KitKat 4.4.3 update almost here

There are literally dozens of bug fixes coming soon to KitKat 4.4.2 users.  When the Android KitKat 4.4.3 update is released by Google, (hopefully sometime during the month of April 2014), it’s expected that it will fix certain bugs and address other issues that have plagued users of KitKat 4.4.2 for several months.

To cite just two of the bugs that we've gotten e-mails about, in Android 4.4.2, Skype and other apps continuously try to access the camera.  This has caused the battery to drain too quickly, and has resulted in low performance.  Another bug has caused strange things to occur once the battery was charged to full, or when a low battery alert at 15% or 25% appeared, forcing the user to reboot his device to get things back to normal.

So be patient everyone.  Relief is almost here.

Android 4.4.3 details come to light

New permission added

Since an overwhelming number of our users of both Battery Notifier BT Free and Battery Notifier Pro BT have gone out of their way to tell us that one of the things they liked most about our apps was the fact that they needed only two permissions, it was a difficult decision for us to decide to add a third permission.

What Google has done starting with Android 4.4, otherwise known as KitKat, is to create what some have called "a bit of a mess".  In fact, some developers have outright demanded that Google go back to the way it was before.  We were waiting to see what the eventual fallout would be, and to see if Google would change their minds, but they have not.

Prior to Android 4.4, read access to the SD card or internal storage did not require any special permissions.  Beginning with Android 4.4, however, Google has insisted that read access now requires the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission (for apps that didn’t already have the pre-existing write permission granted).  Data stored in the managed application directories on external storage require no permissions at all if you are the application that owns those files.

While Battery Notifier BT Free and Battery Notifier Pro BT do not add any sound files of their own, we discovered that many of our users who have some version of KitKat like to use their own custom sound notification files that they have saved to either the SD card or internal storage.  And we heard from them.  A lot.  Frequently.  Some sending numerous e-mails, with some willing to patiently help us test to try and find a workaround, with others not so willing to test while simply demanding "Fix it!"

So to our users who really liked the fact that we only had two permissions before, we apologize.  But enough of our users have spoken so that we feel we needed to add the third permission to enable our users to play the sounds on their devices that they wanted.  And it appears Google is not going to revert to the way it was before, or change their minds anytime soon.  Just please know that we are only using the added read permission in order to play sound files located on storage and nothing more.  Also know that we are still as concerned about our users' privacy as ever, and we will continue to strive to keep that as one of our highest priorities.


For our more technically savvy users, you can read much more about the Google and KitKat change regarding external storage here...
On the Edge of the Sandbox: External Storage Permissions
Written by: Dave Smith on March 20