Today when
I got up in the morning, incidentally I checked the "Settings >About" page of
my Nexus 4 phone as if I got a message from God(Google) last night via dreams.
Do you
usually check your phone settings as a first thing in the morning? This is the
first time I am doing it in the morning.
Surprise…. I see that the new Android 4.3 update is available and it
started downloading the update… Hurray!!
I was excited to see what’s new it? The update was 167.7 MiB to be precise. My mode
is changed to “Curiosity” as always. The only next focus is to get this update
downloaded and feel the difference.
With the
512 kbps unreliable BSNL broadband I managed to download and install the latest
android 4.3 update by Midday.
After the
upgrade I went through the release notes to see actually what’s inside.
I found,
restricted profiles, multiple users, Low energy Bluetooth, and location detection
without keeping wifi always on, virtual surround sound. Auto complete on dial
pad, new algorithm for android key board etc.
But it is
written there that some of these featured will work only on Android tablet.
especially
the restricted profiles and multiple users etc.
I felt this
release is mainly targeted at the Tablet users. There isn't any fancy new stuff
for the smartphone users like me. Disappointed!
Apart from
this Google claims perceived speed and usability. I didn't find any noticeable
difference in speed. My Nexus is as fast as when bought. Not more not less.
After
upgrading the OS. I immediately got an update notification for Google maps. I
accepted it and when checked, I found the Google Navigation app is removed
completely from my phone. Probably Maps and navigation is combined together in
one app. Nice!
The biggest
disappointment was that after upgrade my video players VLC player and MX player
stopped working. Probably they are not written forward compatible. This was not
expected from these people. I right away I filed bugs.
The default
android video player does not play my torrent downloaded movies properly it’s
like watching a stop motion or time-lapse recording… the moment I felt I should
not have upgraded now.
Then I
explored other apps to see if others are also broken. Fortunately other app were
working fine. I have 65 apps. I went and checked each of them. So no major
damage there.
My next
attempt was to check the bug fixes. It looks like some bugs are fixed. I had a
bug that switching profiles from mute to normal does not restore volume. This
appears to be fixed in this release. There’s a notification bar freezing bug
and a camera app bug I am yet to test and confirm. They were not reproducible
always.
I checked
the default camera…Ooohaa!.. The settings interface is totally revamped. I
think Google realized that the earlier onscreen interface was really hard to
use and error prone. They completely changed it. Now almost all camera features
can be changed onscreen. The position of some buttons is also adjusted to be
easily accessible close to the shutter button. And I found nothing new in the
camera except camera settings interface.
New
features on Android 4.3
-
Restricted
profiles ( Tablet only )
-
Multiple
users (Tablet only)
-
Support
for low energy Bluetooth devices
-
No
need to keep Wifi on for location detection using Wifi.
-
Virtual
surround sound (Tablet only )
-
TV
Wireless Sharing ( Tablet only )
-
Dial
pad with auto complete
-
New
improved (?) interface onscreen camera settings.
-
Open
GL 3.0 for better graphics & gaming
-
Additional
language support. Android is now translated in Hindi also.
-
Disabled
apps tab in settings ( Tablet only )
-
Bug
fixes.
What you
will loose if you update now:
-
VLC
player wont work
-
MX
player won’t work
-
And
any other app which depends on OS version won’t work.
Summary:
There’s
nothing great in this update for phone users other than minor bug fixes and
incompatible play store apps. Compared to 4.2 this update is very very minor.
My
suggestion is to wait one more month before you try an upgrade to Android 4.3
Jelly bean. By that time you will have your play store apps upgraded to support
the new OS version.
Tablet
users can try the restricted profiles, multiple users, TV sharing and virtual
surround.
Reference:
2. My Nexus 4 phone
Update:
VLC player update android 4.3 is available now.
MX player update for android 4.3 is available now.
Update:
VLC player update android 4.3 is available now.
MX player update for android 4.3 is available now.
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