Galaxy S4: Will we be FORCED to KitKat?

[droidntn]

I keep reading all of these KK problems. I'm fine where I'm at with Jelly Bean.
If we don't manually download KK, will it automatically do it?
I just don't want any phone problems.
Shame, cause I love Kit Kat bars.

Sincerely,
An amazing S4

 

[dancing-bass]

Re: Will we be FORCED to Kit Kat?

No, I don't think there is any way for you to be forced into KitKat. You have to choose to download it, and once you have chosen to do that, you have to choose to install it. 2 things that require manual input from the user before it happens. That is how Android is set up.

Just a word of warning, once you upgrade, it's impossible to go back if you stay stock. A factory reset will just go back to KitKat, not Jelly Bean. You CAN root and then run a 4.3 ROM, but I'm assuming that you'd prefer to stay stock.

 

[monsieurms]

Re: Will we be FORCED to Kit Kat?

I keep reading all of these KK problems. I'm fine where I'm at with Jelly Bean.
If we don't manually download KK, will it automatically do it?
I just don't want any phone problems.
Shame, cause I love Kit Kat bars.

Sincerely,
An amazing S4

The only issue I have with Kit Kat is the overbroad SD card policy adopted by Google. That is quite annoying--but there are workarounds, for the most part, even if it means abandoning apps you used to use, like non-stock file managers. The S4, happily, comes with a stock file manager that works just fine with KK.

However, the point is---this is not a bug but a security feature. There is no sign that Google will abandon it any time soon. It is to my mind overbroad and clumsy and badly in need of some revision. But no one knows what is going to happen. I.e., you can say you won't upgrade, but that may mean NEVER upgrading! That's not acceptable to me. There can be tons of good reasons to upgrade as the months and years wind on. So, I bit the bullet and did it. I don't really have any issues on my phone.

That said, and despite my own fear of never upgrading, I have made sure not to upgrade on the tablet as my video player, Mx, won't be able to rename (although it can play and delete!) files on my SD card. Videos are the principal reason I have a tablet in the first place. So, I'm leaning in the other direction there and hoping against hope that something might come down the pike that makes more sense for me. Eventually, I'll have to cave in, and even that is a minor issue all thing considered.

My phone is a device I use a lot more, and not in the same way. There was no real problem in upgrading at all.