Moto G...update to KitKat when it's out or stick with Jellybean ?

[Harvinder Sunila]

A question for those who know and understand Android way more than I ever will...
My Moto G is pretty dam snappy, shows next to no lag from my experience of using it, all the apps I use work perfectly and does everything I want exceptionally well. Considering KitKat looks almost identical to Jellybean, it takes away some of the features I like (stock sms, the "normal" dialler and stock gallery) what are the reasons to update to KitKat when it appears ? I know KitKat is different underneath and is apparently optimized for underpowered phones, but my Moto G isn't having any problems with speed.
I must be missing something because to me it sounds like the current 4.3 on my phone right now is better, in the sense that I get to keep what I want (stock sms, the "normal" dialler and stock gallery), than 4.4.2 which changes those features ?

 

[strav22]

A question for those who know and understand Android way more than I ever will...
My Moto G is pretty dam snappy, shows next to no lag from my experience of using it, all the apps I use work perfectly and does everything I want exceptionally well. Considering KitKat looks almost identical to Jellybean, it takes away some of the features I like (stock sms, the "normal" dialler and stock gallery) what are the reasons to update to KitKat when it appears ? I know KitKat is different underneath and is apparently optimized for underpowered phones, but my Moto G isn't having any problems with speed.
I must be missing something because to me it sounds like the current 4.3 on my phone right now is better, in the sense that I get to keep what I want (stock sms, the "normal" dialler and stock gallery), than 4.4.2 which changes those features ?

Well, the stock gallery and stock SMS should remain in place. Plus, these apps can easily be replaced in the play store as well. The dialer is a different issue, it will be replaced.

I will update immediately but if the dialer is a big deal, then avoid it. Maybe root and ROM the device to make sure they don't push the update on you.

Here are the details of android 4.4 but for developers. I think the dialer will be fixed, its not bad on my nexus 5 but definitely needs to be fixed.

http://developer.android.com/about/versions/kitkat.html

Posted via Android Central App

 

[thatguy97]

When kitkat comes out its going to be a big deal how it performs on it because it will prove googles promise on how it will run on low to mid range devices

Sent from my Nexus 7 2013

 

[neonworm]

Definitely Upgrade to KitKat. It will make a noticable improvement in performance.

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

Hi strav22

As far as I've read, and I may well be wrong, Kit Kat doesn't have the stock gallery Jellybean has and instead it's the Photos app, same with the stock SMS, it's part of Hangouts in KitKat. You can use a third party SMS apps but those don't seem to ba as good as the stock Jellybean version...It would be nice if they just left the things that work alone and IF you wanted the new version you could add them at the Play store, instead of replacing them with what they want ?
Hopefully the dialler in KitKat has functions I can turn off, don't want it acting like a yellow pages and giving me local business details when I'm searching.

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

Definitely Upgrade to KitKat. It will make a noticable improvement in performance.

Hi neonworm,
In what way exactly will it improve performance ?...in everyday tasks and app use it's only a tiny bit slower than my friend's Nexus 5 using 4.4.2,.

 

[neonworm]

Hi neonworm,
In what way exactly will it improve performance ?...in everyday tasks and app use it's only a tiny bit slower than my friend's Nexus 5 using 4.4.2,.

KitKat brings a number of performance improvements. So it will be at least a little bit faster than before.

 

[pixelRyan]

When I upgraded my Nexus 4 to Kit Kat it actually left the old Gallery and Messages apps if you wanted them so if its the same you will be fine. Don't you want the official emoji support? Full screen album art in the lock screen, immersive mode, and google caller id are also bonuses for upgrading you could enjoy.

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

When I upgraded my Nexus 4 to Kit Kat it actually left the old Gallery and Messages apps if you wanted them so if its the same you will be fine. Don't you want the official emoji support? Full screen album art in the lock screen, immersive mode, and google caller id are also bonuses for upgrading you could enjoy.

Hey pixelRyan,
That's interesting, so if you update from Jellybean to KitKat the stock apps remain in place, whereas if you have a Nexus 5, which shipped with KitKat, those apps are gone or changed ?
I'll see what the "early updaters" say when they get KitKat for their Moto G and see if it's going to work for me, thanks.

 

[strav22]

Hey pixelRyan,
That's interesting, so if you update from Jellybean to KitKat the stock apps remain in place, whereas if you have a Nexus 5, which shipped with KitKat, those apps are gone or changed ?
I'll see what the "early updaters" say when they get KitKat for their Moto G and see if it's going to work for me, thanks.

This is correct. The old Apps should remain in place. Its only in Nexus 5 and some google play editions where they completely remove the SMS and gallery app since they launched with KitKat rather than upgraded. The gallery app is still on my nexus 5.

KitKat allows you to choose your SMS application very easily. There's even a app very similar to the stock SMS app called 8SMS.

KitKat does offer better performance, especially with Memory Management and Graphics. I'll see a performance difference between my N5 and MotoG when I'm loading large apps, LTE speeds of course, and multitasking with 10+ apps.

 

[anon(847090)]

Hi strav22

As far as I've read, and I may well be wrong, Kit Kat doesn't have the stock gallery Jellybean has and instead it's the Photos app, same with the stock SMS, it's part of Hangouts in KitKat. You can use a third party SMS apps but those don't seem to ba as good as the stock Jellybean version...It would be nice if they just left the things that work alone and IF you wanted the new version you could add them at the Play store, instead of replacing them with what they want ?
Hopefully the dialler in KitKat has functions I can turn off, don't want it acting like a yellow pages and giving me local business details when I'm searching.

the thing u are reading about stock SMS and gallery is applicable only for Nexus 5.. they did this only to that device.

I have nexus 4 and i still have stock SMS and Gallery. Dialer will be changed but i dont think you should avoid KK just for that because KitKat is bringing huge improvements under the hood.

It will make your device even snappier and lot of features too..

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

the thing u are reading about stock SMS and gallery is applicable only for Nexus 5.. they did this only to that device.

I have nexus 4 and i still have stock SMS and Gallery. Dialer will be changed but i dont think you should avoid KK just for that because KitKat is bringing huge improvements under the hood.

It will make your device even snappier and lot of features too..

Thanks for the information still1 and strav22.

 

[Ry]

There should be no reason to not load KitKat once it's available.

 

[ecvogel]

I still like ChompSMS over 4.3 stock.

 

[someguy01234]

For the N4 and N5 when updated to KitKat some people no longer is able to tether using T-Mobile due to a change that needs root to revert so that may be a consideration, but overall KitKat is a huge improvement.

sent via tapatalk

 

[Zombienaut]

I'm running KitKat right now, and I must say it's greatly improved the performance of the phone.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Harvinder Sunila]

I'm running KitKat right now, and I must say it's greatly improved the performance of the phone.

Posted via Android Central App

Hi Zombienaut,
In what way has it "greatly improved the performance of the phone" ?...can you go into details, please ?

Thanks.

 

[hareeshgs]

Dear All,
Dont try to update to KK as it is full of bugs which makes your phone unusable.

 

[nocial]

I've faced no problems so far updating to kitkat on my dual moto g.