HTC One M8 and HTC One M7 get Android KitKat 4.4.4 update

It seems that the update to Android KitKat 4.4.4 is faster to arrive than the often troublesome KitKat 4.4.3. HTC users will be pleased to know that both the HTC One M8 and the HTC One M7 are getting KitKat 4.4.4. This update however only applies for the Google Play editions of the phones, at least for now. This new OTA brings several improvements over the KitKat 4.4.2 version, and actually fixes many issues that the 4.4.3 updated failed to address. In fact, the 4.4.3 update brought problems of its own for some smartphones (especially the Google Nexus line), doing more harm than good.

Rumors from a few days ago did suggest that the HTC One models will be getting the new 4.4.4 OTA soon, but this time, the confirmation is official. The update is expected to roll out during the coming days, with users getting the update over time, based on location and carrier services. The update is handled automatically, and in order to get it, you need to access your phone’s Settings, then go to About Phone, System Updates and finally hit the ‘Check Now’ button. If you don’t get any results, don’t worry, the update will take a few days to deploy and does so in phases, so keep checking every now and then.

https://twitter.com/JoshuaWorth/status/484078920879202304

In terms of improvements, the KitKat 4.4.4 update for the HTC One M8 and HTC One M7 fixes several security threats, does tweaks to connectivity and stability and improves battery life. More specifically, the update for the phones fixes the following:

• CTS tets for OpenSSL’s early CCS issue
• Fixed a concurrency bug in OpenSSLHeartbleedTest
• CTS test for Heartbleed Vulnerability in SSLSocket
• Block access to java.lang.Object.getClass in injected Java objects.

The Android KitKat 4.4.4 update isn’t a huge one, so the download size shouldn’t cause problems. Still, we recommend you use a wireless connection to avoid carrier data costs. The download totals about 20 MB in size. We highly recommend you get the new OTA, especially if you’ve upgraded from Android KitKat 4.4.2 to KitKat 4.4.3 a few weeks ago.