KitKat screenshots: A first look at Android 4.4

When Google’s Android chief Sundar Pichai announced the upcoming release of Android 4.4 with an image of a giant KitKat-themed Android, it seemed that Nestle’s chocolate snack would provide the next Android OS name, and replace the previous 4.4 codename Key Lime Pie.

A recent leak of one early version of Android 4.4, believed to predate Pichai’s 3 September announcement, showed a slice of lime and no hint of KitKat.

So far, the drip feed of information on the yet-to-launch-OS suggests new features including better support for wireless printing from Android devices and possibly native NFC payment options, rather than only third-party enabled capabilities.

This latest set of leaked images from another release of KeyLimePie/KitKat suggest these features and more are likely to arrive in Android 4.4.

The image above is of the Android build running on the Nexus 7 2013 model.

The overall assessment is that 4.4 seems to be a more polished version of the Android platform than has been seen in the past, with a feature set that more closely resembles iOS devices out of the box. As Google has said previously, with KitKat it’s aiming for the mainstream and this may be its best shot yet shot at tempting loyal iOS users to give it a go.