Even with its idiosyncrasies, ICS still proves to be one of the best Android versions released to date. Obviously your mileage may vary (YMMV), but overall it’s one of the most stable mobile OSs that I’ve ever used. Android enthusiasts (like myself) will find a lot to like in the new version. But will still probably find various reasons to want to replace the stock applications with third-party alternatives (read Handcent SMS for one) ... it's not perfect. But the major improvements to the user interface (UI) & experience do help to make ICS better tasting right out of the box.
A Fresh New Look
ICS is by far the most visually appealing version of Android released to date. The holographic interface in Android 3.x (a.k.a., Honeycomb) has been passed on to ICS, though it doesn’t translate that well on smaller displays. On a tablet such as my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the holographic interface looks as if it has some depth, but on a phone such as my Samsung Galaxy S II it appears much more two-dimensional. ICS, however, adds a few new colors to Android’s repertoire, swapping out the old green and gray for a vibrant blue. Might I add the Galaxy S II's AMOLED screen loves these new colors.
Text is also much easier to read thanks to the use of a new high-resolution font Roboto. Roboto was designed to be used on HD displays, and is a massive step up from the old Droid Serif originated in Android 2.x. The font looks a lot cleaner than the default font from Honeycomb, and it complements the holographic UI quite nicely.
Features Galore
Face Unlock and Android Beam were two features that sounded great in theory, but in actual practice they didn't play out too well. Face Unlock lets you unlock your phone by using facial recognition software, but it has one too many bugs to make it really useful. Face Unlock can be difficult to use outside on sunny days, because bright sunlight obscures your face to the camera. Also Face Unlock can be tricked by either a picture or someone who closely resembles you. Face Unlock is not an entirely foolproof security measure (Google even warns that it’s not as secure as a PIN or a lock pattern), but it’s still a novel way to interact with your phone.
Android Beam is supposed to make it easier to share data between devices using near-field communications (NFC). The instructions for Android Beam are quite vague, and it seems to behave differently in each app. To use Android Beam, you must first make sure NFC is enabled and the Android Beam feature turned on under Settings. Once you’ve done that, open the app you’d like to send data from, and simply hold your phone against another NFC device to begin a connection. Your phone should make a noise to announce the pairing, at that point just tap the screen to begin transmitting content. IMHO, it’s an interesting piece of ICS that still seems to need a bit more work to flesh out fully.
Almost all of the core apps have received major redesigns. Gmail more closely resembles the desktop version, and it’s now much easier to attach photos and other files onto emails. Your inbox is also available for offline viewing (should you not be able to connect online), and a new context bar on mobile makes it easier to quickly compose new emails and delete the ones you no longer want.
The Calendar app was tweaked so you can view multiple Google Calendars at once, and now you can pinch to zoom in or out of events to see more details about them. The old Music app has been replaced with Google’s new Play Music app that is tied to its online music service. You can still play local files, but now you also have the option to stream content from your online music library to your device. Google Talk now lets you sign in using multiple Gmail accounts, and it was just recently updated to support video chat. The Gallery can do some rather robust editing, and the camera now includes a very-easy-to-use panorama mode.
Upgrading
For users coming from Gingerbread (a.k.a., Android 2.3.x) you'll notice a host of improvements. For users coming from Honeycomb (a.k.a., Android 3.x.x) the differences will be more subtle and will mostly be a significantly smoother visual and tactile experience. I found after upgrading my Galaxy Tab 10.1 from Honeycomb to ICS the screen to screen scrolling and app/widget scrolling was significantly smoother.
On the technical side, techie users will notice this is the first version of Android to support preemptive symmetric multi-processing (SMP). For those readers who are less technical, this means the OS will transparently suspend (or preempt) background processes in favor of foreground processes (or applications) which require additional CPU time. This can be verified by looking in Settings under About Phone/Tablet, Kernel Version. This means users with dual-core and quad-core CPU's will find the OS does a better job of handling multiple tasks simultaneously and also means Android will begin to make better use of these multi-core devices going forward.
One thing that must be noted about upgrading to ICS, all icons on the Home Screens will be lost. While the programs themselves are not lost, the icon layout and general positioning of each of the home screens (e.g., icons, widgets, etc.) is lost during the upgrade process. I recommend noting or snapshot-ing each screen so you can return the phone or tablet to it's prior icon & widget layout after upgrade. The upgrade process itself takes about 40 to 60 minutes, and I always recommend a full battery charge before attempting any OS upgrade.
No one can rightly accuse Google's Android team of putting forth a weak or insubstantial OS update. ICS has reworked Android's style from head to toe, giving it a far bolder identity than before with a polished look and logical feel. For the most part, Google has succeeded in splicing together Gingerbread and Honeycomb to create a single experience that can work identically on both phones and tablets.
At the end of the day, ICS does succeed in moving Google and Android forward, and reaffirming its staying power as a mobile OS. With its bold new personality, Android 4.0 is also a sign of Google leaving less of its visual cultivation to the handset makers through overlays, and taking a stronger role in defining its own 'Droid' visual personality.
Next version up ... Android 4.1 a.k.a., Jelly Bean.
