Upgrading android 4.2.2 to android 4.4.4?

Legally should not be a problem (it’s your phone), whether it voids your warranty is a different issue.

Unfortunately, though, for most devices, it’s not possible to update it yourself – especially not if you don’t want to mess with custom builds yourself. Thus, unless your manufacturer has published an updated version of Android, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. (Also, I think this is something to keep in mind when you buy your next phone, although there are just few phones that will continue receiving updates.)

Edit: Your phone appears to have a MediaTek chipset. I don’t know much about that, except that mine has one as well and that MediaTek is terrible when it comes to allowing updates. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t publish the source code of the chipsets (even though it should legally be bound to do so), so third-party developers cannot work on upgrades as easily either.

You might be interested in this infographic by HTC which details the very, very lengthy process of publishing an updated version of Android for your phones. (From here.)

Go to Settings / About Device, and click on the Updates area.

If there is an update to 4.4.4 then it will download. That’s the only legal way.

If you want to Root your phone (which is what I do) then there’s a whole other process, but that’s too complex for a Fluther answer.

NOTE: I had 4.4.4 for a week or two, but rolled back to 4.4.3 because some of my apps didn’t work. So be cautious in what you want.

@elbanditoroso why did that happen? The apps you installed were suitable for 4.4.3 or there are not many apps to download from google play for 4.4.4?

@dina_didi – no idea. The app that broke was from my bank – the one that I use to check my balance. I would guess that they tested the app on 4.4.3, and then 4.4.4 was released after they released the app. In any event, I couldn’t log into my back on the phone until I rolled back.

Legal? Rooting an Android device and installing something like Cyanogenmod is legal; the Supreme Court says so. Apple tried to stop people from jailbreaking iPhones (the equivalent of Rooting Android) and lost.

Authorized by Google? Android is Open Source. Look into what that really means, and realize that Google is merely the biggest developer. Unless Google wants to violate GPL licensing terms, Google’s approval is irrelevant. That said, Google tends to be agreeable anyways. For instance, while they won’t allow third-party Android distros to include Google apps (Maps, Play…), they will (and do) allow them to distribute those apps in a separate package. When I installed Cyanogenmod on my Nook Color, I merely had to download/install 2 packages (the Android OS and Google Apps) instead of one.

So the only real problem is finding a version that is fully supported by your device. In general, such upgrades come in two flavors; Stable, which have been proven to work, and “Unsupported”, which include works-in-progress, similar-but-not-the-same versions that work on nearly-identical device, and just outright kludges. I run a Stable release of Cyanogenmod on my NC and all is well. But that’s on their list of Supported Devices, so a Stable release actually exists; I’m not sure if one exists for your device, and I really wouldn’t try the other kind.

@jerv CyanogenMod looks really cool! I’m going to install it and see what I can do! I heard that Android 4.4.4 KitKat is suitable for most android devices. I hope it will work for my device! Thank you all for your help!

@jerv While the core of Android may be open source, keep in mind that Google’s apps are not, and key parts of the experience are being transitioned to being Google’s apps instead of open source Android apps.

@Vincentt Google and the devs of Cyanogenmod already had a legal go-round on that, and it was settled amicably (before it ever saw court, or even filings), resulting in the two-package approach, much as most Linux distros don’t automatically have the codecs for MP3. In fact, Google is actually somewhat supportive of Cyanogenmod, as are HTC, Motorola, and Samsung. But I see what you’re saying, and see how it’ll lead to forking and other issues beyond the scope of this question.

@jerv My comment was not in relation to Cyanogenmod, it was in response to your paragraph starting with saying how it was open source and then ending (implying a causal relationship) with that you can install Google’s Apps on other phones. :)

@Vincentt I know, but I am unaware of the details of other custom ROMs as far as Google’s dealings with their devs, so I spoke about the one that I do know about… which also happens to be the most popular of the bunch. My Nook Color runs Google Apps legally and with Google’s permission though.