Verizon Galaxy S4 4.4 Update (KitKat)

[AndroidDev]

Agreed. Along with the bloatware, they might be waiting for the Galaxy S5 !!!

Source: https://insidersguide.vzw.com/tech-smarts/samsung-galaxy-s-5-4-iii-differences-compare/

[alias73]

Yeah, I bet they're holding out to release the S5. Ha! Capitalistic pigs!! Or their developers are just plain horrible at their jobs. If they were any slower they would be going backwards!

[UAVPilot1]

I received an email today announcing the GS5 was here and ready to be ordered... It will come with 4.4.2... At this point, I KNOW Verizon is saying a great big F$#! Y*& to those that own the GS4 and Note 3 as they are trying to make us buy the new phone. On top of that, they are introducing another Samsung Windows Phone... Hey Verizon, you should all go back to school for customer service as you fail horrible at it now! Take care of your current customers and they will take care of you! At this point, you are going to lose most of your android customers!

[alias73]

Yup!  My new task is to talk to my boss and convince him to get rid of our Verizon Wireless all together and go with the small AT&T account we also use.  Can't wait for my contract to be fulfilled. I'm outta here! Verizon plays too many games and treats their customers like they don't even care and don't value them. Next thing to do is also blow up all of the social media sites about how Verizon customer service is total garbage.

[Abenbynek]

Every single phone carrier not just the other three major ones but even the prepay carriers have all released the kit kat update for the galaxy S4 and some the note 3. Verizon still has not. I've heard excuses like bug testing. But there have been no reported bugs on any carrier not just domestic but world wide. It seems like a cheap marketing ploy to sell more galaxy S5s.  Why does Verizon constantly ignore this issue?  It's been months since Samsung gave you the update, why don't we have it yet? There are no bugs to test or fix. Why do you refuse to push the update already provided to you months ago?

[stargazer72460]

Abenbynek, I think the "bug" testing that Verizon maybe talking about is caused by the numerous apps (bloatware) that Verizon wants to add to the update.  Some of the apps may not be compatible with KitKat so they have to redo the app to make it compatible.  They may have to do this several times before they get the app to co-exist with KitKat.  Just think of all the extra apps that Verizon puts on the phone that most users don't even use (or want).  If they have a compatibility problem with only a few of them, it may take them several months to get the apps to work with KitKat before they can release it.

[Abenbynek]

It's an extremely logical deduction given the vast amounts of bloatware they infect our phones with. Also looking at their own galaxy comparison page they explain the differences between the three four and five. They seem to emphasize the fact only the S5 has Kit Kat and list the advantages of the OS over Jelly Bean. This leads me to belive they're purposely holding it back as a marketing ploy to spark sales of the S5. This is a horrible way to treat their current customers and will be a deal breaker to many especially myself. I've flirted with the idea of having T-mobile pay the early termination fees and paying $60 a month for the same 3GB of data i pay Verizon $100 for every month. In my area the coverage is exactly the same with T-mobile having faster download speeds and much more timely updates. Even with paying the full cost of the Galaxy S 5 split into 24 monthly payments and keeping my current data limits my monthly  fee is $20 less and once the phones paid off its $47 cheaper. With Verizon even though the contract is over you continue to pay the same amount which includes the the cost of your phone subsidized into the monthly payment.Can a Verizon rep tell me why I should stay with Verizon? Why we can't get a legitimate honest answer about our current product we have already paid for? Why the "best"  wireless provider can't keep up with every other provider in regards to keeping our phones updated and giving us our moneys worth when we already pay more than everyone else?

[alias73]

I think it's been figured out that Verizon Wireless takes their customers for granted and may no longer be the best choice for cell phone users. I'm no stranger to this whole bad experience. This exact thing happened to me when I owned the Motorola Bionic. At first I thought it was Motorola to blame, so I changed to Samsung after being a loyal Motorola customer. I had several Motorola phones in my past. Now having a Samsung with the same horrible experience, I now know it's Verizon all along that is to blame. Thank You for enlightening me Verizon. Now it's my duty to spread the word of how horribly you treat your loyal customers keeping them in the dark so long.

[AndroidDev]

Sure, VZW is the sole party responsible for the delay of Android OS updates. It's very disappointing that they couldn't even give a satisfactory answer. This violates the fundamentals of Customer Service !

[RussRide]

By now this is shameful and ridiculous.  First you start with these ludicrous monthly charges. Then to squeeze every dime from your customers, delay improvement and stability updates for months, to stuff with as much self-serving, money-grubbing, unneeded and unwanted bloat software, for that tenth of a penny per user, or for that 1 in 100 person that subscribes who's either dumb enough or too rich to care that it's readily available elsewhere for free.  Now it's got to the point you think that if you can hold out a little longer, all these people who bought your phones within the last year, will just buy new ones with the *added feature* of 4.4.  Compounded by silence and sham excuses, the days are coming when your customers will be glad to be rid of you.  It won't be long before all your customers are swept away by better alternatives.  During a time when much of the country has been and is struggling, here's been Verizon with its hand reaching further and further.  Thanks, hope it was worth it