Lollipop Screwed my Xperia Z Ultra Experience.

[Cyphr]

I must begin by saying,I hate the Lollipop update on XZU. The clownish bright colors and whites. I so badly miss the dark default Sony theme of Kitkat 4.4.4 The notification dropdown in all black just looked so sexy. All text and images used to pop on it. Now it just looks so stupid in white and grey. Earlier I used to just love looking at my phone's gorgeous display. No more..Lollipop ruined it totally and I regret my decision so badly to update the phone. 

Is there any way I can rollback to Kitkat 4.4.4? I want to keep the OEM rom. 

[Thommo]

You need to manually flash your phone to downgrade - You will need a .ftf firmware file and with that manually flash using Flashtools,

Ignore the title but do follow the guide and look for a firmware ending with .108 which is KK 4.4.4 - Customized is generic and free from network branding

[Cyphr]

Thanks, bruh. Any chance you could have a link to a trusted source where I can find the OEM .108 firmware which is untampered? 

Thanks.

[Thommo · Accepted solution]

Sorry forgot to add the link to the guide in my post above - Please see here - again ignore the title but do follow the guide which is the same for all Xperia devices

[Cyphr]

Thanks so much!

[tiangiron]

@Cyphr I have the same sentiments as you. In my opinion, Lollipop did really screw the Z Ultra experience. I am loving my phone (C6833) running KitKat 4.4.4 out of the box. I updated mine last night through PC Companion. At first I was happy with Lollipop but then it all disappeared when I started noticing the bugs and changes. I like KitKat's Notif/Status Bar waaaayyy more than this. The dark background just looks sleek and elegant. And not only that, I like the overall appearance and UI of the apps in KitKat. The Recent Apps button - I just don't like the way the Recent apps are displayed. You can't even close them all in one tap - this is a feature lost! And in the lockscreen, after pressing the power button, you need to swipe up first before being able to draw your unlock pattern - it's ridiculous!

It also seemed that the battery drains faster by about 10% and the phone also heats up faster (I'm not sure but these are what I've noticed). It looks like the Stamina Mode just fails to do its job well. And another important thing - I've experienced a slowdown in transition when switching apps and in swiping at the homescreen.

If these bugs persist, I might consider using the guide to flash the OEM KitKat back. Btw, thanks a lot to @Thommo for the guide/solution. I MISS KITKAT.

[Thommo]

I have the UK Generic firmware for 4.4.4 if needed C6833_14.4.A.0.108_UK Generic.ftf for the C6833 as it's the phone I have and use daily

[HolyItsaRaccoon]

I'm so happy you posted this.

Can confirm that your advice has successfuly downgraded my phone back to Kitkat for my Unlocked Xperia Z Ultra without any problems.

I've also disabled System Update Notifications so that I'll never be reminded of this horrible update ever again.

[tiangiron]

@Thommo Are the ROMs with Operators labeled as "Customised" the Generic ones?

[tiangiron]

@Cyphr Have you flashed KitKat 4.4.4 back?