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Verizon Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat Update Rolling Out Now

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The Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat update, which was made available through an Over-the-Wire upgrade yesterday, is now rolling out Over-the-Air which means that those Galaxy Note 3 owners that didn’t want to plug in to download should now be able to pull down the update.

Back in January, Samsung started rolling out the Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat update. The update started off slowly but by mid-February, the update was pushing to a number of different devices and regions, including the United States. Sprint and U.S. Cellular were among the first carriers on the planet to deliver the Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 upgrade and they were closely followed by both AT&T and T-Mobile.

Verizon, a carrier that is well known for taking its time with software updates, lagged behind the rest of the pack. Days turned into weeks and unfortunately, up until yesterday, Verizon Galaxy Note 3 owners were left in the dark.

Yesterday, Verizon finally pushed out the Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade. As we noted, the update came with a bit of a twist given that it was not made available Over-the-Air. Most Android updates are pushed OTA which allows users to pull them through the device’s settings menu on the day of release.

Verizon made the update available Over-the-Wire which forced impatient Galaxy Note 3 owners to pull the update using Samsung Kies or the Verizon Software Upgrade assistant. Both require the use of a PC. At the time, Verizon did not announce plans for a Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4. OTA roll out.

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Fortunately, today, Verizon started pushing out the Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat update Over-the-Air. We’ve heard from several readers who have been able to pull down the OTA upgrade and that information has been confirmed. The Verizon Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat update is rolling out Over-the-Air and those interested in the upgrade can pull it down right now.

What’s interesting is that neither Verizon nor Samsung have posted an official change log for the Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 update. We expect the update to mirror the Galaxy S4 Android 4.4 update that pushed out several weeks ago. The change log featured Android 4.4 KitKat features in addition to enhancements and fixes. When Verizon is ready, it will post the change log for the Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat on its support page.

Verizon Galaxy Note 3 users should know that the Android 4.4 KitKat also delivers a microSD card problem that is directly associated with Android. It’s an issue that is plaguing owners of other Galaxy Note 3 models as well. There are some workarounds for the problem but they are all extremely tedious. Verizon Galaxy Note 3 owners are advised to take a look at the problems before installing the new software.

Those who installed the leaked Verizon Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat update should also avoid this OTA for the moment. If the prompt appears, simply ignore it.

Samsung Galaxy S5 vs Galaxy Note 3 -  Screen Quality

The Galaxy Note 3 Android 4.4 KitKat update represents Verizon’s latest Android 4.4 KitKat update but it certainly does not represent the carrier’s last KitKat upgrade. The Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.4 KitKat upgrades are both expected to touch down for Verizon customers in the future though it’s not clear when Big Red might offer them.

Sprint recently started rolling out the Galaxy S3 Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade and the carrier, weeks ago, confirmed a Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.4 KitKat upgrade. Sprint’s Galaxy S3 Android 4.4 update is the only Galaxy S3 update that has been released while the Galaxy Note 2 Android 4.4 update remains confined to one specific variant of the device in two major regions, France and India.

Both updates are expected to spread out during the month of May though specific release dates remain out of reach. Canadian carrier expects to roll out both updates soon though other carriers, like Australian carrier Vodafone, suggest that the updates may not roll out for several weeks and could push in June.

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Rumors suggest that the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 could be upgraded to Android 4.4.3 KitKat in the future. They also suggest that Samsung might be thinking about skipping Android 4.4.2 KitKat for Android 4.4.3. Specific devices haven’t been mentioned but given the slow speed of the Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S3 Android 4.4 updates, it could be that some carriers opt for Android 4.4.3 and its fixes.

Android update rumors also suggest that Google could be planning a brand new update for the middle of the year. Android 4.5 rumors are still fairly scarce though they do hint at some possible changes to the look and feel of Android. The rumors emerged alongside rumors that point to a Nexus 8 release later on this year.

The Nexus 8 is expected to be a high-end addition to the Google Play Store with several big time features rumored to be aboard, including a high-resolution display. With Google I/O coming up, we should  starting hearing more about Google’s plans for Android.

18 Comments

18 Comments

  1. Jobs29_dot_Com

    05/13/2014 at 3:59 pm

    ♙My last paycheck was $19863 wơrking 17 hours a week online. I’ve been doing this for almost two years now, and have made over $300k using this system. The potential with this is endless. It’s really user friendly, tasks simple and fun. Here’s what I do….

  2. Marty

    05/13/2014 at 7:56 pm

    My husband & I got the over the air update a few hours ago. Running great.

  3. Stan Stebbins

    05/14/2014 at 8:09 am

    Just received my 4.4.2 update OTA and everything is working fine including all my SD card functions. Enjhoying looking around the new OS. :)

  4. Blake

    05/14/2014 at 2:31 pm

    My note 3 has problems sending texts with the update.

  5. Rick-Pittsburgh

    05/16/2014 at 4:59 am

    No problems with the OTA update on my Note 3.

    Was laying here last night and decided to see if there was a software update on my handset and voila.

    I did notice that before the update various apps were acting buggy.

    Not sure what that was about but all is well now.

    • drewdown

      05/16/2014 at 11:54 pm

      Hey Rick. Have you noticed any battery draining issues after taking the update. I’v noticed a serious drainage with my battery. Wondering if others are having the same problem. Thanks.

      • Note3Pro

        05/20/2014 at 10:23 am

        Yes, the update drains my battery twice as fast. I have a Note 3 and within an hour I lose 20% of battery without even using it.
        This began happening right after the FORCED update.
        This has to be addressed immediately, because I didn’t even want the update.

  6. drewdown

    05/16/2014 at 11:50 pm

    After downloading the kit kat OTA update, I have noticed a significant drainage in battery life. Are there other people experiencing the same problem after their update?? Now wishing i should have been a little more patient b4 taking the update!

  7. Harold F

    05/17/2014 at 8:43 am

    Yes. I has an S4 and S3. I am seeing battery drainage and bouncing 3g to 4G and back. Along with some white screens when trying to get to the net. I have tried to update my roaming programing. The devices say programing was okay. However, still issues. Note: Both devices were functioning perfect before update.

    • Christy

      05/18/2014 at 7:05 pm

      I haven’t updated yet but have noticed big change in battery life the last 3-4 days…before last week always >50% at end of the (long) day, have had to recharge “beep beep” all weekend. Suspect several things at play here….

  8. N3 Drain

    05/19/2014 at 9:14 am

    After the update I too have a battery drain issue. Under SETTINGS –> BATTERY ‘Media’ is using up my battery. My phone went from 92% to dead in 8 hours overnight. I don’t have social media apps nor do I sync media of any type so why is ‘Media’ draining my battery? This wasn’t an issue before the update.

  9. Pete Muramasa Jasinski

    05/19/2014 at 9:26 am

    I’ve had nothing but problems since the update! Battery drains and overheats, it takes 20 mins to send a text and that’s if it even is sent. It takes hours to install apps and again that’s if it even happens at all. Photos are not saving to sd and the ones that do are corrupt. My phone went from no issues to a disaster overnight, way to go!!!

  10. aman

    05/22/2014 at 3:42 pm

    Ditto…my battery drains at least twice as fast as well

  11. Harmony

    05/28/2014 at 9:30 pm

    Ever since I did the OTA update, my battery sucks. I got this phone in December and would get at least 4 1/2 hours of screen time and now I get 1 1/2 hours if I’m lucky. Now, the ‘Android system’ is using about 20% and the ‘android OS’ is using about 12% of my battery. At one point after the update the Android system was draining my battery more than my screen!

  12. David Vanlierop

    06/03/2014 at 3:06 pm

    Like everyone else here I’m having far worse battery drain after the update. ‘Android System’ seems to be the main culprit. I put on power saving mode, installed battery doctor, cleaned out the cache and did a factory reset. Unfortunately the factory reset still leaves me with the new android update. Even after all that, the battery drains 2-3X as fast as before, when I didn’t need to use any battery saving features

  13. Yoshi Nakamura

    06/15/2014 at 2:49 am

    I have had this crazy intermittent beep noise on my NOTE 3. it will not go away but it beeps sometimes in the day and night and it’s driving me crazy. I’ just might return it because Verizon people cannot help me fix it. So This is very bad for Samsung with inferior software that drives people away from their products. Bad business when you know not how to deal with a device problem and you’re the tech in charge. I mean this beeping noise stops my music, I have to then go back to the app and press play to get the music going again and worse off, when I’m on the phone the Beeping happens again and it ENDS my call. This happened to me 4 times. I have sat with this phone for hours trying to disable all Notifications settings and nothing seems to work. This is a expensive piece of garbage.

  14. Tom Herring

    06/19/2014 at 6:13 am

    Glad to see I am not the only one having problems since the update. My battery life is horrible. Phone is quite warm to the touch when I take it out of its case even if I haven’t been using it for hours. Text messages don’t send. Phone calls don’t go. I am often without a signal in places where I never had problems before, and the screen rotation seems flakey on me, turning for no reason.

  15. Chris

    06/25/2014 at 4:36 pm

    I’m about to take this phone back to verizon and ask for an Iphone. This is non-sense. Do they not have ANY quality control whatsoever??!
    My battery drains about 6 times faster, the camera doesn’t work right, the sd card is screwed up. This is simply not acceptable service for something we pay HUGE money for.

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