Android 4.3 seems to have been coming for so long now that we were just about ready to give up and let Google just quietly release it. Well, things have gotten a little more interesting, as finally, a System Dump of Android 4.3 for the Nexus 4 has become available. Over at Android Police they go through the back story of Android build JWR66N and how it came to light. The story goes something like, Google+ user Jeff Williams claimed to have purchased a Nexus 4 from a Googler and that it came with Android 4.3, specifically the same version that leaked out for the Google Edition of the Galaxy S4.
Of course, without proof he was quickly dismissed as a hoaxer but, thanks to some enterprising folks that gathered together on an IRC channel, there’s finally proof. That proof is indeed a System Dump of Android 4.3, build number JWR66N for the Google Nexus 4. For a lot of us, this might not mean too much but, it means that people can put Android 4.3 under the knife and found out just what’s new about it. If you’re hoping for a quick turnaround on a ROM port however, don’t get too excited as the bootloader and radio aren’t included, these are said to be coming later.
There are numerous mirrors to the System Dump, and if you’d like to download it you can just head on over to here thanks to hackthevoid. It’s interesting to see an Android version surface like this but, with a Press meeting with Sundar Pichai scheduled for next week, we may well be seeing Android 4.3 land officially sooner, rather than later.
Thanks go out to all of the devs that helped to get this system dump ready – IRC users efrant, gravufo, Jason__, vividboarder, Introspection and everybody else that played a part. Hopefully, you Nexus lovers will have a ROM out there to try soon, and if not – we doubt you’ll have too much longer to wait anyway.
For those of you who know what you’re doing with custom recoveries, specifically TWRP, you might be able to restore your Nexus 4, as this XDA post has a link a TWRP backup. Of course, you do this at your risk.