Rumor: Google Starts Early Dogfooding Of Android 4.4.3, Public Release Expected In Coming Weeks

• Confidence Level
• The Rumor
• The Evidence

Several weeks ago, we caught wind of Android 4.4.3 and some of the changes it could bring, consisting mostly of bug fixes, both big and small. At this point, according to several sources familiar with the matter, Android 4.4.3 has entered internal testing outside of the core Android team - a process otherwise known as dogfooding. The final release isn't expected to hit public devices for a number of weeks, so those of you expecting it any day now will have to wait just a bit longer.

Disclaimer: No matter the confidence level, there's always a chance product updates, features, and some or all details will be changed or cancelled altogether. As with all rumors, nothing is 100% until it's officially announced.

We do not have possession of any APKs or unreleased devices, so please don't ask for them.

Confidence Level

This rumor gets a confidence rating of 9/10. A point is deducted for the lack of release timelines.

The Rumor

Android 4.4.3, also known as KitKat MR2 (Android 4.4.1 and 4.4.2 are known as KitKat MR1), has entered the dogfooding stage and has started rolling out to 1% of Google employees outside of the Android team. Currently, the dogfooding rollout is limited to the supported Nexus line (Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 2012, Nexus 7 2013, and Nexus 10), with GPE and Moto X updates to follow.

The final public releases should be out in coming weeks. Unsurprisingly, the exact schedule is unknown at this point because it depends on the success of the dogfooding tests which will presumably first have to expand from the limited 1% to a larger portion of employees. The point is - don't expect an OTA just yet.

Seemingly confirming our previous rumor, Google reportedly only mentions that 4.4.3 contains critical security and stability issues. No new features are noted.

The Evidence

The information comes from several reliable sources, and we have every reason to believe it's accurate.

Since this post would look boring without any images, here's 4.4.3 running on a Nexus 5 from our previous report:

Artem Russakovskii

Artem is a die-hard Android fan, passionate tech blogger, obsessive-compulsive editor, bug hunting programmer, and the founder of Android Police. Most of the time, you will find Artem either hacking away at code or thinking of the next 15 blog posts.

source: androidpolice