Ice Cream Sandwich updates are here! For some users, at least. AT&T on Thursday released an update for the HTC Vivid, bringing it from Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread) all the way up to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).
Ordinarily, a standard OS upgrade wouldn't be such a big deal, so why the hands on? Well, even though Ice Cream Sandwich has been available for over four months, the HTC Vivid is the first phone to receive a carrier-issued update. Even Google's very own Nexus S is still running on Gingerbread crumbs. That means the HTC Vivid marks the first official over-the-air ICS update, and gives us a chance to see how the latest version of Android gets along with HTC's Sense UI.
But before we get to that, first you have to install ICS. Right now, AT&T claims that you can download and install the update directly from your phone via Wi-Fi. I tried to do that on our test phone, but kept getting a 'Server Error' message. Luckily, you can download the update from HTC and sideload it onto your device from your computer. But before you do that, make sure you have HTC Sync installed on your system or it won't work. The whole process is a bit of a pain, but for the impatient, it's better than waiting.
The update itself takes about 15 minutes. Once it's done, you'll be able to fully inhabit the tasty world of Ice Cream Sandwich on your HTC Vivid. And in addition to Ice Cream Sandwich, the Vivid's Sense UI has been bumped up to version 3.6, which brings with it some goodies like Beats Audio enhancements and a customizable launch bar at the bottom of the home screen.
The first thing I noticed upon starting up the phone is that everything looks a heck of a lot similar to how it did before. I had to check the Settings to make sure the phone is indeed running Android 4.0.3. Whereas stock ICS represents a pretty significant visual departure from Gingerbread on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, here, it looks like HTC has skinned ICS to make it look exactly like Gingerbread. So if you're worried about having to relearn a completely changed UI, fear not.
HTC's new launch bar at the bottom of the screen looks nice. It comes preloaded with icons for Phone, Messages, Apps, Email, and Camera. The only permanent icon is Apps, which is stuck to the center of the bar—the other four can be modified as you please. Other than that, there isn't much here that would let you know you're running an updated OS.
But aside from the somewhat disappointing lack of a new look, plenty of ICS enhancements can still be found working in the background. The Web browser, for instance, has received a nice speed boost. Our previous BrowserMark score of 50324 with Gingerbread increased to 63109 with Ice Cream Sandwich. Not bad.
There's also a new data-management screen in Settings, which lets you monitor how much cellular data you've been using day by day, project monthly usage, and issue automatic warnings. Considering the premium prices for data—and the speed at which you can blow through it over LTE—this is a major plus. And when you tap the Settings key, instead of being brought directly to the Setting menu, you're now first presented with a submenu of different options.
Ultimately, the idea here isn't to test out every new feature of Google's latest OS. You can already read about that in Sascha Segan's Android 4.0 review. The big point is that Ice Cream Sandwich is finally available on a device other than the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. And while it may not look all that different, knowing your phone is capable of running the latest version of its operating system is a comforting thought, although it's one we really shouldn't have to think about. But let's hope that this is a step in the right direction, or at the very least, that ICS starts rolling out to other devices a lot faster, before Android 5.0 arrives.