I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which was updated a day or two ago by Verizon. The update is to Android 4.4.4 and the build number is N900VVRUDNK1.
Since the update, the message counter has disappeared. I've tried checking and unchecking the message counter option in message notifications (and restarting). No effect. The counter still works in the native texting app.
Thank you.