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Xperia arc discussion Thread |
aamwng
Joined: Mar 05, 2011
Posts: 195
From: UK
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On 2012-06-06 14:35:21, annafee wrote:
Hey, did any of you guys update your arc to 4.0.4....pls post feedback if possible...... i mean the official update which was released a few days back...... 
Updated yesterday to 4.1.b.0.431. I really like it.
1) There are some lag, but I am fine with it.
2) No more swipe to unlock on mine which I find annoying
3) Faster browsing
4) camera interface changed (for the worst imo)
Good overall, need some getting used to though
[ This Message was edited by: aamwng on 2012-06-08 12:14 ] |
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gh05t
Joined: Dec 26, 2007
Posts: 38
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Is there any changes to the camera, except the interface, like less compression on the pictures? |
annafee
Joined: Aug 18, 2010
Posts: 82
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hey many thanks for replying. So would ou recommend ICS or Gb for the arc? More over are there any changes to image file compression alogrithm and are the picture shot resolve better details? Did the quality improve? What do you mean by no swipe to unlock.?
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Ricky D
Joined: Feb 05, 2007
Posts: > 500
From: UK (living in Beijing)
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@annafee
ICS is nice, I personally enjoy using it although in places (app switching) it's not quite a fast as GB. I'd definitely go with the newest official ICS (4.1.B.0.431) not the half baked one that came out a couple months ago, it's much more stable.
Positives that I love:
- Swipe to dismiss
- New settings layout
- New style through all the ICS google apps (maps, gmail etc)
- Lock screen media control
- GTalk now lets you do voice calls (dunno if that's already on non-ICS GTalk)
- New gallery (stock) is sooo much nicer than the old gallery
The only downside is that games in particular seem to need a bit of compatibility fixing with ICS. This isn't Sony's fault or even Google's fault it's just that to advance the quality and speed of gaming (I think) Android 4.0+ has slightly updated coding requirements and they aren't backward compatible.
What does this mean? It means that some games, like Jelly Defense and Temple Run (and others) have touch control issues on ICS. I know Temple Run have an last week released an update that fixes these ICS issues (haven't tested it I don't play it), but many others haven't. This doesn't seem t effect all games, however, Angry Birds is ok for 90% of the time and I'm sure they'll have it fixed up properly sooner rather than later and other gaes aren't effected at all. It depends on the original code quality.
I think these touch compaibilty issues are the reason Sony cancelled the Play ICS update. Who wants a Play that doesn't play games properly?
[ This Message was edited by: Ricky D on 2012-06-11 07:12 ] I have a dig bick
You read that wrong |
annafee
Joined: Aug 18, 2010
Posts: 82
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Thank you so much for your detailed description of ICS.....i think i'll give it a go.......what about performance sped through out the UI...everything else is understandable........but the problem is that ICS is still not available for my arc  ...i dont know when it'll be out.........btw did you find any other major bugs.....and how's the camera performance and battery life;thanks.......
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Ricky D
Joined: Feb 05, 2007
Posts: > 500
From: UK (living in Beijing)
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Apart from the gaming touch screen issue ICS is a tiny bit less stable than the rock solid GB. I've had Draw Something crash on me twice in a week (I draw half a dozen times a day). Also the updates for Google Maps make it less responsive and with more crashes without adding any significantly new features, I think the features they added were in the labs anyway.
I don't use the stock launcher so can't comment on the speed of that, I use Go Launcher and it's fast and smooth throughout. Like I said before there is a bit of lag when starting apps, but I can cope with that. In terms of the smoothness between homescreens and app drawer panes it feels like when I had GB supercharged with a 3rd party launcher, if that means anything to you.
Battery life I've had no issues with, no worse than with GB. I hear the FB plugins are battery killer but I don't use FB, Google+ all the way.
Camera I haven't noticed a difference with. It works. If you really want good pictures you want a DSLR, but that's a whole different discussion.
If your arc hasn't yet got the update you can still try to flash a different region's FW to it. It won't make much difference. A few of the regional apps might be different, e.g. the French FW has a French games app store pre-installed, but there are other regions too.
If you're interested I'm sure there's some guides around on xda to flash with flashtool. you don't need to have rooted or bootloader unlocked or anything. If you're struggling PM me.
I have a dig bick
You read that wrong |
Lightspeed_x
Joined: Mar 03, 2008
Posts: > 500
From: Dominican Republic
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My experience with ICS has been positive overall. I find my phone faster when opening and closing apps. I also like the cosmetic changes, i feel they're more up to date.
Brief summary of changes:
Camera: Less compression, higher file sizes, slightly improved quality (this is a bit subjective though). The interface is a bit worst in IMO.
Music Player: Same as GB, so no comments there. (Hoping someone ports the XS music player, which its better).
Lock Screen: Unlock with pattern, Slide, Pin or Password. Just have tried Slide and Pattern, the pattern layout is a bit different, and now, if you select it as you unlocking method, there is no longer the need to first slide from left to right to be able to draw the unlock pattern. When Slider is selected, you now have the option to activate the camera right from the lockscreen by sliding from right to left (previously you had the silence option). I find the camera more useful at that stage.
Another change in the lock screen is that when you have Slide selected as your lock screen, you now have access to the notification bar, and can see and call the items listed in the bar.
Gallery: There are now two galleries, the Xperia and the Android gallery. I find the Android gallery to be faster and nicer, I even unistalled the Xperia gallery and i like it so far. Trying to decide between Quickpic and the stock one currently.
Browser: Stock browser is quite faster than the one in GB, I even use it ocassionaly.
GApps: Nicer Gmail and Talk. I now feel Talk is more useable.
SApps: Email client's new interface is much nicer than before, I like the new font, and now the message details are better structured, for example, you now have one "tab" for the message and other for the attachments.
Widgets: They are now resizable, which is nice. I like the Calendar widget, very useful.
If you have the slider as your lock screen, you can now control the music from the lock screen (but once you are playing it, I'd like to be able to even start the player from the lock screen. Maybe an update includes this feature).
All in all, I think ICS is a step forward for us Arc users and would recommend it.
If you have any specific questions about the upgrade, Ill try to contribute to the answers.
Xperia Z2 4.4.2 Kitkat |
mange69
Joined: Oct 07, 2002
Posts: 366
From: Sweden
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4.0.4:
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Ricky D
Joined: Feb 05, 2007
Posts: > 500
From: UK (living in Beijing)
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On 2012-06-11 16:41:53, mange69 wrote:
4.0.4:
I have noticed in the G-mail client that when you flip the phone to horizontal view the top bar doesn't disappear when you scroll down like it did before.
When you put the phone in the Live Dock the clock starts in horizontal mode (as my settings), but when I go to the home screen it doesn't flip to horizontal as in GB.
I can't seem to separate the volume of the ringtone and messagetone.
[ This Message was edited by: mange69 on 2012-06-11 15:42 ]
I couldn't find it in the standard settings either. I previously used widgetsoid's volume levels pop-up widget thing and that allows separating the notification and ring volumes, but that doesn't stick anymore. I guess that option has been removed from the ROM for slimming ICS onto arc's small internals.
I have a dig bick
You read that wrong |
mange69
Joined: Oct 07, 2002
Posts: 366
From: Sweden
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On 2012-06-11 16:41:53, mange69 wrote:
4.0.4:
The "print screen" option by pressing the power button is gone. How do I do now?
//Mange |
Lightspeed_x
Joined: Mar 03, 2008
Posts: > 500
From: Dominican Republic
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@mange69: Press power + volume down simultaneously for about 2-3 seconds and thats it.
Xperia Z2 4.4.2 Kitkat |
mange69
Joined: Oct 07, 2002
Posts: 366
From: Sweden
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On 2012-06-13 22:39:35, Lightspeed_x wrote:
@mange69: Press power + volume down simultaneously for about 2-3 seconds and thats it.
Tnx!
//Mange |
Indiandawg
Joined: Sep 18, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Mumbai
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I'm unable to update firmware. My phone does not get detected on MTP mode. I tried removing SD Card and I can't find MTP app to clear the data. I can only see MTP extension and there is no option to clear data.
I'm using Sony Bridge 2.2 Mac, if anybody knows what to do, please help me out 
T200 -> T68i -> T610 -> K700i -> P910i -> W800i -> P990i -> M600i -> P1-> Nokia E71 -> X1i -> X10 -> Arc S -> Sony Z1 -> Sony Z Ultra -> Sony Z3+ -> iPhone 6 -> iPhone 7 Plus -> iPhone X -> iPhone XS Max |
Ricky D
Joined: Feb 05, 2007
Posts: > 500
From: UK (living in Beijing)
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Sorry, I'm not experienced with the Mac client. Have you tried the sonymobile.com support pages? or even their forums?
I have a dig bick
You read that wrong |
rphilippe
Joined: Jan 27, 2009
Posts: 49
From: London
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Can I just check if the ICS update is now generally available through Sony Update service or do I have to do something special? |
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Posted: 2012-06-08 13:13
