Ice Cream Sandwich on Google Nexus S

It’s been a week since I started playing with my Nexus S that I updated to Android 4.0 and I think I managed to form an objective opinion about this upgrade in order to share it with the rest of the world. Nexus S ICS brings a new interface, very desirable in my view, with the phone design, a more improved copy / paste function, a new web browser, a new media player and sensational live wallpaper.

To start with end we are talking about a live wallpaper using Google Maps, i.e. in the continuous background you can see your location on the map in real time. There is a very significant improvement in battery management. We are talking about a half day with a phone that has Wi-Fi enabled and is continuously and extensively used for calls, emails, browse the internet and listening to music. Overall, ICS is well received on Nexus S but let’s also see the downsides.

The aspect that disappointed me most is the absence of the Face Unlock function, practically the most publicized feature of Android 4.0. I can tell you from experience that Face Unlock is not perfect, under certain conditions, especially in light, it often doesn’t work, but is something new, attractive and, as I said, was the first thing I thought when talking about ICS. Google justified the lack of function in that Nexus S, saying that this function could not be supported in terms of hardware. If that’s the problem, then why all the custom ROMs for the Nexus S Ice Cream Sandwich that I found on the internet had this function integrated and seemed to work perfectly? We will give some recommendations for those interested, after trying them.

I personally was unhappy with exactly three aspects of the upgrade, really minor and easily repairable. First, was changing the Apps menu. I loved the way it looked before, especially how it seemed to run the application list. Now this is a classic menu, which simply moves from one page to another. The solution is to install a launcher and Google Play offers a wide range of such applications.

The second is related to the Music, the mp3 player that was provided, which became Play Music having the Google Play Music icon. The player does not bring improvements to the playback process of mp3′s stored on the phone, but comes with integrated Google Play Music services which are currently available only in the United States. My dissatisfaction, however, is generated by a simple thing, eliminating the possibility of putting favorite songs as ringtone.

The third complaint was caused by the disappearance of the standard File Explorer. Here, however, I quickly found replacements in Google Play, but my question remains: Why?

The conclusion is that ICS is a breath of fresh air for Nexus S and I assure you, in the absence of the three items above, Google will not follow Apple which simply decided to leave these minor functions in the hands of other subsidiary applications. Once with the update, Google also launched the open source for Nexus S ICS on the internet and along with it the LTE version of the Galaxy Nexus.

This is a Guest Post.

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