I wish I had KitKat ?...be careful what you wish for.

[Harvinder Sunila]

Since I got my Moto G in November I've been intrigued by what the update to KitKat from Jellybean would actually offer me.
One of the main reasons I joined the Android Central forums was to pick peoples brains, and try and understand the Android system better from those who know far more about it than I do.
After looking at other forums, asking Phil and his team in podcasts and posting questions here about Moto G with Jellybean compared to KitKat, I've come to the conclusion that updating the Moto G to KitKat does next to nothing as far as the phone user experience. Infact the opposite, I've heard many complaints of the phone, which was super fast on Jellybean, becoming jerky, lag and apps no longer working properly.
There may well be lots of changes in the software that I don't see, but all that means nothing if my experience of using the phone is so much worse. I didn't buy the Moto G because it was running Jellybean, KitKat or Cadbury's Milk Tray...I bought it because it was a superfast phone, beautiful screen and at an amazingly low price.
For those who haven't received their KItKat update I'd think more than twice, I'd read through some of the issues people are having before hitting the update button...I'm not saying you should or shouldn't update...that's up to you, just be aware of the issues that may arrive along with the changes you can barely notice.
Personally I'm going to stay with Jellybean for now.

 

[NotJustAPhone]

Keep the discussion civil and on-topic. If you believe a post is inappropriate, then feel free to report it. Responding in kind is not an appropriate response. Please take the time to review the forum rules as all members are expected to follow them.

Thread has been cleaned up.

Sent from my Galaxy Note II

 

[Caz42]

I got Kitkat on Saturday and can't say I've noticed any difference in speed or battery power etc. Still feels the same as before.

The only thing I can say feels different is that the back button seems to need to be touched twice to work which is annoying me but thats all.

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

The only thing I can say feels different is that the back button seems to need to be touched twice to work which is annoying me but thats all.

Hi Caz42,
I haven't heard about that one before...thanks for the information.

Harv.!

 

[Tracy Edwards]

Since I updated I have found that when using messaging (not hangouts, I prefer messaging) my android smileys/emoticons don't send. I can see the little yellow coloured icons in my mesage but as soon as I send the message they disappear. There is then a gap in my message and also in the recipients message. I can use the keyboard to make emoticons ( ) and they work fine in Hangouts but useless in messaging . Any advice?

 

[nessinhaw]

the apps issue might be because not all of them are optimized for Kitkat yet!

this update is still just starting to roll out for most of devices...basically just the Nexus and the Moto X and G have it...if anyone knows of other phones that already got it, feel free to add!

when i last checked the most recent Android versions pie chart, JB has grown to the largest part while Kitkat is like 1%!

i rly think we just need to be patient lol
and being the firsts to get an update always have the downside of getting it not in a stable or near-perfect state...so i prefer to wait longer but have something stable and trouble free!

sent from my Moto G <3

 

[Caz42]

Since I updated I have found that when using messaging (not hangouts, I prefer messaging) my android smileys/emoticons don't send. I can see the little yellow coloured icons in my mesage but as soon as I send the message they disappear. There is then a gap in my message and also in the recipients message. I can use the keyboard to make emoticons ( ) and they work fine in Hangouts but useless in messaging . Any advice?

Can't help with that Tracey as I use Handcent because the messaging that came with the phone is just a boring black and white layout that looked awful. (still can't believe there is no colour/font options etc!)

Let us know if you find the cause though as I'm sure it must be affecting others.

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

being the firsts to get an update always have the downside of getting it not in a stable or near-perfect state...so i prefer to wait longer but have something stable and trouble free!

Sounds like a good plan to me.

Harv.!

 

[Paola1993]

I have to disagree. KitKat makes it even more awesome than it was before, and I was super impressive with Jelly bean.

Sent from Android Central App

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

I have to disagree. KitKat makes it even more awesome than it was before, and I was super impressive with Jelly bean.

Sent from Android Central App

Hi Paola1993,
Could you tell me how and in what way your KitKat Moto G is "more awesome" than it was on Jellybean ? I don't mean what extra features have been added, I've read those in the Motorola press release, I mean in actual use.

Thanks,
Harv.!

 

[dancing-bass]

OP

it's a little difficult to tell "improvements" outside of features lists... Benchmarks can be fudged and so are not entirely trustworthy. Some people are more OCD (not using this in a derogatory sense!) or very observant and so are very quick to notice changes in performance (either for the better or for the worse). Others don't really notice much of a "real world" difference but are swayed by the update and so placebo effect kicks in and they think it's faster when it actually may not have changed at all

I haven't dug into the MotoG forums much, but I have seen posts saying that 4.4. DID improve performance, and others have said 4.4 harms performance. I guess it comes down to how many apps are being left open and if the apps on the phone are all KK compatible.

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

OP

it's a little difficult to tell "improvements" outside of features lists... Benchmarks can be fudged and so are not entirely trustworthy. Some people are more OCD (not using this in a derogatory sense!) or very observant and so are very quick to notice changes in performance (either for the better or for the worse). Others don't really notice much of a "real world" difference but are swayed by the update and so placebo effect kicks in and they think it's faster when it actually may not have changed at all

I haven't dug into the MotoG forums much, but I have seen posts saying that 4.4. DID improve performance, and others have said 4.4 harms performance. I guess it comes down to how many apps are being left open and if the apps on the phone are all KK compatible.

Hi dancing-bass,

I commented on a few posts about the placebo effect. I really don't care much for benchmarks, what I'm interested in is the phone in use...hence all the questions I've been asking those who have updated their Moto G to KitKat. Some people have said their Moto G is faster, but no one has been able to explain how, I can swipe through my app drawer as quickly as I possibly can and I don't see any lag or judder...it's as fast as I can physically swipe. The same goes for other things I use my phone for.
Maybe there are apps that I don't have installed that are faster under KitKat ?...I don't know.
I got the notification for KitKat a few minutes ago...I'll wait and see how others get on with it before deciding to update or not...It'll drive me nuts if I go from a working perfectly fast Jellybean Moto G to a slower problamatic KitKat Moto G just for the sake of 4.4.2 written under Android Version instead of 4.3

Thanks ,
Harv.!

 

[baldpaul]

I have had the KitKat update on my G for a few days now and these are my observations.

Very little in the way of UI differences that are apparent. The white status bar icons are the most obvious but I preferred the old way of indicating that each was "operational" by making it blue. A faded white icon changing to bright white would have been a nice compromise, in fact I think that's how the Bluetooth icon works but WiFi just appears bright white as soon as you turn it on whether or not it has a valid connection. I can't tell any difference with regards responsiveness or performance. It feels the same as before i.e. very responsive. I was a little apprehensive of how the performance would be as my 2012 Nexus 7 definitely feels slower after going to KitKat and suffers from a lack of responsiveness at times. I am going to factory reset it when I get time but no need for that on the G.

Some of the other benefits of KK are there for developers to incorporate into apps so not as apparent yet. Immersive mode is most obvious one and that works well and nice enhancement. OTG has been disabled so that es file explorer can no longer see the USB but nexus media importer (other similar apps available too) allows you to see the USB and use the media on it.

Was the upgrade worth waiting for? Not really, positives and negatives with it and nice to be on latest OS but I'd have been more than happy to still be on 4.3.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Caz42]

Very little in the way of UI differences that are apparent. The white status bar icons are the most obvious but I preferred the old way of indicating that each was "operational" by making it blue. A faded white icon changing to bright white would have been a nice compromise, in fact I think that's how the Bluetooth icon works but WiFi just appears bright white as soon as you turn it on whether or not it has a valid connection.

I don't like this either and wish they were still blue, would have been nice to have the option to change this wouldn't it .

 

[Caddi Ranyard]

The update got pushed to my phone last night and I accepted in great excitement. Downloaded it over wifi at home and installed it but only realised this morning that I have no mobile data and very poor (intermittant) phone signal.

I would try resetting, perhaps will have to, but if that doesn't work, can I easily go back to Jellybean?

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

As I said in another post my Moto G started automatically downloading the KitKat update although I told it not to and to just remind me later...anyways i just installed the bloddy thing since it had already downloaded it.
One thing I noticed was that the screen seems darker even at full brightness...my home screen looks darker top and bottom like a slight vignette.
I too prefered the blue icons, it looks bland in white.

 

[mrsmumbles]

Did you get the dessert case daydream?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

The screen is definitely darker on full brightness after the KitKat update, maybe that's why they can claim better battery life...they've turned down max brightness ?
If you go to your home screen, make sure you have no recent apps open, click the menu button and look at how dark the screen is...it wasn't this dark with Jellybean.
When you power off the phone will now vibrates/buzz just before going off, that didn't happen with Jellybean.
When you power back on, and if you use a sim password and screen lock password, after entering your sim password it stutters before showing you the number pad for entering the screen lock password...there's a similar stutter when you click the gallery icon.
I'll post any other differences as I come across them.

 

[shmotog]

I have had the KitKat update on my G for a few days now and these are my observations.

Very little in the way of UI differences that are apparent. The white status bar icons are the most obvious but I preferred the old way of indicating that each was "operational" by making it blue. A faded white icon changing to bright white would have been a nice compromise, in fact I think that's how the Bluetooth icon works but WiFi just appears bright white as soon as you turn it on whether or not it has a valid connection. I can't tell any difference with regards responsiveness or performance. It feels the same as before i.e. very responsive. I was a little apprehensive of how the performance would be as my 2012 Nexus 7 definitely feels slower after going to KitKat and suffers from a lack of responsiveness at times. I am going to factory reset it when I get time but no need for that on the G.

Some of the other benefits of KK are there for developers to incorporate into apps so not as apparent yet. Immersive mode is most obvious one and that works well and nice enhancement. OTG has been disabled so that es file explorer can no longer see the USB but nexus media importer (other similar apps available too) allows you to see the USB and use the media on it.

Was the upgrade worth waiting for? Not really, positives and negatives with it and nice to be on latest OS but I'd have been more than happy to still be on 4.3.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Did I read that correctly? OTG is disabled? Good thing I didn't update! OTG is a major reason why I got moto G in first place! Can you still connect your digital camera with USB OTG?

 

[baldpaul]

Did I read that correctly? OTG is disabled? Good thing I didn't update! OTG is a major reason why I got moto G in first place! Can you still connect your digital camera with USB OTG?

Before the KK update I could use ES File Explorer to "see" what was on the USB stick attached to the OTG cable and do stuff with the files on there etc.

Now I can no longer see it to do anything with the files. But I use Nexus Media Importer on my Nexus 7 to do a similar thing so I installed that on my G and that DOES allow me to see the USB. Not sure whether you will see the same effect with your camera but I suspect you will.

I can't understand why this has been changed, just seems like another way to try to force people to use the cloud. I use cloud storage but there are certain things I just want to store locally no matter what Google thinks is best for me!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk