Android 2.3 Gingerbread vs. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
by Matthew Sabatini
September
23, 2008, Android 1.0, the first commercial version of Android is
released. Just over 3 years later, October 19, 2011, after evolving from
Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, and Honeycomb, not
including Astro and Bender, Ice Cream Sandwich was announced. Along the
way, Android put out loads of features and took in some 200+ million
users. Today, we’re going to be breaking down two of the newest, and
arguably best, Android versions (Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich).
Obviously, a winner has already been chosen for this Versus Match.
However, look at the competition as more of a comparison and evolution
of Android.
UI (User Interface)
It
is hard to miss the fact that Google was going for an improved User
Interface with Ice Cream Sandwich. Just from taking a look at the search
bar, you can tell that Ice Cream Sandwich is much sleeker than
Gingerbread. Mainly, Ice Cream Sandwich will make it easier for users to
find those common buttons and actions that were always playing hide and
go seek in older Android versions. Furthermore, the animations and
“typeface” have been refined to play nicely with your new 720p HD display. Furthermore,
Ice Cream Sandwich introduces the new font “Roboto”. This Google creation will make reading easier and give Android a more modern feel.
By
far, the most visible interface on any device is the font you read
everything from websites, to emails, to SMS’ on. With Android 4.0,
Google has designed a font completely from the ground up, and it looks
exceptional. Dubbed Roboto, it’s a font built with modernity in mind,
and looks great.
With a heavy dose of the use of intuitive
gestures, and the ability for developers to add them too, Ice Cream
Sandwich really is as silky smooth as its name implies.
Multitasking, Widgets, and Folders
Two
of Android’s most notable and original features are Multitasking and
Widgets. Therefore, Ice Cream Sandwich will be bringing new meaning to
both of those features with some key upgrades.
First,
the Recent Apps button lets users jump instantly from one task to
another using the list in the System Bar. The list that pops up should
be very familiar to Honeycomb users. Furthermore, the list will show you
a thumbnail image of whats going on inside of that app for easy
app-switching. If you want to get rid of recent app, just toss it away
with a finger swipe.
Note! this swiping feature also works with browser tabs and notifications.
In
addition, Ice Cream Sandwich now enables users to re-seize their
widgets. Want a full page dedicated to Gmail? Go for it! Finally,
Android 4.0 borrows iOS’s folder creation method of drag and drop.
Therefore, all you have to do to create a folder is pick up and app, and
throw it onto another one.
Network Data Manager
Wireless
providers are starting to charge their customers an arm and a leg for
less and less data. Thankfully, Google has provided us with a solution.
The new Data usage controls allow for constant monitoring of your total
usage by network type and application. In addition, it adds the ability
to set limits on those data-hungry apps.
This is one of the more
welcome additions to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as it gives you the
complete breakdown on what your most data hungry apps are, which can end
up saving you a lot of money. Definitely not something the carriers are
looking forward to, but consider this a win for you, the consumer.
Plus, it displays all of the info an easy to understand and beautiful
graph, too.
Sharing
Now that Social Networks are
destined to completely take over our lives, Android has adapted to make
sharing a heck of a lot easier. First, Ice Cream Sandwich will introduce
a whole new way to look at your friends.
Android
2.3′s contact list was known for being extremely boring. The new People
app in Android 4.0 offers richer profile information, including a large
profile picture, phone numbers, addresses and accounts, status updates,
events, and a new button for connecting on integrated social networks.
But
what happens when you want to send something to the person sitting
right next to you instantly?! Well, with Gingerbread, you email it to
them. In Ice Cream Sandwich, simply touch phones, and given that you
have an NFC-capable device, voila! The guy next to you is watching the
exact video or playing the same game as you are. Furthermore, Google has
left this feature open to developers. Therefore, passing game scores,
initiating a multiplayer game or chat, and more just got a lot easier.
Camera and Video
Live
Effects are a collection of graphical transformations that allow you to
turn your friend into an alien, put them on the moon, or more all from
the Camera app. For example, users can change the background behind them
to any stock or custom image, for just the right setting when shooting
video. Also available is “Silly Faces”, a set of morphing effects that
transform facial features. For example, you can use effects such as
small eyes, big mouth, big nose, face squeeze, and more. Into video
chatting? All of this can be done in the Google Talk app as well.
Do
you hate it when friends get into your phone? But at the same time,
setting a password stops you from getting into your phone fast. Google
has come to the rescue with a new revolutionary feature called Face
Unlock. It is exactly what you think it is, face recognition lets you
unlock your phone with your face.
Improved Speed
Although
at the time, Gingerbread was a huge update to older android versions in
terms of speed, Google somehow managed to make Ice Cream Sandwich
faster. And we’re not just talking about minor speed improvements. “In
benchmarks run on a Nexus S device, the Android 4.0 browser showed an
improvement of nearly 220% over the Android 2.3 browser in the V8
Benchmark Suite and more than 35% in the SunSpider 9.1 JavaScript
Benchmark. When run on a Galaxy Nexus device, the Android 4.0 browser
showed improvement of nearly 550% in the V8 benchmark and nearly 70% in
the SunSpider benchmark” (Android Developers).
Furthermore, Ice
Cream Sandwich makes email better by adding improved auto-completion,
quick responses, an integrated menu, nested mail subfolders, and as
mentioned before, a resizable Email widget.
Other Goodies
Wi-Fi Direct:
will make instant sharing of files, photos, or other media; streaming
video or audio from another device; or connecting to compatible printers
or other devices all possible for Ice Cream Sandwich devices.
Bluetooth Health Device Profile (HDP):
will allow for connecting to wireless medical devices and sensors in
hospitals, fitness centers, homes, and elsewhere with some help from
third party application developers.
Developers:
Key Android 3.x developer features, now for phones too
Core UI
- Fragments and content loaders
- Resizeable home screen widgets
- Rich notifications
- Multi-selection, drag-drop, clipboard
- Improved screen-support API
- Hardware-accelerated 2D graphics
Graphics and animation
- Property-based animation
- Renderscript 3D graphics
Media and connectivity
- HTTP Live streaming
- Bluetooth A2DP and HSP devices
- Support for RTP
- MTP/PTP file transfer
- DRM framework
- Input from keyboard, mouse, gamepad, joystick
Enterprise
- Full device encryption
- DPM policies for encrypted storage and passwords
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