Android Ice Cream Sandwich

Last updated
Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Version of the Android operating system
Android Ice Cream Sandwich Logo.svg
Android 4.0 (2).png
Android 4.0 home screen on Galaxy Nexus
Developer Google
Released to
manufacturing 		October 19, 2011;13 years ago (2011-10-19)
Final release 4.0.4_r2.1 (IMM76L) [1] / June 6, 2012;12 years ago (2012-06-06)
Kernel type Monolithic (Linux)
Preceded by Android 2.3.7 "Gingerbread" (smartphones)
Android 3.2.6 "Honeycomb" (tablets)
Succeeded by Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean"
Official website developer.android.com/about/versions/android-4.0-highlights.html OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Support status
Unsupported since December 6, 2018, Google Play Services support dropped since February 2019 [2]

Android Ice Cream Sandwich (or Android 4.0) was the fourth major version of the Android mobile operating system developed by Google. Unveiled on October 19, 2011, Android 4.0 built upon the significant changes made by the tablet-only release Android Honeycomb, in an effort to create a unified platform for both smartphones and tablets. The first phone with Android Ice Cream Sandwich was Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Contents

Android 4.0 was focused on simplifying and modernizing the overall Android experience around a new set of human interface guidelines. As part of these efforts, it introduced a new visual appearance codenamed "Holo", which was built around a cleaner, minimalist design, and a new default typeface named Roboto. It also introduced a number of other new features, including a refreshed home screen, near-field communication (NFC) support and the ability to "beam" content to another user using the technology, an updated web browser, a new contacts manager with social network integration, the ability to access the camera and control music playback from the lock screen, visual voicemail support, face recognition for device unlocking ("Face Unlock"), the ability to monitor and limit mobile data usage, and other internal improvements.

Android 4.0 received positive reviews by critics, who praised the cleaner, revamped appearance of the operating system in comparison to previous versions, along with its improved performance and functionality. However, critics still felt that some of Android 4.0's stock apps were still lacking in quality and functionality in comparison to third-party equivalents, and regarded some of the operating system's new features, particularly the "face unlock" feature, as being gimmicks.

As of October 2022, statistics issued by Google indicate that 0.15% of all Android devices accessing Google Play run Ice Cream Sandwich. [3]

Development

Following the tablet-only release "Honeycomb", it was announced at Google I/O 2011 that the next version of Android, code named "Ice Cream Sandwich" (ICS), would be emphasized providing a unified user experience between both smartphones and tablets. In June 2011, details also began to surface surrounding a then-new Nexus phone by Samsung to accompany ICS, which would notably exclude hardware navigation keys. Android blog RootzWiki released photos in August 2011 showing a Nexus S running a build of ICS, depicting a new application menu layout resembling that of Honeycomb, and a new interface with blue-colored accenting. [4] [5] [6] An official launch event for Android 4.0 and the new Nexus phone was originally scheduled for October 11, 2011, at a CTIA trade show in San Diego. However, out of respect for the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Google and Samsung postponed the event to October 19, 2011, in Hong Kong. [7] Android 4.0 and its launch device, the Galaxy Nexus, were officially unveiled on October 19, 2011. Andy Rubin explained that 4.0 was intended to provide a "enticing and intuitive" user experience across both smartphones and tablets. [8]

Matias Duarte, Google's vice president of design, explained that development of Ice Cream Sandwich was based around the question "What is the soul of the new machine?"; user studies concluded that the existing Android interface was too complicated, and thus prevented users from being "empowered" by their devices. [9] The overall visual appearance of Android was streamlined for Ice Cream Sandwich, building upon the changes made on the tablet-oriented Android 3.0, his first project at Google; Duarte admitted that his team had cut back support for smaller screens on Honeycomb to prioritize sufficient tablet support, as he wanted Android OEMs to "stop doing silly things like taking a phone UI and stretching it out to a 10-inch tablet." [9] Judging Android's major competitors, Duarte felt that the interface of iOS was too skeuomorphic and kitschy, Windows Phone's Metro design language looked too much like "airport lavatory signage", and that both operating systems tried too hard to enforce conformity, "[without] leaving any room for the content to express itself." [9] For Ice Cream Sandwich, his team aimed to provide interface design guidelines which would evoke a modern appearance, while still allowing flexibility for application developers. He characterized the revised look of Ice Cream Sandwich as having "toned down the geeky nerd quotient" in comparison to Honeycomb, which carried a more futuristic appearance that was compared by critics to the aesthetics of Tron . [9]

In January 2012, following the official launch of Ice Cream Sandwich, Duarte and Google launched an Android Design portal, which featured human interface guidelines, best practices, and other resources for developers building Android applications designed for Ice Cream Sandwich. [10]

The initiatives by Duarte evolved into a unified design language, for subsequent Android versions across different device types, called Material design, starting with Android Lollipop, version 5.0.

Release

The Galaxy Nexus was the first Android device to ship with Android 4.0. [8] Android 4.0.3 was released on December 16, 2011, providing bug fixes, a new social stream API, and other internal improvements. [11] The same day, Google began a rollout of Ice Cream Sandwich to the predecessor of the Galaxy Nexus, the Nexus S. However, on December 20, 2011, the Nexus S roll-out was "paused" so the company could "monitor feedback" related to the update. [12] [13]

On Mar 29, 2012, Android 4.0.4 was released, adding several performance improvements to the camera and screen rotation, and other bug fixes. [14] [ better source needed ]

Google Play Services support for 4.0 ended in February 2019. [15]

Features

Visual design

The user interface of Android 4.0 represented an evolution of the design introduced by Honeycomb, although the futuristic aesthetics of Honeycomb were scaled back in favor of flat design with neon blue accenting, hard edges, and drop shadows for depth. Ice Cream Sandwich also introduced a new default system font, Roboto; designed in-house to replace the Droid font family, Roboto was primarily optimized for use on high-resolution mobile displays. [9] The new visual appearance of Ice Cream Sandwich was implemented by a widget toolkit known as "Holo"; to ensure access to the Holo style across all devices—even if they use a customized interface skin elsewhere, all Android devices certified to ship with Google Play Store (formerly Android Market) must provide the capability for apps to use the unmodified Holo theme. [16] [17] [18]

As with Honeycomb, devices could now render navigation buttons—"Back", "Home", and "Recent apps"—on a "system bar" across the bottom of the screen, removing the need for physical equivalents. [16] The "Menu" button that was present on previous generations of Android devices was deprecated, in favor of presenting buttons for actions within apps on "action bars", and menu items which did not fit on the bar in "action overflow" menus, designated by three vertical dots. Hardware "Search" buttons were also deprecated in favor of search buttons within action bars. On devices without a "Menu" key, a temporary "Menu" key would now be displayed on-screen while running apps that were not coded to support the new navigation scheme. On devices that used a hardware "Menu" key, action overflow buttons were hidden in apps and were mapped to the "Menu" key. [19] [20]

User experience

The default home screen of Ice Cream Sandwich displayed a persistent Google Search bar across the top of the screen, a dock across the bottom containing the app drawer button in the middle, and four slots for app shortcuts alongside it. Folders of apps could now be made by dragging an app and hovering it over another. The app drawer was split into two tabs; one for apps, and the latter holding widgets to be placed on home screen pages. Widgets themselves could now be resizable and contain scrolling content. [9] Android 4.0 contained an increased use of swiping gestures; apps and notifications could now be removed from the recent apps menu and dismissed from the notifications area by sliding them away, and a number of stock and Google apps now used a new form of tabs, in which users could navigate between different panes by either tapping their name on a strip, or by swiping left and right. [16]

The phone app was updated with a Holo design, the ability to send pre-configured text message responses in response to incoming calls, and visual voicemail integration within the call log display. [16] The web browser app incorporated updated versions of WebKit and V8, supporting syncing with Google Chrome, an override mode for loading a desktop-oriented version of a website rather than a mobile-oriented version, as well as offline browsing. [21] The "Contacts" section of the phone app was split off into a new "People" app, which offered integration with social networks such as Google+ to display recent posts and synchronize contacts, and a "Me" profile for the device's user. The camera app was redesigned, with a reduction in shutter lag, face detection, a new panorama mode, and the ability to take still photos from a video being recorded in camcorder mode. The photo gallery app added basic photo editing tools. The lock screen supported "Face Unlock", included a shortcut for launching the camera app, and housed playback controls for music players. The keyboard incorporated improved autocomplete algorithms, and improvements to voice input allowing for continuous dictation. [16] [22] [23] The ability to take screenshots by holding down the power and "Volume down" buttons together was also added. [24]

On devices supporting near-field communication (NFC), "Android Beam" allowed users to share links to content from compatible apps by holding the back of their device up against the back of another NFC-equipped Android device, and tapping the screen when prompted. [16] Certain "System" apps (particularly those pre-loaded by carriers) that could not be uninstalled could instead be disabled. This would hide the application and prevent it from launching, but the application was not removed from storage. [16] [22] Android 4.0 introduced features for managing data usage over mobile networks; users could now display the total amount of data they have used over a period of time, and display data usage per app. Background data usage could now be disabled globally or on a per-app basis, and a cap could now be set to automatically disable data if usage reached a certain quota as calculated by the device. [23] [22]

Platform

Android 4.0 inherited platform additions from Honeycomb, and also added support for ambient temperature and humidity sensors, Bluetooth Health Device Profile, near-field communication (NFC), and Wi-Fi Direct. The operating system also provided improved support for stylus and mouse input, along with new accessibility, calendar, keychain, spell checking, social networking, and virtual private network APIs. For multimedia support, Android 4.0 also added support for ADTS AAC, Matroska containers for Vorbis and VP8, WebP, streaming of VP8, OpenMAX AL, and HTTP Live Streaming 3.0. [22]

Reception

Android 4.0 was released to positive reception: Ars Technica praised the Holo user interface for having a "sense of identity and visual coherence that were previously lacking" in comparison to previous versions of Android, also believing that the new interface style could help improve the quality of third-party apps. The stock apps of Android 4.0 were also praised for having slightly better functionality in comparison to previous versions. Other features were noted, such as the improvements to text and voice input, along with the data usage controls (especially given the increasing use of metered data plans), and its overall performance improvements in comparison to Gingerbread. However, the Face Unlock feature was panned for being an insecure gimmick, and although providing an improved experience over the previous version, some of its stock applications (such as its email client) were panned for still being inferior to third-party alternatives. [23]

Engadget also acknowledged the maturing quality of the Android experience on Ice Cream Sandwich, and praised the modern feel of its new interface in comparison to Android 2.3, along with some of the new features provided by Google's stock apps and the operating system itself. In conclusion, Engadget felt that Android 4.0 was "a gorgeous OS that offers great performance and—for the most part—doesn't feel like a half-baked effort." However, Engadget still felt that some of Android 4.0's new features (such as Face Unlock) had a "beta feel" to them, noted the lack of Facebook integration with the new People app, and that the operating system was still not as intuitive for new users as its competitors. [24]

PC Magazine acknowledged influence from Windows Phone 7 in the new "People" app and improved benchmark performance on the web browser, but considered both Android Beam and Face Unlock to be gimmicks, and criticized the lack of support for certain apps and Adobe Flash on launch. [25]

See also


Related Research Articles

Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen-based mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It is the world's most widely used operating system due to it being used on most smartphones and tablets outside of iPhones and iPads, which use Apple's iOS and iPadOS, respectively. As of October 2024, Android accounts for 45% of the global operating system market, followed by Windows with 26%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nexus One</span> 2010 Android smartphone by HTC

The Nexus One is an Android smartphone designed and manufactured by HTC as Google's first Nexus smartphone. The Nexus became available on January 5, 2010, and features the ability to transcribe voice to text, an additional microphone for dynamic noise suppression, and voice guided turn-by-turn navigation to drivers.

Rooting is the process by which users of Android devices can attain privileged control over various subsystems of the device, usually smartphones and tablets. Because Android is based on a modified version of the Linux kernel, rooting an Android device gives similar access to administrative (superuser) permissions as on Linux or any other Unix-like operating system such as FreeBSD or macOS.

Google Nexus is a discontinued line of consumer electronic mobile devices that ran a stock version of the Android operating system. Google managed the design, development, marketing, and support of these devices, but some development and all manufacturing were carried out by partnering with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Alongside the main smartphone products, the line also included tablet computers and streaming media players; the Nexus started out in January 2010 and reached its end in October 2016, replaced by Google Pixel family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Android Honeycomb</span> Third version of the Android operating system

Android Honeycomb is the codename for the third major version of Android, designed for devices with larger screen sizes, particularly tablets, however has been unofficially ported to the Nexus One. It is the eighth version of Android and is no longer supported. Honeycomb debuted with the Motorola Xoom in February 2011. Besides the addition of new features, Honeycomb introduced a new so-called "holographic" user interface theme and an interaction model that built on the main features of Android, such as multitasking, notifications and widgets.

The version history of the Android mobile operating system began with the public release of its first beta on November 5, 2007. The first commercial version, Android 1.0, was released on September 23, 2008. The operating system has been developed by Google on a yearly schedule since at least 2011. New major releases are announced at Google I/O in May along with beta testing with the stable version usually released to the public between August and October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galaxy Nexus</span> Smartphone designed by Google and Samsung

The Galaxy Nexus (GT-I9250) is a touchscreen Android smartphone co-developed by Google and Samsung Electronics. It is the third smartphone in the Google Nexus series, a family of Android consumer devices built by an original equipment manufacturer partner. The phone is the successor to Google's previous flagship phones, the Nexus One and Nexus S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nexus Q</span> Spherical digital media player from Google

Nexus Q is a digital media player developed by Google. Unveiled at the Google I/O developers' conference on June 27, 2012, the device was expected to be released to the public in the United States shortly thereafter for US$300. The Nexus Q was designed to leverage Google's online media offerings, such as Google Play Music, Google Play Movies & TV, and YouTube, to provide a "shared" experience. Users could stream content from the supported services to a connected television, or speakers connected to an integrated amplifier, using their Android device and the services' respective apps as a remote control for queueing content and controlling playback.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Android Jelly Bean</span> Tenth version of the Android operating system

Android Jelly Bean is the codename given to the tenth version of the Android mobile operating system developed by Google, spanning three major point releases. Among the devices that launched with Android 4.1 to 4.3 are the Nexus 7 (2012), Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Nexus 7 (2013), and Hyundai Play X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nexus 7 (2013)</span> Tablet by Google

The second-generation Nexus 7, also commonly referred to as the Nexus 7 (2013), is a mini tablet computer co-developed by Google and Asus that runs the Android operating system. It is the second of three tablets in the Google Nexus tablet series, the Nexus family including both phones and tablets running essentially stock Android which were originally marketed for developer testing but later marketed by Google to consumers as well, all of which were built by various original equipment manufacturer partners. Following the success of the original Nexus 7, this second generation of the device was released on July 26, 2013, four days earlier than the originally scheduled date due to early releases from various retailers. The tablet was the first device to ship with Android 4.3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Android KitKat</span> Eleventh version of the Android operating system

Android KitKat is the codename for the eleventh Android mobile operating system, representing release version 4.4. Unveiled on September 3, 2013, KitKat focused primarily on optimizing the operating system for improved performance on entry-level devices with limited resources. As of October 2022, 1.39% of Android devices run KitKat. On July 24, 2023, Google announced that Google Play Services would no longer support KitKat in August of that year. The first phone with Android KitKat was the Nexus 5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nexus 5</span> Android smartphone by Google

Nexus 5 is an Android smartphone sold by Google and manufactured by LG Electronics. It is the fifth generation of the Nexus series, succeeding the Nexus 4. It was unveiled on October 31, 2013 and served as the launch device for Android 4.4 "KitKat", which introduced a refreshed interface, performance improvements, greater Google Now integration, and other changes. Much of the hardware is similar to the LG G2 which was also made by LG and released earlier that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AOKP</span> Mobile operating system

AOKP, short for Android Open Kang Project, is an open-source replacement distribution for smartphones and tablet computers based on the Android mobile operating system. The name is a play on the word kang and AOSP. The name was a joke, but it stuck. It was started as free and open-source software by Roman Birg based on the official releases of Android Open Source Project by Google, with added original and third-party code, features, and control.

Flat design is a minimalist design language or design style commonly used in graphical user interfaces (GUI), and also in graphical materials such as posters, arts, guide documents and publishing products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Android Lollipop</span> Fifth major version of the Android operating system

Android Lollipop is the fifth major version of the Android mobile operating system developed by Google and the 12th version of Android, spanning versions between 5.0 and 5.1.1.

Android Marshmallow is the sixth major version of the Android operating system developed by Google, being the successor to Android Lollipop. It was announced at Google I/O on May 28, 2015, and released the same day as a beta, before being officially released on September 29, 2015. It was succeeded by Android Nougat on August 22, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Android Nougat</span> Seventh major version of the Android operating system

Android Nougat is the seventh major version and 14th original version of the Android operating system. First released as an alpha test version on March 9, 2016, it was officially released on August 22, 2016, with Nexus devices being the first to receive the update.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Android Oreo</span> Eighth major version of the Android mobile operating system

Android Oreo is the eighth major release and the 15th version of the Android mobile operating system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Android Pie</span> Ninth major version of the Android mobile operating system

Android Pie, also known as Android 9 is the ninth major release and the 16th version of the Android mobile operating system. It was first released as a developer preview on March 7, 2018, and was released publicly on August 6, 2018.

References

  1. ↑ "Android Source". Google Git. June 6, 2012. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Google is ending Play Service support for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich". 7 December 2018. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "Dashboards | Android Developers". developer.android.com. Archived from the original on 2018-01-10. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
  4. ↑ "Tasty Ice Cream Sandwich details drip out of redacted screenshots". Ars Technica. 11 August 2011. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Google announces Android Ice Cream Sandwich will merge phone and tablet OSes". Ars Technica. 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Leaked specs for beastly Google Nexus 4G may win carriers' hearts". Ars Technica. 15 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Android Ice Cream Sandwich event moved to October 19 in Hong Kong". Ars Technica. 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  8. 1 2 Meyer, David (19 October 2011). "Google unveils Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Exclusive: Matias Duarte on the philosophy of Android, and an in-depth look at Ice Cream Sandwich". The Verge. Vox Media. 18 October 2011. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Google launches style guide for Android developers". Ars Technica. 13 January 2012. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "Android 4.0.3 Platform and Updated SDK tools" Archived 2014-07-19 at the Wayback Machine . Android Developers Blog. December 16, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Nexus S Ice Cream Sandwich update pushed back". TechRadar. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  13. ↑ "Samsung Nexus S updates to Ice Cream Sandwich starting today". CNET. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  14. ↑ "Google announces Android 4.0.4". The Inquirer . March 29, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Google Play services drops support for Android Ice Cream Sandwich". VentureBeat. 2018-12-07. Archived from the original on 2018-12-07. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Amadeo, Ron (16 June 2014). "The history of Android: The endless iterations of Google's mobile OS". Ars Technica . Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  17. ↑ "Google requiring default 'Holo' theme in Android 4.0 devices for Android Market access". The Verge. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  18. ↑ "Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich SDK released with new features for developers". The Verge. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  19. ↑ "Say Goodbye to the Menu Button". Android developers blog. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  20. ↑ "Android menu button now on by default on all device with KitKat". PhoneArena.com. December 9, 2013. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich complete guide". SlashGear. 20 October 2011. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  22. 1 2 3 4 "Ice Cream Sandwich". Android developers portal. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  23. 1 2 3 "Unwrapping a new Ice Cream Sandwich: Android 4.0 reviewed". Ars Technica. 19 December 2011. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  24. 1 2 "Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich review". Engadget. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  25. ↑ "Google Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"". PC Magazine. Archived from the original on 21 February 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.