Kit Kat, in all of its (typical) Verizon glory...

[Swan_King]

Kit Kat happened. What did it do? Well, it removed colored icons from the status bar, so now it is harder for me to see which email account has new mail. Battery meter is changed and harder to see at a glance. My keyboard lags upon opening, so the first typed word has a dduplicate ffirst lletter. The Google Android OS still does not allow Gmail to be in a combined inbox. The keyboard has gotten smaller. Things like Smart Scroll and Bluetooth turn on at random.  Chrome and the native browser both run slower. My 4G signal is weaker.

Nothing appears better, stronger, faster. I'm at a loss to see any benefit whatsoever.

[JBHall2012]

And best of all, it sucks more power out of the phone.  I used to be able to go a day to a day and a half before charging. With Kit Kat, I had to recharge at noon as I was down to 48% and would not make it through the day. Checked the Battery Setup screen, it seems Android System, Android OS and Google Services lead the pack in battery draw. Not a lot you can do about those other than complain to Google about their coding practices.

[vzw_customer_support]

JBHall2012,

I am sorry to hear of all the issues you have been happening since the software update. What type of device do you have? Have to tried to do a factory reset of your device since the software update?

LindseyT_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport.

[Jakeman1 · Accepted solution]

What device are you running? DO NOT do a Factory Reset until it is the absolute last resort.  Before doing a Factory Reset do a Cache Wipe. This rids the phone of orphaned code and remnants of code left behind. I clears the APP cache without forcing new credentials and will make the phone faster.

Usually shortened battery life on a new update is more due to people playing with the phone to see what has changed then anything else. Disable any of the Bloatware you do not use to save battery and data.