Monday, June 30, 2014

International Galaxy Note 3 update: Kids Mode, Download Booster

Have an international model of the Galaxy Note 3 and jealous of the T-Mobile version getting some flagship features? Now you can stop being the green-eyed monster, as some owners in the UK are reporting an update to their device that brings at least two desirable features from the Galaxy S5 to the latest S-Pen phablet, namely Download Booster and Kids Mode.

There are other "modes" that Samsung's flagship boasts of, but these two are the ones that seem portable to other devices with a little less effort. Kids Mode, as the name suggests, relieves parents of the worry and stress of handing over their device for their child, or any other toddler, to play with by limiting their access to apps and features. Download Booster, on the other, is rather contentious, at least for carriers, feature that Samsung recently introduced. It practically combines both WiFi and cellular data connections in order to, well, boost download speeds. This latter feature was discovered to be missing from AT&T's Galaxy S5 model precisely because of its network-hogging tendency, which still needed to be tested and certified.

Those might not be issues for international variants of the Galaxy Note 3, namely those with the model number SM-N9005. The Kids Mode is noted to require a separate download after the feature has been installed, not unlike some other exclusive Samsung apps like KNOX, S Health, or Story Album. Other than those two new features and a new KNOX 2.0 version, the update doesn't seem to add anything else. The Android version remains at 4.4.2.

The update, with build number N9005XXUFNF4., was first spotted in the UK and will most likely roll out to other markets soon, though, like always, it will take some time. The update is around 185 MB in size and delivered via OTA, so best to ensure you have a good WiFi connection and at least 50 percent battery charge when attempting the upgrade.