Android 5.0 Lollipop is still the hottest update rolling out to smartphones around the world, even though Android 5.1 Lollipop has hit devices higher on the upgrade queue -- and even an Android 5.1.1 Lollipop has been spotted. For users of the Samsung Galaxy S4 on U.S. carrier Verizon (model number SCH-i545), the wait for an OTA rollout of Android 5.0 Lollipop is over, as it's available now.

We previously commented on how the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S4 Active got the first official Android 5.0 Lollipop OTA rollout in the U.S., and how users of the GS4 on Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon were left hanging.

This was likely because of problems stemming from the mix of Android 5.0 Lollipop and the nearly two-year-old Galaxy S4 during an update rollout in February in the earliest Lollipop test market for the device, Scandinavia.

Now, the OTA rollout announcement for Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 devices may hint at an end to the temporary setback for all U.S. carrier Galaxy S4 handsets that have been waiting for their Lollipop. But first things first: Verizon.

The Android 5.0 Lollipop update is now hitting the U.S. for Verizon customers with Samsung's 2013 flagship smartphone in an OTA (over-the-air) rollout. According to Android Police, the precise software version of the Android 5.0 Lollipop OTA update for the Verizon Galaxy S4 (SCH-i545) is LRX22C.I545VRUGOC1. Check out Verizon's page for more details.

This means your GS4 is ready for an upgrade -- either through an OTA notification that should hit your phone sometime between "already" and the next week or so, or sooner, if it hasn't, using Samsung Kies. As always, OTA rollouts like this are done in stages, so using Kies may be your best bet.

The Lollipop update is exactly Android 5.0, so keep an eye out for some of the issues that sprung up for Lollipop users that Google fixed in Android 5.1, along with bugs like the Contacts app freezing, which the previous GS4 Lollipop guinea pigs reported.

Android 5.0 Lollipop brings new features to quick settings and the lockscreen, more "priority" control over notifications and alerts, and of course, Android Lollipop's much-vaunted Material Design (among many other changes in this comprehensive OS update).

And on top of that, as Verizon noted, this particular OTA update for Android also comes with a refinished Samsung TouchWiz UI, along with a KNOX update that should speed things up if you use that security suite.

Some previous Lollipop updates for the Galaxy S4 did not include a TouchWiz upgrade, so Verizon customers can count themselves lucky (assuming the new TouchWiz is in line with Samsung's recent goals to mostly get out of the way).

As we mentioned this week, though, the official OTA rollout delay in the U.S. didn't mean you had to settle for an older version of Android, as a near-universal (Qualcomm chipset only) Galaxy S4 Lollipop ROM was finalized and ready for flashing -- but only for those savvy enough to know how to do it, and only if voiding what's left of the phone's warranty wasn't a problem. We don't recommend it and aren't responsible if you brick your phone.

But going nuclear with a custom ROM may not be so necessary, even if you're on Sprint, T-Mobile, or another carrier that's behind on its update -- since the appearance of Verizon's OTA rollout of Lollipop is at least a hopeful sign that other Galaxy S4 devices in the U.S. may get an Android 5.0 Lollipop release date soon.

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