nexus 10
Last night, during the AH Show, we announced that the Nexus 7 WiFi models and the Nexus 10 would begin receiving Android 4.4 KitKat. We’ve already seen the OTA file surface for the Nexus 7 2013 and the Nexus 7 2012. Now we’re seeing the OTA file for the Nexus 10 Manta surface for those with the original Nexus 10. You can update to KitKat by sideloading this update. Which is kind of easy to do. You’ll first need to have the Android SDK installed, which really isn’t all that hard to do. You’ll also need to the microUSB cable. Finally, you’ll need to be on Android 4.3 JWR66Y, for the OTA to work.
You’ll need to use the adb sideload command to sideload the file onto your Nexus 10. Or if you are rooted and stock you can sometimes flash it through the custom recovery. But be careful because it doesn’t work 100% of the time. It’s also very easy to get root back again, basically just fastboot flash a custom recovery and you’re basically done.
KitKat brings a lot of cool features, which you can read about here. There is also a rumor that the Nexus 10 will not have a translucent status bar or navigation bar due to the GPU. I’m not sure if that’s true but I guess we’ll find out very soon as people are getting the Android 4.4 KitKat OTA.
Of course, if you just want to wait for the 219MB OTA, feel free to do that as well. It makes it easier to install without a risk of bricking your device. Although it is nearly impossible to brick your device nowadays. For those that are anxiously waiting on KitKat, well here you go. I don’t actually have a Nexus 10, so I can’t say how well it works or not, but we’ll have to wait for our readers to let us know how well it is.