My take on GB update

[Deleted User]

This is my take on the GB update 4 days on, for what its worth:-

UK sim free phone, update was very smooth with no problems.

1) Screen is brighter and more vibrant and auto brightness seems to be smoother.

2) Speaker, media playback does seem to be a little louder but dont get too excited.

3) Process smoother and faster, noticeable on deleting a batch of messages from various senders.

4) Video playback (embedded video on the BBC news page) smoother.

5) I like the little extras like the improved notifications, sound effects on the weather widget and the scrolling changes on the app screen.

6) If set, the phone always switched to mobile data from WiFi and back again if the signal dropped. This does now seem to be a bit too sensitive and if the WiFi drops to one bar it will change to mobile data and then back again very quickly which can cause connection problems. I would not say this is a big issue for me but there are corners of my kitchen for example where it keeps going backwards and forwards and I therefore loose my connection.

7) Cut and paste improved.

8) No problems loosing any apps etc but for some reason did loose some of my album art in the music player. Fortunately I have one of the album art apps that was able to replace it.

9) Jury is still out on the battery life. I am average user with live wallpaper and sync one a day. (Using the Pulse news reader from the Market by the way which I think is the best yet). I am averaging about 16 hours which in practice means it goes on charge every night when I go to bed. Thats seems ok to me for a smart phone of this level. People at work with Iphones bring their chargers with them, I have never had to do that.

Hope this is of use, will be good to compare the experience of other updates.

 

[El Presidente]

I'd pretty much agree with everything you've said. I've yet to really notice the WiFi issue though.

I've also noticed the volume appears to reset itself randomly. I set the volume down pretty low when I'm at work, but on occasion, I'll get a text message and the notification will be at full volume.

Also, the APN toggle on Extended Widgets now takes me to the Mobile Internet settings, rather than turning it on or off. I know this is sort of negated by the shortcut in the notifications bar, but I've got an APN toggle on my lock screen which is now pointless and I can't get at the notifications bar without unlocking the phone.

 

[goalc]

I just upgraded this morning.

In addition to the comments above, I would add that when you go into the menu, the list of apps now scrolls down a block at a time, which personally I dont' like. It also seems very laggy when doing this, it certainly is not as smooth as before.

The update process was easy, it took about 10 minutes and I didnt lose any apps or data (well nothing that I have seen so far!).

The speaker on mine is definitely louder - before it was useless, but now I can actually hear it

With regards to the sound on the weather widget... i cant hear anything... is there anything I need to do to get this to work?

The main thing for me is battery life, as before I would struggle to get through a day, and I am by no means a heavy user (I use my work blackberry for most of my calls in the day, so just the DHD for about 20 texts a day, a bit of web surfing at lunchtime, and checking emails a couple fo times a day - my batter would be about 25% by 5pm !), so it will be interesting to see what happens and hopefully how things improve.

So far the wifi seems ok, but as I am sitting only a few metres away from the router I would hope it was Again, this is something I will keep a check on to see if I get the problems that others have reported.

So far though its looking good, if I can just get rid of the lag issues it will be great.....

oh, and I downloaded the new gingerbread keyboard - LOVE IT !! So much more accurate and nice to use than the old standard one.

 

[Deleted User]

I just upgraded this morning.

In addition to the comments above, I would add that when you go into the menu, the list of apps now scrolls down a block at a time, which personally I dont' like. It also seems very laggy when doing this, it certainly is not as smooth as before.

The update process was easy, it took about 10 minutes and I didnt lose any apps or data (well nothing that I have seen so far!).

The speaker on mine is definitely louder - before it was useless, but now I can actually hear it

With regards to the sound on the weather widget... i cant hear anything... is there anything I need to do to get this to work?

The main thing for me is battery life, as before I would struggle to get through a day, and I am by no means a heavy user (I use my work blackberry for most of my calls in the day, so just the DHD for about 20 texts a day, a bit of web surfing at lunchtime, and checking emails a couple fo times a day - my batter would be about 25% by 5pm !), so it will be interesting to see what happens and hopefully how things improve.

So far the wifi seems ok, but as I am sitting only a few metres away from the router I would hope it was Again, this is something I will keep a check on to see if I get the problems that others have reported.

So far though its looking good, if I can just get rid of the lag issues it will be great.....

oh, and I downloaded the new gingerbread keyboard - LOVE IT !! So much more accurate and nice to use than the old standard one.

I am the opposites I prefer the new scrolling in apps. Go into weather widget settings and turn on sound, only works with rain or cloud I have noticed. Is it worth getting the other key board I thought the HTC one had bigger keys

 

[El Presidente]

Is it worth getting the other key board I thought the HTC one had bigger keys

I tried the Gingerbread KB earlier today. I got annoyed by the fact there's no comma key in plain view (you have to hold down the fullstop key and swipe to the comma). I'm adverse to change for the sake of it so I've just gone back to HTC's KB.

There's no harm in giving it a whirl.

 

[dvhttn]

I am the opposites I prefer the new scrolling in apps. ...

Me too. I know that one swipe will only show the next screen-full and I won't miss any scrolling past.

Dave

 

[Xyro]

I tried the Gingerbread KB earlier today. I got annoyed by the fact there's no comma key in plain view (you have to hold down the fullstop key and swipe to the comma). I'm adverse to change for the sake of it so I've just gone back to HTC's KB.

There's no harm in giving it a whirl.

That bugged me too. But if you play about with the settings and hide the settings/microphone keys, then the comma key will appear to the left of the space bar.

EDIT: I just tried it on my phone and can't figure out which option I changed to get the comma visible (it stays there even if I turn the settings button off), but it's definitely possible.

 

[goalc]

I am the opposites I prefer the new scrolling in apps. Go into weather widget settings and turn on sound, only works with rain or cloud I have noticed. Is it worth getting the other key board I thought the HTC one had bigger keys

ah, thanks for that, I just spotted it. Its a pity there's no sound effect for sun, I was hoping to hear the sound of burning skin

re the keyboard, I dont like the 'look' of it that much, but for me i find it much more accurate to type on, and hence i can do message much quicker and with less bizarre spelling mistakes. The only issue is that its difficult to get to the comma key, but as Xyro posted above there is a way to change it.

 

[El Presidente]

I quite like the bizarre spelling mistakes. I found it pretty hard to get the word menstruate into conversations with my friends before I got the DHD.

 

[dijon]

That bugged me too. But if you play about with the settings and hide the settings/microphone keys, then the comma key will appear to the left of the space bar.

EDIT: I just tried it on my phone and can't figure out which option I changed to get the comma visible (it stays there even if I turn the settings button off), but it's definitely possible.

To put the comma on the main keyboard:

Gingerbread settings, Voice Input option, Choose 'Mic on symbols keyboard'

 

[qwerty100]

I've now suffered 2 reboots since the update.

Following the update I did a reset to factory defaults, and formatted by SD removable card (The update process rendered it unreadable!!)

Both reboots have been when at the home screen, but actively trying to launch another app or settings from the menu. The phone locks up, and then 20 odd seconds later reboots, but then HTC sense fails to load correctly, ie I have the power widgets on home screen, and these never get the icons in.

I then get the report crash to HTC option, but when I click on Accept terms box, i loops back to the report crash option. So i never managed to actually report the crash.

The lock/power btuton works to unlock, but will not register a long press to turn device off (or possibly turn off menu fails to display)

Battery had to be removed.



I've also had poor Wifi performance, and once you see WiFi lost notification it wont connect back to Wifi until its cleared.


Battery is similar to before, if not a tiny bit better..., but difficult to quantify.


I like being able to change the number used from the recently used "phone" screen by swiping left and right, though i cant remember if this was there before the update??


(Sim Free Desire HD, running 2.36.405.8)

 

[Panter]

This is my take on the GB update 4 days on, for what its worth:-

UK sim free phone, update was very smooth with no problems.

1) Screen is brighter and more vibrant and auto brightness seems to be smoother.

2) Speaker, media playback does seem to be a little louder but dont get too excited.

3) Process smoother and faster, noticeable on deleting a batch of messages from various senders.

4) Video playback (embedded video on the BBC news page) smoother.

5) I like the little extras like the improved notifications, sound effects on the weather widget and the scrolling changes on the app screen.

6) If set, the phone always switched to mobile data from WiFi and back again if the signal dropped. This does now seem to be a bit too sensitive and if the WiFi drops to one bar it will change to mobile data and then back again very quickly which can cause connection problems. I would not say this is a big issue for me but there are corners of my kitchen for example where it keeps going backwards and forwards and I therefore loose my connection.

7) Cut and paste improved.

8) No problems loosing any apps etc but for some reason did loose some of my album art in the music player. Fortunately I have one of the album art apps that was able to replace it.

9) Jury is still out on the battery life. I am average user with live wallpaper and sync one a day. (Using the Pulse news reader from the Market by the way which I think is the best yet). I am averaging about 16 hours which in practice means it goes on charge every night when I go to bed. Thats seems ok to me for a smart phone of this level. People at work with Iphones bring their chargers with them, I have never had to do that.

Hope this is of use, will be good to compare the experience of other updates.

Agree with all this, except my wifi is actually improved.
It could be slow to pick up on wifi on froyo and run on the mobile network for a while but it seems to snap to wifi every time now.

There's not many changes that I've noticed, it just seems more polished than before and the annoying text notification that had to be manually cleared after reading a text clears itself now

I do like the Sense tweaks, my Wifes Nexus S has obviously been running GB since day one but the update on the HD seems to be more functional, just little modifications that improve it.

It took a while, but htc have pulled it out of the bag now IMO

 

[Deleted User]

ah, thanks for that, I just spotted it. Its a pity there's no sound effect for sun, I was hoping to hear the sound of burning skin

re the keyboard, I dont like the 'look' of it that much, but for me i find it much more accurate to type on, and hence i can do message much quicker and with less bizarre spelling mistakes. The only issue is that its difficult to get to the comma key, but as Xyro posted above there is a way to change it.

A scream you mean