Instead of taking a few days as expected, Google has immediately made available its promised Android 4.4.1 update to the Nexus 5. And instead of just being some generic maintenance release, this latest update to the Android 4.4 release fixes one of the most prevalent concerns about the smartphone’s inadequacy in the photography department.
Despite Google wanting you to think otherwise, the Nexus 5’s built-in camera features only allowed for taking decent photos. The biggest complaint about the whole system seems to be the noticeable slow shutter speed, which meant that users would miss out on those once in a lifetime moments. Other issues included blurry shots because of long exposure times courtesy of the Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). As you can see in our Nexus 5 review, the rather mediocre camera has almost been a hallmark of Nexus devices, so it is comforting to see Google tackling this issue head on.
This latest update attempts to address those and push the Nexus 5’s photography prowess to the top. In particular, the update improves a lot of the HDR+ features in Android 4.4. Of course, the update fixes the shutter lag complaint. It also improves on the focusing system, making it faster even in low lighting conditions. HDR+ has also gained a new feature, allowing users to use the pinch-to-zoom gesture on the viewfinder even when in that mode.
Rollout of the Nexus 5 Android 4.4.1 update is announced to start today, though, as always, it might take some time before it reaches out to everyone. If there are any other features or changes in this update, Google isn’t saying so. But we’re bound to hear about those, if any, once the update starts hitting devices.
[UPDATE] Turns out that the Android 4.4.1 update is now also rolling out to the Nexus 4 and the 2013 Nexus 7 LTE variant. How this update affects these devices is stil unknown at this point.
VIA: SlashGear, Android Authority
The difference is night and day between 4.4.0 and 4.4.1. I also think that the speaker is a little louder.