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Perhaps youve treated yourself to a brand new Nexus 5, or youre eagerly awaiting the moment when the latest flavour of Android hits your handset. However you get hold of Android 4.4 KitKat, youll notice some new features to get to grips with -- if theyre not all to your taste, heres how to undo the changes Google is keen to force upon you.

1. Replace Hangouts as the default SMS app

Hangouts is now Googles all-encompassing messaging solution, covering Web chats, SMS and MMS. Much like iMessage, however, the experience is not quite as smooth and user-friendly as it should be. This being Android, you can set any app you like as the default SMS handler. First of all, download a new app from Google Play -- Chomp SMS and Handcent SMS are two of the most popular choices, but there are plenty to pick from.

Next, choose your default app from Settings > More > Default SMS app -- Hangouts will gracefully relinquish its text messaging duties and stick to instant messaging instead. Make sure you configure the notifications of your new app accordingly to avoid missing any important texts (or getting multiple notifications for every SMS).

2. Reclaim your home screens

KitKat brazenly installs Google Now as the default left-hand home screen (making it one swipe away from your main home screen). There are two ways to get rid of it: one is to switch off Google Now entirely. Tap the menu button (three vertical dots) underneath all of your cards, choose Settings and then turn off Google Now. This means you wont be able to access Google Now from anywhere -- itll be gone completely from your phone or tablet unless you enable it again at a later date.

The other option is to install an alternative launcher. In the same way Android lets you install alternatives for texting, browsing, playing music and doing anything else, you can choose a different app to handle home screen and app-launching tasks. Most of these launchers are free and simple to use, and you can easily uninstall them again if you change your mind: Nova, Apexand Themer are among the most popular options, while KitKat Launchermimics the KitKat look without the Google Now panel. All of these apps have prominent options to enable you to set them as the default launcher on your device. If you install multiple launchers, Android adds a new Home option to the Settings app to help you manage them more easily.

3. Turn off Caller ID

When someone calls you who isnt in your contacts list, KitKat tries to work out who it is, primarily by scanning phone numbers for nearby places on Google Maps. Starting from next year, it will be able to identify individuals too, if those people have agreed to let Google associate their mobile number with their Google+ page and identity.

If you dont want Google to try and identify whos ringing you, open the Settings page from the Dialer app, tap Caller ID by Google and switch it off. The setting to stop people finding you through your mobile number is on the Web: log into your Google Account page, click the View option by the Phone numbers heading, and untick the option to help people find you.

4. Enable lock screen widgets

For variety, heres how to bring back a feature that KitKat disables rather than the other way around. The lock screen widgets popular with many users are switched off by default in Android 4.4, which means you cant immediately add handy widgets for tasks, emails and such-like to the lock screen (though the swipe-right camera shortcut is still in place).

Bringing them back isnt difficult. Choose Settings > Security and then tick Enable widgets -- this refers to the lock screen widgets rather than the standard widgets you add to your home screens. With the feature enabled again, you can swipe in from the left edge of the lock screen to add the widgets of your choice.

5. Not okay, Google

At the moment, shouting "OK, Google" to launch the search function on your KitKat device only works if you have your language set to US English. Presumably it will eventually roll out to UK English in due course.

If you dont want to have the feature available (it can use up battery life for one thing, and be hijacked by a passer-by for another) head to your Google Now Settings page. Untick the Hotword detection option and your handset is then immune from an "OK, Google" call to action.

A red Google Nexus 5 release date has been tipped for next week as the repeatedly leaked handset gets set for a February 4 launch.

The Google Nexus 5 has been officially unveiled following months of rumours and leaks, with the flagship phone becoming the first to run the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system.

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First Impressions

Following the Nexus 5 unveiling, Google has confirmed that an Android 4.4 update will be rolled out ‘in the coming weeks’ to bring KitKat to Google Nexus 7 and certain Samsung Galaxy S4 users.

Get your hands on the stock version of Android 4.4 KitKat and youll find theres a new camera app for recording your life on the move. Its not a revolution in photo-snapping technology, but there are some neat new features that you should make yourself aware of.


Weve also covered a few of the options that have been carried over from 4.3 that you might not know about. If youre using 4.4 KitKat on a Nexus 5, check out our review too. You can launch the camera from the apps page or by swiping right on the lock screen.

1. HDR+ your life

The headline feature in the new camera app is the HDR+ mode, which gives you a better colour and saturation balance in return for a few milliseconds extra lag (as the camera takes several snaps that it can then combine).

Tap the settings circle in the app and youll find the HDR+ option over on the left. Its certainly not the option to reach for if youre trying to take a quick snap, but if you have time to compose your picture you can get more impressive results with HDR+ switched on. Of course the quality of the app is only half the story -- youll also be relying on the quality of the lens in your device.

2. Check your settings

The settings within the camera app are by-and-large the same as they were in Android 4.3, but if youre making the jump from a different version of the mobile OS then they are worth flagging up.

Tap the settings circle to access them: modify the exposure setting to let in more or less light and head to the more options page (follow the icon that looks like a row of sliders) to access the white balance options: incandescent, fluorescent, auto, daylight and cloudy are the ones you can pick from, helping you to avoid a strange-looking colour cast on your pictures. Theres a camera timer countdown option too, in case you want to get in a shot with all of your pals.

3. Set the scene

There are scene modes in the Android 4.4 KitKat camera too, carried over from the previous version: action, night, sunset and party are the options to choose from here, which should cover you for most situations.

The effectiveness of these mode settings can be a little hit and miss in our experience, but there are times when they do make a substantial difference in the quality of your finished photo. Note that choosing a specific scene setting will override the flash setting youve configured, so you might find your phone or tablet blasting out light when you werent expecting it.

4. Edit on the go

Googles photo storage and editing services are all over the place. Google+ has more or less taken over from Picasa, but the provision of both Gallery and Photos apps in Android 4.4 KitKat can be a little confusing.

The Google-owned Snapseed is still available as a separate app on Google Play, but now most of its features are in the aforementioned Gallery app (with some of them in Photos too -- told you it was confusing). All that preamble is a long-winded way of saying you can apply edits to your photos very easily: open up a picture in the Gallery and tap the pencil icon to make changes. Its non-destructive, which means you can undo all of your changes in one swoop if you need to.