Your thoughts on the ICS update

[Johan]

So we thought we would create this thread for you to share thoughts around the ICS update.

The purpose is to help out other users or readers to make a decision if they are going to update or not.

Please list pros and cons with the update and if you would recommend others to update.

Don’t forget to mention what phone model you have.

Also

Please don’t just say that the update is good or bad. Please share in detail what is good/bad with the update.

We will be monitoring this thread closely and delete any post that does not contribute to the purpose of this thread.

Please do not post single issues. We are happy to help you with them in a new thread.

Follow this link to start a new thread: http://talk.sonymobile.com/community/support/xperia2011/post!input.jspa?containerType=14&container=2...

We won’t be able to answer questions like “When will my country get the update?” or “When will my SI number get the update?” so please don't ask - the post will be removed.

UPDATE: Posts which did not conform with the purpose of this thread has been deleted, 2012-04-27.

[nikhild_goa_gma]

shit yaar,,, m such a big fan of sony(ericsson) and its feels really sad to wite about cons bt still had to inorder to get better software update..

this is my third post in this thread and one was with pros and cons though cons were more then again i posted which were full of cons...

and now this is third one with lots of more bugs

let me tell u m Using Xperia NEo v and installed ICS after factory reseting my phone ....

got 200MB free memory on phone and always shows 140Mb free ram

so dont hav much app installed... and got 8GB class 6 memory card

-Compass not working even tried calibrating through service menu... so the google maps cant detect wich way m facing...

-wanted to watch youtube video in  browser using HTML 5 support (as i dont wanted adobe flash) bt i was making my cell hang..

- so installed adobe flash and thought video plays.. bt it crashes a lot... even at 360p where earlier in GB 720P was running smooth without even crash... i preffer 480 to match my screen resoluting bt i can run even 480 as browser crashes lot... thanks to new youtube app which is optimised nw and is usable..

-browser crashes a lot more then two pages are opened ... and sometimes it hangs my cell for 30sec or so and then automatic restart

- even opera mobile gets hanged lots on ICS over xperia

-also obverved some issue with downloading large file of about 100 mb (was using wifi with 1mbps internet speed not shared with anyone else) but i never observed any drop in wifi connection as some complains and its perfect....

-also some bugs while using third party camera apps like camera 360 which is recommended by sony ericsson....

-THe biggest bug which is not accpetable from SONY the producer of Walkman....

that  sometimes the music player sound distord... where is when same song very clear with clear base when played on my 4year old walkman phone w610.. bt this distortation is not always bt occasional... (m talking abt default player) thught i do hav power amp installed bt no third party sound enhasment installed.

[#3]

1-before ics update.... wifi worked better... but now.... too slow....

2-lagging while recording videos

3-application force closes frequently

4-UI looks good... but it is laggy

5-stock video player is quiet good

6-captured images seem to look better than ginger bread

7-no changes in music player

8-quick dial is quiet gud.... but it takes time to open

9-more develeper options provided

10-hd games lags

PLS........... repair all reported bugs by all users........

[anoops08]

After updating My Neo V to ICS 4.0.3 a week ago, I found the following Pros and Cons:

Pros:

1. UI is good but needs little bit more extra gloss effect.
2. Browsing using Stock browser is refreshing with increased speed.
3. Better management of applications.
4. Facelock and other unlocking features are good
5. Good UI and options for camera
6. New Contact page and options
7. Launcher is cool
8. More developer options available
9. Battery backup is more or less the same.

Cons:

1. While I was in GB 2.3.4, I never had a single restarting problem or crash. But ICS update has made my Neo V to restart 6 times in a single week.
2. It freezed all of a sudden, I removed my battery to fix it.
3. All the Apps and even Xperia Gallery crashes often; asks for Force Close.
4. Mostly all the games that are compatible with GB are not working with ICS. May be this is not Sony's fault.
5. Dial Pad and Call log takes almost 3-5 seconds to load. Damn slow.
6. Multitasking was reduced to almost 80% than in my GB.
7. I feel the image quality in ICS has decreased.
8. Same boring  Music Player. Please give us a New Music Player, need a complete refreshing revamp for Music Player. PS: try to bring in a folder-wise play of songs, it will be a good improvement.
9. Flash doesn't work.
10. LED nofications for missed calls not available.
11. Shortcut for taking screenshots is difficult to use. "Power Button + Volume Button"
12. Please remove those usefless bloatware that keeps coming with the phone again and again.
13. Notifications bar is a bit boring and slow.
14. UI is very laggy at times
15. What is the need for 2 Galleries? Xperia Gallery is good.
16. We need more wallpaper and live wallpaper options.
17. Touch response has reduced considerably.

Kindly fix these bugs in the next 4.0.4 update.

Anyways we appreciate Sony for giving a timely update as per the schedule. However, the update comes with some bugs. Anyways, Good Work Sony.

Please bring Multitasking to the fullest advantage in the next update. Please give us a new and sexy Music Player with Folder Wise music playing option.

Thanks

[shangjeen]

i personally think that there are more cons than pro after the ics update, quite dissapointed actually.

lets start with the pros, beautiful UI with more options to choose from in phone setting, and also much smoother browser experience. Photo gallery seem to load much much faster.

As for the cons...there are just too many but il leave a few important ones. firstly im very dissapointed with the lagging in games and doesnt regonise touches at times ( temple run, angry birds, even glow hockey??) of course its still playeble but its not the same gingerbread gaming experience anymore.

2nd problem is with the HD video recording, you will notice some slight lag for the first 1-4seconds during playback. only HD recording though, QVGA,VGA and the rest are all right.

So overall you will hear about laggy and here laggy there... im sure Sony can do a much better job, and hopping for a new update soon. If not might be switching to perhaps Samsung in the future. TQ

Xperia Arc S user

[#6]

Hi Johan,

First of all, thanks for bringing this discussion topic on the blog, I just update my Xperia Arc S with the new ICS system yesterday and I noticed there are many many bugs on this version by SONY, MANY BUGS!!! Like our fans’ comment above, the bugs are all what they said.

Here I re-state the bug from the top urgent issue to the low:

1. BATTERY ISSUE!!!!!!! Very bad performance for the update, I really cant expect that the update of the new OS make the battery performace so bad, it drain so fast, I just take out the fone and scroll left-right the menu, it’s took away 1%, just 10-20second??? Y so fast??
2. Speed slow….very slow not smooth as GB, I really want to get back to GB, anyone can have way to change back to GB by not voiding the warranty?? Pls help me
3. Gallery, playing video sometimes cannot, I dono y, but sometimes, I try play the video or view image, the gallery don’t show and force closed, stuck, no response. And even it play, also not smooth as the old one on GB. =_____________=”
   ***note***  I also notice when I play video, when I rotate screen to left or right to be full screen, I notice the bottom of the screen got a white straght line, it’s a small line, you need to see it closed in order to notice it, pls help improve this also
4. And lock screen, ICS replace silence button to camera, I don’t feel it’s usefull, cuz when I press the camera button it also can go direct to camera without slide the lock, so pls help give me back my silence button.
5. gaming, HD game force closed.
6. Sound, I mean the lock sound and the camera capture sound, y now so low sound??? Before these sound are so loud, now so low, pls help solve the problem.
7. and yes, the favorite contact widget, it’s usefull y omit it??
8. LED light, the notification LED don’t blink for missed call, chat, fb also, music play also not blink now, I really like SONY’s unique LED nofication, but now your ICS update made it’s gone, how come?? Upgrading should mean improving not destroying, ok??
9. I really like the new multi-tasking and the swipe close notification and app, but this are not smooth, not pretty smooth, I think you shall make the enhancement on this then it would be perfect.

I really looking forward to see sony got the new version and non-bug ICS update. Thanks

[anoops08]

This is my second post regarding ICS 4.0.3 on Neo V. I did a Repair of the ICS and followed by a factory reset. To be honest, my Neo V had got a fresh life after the repair.

Pros

1. No laggs or restarting issue thereafter.
2. The same fluidity in touch response as in GB returned to ICS.
3. More free memory
4. Less crashes ( However, some apps do crash as they are yet to be customized to ICS).
5. Battery backup is decent.

Cons:

1. Dial pad takes its time of 3-4 sec to load.
2. All the other minor cons like 'no LED notifications for Missed Calls' do exist.

Really, doing a Repair after installing the fresh ICS does bring more changes to the phone. If anyone found your phone laggy, you can try this Repair. It works.

Sony, we are expecting the 4.0.4 update from your side soon. Still Happy with the ICS...

[#8]

Hi everyone, I’m from Philippines and updated my phone to ICS. Here’s my review:

PROs:

1. New UI interface.
2. New added widgets but it seems there are widgets that has been removed or gone.
3. Browsing in ICS is better than GB – can easily access other windows
4. New face unlock option.
5. Developer option
6. Performance assistant and Update Center is cool.
7. Swipe to clear in notification bar
8. Battery life is a little bit better than GB
9. I love the themes. Icons got changed. New setting menu.
10. Getting good amount of free RAM and more internal space.
11. Can control music player even the phone was locked.

CONs:

1. Laggy homescreen
2. Dial pad takes too long to load.
3. Games are still laggy.
4. Not good in multitasking
5. The network signal drops often.
6. Old kernel.
7. HD video recording was laggy.
8. Old music player.
9. Touch screen delay.
10. No more information displayed in the screen when there’s a new message or missed calls.
11. Complicated button for screen shot.

Overall for me it’s good but I’m not well impressed. Looking forward to update 4.0.4 or might as well go back to stable GB for a while.

Thanks SONY.

[#9]

Hi Henry,

I think i can help you solve many of the issues other than the LED, Low sound when unlocking, gaming and missing widget.

1st If you have not factory reset the phone or not repaired it (by connecting to PC companion) after updating please do that, it will make it more fast. The reason is usually when updating Sony use to format the phone removing all the data and then freshly install the new update, this time they have put it on top of the old one making it laggy and messy. When you reset or repair, it gets fresh and you will notice a huge speed boost.

2nd I suggest you root your device and get rid of many unwanted apps that runs in the back and slows your phone, with ICS you can root your Arc S with just 2 clicks without need to unlock the bootloader hence warrenty remains. You can unroot it any time by reparing the phone with PC companion.

By doing either one of the above or both you can get a huge improvement in speed and battery life. So two problems solved. (For your info i have Arc S and has done both the above and my phone is buttery smooth)

Next regaring the gallery and video player. I believe you are using the Xperia Gallery, please dont use it. It has got lots of bugs. Infact the first app i removed after rooting was Xperia Galllery. I suggest you use the default ICS gallery its smooth and video playback is really good. Or you can always install Mobo player (FREE) from paly store which has an awesome video playback and supports lots of formats.

Then about gaming i belive its not Sony's fault but the game developers have not made the games support ICS well. Give some time for the game developers to release updates to support ICS properly.

Thats all i guess.... wait then regarding camera in lockscreen i think its a really useful feature for me. 😉 So i cant think its useless.

Hope i helped you.

NOTE: If you wish to root or have any questions please ask ill help you out.

[#10]

I'M SO ANGRY!

YOU destroyed my perfect ARC S! Last time when I updated my x10 to 2.3 I had the same feeling, but it did goed away in few days! But now I have the same feeling and it hasenät gone away! Had this upodate about month now?

Pros:

Updated UI, (some times its ugly, like this blue screen what looks like crap, like oure screen couldn't handle 16M colors!?!)

Better settings menu (more logic)

New lock screen (But where is the option to take camera button away?)

Cons:

REALLY LAGGY

App drawer open looks like crap

Everything looks like crap (smooth at craphics is gone)

SO SLOW

FORCE CLOSES (all apps force closes all the time)

App drawer changes app's orders in menu and in folders too

Laggy home screen, widgets lag and sometimes don't load

Camera sometimes doesn't save images to gallery

Writing text message is really awful now, it takes 3-5secs that you are able to write (keyboard doesn't take any presses for some time) It slows down this thing!

Phone is hotter so I think this consumes more processor power.

Phone reboots byself sometimes

Network issues (doesn't have singal sometimes)

My friend's Neo is much faster and looks better and smoother! AND know what? His phone vas 200e cheaper than my arc S and it is better!? SO wtf SONY!? Please update and fix these problems fast.

I always had been sonyericsson lover and fanboy but now I first time think that this can be my last sony mobile!

*tried to install update 3 times and same problems all the time so very very dissapointed...

[#11]

Pros:

Better UI ,better battery and new features of ICS

Cons:

Verrrry laggy and slow

Old kernel

my phone sometimes keeps vibarting by itself

Plz we want the new kernal and a faster UI , and if possible to add the Camera lunch from sleep feature like the NXT series to the 2011 line and the Original ICS keyboard beside the Xperia Keyboard