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Android 4.3 Bug List Continues to Grow

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It has been only a few days since the release of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean for Google’s Nexus devices and already, we’re seeing users of the new software complain about a host of issues which are now said to include compatibility issues with Bluetooth keyboards, something that we have confirmed to be true.

In July, Google both announced and released Android 4.3 Jelly Bean for several Nexus devices including the Nexus 7 and the Nexus 4, the company’s current Nexus smartphone. Google touted all of the new features that come with the software including tweaks to the stock camera app, Bluetooth Low Energy, auto complete in the dialer and more.

Read: Android 4.3 Issues Plaguing Nexus 4 Users.

Android 4.3 has brought a number of bugs along with it.

Android 4.3 has brought a number of bugs along with it.

We’ve also heard that the software fixes some of the issues that arrived with the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update that rolled out to Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 owners in November of last year.

However, we’re also hearing about numerous Android 4.3 bugs that have popped up for owners of Nexus devices, something that seems to happen after every major Android update. We’ve heard users complain about a broken Gallery application. We’ve seen Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 owners complain about slow user interfaces, again. We’ve seen Nexus 4 owners complain about a hang up on the boot screen. Netflix is broken in Android 4.3. And we’ve heard the usual complaints about terrible battery life.

Add another problem to the list as it appears that Android 4.3 has broken compatibility with many Bluetooth keyboards. The problem, first noted by Android Police, seems to affect several different Bluetooth keyboards. We have confirmed the issue with a ZAGG ZaggKeys flex Bluetooth keyboard which pairs with the new Nexus 7 but doesn’t work. It also pairs with the Nexus 4 but doesn’t work. The keyboard did work on the Nexus 4 with Android 4.2.

Some Bluetooth keyboards don't work with Android 4.3.

Some Bluetooth keyboards don’t work with Android 4.3.

It appears that a number of other Bluetooth keyboard brands are effected as well, Spider and Kensington among them. And while Google has acknowledged that it’s working on a fix for Netflix, this Bluetooth issue and the many others that have cropped up are still without a fix or acknowledgment.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen Android behave badly with Bluetooth. Verizon Galaxy Nexus owners have had issues with Bluetooth ever since the phone launched with Android 4.0 back in December of 2011. Those issues persisted with Android 4.1 and Android 4.2 as well.

Google has not yet announced a new Android update so it’s unclear if this Bluetooth issue or any of the others will be fixed any time soon. At this point, those who are on Android 4.2, particularly those that use Bluetooth keyboards, may want to hold off on the update.

20 Comments

20 Comments

  1. George

    08/02/2013 at 2:51 pm

    on galaxy nexus here, have had nothing but better speed and smoother operation since upgrading to 4.3…and i use my phone for a few hours every day.

    best try another way to put down android against your precious kiddy ios

    • Elnows

      08/03/2013 at 1:25 pm

      Tool. Of course if yours works it must be perfect.

  2. Ronald Geiken

    08/02/2013 at 3:35 pm

    Android 4.3 is 1/2 a bug for me. The BT 4.0 seems to work OK, but I still have the Keyboard being disconnected. It seems to be in the time frame of 1/2 to 1 hour versus 10 to 20 seconds with BT 3.0. I guess that is a little consolation, but it would be nice if when I connected the BT keyboard it would keep it attached until the end of the session. I get a feeling like this is something that they forgot to do. They got the BT 4.0 there, but they forgot to take away the function that evidently checks to see if the KB is being used, and if not they turn it off. Things like this make me appreciate W7 more and more and I just hope that Android 5.X can rise to the level of things working like they do with W7. Android has too many iffy things attached to them. I had a freezing video show up in my Note 10.1, and the way it seem to have been resolved is to install the MX Video Player. That resolved the freezing. Unfortunately a lot of android users are not prepared to go shopping for fixes like I am. That tablet has 4.1.2 on it. Fortunately Samsung vets the new Android Releases. I think that the quality of W7 updates is probably superior to Google’s Android updates.

  3. Ron Campbell

    08/02/2013 at 3:53 pm

    I updated my samsung galaxy nexus two days ago to android 4.3 and my phone has been freezing and reseting itself often I think from the phone overheating when using apps like navigation but also has done it just using the phone it did not freeze and reset before upgrade 4.2.2 worked fine. this situation I believe is totaly from 4.3 upgrade.

  4. Larry

    08/02/2013 at 7:53 pm

    4.3 is buggy. They should have a way to roll back the changes. My wifi doesn’t work properly. I need to switch it off and then back on again for it work. Some of my apps have started to function weirdly. I have wasted so much time…

  5. M Simmons

    08/03/2013 at 4:03 am

    My Nexus 4 and 10 have had zero issues in the week since I updated to 4.3. I don’t use a Bluetooth keyboard so I cannot comment on that, but I do use Netflix extensively and never encountered any issues.

  6. Sion

    08/03/2013 at 4:41 am

    I’am a galaxy nexus user and facing “Message not sent” bug. I can send and get messages properly but whenever I run message app, this notificatiin suffers me.

  7. Michael Evans

    08/03/2013 at 5:41 am

    Sporadic rebooting on my Nexus 7 2013.

  8. Naveen

    08/03/2013 at 10:19 am

    Magic jack does not work on 4.3. Not sure on how to go back to 4.2.

  9. Connor

    08/04/2013 at 6:48 am

    Updated my nexus 4 a few days ago and haven’t been able to receive text messages at all since then, I can send and people receive mine but I can’t receive any all? Any ideas?

  10. kbzj

    08/04/2013 at 11:00 pm

    Galaxy nexus and Nexus 7 (2012) user here, both have improved with the update

  11. antonio

    08/05/2013 at 10:14 am

    The quick status bar icons (gps, wi-fe, bt, sync…) won’t light up so you never know whether the option’s been turned or on off :-(

  12. Ramy

    08/05/2013 at 10:35 am

    I have 2 nexus 4 devices, both have same problem after 4.3 update : volume up button is simulated to be pressed and the volume is increasing automatically

  13. Constant crashes

    08/06/2013 at 7:14 am

    Right out of the box my Nexus 7 2013 has been a disaster. There is some incompatibility, I guess, with an app and Android 4.3. I’m uninstalling an app at a time to see. It crashes, reboots, and I get the “Unfortunately Launcher has stopped working” message, and my home screen is reset to factory defaults. I spent a long time, each time, setting up that screen only to have it get blown away. Now I leave it at the stock screen rather than waste my time. I wish I’d never bought the piece of junk.

  14. Khalil

    08/06/2013 at 5:41 pm

    My nexus 7 (first gen) had it’s wifi performance great reduced since I updated to 4.3 from 4.2.2. Its almost unusable. Howto rollback?

  15. Michael Montanari

    08/06/2013 at 6:42 pm

    I’m on a galaxy nexus. Since the 4.3 update my phone can no longer see my grom audio Bluetooth system I installed in my car. This totally sucks. I hope they patch this soon.

  16. Paul Simmonds

    08/12/2013 at 7:37 am

    BT to car on both Ford Sync and after-market Parrot has issues when connecting.

    • Ian

      11/23/2013 at 3:57 pm

      I am on the Galaxy S4. I have also been having problems with Ford Sync ever since updating to 4.3, the Bluetooth doesn’t even work now and I can’t connect other devices.

      • Paul Simmonds

        11/25/2013 at 12:42 am

        Update:
        Google rolled out a 4.3 update for the Nexus4 which fixed most of the BT problems.
        Just installed 4.4 (KitKat) which also seems to be working OK

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