Tips
Manual Froyo update available, plus initial impressions
May 23, 2010 | by Ed Clark
Android Hacks, Android OS, Featured post, Google, HTC-Nexus One, T-Mobile, Tips
If you are sitting around wishing that your T-Mobile Nexus One had the latest Froyo update, you have a new option: update it yourself. Android Police has all the details on where to get the update and how to install it. (And yes, there is already a rooted version available as well.) I installed it myself last night with no problems. If you have never flashed a new image before, just follow the directions as written (i.e., don’t push any buttons without reading that you should) and wait patiently for your phone to get through the entire process.
Quick Impressions – The Positive
My phone is noticeably faster after the update. Everything loads much more quickly, and shifting between apps is super snappy. As many others have pointed out, even web browsing is much faster (with one caveat–see my negatives below). The slight tweaks to the UI are no big deal, but appreciated. I like the fact that you can now get to the phone and the browser without creating a desktop shortcut.
I was surprised to find the tethering option intact in the phone’s settings (Settings–>Wireless & Nework Settings–>Tethering & portable hotspot). It’s a bold move by T-Mobile if they keep it in their OTA release. There are many more new settings as well, including the tantalizing “On SD card” tab in the Manage applications menu (plus the apparently still not functional “Move to SD card” option).
I really love the new update settings in the Market app. First, an “Update all” button in the “Downloads” tab. Nice. Next, if you want to be a bit more cautious, an “Allow automatic updating” check box for each individual app. Awesome! Apparently those Google folks do listen to user feedback after all.
What else? Too early to tell, but my Nexus One feels like a brand new machine again. If only I could get those larger apps on my SD card…
Impressions – The Negative
There was one disappointment for me that my iPhone friends predicted long ago. I immediately went to the Flash website last night to install the Flash 10.1 player and then tried it out. The standard browser, which had suddenly become turbocharged after the update, now took extra time on each site to load up flash ads. Fortunately, you can change the browser settings on the “Enable plug-ins” menu from “Always on” to “On demand“. In this mode, the browser works like a computer with Chrome or Firefox running the Flashblock plugin. You can see where the ads are and enable them by clicking an icon in the blank space.
But going to Hulu was a waste of time. The site took forever to load, and videos weren’t viewable (message: “Your platform is not supported”). Videos I could load from other sites were a bit choppy. Ah well. Maybe some optimization will take place, but for the most part I wasn’t that excited about Flash. Yes, iPhone fans, you may have been right about this one.
Conclusion
Froyo is an amazing update for your Nexus One. The new abilities that Android 2.2 gives are astonishing to me. Think about it–a “450% performance increase” with a 10 minute update? Tethering? Flash? (OK, yes, I don’t like it that much, but I CAN enable it.) Every now and then I wonder if there is a good reason to root my Nexus One, but Google is staying one step ahead of me for now. My only concern is that I will need that SD card functionality soon.
nice! but i am still waiting for the Milestone ROM My recent post ???
Hey ed I’ve been messing around with my phone all night and I agree with u fully, but Don’t forget that adobe said that in the beta the accelerometers or something like that wasn’t enable. If I find the article I will post the link for you. But question for you; have u found out how to change the colors on the trackball. And do u think tmo will send try to send us the update. My first time manually updating my phone.
Hi Anthony–I've looked around about the trackball colors setting. This setting seems to be only available within specific applications. I updated AK Notepad, for instance, and you can change the trackball colors in the settings menu there. A conversation on this topic can be found on XDA here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=…
Handcent SMS has the options to select trackball light colors, it works great.
You're not seeing the move to sd card option because individual applications have to enable that feature. So its up to developers to implement the move to sd card.
Thanks for that clarification. I hope that conversion isn't too difficult for the developers.
The pressing question is, why weren't developers given time BEFORE Froyo released to implement this feature? Google should have known this would be a HUGE point of contention with their users. They should really take a page from Apple on this front.
Because Froyo hasn't been official released. The SDK went out last week and from what I can see some developers are in the process of updating their apps now "prior" to the official release which should occur in the next week or so from what I've read.
There is an app you can download called "Ad Free" which is like running adblock plus on firefox. If i'm planning to watch a flash video, i don't mind the wait. also, if you use the Dolphin browser there is an option to change the User Agent from Android to desktop, and Hulu will run. As for choppines, some videos were choppy, some were smooth. I guess that just depends on optimization. I'm loving this update.
I have installed 2.2 but I don't see the "update all" button or individual auto update in the market. Do I have to install a new market??
Hi Nekko–In your Market app, there should be 3 tabs: Apps, Games, and Downloads. When you click the Downloads tab, you should see an "Update all" button at the bottom of the screen. Also, clicking each app in the "Downloads" section should bring up a screen with 2 tabs: "About" and "Comments". Just below these tabs is a section titled "Updates" and a checkbox to Allow automatic updating". Good luck.
Are you serious about flash? I tried it out and finally I can use the smartphone to satisfy my needs. Its true, if the website is not ‘mobile optimized’ its not going to be that great but I’d take that over nothing at all any day! Please Don’t scare away new users from thinking flash is bad on an android phone cause its not at all!
Tethering and hotspots are intact because Nexus One updates come straight from Google and T-Mobile has absolutely no say in them. We'll have to wait and see what carriers do with the OTA updates that they actually do have control of though.
not true. Google told us after I/O that in order for tethering to work, a carrier must support it. If T-Mobile wants to get rid of the tethering in the Nexus, they can. (unless you're rooted)
Yah, no problems with flash here either. Even he MLB full site was working ok. YouTube too. Did you try kongregate? It’s like getting a ton of new games instantly. Lots of games better than anything in the market.
You can watch hulu videos, I’ve son it all ready. If you turn on debug in the browser (navigate to about:debug) there are extra setting in browser setting. One is user agent. Just change it to desktop when you want July, and back to Android when you want mobile site versions. I know it is a bit complicated, for an iPhone user, but it should be fairly plain to an android user.
am from the Philippines i downloaded last night on my stock N1 and am loving it… but i cant figure out how to move applications to the sd card the move on sd card button cant be pressed, anyone can help? * if you download on windows OS, rename the file just “update”. * after the the exclamation mark with the android just press the “Power” and “Volume Up” buttons( i counted 3 seconds before releasing, be patient here) i hope updating now wont have any bad effect on my N1 because am NOT from the US… ty some applications suddenly were not working well like handcent and HTC_IME is that normal? ty
Thanks Ed. I downloaded handsent and it changed the trackball. Too bad it fc all the time now. Hey what happens when the ota comes out for everyone who manually downloaded it?
They also fixed bluetooth voice dialing. I can now enter my car's bluetooth voice pass-through command and send direct voice recognition requests for calling and navigation to my phone. The voice recognition is much faster, and seems more accurate.
has anyone notice how slow it is to see the Apps in the market place??or is it just my phone..even with wifi or 3g speed..it takes a long time for it to show the apps..
No, Patrick. Market sluggishness has been reported by other people, too.
Andrew..do you know any fix for the Sluggishness of Market??
Thanks Andrew for the quick reply..thought it was my phone..i hope there will be a fix for that i presume??? it is very annoying…
How can you possibly say iPhone fans are correct? You’re given the option to use it or not use it. If you find it slow, turn it off. Problem solved, but at least the option is still there for those that don’t mind it or for the odd occasion where you decide to enable it. iFans don’t have an option at all. It comes down to the Android approach vs the iPhone approach…choice vs no-choice. Sorry but I just don’t see how “no-choice” is the right choice.
Hi Henry, I wholeheartedly agree: Choice beats no-choice. Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that I would rather use an iPhone. I am saying that I had high expectations for Flash that weren't quite met. The fact that I can run it is great, as I said at the end of the article. I have a lot of hope for the Dell Mini Streak, which will compete against the iPad, run Flash, and have a hot processor to handle it (plus many other cool features).
Does anyone know if the Bluetooth voice dialing require a data connection? Currently in 2.1 voice search and voice texting are great, unless you don’t have a network connection.
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.