When you take a look at the history of the Verizon Motorola Droid Bionic, you will realize that the handset is all about long and interminable waits. The handset was unveiled as early as January of 2011 but only managed to make its debut in the shelves in September of the same year because apparently, the handset was sent back to the drawing boards right after its unveiling for some retro-fitting. The jump of its operating system from Android 2.3 Gingerbread to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was also a similar experience.
The handset after all was already on Gingerbread when it was released last year so users of the Motorola Droid Bionic were just plain excited when news of the ICS soak test being done by Motorola for the handset broke out in the early parts of this month. Back in the day, a rollout is set to happen immediately after a successful soak test but again, users of the Motorola Droid Bionic had to wait some more because it is only today that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update finally started rolling out to the handset.
The update is being rolled out via OTA so expect a notification to come up on your Motorola Droid Bionic once it is already available on your handset. However, you might want to instead do a manual check for the update because Motorola has added a built-in feature to the handset that will let it pull the update from the manufacturer’s servers directly instead of waiting for it to land on your device. With this, all you need to do is head on over to Settings > About phone > System updates to get the update process rolling.
The ICS update for the Motorola Droid Bionic brings along not only ICS-specific features such as multitasking and Face Unlock but a bevy of other improvements and enhancements as well. Improvements in the stability and performance of the Motorola Droid Bionic include improved sync with Google Calendar, improved data connectivity for Mobile Hotspot, enhancements to Google Play and the like. Email / Messaging enhancements on the other hand include improved text message delivery and enhanced connectivity and reliability of Visual Voicemail. ICS also updates applications installed on the handset such as Citrix Receiver, BlockBuster app, GoTo Meeting app, Amazon Kindle, My Verizon, Verizon Remote Diagnostics and the like.
As for the Motorola Droid Bionic, the handset relies on its Texas Instruments OMAP4430 chipset to power its operations. This SoC comes with a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor clocked at 1 GHz and a full gigabyte of RAM for a speedy performance on the handset. The Motorola Droid Bionic comes with 16GB of onboard storage with the option to have this expanded while its display on the other hand is a 4.3-inch TFT capacitive multitouch panel with a qHD resolution of 540 x 960 pixels. Its dual-shooter configuration on the other hand features a rear 8MP shooter and a VGA snapper.
October 25, 2012 at 8:49 am
Mine rolled out last night and I’m impressed.
At first my phone was lagging terribly and I thought I was in trouble but after a little tube and patience it seems like everything works great.
Once again Android impresses.
October 25, 2012 at 10:17 am
Mine updated this morning. So far it’s working just like my Iconia A500 Tablet which has been running ICS for the last 8 months or so. The OS is smooth and functional. I noticed that the Bluetooth when activated while driving down the road automatically connected to my car (which was already paired with the phone). In the past I had to activate this by going into the BT settings while driving or use the in care system to find my phone. Also it seems that my 3G reception is better while at work and inside the building. The new interface while turning on the phone when it is locked is nice. It’s Much simpler than swiping then inputting a code to unlock. Currently I’m trying to find my Gmail Icon that was on my main home page. Maybe more to come! ;^)
October 25, 2012 at 10:35 am
Mine is rolling right now. How long did your update take?
October 25, 2012 at 10:50 am
Mine updated this morning. However, it has been 2 hours now and it is still showing “Upgrading Media Database. I hope it finishes soon…..
October 25, 2012 at 11:40 am
Mine rolled out this morning and at first glance is nice. My only issue is that my social networking widget is gone. This is the one that came with the Bionic and the only one that I have found that does exactly what I want it to do. It is simple really, I want it to show me any of my facebook/twitter notifications, etc and as I look at them they go away. I am now using my 2nd favorite which is Blingboard but it does not do it exactly like that. I have to look at all updates and then erase them all.
Does anyone know how I can get that original Social Networking App back that came pre-installed on my Bionic?
October 25, 2012 at 1:09 pm
I will not be updating. I made that mistake with my Razr Maxx. It’s a downgrade. You lose flash. Wait until you find out you can’t watch half of YouTube, nor any webpage with flash content. Even using other browsers with flash isn’t quite the same. The main thing that you will find sucks is if you have the lapdock or webtop accessories. You no longer have Firefox & the Firefox app is not the sake as the webtop Firefox. Chrome is highly overrated & crashes often. Your webtop will go from desktop functionality to tablet. No more split screen for dual functionality, such as making a call while watching a movie or surfing the web. WAIT A WEEK OR SO BEFORE UPDATING! TRUST ME, YOU WON’T LIKE IT IF YOU’RE A POWER USER! They made this update to stop people from using so many gigs! You can prevent update by going into settings & changing it to “update over wifi only” & making sure that when you’re using wifi, pay attention, & turn off wifi while not using your phone.
October 25, 2012 at 2:12 pm
My phone is still laggy after two full days of the upgrade. Why does my Bionic look different than the one in the pic?
October 25, 2012 at 4:13 pm
mine updated this morning, and i am still having issues with it. super super slow. some as simple as trying to open up my text messages take forever long to load! then usually followed by ” force quit” NOT HAPPY!
October 25, 2012 at 5:33 pm
Just got it this morning and it seems like everything needs to force close. Can’t change sound setting or anything. Hope it gets better soon…
October 25, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Did a manual update on Oct. 24 for two phones. Seems like a great update so far.
October 25, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Still not able to update. When I try to do it manually, I get “check for update not available at this time, try again later”. This has been the same since Oct. 20th when I first heard of the ics update for Bionic.
Any ideas?
October 25, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Pretty upset right now. I had a full battery starting the day, and it started the software update automatically (did not ask if I was ready). In any case, it drained my battery within an hour or so, and because the only charger I had w/ me was a USB to hook into my lap top, it would not recharge to the point where it would turn back on. Now, I am back home, many hours later without my f’in phone today, and when I plug it into the wall it shows a big question mark icon instead of the battery. So my install only went halfway, my phone is probably now screwed, and it will still not turn back on. I use this phone for business and sales and am extremely pissed right now.
October 25, 2012 at 9:36 pm
My phone basically forced me to upgrade (didn’t know about this rollout) I seemingly lost all my contacts and virtually no app opens and runs. This has essentially bricked my phone!
October 25, 2012 at 10:08 pm
I just updated mine, it took forever, and all my contacts are gone. Also, everything “stops working” and I have to force close. Can’t even send a text.
October 26, 2012 at 12:23 am
What the heck I am pissed . I love my droid but hate the 4g signal I get or don’t get half the time . I have been so patient with this phone and finally they say they have a fix . My phone says would you like to update so I hesitate go online read all the good and how verizon has approved a fix for a phone that they repeatedly said had no problems so I update…….. argh . after the first 10 updates failed I once again went online and read about that I should factory reset my phone , all gone everything a years worth of building on my phone gone with which I could live with , but it still gives me update failed. I’m going down tomorrow to get a new phone come hell or high water . I payed almost $300 in Oct. 2011 for something they new was plagued with bugs shame on them. well enough ranting for one evening good luck to the rest of you bionic owners.
October 26, 2012 at 2:04 am
After taking hours to update my phone that never had a problem now is as useful as a brick. Drains the battery twice as fast. Keeps locking up. Icons missing. Contacts gone. Verizon sucks
October 26, 2012 at 5:24 am
I too had lost all my contacts, but realized if you wait FOREVER the show back up (or maybe it’s the countless times I tried to import them back from google, but it still takes FOREVER to load.) I also have the issue of every single app being force closed.
If the Flash thing is true too I am going to explode. This is the second big problem i’ve had witha bionic, the last time Verizon had to send me a new one after forcing me to basically try everything to make 4G work again (was only getting 3G).. took 4 times of calling and complaining that nothing they told me to do fixed the problems to get them to finally send me a new phone.
This is so lame and annoying. Does anyone know a way to get flash back? I use Dolphin HD browser, does it have a plug in that would help?
I know mostly this issue isn’t Verizon’s fault too but I am sick of their crap as well.
October 26, 2012 at 5:31 am
Anyone who wants their Flash player back you can manually install it. They are really lame for getting rid of it. I blame it all on Apple.
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4675670#4675670
October 26, 2012 at 6:19 am
Mine updated in about 10 minutes, it’s pretty different ! I’m sure I’ll get comfortable with it eventually, but I’ll admit I’m a bit intimidated.
October 26, 2012 at 9:53 am
My wife upgraded hers a day before me. Took several hours to be able to use it, but now everything seems to be working okay.
I started mine over 12 hours ago, and it’s still “updating media database.” Do I need to power off to wake it up or is this normal?????
October 28, 2012 at 10:01 pm
I can’t get on any of my apps or email. This upgrade looks like it would be great if I could access my home screen.
October 29, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Despite what they say, depending on how much music and pics you have it will get stuck on updating media database. Took mine over 10 hours to update. DO NOT STOP IT MID WAY, you will ruin your phone.