Some call 'em updates, some call 'em upgrades; either way, what I'm talking about, here, is getting the Samsung Galaxy Note II (or "Note 2," if you prefer) from its current (as of this writing) Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, up to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (version Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for the Note II was skipped, altogether); and then, later, up to Android 4.4 KitKat. (Colors per version information found here.)
At this writing, these are the three threads, around here -- at least the most current/recent ones -- in which the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update is being argued:
1) Galaxy Note II - the forgotten flagship...
2) AT&T Galaxy Note 2 - 4.3 update will be November 20
3) 4.3 for the Note 2
And "argue" is the right word. Everyone thinks they know when and why and how the updates will be issued, and to whom; and it's amazing how sure of themselves, and how resistant to other ideas, so many people become...
...and, most importantly, how angry they get at -- and how anxious they get about -- delays. In one of those threads, user Synycalwon made a really excellent posting about the anxiety problem, citing an excellent September 2012 article from right here on Android Central:
The incontrovertible truth is that the current version Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is by no means "behind" or "out-of-date," and it is almost entirely the aforementioned "update anxiety" that's responsible for those who get angry because they don't have Android 4.2 Jelly Bean yet; or Android 4.3 Jelly Bean yet; or even Android 4.4 KitKat yet. It's a wonder no one's screaming for Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie; though, as it turns out, what's going to become Android 4.4 KitKat is actually what was originally going to be Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie.
And it appears that Android 4.4 KitKat will, indeed, be available for the Note II... albeit well into 2014, according to sources. Heck, we haven't even gotten Android 4.3 Jelly Bean yet (at least not officially; though there are leaks), but some are already angry because we've not yet gotten Android 4.4 KitKat! It's ridiculous!
Moreover, so much of what's out there are mere rumors; or, almost worse, we are told things like that, for example, Android 4.4 KitKat will be available for the Note II based on that a Samsung exec inadvertently said something about it while talking about a totally different thing: in this case, the controversial "region lock" issue. Oh, yeah... that's reliable!
But none of that will stop some from chiming-in after such as what I'm he re writing, telling me I'm wrong, or that they read thus-and-such over here, or this-or-that over there... and then they make self-assured and dispositive declarations such as the "November 20" one in the second of the three linked-to-above threads... as if they actually knew. At such points, it goes beyond ridiculous to downright embarrassing.
There's no point in even talking, yet, about the Android 4.4 KitKat update. We, again, haven't even gotten -- at least not officially, most of us -- the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update yet, fortheloveofgod! Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
And, by the way, yes, of course those whose phones are rooted have been able to get and flash Android 4.3 Jelly Bean ROMs for a while, now; but that's not really helpful to the vast majority of users whose phones are stock, purchased from a carrier. And one of my pet peeves has long been the arrogance of those whose phones are rooted, and even their derision of those whose phones are not. It's shameful! Rooting is for techno-geeks; those who actually like digging down into the bowels of devices, seeing and changing how they work, and making them bend to their geeky will. I was that way once, myself: started when I was just a kid, and my parents came home to find their beautiful, new console color TV (I'm so old, color was brand new back then) in ten gabazillion pieces all over the living room floor. I put it back together and it worked as if nothing had happened; and so my geekiness began... before I was even a teenager. So I know and understand people who want to root their Android phones...
...but I, for one, have outgrown it. Now, in my old age, I just want the darned thing to work! Period. And rooting a phone is the fastest way to stop it from being reliable, and staying up-to-date, and from being something with which the user must fiddle almost all the time; for which said user must then seek-out forum threads full of young, immature, impatient, obnoxious and arrogant pro-rooting geeks who get their rocks off seeming smarter than everyone else, where all manner of things that will make the phone even worse are routinely suggested! Oh, yeah... and rooting voids the phone's warranty; did I mention that? I know at least one important thing I haven't mentioned, yet, and that's how screwing-up a rooting can brick a phone! Let's not forget that.
I simply could not more strongly recommend, to the average phone user, AGAINST rooting his/her phone... ever... no matter how many young and uppity geeks in forum threads -- including even around here (but mostly over in places like xda developers) -- assure them it's safe (which it isn't); no matter how many of said geeks arrogantly and immaturely chastise them for not rooting; and no matter how many apps appear in the Google Play Store with "must be rooted" or "rooting required" language in their descriptions. Don't be sucked-in by it all! Leave your phone stock unless you want to go down the geek road!
And so now just watch the geeky pro-rooting community chime-in, here, and take me to task for that.Just ignore 'em.
But now I've digressed. Sorry. The subject was the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update... so back to that.
Part of the bottom line on that update is that none of us -- no Note II users currently running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean -- were originally slated to get Android 4.3 Jelly Bean anytime soon. Heck, the decision to skip completely over the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update was only made by Samsung this past summer, in mid- to late-August (just two-and-a-half months ago), as the news began to leak that the Note 3 -- and its companion Galaxy Gear watch -- would be unveiled on September 4, 2013, just before the IFA trade show in Berlin. For those who have extreme "update anxiety," let's not forget that all of that was, as of this writing, not even 60 days ago! Get some darned perspective, fortheloveofmike!
And it is, let's be clear, that Galaxy Gear watch which all of us can thank for our quite likely now getting the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update by or before Christmas. Were it not for Galaxy Gear, and Samsung and the carriers wanting to cash-in on it this Christmas season, Note II users would have never seen the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for months! And the Android 4.4 KitKat update, if it ever came to us at all, would not have arrived for even more months after that!
Samsung wanted its new Note III (or "Note 3," if you prefer) and S4 users to have the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update as an incentive to purchase those devices; and so there was no way we -- or S3 users, either -- were going to get the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update anytime around the Note III's or S4's rollouts. However, Samsung and the carriers simply couldn't resist the Galaxy Gear Christmas sales that they could garner if more than just the S4 and Note III were compatible with it...
...and so the decision was made to roll the the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update out to Note II phones (and several other devices) in time for Christmas... that is, hopefully. Remember that there's a lag between when Samsung releases an OS update to carriers, and when said carriers are then finally able to roll it out to their customers' phones. So do not be impressed with articles stating that, for example, the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update will be released by Samsung on November 20, 2013, as the above-linked-to thread headline states. Yes, that update is being released to the carriers (like AT&T, Spring, Verizon, etc.) on November 20th, but it could be weeks after that before it is finally released to said carriers' customers' phones. It all depends on how much customizing of it they do. AT&T, for example, is notorious for taking literally months to release an OS update after Samsung has released it to AT&T. And even then, Samsung is staggering the release, phone model by phone model; and so the carriers will do the same.
Ever since the word first leaked-out that the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update would be available to Note II users in September of 2013, it has always been fairly clear that the Note II would get it after pretty much all the other phones for which Samsung will be releasing the update starting around November 20th; and so the Note II has always been slated to get the the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update closer to mid- to late-December 2013. Always. And even then, remember that were it not for Galaxy Gear -- and Samsung's and the carriers greed to cash-in on 2013 Christimas sales of it to the largest possible number of phone users -- we wouldn't even be getting it as early as that!
Now, all of that said, that very greed about which I just wrote may also help to speed-up our receipt of the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update, after all. Who knows: despite that AT&T never planned for Note II users to have it much before the middle to end of December, we might find it rolling-out to our phones via over-the-air (OTA) updates (usually only via WI-FI, though) sooner than that. And, of course, those with extreme cases of the aforementioned "update anxiety" so hope that that will be the case that they will get into forum threads like this and declare it so... based on nothing but hope! That's part of what "update anxiety" does to a person! [grin]
Yes, I hope we Note II users get the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update very soon... in plenty of time for us to waste our money on Galaxy Gear for Christmas! That would be great...
...that is, unless AT&T's (and even the other carriers') rushing it so that we have it in time for Christmas just happens to mean that they did a bad job of it; and so it ends-up being a buggy mess. As a former Samsung Galaxy Infuse 4G owner, I know what it's like for AT&T to rush an OS update to the market before it's really ready. The first version of the Infuse 4G's 2.3.6 Gingerbread update was released, and then withdrawn just a day or so later after those of us stupid enough to be its earliest upgraders ended-up with seriously messed-up phones. That's when I learned all about AT&T Device Support Centers, and where the one nearest me is located! It flashed my Infuse 4G back to 2.2 Froyo, and then I waited, patiently, for many weeks for the final, really-and-truly-ready-this-time 2.3.6 update to be re-released. And that one was fine.
I don't want to have to go through that on my Note II with the likely-to-be-rushed-too-fast-to-market Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update; and so I, for one, will be holding-off for at least a little while after it's released... watching forums like this to see how it's working-out for others.
Those with International versions of the Note II may or may not have different experiences. It depends, in large measure, on whether their phones' updates come from a carrier (like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc., in the US), or straight from Samsung. If it's the former, then their versions of the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update may be just as slow to arrive as ours, here in the US; but if it's the latter, then, obviously, International Note II users will be getting the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update -- and by that, I mean officially; and not leaked, like users of rooted phones get things -- much sooner.
Instead of arguing about it all, how 'bout we all just rejoice in that the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update is coming way sooner to Note II phones than any of us ever thought (that is, of course, unless you've got "update anxiety," in which case you're still angry that the phone didn't have it back in 1995); and then let's just be patient and see when it finally actually arrives. In the meantime, trust me, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean that's on our phones for the moment, is just fine: there's not a single thing about it that's out-of-date or in any way not current. Be realistic.
At this writing, these are the three threads, around here -- at least the most current/recent ones -- in which the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update is being argued:
1) Galaxy Note II - the forgotten flagship...
2) AT&T Galaxy Note 2 - 4.3 update will be November 20
3) 4.3 for the Note 2
And "argue" is the right word. Everyone thinks they know when and why and how the updates will be issued, and to whom; and it's amazing how sure of themselves, and how resistant to other ideas, so many people become...
...and, most importantly, how angry they get at -- and how anxious they get about -- delays. In one of those threads, user Synycalwon made a really excellent posting about the anxiety problem, citing an excellent September 2012 article from right here on Android Central:
The incontrovertible truth is that the current version Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is by no means "behind" or "out-of-date," and it is almost entirely the aforementioned "update anxiety" that's responsible for those who get angry because they don't have Android 4.2 Jelly Bean yet; or Android 4.3 Jelly Bean yet; or even Android 4.4 KitKat yet. It's a wonder no one's screaming for Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie; though, as it turns out, what's going to become Android 4.4 KitKat is actually what was originally going to be Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie.
And it appears that Android 4.4 KitKat will, indeed, be available for the Note II... albeit well into 2014, according to sources. Heck, we haven't even gotten Android 4.3 Jelly Bean yet (at least not officially; though there are leaks), but some are already angry because we've not yet gotten Android 4.4 KitKat! It's ridiculous!
Moreover, so much of what's out there are mere rumors; or, almost worse, we are told things like that, for example, Android 4.4 KitKat will be available for the Note II based on that a Samsung exec inadvertently said something about it while talking about a totally different thing: in this case, the controversial "region lock" issue. Oh, yeah... that's reliable!
But none of that will stop some from chiming-in after such as what I'm he re writing, telling me I'm wrong, or that they read thus-and-such over here, or this-or-that over there... and then they make self-assured and dispositive declarations such as the "November 20" one in the second of the three linked-to-above threads... as if they actually knew. At such points, it goes beyond ridiculous to downright embarrassing.
There's no point in even talking, yet, about the Android 4.4 KitKat update. We, again, haven't even gotten -- at least not officially, most of us -- the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update yet, fortheloveofgod! Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
And, by the way, yes, of course those whose phones are rooted have been able to get and flash Android 4.3 Jelly Bean ROMs for a while, now; but that's not really helpful to the vast majority of users whose phones are stock, purchased from a carrier. And one of my pet peeves has long been the arrogance of those whose phones are rooted, and even their derision of those whose phones are not. It's shameful! Rooting is for techno-geeks; those who actually like digging down into the bowels of devices, seeing and changing how they work, and making them bend to their geeky will. I was that way once, myself: started when I was just a kid, and my parents came home to find their beautiful, new console color TV (I'm so old, color was brand new back then) in ten gabazillion pieces all over the living room floor. I put it back together and it worked as if nothing had happened; and so my geekiness began... before I was even a teenager. So I know and understand people who want to root their Android phones...
...but I, for one, have outgrown it. Now, in my old age, I just want the darned thing to work! Period. And rooting a phone is the fastest way to stop it from being reliable, and staying up-to-date, and from being something with which the user must fiddle almost all the time; for which said user must then seek-out forum threads full of young, immature, impatient, obnoxious and arrogant pro-rooting geeks who get their rocks off seeming smarter than everyone else, where all manner of things that will make the phone even worse are routinely suggested! Oh, yeah... and rooting voids the phone's warranty; did I mention that? I know at least one important thing I haven't mentioned, yet, and that's how screwing-up a rooting can brick a phone! Let's not forget that.
I simply could not more strongly recommend, to the average phone user, AGAINST rooting his/her phone... ever... no matter how many young and uppity geeks in forum threads -- including even around here (but mostly over in places like xda developers) -- assure them it's safe (which it isn't); no matter how many of said geeks arrogantly and immaturely chastise them for not rooting; and no matter how many apps appear in the Google Play Store with "must be rooted" or "rooting required" language in their descriptions. Don't be sucked-in by it all! Leave your phone stock unless you want to go down the geek road!
And so now just watch the geeky pro-rooting community chime-in, here, and take me to task for that.Just ignore 'em.
But now I've digressed. Sorry. The subject was the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update... so back to that.
Part of the bottom line on that update is that none of us -- no Note II users currently running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean -- were originally slated to get Android 4.3 Jelly Bean anytime soon. Heck, the decision to skip completely over the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update was only made by Samsung this past summer, in mid- to late-August (just two-and-a-half months ago), as the news began to leak that the Note 3 -- and its companion Galaxy Gear watch -- would be unveiled on September 4, 2013, just before the IFA trade show in Berlin. For those who have extreme "update anxiety," let's not forget that all of that was, as of this writing, not even 60 days ago! Get some darned perspective, fortheloveofmike!
And it is, let's be clear, that Galaxy Gear watch which all of us can thank for our quite likely now getting the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update by or before Christmas. Were it not for Galaxy Gear, and Samsung and the carriers wanting to cash-in on it this Christmas season, Note II users would have never seen the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for months! And the Android 4.4 KitKat update, if it ever came to us at all, would not have arrived for even more months after that!
Samsung wanted its new Note III (or "Note 3," if you prefer) and S4 users to have the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update as an incentive to purchase those devices; and so there was no way we -- or S3 users, either -- were going to get the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update anytime around the Note III's or S4's rollouts. However, Samsung and the carriers simply couldn't resist the Galaxy Gear Christmas sales that they could garner if more than just the S4 and Note III were compatible with it...
...and so the decision was made to roll the the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update out to Note II phones (and several other devices) in time for Christmas... that is, hopefully. Remember that there's a lag between when Samsung releases an OS update to carriers, and when said carriers are then finally able to roll it out to their customers' phones. So do not be impressed with articles stating that, for example, the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update will be released by Samsung on November 20, 2013, as the above-linked-to thread headline states. Yes, that update is being released to the carriers (like AT&T, Spring, Verizon, etc.) on November 20th, but it could be weeks after that before it is finally released to said carriers' customers' phones. It all depends on how much customizing of it they do. AT&T, for example, is notorious for taking literally months to release an OS update after Samsung has released it to AT&T. And even then, Samsung is staggering the release, phone model by phone model; and so the carriers will do the same.
Ever since the word first leaked-out that the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update would be available to Note II users in September of 2013, it has always been fairly clear that the Note II would get it after pretty much all the other phones for which Samsung will be releasing the update starting around November 20th; and so the Note II has always been slated to get the the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update closer to mid- to late-December 2013. Always. And even then, remember that were it not for Galaxy Gear -- and Samsung's and the carriers greed to cash-in on 2013 Christimas sales of it to the largest possible number of phone users -- we wouldn't even be getting it as early as that!
Now, all of that said, that very greed about which I just wrote may also help to speed-up our receipt of the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update, after all. Who knows: despite that AT&T never planned for Note II users to have it much before the middle to end of December, we might find it rolling-out to our phones via over-the-air (OTA) updates (usually only via WI-FI, though) sooner than that. And, of course, those with extreme cases of the aforementioned "update anxiety" so hope that that will be the case that they will get into forum threads like this and declare it so... based on nothing but hope! That's part of what "update anxiety" does to a person! [grin]
Yes, I hope we Note II users get the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update very soon... in plenty of time for us to waste our money on Galaxy Gear for Christmas! That would be great...
...that is, unless AT&T's (and even the other carriers') rushing it so that we have it in time for Christmas just happens to mean that they did a bad job of it; and so it ends-up being a buggy mess. As a former Samsung Galaxy Infuse 4G owner, I know what it's like for AT&T to rush an OS update to the market before it's really ready. The first version of the Infuse 4G's 2.3.6 Gingerbread update was released, and then withdrawn just a day or so later after those of us stupid enough to be its earliest upgraders ended-up with seriously messed-up phones. That's when I learned all about AT&T Device Support Centers, and where the one nearest me is located! It flashed my Infuse 4G back to 2.2 Froyo, and then I waited, patiently, for many weeks for the final, really-and-truly-ready-this-time 2.3.6 update to be re-released. And that one was fine.
I don't want to have to go through that on my Note II with the likely-to-be-rushed-too-fast-to-market Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update; and so I, for one, will be holding-off for at least a little while after it's released... watching forums like this to see how it's working-out for others.
Those with International versions of the Note II may or may not have different experiences. It depends, in large measure, on whether their phones' updates come from a carrier (like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc., in the US), or straight from Samsung. If it's the former, then their versions of the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update may be just as slow to arrive as ours, here in the US; but if it's the latter, then, obviously, International Note II users will be getting the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update -- and by that, I mean officially; and not leaked, like users of rooted phones get things -- much sooner.
Instead of arguing about it all, how 'bout we all just rejoice in that the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update is coming way sooner to Note II phones than any of us ever thought (that is, of course, unless you've got "update anxiety," in which case you're still angry that the phone didn't have it back in 1995); and then let's just be patient and see when it finally actually arrives. In the meantime, trust me, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean that's on our phones for the moment, is just fine: there's not a single thing about it that's out-of-date or in any way not current. Be realistic.
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