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Android 4.4 KitKat for Samsung Galaxy Nexus is unofficially available

Teaser
As Google drops support for the device, independent developers use ROMs from the Android Open Source (Project) to provide operating system updates to the Galaxy Nexus smartphone.
Android Smartphone

When Google released Android 4.4 KitKat, this new version arrived with support for older devices just as promised back in September. Unfortunately owners of Samsung Galaxy Nexus handsets did not receive any good news, as support for their phones was dropped by Google. On the other hand, it seems that unofficial KitKat ROMs are already available for those who want Android 4.4 on their Galaxy Nexus no matter what.

Owner of a Verizon Galaxy Nexus himself, Android developer baldwinguy77 known for his OTA-like builds for this specific handset has just released a new ROM called “Shiny” Android 4.4 KRT16M. This ROM is built using the Android source code published by Google for developers, but it also comes with the following highlights (as described by the author):

  • G-Apps (GMail, Play Store, etc.) included in build along with Nexus apps
  • Stock browser replaced with Google Chrome
  • All the crazy Google proprietary app stuff has been taken care off
  • Easily rootable

While the build above is supposed to be free of bugs and in a state very close to the original Android 4.4 KitKat, some may want to try the Alpha builds of the SlimKat (Maguro) ROM released by kufikugel on the XDA Developers forum. Unfortunately this one already has a rather long list of known bugs, so most Samsung Galaxy Nexus users may want to skip it for now.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2013 11 > Android 4.4 KitKat for Samsung Galaxy Nexus is unofficially available
Codrut Nistor, 2013-11- 4 (Update: 2013-11- 5)