Reports of the Kit Kat update rolling out for Verizon DROID users began surfacing yesterday. The update is still scheduled to roll out in batches, which means it may, or may not be available for your handset just yet. But in the meantime, Albert Aydin from Verizon Wireless has shared the full changelog for the update.

Details show the update will be arriving as Android 4.4 Kit Kat. In the case of the DROID Ultra, that means software version 19.5.3.obake_verizon.Verizon.en.US. And in the case of the DROID Maxx, users would be looking for a software version of 19.5.3.obake-maxx_verizon.Verizon.en.US once the update has been installed.

As for the 4.4 specific portions of the update. These will include a new full-screen mode, color emoji support, improved closed captioning support, stronger security and smarter power user. Overall, Verizon DROID users can expect to see Kit Kat with a few exceptions. For one, the white icons will remain blue and continue giving your handset an appearance of Jelly Bean.

That bit aside, the Verizon changelog makes mention of the following apps/widgets having been updated and/or integrated. The list of updated apps includes the following; Verizon Mobile Security, Verizon Tones, Amazon Kindle, Audible, Quick Office and Motorola Assist. Additionally, Google Photos, NFL Mobile 8.2.3 and SSO client version 3.1.15 have been integrated.

A few remaining app related items include the DROID Zap 2.0 update and support for the Fitbit. The Zap 2.0 update means a new app interface and the ability to access Zap directly from the app tray. As for the Fitbit support, this means direct data sync between your handset and any of the available Fitbit activity trackers. Otherwise, the remaining items break down as follows;

Messaging

  • All your SMS and MMS messages are together in the same Hangouts app, alongside your other conversations and video calls
  • Supports location-sharing and animated GIF’s through Google Hangouts

Emojis

  • Personalize messages with smileys, cars, animals, icons and more

Camera and Imaging

  • Image quality has been improved; Better color, exposure and dynamic range accuracy; Noise reduction (especially in low-light situations)
  • Touch to Focus is now available; Drag your finger around the viewfinder to adjust photo focus/exposure

Immersive Interface

  • Full-screen album and movie art appear when streaming/projecting your media
  • Play, pause and jump to a certain song or movie chapter easily
  • Hide the status bar until you swipe the screen edge to bring it back

SOURCE: Verizon Wireless

16 COMMENTS

  1. I JUST GOT THE UPDATE!
    Love it!!
    Woo!
    Cheers for being an android user and not an Apple and having to deal with their crappy OS7.
    GO KITKAT!!

  2. Having issues with the wallpaper feature. Since the upgrade I can now only use the image I want full size. No longer have the ability to crop.

  3. This update SUCKS. I have the MAXX. Battery life is compromised, the phone gets hot randomly, Chrome is super slow and has display problems, and the phone seems to be slower overall. Ever hear of product testing/beta testing before releasing?! These issues should have easily been caught prior. Anyone else have similar issues?

    • Droid razr maxx? I hope my update will go smoothly and won’t affect things too much…I’m always weary of updating (still not updating my MacBook Pro even hearing horrible reviews) Is the update still okay in other aspects?

    • I am so gald all of you guys told me this. I didn’t like the one we had before. I like the one before the one you like called 4.0.4 .This sucks. I feel your pain. The one before I had was able to goes faster and save a lot more power and able to save and make my ringtone any sound for a ringtone plus turn off and on for wifi tethering and able to mess with the computer from sharing files and doing other work plus it doesn’t get hot when you are on the phone talking to people or using LTE 4G network. They always screw something up and always take out something good out and never fix the one before or even improve the one we got they never let us to have different theme for our phone to have different looks. I am not updating my phone I wish I could turn this off reporting me to update the phone to off. Now it going to get ignoring. If you look around on the google to flash your old update back to your phone it take lot of work.

  4. Bring back the previous active display settings! It used to display an icon for the various notifications to alert users. Now it just displays the active display screen so you have to wake up the phone to see your notifications. Previous version was much more useful.

  5. Hopefully 4.4 will repair the WIFI instability problems that 4.3 just caused on the Verizon Note 3. It was fine when I bought it new from Verizon in October, but got an update in November that caused the problems. I had to turn Bluetooth off in order to get by temporarily. I have my fingers crossed for a fix in 4.4.

  6. This sucks they only do updates for newer phones and leave the people with older phones in the past. Why not do a complete update like apple I guess they fear if they do that you won’t buy phones as often iPhone is seeming like a pretty good idea now

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