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Android 4.4.2 KitKat Problems, Frustrations Mount for Nexus Users

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Unsurprisingly, Android 4.4.2 KitKat problems and frustrations have increased since the release of the latest Android 4.4 KitKat update as Nexus 7, Nexus 4, and Nexus 5 users in particular have started relaying many of the issues that are seemingly plaguing Google’s first major update to its new Android 4.4 KitKat operating system.

Earlier this week, Google surprisingly started rolling out its fourth version of Android 4.4 KitKat. In November, we saw the first Android 4.4 KitKat start rolling out to Nexus users thought that update was seemingly halted so that Google could install another build, a build that apparently tackled problems plaguing the first one. That explained why it took so long for the first Android 4.4 KitKat update to land for some users.

Nexus 5

Almost immediately after the Android 4.4 KitKat update arrived, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 5, and Nexus 10 users started complaining about problems with Android 4.4 KitKat. As we’ve pointed out numerous times, this wasn’t much of a shock given that Android updates for Nexus devices typically bring bugs along with them, just like most major updates do.

Google acknowledged some of the problems on its Google Product Forum though it declined to say when it would be offering the first major Android 4.4 KitKat bug fix update. Last week, that question was answered when Google detailed Android 4.4.1 KitKat, the first major update to the operating system and an update that focused on improving the camera experience on the Nexus 5.

As we soon learned, the Android 4.4.1 KitKat update was also focused on tackling some of the issues present on board Android 4.4 KitKat, including a pesky Exchange bug that was causing massive battery drain for many Nexus users.

Earlier this week, rumors suggested that an Android 4.4.2 KitKat update was close and sure enough, Android 4.4.2 KitKat started rolling out in place of the Android 4.4.1 KitKat update for Nexus users. In fact, Android 4.4.2 KitKat is still rolling out for Nexus users.

While the update is aimed at solving problems, it appears that the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update is continuing to be a problem of its own. Earlier this week, we touched on some of the initial issues that started plaguing Nexus users and now that the smoke has cleared and the update has settled onto more Nexus devices, we’ve seen an uptick in complaints about Android 4.4.2 KitKat’s various issues.

Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 1.52.59 PM

One of the major issues that we ourselves have encountered is an issue wherein the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update appeared and started downloading, only to see an error pop up during the download process. We were forced to perform a cold reset and the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update hasn’t prompted our Nexus 5 since. This does not appear to be an isolated issue. Google’s product forums are currently loaded with complaints, and frustrations, from Nexus users.

From what we can tell, there is no immediate fix for this issue. We haven’t tried a factory reset just yet but that could ultimately be a solution to the problem. It often is for some of these kinks. Users who do want to perform that will want to be certain that their data is backed up before wiping the device.

This isn’t the only problem that has surfaced in the last few days either. There is a lengthy thread where Nexus 4 users are complaining about Bluetooth issues. Some users are reporting success after shutting off Wi-Fi but that of course means users are going to have to eat into cellular data.

Nexus 5 users are complaining about video quality taken at night, something that they figured wouldn’t get worse when Android 4.4.1 was touted as a major update to the Nexus 5’s camera.

We’re also seeing sporadic complaints about Exchange, battery life and some smaller more isolated bugs that are causing Nexus users quite a bit of trouble. These are just a sampling of the issues Nexus users are facing.

Nexus-7-review-2013-003-575x330

So far, we haven’t seen Google confirm any imminent fixes for any of these issues which means that users will unfortunately be stuck leaning on each other for support or keeping an eye on Google’s product forum for official news from Google.

Fortunately, Android 4.4.2 KitKat has reportedly tackled Android 4.4 KitKat issues for at least some Nexus users and we ourselves have seen improvements with the Nexus 5’s camera overall. Still, from the looks of things, Android 4.4.2 KitKat isn’t perfect and there is still some ironing out that Google needs to do before it releases its next major upgrade.

42 Comments

42 Comments

  1. lou

    12/13/2013 at 2:44 pm

    Have a Nexus 4, downloaded KitKat, short while after charged my phone and the battery started to melt – could smell battery and plastic. Obvious red light and death. Phoned Google and they sent another phone but I’m not updating…

  2. Tim

    12/13/2013 at 2:49 pm

    No issues at all on Purity Rom 4.4.1

  3. Ralph

    12/13/2013 at 7:21 pm

    4.4.2 on a 2012 nexus 7 has wrecked the press/hold on web links. On a 2013 version press/hold randomly becomes the default. Rotation of screen seems to make the home button work. Then chrome behaves properly for a while. Google says its a hardware prob! Sounds like a MS excuse.

  4. Shiraz

    12/14/2013 at 3:38 am

    Using Nexus5 in Pakistan: Not using Exchange but 4.4.1 upgraded to 4.4.2 OTA 3 days ago and things seem fine now. The only issue I have faced is with Skype which is behaving odd (not sure if MS or Google is the culprit). Other apps are working fine (though I’m missing Galaxy S4 weather widget SMS schedule feature and 16:9 camera).
    — Shiraz

  5. T

    12/14/2013 at 4:04 am

    My nexus 5 battery life got bad after update 4.4.2. This happens all the time. Why why why. No more nexus for me.

  6. cp2

    12/14/2013 at 4:48 am

    New Nexus 5, got it last week. Kit Kat 4.4.2 was installed during initial start up. Have seen no issues at this point. All looks good thus far

    • Paul Werner

      12/14/2013 at 3:27 pm

      Nexus 5 & 7 (2012) working fine here too

  7. Nicolas Ruiz

    12/14/2013 at 5:39 am

    In my case my nexus 5 works just fine. The problem is with my nexus 7. My widgets and icons get deleted from my launcher… Had 3 screens and turned to one without icons. It has happened twice since upgrade.

    • Jhabril H.

      12/14/2013 at 9:23 am

      This just happened to me a few minutes ago!!!

    • Charles-in-Paradise

      12/15/2013 at 8:36 pm

      It did the same on my Nexus 7, but I had side loaded the Google experience from the nexus 5.
      Since it uses a different launcher, its sometimes doesn’t move the icons over or remember them. It also removes blank pages. To fix just drag a icon from the page you have to the screen it will show on the right. I had up to 7 screens with one of them being Google now.

      • rickneworleansla

        12/16/2013 at 5:54 am

        I had this happen too on my 2012 nexus 7. I thought I did this on accident. Thanks for the explanation. I now know I’m not going crazy.

  8. Mike Hill

    12/14/2013 at 7:19 am

    No problems on either a US version of Nexus 7 2012 or my Nexus 5. Both updates loaded first time and despite me having some rather complex apps, all is still working. No battery life or overheating issues from this power user based in Europe.

  9. nathan

    12/14/2013 at 7:46 am

    My nexus 7 2013 WiFi model running 4.4.2 has had zero problems. Sometimes I wonder if the problem isn’t the user.

  10. jon

    12/14/2013 at 9:08 am

    Technology propaganda makes me laff..

    • jj

      12/14/2013 at 9:19 am

      Laugh.

      • jon

        12/15/2013 at 5:07 am

        Laff, like har har, Or tiff tiff..

  11. philip turgott (@PTurgott)

    12/14/2013 at 9:20 am

    Got a Nexus 7 (2013) and it had problems (rebooting, bluetooth) with the initial 4.4.0 build; when 4.4.1, those got fixed, but a couple of apps got slow. The 4.4.2 seems to have fixed all the issues. So for some people, at least, it’s an improvement.

  12. jamdev12 (@jamdev12)

    12/14/2013 at 10:16 am

    Sounds like PICNIC but the smart phone type. I thought a smart phone was to make you seem smarter? Not so it seems.

  13. Leandro Lumerante

    12/14/2013 at 10:33 am

    When I bought the N7 where I’m writing from WiFi connection sucked. KitKat 4.4.1 fixed that and 4.4.2 seems to be working without any problems so far

  14. ktowndoug

    12/14/2013 at 12:10 pm

    Nexus 7 (2013) with sideloaded 4.4 upgraded to 4.4.2 downloaded via Wi-Fi. No issues with install or reboot.

  15. Les

    12/14/2013 at 2:07 pm

    Since upgrading to kit Kat 4.4.2 on my Nexus 7 2013 I have had apps and widgets disappear from my home page on numerous occasion when I shut down and reload. Never happened before. Does anyone else have this happen?

    • JimS

      12/14/2013 at 3:59 pm

      Same thing happened on my Nexus 7 2013, after 4.4.2 update.

  16. Loren Tholcke

    12/14/2013 at 3:13 pm

    2 nexus 5s and 2 nexus 7(2013) got updated to 4.4.2. No problems. I did sideload on the N5s and on 1 N7 since I am impatient.

  17. Buz Kaido

    12/14/2013 at 5:40 pm

    I hope i’m not celebrating prematurely…
    4.4.1 Trashed my N-7 (2012) a couple of weeks ago; been praying and checking for updates ever since…
    About 2 hours ago, checked again; 4.4.2 was downloaded and waiting!
    Installed smoothly, “optimised” all my apps, rebooted, and everything’s great after playing with everything I can think of. The most exciting thing is that auto-rotate works again; I no longer have to turn my head sideways to read my email.

  18. Rod

    12/15/2013 at 4:06 am

    Nexus 4 user here. KitKat & it’s recent update have been disasterous! Never had many problems with my phone until now. My Wi-Fi signal is now very weak at all times. Even when standing right next to my router! My battery life has also been worse than usual. It was already bad before KitKat but since KitKat my fully charged battery has been overheating & draining itself of all power in minutes. Major battery drain. I wish I had waited to update.

  19. Jay

    12/15/2013 at 7:52 am

    Updated to 4.4.2 nexus 4. Battery life has improved. Things seem to be better overall

  20. Eli

    12/15/2013 at 1:41 pm

    Could this article be any worse. Half of it is explaining the launch history of Kit Kat, we know. Then barely explains the problems. I had to read the comments to actually get any real info. I am glad to know about the neighbours mom who makes so much money at home.

    • Enoch Powell

      12/15/2013 at 11:30 pm

      Don’t think the article could be worse. That said I think it was actually written by the lady who works from home.
      N5, N7 2012 and N7 2013 all on 4.2.2 via OTA updates. All working flawlessly

  21. Chen

    12/15/2013 at 5:48 pm

    Have nexus 7 (2013) 4.4.2 using ART runtime.
    Haven’t had any problems since 4.3.

  22. John Fuller

    12/15/2013 at 8:23 pm

    4.4.2 runs great on my SG2 t989 thanks to the ROM hackers thddude & cyanogenmod. Release is hellkat-20131214-hercules with GAPPS pa_gapps-stock-4.4.2-20131214 package and TWRP.

  23. nexus4wmc

    12/16/2013 at 1:29 am

    No major issues with 4.4 or 4.4.2, only battery life is half of 4.3. Vast improvement after turning device manager. Goto setting, security, device administrators. Then signoff Google+, delete location history, turn off location reporting. Reboot, sign on Google+, turn on location reporting and history. Additional step is disable hangouts n uninstall updates before reboot and enable it after.

  24. Roger Shelton

    12/17/2013 at 2:20 pm

    you folks keep showing these devices on a nice looking stand. Can you tell me what stand it is? Looks like metal with rubber feet. thanks.

  25. truthseekernz

    12/23/2013 at 11:05 pm

    The bluetooth / wifi issue may well be an LG issue. I had a very similar problem on my LG Optimus 3D running Android 2.3.

  26. clinklaterclinklater

    12/27/2013 at 12:11 am

    As soon as I updated to 4.4.2 on my Nexus 4, I could no longer connect to my computer via USB. Tried several drivers, nothing. So very unimpressed.

  27. eddi

    12/28/2013 at 1:31 pm

    Nexus 7 2012 running fine with 4.4.2; Nexus 4 is ruined: battery life sucks, using flash photography crashes the phone, loses data connection. Very, very disappointed.

  28. Kyle

    01/05/2014 at 11:58 am

    My 2013 N7 was freshly restored to 4.4.2 via the Google Factory Image however random problems keep happening now and again like touch screen being very unresponsive, WiFi not turning on or off. Haven’t sent the device back yet however I am thinking about it.

  29. Graham

    02/02/2014 at 5:26 am

    Upgrading to 4.4.2 causes issues with my Nexus10 WiFi connection. It has issues authenticating and frequently drops out. I often have to connect up several times before it succeeds.

    Had no issues with 4.3. 4.4.2 has certainly broken Nexus10 WiFi. The Nexus10 is a Google supplied reference device. Do they even test this stuff before they shovel it out?

  30. budz1979z

    03/25/2014 at 1:52 pm

    No problem at all for my nexus 7 2012..everything is smooth so far…=)

  31. Tuncer

    03/27/2014 at 1:30 am

    The major flaw in 4.4.2 is the absence of text wrap/reflow. Such an oversight!!! I can’t believe it is still not fixed…

  32. Shailesh Amin

    05/05/2014 at 12:24 am

    Very important app now a days every one require is Auto Call Recording system. I bought Nexus 5, which neither records calls, nor synchronize its phone book with Facebook, whatsup etc.

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