Android 5.0 Lollipop to begin rolling out to Sprint's Galaxy S5 tomorrow
Chance Miller / 9to5Google :
Context & Ripple Effects
Two days after Verizon became the first US carrier to push Android 5.0 Lollipop to the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sprint is following with its own rollout starting tomorrow — a familiar carrier-by-carrier cadence where each big network certifies and ships the same build on its own schedule.
The timing matters because Google has already moved on: Android 5.1 was confirmed the day before Sprint's announcement, meaning the flagship Lollipop release is still trickling out to carrier devices while the next revision is already shipping elsewhere.
First-order effects
- Sprint's Galaxy S5 owners gain Material Design and Lollipop features tomorrow, closing the gap with Verizon customers who got the same update two days earlier.
Second-order effects
- AT&T and T-Mobile face mounting pressure to certify their own Galaxy S5 builds quickly, since being last among the four carriers becomes a visible customer-service negative.
Third-order effects
- If every major Android revision requires per-carrier certification before it reaches flagships like the Galaxy S5, updates will keep arriving months late for most US buyers — the structural lag that pushed Google toward faster-update programs and that later shows up in carrier alliances around platform features like RCS messaging.
The trend: US Android updates remain hostage to carrier-by-carrier certification cycles, with Verizon setting the pace and rivals trailing within days.