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Samsung Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat Release Hits Snag in U.S.

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A Samsung Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat update release in the United States hit a snag that has forced Samsung and the carrier behind the update to temporarily halt the roll out while they work to improve the Android 4.4 KitKat update.

Since February, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat update has been rolling out to devices all over the world. The update has landed in international regions like France and England and it has also landed for users here in the United States. Sprint was the first to push out the Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade but other carriers soon followed.

U.S. Cellular and AT&T both pushed out their versions of the Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat update. They were soon followed by T-Mobile, who weeks ago, delivered Android 4.4 KitKat update to its customer base. Earlier this month, Cricket Wireless started deploying its Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat update and in a bit of a surprise, AT&T rolled out its second Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat update.

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On April 16th, AT&T pushed out the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Android 4.4 KitKat update. The update arrived just a few months after it received Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and just a few short weeks after AT&T delivered the update to the regular version of the Samsung Galaxy S4. As expected, it brought a number of enhancements to Galaxy S4 Active owners including Android 4.4 features, copy and paste enhancements, improvements to call reliability, and a several other upgrades. It’s a massive update and checks in at over 400MB in size.

While the news was great last week, the Galaxy S4 Active Android 4.4 KitKat update has taken a sinister turn. For unknown reasons, Samsung and AT&T have halted the Galaxy S4 Active Android 4.4 KitKat update. In bright red font, the carrier exclaims that the update is “is temporarily unavailable.

In comments provided to Android Police, Samsung says that the Android 4.4 KitKat “software update for Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is temporarily on hold while AT&T and Samsung look into potential improvements.” In other words, the reason for the stoppage remains extremely vague and the companies are unlikely to provide much more info to Galaxy S4 Active owners.

Turnarounds after stoppages vary. We’ve seen roll outs start up again just days after being halted and we’ve also seen roll outs vanish for weeks without any explanation. The Telstra Australia Samsung Galaxy S4 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update, for example, was halted weeks ago and it’s still not clear when or if it will be returning to the airwaves.

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In other words, Samsung Galaxy S4 Active owners need to remain patient as AT&T and Samsung work through whatever caused the companies to halt the software roll out. Those who are eager to install Android 4.4 KitKat will want to keep an eye on the device’s software support page. AT&T will likely give the all clear there when the software is ready for public consumption.

While Samsung’s Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update was marred by roll out issues, this is the first major roll out issue that’s impacted the Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat update roll out in the United States. The previous roll outs deployed without a hitch, a far cry from the Galaxy S4 Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update that was halted on a number of carriers.

There are, however, still a number of Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat updates left to go. The Verizon Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat update remains missing in action without a release date and MetroPCS and C Spire Wireless still owe Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 KitKat updates to their customers. Neither of them have provided any information about their respective Android 4.4 KitKat releases.

Verizon is the only U.S. carrier that has yet to roll out a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat update. The Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat update has been rolling out since January.

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The Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat updates will be followed by Android 4.4 KitKat upgrades for the Galaxy Note 2 and the Galaxy S3. Samsung USA confirmed upgrades for its versions of the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S3 and Sprint already confirmed upgrades for both of its devices.

Yesterday, Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S3 Android 4.4 KitKat update details pegged updates for the major U.S. carriers including AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Those Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.4 upgrades remain unconfirmed and could stay that way for weeks.

Samsung also promised a number of other Android 4.4 KitKat updates for Galaxy-branded devices. The Samsung Galaxy Mega, Galaxy S4 mini, Galaxy S3 mini, Galaxy S4 zoom, Galaxy Tab 3, Galaxy Note 8.0, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, and Galaxy Light should all get Android 4.4 KitKat down the road though Samsung still hasn’t confirmed any release details for U.S. users.

The company’s Android updates typically roll out at random which means that owners of these devices probably won’t be able to pinpoint releases for specific devices or specific carriers.

5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. Brandon Marks

    04/22/2014 at 11:11 am

    I downloaded it Sunday night and installed it yesterday morning. I could then no longer use my touchscreen. A couple others had the same issue.

    • Jerry

      04/22/2014 at 3:07 pm

      I have 2 S4 Actives… 1 updated fine and the lost all touchscreen function immediately after rebooting from the update.

  2. jeremy abney

    04/22/2014 at 6:16 pm

    Same here, touch screen went dead after update.

  3. kshea

    04/23/2014 at 10:06 am

    I’m hoping when the kit kat is available for the note 3 on verizon that it will fix the internet stopping problem.

  4. Thomas

    04/24/2014 at 12:21 am

    I have a SG Note 3, after my update 1 week ago. Lost voice command function in the whole device. Also my emails are all jacked up. I depend heavily upon my emails. Now I can’t sync them with the server. And Btw yes I tried all the so called fixes on the net. 4.4.2 kit kat needs attention from the developers FAST. There are way to many issues for these highly expensive devices. Please reply.

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