How to turn your Galaxy S4 into an S5 with these awesome features
All the tools you need to transform your Galaxy S4 into a Galaxy S5 are already available. In this tutorial we'll show you how to get the Quick Settings, notifications shade, settings menu (in both round icon and list view), Download Booster, wallpapers, icons and the Galaxy S5 apps from the latest version of KitKat. Just as soon as Lollipop features from the S5 start becoming available on the S4, we'll bring you those as well.
- Galaxy S4 Android update: when to expect it
- Galaxy S5 Android update: when is it coming to the US?
- Buy Now: Galaxy S4 accessories from Amazon
What you need
You'll need a rooted Galaxy S4 and a few file downloads we'll move onto in a minute. You'll also need a root explorer like ES File Explorer or Total Commander.
Notification shade and Quick Settings
All you need to do for this is go into your root explorer of choice, and head into the root folder, hit System and scroll down to build.prop and open that up. You'll see a ton of information about your device. All you need to do is locate the ro.product.name and ro.product.device entries and change them to SM-N900S. Save your changes and reboot.
You'll now have the new icons in the notifications shade and your Quick Settings will look like those on the S5. If you have issues with LTE after this change, try changing the two entries to ro.product.name=hlteskt and ro.product.device=hlteskt
Galaxy S5 apps
These were leaked forever ago on XDA Developers forum so all you need to do is head over there and grab the APKs for the apps you want. Because you're rooted just delete the previous bloatware versions that you want to replace and grab the new ones you want, then install them as you would any other APK. Of course, you need to have ''Unknown Sources'' enabled in your Security settings first.
Galaxy S5 wallpapers and icons
The Galaxy S5 wallpapers you can grab with a quick and easy app install from the Play Store. There's also a decent-looking Solo theme that'll also get you the Galaxy S5 flat icons.
Settings menu with list view
All you need to do to get your Settings menu looking like those on the Galaxy S5 is to grab an APK and replace an existing root file with the new one. So head on over to this XDA Developers thread and grab the APK, then open your root explorer and copy that APK into the System/priv-app folder.
Once you've done this you need to rename the APK to something easy like SecSettings2.apk and change its permissions to look like those in the screenshot. Then you can simply remove (but don't delete) the original SecSettings.apk and SecSettings.odex (if you're odexed) and then reboot.
You'll now have two settings icons in your app drawer. One will take you to your old Settings menu and the other to the Galaxy S5-style menu. Some settings will crash, like the fingerprint scanner module for obvious reasons, but you'll have access to Download Booster and other cool features.
If you don't like the big round icons just tap the menu button (left button next to Home button) and switch to List View. Now, if you don't see List view you can jump to another XDA thread where you'll find a separate APK for the Note 3 that resolves the missing List View on the S4 as well.
Just repeat the same process above with the new APK and you'll be golden. The new Settings menu is a little unstable and some users are reporting some force closes or crashes but it's still pretty cool.
Have you set up your Galaxy S4 to look like an S5? With these changes on board is there now no reason at all to upgrade?
Source: XDA Developers, XDA Developers
With a white marker you make 5 of... 4!
Bypass Samsung's Fingerprint Lock without Losing Data
youtube.com/watch?v=I9cTwSO4vhk
Where they get the code to modify ?
Please help!! Build.prob won't save. What do I do?
U need to be rooted
Thank this worked for me ☺☺
lol how can I add the fingerprint sensor to the S4 home button and the heart rate monitor located underneath the S5 camera ? oh yeah just buy a S5 or a Note4
Heart rate monitor apps were avail before Samsung acted like they created it..it worked on my s2 when I had one..FYI :-)
One thing you can't do is make the screen about 1000% brighter and crisper. No going back.
Has anyone successfully converted the AT&T i337 NC1 running 4.4.2?
It worked, but kept crashing. I tried to revert back to the original settings app, but it keeps saying parsing error. Is there a way to regain the stock app, or am I doomed to be without a settings menu any longer?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2349584
There would be the possibility of making this process in S4 4.4.4? The phoenix custom Rom v9 is the best option, but it is giving error in installation. I believe the error is caused by the process downgrade, as is the custom 4.4.2. Thank's
Got a big problem here. After editing build.prop and trying to restart my phone, it soft-bricked. Black screen of death right after Samsung logo. It's been a week now and nothings helps. I can't flash a custom rom from sdcard because, even though my phone is rooted, I didn't have CWM as stock recovery. Tried using stock recovery, but "Signature verification failed." Tried using adb to correct the build.prop lines, but adb pull won't work. In a nutshell, I'm desperate. Can anyone save me here?
I did the Same thing man... If you still have your phone.. go to Google and search something like.. Samsung galaxy s4 stock firmware (model number here).. download the firmware.. (you'll get an md5 file that you'll have to run in odin)if you dont know about odin.. email me. If youve been versed in it just for good measure go to your reboot screen and wipe the cache.. turn it off. Then put it in download mode and run the file off odin.. it may take about a minute to get past the boot screen.. but as long as you got the correct file.. It will tell you that it's updating.. rayagudio@gmail.com
Notification shade and Quick Settings, Works fine on my s4 active i9295..thanks!!
Plz after downloading the apk for the s5 settings, the message I get is " there was error parsing the file or something. Can you plz help me with a proper apk. Thanks
Hi @theo, a parsing error usually means that the API level of the APK is different to the API of your device's version of Android. You'd be better off just reading the XDA thread (as that's all I'd be doing!) and looking for anyone with the same issue.
Works on tmobile s4 but removes network mode option for LTE changed the build prop back and the option reappears
For those having trouble with missing lte option after editing build.prop, you might wanna use the real ro.product.name or ro.product.device of the phone model your actually imitating.
Say, you want to use Note's.. instead of using SM-N900S, you have to use its actual ro.product.name/device...
Therefore, your edits should go like this:
ro.product.name=hlteskt
ro.product.device=hlteskt
Reboot your device after appying the changes. That should fix you problem.
Mine? I used the S5 (SM-G900I) with the following info:
ro.product.name=kltedev
ro.product.device=klte
Everything works great!
I have the sph-l720.. mine was... name=kltetmo and device=klteatt
can this work on the note 3?????? to make it look like s5?????
You can get the S5 settings menu (the link is in the bottom part of the article) and the wallpapers, apps etc are all fine too. I haven't tried the Quick Settings on the Note 3, but have a read of the comments above, as I remember a few people had issues going back if they encountered a problem. So just be careful before you try that one!
Will it work on note 3 neo N7505 with 4.4.2. I want to change quick setting and setting menu.
Great mod. Worked on my S4 i9505. I got tired of the S5 settings menu so tried to paste my secsettings.apk and .odex
Then restarted the phone but its stuck in a boot loop now! Tried to wipe/factory reset but nothing. Is there anyone that can help?
I am too in bootloop at samsung screen and i have tried everything and I can't even mount my phone i CWM... The only solution i see is to download stock firmware from samfirmware.com and go through Odin to get it back but it is shit to get bootloop because of this... :'(
The application " ES File Manager / File Explorer " will not let me save edited information in the buil.prop file, it comes up with an error and says its unable to save. as well as anything i paste into the priv-app folder doesn't run or it is not applied.
I have rooted my Galaxy S4 and i am running Android "kitkat" 4,4,2.
Please help.
Do you have your read/write (R/W) permissions set the same as in the screenshots? That's most likely why you can't save the changes.
Hey can u tell me what would be the changes in my s4 after rooting it
There's no visible ''change'', you simply gain access to the root level of the phone's directory, meaning you can remove pre-loaded bloatware apps, play with CPU clock speed or battery levels and a variety of other things like grant certain apps Superuser permissions so they can do things at a system level on your behalf (like perform full backups etc). You can also break things if you don't know what you're doing, so be careful! Once you're rooted though you will no longer receive over the air updates, so you'll have to update your firmware manually.
When i changed the ro.product.name and ro.product.device that worked fine but later i figured out that this change made my lte option to disappear from the network mode option and also i cudnt dial the codes like *#0011# , *#06# etc from the dialer.. Any fix for this??
Because of this i again changed the product name and device name to the original one i.e jfltexx and jflte .
I am using rooted Samsung Galaxy s4 Gt I9505.
I9505XXUFNC4
Just change the build prop back to exact original settings and your LTE will come back I tried this same thing happened to me
Hey!!! I REALLY NEED HELP!!!! I ERASED THE OTHER SETTING APK AND NOW I DONT HAVE ANY PLEASE I REALLY NEED HELP!!!!! ANSWER ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE THANKS
Hey @Isaac, sounds like you might need to either reflash stock firmware or manually flash the secsettings.apk. Just Google your current firmware version/model number to get the right apk and then just flash it through recovery.
Hi all
first time post
I have looked for the secsettings apk but the link is not available on xda dev has anyone got a link they can post???
It works but sometimes crash ..
How can i remove this Galaxy S5 settings from my phone ? please guide .
Pleas help me !
When i locate the ro.product.name and ro.product.device entries and change them to SM-N900S. Save your changes and reboot. I stuck in Black Screen . i tried 4 times and it still not work.
My phone is galaxy S4 , i9500 , 4.4.2 , NB7 , Viet Nam . Rooted . Thanks
hi, PLEASE HELP! i tried this one "Settings menu with list view" i was able to do it, however i didnt like it because some of the settings is not working.. it crashes. so what i did was i switch back to the original settings, i copied back the Secsetting.apk and odex deleted the Secsetting2.apk. also change the permission in Secsetting.apk(original). i CHECKED all the W and R. and rebooted mu phone.. now im stuck in SAMSUNG screen.. phone wont bootup completely.. PLEASE HELP ME...
Hi @Radzmin, I did the same reverse SecSettings when I got sick of the little bugs as well and it seems we did the same thing. I didn't get stuck in a bootloop though. Everything just went back to normal. Have you done a battery pull and reboot and got the same issue? You could check out the XDA thread where the APK came from and see if any users have had the same issue and if it's been resolved. Sorry I'm not more help.
Hi Cris.. thanks for the reply.. i was able to fix it restoring back to its original settings, deleted all my data.. what i did? Just wanted to share I use odin, download my firmware at samfirware.com then flash it using odin.. while my phone is in download mode.. share to everyone
Oh wow, I didn't think you'd need to go that far! But yeah, if you ever get stuck in a bootloop, reflashing the latest firmware is usually a sure fire way to fix it.
Please read my comment below
hi, i am trying to do this but i can not even seem to get past saving the first part, i change the device and name to SM-N900S, once done it asks me to save changes to exit but it says there is a error, any ideas?
hi, make sure that the ES EXPLORER is granted to your superuser.. click the menu, make sure ROOT EXPLORER is ON
Ok I downloaded the SecSettings2.apk but accidentally tried installing it. It didn't work so I uninstalled and moved secsettings.apk and .Odex back into the priv-apps folder but now my settings app does not show up or work at all. It has disappeared from the home screen and no shortcuts to it work either. It says I should install instead of update it when I try to launch the .Apk but still fails to install. Help please!!!
does it work for samsung galaxy s4 i9500???
yes . it works
On my phone there is no system tab to choose from only a device tab. Please Help
i tried this but it crashes too much, so i want to quit it, i tried to erase apk and put originals again in priv-app carpet but the config icon doesn't appear in menu, what can i do to fix it? i want to let it like it was before
I'm having the same problem now. Did you ever find a fix for it? Not only did I lose the icon, I also can't access settings through the notification bar.
Does this also work on galaxy y duos??
And other lower versions of android??
in galaxy s4 i9500 this changes are not working , i brik my phone making the change of model, i do it recovery but dont start black screen
It seems you might be having the same issue as @Danish above. Did you enter the exact model number as mentioned in the tutorial? Entering the wrong device name shouldn't brick your phone though.
hey ! i renamed the product name and product device and rebooted. so my s4 is not switching on .pls help !!!! i feel like crying now
REPLY PLS I think I set the wrong permissions
Which permissions did you set? Did you follow the exact steps in the tutorial? If you have issues, jsut connect your S4 to Odin and you can reflash the latest firmware you had. But first do a battery pull and wait 30 seconds, reinsert and see if you can boot up. if not, you could boot into recovery and go that route. I'm not sure why you wouldn't be able to boot up though, it worked fine on our S4 here.
Could it work with s4 min lte (i9195) version with android 4.4.2 update ?
it says error cannot save to file. do I have to root my s4?
Yes, for these steps to work you need to have a rooted S4. We have a link to a how-to in the article.
I did not see the link. Could you please re-post it.
i lost my lte after changing the build prop. any idea how to get it back?
Did you change anything other than the model name and number? If so, just change it back and you should be fine, but I'm not sure why changing your device name would affect LTE.
When trying this mod it works on my s4 but it changes the ability to connect with lte network. Lte network mode option is not there changed the build prop back and it reappeared.
Hi @Shane, you could check the original XDA thread for answers, but I warn you, it's 27 pages long: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2675804 I don't have LTE coverage here so I can't tell if it's working or not.
http://www.androidpit.com/how-to-transform-your-galaxy-s4-into-an-s5 , it works but I got an issue , if I wanna have the s4 bar again please tell me what to write in again , please thank you I need it ( I mean instead of SM-900S , I need to know the previews , if you need my is a galaxy s4 gt-i9505 snapdragon 600 ) thank you , reply me soon
Hey @Francesco, all you need to do is replace the model number and name of the S5 with the model number and name of your S4, so GT-i9505 should get it back to where you started.
is it working on s4 gt-i9500 kitkat
the first i do it my phone frimware got bricked.....
doesn't work at all this ifo also u will lost all data information and we hope u not give us to unperform our system on S4
my galaxy S4 too your indication doesn't work at all...why u give such info ? if not tested yet? noe I wany back my info file hoe can I restore my files u give me yo change .. SM-N900S.
quick settings : very good
settings : homebutton doesnt work, rom,
Pleade help me it doesnt save the sm-n900s in build.prop it says it cant save it what should i do ?
After that build.prop change my phone wont start. Can you help me about that?
work with s3
Working flawlessly on T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
Use the galaxy note file and it'll show up, you can turn it on and everything, I just cant figure out how to use it
When I use the Note file my device gets stuck in a reboot loop. Maybe I'll just go without it. Thanks for the reply.
I have applied the S5 setting on my S4 which is working perfectly, followed your instructions to the letter. Only thing is I don't have the download booster option. Any advice??
I can't save the file after rename it.what should i do?
Any chance of getting the new touchwiz apk?
Should the headline not be something like: "How to immitate S5 on S4"?
(Thus the S4 is not the same hardware as S5 at all....)
Perhaps, but I thought it was pretty obvious that the S5 hardware is different to the S4! If it wasn't and you could make these changes there'd be no reason to release the S5 at all!
I downloaded the two apps suggested by Android Pit but no success when change the product name using those ups. Must my s4 19500 be rooted?
Yep, you need root.
I rooted myphone but I can't change the name, why?
How did I root my phone
How do I root my phone and what does it do
Hey great tutorial it worked perfectly on my sprint s4 just wondering how to use download booster...I have it in my settings I just don’t know how to use it
Will it be possible to change galaxy s4 icons to s5 icons if using official 4.4.2 kitkat. build no. I9500XXUFNB7
galaxy s4 I9500 When i change the Build.prop Nothing happens why ?
Are you on 4.4.2?
do you think this will work on the SM-N9005 Note 3?
It should, after all, there's the additional Note 3 APK on XDA and I expect the notifications shade changes should work the same too. Try it out and let me know!
Unable to copy or rename the settings apk I'm using es file explorer
Make sure you have your root permissions set up as shown in the screenshots above. You need to have R/W permissions for /system.
How do I find the R/W permissions in the es explore? That could be why I can't figure this out
Really good! Is there any way to get rid of that second settings icon?
When I try to download the settings menu APK it wants me to update the existing settings app and it always fails. Is there a way around this?
What do you mean by ''it wants me to update''? Once you download the APK you shouldn't try to launch it. Read the article carefully. You just want to download the APK and then replace the one already found in the root of your phone. Let the system launch the app at boot.
I mean when I download it, it says download complete, then tap it to open the installer. On the installer it says would you like to install an update to the existing app? I click install then it fails. Should I not use the android installer?
Nope. Once you've downloaded it you want to move that APK into the /system/priv-app folder. But don't launch it!
I go it to work, but it doesnt workk too well, so I got rid of it.
Is it possible that I get worse battery life using the galaxy s5 toggles? Because my battery has gone down a lot faster today
How exactly did you do it?
Is the ultrapower saving mode available in this change for s4?
Unfortunately not - the new settings is basically just a skin over the old settings that will take you to those existing sub menus when you click a new settings option. So there doesn't seem to be any access to the ultra power-saving mode menu (which would obviously require more mods to function anyway). However, having said that, download booster works, so I'm a little unsure.
How do I get download booster to work? I have the settings on but I just cant seem to get it working
Hey I got the notification bar to work but I can not for the life of me get settings menu to work when I go paste the apk into my priv/app folder it keeps saying replace/overwrite and it won't allow me to move it.. I've used both es explore and total commander I'm rooted and running 4.4.2 is I there any way you can help me please? ?
It works on my sprint s4 BUT the settings doesn't have download booster and when I click something like lockscreen it'll take me too multi-window
Yeah, as I said, it's a little wonky. And for everyone having issues - stick with it. It took me an hour to get everything working properly. Try the Note 3 APK as well - the first didn't work for me either (read the XDA thread for additional tips from readers). You'll get there in the end.
Kris, will it work on AT&T Note 3?
Hey @Vladimir, I don't see why it wouldn't but have a read of the XDA thread with the Note 3 APK just in case anyone has posted any issues with the AT&T version.
.
renamin the stuff in the build prop didnt for on my tmobile sgs4????????????
will this work for the s4 active ?
Not working saying error
it works!!thanks dude!
in galaxy s4 19500 this changes are not working