KitKat update?

[doogald]

I hope you're right, but in that case Moto or at least Punit Soni/David Schuster needs to be more transparent about their plans on G+. At this point it's starting to feel like the Droid Bionic all over again ... which Punit Soni famously said got a "raw deal" by Moto before the Google acquisition. The 2012 Droids getting 4.4.2 the VERY SAME WEEK that the 2013 Droids get another 4.4 build definitely deserves a comment at the very least, but it's nothing but deafening silence over there. My posts on their G+ pages are being ignored. Not a good sign, and does not inspire confidence or optimism at all.

I think it would be nice if they were more transparent, but I understand why they are not. Here's the thing: when you tell people something is going to happen and then it doesn't, you get a lot more anger than if you just don't tell people anything at all. We are seeing that with this update: people inferred that an update to 4.4.2 was coming and are reacting with anger and frustration that it's not what they expected.

Remember that the Droids are a Verizon brand made as a contract phone by Motorola. The Moto X is totally different - Moto makes it and negotiates with the carriers to sell the phone - totally opposite. Motorola is not in control of the update timeline, and it's quite possible that they are not allowed to discuss upgrade plans publicly without approval by Verizon. If it turns out that I was right about Verizon dictating update plans, then, if I were at Motorola, I'd be as frustrated as users of this phone are. I bet that they're pissed that they can't update the phone when they want to.

Seriously - I think it's clear: if you buy a carrier exclusive phone like the Droids, you just won't get updates ASAP, and, if that's important to you, then stop buying these phones.

I don't care about white icons, blue icons, transparent notification bars - that's all fluff that has nothing to do with usability (and I think usability is worse, actually, with transparent notification bar - it makes status harder to read in almost every case, and if they white icons no longer show network status, that's also a step down in user experience.). I really don't care if the phone is using 4.4 or 4.4.2 or 4.4.3. All I want is for the dumb bugs to be fixed. The fact that we are five months into the home bug and the share bug is just frustrating.

 

[doogald]

Well, maybe I guessed right: https://plus.google.com/102838570385793445288/posts/Dfpjj3F2K6T

David Schuster of Motorola said:

There have been a number of people asking about the status of the next DROID Ultra/MAXX and Mini KitKat upgrade. This week we started to roll out a maintenance release to address a rare network connectivity issue. Details can be found in the release notes.

With respect to the next KitKat upgrade, as I have stated before we had some unfortunate requirement changes that had delayed the deployment of the 4.4.2 upgrade. We are working on getting you the latest version of KitKat as quickly as we can. I am constrained in what I can currently say about timing but as soon as I can, I will let you guys know more.

 

[Somniferum]

Well, maybe I guessed right: https://plus.google.com/102838570385793445288/posts/Dfpjj3F2K6T

David Schuster of Motorola said:

That's exactly what I meant when I said it deserves a comment. At least now we know what's going on and that 4.4.2 is still in the works for us. Reading David Schuster's comment, it seems like he thought we would understand from reading the release notes what was going on, but without the additional context we had no way of knowing that this was a separate, emergency update. Especially with the timing of the 2012 Droids getting 4.4.2 at the same time. Anyway glad we finally heard something.

And yes, I will definitely be getting a non-Droid phone next time. My last phone was the Droid Bionic, and Punit Soni was very vocal after the Google takeover about updates and transparency being a top priority going forward, including the Droid brand. I bought the Droid Maxx on the basis of that promise, and wish I'd known it would turn out to apply only to the Moto X.

 

[vzwuser76]

Well, maybe I guessed right: https://plus.google.com/102838570385793445288/posts/Dfpjj3F2K6T

David Schuster of Motorola said:

If you are right, it seems like Verizon is ready to give up on the Droids. With the Note 3 now seeing an update to 4.4.2, and that being the last of 2013's flagships getting the update, and the 2012 Droid models also moving up to 4.4.2, but they give the 2013 Droids a maintenance update, it certainly makes me wonder what their thought process is.

If only the X had the battery of the Maxx, I'd go with that for my everyday phone, but I suppose Verizon has a stipulation in the contract making that a Verizon/Droid Maxx exclusive. Otherwise I think most would go with a Moto X-Maxx. Just one more "Damn you Verizon!" to add to the pile.

 

[VicV50]

I want my blue icons back, or some other color besides white. This is a worthless update for my Droid Maxx

 

[jfriend33]

Guys next year if we still have our phones I think we would be greatly pleased to be in the now shoes of the razr maxx hd owners. They needed the update more than we did. I'm sure we won't be left in the dust.

 

[Outatime]

The white that I've seen on the Moto X is much easier to see than the blue.

 

[Old Member]

The white that I've seen on the Moto X is much easier to see than the blue.

I have the white now and couldn't agree more. The white with the transparent notification bar is nice. Too bad we have to use Nova Prime to get that effect. Using stock launcher, I really don't like the white as much.

 

[BigBruDa3rd]

Google Experience Launcher gives you the transparent status bar. The only thing I don't like about GEL is that the home screen is always the first screen panel.

 

[mahers]

I like to focus on the good things. No more home button bug. Slightly better battery life. Improvements to Bluetooth support. Hopefully no more Google account re-login bug when you have lost network coverage. The share bug should be fixed.

I get the home button bug, but what is the share bug you refer to? I haven't experienced any bugs when sharing, but maybe it's happening during a specific share instance?

Also, when I get out of range and get the login request, I just ignore it. It seems to correct itself when I am back in an area with a strong signal. I know others have this problem too, but just thought I'd throw my experience into the ring, FWIW.

 

[doogald]

I get the home button bug, but what is the share bug you refer to? I haven't experienced any bugs when sharing, but maybe it's happening during a specific share instance?

The share bug is an Android 4.4 bug fixed in 4.4.1 (I think; it may have been 4.4.2.) What happens is that the share intent gets stuck on just one share item, so anytime you hit share, it goes to Gmail, or Hangouts, or Messaging, without giving you the choice to go somewhere else. It can be fixed by going into settings / apps, hitting the overflow menu, and then choosing "Reset app preferences", but it doesn't stop it from coming back, it resets all default apps, and it re-enables any apps that you may have disabled.

It doesn't happen to everyone - though I went from last December to three weeks ago before it happened for the first time, and it's happened twice since.

See this article: http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/1...are-to-set-your-last-used-app-as-the-default/

Also, when I get out of range and get the login request, I just ignore it. It seems to correct itself when I am back in an area with a strong signal. I know others have this problem too, but just thought I'd throw my experience into the ring, FWIW.

Oh, yeah, how could I have forgotten about that bug? Hopefully this OTA fixes that. That problem only happened to me once, and going back to an area with good signal did not fix it - I had to re-log in with all of my Google accounts, and I had four on the phone at the time.

 

[kerrigjl]

The share bug is an Android 4.4 bug fixed in 4.4.1 (I think; it may have been 4.4.2.) What happens is that the share intent gets stuck on just one share item, so anytime you hit share, it goes to Gmail, or Hangouts, or Messaging, without giving you the choice to go somewhere else. It can be fixed by going into settings / apps, hitting the overflow menu, and then choosing "Reset app preferences", but it doesn't stop it from coming back, it resets all default apps, and it re-enables any apps that you may have disabled.

It doesn't happen to everyone - though I went from last December to three weeks ago before it happened for the first time, and it's happened twice since.

See this article: [Bug Watch] KitKat's Share Dialog Can Forget To Give You A Choice Of Apps To Share To, Set Your Last Used App As The Default



Oh, yeah, how could I have forgotten about that bug? Hopefully this OTA fixes that. That problem only happened to me once, and going back to an area with good signal did not fix it - I had to re-log in with all of my Google accounts, and I had four on the phone at the time.

Unfortunately, I had to re-login today after updating. Still waiting for a fix for that...

 

[Sirrom]

Can't believe 4.4 won't support Flash ... seems like malicious malfeasance, rather than just an oversight.

Trying to read a book with active links to flash files ... grrrrrrrrr

 

[doogald]

Can't believe 4.4 won't support Flash ... seems like malicious malfeasance, rather than just an oversight.

Trying to read a book with active links to flash files ... grrrrrrrrr

Adobe has stopped developing Flash on mobile platforms - they announced that in November, 2011. It's long past time for developers to switch to other technology.