KitKat update?

[jamielov]

Looked around but really didn't find much info. Just curious, besides some battery life tweaks, what can we expect from the upcoming rollout update to 4.4.2?

 

[Einsteindks]

End to root access, possible loss of more once-accessible features, increased calls for help to solve a bootloop problem, etc...

 

[doogald]

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.

 

[SBCT]

I hate the re-login!!!!!

 

[jamielov]

Thanks for the replies. Seems once this rolls out the only real impact then, for me at least, is possibly better battery life....which isn't a bad thing at all.

 

[BigBruDa3rd]

Think they were talking about Droid Maxx HD 4.4.2 update.

 

[lewwill]

Think they were talking about Droid Maxx HD 4.4.2 update.

What is the Droid Maxx HD??? There is the Droid Razr Maxx HD and the new Droid Maxx. Several of the sites are confusing them.

 

[Thom]

They are not confused in Android Forums ... there are three ...

Motorola Droid Maxx - Android Forums
Motorola Droid RAZR / RAZR MAXX - Android Forums
Motorola Droid RAZR HD / MAXX HD - Android Forums

The one that gets me is the Motorola site that refers to the Droid Maxx as the Droid Ultra Maxx ... always has ... refuses to change.

... Thom

 

[lewwill]

They are not confused in Android Forums ... there are three ...

Motorola Droid Maxx - Android Forums
Motorola Droid RAZR / RAZR MAXX - Android Forums
Motorola Droid RAZR HD / MAXX HD - Android Forums

The one that gets me is the Motorola site that refers to the Droid Maxx as the Droid Ultra Maxx ... always has ... refuses to change.

... Thom

I know, three different phones, Maxx, Ultra and Mini. All october 2013 releases. I found a franchise VZ store in a BJs passing the Razr Maxx off as the new (2013) Droid Maxx. You have to be carefuil on Ebay also. Thaniks Thom.
Lew

 

[Thom]

Easy ... if the case has "funny pointy corners" it is not a Droid Maxx.

... Thom

 

[doogald]

FWIW re: the Droid Razr Maxx HD, there is a rumored KitKat update supposedly coming for the Droid Razr HD/Razr Maxx HD.

See this https://plus.google.com/102838570385793445288/posts/8a12jqd9Jna from April 12.... (David Schuster works at Motorola.)

 

[vzwuser76]

Easy ... if the case has "funny pointy corners" it is not a Droid Maxx.

... Thom

Motorola isn't the only one who has issues with this. I'd imagine Apple has similar problems, when you search for an iPhone 5, you'd get results for the 5, 5s, & 5c. And don't even get me started on "the new iPad", I can't imagine what a nightmare it is for their users to get relevant search results. But at least in terms of the iPhone, they add to the name of the newest model, for instance iPhone 5, then 5s. The addition of the " s" should narrow the search to the newer model.

But with the Droid Maxx they dropped the "RAZR" and "HD" from the previous years, so now you get results from every iteration. If they had started with the Droid Maxx, then Droid RAZR Maxx, then Droid RAZR Maxx HD, they would've had a way to narrow search results for the most current model. Hopefully they add something to the name on the next model.

 

[Thom]

Instead of Googling ...
droid maxx
... try Googling ...
"droid maxx"

... Thom

 

[vzwuser76]

Instead of Googling ...
droid maxx
... try Googling ...
"droid maxx"

... Thom

All that does is assure that both words will be in the results. I've done searches like that with 5 words in quotation marks and all I end up getting is searches that contain all 5 words. I remember seeing that you should use a - before a word to exclude it (like -RAZR) but it never seems to work for me.

 

[Thom]

I'm not sure what you are doing.

On my Windows 7 workstation using Internet Explorer the search of "droid maxx" only returns matches for the Droid Maxx.

... Thom

 

[vzwuser76]

I'm not sure what you are doing.

On my Windows 7 workstation using Internet Explorer the search of "droid maxx" only returns matches for the Droid Maxx.

... Thom

Maybe that's how it is now, but after launch it brought everything. It's possible that now there are enough links that it only brings back those results. When I was looking for cases and car docks after launch most everything I got was for the older models. I haven't had to do any searches on the Maxx for awhile, just been enjoying using it.

 

[Somniferum]

All that does is assure that both words will be in the results. I've done searches like that with 5 words in quotation marks and all I end up getting is searches that contain all 5 words. I remember seeing that you should use a - before a word to exclude it (like -RAZR) but it never seems to work for me.

Actually it ensures that the exact string is in the results, not just both words. So "Droid Razr Maxx" would be excluded from the results. Personally I like to combine both, by searching for "Droid Maxx" -razr. The problem I still run into though is people who misspelled razr as "razor" or "rzr" and so on ... there's always something.

BTW I side-loaded the new update and it's not 4.4.2 after all. It's still 4.4 but with white icons in the notification bar. The home button double-tap bug is still there. The update is only 10Mb in size and includes a new kernel and radio, and not much else. You can find the file on XDA if interested.

 

[vzwuser76]

Actually it ensures that the exact string is in the results, not just both words. So "Droid Razr Maxx" would be excluded from the results. Personally I like to combine both, by searching for "Droid Maxx" -razr. The problem I still run into though is people who misspelled razr as "razor" or "rzr" and so on ... there's always something.

BTW I side-loaded the new update and it's not 4.4.2 after all. It's still 4.4 but with white icons in the notification bar. The home button double-tap bug is still there. The update is only 10Mb in size and includes a new kernel and radio, and not much else. You can find the file on XDA if interested.

Well then maybe it has to do with me still on Vista, because if I search for something like "2015 Dodge Charger", I can get results with one link that goes 2015 Mustang....dodge higher insurance....port for phone charger. I don't get an exact word match, I get matches containing all words, and if there aren't enough links, sometimes I'll get results with one or more words crossed out. I don't know if Windows 7 users have a newer version on Internet Explorer than Vista users or not, but either way we're getting off topic.

I can't believe that they seem to be letting the Droid series go off course. Why would this not be an actual 4.4.2 update, if apparently it has all the stuff in there from 4.4.2? Everyone else's update is to 4.4.2, so this almost seems like a home brewed deal, like when they make a " special" update with features stripped out. I hope not but why else would they not try to get everyone on the same page?

 

[doogald]

I can't believe that they seem to be letting the Droid series go off course. Why would this not be an actual 4.4.2 update, if apparently it has all the stuff in there from 4.4.2? Everyone else's update is to 4.4.2, so this almost seems like a home brewed deal, like when they make a " special" update with features stripped out. I hope not but why else would they not try to get everyone on the same page?

I like to be optimistic. A month ago, when this subject came up on G+, David Schuster of Motorola commented that the 2013 Droid update was delayed by last minute requirements. A week or so later he posted that the update for the 2012 Droids (Razr HD, Razr Maxx HD, and Razr M) was a couple of weeks away.

So, my theory, based on my optimistic nature: the last minute requirements are that Verizon wants the 2012 Droids on KitKat before the 2013 Droids, which are already on KitKat, get an update to 4.4.2 This current update that is supposed to be in soak, which supposedly changes only the blue icons to white and update the radio, is just to unify the look between the 2012 and 2013 Droids, and an update to 4.4.2 is coming to the 2013 Droids in a few weeks.

Here's hoping that this is the case.

 

[Old Member]

I just side loaded the update as well. I'm kinda shocked that they went with the white icons without giving the transparent notification bar. Oh well, long live Nova Prime.

 

[Old Member]

Also if you use Battery Percent for KitKat, it no longer works after taking the update.

 

[Old Member]

Also if you use Battery Percent for KitKat, it no longer works after taking the update.

Then again, maybe it DOES work. The text was always white with a blue background. Now that it's white, white text wouldn't show up. Hmmm, is there a way to alter it to show the percent as another color?

 

[Somniferum]

Then again, maybe it DOES work. The text was always white with a blue background. Now that it's white, white text wouldn't show up. Hmmm, is there a way to alter it to show the percent as another color?

It does still work, you just can't see the numbers until the battery goes below 50% and the background goes from white to transparent. This has been an issue on the Moto X since the beginning of KitKat. I just disabled it and went back to GSam Battery Monitor, which has now been fixed to work with KitKat without root.

 

[Somniferum]

I like to be optimistic. A month ago, when this subject came up on G+, David Schuster of Motorola commented that the 2013 Droid update was delayed by last minute requirements. A week or so later he posted that the update for the 2012 Droids (Razr HD, Razr Maxx HD, and Razr M) was a couple of weeks away.

So, my theory, based on my optimistic nature: the last minute requirements are that Verizon wants the 2012 Droids on KitKat before the 2013 Droids, which are already on KitKat, get an update to 4.4.2 This current update that is supposed to be in soak, which supposedly changes only the blue icons to white and update the radio, is just to unify the look between the 2012 and 2013 Droids, and an update to 4.4.2 is coming to the 2013 Droids in a few weeks.

Here's hoping that this is the case.

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.

 

[Kevin-B]

It surprised me this afternoon that I got the not-very-important update over the air. Maybe I haven't been reading the forums closely enough, but I didn't realize it was live until this happened.

Anyhow, there it is. White icons, as posted earlier. Not much else I can see.

Then again, the phone is pretty much fine already.