A new update is making its way to your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3, and a welcome one at that. Verizon has begun the OTA rollout of new software which will bring Galaxy Gear compatibility as well as Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.
While Android 4.3 isn’t a huge upgrade over Android 4.2, the update brings with it a host of little tweaks and some changes in the naming of Samsung’s preinstalled software, notification improvements and call settings. The biggest improvement in the update is the inclusion of Galaxy Gear compatibility, which has been relegated to the Galaxy Note 3 so far.
As with all carrier updates, this one could take a while to land on your device. You can always check for it manually by heading to Settings, About phone and then System Updates.
Here’s the full changelog from Verizon:
THE FOLLOWING CAPABILITIES HAVE BEEN ADDED:
- Media Backup in Backup Assistant has been removed
- Move apps from internal memory to SD card (some applications
- may not support this feature)
- Camera supports ‘Sound & Shot’
- Share videos simultaneously across 4 devices with Group Play
- Multi Window has been enhanced
- Access music player controls on the Lock Screen
- ‘Location settings completed’ checkbox has been removed from
- Setup Wizard
- Even more Bluetooth® Smart Accessories are now supported
- Accessories include heart rate monitors, pedometers and thermometers
- Roaming on the TELUS Network in Canada is now possible
THE FOLLOWING CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE:
- OS has been upgraded to Jelly Bean 4.3
- Starter Mode has been renamed to Easy Mode in Home Screen
THE FOLLOWING APP NAMES HAVE RENAMED:
- Samsung Link (formerly AllShare Play)
- Easy Mode (formerly Starter Mode)
- Screen Mirroring (formerly Allshare Cast)
- Samsung Hub (consolidated from Media & Music)
Enhancements to Isis Wallet App
- Premium SMS popup no longer appears when app is authenticated
- Activation has been enhanced to increase success rate
Enhancements to Call Settings
- Personalize your call sound has been added to call screen
- Extra volume button is now located above the End button on the call screen
- Noise reduction icon is now a toggle button on the call screen
- Enhancements to Lock Screen Settings
- New time and date fonts and layout
- Multiple Lock screen widget UI has been added
- New Unlock, Help and Wake Up settings have been added
Enhancements to Notifications
- Notification Panel Grid view has been added
- Quick Setting List is now editable
THE FOLLOWING ISSUES HAVE BEEN RESOLVED:
- Customer name displays correctly when calling voicemail callback number
- Use 3-way calling while roaming on Bluegrass Cellular
- Voicemail prompt displays properly
- Notification sound for email has been addressed
- ‘No Sim Card’ notification has been fixed
- Text messaging application no longer closes when composing a message