Samsung Galaxy S3 Update Android 4.4: No KitKat Upgrade Is Happening, Aging S3 Mini And Its Counterpart Trapped On Jelly Bean

Samsung Galaxy S3 Update Android 4.4: Samsung's Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy S3 Mini are seemingly staying stuck on Android 4.3 and 4.2 Jelly Bean.Rather than upgrading to 4.4 KitKat as expected, the mobile devices will remain stranded it its original OS because of its RAM.

According to Know Your Mobile, this is specifically for the international variants, however, as carrier specific models for US networks Sprint and Verizon have already been upgraded to KitKat successfully. Samsung officially stated that the Galaxy S3 international model i9300, will not be upgraded further as it lacks sufficient RAM to "effectively support the platform upgrade while continuing to provide the best consumer experience."

The company said in a statement that "Samsung has decided not to roll-out the KitKat upgrade to Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions, and the KitKat upgrade will be available to the Galaxy S3 LTE version as the device's 2GB RAM is enough to support the platform upgrade."

"Apparently 1GB isn't sufficient, despite the fact that Google specifically made KitKat with lower-end devices in mind and with support for as little as 512MB of RAM. Samsung already sells newer devices with 1GB or less that have KitKat pre-installed. The finger of suspicion points at Samsung's somewhat hefty TouchWiz user interface which it bundles in with Android; although again, it already ships handsets with the same low memory that are capable of running this software, so we're not entirely sure what's going on here," Paul Briden of Know Your Mobile said in a report.

"It looks like the 2GB of RAM put into American versions of the Galaxy S III to make up for the dual-core CPU, versus the quad-core in the i9300, has made all the difference when it comes to longevity of the device," Android Headlines theorized.

Samsung Mobile UK explained, "In order to facilitate an effective upgrade on the Google platform, various hardware performances such as the memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), multi-tasking capabilities, and display must meet certain technical expectations. The Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions come equipped with 1GB RAM, which does not allow them to effectively support the platform upgrade. As a result of the Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions' hardware limitation, they cannot effectively support the platform upgrade while continuing to provide the best consumer experience. Samsung has decided not to roll-out the KitKat upgrade to Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions, and the KitKat upgrade will be available to the Galaxy S3 LTE version as the device's 2GB RAM is enough to support the platform upgrade."

The Galaxy S3 was shipped with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and is currently running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, which seems to be the last update as Samsung will not extend further software support for the device. As for the Galaxy S3 Mini, Samsung will end the support at Android version 4.2, IBT reported.