is 2.1 lame?

[baka]

just wondering if anyone else thinks the ota to 2.1 is lame? other than the gallery, i cant find any of these other cool things that were supposed to be there. i still have only 3 home screens, no revised app launcher, no thumbnail navigation on homescreen, no live wallpapers, etc. other than the news and weather app/widget, i cant tell what has changed.

am i being a noob or does this update seem totally lame? i cant even figure out whats new. still feels like the same old 2.01 droid to me.

 

[adrianvfx]

you do have Live wallpapers.

Hit the physical menu button and click live wallpapers



and I really like the update. Everything is running much more smoothly for me.

 

[Gunner]

Get Helix Launcher for extra screens / thumbnail view. Browser has pinch/zoom now.

My Droid is generally smoother / snappier now. That's probably the biggest thing 2.1 has given us. But yeah....2.1 is mostly underwhelming on the surface.

 

[nelcatjar]

Just got my update this morning. I don't see what the big deal is. There are not any great new features, at least I'm not going to use them.

There was such a big deal made out of this update, I don't see why. Very anti-climantic.

 

[mrjam3s]

Not lame for me...I like the new gallery, pinch/zoom, live wallpapers, news/weather widget...

Just got the update and that's what I've noticed so far.

 

[Haelous]

The improved battery life is a huge deal, at least to me.

 

[jdk2]

The improved battery life is a huge deal, at least to me.

+1. Not an extreme improvement but much better none the less.

 

[skunkpbguy]

For what we paid for the update, we've earned what we got.

 

[AndroidsOfTara]

Except for a possible issue with 2D graphics performance, the 2.1 update for the Droid is most certainly not lame.

In addition to live wallpapers (which I don't use except to demonstrate the phone), vastly improved gallery, slightly improved music app, news & weather widget / app, pinch-zoom you get...

* improved battery life
* faster overall performance
* vastly improved web browsing experience (2.0 was decent, 2.01 a regression and 2.1 is excellent)
* the foundation for future Flash support

Really, what more do you want in a relatively minor update? I think some people just like to complain.

 

[sooper_droid12]

- 2D app issue is a pretty big deal to me. Definitely cutting frames.
- GMail push notification not jiving with Task Killers; not exactly sure which process it's affecting.

On the other hand:
- Increased performance over most processes, including 3D elements.
- Pinch to Zoom across several native apps (though not on keyboard)

Battery life hasn't changed for me. It's about the same. Is it lame? No. But it's not the "next coming" either. It is what it is. What I like though is that the phone is up to date with the latest Android. I'm not even using the Live Wallpaper because they just aren't that cool to have on the screen. I don't understand the point.

By the way, did anyone find Google Earth embedded in the apps but not installed? I had to unpack it. I couldn't find it on the market.

 

[Jim Dawson]

-...By the way, did anyone find Google Earth embedded in the apps but not installed? I had to unpack it. I couldn't find it on the market.

I already had Google Earth installed and it wasn't affected by the 2.1 update, still works OK. No reinstallation required here.

 

[sooper_droid12]

I did too. But when I checked my Astro app manager, I had TWO Google earths. One was the apk I downloaded (which was googleearth.apk) and the other was com.google.somethinggoogleearth.apk.

 

[baka]

well... thanks all. you've definitely helped reduce the lameness. and yes, i suppose it sounds like i was complaining, but i think it was more like i just couldnt figure out the changes and didnt have time to play with the phone much.

now that i see the changes and have accessed them, it is much better. i havent noticed a performance increase yet tho. still have the same issues with apps hanging briefly (handcent mainly). pinch to zoom rocks tho. so if helix was supposed to be in the update, why is it a 3rd party app? just curious.

anyways, thanks for the comments. very helpful.

 

[teschoen]

I can take or leave 2.1 to be honest. The only thing I wanted was more desktop screens. Helix did me one better. LOVE helix.

 

[slick_old]

The browser is a gazillion times better than it was on 2.0.1, the gallery is awesome, live wallpapers work, 2.1 is faster/smoother, yahoo email works without having to rig anything, the music player is a little better.

When you consider the fact that a very stable helix launcher (I haven't had one FC) can be had from the market with up to 7 homescreens, the only difference between our version of 2.1 and the Nexus' is the 3D app drawer.

 

[slick_old]

well... thanks all. you've definitely helped reduce the lameness. and yes, i suppose it sounds like i was complaining, but i think it was more like i just couldnt figure out the changes and didnt have time to play with the phone much.

now that i see the changes and have accessed them, it is much better. i havent noticed a performance increase yet tho. still have the same issues with apps hanging briefly (handcent mainly). pinch to zoom rocks tho. so if helix was supposed to be in the update, why is it a 3rd party app? just curious.

anyways, thanks for the comments. very helpful.

What issues are you having with apps. I must have lucked up and gotten the most perfect Droid ever because my phone is just as smooth as my friend's iphone...and he's not multitasking.

But then again, I did a full wipe before installing 2.1.

 

[Lock-N-Load]

only cool part I like is the Gallery.. the rest, a bit lack-luster as I see/feel it

still have to use Launcher+ to get extra screens

 

[RandolphNY]

Being somewhat of a new droider, I received mine this morning and really don't see what all the hype was about. Also, I was looking forward to google earth and I can not find it on the market. Not complaining, but I really hope to see some type of flash or to see Netflix offer something similiar to the cbs or nbc gadgets.

 

[sooper_droid12]

Check to see if you have Google Earth apk already in your phone. It just needs to be unpacked.

 

[baka]

What issues are you having with apps. I must have lucked up and gotten the most perfect Droid ever because my phone is just as smooth as my friend's iphone...and he's not multitasking.

But then again, I did a full wipe before installing 2.1.

usually just hanging with handcent and maps.

 

[RandolphNY]

I don't see anything...where would I look to "unpack"?

 

[gotwillk]

the new gallery is actually crap. sure it looks nice and has nice 3d effects and some new features, but its broken the most important thing: viewing pictures. when you zoom into a picture, it becomes incredibly pixelated and blurry. even when fully zoomed out the picture quality is still not what it was compared to 2.0.1. you can actually compare picture quality right now by viewing a picture in the 2.1 gallery and then going into camera mode and then viewing the same picture from the gallery there. you can visibly tell the difference.

however, this is only for viewing pics on the phone. the picture itself is not low quality. its how the gallery renders the picture when zoomed in that is the problem.

 

[slick_old]

usually just hanging with handcent and maps.

Yeah, I used to have problems with handcent as well before I uninstalled (still a GREAT program). I think this is an issue with the app more so than with the phone itself.

I hardly ever use maps so I may not be the best judge, but I can never really remember having problems with it.

Personally, I'm amazed that I can have all of these apps, widgets, LWP (when I want to show off) AND be multitasking and have a phone that seems to run just as smooth as an iphone (which doesn't multitask). However, I have seen many threads/posts of people on their 3rd and 4th Droid so maybe quality control IS an issue and I just got lucky (for now, at least).

 

[slick_old]

the new gallery is actually crap. sure it looks nice and has nice 3d effects and some new features, but its broken the most important thing: viewing pictures. when you zoom into a picture, it becomes incredibly pixelated and blurry. even when fully zoomed out the picture quality is still not what it was compared to 2.0.1. you can actually compare picture quality right now by viewing a picture in the 2.1 gallery and then going into camera mode and then viewing the same picture from the gallery there. you can visibly tell the difference.

however, this is only for viewing pics on the phone. the picture itself is not low quality. its how the gallery renders the picture when zoomed in that is the problem.

I don't have this problem on my phone at all. I just checked to confirm. I went into the gallery and looked at some pics I took Saturday night and I made sure to do a double-tap zoom and a pinch zoom. Then, I went into the camera app and looked at the same picures. They look exactly the same to me.

I also looked at some picures that I downloaded from the web and the pictures look absolutely gorgeous, even zoomed in.

Truly, the gallery and the much-improved browser (no lag, smooth p2z, perfect anti-aliasing) are my two favorite features of the 2.1 update (even though I had them weeks before the update came as a result of being rooted).

 

[twjonesjr]

what ultimately led to the decision to not allow more home screens and 3D app drawer for this update?

I know it was always rumored that those two features might be included but what held it up that they weren't included?