First thoughts on ICS for 7 Plus

[quadtronix]

Hey all... Was just wondering if you all have any first impressions of the ICS update that was recently released for the SGT 7.0 Plus that you would like to share. So far I'm loving it. Installed it Monday morning and have been playing around with it since. Still have about 60% battery charge left... I really think the battery life has improved by alot though cause I've been browsing on wifi, watching some video and reading ebooks and normally I doubt I'd still have 60% charge left at this point.

Other thoughts: The interface is smoother, settings panel at the bottom right corner looks better and works differently in terms of notifications, can now swipe off to close apps in the recent apps panel popup menu, new wallpapers, new widgets (I like the new bookmarks widget which displays way more bookmarks at one time), re-sizable widgets, cool animations and transitions on home screens and in app drawer and lots of other improvements including (most importantly) over all speed and fluidity!

I like the touchwiz interface alot too! I said it... I had to redo all my homescreens but I don't mind. It's just like starting fresh... and I really like the news widget and weather widget and everything else that they put there on the main homescreen by default. I left that screen as is and always check in with the news and weather when I wake up the Tab.

All my installed apps were still there. I use evernote, nook, kindle, shadowgun, Firefox Beta and some others.

Generally I'm very pleased with this update and highly recommend ICS for the Tab 7.0 Plus. Any opinions, thoughts, benchmarks, screenshots or anything? Questions if you haven't updated yet or if you have? Apps to recommend? Thanks in advance.

 

[wtherrell]

Using Launcher PRO. Lets you back up your screens and re-size widgets. Currently 7 home screens. Everything seems smoother with ICS. Only one complaint so far: Folders. The ugly "Folder" icon that appears when you create a folder. In ICS on my Galaxy Nexus the icon that appears is that of one of the apps you drag into the folder. Can't remember whether it's the first one you drag in or the last one, or the one you drag onto first. At any rate it ends up looking a lot better than all those dreadful manilla folder icons all over the screen. Any way to change that? Also, in my GNex version you create folders just by dragging an app icon onto another app's icon.

 

[Steve B.]

It is snappier and noticeably so.

My big reason for wanting it was to get Chrome. I use that browser on my work and home laptops and wanted the sync'd bookmarks (it also shows you the browsing history of the other devices, which is a great feature) As well, I had been using Dolphin which was getting incredibly and painfully slow in getting pages loaded. Chrome is a huge improvement. Only thing is, I liked the access to Bookmarks that Dolphin had and find Chrome clunky and very much an early version with fewer refinements. As well the Settings section of Chrome crashes the browser, it's a known issue that Google is supposed to have a fix for in September.

Other then that, ICS is slick. Battery life is the same, about 12 hrs with WiFi enabled and moderate usage. And I can do a complete device backup in Kies, which is useful.

 

[daenas]

After I installed, I was having issues so I factory reset in the software. Had to reinstall everything and still had issues w/ wi-fi where I had none w/ Honeycomb. Then I just "forget" my router and re-choose it and that worked. It's much smoother and faster all way around. Cool feature: facial recognition security! Touchwiz is much better as well, but we lose so much space due to the small pages, but we can add as many pages as needed. Overall, I like it now so far.

 

[quadtronix]

Using Launcher PRO. Lets you back up your screens and re-size widgets. Currently 7 home screens. Everything seems smoother with ICS. Only one complaint so far: Folders. The ugly "Folder" icon that appears when you create a folder. In ICS on my Galaxy Nexus the icon that appears is that of one of the apps you drag into the folder. Can't remember whether it's the first one you drag in or the last one, or the one you drag onto first. At any rate it ends up looking a lot better than all those dreadful manilla folder icons all over the screen. Any way to change that? Also, in my GNex version you create folders just by dragging an app icon onto another app's icon.

I didn't try folders yet but I heard that it doesn't work to just drag one app onto another in touchwiz ics. That is a disappointment... I dont know if you can change folder icons but there should be a way.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[quadtronix]

It is snappier and noticeably so.

My big reason for wanting it was to get Chrome. I use that browser on my work and home laptops and wanted the sync'd bookmarks (it also shows you the browsing history of the other devices, which is a great feature) As well, I had been using Dolphin which was getting incredibly and painfully slow in getting pages loaded. Chrome is a huge improvement. Only thing is, I liked the access to Bookmarks that Dolphin had and find Chrome clunky and very much an early version with fewer refinements. As well the Settings section of Chrome crashes the browser, it's a known issue that Google is supposed to have a fix for in September.

Other then that, ICS is slick. Battery life is the same, about 12 hrs with WiFi enabled and moderate usage. And I can do a complete device backup in Kies, which is useful.

Do you turn off wifi when not in use? I do... and get much better battery life that way.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[quadtronix]

After I installed, I was having issues so I factory reset in the software. Had to reinstall everything and still had issues w/ wi-fi where I had none w/ Honeycomb. Then I just "forget" my router and re-choose it and that worked. It's much smoother and faster all way around. Cool feature: facial recognition security! Touchwiz is much better as well, but we lose so much space due to the small pages, but we can add as many pages as needed. Overall, I like it now so far.

Sorry to hear u had a rough start at first... but glad you are now enjoying ics. The smoothness is really noticeable too, IMO... Im glad to hear Im not the only one to notice it.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[daenas]

Really is an improvement over HC, but then again, since this is Samsung's version of ICS they may have improved things themselves. But, my wi-fi is still having issues and was driving me bonkers! I did change the channel on my router to a static channel rather than "auto" and that seemed to have helped..so far.

 

[daenas]

I'm still having issues...sigh I find lots of info about ICS and various phones that are having wi-fi issues but nothing on the tablet.

 

[quadtronix]

I get a weak signal every now and then on my Tab... Droid Bionic gets better wifi streagnth from same location so the Tab may have a weaker radio but ussually works ok for me. Have u tried it closer to the router? Also could be if you have a case on the tab? Sorry to hear that you're having problems though. Let us know if u fix it. Good luck.

 

[daenas]

I'm sitting next to my router and it still disconnect. I've reset my device, gosh, at least 5 times-on the plus side I'm getting really good at it! I've changed my router settings, and rebooted so many times I've lost count, and it's a brand new router too btw. I post on the FB help page and they just told me how to reset it but gave me the wrong info as it was for a different tablet not the gt-p6210 as I had mentioned 3 times in my post. LOL I'm getting ready to sell 6 month old gt-p6210 and get something else.

 

[funpig]

Could the brand new router be the problem? Go to starbucks or mcdondalds or a friend's house with wifi to test out. I have seen some wifi complaints even before ICS and it may be because Android can be finicky with certain routers.

I am still on Honeycomb and have not been prompted to upgrade. My tab wifi works great and would be reluctant to upgrade if this turns out to be a problem. I had similar problem when I upgraded my phone from 2.1 to 2.3 (subsequently fixed by LG) and it caused a lot of grief.

 

[daenas]

I got my router months ago while on Honeycomb. I meant new as in still fairly new, not out of the box yesterday new. Everything else, printer and netbook, have no issues with the router.

 

[chanchan05]

Using Launcher PRO. Lets you back up your screens and re-size widgets. Currently 7 home screens. Everything seems smoother with ICS. Only one complaint so far: Folders. The ugly "Folder" icon that appears when you create a folder. In ICS on my Galaxy Nexus the icon that appears is that of one of the apps you drag into the folder. Can't remember whether it's the first one you drag in or the last one, or the one you drag onto first. At any rate it ends up looking a lot better than all those dreadful manilla folder icons all over the screen. Any way to change that? Also, in my GNex version you create folders just by dragging an app icon onto another app's icon.

Those folder icons look like those because you are using Launcher Pro. The folder icons per launcher is different, and Launcher Pro has not been updated in like two years. Changing the appearance of folders is also a Launcher dependent feature, so basically, use a folder app like Folder Organizer, or ditch Launcher Pro.

 

[abdomagdy]

hey there
I have a question. Up until now, samsung didnt release the ics upgrade for SGT 7 plus here in Egypt, and um dying to get it
So, would you suggest that I wait until samsung releases it, or it is safe to get it from the internet and install it manually
Thanks you

 

[daenas]

didn't see your response.. Wifi works at Starbucks, but as I was told by Samsung rep on the phone, it's because it's an open wifi, not password protected like my router at home. BUT still shouldn't make a difference as all was fine w/ Honeycomb-not one wifi drop until I got the ICS update then all hell broke loose.

 

[quadtronix]

didn't see your response.. Wifi works at Starbucks, but as I was told by Samsung rep on the phone, it's because it's an open wifi, not password protected like my router at home. BUT still shouldn't make a difference as all was fine w/ Honeycomb-not one wifi drop until I got the ICS update then all hell broke loose.

I had a very minor issue with wifi. Dont know if its the same as what your problem is but anyway.... what I had to do was make the tab "forget" the other hotspots that it was defaulting to so that my hotspot was now the default. Fixed everything. Let me know if that helped...

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[quadtronix]

PS. I dont know why but it just started defaulting to someone else's wifi. Then it would switch back and forth. Once I "forgot" their wifi and tapped "remember" for mine all was well with the world.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[daenas]

I know what you're saying, I've had that done while on Honeycomb. I just made sure that I didn't "remember" anyone elses wifi. But, this isn't the problem with ICS. I can't even get it to stay connected period to my wifi.

 

[j_jm]

Help~ how to go back to the existing version Android OS, v3.2 (Honeycomb) from ICS 4.0.4 (asia version)
Problem with the ICS 4.0.4.
samsung tab 7 plus

 

[wtherrell]

Those folder icons look like those because you are using Launcher Pro. The folder icons per launcher is different, and Launcher Pro has not been updated in like two years. Changing the appearance of folders is also a Launcher dependent feature, so basically, use a folder app like Folder Organizer, or ditch Launcher Pro.

Thanks! I'm ditching Launcher Pro in favor of Go Launcher. Much better. Nicer icons, I like the UI better now, and does allow drag and drop into folders. Thanks for the info.

 

[altab4u]

I got my router months ago while on Honeycomb. I meant new as in still fairly new, not out of the box yesterday new. Everything else, printer and netbook, have no issues with the router.

You may want to try manual proxy settings (TCP) in your wifi settings. I was having the same problems as you. The automatic IP address conflicted with other pc's so I tried manually assigning an IP address and have not had connection issues since.

 

[daenas]

You may want to try manual proxy settings (TCP) in your wifi settings. I was having the same problems as you. The automatic IP address conflicted with other pc's so I tried manually assigning an IP address and have not had connection issues since.

How do I do this?