A few months ago, word got out that Samsung was working on a policy where only those accessories that were officially certified by the company would work on the Galaxy Note 3 (and future devices). Basically, any accessory not sporting Samsung's official identification chip would not work as intended (or at all), and it seems that Samsung is finally enforcing that rule on the Note 3 – those who have updated to Android 4.4 KitKat on their phablet have found that third-party cases have stopped working completely.
Numerous reports on XDA indicate that accessories like Spigen's S-View flip cover are no longer functional when used with the Galaxy Note 3 on KitKat. Which, at the moment, means that Spigen (and likely others) is selling non-functional accessories for the Note 3, which could cause some backlash from those who've spent money on those. Spigen is also working on new armor cases for the Note 3, and if the accessory maker learns of this issue, those cases might not be released in the near future.
For Spigen's S-View case, a solution is available, but that requires one to have Samsung's official S-View cover as well: according to one XDA member, tearing off the IC chip from the official case and putting it on the Spigen one, along with a magnet from one of the phone's earphones, makes the Spigen case start working as intended for the most part.
That confirms that Samsung is using some form of identification on KitKat, which could make third-party accessories rather useless, until accessory makers start licensing Samsung's identification chips. Naturally, this is a move that will come as yet another step the Korean manufacturer is taking in limiting what users can do with their devices (though with the obvious advantage that accessories will now be better tested and compatible), and we're looking forward to an official statement from Samsung on the matter.
For now, if you want to enjoy using KitKat on your Galaxy Note 3, it would be best to refrain from buying any third-party accessories. Oh, and if you've had a similar case of a particular accessory not working post the KitKat update, do let us know in the comments.
Update: Well, it looks like the community has found a simple way to make third-party cases work on KitKat, as long as a user has root access and is willing to install Xposed Framework mod. Details can be found here, though you should keep mind that installing Xposed Framework can cause issues, so make sure to take a backup of your data before attempting anything.
