We, as technology junkies, have an underlying need to have the latest and greatest hardware and software products available at the time of purchase. Normally, newer is better and improvements in technology are what keep us all coming back for more and more new toys. However, sometimes we need to understand that not all software improvements reflect well with the hardware we are using. No one will doubt that all of those Windows XP users hung onto their systems beyond their expected service life, basically, for one reason. The newest of the new operating systems, Vista and Windows 7, were unsupported since XP boxes couldn’t handle the load requirements — like slow CPUs and tiny amounts of RAM.
I believe that the one major flaw in the Android operating system is that, because it is open source, any cellphone manufacturer that uses it can modify the operating system to their liking. This is where the problem starts for us users. One only needs to look at the Amazon Kindle Fire to see how Amazon modified Google’s Android to make it its own. When I say that Amazon made the OS its own, what I mean is that Amazon modified the look of the OS so that it no longer resembled the original Android. In addition, Amazon added features to Android that directed us to its website to make purchases of music, videos, applications, and other goodies and also attempted to prohibit the user from installing Google-supported applications from the Google Play website.
Amazon is not the only company that has revamped Google’s Android OS to meet its own needs. On my Samsung Android smartphone with Gingerbread preinstalled on the system, my phone carrier T-Mobile has added its own variations of mail, mobile, tethering to a laptop, and other features specific to T-Mobile. T-Mobile and Samsung have also made sure that these unwanted and unneeded applications cannot be uninstalled. In my personal opinion, these applications offer little value and are more of an annoyance then a help. Unfortunately, unless we root our phone and install a clean copy of any flavor of Google’s Android, we are all stuck with junk and gunk we don’t want nor need.
In some recent articles on the Internet, it has been stated that only 7% of Android users are enjoying the benefits of Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich. The most popular Android system remains to be Gingerbread with an audience of some 65% of users. The majority of Android applications also still support Gingerbread or above as do the majority of smartphones that are still being sold. Only the newest of the new smartphones come with Ice Cream Sandwich preinstalled or the few companies that have opted to allow older phones to be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich.
So how can you get Ice Cream Sandwich?
- You can be one of the lucky few who have a model of Android phone that received the upgrade.
- Buy a new smartphone.
- Root your phone and manually install Ice Cream Sandwich yourself.
What will I be missing if I don’t get Ice Cream Sandwich?
Ice Cream Sandwich offers a smoother experience for most users. Those of us who use Gingerbread may have noticed some jerkiness when using the older operating system. Ice Cream Sandwich is an improvement for both hardware and software, but is not an overwhelming difference like going from XP to Windows 7 was. In addition, some cellphone manufacturers have opted to even change the Ice Cream Sandwich theme (think Samsung) and, in my opinion, have ruined the overall Ice Cream Sandwich experience.
Are all updates to Ice Cream Sandwich the same?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. Some companies, like Samsung, have chosen to revamp Ice Cream Sandwich to something that doesn’t resemble the real Ice Cream Sandwich. Below are two screen shots: One shows the Google edition of Ice Cream Sandwich (left), and one is called Touchwiz (right) from Samsung:
You will notice that the two versions have no resemblance to each other.
You can use the Ice Cream Sandwich theme on your Android phone.
I have installed the Android Ice Sandwich theme from Kovdev and have transformed my Gingerbread operating system into an Ice Cream Sandwich look-alike. This theme works very well and gives me the new, slicker interface that Ice Cream Sandwich has to offer. You can get this theme on Google Play linked below.
Another Ice Cream Sandwich theme from Holo (which I haven’t tried) is also available from Google Play linked below. The Holo Launcher offers the Ice Cream Sandwich theme for Android systems from version 2.2 and above.
Do you really need Ice Cream Sandwich?
My personal opinion is that you don’t need Ice Cream Sandwich, and most likely your carrier or smartphone company is not going to offer it to you unless you have a fairly new phone. With that being said, those of us who are using older versions of Android can take advantage of the two themes above and get the Ice Cream Sandwich feel and workings of the newer Android OS. Also, it is disappointing that some companies have tampered with the Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS and have made changes to the interface that I believe are unattractive.
Just my thoughts. What do you think?
Comments welcome.
Source: engadget
Source: computerworld
Source: Google Play — Ice Cream Sandwich (theme) by Kovdev
Source: Google Play — Holo Launcher
CC licensed Flickr photo above shared by abulhussain
“Need” is a subjective term here. Some people will need it, others will not need it, but want it, others will neither need nor want it. The new browser is a vast improvement (it’s now Chrome). That, alone, would likely be enough for most users to at least “want” it, if not “need” it. Also, keeping track of your network usage could be hugely important to people with limited data plans. Face unlock, NFC, and other features could be a make or break decision for different people, if not just “nice to haves”.
I’ve recently rooted my Samsung Galaxy S2 and put 4.0.4 on it (upgraded from 2.3.x). It’s a big improvement and it runs faster and smoother too. Not to mention, rooting it let me delete those T-Mobile apps you were referring to (but being able to delete them isn’t a 4.x feature, of course).
If you’re getting a new phone, I’d insist on 4.0 ICS. If you already have a Gingerbread phone, it might not be worth the hassle and risk of trying to be a first time rooter. But, if you do and you do it successfully, it’s a nice reward to finally use ICS.
ICS is not that big of an improvement in my opinion.
It’s quite ironic that this was posted today, as I just downloaded and installed the ICS update from T-Mobile for my SII. To be honest, I was a little let down with the ICS experience, because like you stated, I got the Samsung modified OS.
The new animations and UI improvements are a nice touch, but seem a little overkill at times on my SII. However, I absolutely love the new features that came with the ICS update. The new GMail client, browser, ect are all incredible improvements in my mind.
Was it worth the upgrade? Being that I did the official ICS update through Kies, it was pretty simple with no headaches… so yeah, it was worth it. Would it have been worth it to root my phone and install the stock ICS? It seems like it would be, but for now, I’m perfectly happy with my Samsung modified ICS.
Despite the fact the effects aren’t that noticeable to the user, I would still call it a solid upgrade. My HTC Sensation got the update a few months back, and I’m not sure if I’m just a single case, but my battery life has improved significantly since upgrading. The fact that it’s on just 7% of devices is testament to the fact that Google has allowed too much freedom to manufacturers. Not only have they released too many devices in too short a time (you would run out of fingers and toes trying to count the ones HTC released in just a few months before last christmas) they’ve also made too many software alterations, thus making it difficult for them to transfer the same ‘software experience’ across. ICS and Android in general are solid pieces of software, but they’ve been crippled by factors outside of the software itself.
How do I find the name of the theme on my phone?
This article came right in time. I was just thinking about rooting earlier today and installing it on my S2 Epic Touch to check it out. Although, I have an HTC One X here that I reviewed. It has Ice Cream Sandwich. And, I did not even realize it until I looked it up. In other words… there was nothing that jumped out at me that made it different, or outstanding.
The thing with Android is that it already packed so many useful features in Gingerbread that it seems like the most noticeable changes in ICS is U.I. tweaks….
-Turn by turn navigation
-Facebook integration
-Video calls over cellular data
All which were in Gingerbread, and just arrived in an OS by “you know who” last week.
Suddenly, being first doesn’t seem to matter.
look for ICS theme
I rooted and upgraded my atrix and so far it is a breath of fresh air…while it unsupported ICS and a few features of the phone do not function (finger print sensor) 1080 Camera (replacment free ap on market for that) all in all it is great to use and does enhance battery use! Rooting and installing a “clean copy of Google’s OS” is ONLY possible after the SDK packs have been released….they have not been released for by MANY of the carrier specific phones. What that means is the drivers needed ETC to use the specifics to each phone are not native inside of the generic ICS that google releases. You have to be pretty good with the OS to go in and add all the needed fuctionality to each phone back in….THIS ALONE is why there is only 6% using ICS. If the SDK editions were released with the OS updates they would be installed more often. The OEM vendors hold out on the SDK packs way to long causing the OS deployment to lag on….ICS is coming but slow and it is currently being done to mostly new phones so an all of nothing rollout is possible…the atrix will recieve ICS sometime third quarter of the year…from Motorola (google)…I enjoy it now….it is not a drastic change….but then again is that what you really want? It is faster…uses the resouces better and has more functionality…..
My Xperia ray was suffering from sluggish performance and it felt like what I bought was a terribly overrated phone. When Sony finally released the update I was figuring that if it was bricked, I’d have a good reason to buy a new phone, only to find out that the new update not only ran smoother than jgingerbread, but increased battery life (3 days without charge, and provided a much better experience overall. It’s like using a new phone. Those who haven’t gotten the ics update should try to figure out how because it’s totally worth it.
Verizon RAZR – I got the ice cream update and couldn’t view my “watch ESPN” and “crackle” apps. Got a new razr which had the old OS (2.3.3) and won’t be upgrading to 4.1 anytime soon. All my apps work again and I figure I should wait awhile until all the bugs are worked out. I wasn’t that impressed anyway with “ice cream 4.1″…
Like countless others, I waited for the Ice Cream Sandwich update b/c, after all, it was supposed to turn a great thing into an awesome wonder, right? Wrong. I installed ICS on my (Verizon) Razr Maxx about 2 wks. ago. BIG, BIG MISTAKE. It’s AWFUL. It completely changed how my phone works…well, it really doesn’t work right now. It duplicates my emails all the time; it doesn’t sync reguarly; get this, it keeps putting emails I’ve deleted back in my inbox, all day, every day, no matter how many times I delete them, even from the trash bin. What’s up w/that? The screen colors and brightness are horrible now especially outside. Even a small nicety which I really liked, the email icons…Before, you could see the Yahoo or AOL icon in your Notification bar (I use one for business, one for personal). Now you just get an ugly gray generic icon.
I miss my Gingerbread. Before ICS, I had absolutely NO problems w/my phone. It worked great & did everything I needed it to. Now, ICS has turned my awesome phone into a piece of junk that just aggravates the hell out of me every day. I can’t understand for the kind of money we as consumers put out to buy the phone, plus pay the monthly bill, why we’re not allowed to uninstall the damn thing, especially if it’s screwing up the phone & obviously not allowing you to do what you bought it to do. And, what good are updates that may or may not work, and that you have to wait another month or two for.
Since I just got the phone a few months ago with, yes, the wonderful Verizon 2 yr. contract, I am now seriously considering just paying the damn termination fee & going w/another phone, and if I have to, another carrier. Anything that doesn’t have ICS. I realize that everyone has their own opinion & own experience, but it’s a free country, so here’s my opinion about ICS: Do yourself a favor, DON’T INSTALL IT. YOU WILL REGRET IT.
My question is i just bought the razr maxx and it keeps asking me to install the ICS update. How can i disable my updater to block the software from being installed. I like the phone the way it is.