Third-party Galaxy Note 3 case functionality killed after KitKat update; fix available for root users
Uh-oh. A big ol’ stink is brewing over the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 following its upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat. Several reports suggest the South Korean company is blocking functionality of third-party accessories which aren’t officially licensed by Samsung. This mainly pertains to a selection of smart covers, such as the ones that show you only part of the screen while the case is closed.
This effectively means that every case made for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 are no longer fully functional. They all still fit, obviously, but users won’t get to enjoy features such as S-View, and possibly automatic power-on / standby.
It was previously reported that Samsung was looking to test a new identification chip for accessories starting with the Galaxy Note 3. Most folks assumed that rumor was debunked, though, as third-party accessories were every bit as functional as Samsung’s at launch.
This latest episode shows that the feature might have been there all along, though, and that it was merely a dormant beast waiting to be awakened by the Android 4.4 KitKat. So where do we go from here?
If true, third-party accessory makers will still be able to make cases that are on-par with Samsung’s, but will likely have to be licensed and outfitted with an identification chip. The only issue with that is we’re still not sure what’s going to have to happen for the millions of other cases already out and about. We’ll be reaching out to Samsung to see what their plans are on this going forward (that’s if any of this is true to begin with).
In the meantime, a fix has been found for those of you who don’t mind rooting your devices. The fix requires the Xposed framework tool, so be sure read up about how you can install and use that here. After that, find a download link for the APK you’ll need here (it’s as simple as installing the APK and enabling its functionality in Xposed).
[via SamMobile]