There are developers who have launched their own custom ROMs to update handsets to KitKat. Owners of the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 are stuck with a locked bootloader and this means they are unable to update to a custom ROM and instead have to wait and rely on the release of the official KitKat 4.4 update.
Owners of devices with other carriers or those who bought their handset outright are able to download custom ROMs if their handset is rooted, and install the ROM. Those who want to experience KitKat can root and then install CM 11 from the CyanogenMod team, who offer nightly builds for instance.
One of the downsides to installing a custom ROM is that owners don’t get the features offered by Samsung. Some people do seem to like TouchWiz and the features of Samsung. When installing a custom ROM such as CM11, owners don’t have floating touch, smart stay and the camera features on their Samsung Galaxy S4.
AT&T’s locked bootloader doesn’t allow this choice as the owner cannot install a custom ROM. It has been said though that there are ways to get around a locked bootloader, with one way being Safestrap. However this does limit which ROM can be installed on the handset as it needs the same kernel along with Android version that the device currently has. So once again, owners of the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 are left without the option of being able to install a custom KitKat 4.4 ROM. And as for the carrier, they are still hush on an exact release date for the official 4.4 update for the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4.
