The JBL Charge 4 power bank speaker, top view, showing the buttons panel.
Here’s our JBL Charge 4 software update instructions. This routine can take up to thirty minutes to finish, depending on the speed of your internet link. Plus, you can’t undo it once done. That is, you won’t be able to return to any prior firmware version after installing a software upgrade. So, be sure that you indeed want the update before going ahead with it.
You’ll need and internet connection, a Bluetooth enabled mobile or desktop computer device, the JBL Connect app, and the speaker itself.
So, connect your mobile device to the internet and install the JBL Connect app if you haven’t already.
Connect your Charge 4 JBL to household power, because we don’t want its battery going dead during the software update. A dying battery could corrupt the programs in the speaker’s memory, therefore bricking the speaker, rendering it useless and not repairable.
So, to be safe, plug the speaker into AC power, using the included USB-C cable, as shown in the next picture.
Finally, connect the other end of the USB-C cord into a strong enough AC adapter, and plug that adapter into a working AC outlet.
Then, pair your mobile device with the speaker.
You are now ready to begin the updating software process.
We found ours on the fourth home page in the Apple iPad Air 2, as shown next.
The app takes a few seconds to show you some pretty animations when you first start it, as shown in the next picture.
But then it finds your paired JBL Charge 4 BT speaker and shows you its status screen, as pictured next.
Note the red dot on the Settings button in the bottom center of the speaker’s picture, as pointed at by the green arrow. This means that there are important actions to take pending for this speaker.
Also note that if there are no current messages or software updates available for this particular speaker, then no red dot will appear. In that case, your speaker already has the latest version of the onboard software.
Touching the Settings button brings up the screen about the available software upgrade, as shown next.
This screen gives details about the available software update. In our case here, it suggests the JBL Charge 4 upgrade to software version 3.0.0.0. It also tells us that the current software version is 2.7.
Touching the Upgrade bar brings up the Plug Speaker In screen if you haven’t connected the speaker to AC power yet, as shown in the next picture. Otherwise, the upgrade process starts. Jump down to step 5 to see the screenshots of that process in action.
If this screen comes up, then go ahead and attach your speaker to power, as described at the top of this post. Then, tap the I Followed the Instructions button. This is the gray bar in the last picture, pointed at by the dark blue arrow.
The update then starts. The Connect app displays a progress screen as shown next, to let you know how far along the upgrade is.
We’re probably about a minute into the upgrade at this point in the process.
Once the app copies the upgrade file to the speaker, you get the Restarting screen, as shown next.
But note that the speaker is still in the process of installing the new software for several minutes after the Restarting screen appears. This screen alerts us that the speaker will restart automatically, and it asks that we not to unplug the speaker while it’s running the upgrade. As this goes on, keep your speaker close to the mobile device running the app while the speaker upgrades.
Watch the Power light on the speaker, as shown next. That lamp will soon go dark, as shown next, pointed at by the green arrow.
The speaker may or may not turn itself back on again. Ours did not. If, like ours, yours did not come back up after the software update, then go ahead with the next step (Step 7). But if yours did come back online though, then skip Step 7 and pick up with Step 8.
Press the dark Power button to turn the JBL Charge 4 on again. The unit should again pair with your mobile device where you’re running the JBL Connect app. The Power and Bluetooth buttons turn solid white as your speaker successfully pairs again with your tablet or phone, as shown next.
Meanwhile, back in the Connect App, the Upgrade Successful appears when the app receives confirmation from the speaker that the software update completed without errors, as shown next.
With your speaker successfully paired to the JBL Connect app again, press the orange OK button, as pointed at by the dark blue arrow in the last screenshot.
The app then displays the JBL Charge 4 status screen once more. However, this time, note that there’s no longer the red dot on the Settings button, as shown next. This means that the software update succeeded and that the speaker is now running the current firmware version. In this case, it’s version 3.0.0.0.
You’re now successfully updated the software to the current version in your JBL Charge 4 portable speaker.
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