Droid Bionic Ice Cream Sandwich: Sweet and Delicious

Ice Cream Sandwich is the tasty new version of Android.  A lot of the latest Android phones have gotten it already, but the Droid Bionic is still waiting.  Waiting so long, in fact, it's starting to get embarassing.  The truth is Motorola has been working on it, and a few very good "beta" versions have leaked to the web.  So good, in fact, people are starting to wonder what they're waiting for.  Personally, I got impatient and decided to take matters into my own hands.

It was surprisingly easy to install ICS on my Droid.  Someone has written an excellent program called House of Bionic, which holds your hand through the entire process, and comes with detailed directions.  It's a true upgrade, not a fresh installation, which means it kept all my settings and apps.  It also upgraded me to all the latest ICS goodness.  But how good was it?

Smooth and Creamy

ICS  is a wonderful experience.  It feels faster and more responsive, and some people say the battery lasts longer.  (Battery life has always been a problem with this phone.)  It's hard to notice the difference at first, because Motorola had already copied so many interface elements into its own "Moto Blur" layer which ran on top of the old Android version (Gingerbread).  Here's a rundown:

"Still Awesome:"

Visual theme: The old Android OS had a white theme that seemed very childish and uninspired to a lot of people.  (I liked it.)  ICS updates that with a slick blue-on-black style that's already getting positive reviews.  But Moto Blur was doing that since last year.

Better home screen: Apple has this nifty thing where you can group apps on the home screen.  ICS gives you that too, and you can also resize widgets now.  (iPhone still doesn't do widgets.)  But Moto Blur already did both of these things.

Better camera: The picture quality still isn't as good as the iPhone, but now you have more features to control.  Such as an "automatic panorama" that will keep shooting and stitching as you move your camera across a landscape.  And a new "gallery" app that not only shows the pictures on your phone, but also on Flickr, and on Facebook, and your friends' photos, etc.  Both these features also made it into Moto Blur.  I'm starting to wonder who's stealing from who here.

Oh, But This is New:

Better camera: In addition to the Moto Blur goodness, you can also edit photos using the built-in gallery.  It's got a very nice selection of tools and filters.  I used to download photos to my computer before I edited them, but I might stop doing that now.  For people who actually care about photography, this is a big deal.

Face recognition: I can unlock my phone by smiling at it.  No, really.

New email: There are some lovely features in the email client.  It's little stuff, like the ability to "flip" from one email to the next.  But those little things add up to an experience that's noticeably more enjoyable.

Better task management: Everybody likes to install "task killer" apps on their Android, in the belief that this will free up memory and make their phones faster.  From what I've read, that hasn't actually been true for years; Android is really good at freeing up memory on its own.  But it does have a "recently used apps" screen, which is handy for jumping back and forth between tasks.  Now it's even better; if you want to quit a running program, you "flick" it out of the list.  This is a blatant steal from Palm's WebOS, but nobody used WebOS anyway.  It's a lovely feature and I'm glad they added it.

Better browsing: Google is talking up their built-in Android web browser, but the real star for me is Chrome.  Yes, you can now get the Google Chrome web browser on your phone.  (Firefox has been available for a year now, but I'm not a fan of them any more.)  This is huge for me because Chrome is the browser I use all day, every day on my desktop and laptop.  Not only does the mobile version provide some continuity of experience, but it will also sync my bookmarks.  The mobile version also handles tabs very nicely, with more "flicking" action to close unwanted tabs.  In addition--and this is where it gets really cool--I can send web pages from my computer to my phone.  So let's say I'm reading an article in the morning but then have to jump on the bus to go to work.  Just beam the page from my computer to my phone, and keep reading.  That's hot.

Better editing: In addition to copy & paste, Android also has a built-in spell check now.  Plus, if you want to dictate a letter, you can just keep talking and it will transcribe for you.  Yes, it will even handle punctuation.

4G: This is probably the single biggest reason to upgrade: 4G works better.  Over the last 6 months or so, I've noticed 4G reception getting worse and worse, to the point where I don't get a data connection when I cross town.  (This makes GPS traffic useless.)  Standing in one spot, I'll watch the 4G come and go.  Sometimes it'll downgrade me to 3G, but more often I'll lose data entirely.  I've got to say I've learned to really love my 4G.  I love keeping my data connection when I'm on the phone.  Even better, 4G is blazing fast, almost as fast as my high-speed cable internet at home.  Yelena & I have actually considered canceling our home internet and just using the cell phone, it's that good.  (Yes, Verizon has a data plan for that.)  But it's useless if I can't maintain a connection.  I found myself relying on wifi everywhere I went.  It would kill my ability to work on the bus, during my 90 minute commutes.  I turned the 4G off on my phone, because 3G was slightly more reliable.  

I live in San Francisco.  Yes, there are hills, but it's also one of the largest cities in the country, and arguably the most high-tech.  There is no excuse for not supporting your new wireless protocol in your flagship city.

But here's what's awesome: with ICS, 4G is back.  Drove across the Bay Bridge and back this morning, through the thickest rush hour traffic, and never lost my data connection.

There's a Reason They Call It the Cutting Edge

This is the third Motorola phone I've hacked like this.  Even thought Motorola doesn't officially support this, they make their phones very open.  As a result, there's a large underground community that likes to hack their phones, which is tolerated, if not embraced.

That being said, if this is your first time flashing a phone, you're going to encounter the warnings.  Because it is possible to "brick" your phone.  Bricking means it won't be useful for anything except a paperweight.  Also, it's possible that if you upgrade your Droid to ICS, you won't be able to downgrade it again.  That being said, I've put my Motorola phones through a fair amount of abuse and I've never bricked a single one.  (Compare to the iPhone, where if you even think about hacking it, it will turn into a brick.)  And from all the reviews I've read, and my own experience, I don't think you'll want to go back anyway.

Room for Jelly Beans?

Ice Cream Sandwich isn't actually the latest version of the Android OS.  Jelly Bean is.  Which makes it even more infuriating that Motorola can't be bothered releasing ICS for the Droid.  When they do, my Droid still won't have the latest OS.  Thankfully the community has stepped up once again.  The brilliant Cyanogen has released their 10 alpha version, which brings Jelly Bean to Droid.  But it still has major flaws, such as the camera not working.  This Droid is supposed to be my work phone, which means it is a "production" device and "mission critical."  As much as I'm tempted to dance on the cutting edge, I need a phone that is stable and actually works.  ICS is doing that for me, so I'm going to leave well enough alone . . . at least for now.  Cyanogen has a very fast release cycle so I expect to see a more polished version 10 before the end of the year.

Bottom Line: Lovin' It

ICS was definitely worth the plunge.  I was a little worried about "jumping the gun" and doing it myself, but I'm glad I did.  My phone, and Motorola's sluggishness, were really starting to bug me, and I was daydreaming about replacing the phone altogether.  I don't care if Motorola ever releases the official upgrade, or if it takes them another six months, because my phone runs just fine.  Better than before, in fact.  With ICS, it's like a brand new phone all over again.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go unlock my phone by smiling at it.