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Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.3 Update Still Facing Setbacks

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The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update release is still facing setbacks, weeks after it first started rolling out and weeks after the update finished rolling out to carriers in the United States.

In October, Samsung announced that it would be rolling out Android 4.3 Jelly Bean updates to the Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2. As expected, the company started with the Galaxy S4 before moving on to the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2. By December, carriers in the United States had finished rolling out all three Android 4.3 updates and their features. And while everything is settled in the U.S., there are updates that are still facing setbacks in other parts of the world.

December could bring the Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.3 update release in some regions, with Galaxy Note 3 features.

Yesterday, we detailed the latest on the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3, and Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean roll outs that are still on going in some regions. In particular, we detailed the plight of Australian carrier Telstra, one of the only carriers on the planet that is extremely communicative with its customers.

Telstra, which earlier this week finally rolled out the Galaxy S4 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update, has yet to roll out the Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update. In fact, it has yet to even confirm a Galaxy S3 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update. Furthermore, the carrier, like French carrier SFR, has been dealing with some Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.3 update issues behind the scenes.

Originally, the Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.3 update was supposed to arrive in November though the update’s submission from Samsung was delayed for unknown reasons. The carrier then said that its target was December 23rd. After grumblings from its users, particularly those with the Galaxy Gear, Telstra updated its update schedule and unfortunately, it’s not pretty.

Instead of a specific date, Telstra has tagged a “TBC” or “To Be Confirmed” label to its Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.3 update release date, meaning it’s completely up in the air at this point. This is a setback that Telstra users probably didn’t envision when the carrier announced a December 23rd target release.

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This is one of the dangers of announcing specific release dates ahead of time. It sets consumer expectations and if those expectations cannot be met, it leads to frustration. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing from Telstra users at the moment.

Telstra of course is not alone. There are several other carriers that have yet to roll out Android 4.3, including French carrier SFR, which has publicly stated that it developed issues during testing.

Sooner or later, these Galaxy Note 2 variants will get Android 4.3 Jelly Bean though when the updates do arrive, they will have arrived weeks after many of the other major updates around the world.

29 Comments

29 Comments

  1. cheekyrealist

    01/07/2014 at 11:38 am

    I got the update on my Note 2 last night, and I am not a fan.

    Interface wise, there’s some perks with the 4.3, but I prefer the original software.

    And there are definite bugs.

    I never had a problem with my music player before the update, and now the songs will skip like a scratched CD and I keep getting an error message “Unfortunately, Amazon Kindle has stopped working.” even though I have never even opened the Kindle on my phone.

    If they clear out the bugs and reissue the update, it would be better.

    • Michele

      01/08/2014 at 7:12 pm

      Have you also had problems with your photo gallery? Every time I try to share a picture via text I get a message “Unfortunately Gallery has stopped working”.

  2. Andrew Garcia

    01/07/2014 at 5:28 pm

    Not to mention battery drain and charging issues. Was charging all day with radio streaming and netflix, pulled it off the charger and battery was at 54%. Keep in mind I do this every day and at the end of the day I always go home with a full battery. Just surfing and typing this reply I have lost 5%. Samsung won’t acknowledge the problem neither has at&t. So be happy if you have not upgraded to this garbage os.

    • karthik

      01/09/2014 at 8:32 am

      Facing the same problem with note 2 update samsung get an update early

  3. Jim

    01/07/2014 at 6:29 pm

    I have a Note 2 and I couldn’t wait to get this update but it’s not worth it. The lock screen freezes all the time. This is real frustrating trying to answer a call. The battery drain is worse and navigating screens or pulling up apps now lag or freeze. This is been going on since they rolled this out last fall. There are posts all over the internet. Guess who will be getting an iPhone when his contract is up. Samsung you need to learn what customer service is.

  4. Zoe

    01/07/2014 at 10:47 pm

    Not good Upgraded in all good faith Lock screen now flaky Has broken the pairing with the blue tooth in my car Kindle goes back to 1% read every time I exit it Calculator looks ugly Can I roll back????

  5. Jeff

    01/08/2014 at 10:12 am

    My Note 2 will not register to O2 network after update. Have spent 2 days with missed calls and O2 are now replacing it and advised not to update.

  6. Captain Dan

    01/08/2014 at 11:23 am

    DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR NOTE 2 TO 4.3, IT IS A DISASTER. I did the 4.3 upgrade , T- Mobil. The first problem is that the multi screen does not have the calendar for split screen use like 4.3 on the note 3 or 2014 10.1. Since it is in the 4.3 note 3 it does exist and why it is not in the 4.3 update for the note 2 is a major problem. The ability to have the calendar open next to an email for date reference or date insertion is a major plus. BIG DISAPOINTMENT !! For this 4.3 upgrade. NEXT MAJOR PROBLEM, the predictive word / next word program upgrade in this 4.3 version is A MAJOR DISASTER. The previous version is a jewel and worked like a charm. This new 4.3 version Is terrible, a major step backword. The new version will select your words as you type them and when you advance to the next word the program will change your previous word without your knowledge to what it wants, not what you typed and you cannot fix it as when you go back to do so it will not keep the correction when you space to the next word. No way to fix it unless you put a period after the word you type in and then backspace to erase the period. That is the only way to get the word you want. The new predictive text program does not select good follow on words like the previous version did. Also the predictive word bar above the typing touch screen has added two buttons, for “previous” and “next” which take up 25% of the space available for word choices and another 25% of the word bar is 90% of the time taken up by an arrow symbol of no use in word selection. WHY DO COMPANIES FK UP A GREAT PROGRAM with such a disaster. Couldn’t possibly been written be the original programmer, WHAT A POS.

    While I’m venting I might as well bring up another problem Samsung needs to fix. I just went through this with 2 new phone upgrades so Samsung needs to fix this. PROBLEM, upgrading from a Samsung phone to a newer model: in my case a galaxy 2 TO a note 2 running 4.3. All settings do not transfer. Why not make it simple and clone everything over to the new phone. Many settings such as current wallpaper, phone call log, favorites, pages as setup, email account settings, assigned ring tones, the predictive words profile as remembered in the program do not transfer. I’m sure there are more. IT SURE WOULD MAKE LIFE EASIER IF ALL, AND I DO MEAN ALL settings and information did a transfer, either with Kies or direct via NFC.

    Hey Samsung, you might sell more phones if it was less torturous to move or clone All ALL all settings and data (All ALL all data) to the new phone.

    anyone want to forward this to Samsung? Maybe if enough people complain then Samsung will fix the issues. -Dan-

    • Zoe

      01/08/2014 at 11:58 am

      Absolutely missed that from my earlier comment My Note 2 is the victim of this travrsty of an update As Captain Dan so rightly points out Texting now is a super human feat of concentration and going back over typed words to avoid sending gibberish Save yourself Do not apply this upgrade!

      • Tammy

        01/19/2014 at 4:01 pm

        You had me laughing out loud when I read your post because I am having the worst time trying to text….it lags which causes it to mistype and not use the space bar properly. Then I am having the strangest charging issues!! Anyone else getting a strange docking message repeatedly with there Note ll flashing between screens and repeatedly asking you to set input type? Super human is right!!! Super frustrating! I am tempted to call ATT and having them redo the software update because that helped tremendously the last time I did that when the software update did not load properly!

    • Leslee Hudnall

      01/09/2014 at 12:08 pm

      You have to touch the arrow key that is to the left taking up all your space to lock in a word you have never typed before. Then it will stick.

      • Oscar

        01/19/2014 at 9:58 pm

        Thank you Leslee … it was driving me crazy!!!!!

        But I still prefer the old spell checker much more. It assumed that I was spelling correctly but offered 3 choices in case I wasn’t.
        Now it assumes I’m misspelling and only offers 2 choices (the big arrow to the left is, as you say, taking up all my space!).

        • Captain Dan

          01/20/2014 at 8:05 am

          Oscar, your’s is the best discripition of the problem with the updated word processor, very consicze.

          When you go to move on to the next word with the space bar the word you are moving forward from will be changed from what you typed without your permission or intent. If you choose to use the arrow key to move on from your last word instead of one of the suggested words then you run the risk of entering a misspelled word into the dictionary. The predictive text / suggested word program in 4.1.2 was a dream, so intuitive, and it seems to me that the predictive word selection in the 4.3 upgrade does not suggest the more appropriate choices as well as the 4.1.2 version did.

          Another big problem with the upgrade within the same phone is the lack of carrying forward the file of words and the next word selection you have built up from your previous use.

          Secondarily but directly related this data should be able to be set to transfer to your next phone (note 3 or 4) and your note 10.1 or Galaxy tab. I for one plan on getting one of those devices in the not too distant future and it would be nice if the new machine could accept a data transfer that would sync up the predictive word / next word file as well as the contacts, phone book and calendar.

          The phone logs and favorites should be added to the transferable data and or sync also as they are not currently transferable between devices.

          Moderator please forward this thread to Samsung

          -Dan-

    • Alex MacKay

      01/13/2014 at 6:30 am

      Dan, I have had many of the same problems and know others ………..the spell check for text messages is terrible and it was awesome before………..is there a way to back track from the 4.3 upgrade??

  7. steve

    01/08/2014 at 6:35 pm

    When will people ever learn?? This is Android, you can do what you want people. You want to go back to 4.1.2, then root your phone, put a custom recovery, download the 4.1.2 rom for your carrier, then head over to xda for instructions on how to downgrade a note 2 from 4.3 to 4.1.2. It is as easy as pie. Better yet, put the Ditto Note 3 rom on your note 2 and have all the features of the Note 3. There are plenty of stable 4.3 touch wiz roms to choose from. The only thing is, if you took the official 4.3 update, then Knox is installed, so you will loose warranty. Other than that, you can downgrade or choose a stable 4.3.

    • Captain Dan

      01/08/2014 at 8:14 pm

      Yes you can do these mods, it’s a bit techie, but possible. WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE TO, Samsung should fix the update and save more people (customers) from having a poor experience. I don’t know if it is Samsung, Android, or the carrier who has responsibility for this, but if I was Samsung I would take hold of this situation and fix it fast. I love my note 2’s, my business partners and I have 3 of them between us. They are a bit pricey so we need to use them for at least 3 years to amortize the cost. -Dan-

    • Jim marin

      01/08/2014 at 9:09 pm

      Wtf?

  8. AusTX

    01/08/2014 at 8:59 pm

    I haven’t had any problems with my Note2 since the upgrade. Still learning the new features – but hey, I’m still learning the Note2.

    I have noticed the predictive text which can be controlled via the settings & also an “arrow” appears when entering an unknown word. When this happens – just select the arrow and it will add the word to your dictionary. Much better than adding them the “old fashioned way”

    Good Luck. Hope all gets better for all of you.
    Happy New Year & Happy New You xoxo
    \m/
    AT&T

  9. yasin

    01/09/2014 at 12:53 am

    I cant get android 4.3 yet.i dont know how can I do.please say me..

  10. Amrender Kumar

    01/09/2014 at 4:47 am

    Now You Can Download Top Paid apps free
    https://android2cloud.tumblr.com/

  11. Jeff

    01/09/2014 at 12:08 pm

    Turns out my Note 2 was sent S3 update.

  12. Leslee Hudnall

    01/09/2014 at 12:12 pm

    My problem after the update is I can not go to my Save for Offline files any longer. I get an error message that the Internet is no longer connected. Ugh

  13. ilke

    01/16/2014 at 9:52 am

    At least there are some people out there sharing my pain!! I was really excited to get my update, it was during Christmas time – was thinking like a Christmas gift from Samsung but how wrong I was!!
    Firstly, the software, the phone is much much slower!!! it is soo frustrating. I have been making fun of apple people and now I am suffering.
    The stupid S Note problem ‘unfortunately s note has stopped working’ error! How annoying. I have got loads of stuff I prepared with S Note and now cannot access them properly.
    Anyway, I am very disappointed. Thinking of going back to previous version but I need some clear instructions as I am not a very big tech geek. So another pain.

  14. Oscar

    01/19/2014 at 10:06 pm

    It was Christmas Eve! I was a little annoyed that my Note II started updating without asking me, but I was a little excited too, it being Christmas. After the 14 minutes were up, my phone immediately got slower and the spellchecker started working backward and inputting truly ridiculous choices in my text messages automatically, making me look like a twit. Thanks Santa!

  15. mindaugas

    01/23/2014 at 8:32 am

    When i updated to 4.3 at first everything was alright, but now note started to became more laggy. Whats the best soliution, unistal update?

  16. myt792

    02/05/2014 at 9:32 am

    I have just had this updated pushed to my phone, all 736mb of it. I dont like it. There are many reasons and I will list a few of them;

    – Multi-window – this function no longer works, the icon is dimmed out.
    – Lock screen information – this can no longer be edited.
    – Settings options – many functions have disappeared that enable you to fine tune your phone.
    – Touching icons on pages – You have to push the icons to activate or tap multiple times before it will work despite it beeping to acknowledge your first tap
    – The phone is operating very slowly despite the new version being expected to run faster.
    – Applications that rely on internet like WhatsApp still receive messages when wifi and mobile data are switched off. This can be irritating when you have 18 messages come through at 1am
    – Voice control in the camera function no longer works

    There are many more functions that do not work or are now missing.

  17. myt792

    02/05/2014 at 9:35 am

    I forgot one other irritating bug is that it cannot interpret the Swype function as well as before and is constantly splitting words into some strange none UK english. When you try to backspace one character to correct it then it deletes the entire word and you have to start again.

  18. Captain Dan

    02/05/2014 at 7:27 pm

    I have been able to fix the problem of having the last word changed when you hit the space bar. Under tools – my device – Samsung keyboard tools – auto replace. Even though mine was set to off by turning it on then turning it back off again the typing system now will not change the last word on using the space bar. For some reason after the 4.3 update the auto replace option was on even though it showed as off in the menu.

    The next word prompt is getting better as I use the writing function and the program relearns my word predictions. The problem here is that Samsung does not save your predictive text file on updating and for that matter when migrating to a newer model. This is a major problem and really discourages someone from buying a new model.

    Samsung has got to come up with a way to backup and migrate all the information files to the next model and to save them into a new update. Not just the basic phone/address book and calendar, but all the information like the predictive text file, the favorites file, the call log — Any file that is created and is unique to that user. An update and a migration to a newer device should be absolutely seamless, all data transfered. If not then the customer will have an unpleasant experience and not so loyal to the brand. A happy customer will be a loyal customer and spend more money with you. Believe me, I am in the tourism business and keeping repeat customers is critical to longevity. New customers are harder to get than keeping your existing customers, just make them happy with a problem free experience.

    And please put the calendar into the multi window selections as it is in the note 3 and note 10.1 which run 4.3 so why did you leave it out of the 4.3 update for the note 2? ??

    I will be looking at the tab pro 8.4 (why Samsung doesn’t have a note 8.4 baffles me), but if it doesn’t have the multi window calendar I’m not going to buy it. – Dan-

  19. Miku

    03/09/2014 at 7:24 am

    I have updated my Note 2 OS this morning and it is so frustrating it’s language default is only English so every time I type in local language the checker will recommend nearest word I don’t even mean. Please give us option how to change it..

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