Android

Galaxy S II ICS update causing some interesting issues

S-ii-ics

The international version of the Samsung Galaxy S II started getting its Ice Cream Sandwich a little more than a week ago, and people have been upgrading like crazy. I've been following some discussion forums on the matter, and the amount of issues that has popped up after the update is both interesting and scary. 

Here are some of the issues that I've personally seen people report after the update, in no particular order: 

  • Removal of rSAP Bluetooth protocol support
  • Ugly looking smileys in the default SMS app
  • Launchers that crash
  • Some SMS apps sending messages twice
  • Phones stuck on the boot screen
  • System sounds ignoring settings
  • Reboot loops
  • Overheating
  • Signal loss
  • Issues with various apps
  • Folder issues with Exchange email
  • Disk space issues
  • Battery drain issues
  • Charging issues

…and probably a whole lot more I've forgotten. Most of these are issues that only a very small minority of people are experiencing, while the battery drain issue is one of the bigger complaints. Some of these have also been fixed by rebooting, resetting the device, and similar processes. All software updates experience issues and a lot of it has to do with incompatibility between apps and software, but it's definitely not a good sign to have this many weird issues going on.

I haven't updated myself, not in fear of things like this, but rather because I'm quite happy with the device as is and don't see a need to update for the sake of it. I have however seen people who say they're sticking with 2.3.5 until ICS gets a few more patches to get rid of some issues, and I can certainly understand that.

I've also seen people who are surprised over how similar everything looks and feels. ICS is as heavily customized as older versions were on Samsung devices, and even if it weren't, stock ICS has a lot of new features that are simply things third party software has added to Android for ages. There are quite a few actually useful upgrades of course, but nothing that makes you pick up the device after the upgrade is finished and go "oh my God, a brand new device!". 

The last couple of years software updates have been much less revolutionary than they used to be, which is of course logical since we're getting closer to something that everyone consideres good. The constant pressure for updates is something that we have to be careful with, or we'll end up having updates that are put out just for the sake of raising the version number and have something to put in ads. Some people might disagree with me on this one, but I certainly think Windows 8 is a massive downgrade over Windows 7, and I hope that sort of OS "upgrade" never comes to Android.

Anyways, if you have an S II and are considering whether to upgrade, just be aware that you might end up with issues. It's especially important to check apps you absolutely rely on, as upgrading to find out you can no longer use your most important apps can ruin your day just as much as other issues.  

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Andreas Ødegård

Andreas Ødegård is more interested in aftermarket (and user created) software and hardware than chasing the latest gadgets. His day job as a teacher keeps him interested in education tech and takes up most of his time.

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