At the very best, Samsung is still a month away from rolling out the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for the Galaxy S4. Thankfully, the folks over at SamMobile have managed to get their hands on a test KitKat firmware for the Galaxy S4, which should help reduce the agonizing wait most Galaxy S4 owners are enduring.
The most notable change in this test firmware is the transparent status bar with white icons, which is in accordance with Google’s new CTS for KitKat. Other changes are minor in nature and include an improved layout for the Samsung’s keyboard in landscape mode, Immersive mode for Samsung’s stock browser, minor UI changes and a newer KitKat-sh looking lock screen.
For all you benchmark junkies, SamMobile also reports that benchmark scores have jumped slightly. Sadly, Google’s new still under development runtime — ART — is missing from this firmware.
Members on XDA have not reported any serious bugs with this release, so if you cannot wait for the official update to land, you can always install this firmware on your device. If you use ODIN to flash the test firmware, the KNOX status of your device will also remain intact.
