This blog entry will be about the update process as well as my early thoughts regarding Android 4.4 (nicknamed KitKat).
After receiving the prompt indicating that there was an update available and that my Nexus-4 had automatically downloaded the update, I decided to install it. Excluding the download time (since this will depend on your internet connection and unfortunately I didn't time this because it happened on my phone in the background), the update process was under 15 minutes. The size of the update as shown in my screen capture is 238.9 MB.
The update process was completely automated and it restarted twice without any user intervention (even though my SIM had the SIM lock activated). Below are some pictures that I took of my actual LG Nexus-4 screen when I was upgrading my Nexus-4 from JellyBean (Android 4.3) to KitKat (Android 4.4).
Prior to the update, the screen of my LG Nexus-4 looked like the screen capture below:
After the update, the screen of my LG Nexus-4 looked like the screen capture below:
In terms of the differences in Android 4.4 on my LG Nexus-4, the most noticeable differences is that the notification bar for the time/battery/wireless went from blue to white. I personally preferred the blue but really is a matter of personal preference.
Another noticeable difference is that the phone dialer has changed dramatically. I haven't included a screen capture of it since it shows some of my contacts on it but I have included an image below that I found on the internet from Google's promotional webpage on the features of KitKat. The tab to switch from the dialer and history selection are now at the bottom of the phone screen on KitKit as opposed to being on the top of the screen as it was with earlier versions of Android.
The caller ID on KitKat is supposed to be "smarter" in that it will get the names of businesses that aren't on the phone's contact list and display it on the phone (if the business is calling you) provided that the business has a listing on Google Maps. There is also a setting that enables it to display your name from your Google account in the event that you call someone and your name is not listed in their phone's contact list if they are using an Android 4.4 phone. I rarely get called by businesses on my phone so I haven't really experienced the "smarter" caller ID which is offered by KitKat yet.
In terms of the SMS feature and it being integrated with Google Hangouts, on my LG Nexus-4, I didn't incorporate that feature when I upgraded my Google Hangouts. When I checked my SMS messages, they appeared in the same way as they did previously (prior to my upgrade).
I've been using Android 4.4 only about 3 days at the time of this blog entry and the battery life seems to not be as good as it was prior to me upgrading it. I won't say that it is bad but it definitely seems to not be as good as it was prior to my upgrade.
One other thing that I would like to mention because I use it is that Android 4.4 includes the ability to print photos, documents, and webpages to any Google Cloud enabled printer or HP ePrint enabled printer. Previously, I was using HP's own HP ePrint application for Android. Having this built into the OS of the phone opens up new possibilities for printing.
For a list of the features of KitKat, you can refer to *THIS* webpage. Please note that some of the information on the webpage is specific to Android 4.4 (KitKat) on the LG Nexus-5.
If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment