable.

Updates can be streamed to devices supported by this document, removing the need to download the complete package before installing it.

Starting with Android 11

Full OTA packages and Delta OTA packages of each LG release will be available on Zebra.com.

Delta OTA packages can be streamed and installed on the device.
AB updates can be streamed using LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) 3.0 APIs.

OTA Delta packages available on Zebra.com will be sequential in nature.
For customers who are using Zebra LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) solution, you can upgrade to the target OS LG software version in a single step with the help of a single OTA delta package. This OTA delta package is called true delta package which contains the exact delta required to install the target LG software version.

This true delta OTA package will be serviced by LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) solution and will not be available on zebra.com. You can find more details on LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) solution at Zebra TechDocs portal.
The size of OTA delta packages will be much smaller than Full OTA packages.

How AB system is different to Non-AB system

OS Update Use Case	Non-AB	AB	Notes
Flashing Full OTA Package	Recovery Mode	Android AB Mode	AB: Device shall apply Full OTA Package via Android AB mode when applied via EMM. User can manually enter recovery mode to apply Full OTA package too. Non-AB: Device shall boot into recovery mode to apply any OTA package.
Flashing Delta OTA Package	Recovery Mode	Android AB Mode	AB: Device will apply OTA delta package in background via Android AB mode. User can manually enter recovery mode to apply OTA delta package too. Non-AB: Device shall boot into recovery mode to apply any OTA package.
Flashing Reset Packages	Recovery Mode	Recovery Mode	AB: Device shall boot into recovery mode to apply Enterprise and Factory Reset packages Non-AB: Device shall boot into recovery mode to apply Enterprise and Factory Reset packages
Device downtime for OS Update	–	+	AB: Full and Delta OTA updates can occur while the system is running, without interrupting the user. At the end, device reboots into the new installed image. Rebooting to new OS image is the only device downtime user will experience. Non-AB: Device reboots to recovery mode to install reset or special packages only. User cannot use the device while installing OTA package.
Fault tolerance	–	+	AB device are fault tolerant by providing a backup slot. If device fails to boot-up, then it will fall back to backup slot (reboot back into the old partition). Non-AB: If device fails to bootup, then device is bricked.
Patch upgrades	Y	Y
Patch downgrades	Y	N	Starting A11, patch downgrades are not supported. Users have the option to use Full OTA package of the specific patch to perform OS downgrade. SDM660 Android O and above has Version Binding implementation which will cause data reset on downgrade to an older Google SPL or older Dessert version.
Hotfix patch support	Y	Y
Patch Size	–	+	AB delta packages will be considerably small compared to Non-AB delta packages available for Zebra devices. Customers using LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) APIs will be able to use a True Delta package.
Silent Update	–	Y	AB Full and Delta OTA updates is silent to user

OS Update from Zebra.com and LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA)

OS Update Use Case	Zebra.com	LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) 3.0	Notes
Full OTA OS Upgrade	Y	Y
Full OTA OS Downgrade	Y	N	LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) 3.0 does not support OS downgrade. EMM can downgrade to an older version by downloading a Full OTA package of an older version. Zebra.com customers can downgrade by pulling the Full OTA package of target OS version from zebra.com and pushing the OTA package to the device from their EMM console.
Delta OTA Upgrade	YSequential Delta	YTrue Delta	LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) 3.0 – Delta OTA packages will be streamed for customers using LGE solution. Zebra.com – Delta upgrades are sequential and can be installed using StageNow/EMM or from Recovery mode.
Delta OTA Downgrade	N	N	Delta OTA packages cannot be used for Downgrade to an older patch version.
Streaming Support	N	Y	LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) 3.0 solution will enable AB streaming of OTA Full and Delta packages. Zebra.com customers will have to manually download full OTA or delta packages to the device and install the same. OTA packages downloaded from zebra.com can be streamed to device, this requires customers to set up their AB streaming server and host the OTA package downloaded from zebra.com
Reset Packages or Special Packages	Y	N	LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) 3.0 APIs do not support flashing of Reset or Special packages. Zebra.com customers can download, and flash Reset packages or any special packages available to them.

Sequential nature of Delta OTA packages

To upgrade from Patch 1 (U01) to Patch 5 (U05), one must apply all intermediate delta packages too (i.e., U01, U02, U03, U04 and U05) in the same order.

Patch	Build ID (XXX – Platform code)	SPL
U01	13-16-17.00-TG-U01-STD-XXX-04	April 2023
U02	13-16-17.00-TG-U02-STD-XXX-04	May 2023
U03	13-16-17.00-TG-U03-STD-XXX-04	June 2023
U04	13-16-17.00-TG-U04-STD-XXX-04	July 2023
U05	13-16-17.00-TG-U05-STD-XXX-04	August 2023

To make things easier, users may skip applying delta packages sequentially and directly flash the Full OTA package of U05.

Android AB Mode for OS Update

Full and delta OTA packages will be installed via Android AB mode. As part of this:

Full and delta OTA package will be applied on the device silently in the background.
User can continue using the device while OTA packages will be applied.

Post installation is complete, a device notification will be displayed confirming the installation is completed and device shall auto-reboot after 15 secs.
Device will auto-reboot to boot into newly installed OS image after the OTA package installation is completed successfully.

Customers can also configure the device to wait for Update clients (e.g., FOTA) or EMMs to notify device to reboot.
AB streaming mode will be used by default for customers using LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) solution to update the device. The OTA package will not be completely downloaded and saved on device before starting the installation. Rather the OTA package contents will be streamed to the device and installed.

StageNow tool can be used to perform OS Update using an OTA package in manual mode (without the need to go into Recovery mode). Please search and click on Power Manager section in the link provided.

OTA package consists of following

HLOS images (system, vendor, boot and dtbo)
Non-HLOS images (QCOM images)

Recovery Mode for OS Update
Reset packages and any special packages to update Zebra Device Management partitions will be installed via recovery mode.

As part of this:

The device will be automatically reboot to recovery mode.
Reset packages or special packages will be applied using recovery mode.
Device will reboot back to home screen after installation is completed in recovery mode.
Customers can enter recovery mode using key combinations or using “adb reboot recovery” command.

Reset Packages and special recovery packages
Zebra devices support reset packages to erase userdata and enterprise partition. These packages will be applied via recovery mode.

Package	Information
Enterprise Reset	Erase userdata partition and persist enterprise partition
Factory Reset	Erase both userdata and enterprise partition
Special recovery packages	Packages used to modify Zebra Device Management partitions or packages to update WLAN region code, audio tuning files etc. can be applied via recovery mode.

All Devices
Do not use older reset packages from Oreo/Pie/A10/A11 on A14 OS.

OS Update Operations – Upgrade and Downgrade

Customer can upgrade the device to a newer OS dessert initial release OR to any latest LG patch version within the same dessert OR on the higher dessert release if the Google security patch level of the OS image to be installed is higher than the Google security patch level on the device.
If the device is running on a higher Google security patch level compared to the OS image to be installed, then customer cannot upgrade to such an image. This behavior follows Google security requirements to protect device from exploiting any known security vulnerabilities. User data is persisted on all OS Upgrade operations.
Customers can perform OS downgrade to an older OS dessert image or to a LG patch image (Using Full OTA) having a lower Google security patch level compared to Google security patch level on device. If customer performs OS downgrade operation, device will reboot and user data will be erased automatically.

All Devices
Data persistence is NOT supported on OS Downgrade.

On SDM660 O and above, following is the experience related to OS Update:

Customers shall be able to perform OS Upgrade (move to a higher version** of OS Image) using Full OTA package.
Customers shall be able to perform OS Upgrade (move to a higher version** of OS Image) using delta OTA image.
Starting from A11 on SDM660 devices, customers can downgrade (move to an older/lower version* of OS Image) operation using Full OTA packages only.
Separate interfaces are provided to perform OS Upgrade & OS downgrade operations.
All OS downgrade operation will result in an Enterprise Reset operation. i.e., user data is erased on OS downgrade operation.

** higher version → Following parameters will be considered to identify if an OS image to be installed is higher or lower compared to device OS version.

OS Google Security patch level (ro.build.version.security_patch)
OS software version (ro.device.patch.version)
OS Hotfix version
Custom OS version

OS Upgrade and Downgrade via EMMs

Kindly refer to MX tech docs present on Zebra TechDocs portal for more details on supported CSP interfaces for OS Upgrade and Downgrade.
https://techdocs.zebra.com/mx/powermgr/

OS Update via EMM	OS Upgrade	OS Downgrade
Reset Action	10 – OS Upgrade	11 – OS Downgrade
Allowed OTA Packages	Full OTA Package, OTA Patch image, UPL	Full OTA Package
Data persistence	YES	NO Auto data reset shall be performed
Allowed OS Update use case	UPGRADE ONLY Upgrade from current OS to a higher OS software version Upgrade from current OS to a higher SPL version Upgrade from current OS to a higher version of OS Upgrade from current OS to a higher Hotfix version Upgrade from Patch to a higher software version Upgrade from Patch to a higher SPL version Upgrade from Patch to a higher version of OS Upgrade from Patch to a higher Hotfix version Upgrade from Hotfix to a higher Hotfix version Upgrade from Hotfix to a higher SPL version Upgrade from Custom OS to a higher Custom version Upgrade from Custom OS to a higher Custom OS SPL version Upgrade from Custom OS to a higher Custom version of OS	DOWNGRADE ONLY Downgrade from current OS to a lower/older OS version Downgrade from current OS to a OS software version on lower/older OS version Downgrade from Patch to a lower/older OS version Downgrade from Patch to a lower/older Hotfix version Downgrade from Hotfix to a lower/older Hotfix version Downgrade from Hotfix to a lower/older SPL version Downgrade from Custom OS to a lower/older Custom software version Downgrade from Custom OS to a lower/older Custom OS SPL version Downgrade from Custom OS version to a lower/older Custom OS version Downgrade from Custom OS version to Custom OS software version on a lower/older Custom OS version

All Devices
Suppress reboot flag shall not be considered in case of OS downgrade.

All Devices

Performing OS upgrade to higher dessert but having lower SPL will result in data reset.
Recovery UI also has been modified for OS Upgrade and Downgrade. Separate OS Upgrade and Downgrade options have been enabled in recovery UI to perform OS Update operation.
Kindly visit below sections in this document for detailed explanation on recovery mode.

AB Streaming Update

An OTA package can reside on server and supported devices can stream the package from server directly to device without saving the OTA package on device. The OS update happens in background and a user notification shall be displayed to indicate that OS update operation is in progress.
OS Update package can be streamed to A/B devices, removing the need to download the OTA package to the device before installing it. With help of AB Streaming mode user can perform OS update operations even if disk space is low. Same OTA package can be used for both AB streaming and AB seamless updates.
AB streaming mode will be used by default for customers using LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) 3.0 solution to update the device.

The delta OTA package will not be completely downloaded and saved on device before starting the installation. Rather the delta OTA package contents will be streamed to the device and installed. Similarly, AB streaming updates will be used if there is a need to install a Full OTA package from LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) 3.0 solution.
Customers who self-manage their devices will have to download the required OTA package from zebra.com and copy the same to the device. AB Streaming update will not be applicable for this use-case.

Table below depicts the arguments to be used for AB streaming update:

Operation	Reset Action	Details
UPGRADE	12 – OS Upgrade Streaming	Launches a full package/patch OS Upgrade via streaming server.
DOWNGRADE	13 – OS Downgrade Streaming	Launches a full-package OS Downgrade via streaming server.

While AB streaming update is in progress, a progress bar shall show the progress of the operation. After AB streaming update has completed, device shall show a notification that in 15 seconds device will auto-reboot. After 15 seconds, device will auto-reboot into new OS image. OS update status is made available via OEMInfo as well.
Device needs to authenticate with server before the OTA package residing on server can be streamed. EMM solution or FOTA solution who is initiating OS Update job will have to generate the authentication Id and share with device using Power Manager CSP.

Following Authentication modes are supported for AB streaming mode.

Token Auth
Username & Password (Basic Auth).
No Authentication

Device supports following protocols to perform AB streaming:

http
https (recommended for better security)
Installing Full (upgrade/downgrade) and Delta OTA packages can be accomplished using AB streaming update. All other Enterprise use cases of Zebra cannot be supported by AB Streaming update.

Installing multiple OTA packages using UPL is not supported by AB streaming update.

User Notification for Full OTA package Upgrade or Downgrade

SPR 36526 was fixed in 01-18-02.00-OG-U00-STD/01-18-02.00-ON-U00-STD OS version. With this fix, we now bring user notification when a Full OTA package is being installed. Earlier OS versions had implemented a silent OS update and thus user was unaware of the background OS Update process.
Few of the features of this user notification:
1. This is applicable for Full OTA package and OTA Patch image.
2. On start of Full and Diff OTA package installation, an Icon (android system icon) will be displayed on the Status Bar.
3. On pulling down the notification drawer, a notification will be displayed informing that OS Update is in progress and device will Reboot automatically on completing the same.
4. User will have no control over this notification. i.e., User CANNOT
  - Pause/Snooze the OS Update request
  - Cancel OS Update request
  - Prevent Reboot of device
5. Notification can be cleared by User. Once notification is removed, no new notification shall be displayed again.
6. If EMMs have selected “Suppress Reboot” option while installing a Full OTA package, then device will not auto-reboot. User Notification too indicates the same and waits for EMMs to reboot the device.
7. The notification will also display system interrupts blocking OS Update process. E.g., Low Battery, Media Eject etc.

In prior desserts, if the device was flashed with an OS dessert or version that is not supported by the device a notification used inform user that a sub-optimal version of OS is running.

All Devices
This notification is removed from Android 11 onwards.

OS Update – Screenshots

A Full OTA package installation has started
Installation of Full OTA package completed
A Ful l OTA package installation has failed to apply

Notification for Cancelling an OS Update job

Recovery Mode
From recovery UI customers can install full OTA packages, OTA Patch images and reset packages. SDM660 Recovery UI provides the following options to perform various operations in recovery mode and apply different packages:

Reboot system now
Apply upgrade from ADB
Apply upgrade from SD card
Apply upgrade from USB drive
Apply downgrade from ADB
Apply downgrade from SD card
Apply downgrade from USB drive
View recovery logs
Power off
- Different UI options within Recovery mode and their functionalities are explained below in detail.
- All Devices Please ignore Device Name and Build Fingerprint displayed on the screenshots.
Reboot system now
When this UI option is selected by user, device will boot to OS.
Apply upgrade from ADB
Upgrade packages via adb will be applied when we select this option. User can only perform OS Upgrade operation and not downgrade operation using this option. User should enter the package name via adb sideload interface.

Apply upgrade from SD card
Upgrade packages via External SD card will be applied when we select this option. User can only perform OS Upgrade operation and not downgrade operation using this option. Using this option, customers can perform OS Upgrade using Full OTA packages, OTA Patch images and install Reset Packages from SD card.
Apply upgrade from USB drive
Upgrade packages via USB drive will be applied when we select this option. User can only perform OS Upgrade operation and not downgrade operation using this option.Using this option, customers can perform OS Upgrade using Full OTA packages, OTA Patch images and install Reset Packages from USB drive.
Apply downgrade from ADB
Downgrade packages via adb will be applied when we select this option. User can only perform OS Downgrade operation and not upgrade operation using this option.
Once selecting this option user should enter the package name via adb side load interface.

Apply downgrade from SD card
Downgrade packages via External SD card will be applied when we select this option. User can only perform OS Downgrade operation and not upgrade operation using this option.
Using this option, customers can perform OS downgrade using Full OTA packages, OTA
Patch images and install Reset Packages from SD card.
Apply downgrade from USB drive
Downgrade packages via USB drive will be applied when we select this option. Using this option, customers can perform OS Upgrade using Full OTA packages, OTA Patch images and install Reset Packages from USB drive.
User can only perform OS Downgrade operation and not upgrade operation using this option.
View recovery logs
By selecting this option user can view recovery logs.Recovery logs will be available in /tmp/recovery.log By selecting Back, we can return to main menu.

Power off
By selecting this option user can power off device.

Installation from Recovery Mode

If you wish to perform system upgrade from an upgrade file downloaded from the Zebra.com support page there are two options. Both methods are summarized below:

For a single upgrade the upgrade file can be loaded onto a removable memory device and inserted into the device to be upgraded.

For multiple devices to upgrade it may be easier to use the ADB command method. (ADB or Android Debug Bridge is a tool used to communicate with Android devices from a host computer. Information can be found here: https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/adb)
Performing a System Update Using SD Card or USB Drive
1. Select appropriate upgrade file from Zebra support web page.
2. Download the upgrade file to a host computer.
3. Copy Upgrade file to the removable memory (either SD card or USB drive) root directory using the host computer.
4. Remove the memory device from the host computer (be sure it is properly ejected first) and install into the device being upgraded.
5. Make sure the device battery level is at least 30%. Invoke recovery mode on device. To restart the device press and hold the power button and select restart from on screen menu.
6. Customers can enter recovery mode using the following key combinations:

TC5x, TC7x

Device is being restarted PTT Key
Device is powered off PTT Key + Power Button

All Devices

Please refer to product specific documentation for key combinations.
Press and hold the indicated buttons until the Zebra screen appears. OR
using “adb reboot recovery” command.

From the on-screen menu using volume keys scroll to “Apply upgrade from SD Card” or “Apply upgrade from USB Drive”. When the selection is highlighted press the power key to select.
When the install is complete select the reboot option and press the power button to reboot the device.

Performing a System Update Using ADB Commands from Host Computer
1. Select appropriate upgrade file from Zebra support web page.
2. Download the upgrade file to a host computer.
3. Ensure that the ADB drivers are installed on the host computer.
4. Connect the device to the host computer with the proper USB cable. Make sure the device has at least 30% battery level before starting the upgrade process.
5. Go to the Settings application on the device and enable Developer options by following this link: https://developer.android.com/studio/debug/dev-options
6. Select on the Settings application: System > Advanced > Developer options.
7. Slide the switch for Developer Options to the ON position.
8. Slide the switch for USB Debugging to the ON position. The Allow USB debugging? dialog box appears.
9. Touch OK. This allows the host computer and the device to communicate via USB.
10. On the host computer, open a command prompt window and use the adb command:
  adb devicesAll Devices
  If device number does not appear, ensure that ADB drivers are installed properly.
11. Type the following command and press Enter: adb reboot recovery
12. The System Recovery screen appears on the device.
13. Press the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons on the device to navigate to Apply upgrade from ADB.
14. Press the Power button to select this option.
15. On the host computer command prompt window type:
  adb sideload <file> where: <file> = the path and filename of the zip file.
16. Press Enter on Host PC at the prompt. The System Update starts installing (progress appears as percentage in the Command Prompt window) and then the System Recovery screen shows update progress information on the device.
17. When the update is complete select the reboot option and press the Power button to reboot the device.

Verifying System Update Installation

Go to Settings.
Touch About phone.
Scroll down to Build number.
Ensure that the build number matches the new system update package file number.

UPL (Update Package List) mechanism
UPL allows user to perform anyone of the below use-cases in a single step for device administrator

Apply multiple firmware OTA packages along with an OS OTA package
Apply any configuration OTA packages along with an OS OTA package

Apply reset packages after installing an OS image
Perform device reset using commands instead of packages

An UPL file can consist combinations of following package types:

Full OTA package
Delta OTA package
Reset packages
Reset commands
Firmware update packages
Configuration packages

Till A10 on SDM660, an UPL file could have a Full OTA package of a baseline followed by delta OTA package of a LG patch version belonging to the same baseline. This would allow device administrator to update to the required LG patch on a baseline in a single step.

All Devices
Starting Android 11, an UPL file cannot consist of both Full OTA and Delta OTA package.

All Devices
Customers can directly install the Full OTA package of the required LG OS version.

The Full OTA package can be downloaded from zebra.com. If customer is using the LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) 3.0 solution, then device can be directly updated to the required LG patch version using a delta OTA package provided by LifeGuard Over the Air (OTA) 3.0.

Rules to build an UPL. On A11 and above, UPL can consist of the following combinations:

Full OTA package + Reset/Special package
Full OTA package + Reset command
OS Patch image (e.g., LG patch) + Reset/Special package
OS Patch image (e.g., LG patch) + Reset command

Following combinations are supported only when downgrading from A11 to A10 or below:

Full OTA package + OS Patch image (e.g., LG patch)
Full OTA package + OS Patch image (e.g., LG patch) + Special package

Full OTA package + OS Patch image (e.g., LG patch) + Reset command

Device can be reset using following UPL commands and are supported on A10 and above. This avoids the need to push a reset package while using UPL.

EnterpriseReset
FactoryReset

UPL files should NOT be configured as below:

Combination of Full OTA packages or Delta/OS Patch images (e.g., LG patch)

New lines present after the last line in UPL file
Trailing tab spaces present after each line in UPL file
Unwanted characters present after each line in UPL file
Contain only UPL commands

Few valid examples of UPL files are as below:

Sample1.upl	Sample2.upl
package: Full_OTA_Package.zip	package :Full_OTA_Package.zip
package: FactoryReset.zip	command: FactoryReset
Sample3.upl	Sample4.upl
package: Patch_OS_Package.zip	package: Patch_OS_Package.zip
package: FactoryReset.zip	command: FactoryReset
Sample5.upl	Sample6.upl
package: Baseline_Delta_Package.zip	package: Baseline_Delta_Package.zip
package: FactoryReset.zip	command: FactoryReset

To install an UPL, copy UPL file and its corresponding OTA packages to the same location on the device. Select UPL filename to install the packages and not any individual OTA package names.

If UPL and OTA packages were copied to internal memory (/sdcard or /data/tmp/public) then these files should not be re-used.
All Devices
UPL files and OTA packages residing in internal memory of device should be deleted after they have been applied. Do not re-use the same packages or UPL files.
All Devices
UPL file cannot be installed using adb sideload mode.

All Devices
Device will reboot after applying an OTA package if Reset is included in UPL

If UPL consists of a Full or Diff OTA package and a special package:

Full OTA package shall get installed in Android AB mode (background update)

Special packages will be installed in recovery mode.
Device will auto reboot to recovery mode after Full OTA package installation has completed.
Suppress reboot flag shall not be considered in UPL update.

Status messages to EMMs
OS Update status is sent as an intent. Data Analytics captures the same and stores it in OEMInfo content provider. EMMs can read OEMInfo content provider to fetch the exact status of OS Update operation. Device does not display any kind of UI notification when an OS Update is in progress/applied/failed.

18. Possible device interruptions during an OTA package update
While a Full OTA Package is installed via AB mode in background, user of the deice will be able to use the device. Thus, device might be put to various states which can interrupt the ongoing OS Update. Device states which can interrupt the OS Update are:

Low Battery condition. If Battery falls below 30% capacity, ongoing OS Update will be interrupted and resumed only after connecting to a battery source.
Device can be shutdown, enter critical battery state, media ejected (external SD Card), or low Storage in userdata partition (<200MB). In all the above scenarios, ongoing OS Update will be cancelled.

If device is rebooted in middle of an OS Update operation, the ongoing job will be suspended for seamless update and cancelled for steaming update. On reboot of device, OS Update job will be resumed and completed only in case of a seamless update.

AB Fallback mechanism

In Android AB system if an OTA fails to apply (for example, because of a bad flash), the user will not be affected. The user will continue to run the old OS (existing OS image), and the customer can re-attempt the update.
If an OTA update is applied but fails to boot, the device will reboot back (fallback) into the old/existing OS image and device remains usable. This allows our customer to re-attempt the update.

Rescue Party Mode

Sometimes devices can end up in reboot loops, which cause customers to file support tickets or warranty inquiries. This process is frustrating for customers and expensive.
Android on SDM660 includes a feature that sends out a “rescue party” when it notices core system components are stuck in crash loops. Rescue Party then escalates through a series of actions to recover the device. As a last resort, Rescue Party reboots the device into recovery mode and prompts the user to perform a factory reset.
Rescue party logs can be collected using RxLogger. One must enable RxLogger plugin for recovery mode to collect rescue party logs.

Recovery logs
User can fetch recovery logs using RxLogger. One must enable RxLogger plugin for recovery mode to collect recovery logs.

User will not be able to pull recovery logs from /data/tmp/public/recovery path which was available in Android Oreo & Pie.
Last 10 Recovery logs are saved under this folder for debug purposes.

FAQ

Q: Which devices are supported by this release?
- A: This release supports TC53, TC73, TC22, HC20, HC50, TC27, ET60, TC58 devices. Refer to the Addendum Section for more details.
Q: How can I ensure my device is compliant with security updates?
- A: Download and install the LifeGuard Update 14-28-03.00-UG-U60 for compliance up to June 01, 2025.

Documents / Resources

ZEBRA Android 14 AOSP Software [pdf] User Guide
TC53, TC73, TC22, HC20, HC50, TC27, ET60, TC58, Android 14 AOSP Software, Android 14, AOSP Software, Software

References

User Manual

ZEBRA Android 14 AOSP Software

Introduction