It improves the performance of the smartphone and adds new features

Jun 20, 2014 12:01 GMT  ·  By

Verizon has finally kicked off the rollout of the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for Samsung Galaxy S III. The update is pushed OTA (over-the-air) in stages, so it may take a few days until it reaches all the devices.

Hopefully, the Big Red won’t halt the deployment of the update due to unforeseen issues, which has already happened quite a few times with other updates for Samsung smartphones.

Anyway, Verizon is the second US-based carrier that provides Samsung Galaxy S III owners with the long-awaited Android 4.4.2 KitKat update. US Cellular made the same move several days ago and other carriers should follow soon.

Given the fact that Samsung launched a different version of the Galaxy S III in North America, they were also able to bring the smartphone to Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

Unfortunately, owners of the international version of Galaxy S III, on the other hand, aren’t so lucky, even though their smartphones meet the hardware requirements for KitKat announced by Google.

It appears that Samsung’s engineers weren’t able to make TouchWiz load up on the Galaxy S III due to the fact that the smartphone packs only 1GB of RAM.

The North American version comes with 2GB of RAM inside, so Samsung managed to make Android 4.4.2 KitKat work on this particular model.

All in all, let’s see what changes this update, which is also the last major update Galaxy S III will receive, brings for the smartphone.

First of all, Verizon Galaxy S III owners should look for software version JSS15J.I535VRUCNC1 if they want to upgrade to Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

Aside from the usual improvements and new features included in Android 4.4.2, the update also contains some fixes and tweaks especially added for this version of Galaxy S III.

First of all, the Isis Wallet app will be preloaded on the smartphone, and by pressing for 2 seconds the period key you will now be able to access the Emoticons.

The Multi-windows feature has been added in the update as well, along with support for Samsung KNOX 2.0. In fact, Samsung added support for more services such as Emergency Alerts and Verizon Remote Diagnostic.

Some issues have also been corrected, such as the Bluetooth connectivity with Motospeak, which has been updated. The Backup Assistant and Contacts problems with syncing have been solved and even improved.

The Dialer App connectivity and data connectivity have been enhanced as well, along with Wi-Fi stability. Some small changes and tweaks have also been included, such as the fact that Google+ Photos has become Photos and Play Magazine is now Play Newsstand.

Also, Music Hub has been removed from Samsung Hub, along with S Suggest, S Bookmark 1x1, and Samsung Music 4x1 widgets.

Call, Messaging, Google, and Email icons have been removed from screen lock and the Camera icon text size and position have been changed. The full changelog is available at Verizon.