Samsung admits Note 3 KitKat update disabled 3rd party accessories, fix on its way

Lucky international Note 3 owners in select countries across the globe have already started seeing an update to Android 4.4 KitKat. While this update is largely a positive upgrade, last week we started hearing reports from some users that the update breaks support for 3rd party flip covers.

At the time, Samsung issued a statement denying that the 3rd party accessory troubles had anything to do with the Android 4.4 KitKat update. Now it seems that Samsung has changed its tune, officially admitting that the KitKat update is in fact preventing 3rd party smart covers from working with the Note 3.

We have currently identified a software compatibility issue with the Galaxy Note 3 update to Android 4.4 (KitKat) and select 3rd party accessories. A software update will be available shortly. We are committed to offering a diverse and reliable mobile experience for all customers, providing continued support and solutions for any issues that arise with product updates for both Samsung manufactured and third-party accessories.

Samsung chalks up the whole issue to a ‘bug’, and we’re going to (somewhat begrudgingly) give Samsung the benefit of the doubt here. After all, if Samsung was going to shut off 3rd party accessories for good, you would think that they would do so with a newly launched device, and not a product that already has a bunch of 3rd party covers out in the wild. Still, it’s hard not to be at least a little suspicious of the matter.

Anyway, the important takeaway here is that Samsung will continue to support 3rd party accessories and will be rolling out an update in (hopefully) short order. What do you think, was Samsung merely testing the waters on how consumers would react to a move to limit 3rd party covers, or do you believe this was a legitimate accident?