A user's guide to Android Ice Cream Sandwich

December 26, 2011, 8:26 PM ? After months of waiting, the Galaxy Nexus (and by extension, Android 4.0, aka "Ice Cream Sandwich") is finally here. We've already done an extensive review of the hardware, so here we will be looking much more closely at Ice Cream Sandwich. Whether you are an Android veteran or a smartphone first-timer, this new version of Google's mobile operating system has a few things you should know about before getting started.

Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) is the biggest update to Android since the OS launched, and the changes are pretty significant. They aren't too dramatic for people used to Android, but people new to the OS may have some difficulties starting out. While Android 2.x was perhaps not the easiest OS to master, once you got the hang of it, it was rather straightforward. ICS, on the other hand, was designed to be easier to use, but even long-standing Android users will have to spend some time learning its ins and outs.

Here's one issue: Not all icons are clearly labeled, so it can be difficult to know what a button does in a particular app. The new Calendar app, for instance, has a small unlabeled square (it looks like a small calendar) that takes you to the present date. Other than pressing the button, you have no visual cues to tell you what that icon actually does. This isn't the same Android that we've all come to know, but rather a new OS that carries on the Android legacy.

A Fresh New Look

ICS is by far the most visually appealing version of Android that I have seen to date. The holographic interface in Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) has been passed on to ICS, though it doesn't translate that well on a smaller display. On a tablet, the holographic interface looks as if it has some depth, but on a phone it appears extremely two-dimensional. ICS, however, adds a few new colors to Android's repertoire, swapping out the old green and gray for a vibrant blue.

Text is also much easier to read thanks to use of the new high-resolution font Roboto. Roboto was designed to be used on HD displays, and is a massive step up from the old Droid Serif in Android 2.x. The font looks a lot cleaner than the one used on Honeycomb, and complements the holographic UI quite nicely.

One of the biggest interface changes concerns the use of software navigation buttons for Android smartphones. Pre-Honeycomb Android devices all used hardware buttons for basic navigation (Home, Menu, Back, Search), while software keys were exclusive to Honeycomb tablets. The Galaxy Nexus has a buttonless design, and chances are high that we will be seeing more Android phones that take advantage of ICS software buttons.

The software keys include Back and Home, with the Menu and Search buttons replaced by a Recent Apps button (more on that later). While software keys work fine on a larger-sized tablet, I was initially worried that the software keys in ICS would be too easy to hit by accident on a smartphone. Fortunately, this was not the case, and not once in my time with Ice Cream Sandwich did I ever accidentally exit out of an app because of any of the software buttons.

One issue I do have with ICS is centered on the nestled menus. Whereas in previous versions of Android the menus would all appear in the same spot, ICS has you hunting around the screen looking for the three dots that indicate a menu drop-down. Again, not a big problem, but it makes navigation inconsistent from one app to another. In general, it seems menus appear in either the top-right or bottom-right of apps, the exception being that older apps will have the menu icon appear down next to Recent Apps.

Features Galore

More than just a pretty face, ICS also adds loads of new features to the Android OS. As mentioned earlier, you now have a Recent Apps button that allows you to quickly jump from one app to another. When you press Recent Apps, a carousel with the last 15 apps you've opened will pop up. You can either tap an app to go to it, or swipe it left or right to close it. It works extremely well and quickly became one of my favorite things in ICS.

Source: http://www.itworld.com/236139/users-guide-android-ice-cream-sandwich

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