82
Google Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
10
final rating

reviewed on
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Criteria Comments Rating
  • Ease of use This is the best version of Android yet. So many usability improvements, even for things that were pretty good in the first place. great!
  • Speed I'm not even running an official build and it is faster than Gingerbread. Google's engineering team did a great job. great!
  • Configurability Android has always been highly configurable, even moreso if you root your device. great!
  • Ecosystem (apps, drivers, etc.) The Android ecosystem is improving rapidly, especially with the addition of music, but third party app design is still generally lacking good
  • Openness ICS has already been open sourced and teams like CyanogenMod are already going to town on it. Should turn out some great results. great!
Detailed review
BIG DIFFERENCES
  • User Interface - If Matias Duarte was in front of me right now, I would hug him for an almost creepy amount of time. Finally it seems that Google put an emphasis on the design of the OS, and not just on commonly accessed apps, but throughout all the menus, buttons, settings, and navigation. Unlike most of the "pundits", I love the font choice. It is probably the best typeface for mobile right now. And no, it actually looks nothing like Helvetica. I agree with Matias when he said that "If you can't tell the difference between Roboto and Helvetica, you don't belong in this conversation."
  • Speed - Google has really stepped up its game here. Even with an unofficial build running on a rooted Nexus S, I am seeing consistent speed increases across the board. Apps launch a little quicker, but the most noticeable difference is the quickness in the UI.
  • Music - This isn't necessarily just a ICS thing, but the updated Music app is stellar and Google's finally gotten a deal with the record labels to sell music. As I've been using the streaming service since its inception, this is a big deal, and great news for music fans.


NOT SO AWESOME
  • Volume (bug?) - So far I haven't run into anything in the OS that bugs me aside from one thing: I'm running an unofficial build on my Nexus S and when I am listening to music, I can't adjust the music volume unless the screen is on and I am in the music app.

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