Just some thoughts and opinions about the 2.1 update for Droid. Yours?

y0diggity
Contributor - Level 2

When I first fired it up, there were no real apparent changes to my Droid. Not like the last one where the actual lock screen was different and was immediately noticeable. So just to make sure I looked at what I needed to look at, I went to one of the millions of sites that has the changelog posted.

1. Gallery is sweet. I really like the new layout and it automatically syncs with your online Picasa albums if you happens to use Picasa. At first I didn't realize that last part and I was thinking "Huh?? How did those pictures get on here??" The ability to pinch-zoom is a little clunky yet, IMO. I know everyone hates this, but my iPhone seemed to do a bit better job at this particular function. I really like the new ability to swipe your pictures side to side to move through them and the new onscreen layout in the actual photo viewer is pretty cool too. Essentially the same functions as before, just laid out a bit differently and they're a bit less distracting than they were before.

 

2. New weather/news widget is cool I guess. Wasn't really something I was all giddy about to begin with, but it functions adequately and the fact that it apparently follows your location as you go is nice, especially if you have a job that makes you travel constantly. It'll be nice to not have to go and manually switch my locations in the application to get local weather. I haven't messed with the news feature and to be honest, my home is in a rural area so I doubt there will be much local news for my area. meh... no biggy.

 

3. I'm in my office right now so I haven't tried the voice to text option yet although I did confirm that it's there. It shows a little microphone in the virtual keyboard next to the space bar on the left side. I'll mess with it when I go outside. :smileyvery-happy:

 

4. I like the live wallpapers too. It's just pretty cool to have that ability to have moving backgrounds. I've chosen the smoke one for now. It's just swirling smoke in the background and there are approximately 4 kajillion colors of smoke to choose from. Plain black and gray for me. Definitely a neat little extra.

 

5. One thing I'll mention is that the changelog talks about the Google Nav now dimming automatically as the ambient light gets lower - Its been able to do that since the 2.0.1 update. I use the nav constantly for work and that was my absolute favorite feature of the last update. No biggie, just thought I'd throw that out there, for what it's worth.

 

Most of the improvements they list don't really apply to anything I do with my Droid, so I can't comment on them.

 

Anybody else have it yet? Comments?

If not, maybe you could comment when you do receive it. I'd be interested to hear what others think about it. I know I'm definitely in the minority here and I'm certainly not trying to start a flame war, but for my purposes, the update isn't anything to get overly excited about. It definitely includes some cool stuff, but not worth getting too heated about. Of course, for those of you who take advantage of the things like Yahoo mail, etc, the update may just be exactly what you're needing. Like I said, just my opinion based on my personal usage habits.

 

 

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logicman
Contributor - Level 2

I'm waiting for Motorola to post their change list for 2.1 @ Droid Product Support. It might have more info on bug fixes and other enhancements not listed by Verizon. For example the 2.1 doc that Motorola inadvertently posted a couple of weeks ago listed Ongoing enhancements to battery life.

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bkfist
Specialist - Level 1

Did Motorola go with the Launcher2?  Where you can put 4 apps, 2 on each side, of the "tray" button at the bottom, or have they stuck with the original home app?  (If the "live wallpapers" are interactive to touch, then it should be Launcher2 and have a small square in place of the drawer - in that case try dragging an app icon - doesn't work with widgets. only app shortcuts -  to the bottom of the screen next to the app button.)  That is by far my favorite addition to 2.1 that I've came across.

 

I love the ability to put 4 "most commonly used" icons at the bottom of the screen so that they are avaialble on every single screen.

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logicman
Contributor - Level 2

I'm running Helix Launcher so I don't know if the update added that feature, but Helix does. I agree it's nice to have 4 additional shortcuts in otherwise wasted space.  

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bkfist
Specialist - Level 1

And more importantly, they stick to every screen. :smileyhappy:

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y0diggity
Contributor - Level 2

bkfist wrote:

Did Motorola go with the Launcher2?  Where you can put 4 apps, 2 on each side, of the "tray" button at the bottom, or have they stuck with the original home app?  (If the "live wallpapers" are interactive to touch, then it should be Launcher2 and have a small square in place of the drawer - in that case try dragging an app icon - doesn't work with widgets. only app shortcuts -  to the bottom of the screen next to the app button.)  That is by far my favorite addition to 2.1 that I've came across.

 

I love the ability to put 4 "most commonly used" icons at the bottom of the screen so that they are avaialble on every single screen.


 

Not that I can see. That would be nice though.

 

Also, I thought I had heard somewhere that there were going to be 5 home screens. There aren't. Was that supposed to be a feature or am I imagining that one?

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AFguy
Contributor - Level 2

hey logicman, i really like that helix launcher.  thanks for giving me the heads up bout it.  :smileyhappy:

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logicman
Contributor - Level 2

Cool!

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sranger
Newbie

So far I like the new update.....

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logicman
Contributor - Level 2

It appears that screen rotation works better. On 2.0.1 I frequently had problems where the screen would not rotate to match the phone's orientation unless I repeated the rotation motion.

 

I have also noticed a potential problem with the YouTube player. After the update the Watch in high quality setting had been reset. I set it back and watched the video. But when I went to view another video, it was set back to normal quality. It appears this setting is no longer remembered. Has anyone else noticed this?

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y0diggity
Contributor - Level 2

logicman wrote:

It appears that screen rotation works better. On 2.0.1 I frequently had problems where the screen would not rotate to match the phone's orientation unless I repeated the rotation motion.

 

I have also noticed a potential problem with the YouTube player. After the update the Watch in high quality setting had been reset. I set it back and watched the video. But when I went to view another video, it was set back to normal quality. It appears this setting is no longer remembered. Has anyone else noticed this?


 

Sorry for two consecutive posts, bad etiquette I know, but I wanted to reply to Logicman.

Mine never seemed to remember even before the update. Or if it did, it was sporadic at best. I've tried a few videos since the update and once again, it plays high quality on some and then I'm having to change the option on others. I'm not sure how it determines which way to begin the video. Maybe based on the original file size or whether or not your on wifi? Just a couple thoughts I had knocking around in my head.

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logicman
Contributor - Level 2

 


y0diggity wrote:

... 

Sorry for two consecutive posts, bad etiquette I know, but I wanted to reply to Logicman.

Mine never seemed to remember even before the update. Or if it did, it was sporadic at best. I've tried a few videos since the update and once again, it plays high quality on some and then I'm having to change the option on others. I'm not sure how it determines which way to begin the video. Maybe based on the original file size or whether or not your on wifi? Just a couple thoughts I had knocking around in my head.


 

It's weird. Last night it remembered the high quality setting and seemed to be working as it did in 2.0.1 for me. Today it is back to not remembering the high quality setting. An annoyance, but not the end of the world.

 

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palbri
Newbie

I bought the Droid on 3/27.I was on the verge of replacing it due to issues below.

 

I then manually updated to 2.1 yesterday. BIG improvement!

 

Prior to the update, I had wifi issues where I couldn't connect to any open, unsecure network (even after correcting settings and posting for help on Droid forums). Moreover, battery life was pitiful (even with wireless, bluetooth, GPS, screen brightness turned off). The battery dissipated at a rate of 10% an hour --without any phone usage by me! I had to charge the Droid almost 2x per day.

 

The 2.1 update fixed those issues. I re-charged the Droid yesterday at 3Pm to 100%. I still had 60% remaining as of 1 PM today even with light-moderate usage with phone calls, MAPS, email and browsing. Wifi now connects. Major improvements!

 

I like the new Gallery and the Pinch text zoom in/out feaures.

 

I am a very happy camper with the Droid. Lovin' it!

 

 

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AFguy
Contributor - Level 2

Thats awesome palbri.  glad to hear those kind of stories.  :smileyhappy:

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y0diggity
Contributor - Level 2

Yeah man, I have to agree with the gallery improvements. I'm really liking that! The whole layout for pictures is just awesome and the way that it integrates with your online Picasa albums is just absolutely seamless. In the original view it sorts my pictures by some unknown or random scheme that I wasn't liking, but then I found the option to sort them by date. Once again, just another improvement.

 

I had no problems with my Droid before, so I didn't complain much about it, but now it's even better. I would've liked to have seen the extra home screens, but I'll live without them. I know there are programs that will give them to me, but I try not to use programs that change the actual interface of the device. I've just personally never had much luck with them on any mobile platform I've used and they've caused me more headaches than they're worth. Of course, keep in mind that I have all the patience of a 2 year old and frustration doesn't sit well with me. It's amazing that I do what I do for a living, given that my job is full of constant daily frustration. Contradiction for sure. :smileyvery-happy:

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