Android Jelly Bean 4.3: What's New, Features, and a Detailed Review

Android Jelly Bean 4.3 represents the culmination of the Jelly Bean series in Google's operating system, marking a significant evolution in the user experience for both smartphones and tablets. This version was officially launched during the Nexus 7 device presentation event and has since become the benchmark for Android devices, providing significant improvements in performance, security, connectivity and multimedia features.

What is Android Jelly Bean 4.3?

Android Jelly Bean 4.3 is the thirteenth version of the Android operating system and the last in the Jelly Bean series before the jump to versions like KitKat and higher. Targeted at advanced users and the general public, it implemented significant new features that, while seemingly a incremental update, were key to the system's stability, speed, and security. Jelly Bean 4.3 was factory-installed on the most iconic Nexus devices and was the foundation upon which manufacturers and the Android development community designed their ROMs during a pivotal period for the system.

You can learn more about this version in our article dedicated to What is Android Jelly Bean 4.1: What's New and Features?.

Performance improvements and advanced graphics

One of the highlights of Android 4.3 is its emphasis on delivering a noticeably faster and smoother user experience. Graphics performance has been optimized by retuning the drawing command flows, allowing operations to be reorganized and merged so that the graphics processor (GPU) can execute tasks more efficiently. Additionally, the renderer can now distribute tasks across multiple CPU cores by multithreading, resulting in smoother browsing, scrolling, or using demanding applications.

It is worth noting that Android Jelly Bean 4.3 was the first version to officially support Khronos OpenGL ES 3.0This added advanced graphics capabilities to supported devices, enabling console-level visual effects, texture enhancements, real-time shadows, complex particles, and superior visual fidelity in games and multimedia editing applications. The hardware-accelerated 2D rendering engine also leveraged OpenGL ES 3.0 to improve texture handling and gradient quality.

You can learn about how Root devices with Android Jelly Bean and take advantage of all its performance and graphics improvements.

Innovations in camera and multimedia

The camera and gallery app in Android 4.3 brought with it a revamped interface, more intuitive and functional. Options were now presented in an arched layout, preventing the user from covering the screen when selecting them, thus facilitating access to controls such as the timer or HDR settings. The system not only improved the usability in image capture, but also added the ability to take photos directly from the physical volume buttons.

One of the star functions was Photo Sphere, which allows users to capture high-quality panoramic and spherical images, even in low-light settings. Advanced image editing has been added from the gallery, with new filters, frames, and tools for adjusting exposure, contrast, saturation, intensity, sharpness, and color curves. It's even possible to make local (regional) contrast and brightness adjustments, emulating the features of professional editing applications.

In the multimedia aspect, Jelly Bean 4.3 incorporated a new modular DRM framework for managing protected content, making it easier for developers to integrate advanced streaming protocols like MPEG DASH and offering VP8 encoding support for video. This is essential for offering streaming services or on-demand content.

Advanced user management and restricted profiles

One of the great advantages of Android 4.3, especially for tablets, was the extension of the multi-user function by introducing restricted profilesThis revolutionized the way a single device was shared among multiple users (adults, children, or guests), allowing the device owner to create profiles that limit access to specific apps, features, or content.

This profile system is ideal for parental controls, kiosks, corporate environments, and points of sale, where a secure and personalized environment is required for each user. Each restricted profile has its own isolated space: storage, home screens, widgets, and settings. The owner has full control over which applications or features will be available to each profile, and can restrict in-app purchases, games, or the installation of additional content.

Additionally, Android provides separate data storage for each user and allows easy switching between profiles from the lock screen, ensuring individual privacy and security. The new profile approach makes it easier to manage family and business devices, adapting to different usage scenarios.

Enhanced connectivity: Bluetooth Smart and advanced Wi-Fi

Android 4.3 made a strong commitment to connectivity, integrating native support for Bluetooth Smart Ready, also known as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)This advancement allows Android devices to communicate with the new generation of sensors and smart devices (fitness trackers, watches, proximity tags, health accessories, etc.) that consume much less power, extending the device's battery life.

In addition to BLE, support for the profile was added Bluetooth AVRCP 1.3, enriching interaction with remote media players or Bluetooth speakers by displaying information such as track name, artist, and metadata on compatible audio devices.

As for WiFi, Android 4.3 introduced the Wi-Fi search-only mode, designed to improve the accuracy of location services without needing to connect to a network. This hardware-based location optimization allows applications to access much more precise geolocation data while also reducing battery consumption thanks to continuous and discreet scanning of wireless networks.

You can learn more about connectivity features and how to take advantage of them in our tutorial for .

Optimizing energy consumption

One of the traditionally critical points in mobile devices is battery life. Jelly Bean 4.3 added multiple optimizations to improve the energy, both in active and idle use. Thanks to advanced Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and geolocation management, as well as efficient utilization of multiple CPU cores, the devices' battery life was significantly increased.

The system prioritizes energy efficiency by minimizing resource usage when the device is idle, while ensuring optimal performance when needed. Support for Bluetooth Low Energy is key to reducing power consumption when using wireless accessories, while intelligent sensor and Wi-Fi network management reduces power consumption during location tracking or background data synchronization.

Refreshed interface and improved user experience

Android's user interface took another step forward with Jelly Bean 4.3, with small but significant changes to the system typography, thanks to the use of the font Roboto, which brings clarity and modernity to the design of menus, notifications and widgets.

Regarding interaction, the introduction of the native Emoji keyboard, making it easy to use emoticons in any messaging app without having to install third-party apps. Access is simple: just hold down the space bar to switch between the traditional keyboard and the Emoji keyboard.

Within the Phone application the following was added: auto-complete dialing, which allows you to suggest contacts or recent numbers as you type, using the predictive T9 keypad, thus optimizing speed and accuracy when making calls.

You can find more details in our article on .

Enhanced security and permission control

Security was another of the major focuses in Jelly Bean 4.3. The system now integrates SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux), a set of mandatory access control (MAC) policies that enforces application isolation and restricts access to sensitive areas of the system. This greatly complicates the exploitation of security holes and maintains device integrity, both for personal and professional use.

In addition, the update added the foundation for a hidden permission manager (Permission Manager), which allows you to disable certain app permissions, although its availability initially depended on the installation of third-party apps. This is in addition to the hardening of the Android sandbox, improved permission management for rooted apps, and restricted access to critical kernel functions.

To dig deeper into security improvements and permission management, you can also visit our tutorial on Unroot and manage permissions on Android Jelly Bean.

New options for developers

With the arrival of Android 4.3, the developer environment also saw notable improvements. New tools and options include:

• Revoking USB debugging access: Possibility to revoke authorization from all computers connected via USB debugging.
• Advanced GPU rendering options: Real-time visualization of graphics performance using bar or line graphs, helping to detect bottlenecks and improve the visual experience in apps and games.
• Improvement in Systrace: The system process and activity collection tool now collects more types of data, allowing for much more accurate profiling of app and device performance.
• New multimedia APIs: For audio and video mixing, support for encoding video from an OpenGL ES surface and improvements in multimedia asset manipulation.

Internationalization and language support

Android 4.3 expanded support for international languages, including Afrikaans, Amharic, Hindi, and Zulu, as well as improved support for languages ​​from writing from right to left (RTL) languages, such as Hebrew and Arabic. The Home screen, Settings, Phone, Contacts, and Google Keep apps now offer a consistent experience in these languages.

The new version incorporates utilities such as BidiFormatter to ensure that bidirectional text strings are correctly interpreted in any context, and new options for testing regional settings (pseudo-locales), allowing developers to improve localization and adapt the interface to any language.

Additional options and internal improvements

Other less visible, but no less important, improvements include:

• Application Manager Optimization: It's now possible to sort apps by most used or alphabetically, a feature long requested by advanced users.
• Improvements in automation and accessibility: New APIs allow you to observe and filter key events, making it easier to integrate accessibility features and automate UI testing.
• Enterprise Wi-Fi Setup: Native support for configuring WPA2 Enterprise network credentials, facilitating use in professional and corporate environments.
• Security Key Protection: Introduction of a keystore provider, where apps can create private keys that cannot be exported to other programs or devices, even if root or kernel access is compromised.

Compatibility and availability

Android 4.3 was released primarily for Nexus devices, including the Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and Galaxy Nexus. After that, availability and implementation of all features may vary depending on the manufacturer, as some features depend on the specific hardware of each device.

It's important to note that while many of these features are part of the Android 4.3 core, the experience may be different depending on the customization layer (such as TouchWiz, Sense, or proprietary layers) implemented by the manufacturer.

Android Jelly Bean 4.3 laid the groundwork for subsequent generations of the operating system, solidifying Android's position as a benchmark in the mobile industry in terms of performance, security, and flexibility. The features and improvements implemented in this version remain relevant to many users and devices still in use today, and were the foundation upon which Android evolved to its current state.