Another day another over the air software release, this time for the LG Optimus G Pro for those using the AT&T phone carrier. From all reports, this is another newer version of Android 4.4.2 KitKat namely E98020g. The build number is different compared to what we are used to seeing.
After being announced in February of 2013 the, ‘good old’ G Pro has sat on Android 4.1.2 since coming out of the box. It goes without saying that users are in for a big surprise. If Android 4.2.2, 4.3 and 4.4 wasn’t enough, we are skipping all of those and going directly to the very latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat that is as far up the Android software chain as any device can go. With that being said, we are right in the middle of seeing the 4.4.3 build leaked for the Galaxy S5 prime. But lets not take all the attention away from the most deserving place, and that is with the Life’s Good companies G Pro smartphone.
Back in the day the G pro was fantastic value for money with a 13 megapixel camera, a 5.5-inch physical display and a 1080 x 1920 pixel screen resolution. For its day, it had great specs. However, carriers and manufacturers alike have left this one hanging out in the cold for software so lets run through in detail what KitKat offers compared to the old Jelly Bean.
Let’s start with the chocolate software as it started as a platform. Stepping up from Jelly Bean meant Google Now launching from saying, “OK Google” without touching any buttons. Full screen album art made its way to displays when listening to music. The new immersive mode gave a full screen where the status bar is hidden and you can “immerse” yourself in nothing but the rich content you want to see. Multitasking got a lot faster. Google OS got smarter with a smarter caller ID, the messages all come to the one place. Along similar lines, the Emoji smiley faces everybody loves to use with text received a big upgrade. Printing became a lot easier with connections to Google cloud now available. Google Drive became a lot more compatible for saving files on apps such as Quick Office. That’s just a little taste of Kitkat from Jelly Bean. It is yet again, another step up from that and Android 4.4.2 Kitkat so lets delve into what is inside.
The newer version still holds many of the same features but is further enhanced with more features and many bug fixes and performance improvements put in place. You’ll find fonts and colors are more all-round suited to Kitkat origins. The status bar is now all white when there was some green and even some orange in places before. Now it is all white. The notification tray has changed to look more like Kitkat with a different font. It’s subtle, but it is changed. The keyboard in landscape mode is enhanced and greatly improved so that when you type it first he screen better and your fingers. It’s a bit of a gimmick because I, and most people I know choose to type the keyboard faced the usual way.
New on the lock screen is the camera app. If you know somebody is running iOS 7 on the Apple iPhone it is a similar thing. They started it with iOS 7. People can take photos with your camera without knowing the pass-code is what this means. However, they still do not have access to the photo albums or any pictures you have taken thank goodness. Some people have trouble working it. Instead of tapping the icon it swipes upwards to show the camera app. They might make a change there in the next build because it is a bit confusing having a giant camera icon that doesn’t click but for now that’s the way it is. Of course users have full control over what widgets are displayed so at any time you can take this away if you do not want it on the lock-screen. Multi-window can now have two apps in at the same time. It is a good feature for a smartphone with bigger displays.
As we all know, Android and Google love Easter Eggs to offer users something to play with and keep people entertained. I’m going to tell you the Easter Eggs you can use in this new firmware. Go into Settings and tap the Android version after updating ten times fast a “k” will come up on the screen. It is the beginning. Aim to tap over that K again. When you tap it spins. It invokes more tapping so go ahead and tap a few more times. The screen will change to show the rip-off chocolate bar KitKat logo with the word Android in it. You would think that would be under copyright there, but who knows. maybe Google slipped some money under the table to get away with that one. it’s fun to look at, that’s what Google’s all about and it doesn’t stop there either. Instead of tapping, long-hold on the red logo and it will open up a cool new game that shows all the Android versions together on one screen. You can tap each piece around and they move. It’s a bit like Tetris but not as serious. It’s just a metaphor for how all the Android versions come together to make a full puzzle which is what we know of the green robot brand to be today.
With all that in mind you probably want to install it right? To see if it is ready to install for your device go to Settings > About Phone > System Updated > Check for updates and it will tell you if it has come in OTA for you. For some, it will be there, for others it might arrive later today, tomorrow, or even next week. These updates roll out in stages and to this day there is not way of telling when it will arrive for each person.