The Google Nexus 7 2012 3G edition is starting to find an Android 4.4.3 KTU84L Kitkat update arriving over the air to selected handsets. It has been rolling out to the whole Nexus family for this week. Because the 2013 variant is older that means, it has to wait in line before it gets looked after sufficiently. It was only a few days though so at the end of the day it is no big deal. Moreover, we know all that there is to know about this latest version of Kitkat now, and that is something we could not say when it was first starting coming to the newer models. However, it did manage to beat out the likes of Nexus 7 LTE 2013 and Nexus 7 2012 Wi-Fi as those two devices are still waiting. We’ll get onto those over the weekend as they happen but for now lets check out what we know specifically for the nexus 7 2012 edition.
The truth is there isn’t a great deal happening in this release as it is mostly about important bug fixes and stuff happening under the hood that we don’t notice. You will see better performance, enhanced UI and some new features that I will explain. The Google Dialer menu is revamped to better suit the KitKat design. Gone are the dark blue background with light electric blue keys and it is replaced with white/gray and a darker sky blue instead. The names of the colors are unofficial here. Those are just how it appears to my own eyes to give you an idea. We know Android developers have been keen on making areas more white such as the status bar in 4.4.2.
We know this will roll out to all owners starting today, and it won’t finish up for days or even weeks. If it has not arrived in your notifications yet then don’t panic because they don’t come all the same time. Your friends might beat you, or you might beat them. There is no known sequence for how Android decides to release the OTA. For example, there is no key combination you can press, it doesn’t matter who brought theirs first or from what store. Nothing adds up other than there are lots of people to send this out for, and it happens one by one. My personal theory is that it might go by people’s last names so if yours starts with “A” you should have it. Try and prove that theory by commenting if any people with a sir name starting with A is reading this. It is coming all over the world though so it won’t be easy to understand. Go to Settings > About phone / tablet > System updates and check for updates to check if it is ready for your system. You will see a blue bar running and when it finishes it will give the answer.
There’s many thing to do in preparation for your update if you like going by the book and not taking risks. The obvious thing is backup the data. If you don’t want to lose, any applications use an app like helium to sort you out. You can also sync with the Google account, Samsung Kies or simply backup to internal storage. This Nexus 7 only came with 8 GB of built-in storage though so extra space might be hard to come by. Making it even harder is the lack of an expansion MicroSD card slot. Google Drive does offer a service to store extra data. Make sure you backup app, contacts, EFS folder, photo, pictures, video and call logs, SMS/MMS texts and any other personal data you don’t want to lose. Being an official update we do not predict or expect data loss during the installation, but crazier things have happened, and technology never comes with a guarantee.
In order to receive this update, you need to be on Android 4.4.2 firmware number KOT49H. Normally when it comes to OTA root users need to go back to stock recovery to receive it. However, these Nexus devices have been different, and you can update using stock recovery and custom recovery. However, don’t forget that you will still need the Google Nexus USB drivers for a successful connection to the computer. Alternatively you can check out this XDA Developers thread where a user has posted a file.
This tablet came out in June of 2012, so the battery is nearly 2 years old When brand new it lasted for 12.5 days stand-by time and talk-time is a lot less. Be the judge of your own battery performance because it is only you who knows it. Make sure you have enough battery power to see you through the installation, so it doesn’t shut down half way through the process.
Download the official KTU84L file here.