If you haven’t noticed already, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 comes with a slightly different TouchWiz launcher than the one that the Samsung Galaxy S6 has. As for the Android version, both these phones are running on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, which is the latest version at the moment of writing this article.
If you put both devices side by side, you might think the firmware is exactly the same. In fact, it nearly is. Both run on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop and the user interface, applications and programs are all the same. The only difference are the extra S Pen features on the Note 5 and the brand new icon pack.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has a new icon pack, with rounder icons compared to the Galaxy S6. Originally available for the Galaxy Note 5 only, Samsung has pushed updates to the Galaxy S6, with software improvements and new icons.
If you have a Samsung Galaxy S6 with the old software version, then you have to try and update to a newer software version which includes the new user interface changes. The first thing you should do is to go settings and check for an OTA update.
If you received a notification telling you that the latest update is installed, just like in our case, you have another option which involves flashing a newer stock firmware via Odin. Fortunately, this process does not void warranty or trip KNOX and you don’t even need to wipe data.
How to install Note 5 update on Galaxy S6
Installation
- Download Odin v3.10.6 or v3.10.7 zip file on your computer. Extract the zip file to receive the exe version of Odin.
- Download the updated firmware with Note 5 icons. It is more than 1.8 GB so you need to be patient while the firmware downloads. Once the file is fully downloaded, extract the zip file to receive a tar.md5 file. This firmware is designed for Samsung Galaxy S6 SM-G920F but firmwares for other S6 and S6 edge variants are available.
- Turn off your phone and boot into download mode (volume down + home + power).
- Now that your phone is in download mode, launch Odin and connect the phone to your computer with a USB cable.
- Click AP on Odin, find and select the extracted tar.md5 firmware.
- Now click on ‘Install’.
Now, the updated firmware which contains the Galaxy Note 5 icons and launcher will be installed on your Samsung Galaxy S6. The process might take a few minutes, as well as the first boot, especially of you didn’t wipe data because the phone needs to optimize all apps for the new firmware.