We’re excited to announce that the new software update Kola Nut 1.8.5 is here. From Tuesday 19 May, the update will be available once you connect to a Wi-Fi network. Your Fairphone will check for the update automatically, or you can open the Fairphone Updater app yourself to begin the process.
How to update:
There are three steps to install the new software update. You can see how these steps work in detail in the interactive tutorial we’ve created (available in German, Dutch, French, and English).
Here’s a general outline on how to update: Step 1 is a preliminary step. The latest version of the Fairphone Updater app will be installed. Step 2 will download and install the Kola Nut 1.8.5 software update. Step 3 will reinstall Google Apps. If you wish to exclude Google Apps from your Fairphone, you can skip this step.
Please note: Users who already updated to the postponed software update 1.8 last December will lose the arrangement of their icons when updating to Kola Nut 1.8.5. We recommend to take a screenshot of your home screen icon layout before updating to 1.8.5.
Users who want keep using this version 2 Launcher (introduced in 1.8) in the future can download the APK file here. Visit this link with your mobile browser to install the v2 Launcher directly on your device.
Thank you for your patience! We especially want to thank the people who were part of the beta testing for contributing valuable community feedback.
This post is no longer a Wiki. I created a new Wiki topic here:
###The problem with the storage updater has been fixed and it’s now available again. For those who updated before and are now stuck without Google Apps a solution will hopefully come soon.###
##Things to do before you update##
First of all make a thorough backup!!! E.g. with Titanium Backup
You’ll need a Wifi connection, so if you don’t have one at home find a hotspot.
Many users reported that after the first restart the update process stops. To avoid this go to settings > developer options and tick “keep screen on” and then start the update with your phone plugged in.
Before reinstalling Google Apps be sure you finished every step of the update process and you have no problems so far. (Except for missing GAPPS) Trying to reinstall GAPPS sometime in between will increase chances of something going wrong.
After re-installing GAPPS you have to restart again and maybe add your Google Account again (Settings > Add account > Google).
If the wifi symbol stays grey and/or your contacts/calenders/mails/… are not synced, download any app from the play store and wait a while.
For users who installed the 1.8.5 storage upgrade before May 20th and are now stuck without GAPPS here is the official fix.
If you use a custom launcher you might loose your home screen setup. Some launchers offer backups of that setup but they don’t save everything. You’ll probably need to reconfigure your widgets.
If you update from 1.8 you’ll loose your home screen setup as mentioned above. If were used to the launcher with the big icons introduced in 1.8 and want it back go to this discussion.
Taking a screenshot doesn’t work on my FP1U. I have Fairphone OS 1.6 (Cherry), and nothing happens if I press volume down and on/off. If I press both keys very long, my Fairphone makes a hard reset, but still it doesn’t store a screenshot.
I found this old topic about problems with screenshots and it suggests that for some people it’s not easy to press both buttons simultaneously. But with the right timing it should work. Also you only have to hold the buttons for a second so there is no chance to do a hard reset.
PS: If you don’t get it to work at all you can also use apps like AndroSS or ChronoSnap (I haven’t tried them) or take a pic with some other camera.
@timbuktu: You’re probably just a little bit early. Yes, the update is sheduled to be sent out today, but ‘today’ is a bit elastic. Could be in the afternoon.
I upgraded manually yesterday. My Updater app says that I’m up to date, running 1.8.5 - but also tells me that the latest version is 1.6
Thank you for this update.
This time the installation was without any problem. It’s good that Google apps installation can be started from Fairphone Updater app. And it’s very good you are backporting some security fixes.
Just one question. I use Apex Launcher (sorry, I don’t like the default Fairphone launcher), after installation 1.8.5 all widgets are gone. Even restoring the backup in Apex menu didn’t help. I know, that i may be not the problem of Fairphone, but I’d like to ask, if there’s someone who has similar problem with an alternative launcher after updating.
I’ve just installed the update and reinstalled Google Apps. However, I can’t get into any Google Apps (eg Docs/Drive) as it says that no Google account can be found. Some apps (eg Cloud Print) ask me to add an account but nothing happens - no log-in box is shown.
Well then I guess neither the Apex backup nore Titanium backup saves widgets.
I use Buzz Launcher and although it saves wich widget is placed where it doesn’t save the widgets configurations. Some widgets save them themselves but all the others I have to reconfigure after each software update.
First of all make a thorough backup!!! E.g. with 
