[stephanie_ewart]

Hi there,

I'm a complete beginner with phones and this is my first smartphone.

I took the 4.4 Kitkat upgrade but would like to revert to 4.3 jelly bean.

Can I download a file which will enable me to do this on my phone? I do not know how to back up my data (even unsure if I have a cable).

4.4 just isn't for me and it seems to be running with issues on my phone (mail exchange errors, random call numbers popping up in contacts etc). And, if I'm honest, I just preferred 4.3.

Steph

[Stuart_h]

I don't think there is an easy way to do this unless you want to go down the manual flashing route....
(Probably not recommended for a novice)

Might be worth trying to solve the problems you are having first. They may be down to dodgy apps that will soon be updated ?

[stephanie_ewart]

Oh dear, that's a shame.

Well I keep getting a pop up message saying "Unfortunately, Exchange Services has stopped". I think it's something to do with email but I'm not sure.

Also when I search for a contact say "Simon". When I type Simon in the search contacts box it brings up Simon - Mobile and his number but underneath I've two boxes

Call Button
Add to contacts button

The call button has 5 random numbers next to it. Whatever name I imput has random numbers in the call box if it's a 5 letter name its 5 random numbers. If it's a 3 letter name it's 3 random numbers.

Is this a fault or am I not understanding a function?

Would still prefer to revert to 4.3

[Stuart_h]

Ahhhh. The dialler thing is a feature. If you go to the dialler and start typing a name using the letters on the number keys it will find the contact for you.

Is if I type 788278 it would find stuart. (Or any other contact with a similar name).

That's because 7 is p/q/r/s. 8 is t/u/v etc.

Once you get used to it its pretty helpful

As for the exchange issues have you checked for app updates .

[flagpole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart_h

Ahhhh. The dialler thing is a feature. If you go to the dialler and start typing a name using the letters on the number keys it will find the contact for you.

Is if I type 788278 it would find stuart. (Or any other contact with a similar name).

That's because 7 is p/q/r/s. 8 is t/u/v etc.

Once you get used to it its pretty helpful

As for the exchange issues have you checked for app updates .

the dialer was like that on my nokia.

it's a good plan.

[bikerlad]

The benefit of owning a Nexus is you get the upgrades as soon as they are released from Google with all their new features. If you don't want to move with the times, stick to a phone with it's own interface like Sense or Touchwiz.

If you downgrade you'll not get patches or security fixes from Google.

[stephanie_ewart]

I wasn't going through the dialler. I was hitting the blue phone icon and typing 'simon' into the search contacts box. It located him but had an extra box under:-

Call 74666. If I hit the Call 74666 button it says invalid number. Not sure why it says Call 75666 if it doesn't work?

I now see the dialler pad which I hadn't noticed before. If I press the relevant numbers it does select the right name. Is this really an advantage? I kinda miss the wee magnifying glass whereby you just put in the Initial and it brought up all names. I guess I'm too old for this!

Please could somone tell me how to check for an app update?? The error message is "Unfortunately, Exchange Services has stopped.". I think it might be related to my email (the white envelope with yellow sheet one but I'm not sure - the message is appearing all the time at the moment.

Also when I click on my met Office app it seems to be stuttering and reloading it before it settles - is anyone else having issues? I uninstalled it and reinstalled but it's made no difference.

[TheSloth]

Do you use the email? I use the standard Email app for email and choose not to use the GMail app, even for my Google email account.

If not, you can try disabling the Email and/or GMail apps via the Apps section in Settings and see if that error disappears.

Presumably you upgraded to 4.4 on a phone previously running 4.3? Which phone is it?

If you list things you really don't like about 4.4, there are probably settings or customisations to help suppres/change them.

[stephanie_ewart]

Thanks for the replies. I was ignorant when I bought the phone and didn't' realise it would be upgraded and change.

The phone is Nexus 4.

I do use the email app to view my hotmail accounts. I think it must be this which is causing the 'Unfortunately, Exchange Services has stopped.' error message.

Can anyone help with this? Or explain if I am using the search contacts wrong as still don't really understand why a box Call with numbers next to it is showing under the real name and number.

Anyone else finding the Met Office app stutters on start up?

Yes I too the upgrade when it flashed up on my phone and it upgraded from 4.3 to 4.4.
Steph

[TheSloth]

This Android site has an article on this bug which may explain things...

[stephanie_ewart]

Can you point me to the article? I'm not sure what I'm looking for as I've a few error issues.

It transpires when in email if turn 'sync email for this account' off then the error message doesn't appear - but neither does it notify me when an email arrives.

Any help appreciated.

[pi r squared]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephanie_ewart

Explain if I am using the search contacts wrong as still don't really understand why a box Call with numbers next to it is showing under the real name and number.

It is to do with the practice of "spelling" phone numbers. It's much less common in this country but very well used in the States where companies and people will often advertise their number as, say, 1-800-DOCTORB (because remembering a word is much easier than a number). So on the dial pad you would dial 1 8 0 0 then 3 (for "D"), 6 (for "O"), 2 (for "C") etc. and your phone would interpret it as 1 800 3628672. The new dialer is just making it easier to do this by typing "1800doctorb" on an actual keyboard and having it figure out the number to call itself.

Ultimately it's not a useful feature on this side of the pond, and Americans are so used to doing it through the dialpad that I doubt it'll get much use over there either. However, it doesn't really cause a problem.

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephanie_ewart

Can you point me to the article? I'm not sure what I'm looking for as I've a few error issues.

It transpires when in email if turn 'sync email for this account' off then the error message doesn't appear - but neither does it notify me when an email arrives.

Any help appreciated.

Here you go...

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Andro...x-403066.shtml

[stephanie_ewart]

Thanks for the article and for the explanation on the random search contact numbers.

Any one else notice that Met Office app stutters/flashes on loading?

For now my email error message seems to have disappeared. I think I hit Disable on the Exchange Services app and then re-enabled. Haven't had an issues since anyway.

Still would prefer to revert to 4.3. If anyone can talk/walk me through how to do so I'd be much obliged

steph

[TheSloth]

You can't go back to 4.3 without flashing your phone and voiding your warranty. You will get used to 4.4 and can customise the bits you don't like.

Look for 'dialer' in the store - if you see one that you like the look of over the KitKat one, try it out. Same goes for most components of your phone. You can replace the user interface with an alternative 'launcher' and there are other email and SMS apps too.

[stephanie_ewart]

Thanks for your help. Might take me just a bit of time to come around to it all.

[noise747]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephanie_ewart

Thanks for your help. Might take me just a bit of time to come around to it all.

there are bits of the new Android I am not impressed with, even if they are not really android but apps.

The email app, I am not fond of , I would like the old one back. I am also finding small niggles with the Os itself, like if I press the home icon to get back to the home screen, I sometimes have to do it a couple of times before the phone responds. it never did that before the update.

I prefer the old dialler as well.

I wish google made it easier to go back as well.

[qasdfdsaq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSloth

You can't go back to 4.3 without flashing your phone and voiding your warranty.

Could you be more specific as to what you need to do that actually voids your warranty.

Flashing your phone does not void your warranty

Flashing older firmware does not void your warrant

Rooting or modifying your bootloader might, but neither are required to do either of the things above on many phones.

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Could you be more specific as to what you need to do that actually voids your warranty.

Flashing your phone does not void your warranty

Flashing older firmware does not void your warrant

Rooting or modifying your bootloader might, but neither are required to do either of the things above on many phones.

OK, so I lied.

Frankly, I'd not entertain the idea of suggesting flashing a factory image to a non-technical user which, based on the questions raised, the OP clearly is. It's too risky and the issues don't warrant such a drastic move.

If the OP really wants to go down this route, we can obviously point them in the right direction, starting with the factory images and instructions on Google's developers' website.

Maybe I should've said "You can't go back to 4.3 without flashing your phone which is not to undertaken lightly and may result in you bricking your phone". In the worse-case scenario of this process going wromg, I'm unsure how that affects the warranty. Then there's the issue of backing up the current data on the phone and restoring it. I simply don't think its worth it given the relatively minor issues being experienced by the OP.

[bikerlad]

If you are having problems I'd recommend a factory reset. This will wipe your phone and you'll lose everything so you need to back up your data, but it's a good way to ensure the OS is reset properly.

As long as you set your google account to backup to google servers, when you add your account again, all your apps, wifi passwords, etc will get copied back to the phone. (but not data, e.g. SMS)

[qasdfdsaq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSloth

Maybe I should've said "You can't go back to 4.3 without flashing your phone which is not to undertaken lightly and may result in you bricking your phone".

Spot on

Although even then it's hard to brick many phones (can't say for sure about the N4) and often it does *not* wipe your data.