Following the launch of Android 4.4 KitKat for the Galaxy Note 3 in some countries, there’ve been reports from some Note 3 owners that certain third-party accessories no longer work with the new firmware. The info first came to light on the XDA forums, where owners of some third-party S View cases say the accessories doesn’t work as they did on Jelly Bean.
At first it seemed to be a simple case of a manufacturer locking down software to gain more control over the accessory ecosystem. However Samsung has today released a statement denying any link between nonfunctional third-party accessories and the recent update. The translated statement, given to German blog AllAboutSamsung, reads —
Statement on the use of third-party accessories
To ensure a pleasant and smooth user experience with Samsung products for our customers, we recommend that only original accessories from Samsung be used. Of course, customers can continue to rely on third-party accessories. The full functionality of our devices and accessories, however, can only be ensured with genuine Samsung components, since only in this way it is ensured that equipment and accessories are perfectly matched. A correlation between the Android version 4.4 and the supposed incompatibility of third-party accessories does not exist.
In light of this development it’s unclear where owners of nonfunctional accessories stand. And with KitKat for the Note 3 apparently still limited to a couple of countries in Eastern Europe, it may be a while before this issue is fully resolved. In the meantime, various software and hardware workarounds have been offered on the XDA forums for those affected.
Source: AllAboutSamsung, XDA