Galaxy S4 GT-I9500 Update Fixes Battery Drain and Jerkiness Issues

An over-the-air software update for the Exynos-based variant of the Galaxy S4 (GT-I9500) has been released by Samsung, which addresses two glaring bugs that came to light after last week’s big update that gave it Android 4.3, KNOX, and Galaxy Gear support.

Labeled a “system stability” update, the only item on its change-log, the 10-odd megabyte OTA update appears to have fixed the rapid battery drain issue noted on our Galaxy S4 GT-I9500, and jerkiness with the user interface. The user-interface feels smoother to coast through after the update. Also, the update brings the flagship experiences introduced on the Galaxy S 4 to the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III including updated Easy Mode, Multi Window, advanced camera options, and additional features with new functionality.

The older Android 4.3 update apparently came with a narrower safe voltage range value for the GT-I9500’s 2,600 mAh battery, which translated to nearly half the normal usage. A smartphone measures battery by monitoring its voltage. Its electronics can function only within a safe voltage range. The narrower that is, the lesser power is yielded from the battery, before a recharge is forced upon the user.

Thank you NextPowerUp for providing us with this information.