It has been seven months since the release of the release of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), the operating system that is supposed to unify all devices running Android, whether they be phones or tablets. Android 4.0 is great — we love it — so why is it installed on only 4.9 percent of Android devices? We are finally starting to see non-Nexus devices being released with the frosty treat, and ever so slowly older handsets are getting updated. It is easy to say that there is a nearly endless list of great new features on ICS, but in reality, most of these new additions won’t be used by the majority of Android users. So if your phone or tablet is getting updated from Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) or Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) to Ice Cream Sandwich in the near future, we’ve rounded up five reasons why you should want Android 4.0.
Task Management
One of the strong points of the Android operating system has always been its multitasking capabilities, but one of the real weaknesses of previous versions was that you couldn’t see which apps are running, nor could you easily close those apps without digging through the Settings menu. ICS has changed this; not only is it easy, it is also extremely satisfying. There are only three navigation buttons on Android 4.0 devices: Back, Home, and Applications. When you press the Applications button you will be presented with a visual list of all the apps currently running on your phone. With a simple swipe of your finger, you can close each app. There is a real sense of accomplishment when you whittle away running apps using your Fruit Ninja swiping skills. (Though sadly, there are no sound effects like in Fruit Ninja.) Besides being fun, the benefit of closing unused apps is that you can really save battery life, so it is always a good idea to check what you have running. If an app is acting up, closing it and restarting it through this method can also save you some grief.
Camera app
It is unbelievable how much the camera app has changed from Android 2.3 to 4.0. Even with exactly the same hardware, it is as if you have a brand new camera. You can take pictures instantaneously, with absolutely no shutter lag no matter how slow your previous camera operated. No longer do you have to wait for the exact perfect moment to take your picture; you can just continuously press the shutter button until you get the shot you want. This is also a great way to impress friends who have iPhones, or have yet to upgrade to ICS.
Notifications
Technically, the notification system on ICS hasn’t changed much from previous versions of Android. How you manage your notifications is where Android 4.0 really shines. Now you are able to view your list of notifications and simply swipe away any that you want to ignore, or are unimportant. Granted it wasn’t too difficult to press the little X on the right side of each notification in previous versions of Android, but there is just something visceral about swiping away notifications. If you have never tried it, find someone who has an ICS device and ask to try it, you will never want to go back to clicking away notifications. Swiping is better than tapping.
Unified Applications
One of the big challenges Google is facing with making an interface is making sure that applications designed for phones can work properly on tablets while still looking good. There still aren’t many apps that are fully 4.0 compatible, but the few that are available look and feel great. Google is also taking a cue from Apple and has issued a style guide for ICS apps in hopes that future apps will share a similar look feel. As the library of ICS-specific apps increases, this feature will only become more and more beneficial.
Chrome Browser
Chrome Browser is an example of one of the unified applications we just talked about. Google’s Chrome browser is in beta and doesn’t come pre-installed on any device, but it can only be installed on devices with Android 4.0 — and only devices with 4.0. Personally, we haven’t really had any issues with default Android browser; it got the job done and didn’t get in the way. Chrome, on the other hand, is the best mobile browser we’ve used. Unlike the other mobile browsers we’ve used, it is able to handle multiple tabs flawlessly. You can view your open tabs visually like cover flow, and swipe to remove tabs that you no longer need. Chrome the first app you should download when you get ICS.
There’s more…
The actual list of improvements packaged inside of ICS is quite extensive, but most of the benefits will go unnoticed by the average consumer. Some highly anticipated features like Face Unlock and Android Beam have been big letdowns functionally, but are still neat gimmicks to show off to your friends. Hopefully your device is scheduled to be updated in the not so distant future so you can enjoy some of these features. If you are currently using Ice Cream Sandwich and your favorite feature was left off this list, let us know.
(Awesome header image via TechnoBuffalo)
I am a huge fan of Android – and can’t wait to get my hands on the Galaxy S3, but one thing which I find highly frustrating about ALL so-called smart-phones, is the way they treat opening and closing apps. On a Windows desktop PC you can choose to close or minimise a program, why is that not a standard feature with smart-phones?
The Main reason that smart phones don’t treat applications like desktop OSs is due to resource constraints, namely power consumption. For every application that is actively running there is a toll on battery life.
They forgot the most important reason, to find out what the Iphone 6 will have, rebrand and tell u they invented.
So HTC ain’t doing their job.
Yeah it’s all great and all but we can’t see shi-t without Flash! I regret having made the upgrade.. can I go back to 2.3? Plz help
huh, its not showing my comment. I asked my boyfriend why he hasn’t put Ice Cream Sandwich on my phone. He told me he’d flashed several different customized and tweaked versions and all of them run at about half the speed of Gingerbread. He said he’s kept them on the phone for about a day before flashing back to what he had before.
I forgot to mention, he also said ICS burns up the battery considerably faster than GB.
From my experience ICS is faster than Gingerbread, and I also am getting improved battery life. Maybe it had to do with the customized versions your boyfriend had installed not being as efficient as the official version.
when it will be happen to upgrade on my Galaxy Note…
If you were smart, you would have ANDROID. Now how does that feel?
I come from a samsung focus running windows phone mango to a HTC One X. On the WP7 if I switched from browser to email and then back to the browser the page I had loaded is still loaded. On the HTC phone if I go back to the browser more than a few seconds later it reloads the page. On HTC it’s pretty much pictures of recently open apps. There is no multitasking. And Chrome is a buggy piece of trash. IE blows it away. I got the HTC phone because I liked the hardware a bit better than the Nokia Lumia 900, but Android? It’s the worst OS ever I’m going back to WP7
I’ve heard rumblings that the HTC One phones might not be doing multitasking properly. In that when you move from one app to another that it might not be completely saving the app being closed, which might have been the cause of your problem.
What sort of bugs have you founds with Chrome? I personally have never had an issue with it.
If you were smart, you would have a WP7!!!
Agreed with the sentiment. WP UI are more elegant and user friendly than iOS or Android. Unfortunately, WP7.5 don’t do really well in the marketplace at the moment and any WP buyers could be investing their hard earned cash in what could potentially a dead platform.
Let’s see… Windows Phone 7, 7.5 AND older Windows Mobile phones command an astounding 2.2% of the cell phone market. People aren’t buying them because people do not want them. The interface is clunky and unless you’re someone that lives, eats, and breaths every breath craving likes and retweets from social media… it simply doesn’t do much. And, let’s look at the WP7.5 flagship, the Nokia Lumia 900. It has a single core processor, a mediocre camera, and a low resolution screen.
I am smart. I own a Droid Razr Maxx.