Sprint’s Galaxy S3 “Security” Update Features Dumbed Down Search App – Attempts To Prevent Apple Lawsuit?
Earlier today, we told you guys about a security update hitting the Sprint Galaxy S3 and were confident the OTA wouldn’t introduce anything “malicious” into the device. And we were right — to a point.
While the update did manage to fix some issues the device was having with Google Wallet, it seems to have intentionally taken away some functionality with the Google Search app. Just like the dumbed down Search app that Google is shipping with new Galaxy Nexuses to avoid Apple’s injunctions, it seems Samsung/Google/Sprint are taking preventative measures to avoid a similar ban from hitting the Galaxy S3 on Sprint.
The new reduced functionality search app will no longer simultaneously search for contacts and applications installed on the device, instead, only pulling up queries from the web. Before you get up in arms over the OTA, regaining the lost search functionality is as easy as installing the old GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk, so it’s not something that’s particularly too difficult to fix. It’s just a matter of time before similar “security” updates begin hitting the device on other networks.
[XDA]