It’s fast becoming a big day for the phone carrier Sprint out of the US as they continue to push out significant updates across several of their smartphones. None is bigger than the Galaxy S5 though, as it starts to see a new version of Android 4.4.2 KitKat firmware arriving OTA to give users the long-awaited WiFi calling feature.
While the users will be happy to see the welcomes addition, it’s not the Android 4.4.4 KitKat update that many had hoped for just like with the other phone we just finished covering in the LG G Flex. As I already mentioned in that post, the information is scarce, so we don’t know what Sprint’s plans are exactly heading into the future. I doubt we’ll see 4.4.4 skipped and a jump to the Android L like some are suggesting. Yes, it is happening with the 4.4.3, but it’s doubtful that they will finish at 4.4.2 for the chocolate software.
Keep a close eye on your notification tray as the alert for the new update will roll in anytime between now and a week or two from now. The new software version will stay inside of the USA because it is only for Sprint, but the S5 is a very popular handset that many people own. While we expect eventual rollout times to dramatically drop compared to what we would see from a world-wide release, it will still be longer than the one just reviewed for the G Flex that was finishing up on the 16th of July. The Sammy team hasn’t issued exact dates, but from my experience it will at least stretch until the 20th of the lucky last customers.
The new software, namely G900PVPU1ANE5 arrives to address the WiFi calling demands that so many S5 smartphones missed out on earlier in the year. It has left some people underwhelmed and not satisfied at all as they believe there was more work to be done here. Some people were expecting Bluetooth fixes for the car kits, but the representative assures us there is no such issue in the US, and all alleged bugs are more likely found in the international version, which isn’t related to the American S5 at all.
After installing the new software version, users will have WiFi calls available over WiFi networks. In addition to this, people can also send SMS texts from the Android-based mobile to friends and family over the same network. Sprint started using the WiFi calling close to when the Galaxy S5 was releasing, but not in time to see it come out of the box. The carrier did rollout the feature to some handsets then, and additionally select few afterwards, but it isn’t until now that a dedicated software update has targeted the S5 owners.