After developing separate operating system editions for smartphones and tablets, Google has finally introduced a unified version of Android which will be used on both types of devices. In practice, the users may have not felt the differences between Gingerbread (Android OS 2.3 intended for smartphones) and Honeycomb (Android OS 3.x intended for tablets), but third-party app developers sure have. Android OS 4.0 brings a unified user interface, as well as unified API for developers.
The changes even go beyond combining the best of both worlds (Honeycomb and Gingerbread). Some improvements are features previously seen in the alternate user interfaces created by device manufacturers, like HTC's Sense UI, Samsung's TouchWiz or Sony Ericsson's Timescape. In addition, some of the bundled apps offer improved functionality and an increase in their available number of options.
User interface
One of the first things you'll notice when making the journey to ICS is the color scheme. Gone is the lime green-on-black theme present on Gingerbread, and in its place comes a subtle light blue-on-gray motif. There are five home panels at your disposal, and there's no option to add or take away screens. Along the bottom is a "favorites tray" capable of holding up to four shortcuts -- besides the standard app tray button, of course -- doubling the previous version's layout of two (phone and browser). And while stock Gingerbread wouldn't allow those icons to be swapped, ICS does -- heck, you can even put folders here or just get rid of all of the apps altogether. The fact is, you're now given the choice, something we deeply appreciate.
You'll notice that a long-press of the home screen still brings up a menu, but it's only associated with wallpapers now. No longer will you find access to widgets, folders and shortcuts here; widgets and shortcuts are now located in the same space as the app tray, and folders can be created easily without the long press.
While we're on the subject, folders have definitely graduated in design, transforming from ugly manila covers to transparent circles showing your apps inside, piled on top of one another. In fact, it almost has a look reminiscent of -- dare we say -- iOS. Sure, there's the obvious difference in shape, but all it takes to create a new folder is the act of dragging one icon on top of another. Once established, it's easy to rename your new creation.
Lock Screen
The lock screen now gives you direct access to either the home screen or the camera application -- you drag an icon with a padlock to a suitable position in order to select one of the two offered options. This is a detail borrowed from HTC's Sense UI and Samsung's TouchWiz. A likable new feature, which I haven't seen before, is the option of unlocking the phone with your own face -- the device can learn what you look like and unlock itself by engaging the camera to "check" if it is really you.
It is possible to see the notifications panel on lock screen, and it's not necessary to fully "awaken" the device to find out if any messages have been received, if a call has been missed, or if something else has happened.
All items on the notifications panel related to a person are marked with the person's image, and you can remove them one by one from the panel, again by simply dragging them off the screen with a finger movement. Even the music player control keys can be set here, and can be managed without unlocking the device.
Face Unlock
It's pretty easy to forget all about every other feature or UI enhancement in ICS considering the amount of buzz being generated by Face Unlock. We'll admit, we were pretty enticed by the feature as well at first, but let's not kid ourselves here: it's a gimmick. Clever, sure, but it's not as secure as you might think it is.
Here's how it works: go to the security settings, select screen lock and choose "face unlock." The camera then memorizes your face -- or at least, the shape of it -- and asks you to submit a PIN code or pattern lock just in case it doesn't recognize you, which honestly happens more than we'd like. In fact, we saw both extremes: our faces typically weren't recognized if we angled our head slightly away from the camera or if we tried to unlock the phone in low light, but the phone easily recognized our face in the mirror and when wearing glasses. Even worse, we were able to gain access to the phone simply by holding our picture up to the camera.
Face Unlock still needs some tweaking before it's ready for primetime, but the feature is still a clever gimmick that you can show off to your friends -- provided you're in a room with adequate lighting, that is. From a software perspective, we believe the technology will gradually get smarter and catch up to various PC facial recognition programs, but for now we'd recommend a good old-fashioned password to keep your sensitive information away from everyone else.
HOME SCREEN AND APPS
The size of desktop widgets can now be altered, which previously was only possible with Android OS 3.x or Samsung's TouchWiz 4.0 (for instance, Samsung Galaxy S II has this option). A usual set of widgets comes with the operating system (weather, analogue clock, calendar, the messages panel etc.), which are now grouped in a special tab inside the applications drawer. The applications are represented as a matrix with icons, just like before.
These application icons can now be grouped in
folders in a much simpler manner -- to be precise, the system Apple put
in iOS has been "borrowed". Thus, the icons can be dragged and dropped
on the homescreen one on top of the other in order to create a
folder, or directly to an existing folder to add them. By touching the
folder, its contents appear while the icons can be rearranged inside it or dragged out.It seems clear that Google didn't just take the ideas of previous Android versions and HTC or Samsung user interface improvements, but was also inspired a bit by Apple. Lawyers will likely have their plate full with these two companies in the future, given that there is clearly an abundance of evidence to justifify a resumption the patent war. Or that's the way it seems to me.
Microsoft's attorneys will surely not be idle, either -- Google has omitted the Contacts application in Android OS 4.0 and replaced it with the People application, which is fairly reminiscent of the way in which contacts are kept on Windows Phone. The contacts now have a more modern and dramatic look than they used to, with a high dose of "socialization", thus their Gtalk status is featured, while images can be taken from Google+.
Facebook or Twitter integration has not been offered on the operating system level (because client applications for these social networks do not come with Android OS 4.0), unlike the API level -- this means that Tweets and Facebook statuses will appear here in the future, once the apps are installed.
Summary
If someone argue that Ice Cream Sandwich isn't the largest incremental update to the Android platform since its birth, he is probably going to lose the fight. Not even counting the number of features added to 4.0, the changes in UI alone are enough to take your breath away. It's modern and refreshing, and the user experience is more polished than its predecessors, but we believe that newcomers to Google's mobile ecosystem won't find it quite as intuitive as competing operating systems as the tech-savvy and power-hungry crowd that has grown accustomed to Android in the past. Regardless of previous knowledge, this will probably be water under the bridge soon enough, as manufacturers push out devices with customized skins.
The interface isn't perfect, and several of its new features still have a beta feel (we're looking at you, Face Unlock), but Android 4.0 appears to do exactly what it set out to do: merge the best of two worlds into an attractive package. It's a gorgeous OS that offers great performance and -- for the most part -- doesn't feel like a half-baked effort. Factoring the new functionality, ICS effectively throws a one-two punch of mobile wonderment in our face. Ice Cream Sandwich feels like a natural evolution for Android, and we have a feeling Matias Duarte & Co. are just getting started.
