Builds of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean for Samsung's Galaxy S 4 first began to leak out way back in June, well before Google had even had the chance to properly announce the new version of its mobile operating system. Fast-forward to this week and there's some good news for Galaxy S 4 owners that prefer to stick to the official side of the update tracks, as it appears that Samsung has started pushing Android 4.3 to some international versions of its flagship smartphone.
As noted by SamMobile, both the LTE Galaxy S 4 (GT-I9505) and the HSPA+ Galaxy S 4 (GT-9500) are now receiving their updates to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. The LTE Galaxy S 4 update process is currently underway in Germany, while the HSPA+ model's update is said to be going out in Russia. As with most software updates, Samsung is pushing Android 4.3 out in phases, so Galaxy S 4 owners not located in one of the two aforementioned countries will need to continue to wait for their own taste of 4.3.
Samsung hasn't published an official changelog for its Android 4.3 bump, but those folks that've already received the new software have spent some time digging through it and discovered several notable enhancements. The update is said to contain improvements to the TouchWiz launcher, Samsung keyboard and browser and the Galaxy S 4's RAM management, as well as Samsung's Knox security feature and the company's Wallet app. Other goodies include support for Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch and a handful of small UI tweaks.
Even though it's only rolling out to a couple of countries right now, it's still good to see that the latest version of Jelly Bean has started to make its way to the TouchWiz-ified Galaxy S 4. It's not yet clear when S 4 owners in other parts of the globe will receive their own updates to Android 4.3, especially when you remember that carrier testing can have a major effect on an update's rollout in some countries, but at least now we've got an idea of the the types of goodies that Samsung has packed into the Galaxy S 4's Android 4.3 upgrade.
Via SamMobile (1), (2)
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